A/n: I AM SOOOOOOOO SORRY!!!!!!! I know it's been months and months, and I'm soo ashamed! But really, school has taken a horrible toll upon my life. It's looking as if I'll have barely any summer vacation because of all these programs I want to do during the summer! Anyway, I have finally gotten this chapter out, and you must be happy that I've done this much, because I've had poetry notebooks, research papers, and cheerleading all to do, plus all that homework in between. It's just been hectic, however, I will do my bestest to get the next chapter out much, much sooner! (Which actually will be fairly easy, considering school is almost over)

Disclaimer: Same old, same old….

The first thing Lily did the next day was to try to talk to Gwynne. Unfortunately Gwynne could not be found. Not in the dormitories, not in the common room, not in any empty classrooms (though it couldn't really be expected that she'd be there), not in the Great Hall, not even in the library. Finally deciding that her search was futile, Lily went back to her own business saying she would find and talk to Gwynne the next day.

            Monday came, and she still couldn't find Gwynne. Sure she was in classes, but where she disappeared to after classes was a mystery. Lily tried to follow her once, but she lost the small, quiet girl in the mass of students heading towards the Great Hall for lunch. It was especially hard to be on someone's tail when someone else coughREMUScough was continually asking you if you had asked that person yet.

            Finally, on Tuesday night, Lily found Gwynne in the common room. She was sitting in the far corner reading another big, dusty volume. She seemed to be completely taken in with whatever she was reading. Her hazel eyes looked intently at the page behind some thin framed glasses, most likely reading glasses, and her light brown hair fell in her face. As it was almost twelve o'clock at night and as there were no students in the common room; Lily chose this moment to go and talk to the hard-to-catch Gwynne.

            "Hi, Gwynne," Lily said as she walked across the room to where the shy girl sat.

            "Oh, hello, Lily," Gwynne said raising her head from her book. Then seeing that Lily wished to actually have a conversation with her, she set the book on the small table next to her chair and laid her glasses on top of it.

            "So…what book are you reading?" Lily asked trying to figure out how to get to the desired topic.

            "Jane Eyre. Have you ever read it?" Gwynne asked. She really liked to talk about books.

            "Um, I can't say that I have. Is it any good?"

            "Depends on what kind of books you like, I suppose. It's a romance, but not the really romantic kind where there's a gorgeous girl who meets some debonair gentleman and falls in love at first sight. Actually it's quite the opposite." She would have elaborated, but realized that Lily had probably come over to talk about some homework or something like that; no one ever really talked to her for any other reason. "So why'd you really want to talk?"

            Lily thought for a split second about telling Gwynne the truth. That she was trying to find out for Remus if she, Gwynne, liked him. Then Lily realized how weird, and rude, something like that would be.

            "Oh, just to chat. Do you like fantasy books, because those are my favorites…"

!

            The next few weeks went by smoothly. Lily and Jackie, because of course Jackie had to be included, began to become very good friends with Gwynne. It shocked them, actually, to realize how little attention that they, or anyone for that matter, had spared on such an intriguing girl. The more they began to know her, the more they began to see that something, or more likely someone, was always on her mind.

            During these weeks that Lily was trying to get to know Gwynne, she and Remus had made a silent agreement not to talk of the subject until informed otherwise. As in Lily finding out Gwynne really liked him or not.

            Lily also found out, during these weeks, why Gwynne was so hard to find. Behind a particular painting, on a particular hall there happened to be a small room that only a girl would know the password to. Gwynne told Jackie and Lily about the place shortly after they began to befriend her; she also told them the password: sometimes just looking at guys makes my head hurt. Yeah, they thought it was a long password too, although extremely true.

            About a month after Lily and Remus's talk, the three girls, after having a very hectic Friday, decided they should have a little girls' night out, and what better place than Gwynne's secret room?

            So Friday after school they pulled out all their make-up, nail polish, hair scrunches, brushes, lotions, and gathered plenty of food from the kitchens (the secret entrance being known courtesy of the Marauders). Then they gathered all the pillows and sheets and spreads that they could and, as inconspicuously as possible, headed to the secret compartment. (Of course they went one at a time, I'm sure three girls carrying all sorts of make-up, pillows and blankets, and food to some empty corridor would look extremely conspicuous.)

            Once they were there, and all spread out, for the little room had plenty of spacing because the only furniture was a small desk and a comfy chair, they began to play Truth or Dare, the best conversation starter ever invented.

            "Alright, Gwynne, you go first, and I'll start on your nails," Jackie said while looking for the perfect color.

            "Um…I don't really know what to ask," Gwynne admitted truthfully, "I've never played. Am I supposed to found out all your nasty secrets, or who you like, or make you do something incredibly stupid which you will forever look back on in shame?"

            "All of them, separately of course," Lily said.

            "Ok…Lily, Truth or Dare?"

            "Hmm...It's too early to do any kind of dare, so I'll go with truth."

            "Have you ever had sexual intercourse, with a girl?"

            At that Jackie burst out with hysterical laughter, and Lily turned a bright shade of pink but was laughing yet.

            "As much as I hate to admit it, I have, but I can say truthfully…it was all Jackie's fault!"

            "It was not! We were both a little more than tipsy-"

            "Way more than tipsy," Lily cut in.

            "And I thought it was a mutual agreement," Jackie finished as if she hadn't been interrupted.

            "Whoa! I want the whole story, and I want it now," Gwynne said, extremely curious and extremely amused.

            "Well, if you must know, it was at my house two summers ago. Lily had accidentally found my parents' liquor cabinet-" Jackie began to explain, but was interrupted again by Lily.

            "I did not! You are the one who knew where it was."

            "Remember it how you will, we both got very, very drunk; and, although I can't remember how we started talking about it, we starting discussing lesbians, and the next thing I know, we're snogging! Of course, it may have gone farther than that, but not too much farther, because we both passed out pretty soon," Jackie finished.

            "I will never get drunk with you again," Lily said.

            "Oh, you know you liked it," Jackie replied. Gwynne just laughed while shaking her head.

            "Great, now I'll never be able to get those pictures out of my head," she said.

            They continued to laugh about this for the next few minutes. It really was hard to stop because every time they would all stop laughing, one of them would say "Silence!" and then they'd all start cracking up again. However, during one of these silences there was heard a tapping, like an owl on the window tapping. Lily scrambled up, still laughing hysterically, and opened the window to find that it was her owl that was rapping so on the window.

            It was then that Lily remembered Petunia's promise to write when their parents returned. Of course, that's not to say that she ever truly forgot, but what with all the start of the school year homework and prefect duties, she hadn't had much time to worry about it. She realized then that her parents had been gone close to five months. They had never been gone that long.

            On such an epiphany she hastily tore open the letter:

Dear Lily,

I hope your having an alright time at school! Mom and dad have been back for about a week, but in all the hustle and bustle of their return (you know what they're like) I haven't had a chance to write to you about it. They were like their usually selves, bringing back plenty of junk for us to store in the attic, completely unaware of how worried we'd all been because of their being gone so long.

Oh, just so you know, they decided that they were going to tour the Mediterranean instead of just staying in Italy. That is why they've been gone for almost five months. When I asked why they hadn't called or written, they said, and this really won't surprise you, it had just slipped their minds. Doesn't it always 'just slip their minds'?

Although they did say they had written once, just a quick little note, but since we didn't receive it, they believe it must've gotten lost somewhere between Algeria and here. Go figure.

            Anyways, they're planning on taking another trip soon, probably over Christmas,

so I wouldn't be expected much from them.

            So do write if something happens at Hogwarts, something important that is, and tell James hello for me!

Until Christmas,

Petunia

            Lily folded the letter up and sent her owl on up to the Owlery.

            "What was that all about?" Jackie asked.

            "It was Petunia. Mom and dad have finally gotten back from Italy, and evidently their Mediterranean tour," Lily explained rather bitterly. Jackie nodded understandingly, but Gwynne looked slightly confused. Jackie saw this and whispered so Lily couldn't hear,

            "I'll explain later." Then, because she knew Lily needed some definite cheer, she added, "Alright, let's crack open these butterbeers and have a little fun."

            "Just as long as we don't have too much fun, if you know what I mean," Gwynne said while handing Lily the drink.

            "Really, I think that that one lesbian act was enough for my entire lifetime," Lily agreed, getting into a party mood.

            "I know! Let's play tell-everyone-who-you-like!" Jackie said. The other two girls weren't so eager.

            "Oh come on, Jackie, you only want to play because you don't like anybody," Lily complained.

            "Exactly, and since you happen to make that comment, and because you obviously like somebody, or else you wouldn't mind playing, you get to go first!"

            This was, strangely enough, exactly what Lily did and did not want. Of course she wanted it to find out who it was that Gwynne liked, and she didn't want it because she wasn't ready to admit to anyone other than herself that she was falling for James Potter.

            "Ugh, fine," Lily said. How was she going to get out of this one? Ah hah! What is the one thing that hanging out with James has taught me? When in doubt, lie to get out! "I have to admit that I have been crushing on Mundungus Fletcher!"

            "That Ravenclaw boy from Care of Magical Creatures?" Jackie asked.

            "Yes."

            "Lily, Lily, that is so cute!" she exclaimed.

            "Well, Gwynne, I believe it's your turn," Lily said, trying to steer the subject away from the person she really didn't like, knowing all to well that Jackie would want to hook her up with him.

            "Well," Gwynne said hesitatingly, "Are you sure you won't laugh? And are you sure you won't tell anyone? Please?"

            "Of course not! What kind of friends do you think we are?" Jackie asked.

            "Besides, who would we tell? Certainly not whoever it is you like, and you would have to kill me before I would tell Katy or any of them," Lily assured her.

            "Alright, but let me just tell you first, that I've liked this boy since, it must be said, first year. Perhaps, even more than liked him; and even though he really doesn't seem to see me, I just can't get myself to give up on him and move on. I've tried, I really have, but some way or other he ends up in my thoughts again. It's like…destiny or something," and she said this with rapture and delight, as if she'd been waiting so long for someone to ask her such a question, which she probably had.

            "Well, you can't just leave us hanging like that! Who is he?" Jackie urged, so that then, in the quietest of whispers, Gwynne answered,

            "Sirius Black."

!

A/n: But I can leave you guys hanging! Ok, review, review, review! Please!

Oh yes, and Thank yous go to:

freakyfroggurl22- Hmm…that is a good idea…I might be using it:)

Musicizdbest- I know, I can't help being obsessed, it just comes naturally

paws10081- I'm afraid to see what you're going to say about how long it took me to get this one up! But I promise, I will try really really REALLY hard to get the next chapter out ASAP!!!!

does it matter?- thank you! What compliments!

Ravenclawgirl- thanks, and of course I'll continue! I've got to see how this ends :0)

Lamina Court- thanks for reviewing, and I must say I really love your fics too! They are soo kewl:0)

Well, if I left anybody out, just yell at me in the review and I'll be sure to mention ya next time!