Author's Note: Hey guys, here's the next chapter. Sorry for the delay. I
hope that you like it. It's not one of my better ones and it will just
further fuel your desire to beat the crap out of me. This chapter is at 191
in my notebook copies of the story and I'm already to 300, so there's a lot
more. if I can ever get it all typed up. Here are the thank yous:
Ggal- Yup, Lily's rather pissed. Guys suck, and I think I wrote this during one of my "Guys suck" periods, so forgive me.
Bell- Woot! I surprised ya! There's going to be more book 5 stuff eventually. I just have to work it in with the rest of my insane plot which has been expanded in a way because of the addition of a character that you won't see until the next chapter. I'll probably get to the others eventually, but you're a good author, so yeah. I kind of screwed up the he didn't start working for them till After Hogwarts. oopsy.
Elfin Child- Sorry to ruin the party. but there's a little Peter in this one. Psychics are spiffeh, at least the ones that actually are, unlike Miss Cleo or whom ever that one chick was. Are you the one that suggested the banishing Peter thing? I cannot remember! But if you are, I've started writing it just now.
MegHarts- He is an evil bullying toerag in the Memory. and my dad brought something up that was actually rather interesting. but yeah. Thank you! I'm so glad you're still reading! I hope this chapter is okay for length.
I o u a name- James is a git, but he gets better. I promise. And silliness is a good thing!
AshliRyTe- Thank you, I'm glad you love it! And I strive to be original so I guess I'm striving well.
Sweetlei18- A killer fan fic eh? *beams* Thank you much, and I try to continue frequently!
Lady Death2- *cowers behind concrete bunker* You're gonna come after me after this chapter and a few of the following ones. eep! *gets a running head start*
Anarane- Yes, James is being a prat. It gets worse before it gets better too. I thinks.
Cassie- *cowers some more* I'm sorry; I had to make them have problems! And James is sorry; he just doesn't know it yet. because he's still rather pissed off. As for what the "real" James would say, who knows.
EbonyQuill- Here's more. Thank you!
Me- I haven't even started a Lily/James love scene. There probably won't be one until their married *waves Christian morals flag* but there will be other things to tide one over. I will do my best to make any love scene detailed but as I'm lacking of experience it might suck. I'm trying to get more L/J action of the positive in here, but yeah. thank you.
Chapter Thirty-Two: Fleeing Potter Manor
Upstairs Lily paced back and forth across her room angrily. She was absolutely pissed off at all of those stupid childish boys and wanted nothing more to do with them. Muttering under her breath she packed up her possessions into the one bag she'd brought to James' and walked quietly out of her room and down the front stairs to the front door. She heard Arabella shouting at Remus and knew it was the perfect time to make her escape. She opened the door and shut it slowly but quietly as she left. Lily looked out into the street as she stood on James' front steps and felt an odd pang in her chest; she sighed and stepped away from the door. She hitched her bag up onto her shoulder and jogged down the street away from James Potters' beautiful house.
She got into the main part of town and spotted a bus to London about to leave. She paid her fare quickly and sat down near the front of the bus feeling extremely depressed, but she wasn't about to live with an arrogant pompous jerk and his arrogant pompous friends. She wouldn't stand for it. Sighing again, Lily looked out the window and watched the country side and cities pass by as a few tears slowly leaked from her eyes.
As Arabella was shouting at Remus for acting like a prat to Lily she heard something that made her stop her shouting. "Did you hear that?" Arabella asked quietly and Remus and Sirius shook their heads. Arabella shot up the stairs and opened Lily's door without knocking and Remus and Sirius came up the stairs behind her. Seeing that Lily wasn't there Arabella said, "Check for her things," and the boys looked, not a trace of Lily was found. "Nothing," Arabella said and bolted across the room opened the door and ran down the hall almost colliding with Peter who was coming out of his room.
"What's going on?" Peter asked looking confused and sleepy as Arabella pushed past him.
Sirius passed Peter and so did Remus and Peter decided to follow them. Arabella was opening the door as they reached the stairs. The followed her outside and found her standing in the street looking up it. "Where are the keys to James' car?" Arabella asked hurriedly turning to Sirius.
"Somewhere in the house I imagine," Sirius said and Arabella ran back inside pulling her wand out as she got inside the door.
"Accio car keys!" Arabella shouted and there was a noise upstairs in James' room and the keys came pelting toward Arabella and she caught them in mid air and made for the door again. "Sirius, come with me, Remus, Peter wait here in case she comes back," Arabella said and pulled Sirius out the door again toward the garage. "Alohomora," she said as the garage door came into view. "I'll drive," she said and climbed in into the drivers' seat after the door was open and Sirius climbed into the passenger's seat.
Arabella pulled out of the garage and drove quickly down the street scanning the road for any sign of Lily. "Where would she go?" she asked looking at Sirius.
"Into town maybe?" Sirius said questioningly. Arabella started in the direction of down and drove slower looking for Lily. They spotted her just as she was getting on a bus to London. "What is in London that she would go to?" Sirius asked quickly wondering if they should follow the bus or turn back and contact James.
Arabella looking at the fuel gage and saw it was nearing empty. "Bloody Hell!" she said and banged her hand on the steering wheel forcefully. "We'll have to go back," she said quietly.
"I'll go straight to James' office, hopefully he will be there," Sirius said, kissed Arabella's cheek and apparated out of the car.
Arabella watched Sirius disappear into thin air and the bus Lily rode on disappearing into the distance. She turned the car around and drove back to James' house. Remus met her outside, Peter had gone in soon after they had left and Remus had told him that Lily had left after a couple spats.
"Sirius went to tell James," Arabella said quietly after she'd returned the car to the garage and closed the door.
"Why would she leave?" Remus asked slowly and scratched his head.
"She's scared! She likes James but seeing that memory of him acting like a moron, all of you acting like morons has to have confused her. Especially after James acted like such a prick just before hand," Arabella said and seemed to come to some type of realization. "Maybe she thinks that James was showing his true colors in the kitchen and the rest was just a sham," she said looking up at Remus.
"It's possible, but James changed soon after that and became decent," Remus said quietly looking at Arabella.
"We'd better get inside to wait," Arabella said tiredly and they walked into the house to wait for James and Sirius to return.
James paced his underground office angrily having just arrived there. He picked up a small sneakoscope and threw it against the wall and it shattered with a crash.
"James? Are you alright?" Leslie's voice came through the door following three sharp knocks on the door.
"I'm fine Leslie, I thought you were going to my home this morning," James said and opened the door to see Leslie standing there looking worried.
"I was but I had something I needed to do regarding Wilhelmina's death," Lily said sadly looking down at her feet.
James' jealous anger dissolved as he remembered that Wilhelmina Pettigrew had been Leslie's godmother. "Crap, Leslie I forgot you and Mrs. Pettigrew were close," James said quietly.
"Don't worry James, I'll be fine, I'm just worried about Peter. No one has seen him since last night," Leslie said quietly.
"Oh! He's at my house getting some rest," James said scratching his head and messing up his already untidy hair.
"Oh, okay. Tell him that he needs to make the arrangements. His parents are unable to get away at the moment," Leslie said sadly.
"I will let him know as soon as I see him," James sighed and wondered when exactly that would be.
"Is something bothering you James?" Leslie asked quietly touching his arm lightly.
"Women," James muttered quietly, his cheeks going slightly pink.
"Oh really? What's wrong with women?" Leslie asked indignantly.
"Not all of them, just one," James muttered and looked down at his feet.
"Oh, so you've finally found someone eh?" Leslie asked with a smirk as she crossed her arms.
"Yeah, but she's 17," James said and waited for Leslie's reaction, but all he got was her asking, "For how much longer?"
"About a month or two," James answered quietly.
"And this is causing you to throw Sneakoscopes at the wall?" Leslie asked raising her eyebrows.
"No, but." James trailed off wondering what it was that had made him throw that sneakoscope at the wall.
"But what?" Leslie asked curiously looking at James who was thinking about what had happened earlier that morning.
He'd been the one that had blown up at Lily and Remus because the thought they were becoming closer then Lily and himself. James sighed and slapped himself. "I'm a moron. It's my stupid fault that any of it happened," he said annoyed with himself for his stupidity.
"What is it?" Leslie asked quietly.
"I acted like a jealous jerk," James said disgusted with himself.
"Ah, well the sooner you apologize to the girl and Remus it would be best," Leslie said quietly.
"How did you know it was Remus?" James asked suspiciously.
"I've heard through the grapevine that Sirius Black and Arabella Figg are an item and I highly doubt that Peter would give you anything to be jealous of, so Remus was the natural assumption, especially if the girl is a bookworm as he is," Leslie explained brightly.
"That makes me feel so much better Leslie," James said with a laugh.
"Then that means you have realized how silly you were being and are going to apologize as soon as you see this girl," Leslie said.
"Yeah, I think I'll do that," James said and started thinking about what he could do to get back into Lily's good graces.
Leslie smiled and walked back to her desk. A few moments later Leslie walked back into the room saying, "Sirius Black is here to see you James, it seems very important."
"Let him in," James said and wondered why a sinking feeling has settled uncomfortably in his stomach. Sirius stepped into the room looking slightly flushed as if he had run a great distance.
"What's wrong?" James asked crossing the room to stand in front of Sirius.
"It's Lily," Sirius said quietly and James' stomach lurched painfully. "She and Remus had a row just after you left and she took off James. We have no real idea as to where she might have gone," he said slowly and watched as James sunk into his chair looking up at Sirius in a horrified manner.
"When?" James managed to choke out and his fists clenched and unclenched, his fingernails digging into his palms.
"Not more then twenty minutes ago," Sirius said quietly.
"We have to find her Padfoot! We just have to," James said worriedly.
"We will Prongs, we will," Sirius said and they ran out of the office to apparated back to James' house.
* * * * * * * * * * You thought I would end it here, didn't you! * * * * * * * * * * *
James and Sirius arrived in James' entry hall moments after leaving James' office at the Ministry. "Thank God you're here!" Arabella said relieved that Sirius had found James quickly.
"Did she come back?" James asked hurriedly with misplaced hope as Remus walked slowly into the entrance hall.
"Not yet," Remus whispered quietly looking at James with wary eyes.
"I honestly don't think that she will the way the two of you acted toward her," Arabella said and crossed her arms over her chest looking at Remus and James with disappointment.
"What?" James asked stubbornly.
"Lily probably skived off because neither of you understand her at all. You treated her very poorly and honestly I'm not surprised, especially if she remembered how you all acted at Hogwarts," Arabella said angrily and prodded James hard in the chest.
"She what? What did she remember?" James asked, his eyes widened wondering what she could have possibly remembered.
"The incident right after the Defense O.W.L.'s," Remus said quietly and James' eyes widened further.
"With Snape and that Slytherin girl who intervened?" James asked scratching his head trying to remember.
"Yes, except in Lily's memory she was the one to attempt to help Snape," Remus replied tonelessly.
"What?" James asked astonished.
"You heard me James," Remus said, his voice still toneless.
James remembered how foolish he had been acting after the DADA O.W.L. with the Snitch and deciding to torture Snape because Sirius had been bored. James closed his eyes in exasperation. "We have to find her. Where do you think she would go?" James asked quietly.
"She caught a bus to London, she'll probably stick around there because she can disappear easily," Sirius said quietly and hoped that Arabella wouldn't start in on him as the whole thing had been his fault back at Hogwarts.
"What if someone unsavory finds her there?" James asked and there was a note of panic in his voice.
"Then we had better start looking don't you think?" Arabella asked sarcastically.
"Yes we should. Someone should tell Peter to stay here and wait, just in case," James said quietly.
"I will, and I'll meet you at Bella's in a few minutes," Sirius said and they nodded and disapparated. Sirius walked upstairs to Peter's room and knocked.
"Come in," Peter said quietly and Sirius opened the door to find Peter sitting on his bed with a letter.
"Hey, we're going to London to look for Lily. James requests that you stay here to wait for her in case she decides to come back while we're gone," Sirius said quietly.
"Alright," Peter said and he looked at the letter again.
"What's that?" Sirius asked.
"A letter from my parents. They won't be able to attend Gran's funeral," Peter said quietly.
"I'm sorry Peter, are you going to be okay?" Sirius asked quietly.
"I imagine so. I'll see you guys when you get back," Peter said quietly and Sirius nodded, leaving Peter to his disappointment and grief as he disapparated to Arabella's house where the others were waiting.
A/N: I hope you guys all liked this chapter. I was a little iffy about some of it so I changed it from the original handwritten text. Please don't kill me! It had to be done! Oh and if you want to be on the mailing list if you aren't already give your email in your review! Please Review!! ~Frankie~
Ggal- Yup, Lily's rather pissed. Guys suck, and I think I wrote this during one of my "Guys suck" periods, so forgive me.
Bell- Woot! I surprised ya! There's going to be more book 5 stuff eventually. I just have to work it in with the rest of my insane plot which has been expanded in a way because of the addition of a character that you won't see until the next chapter. I'll probably get to the others eventually, but you're a good author, so yeah. I kind of screwed up the he didn't start working for them till After Hogwarts. oopsy.
Elfin Child- Sorry to ruin the party. but there's a little Peter in this one. Psychics are spiffeh, at least the ones that actually are, unlike Miss Cleo or whom ever that one chick was. Are you the one that suggested the banishing Peter thing? I cannot remember! But if you are, I've started writing it just now.
MegHarts- He is an evil bullying toerag in the Memory. and my dad brought something up that was actually rather interesting. but yeah. Thank you! I'm so glad you're still reading! I hope this chapter is okay for length.
I o u a name- James is a git, but he gets better. I promise. And silliness is a good thing!
AshliRyTe- Thank you, I'm glad you love it! And I strive to be original so I guess I'm striving well.
Sweetlei18- A killer fan fic eh? *beams* Thank you much, and I try to continue frequently!
Lady Death2- *cowers behind concrete bunker* You're gonna come after me after this chapter and a few of the following ones. eep! *gets a running head start*
Anarane- Yes, James is being a prat. It gets worse before it gets better too. I thinks.
Cassie- *cowers some more* I'm sorry; I had to make them have problems! And James is sorry; he just doesn't know it yet. because he's still rather pissed off. As for what the "real" James would say, who knows.
EbonyQuill- Here's more. Thank you!
Me- I haven't even started a Lily/James love scene. There probably won't be one until their married *waves Christian morals flag* but there will be other things to tide one over. I will do my best to make any love scene detailed but as I'm lacking of experience it might suck. I'm trying to get more L/J action of the positive in here, but yeah. thank you.
Chapter Thirty-Two: Fleeing Potter Manor
Upstairs Lily paced back and forth across her room angrily. She was absolutely pissed off at all of those stupid childish boys and wanted nothing more to do with them. Muttering under her breath she packed up her possessions into the one bag she'd brought to James' and walked quietly out of her room and down the front stairs to the front door. She heard Arabella shouting at Remus and knew it was the perfect time to make her escape. She opened the door and shut it slowly but quietly as she left. Lily looked out into the street as she stood on James' front steps and felt an odd pang in her chest; she sighed and stepped away from the door. She hitched her bag up onto her shoulder and jogged down the street away from James Potters' beautiful house.
She got into the main part of town and spotted a bus to London about to leave. She paid her fare quickly and sat down near the front of the bus feeling extremely depressed, but she wasn't about to live with an arrogant pompous jerk and his arrogant pompous friends. She wouldn't stand for it. Sighing again, Lily looked out the window and watched the country side and cities pass by as a few tears slowly leaked from her eyes.
As Arabella was shouting at Remus for acting like a prat to Lily she heard something that made her stop her shouting. "Did you hear that?" Arabella asked quietly and Remus and Sirius shook their heads. Arabella shot up the stairs and opened Lily's door without knocking and Remus and Sirius came up the stairs behind her. Seeing that Lily wasn't there Arabella said, "Check for her things," and the boys looked, not a trace of Lily was found. "Nothing," Arabella said and bolted across the room opened the door and ran down the hall almost colliding with Peter who was coming out of his room.
"What's going on?" Peter asked looking confused and sleepy as Arabella pushed past him.
Sirius passed Peter and so did Remus and Peter decided to follow them. Arabella was opening the door as they reached the stairs. The followed her outside and found her standing in the street looking up it. "Where are the keys to James' car?" Arabella asked hurriedly turning to Sirius.
"Somewhere in the house I imagine," Sirius said and Arabella ran back inside pulling her wand out as she got inside the door.
"Accio car keys!" Arabella shouted and there was a noise upstairs in James' room and the keys came pelting toward Arabella and she caught them in mid air and made for the door again. "Sirius, come with me, Remus, Peter wait here in case she comes back," Arabella said and pulled Sirius out the door again toward the garage. "Alohomora," she said as the garage door came into view. "I'll drive," she said and climbed in into the drivers' seat after the door was open and Sirius climbed into the passenger's seat.
Arabella pulled out of the garage and drove quickly down the street scanning the road for any sign of Lily. "Where would she go?" she asked looking at Sirius.
"Into town maybe?" Sirius said questioningly. Arabella started in the direction of down and drove slower looking for Lily. They spotted her just as she was getting on a bus to London. "What is in London that she would go to?" Sirius asked quickly wondering if they should follow the bus or turn back and contact James.
Arabella looking at the fuel gage and saw it was nearing empty. "Bloody Hell!" she said and banged her hand on the steering wheel forcefully. "We'll have to go back," she said quietly.
"I'll go straight to James' office, hopefully he will be there," Sirius said, kissed Arabella's cheek and apparated out of the car.
Arabella watched Sirius disappear into thin air and the bus Lily rode on disappearing into the distance. She turned the car around and drove back to James' house. Remus met her outside, Peter had gone in soon after they had left and Remus had told him that Lily had left after a couple spats.
"Sirius went to tell James," Arabella said quietly after she'd returned the car to the garage and closed the door.
"Why would she leave?" Remus asked slowly and scratched his head.
"She's scared! She likes James but seeing that memory of him acting like a moron, all of you acting like morons has to have confused her. Especially after James acted like such a prick just before hand," Arabella said and seemed to come to some type of realization. "Maybe she thinks that James was showing his true colors in the kitchen and the rest was just a sham," she said looking up at Remus.
"It's possible, but James changed soon after that and became decent," Remus said quietly looking at Arabella.
"We'd better get inside to wait," Arabella said tiredly and they walked into the house to wait for James and Sirius to return.
James paced his underground office angrily having just arrived there. He picked up a small sneakoscope and threw it against the wall and it shattered with a crash.
"James? Are you alright?" Leslie's voice came through the door following three sharp knocks on the door.
"I'm fine Leslie, I thought you were going to my home this morning," James said and opened the door to see Leslie standing there looking worried.
"I was but I had something I needed to do regarding Wilhelmina's death," Lily said sadly looking down at her feet.
James' jealous anger dissolved as he remembered that Wilhelmina Pettigrew had been Leslie's godmother. "Crap, Leslie I forgot you and Mrs. Pettigrew were close," James said quietly.
"Don't worry James, I'll be fine, I'm just worried about Peter. No one has seen him since last night," Leslie said quietly.
"Oh! He's at my house getting some rest," James said scratching his head and messing up his already untidy hair.
"Oh, okay. Tell him that he needs to make the arrangements. His parents are unable to get away at the moment," Leslie said sadly.
"I will let him know as soon as I see him," James sighed and wondered when exactly that would be.
"Is something bothering you James?" Leslie asked quietly touching his arm lightly.
"Women," James muttered quietly, his cheeks going slightly pink.
"Oh really? What's wrong with women?" Leslie asked indignantly.
"Not all of them, just one," James muttered and looked down at his feet.
"Oh, so you've finally found someone eh?" Leslie asked with a smirk as she crossed her arms.
"Yeah, but she's 17," James said and waited for Leslie's reaction, but all he got was her asking, "For how much longer?"
"About a month or two," James answered quietly.
"And this is causing you to throw Sneakoscopes at the wall?" Leslie asked raising her eyebrows.
"No, but." James trailed off wondering what it was that had made him throw that sneakoscope at the wall.
"But what?" Leslie asked curiously looking at James who was thinking about what had happened earlier that morning.
He'd been the one that had blown up at Lily and Remus because the thought they were becoming closer then Lily and himself. James sighed and slapped himself. "I'm a moron. It's my stupid fault that any of it happened," he said annoyed with himself for his stupidity.
"What is it?" Leslie asked quietly.
"I acted like a jealous jerk," James said disgusted with himself.
"Ah, well the sooner you apologize to the girl and Remus it would be best," Leslie said quietly.
"How did you know it was Remus?" James asked suspiciously.
"I've heard through the grapevine that Sirius Black and Arabella Figg are an item and I highly doubt that Peter would give you anything to be jealous of, so Remus was the natural assumption, especially if the girl is a bookworm as he is," Leslie explained brightly.
"That makes me feel so much better Leslie," James said with a laugh.
"Then that means you have realized how silly you were being and are going to apologize as soon as you see this girl," Leslie said.
"Yeah, I think I'll do that," James said and started thinking about what he could do to get back into Lily's good graces.
Leslie smiled and walked back to her desk. A few moments later Leslie walked back into the room saying, "Sirius Black is here to see you James, it seems very important."
"Let him in," James said and wondered why a sinking feeling has settled uncomfortably in his stomach. Sirius stepped into the room looking slightly flushed as if he had run a great distance.
"What's wrong?" James asked crossing the room to stand in front of Sirius.
"It's Lily," Sirius said quietly and James' stomach lurched painfully. "She and Remus had a row just after you left and she took off James. We have no real idea as to where she might have gone," he said slowly and watched as James sunk into his chair looking up at Sirius in a horrified manner.
"When?" James managed to choke out and his fists clenched and unclenched, his fingernails digging into his palms.
"Not more then twenty minutes ago," Sirius said quietly.
"We have to find her Padfoot! We just have to," James said worriedly.
"We will Prongs, we will," Sirius said and they ran out of the office to apparated back to James' house.
* * * * * * * * * * You thought I would end it here, didn't you! * * * * * * * * * * *
James and Sirius arrived in James' entry hall moments after leaving James' office at the Ministry. "Thank God you're here!" Arabella said relieved that Sirius had found James quickly.
"Did she come back?" James asked hurriedly with misplaced hope as Remus walked slowly into the entrance hall.
"Not yet," Remus whispered quietly looking at James with wary eyes.
"I honestly don't think that she will the way the two of you acted toward her," Arabella said and crossed her arms over her chest looking at Remus and James with disappointment.
"What?" James asked stubbornly.
"Lily probably skived off because neither of you understand her at all. You treated her very poorly and honestly I'm not surprised, especially if she remembered how you all acted at Hogwarts," Arabella said angrily and prodded James hard in the chest.
"She what? What did she remember?" James asked, his eyes widened wondering what she could have possibly remembered.
"The incident right after the Defense O.W.L.'s," Remus said quietly and James' eyes widened further.
"With Snape and that Slytherin girl who intervened?" James asked scratching his head trying to remember.
"Yes, except in Lily's memory she was the one to attempt to help Snape," Remus replied tonelessly.
"What?" James asked astonished.
"You heard me James," Remus said, his voice still toneless.
James remembered how foolish he had been acting after the DADA O.W.L. with the Snitch and deciding to torture Snape because Sirius had been bored. James closed his eyes in exasperation. "We have to find her. Where do you think she would go?" James asked quietly.
"She caught a bus to London, she'll probably stick around there because she can disappear easily," Sirius said quietly and hoped that Arabella wouldn't start in on him as the whole thing had been his fault back at Hogwarts.
"What if someone unsavory finds her there?" James asked and there was a note of panic in his voice.
"Then we had better start looking don't you think?" Arabella asked sarcastically.
"Yes we should. Someone should tell Peter to stay here and wait, just in case," James said quietly.
"I will, and I'll meet you at Bella's in a few minutes," Sirius said and they nodded and disapparated. Sirius walked upstairs to Peter's room and knocked.
"Come in," Peter said quietly and Sirius opened the door to find Peter sitting on his bed with a letter.
"Hey, we're going to London to look for Lily. James requests that you stay here to wait for her in case she decides to come back while we're gone," Sirius said quietly.
"Alright," Peter said and he looked at the letter again.
"What's that?" Sirius asked.
"A letter from my parents. They won't be able to attend Gran's funeral," Peter said quietly.
"I'm sorry Peter, are you going to be okay?" Sirius asked quietly.
"I imagine so. I'll see you guys when you get back," Peter said quietly and Sirius nodded, leaving Peter to his disappointment and grief as he disapparated to Arabella's house where the others were waiting.
A/N: I hope you guys all liked this chapter. I was a little iffy about some of it so I changed it from the original handwritten text. Please don't kill me! It had to be done! Oh and if you want to be on the mailing list if you aren't already give your email in your review! Please Review!! ~Frankie~