Sorry it took so long to update but I've been busy and a few people have beta-read this chapter.

Thanks to my beta Kim who changed nothing but the spelling of Fettucine.

The song in this chapter is called the Galilee Song by Frank Anderson. Yes, it's a church song. i figured Lily's Grandmother could be Catholic.

This chapter is dedicated to one of my reviewers "A concerned reader" who needs to get a life and not get pissed off with people just because of their story summary. Don't flame me until you've actually read at least the first chapter.

The rest of my reviewers are all beautiful. Thank you for your advice and encouragement.

Now to the story...


Chapter 25

The House of Wiccapot

Lily and James arrived in front of a gleaming white mansion. The sun was starting to share its light with the world as the couple stood at the front gate, holding hands.

"It's morning." Lily mumbled, tears still leaking from her eyes.

"We're in Australia now." James reached out and wiped Lily's cheek with his spare hand. "Are you going to be okay?"

Lily sniffed and nodded. "I'll be right. You're still all wet."

"Yeah, we should go inside."

James reached towards the gate but Lily stopped him. "How long were you at my house?"

"Almost as long as you."

"You're crazy, James."

"I wish I was crazy, but really, I'm just in love."

Lily sniffed again and managed a small smile. She wiped her eyes dry and took a deep breath. "Let's go, before you catch a cold."

"Oh, don't worry. I'm invincible."

The two walked up the path and knocked on the door. Seconds later, Ebony appeared and ushered them inside.

"Hi guys, the others are in one of the kitchens, are you hungry?" She asked, leading them up a sweeping staircase and down a hall. The house was even bigger on the inside, like most wizarding houses. It was filled with the soft glow of candles and the faint smell of Wiccapot. It was beautifully decorated, but not at all like the mansions owned by the snobs of the wizarding world.

"I just need to have a sleep." Lily said quietly.

"And I need a shower." James said, shivering.

"You've finally noticed." Ebony laughed, managing to get a smile from Lily.

At the end of the hall, Ebony opened a cupboard and pulled out two towels. "Do you remember where your room is?" She asked James.

"Not really, but I'll find it."

"Cool, there's a bathroom across the hall, but don't sing or the shower will burn you." She laughed at the look of shock on James face. "Curses came with the house, but it makes it so much more interesting."

James opened a door revealing another staircase and made his way up. Ebony closed the door and then opened it again, revealing a staircase- but not the same one. This one was going back down to the ground floor.

"Wow, this place is awesome." Lily commented, following Ebony down the stairs. "I'm definitely going to get lost though."

"Well, most of the doors and stairs know what you're thinking and take you to where you want to go. The only way you can get lost is if you want to."

At the bottom of the stairs, a tiny circular room with it walls covered in doors appeared. Three of the doors had shiny gold plaques hanging neatly by the handle. Ebony opened the one with Lily Evans engraved on it and led her inside.

The large room contained a massive four-poster bed with emerald green blankets and pillows and a large mahogany cupboard.

"It's pretty shitty, but all our guest rooms are."

"No, its great." Lily dropped her bag next to the bed and crossed the room. She pulled back the jade curtains that covered the glass door to the balcony and gasped. The sun was coming up over the water and it was the most beautiful sight Lily had ever laid her eyes upon. "And you live right on the beach, what a view."

"Yeah, that's pretty cool. This house definitely has the nicest views, although the country manor is great in winter. I wanted to go there, but Mum likes the weather here." Ebony sighed. "Are you sure you don't want to join us? Kim's making pavlova and Terran's making daiquiri's."

"I've had a rough night. I just need some sleep."

"Well, Wiccapot is great for rough nights."

"I'll be okay."

"See you later then. Oh, if we're asleep when you wake up, help yourself to whatever you want to eat and if you need any help, ask a maid or a house elf."

"Okay, thanks."

Ebony left the room and disappeared up the stairs. Lily opened the door leading to the balcony and stepped outside. The balcony ran along the whole back of the house and connected all of the bedrooms. She leant against the railing and watched the rest of the sunrise. The cool air blew against her damp clothes and caused her to shiver. She closed her eyes and hummed a song that her grandmother always sang to her as a child. It was strange, she could not remember her face, but remembered every note and every word of this song.

In my memories I know

How you send familiar rains

Falling gently on my days

Dancing patterns on my pain

And I need to learn once more

In the fortress of my mind

To believe in falling rain

As I travel deserts dry

She sighed and went back inside to sleep, dreaming of strangers with blurred faces all crowding around her, calling her name. Just when she is about to go crazy, a familiar face appears in the distance.

"I love you Lily Evans."


Lily's eyes snapped open. She was really at Ebony's. The day before had happened and it wasn't just a cruel dream.

She got up, got changed, then started unpacking the clothes from her bag and putting them in the cupboard. There were footsteps on the balcony and a knock on the glass and then Sirius appeared.

"Hey Evans, I was hoping you'd be awake. Everyone else has crashed in the movie room." He said, sitting on the bed.

"So you guys had a good night."

"Yeah, I suppose. How are you going? Really?" Sirius didn't often show this side of himself, but Lily knew it was there.

"So, James told you."

"Well Kim guessed and he nodded, she knows things sometimes, it scares me."

"You know things too, but I suppose it's not the same. I'm okay though. It's a good thing. I just need to get on with things and not regret this."

"I know exactly how you feel, you know. No one else really does. James has great parents, sometimes I wish they were mine, Remus is lucky too. His parents are so supportive with the whole werewolf thing and the stuff he goes through. Kim is different to everyone else in her family, but she gets along with them heaps well. Ebony's so happy here. Her family is great. My family sucks. My parents are the complete opposite to your parents I suppose. They hate muggles. All this pureblood, half-breed, muggle-born shit is their life. If they met you, they would probably like you, but once they found out you were muggle-born, they'd be more likely to kill you. It's crap, I know. That's why I hate them. I hate going home to their expectations and guidelines. It's all bullshit and I don't care."

"I guess you do know what I'm going through. We have a lot in common- though it's because we're completely opposite. Regulus to you is like Petunia to me and I know you love learning, you have this kind of look in your eyes- the same that James gets before a Quidditch game."

"Fear."

"Craving. You crave knowledge and the reason you hate class is because you don't learn anything. You're more likely to learn something by breaking the rules and causing havoc. I have that same craving but I go to the library and read, whereas you…marauder."

"I do my best." Sirius stood up. "Come on. I'll make you something to eat, Kim is teaching me how to cook. I think I've got pancakes down, but I want you to test them."

Sirius had made pancakes for Lily and a maid named Alice, given Lily a tour of the abode, and began to teach Lily how to fly in the Wiccapot's underground Quidditch Pitch when James and Terran had woken up and come to find them. James kissed Lily on the forehead and then immediately jumped on a broom. He showed off a fair bit, diving and spinning and rolling in the air.

When they finally gave up and went back to the mansion, it was pouring down with rain and Kim had made scones and tea.

"It's like being back in England." Sirius laughed as he helped himself to the scones.


At about midnight, the group was bored and decided to go for a walk. They found a small park and stayed there for most of the night, swinging on the swings and sliding on the slide.

"What's it like being in Slytherin, Kim?" Terran asked as she climbed a nearby tree. "Is it scary or just the same as the other houses?"

"Well, there are the hookers who hang out at the door, they tend to get annoying. But the nightly orgies are great fun!"

"Truthfully." Lily sighed.

"Well, I don't know if it's the same because I don't know what the other houses are like. And I don't spend much time with them or in the common room. I'm either in my dorm or with my friends." Kim stopped swinging. "It kinda sucks though. You guys and all my other friends are in different houses…we have a great time but then you all go off to the Ravenclaw or Gryffindor houses and I'm bored again. That's why I study and stuff. I don't particularly find it interesting or want to do well, but it's something to do."

"That sucks." Ebony was lying on the grass with Remus. "I wish I were in Slytherin. My best customers are Slytherin's and it would make things easier."

"Well, I did have some Slytherin friends, but they were all older than me. Now I'm in seventh year, they're all out in the real world and probably all forgotten me. Well, I suppose not all of them." She added.

James slid down the slide that he was sitting at the top of and walked to the tree that Terran was in. He pulled a switchblade out of his pocket, the one Sirius had given him in their second year at Hogwarts that could undo any knot and unlock any lock. He began to write something in the bark of the tree. Terran jumped from the branch and landed next to him.

"J.P. loves L.E. Very original." She said as James walked to another tree and began writing again.

"Marauder's Rule." He announced with a grin.

They spent the next week having a great time. They were on the beach whenever the weather was good, for the first few days they slept for only a few hours, but then found themselves sleeping as much as possible. They played Quidditch on the underground pitch, played plenty of pranks on each other, played pranks on the maids, played pranks on Ebony's older brother Bernard, played pranks on Muggles who dared to walk the Wiccian beach.

They had so much fun that time sped up and completely passed them by. It didn't stop until Christmas Eve.

"What's the date today?" Lily asked sleepily as she lay on the beach with her friends, watching the sky darken and the sun lower.

"20th." Sirius muttered.

"You said that yesterday." Kim laughed.

"Well if I stick with the same date, I'm bound to get it right some day."

"What's tomorrow?" Ebony asked sitting up.

"Shit, tomorrows Christmas." Kim jumped up.

"Lets go shopping." Ebony led her friends back to the house and through a secret passageway that took them too a massive 24 hour shopping centre.

They split up and shopped until they dropped onto Ebony's ten seater couch hours later. Sirius had been there for a lot longer than the others. He was either a very good shopper or had given up prematurely.

They all went to bed early except for Lily and James who went for a walk on the beach. The moonlight was strong and the stars were twinkling happily at them.

"Do you know what I'll miss the most about this place?" James asked as he gripped Lily's hand and looked up at the sky.

"The Quidditch pitch?" Lily nestled her head into James shoulder as they reached the end of the beach.

"No, the stars. They seem so much more alive. They look real." He stopped walking and turned to Lily.

"They are real, James." Lily giggled. "Don't you pay attention in Astronomy?"

"No. I was always too busy thinking about making a fool of the teacher to think about learning. I've always said that to learn is to…"

Lily cut him off. "I'm scared James. I'm scared to death."

"Of the stars?" Lily let go of James' hand and stepped back.

"I spent half my savings on Christmas presents. It wasn't until after that I realised that I have an education to pay for. When summer comes, I'll have to pay for somewhere to live."

"Well living on the street isn't bad and the price is rather reasonable."

"James, this is my future. Can't you be as serious about this as you are about the stars or Quidditch?"

"What am I supposed to say? Sorry your life sucks, hope you get over it some day."

"Tell me that everything will be okay. Let me know that I can make it. Promise me that this whole thing will get better." Lily fought back her tears.

"But what if everything won't be okay and you don't make it. What if everything only gets worse? I can't tell you something that I don't know and I can't lie to you, even if it's what you want to hear. I'm sorry."

"Well I'm sorry you feel that way. I'm sorry your life is too perfect for you to comprehend what I'm feeling. I'm sorry that your best friend has helped me through the week and all you can say is get over it. I'm sorry that you can lie to a thousand teachers, but can't lie to me."

"Do you want me to be serious? Do you want me to tell you about what I think?"

"Yes, I want to know what goes on in your mind."

"I don't want to think about the future in the way that you are. I don't want to think about money and Astronomy and truth. I look into the future and all I see is you." James yelled. He turned and looked out into the ocean. "Everything is going to be okay for you and you will make it." He yelled into the night. "But what if I don't." He whispered and turned back to her. "What if you discover that the only way your life can be perfect is to forget about me and you leave?" Tears glistened in his eyes. "Where will I be then? Nowhere. I won't make it. Things will only get better if you're there to help it." His eyes left hers and he began to walk back towards Ebony's house.

"I know I'll never be perfect James." Lily called back.

James turned around. "You already are."

He kept walking until Lily could no longer see him. She then fell onto the sand and looked up at the stars. Somehow they seemed more real.

As I gaze into the night

Down the future of my years

I'm not sure I want to walk

Past horizons that I know

But I feel my spirit called

Like a stirring deep within

Restless til I live again

Beyond the fears that close me in