It was early morning when the troops came back to the castle. An extraordinary breakfast was laid out for the graduates' last morning. After, everyone would go their separate ways. Lily and Ava had decided sometime ago to get a flat together and be cheery roommates. They had yet to pick out a village though, Lily still deciding on Uni. James was going directly to Aurors training starting in a few weeks. Sirius and Remus had been accepted as well, but had yet to make a decision. Peter remained quiet and unsure on his course of action.
The dining hall seemed massive with so few students in it. Not everyone attended, but it was still early. The seating was open, students sitting at every table. But the six from Gryffindor remained in their usual accustomed seats.
"You can sit anywhere," Devon, who came bouncing over, pointed out, "you know." Not even getting a response, she bounced off again.
"No one should be that happy in the morning." Peter grumbled as he played with his food.
"Ah, you just have a hangover." Sirius smacked him on the back. Peter sent him a deathglare.
"I'm surprised you don't with as much as you guzzled last night." Lily eyed James, who was looking sheepish.
"Ah-ha!" Ava laughed. "He does! He's just hiding it."
The two girls got quite a laugh over it considering James insisted they were pissed last night and kept saying how sick they'd be and vomit. Then going so far as to buy more. Laughing in hysterics they all regaled each other with the past night's events. Things someone might have missed had to be explained as embarrassment visit each in turn. Pretty soon they found themselves alone in the empty hall.
"Meet you on the train," Lily called after James as she pulled Ava from her seat and raced to her room to get her trunks and to the trains. The boys were also on their ways upstairs, but not quite at Lily's break neck speed. On exiting the school for the last time, each gave a personal 'cheers' to the memorable Hogwarts, new adventures await.
Lily had insisted that Ava stay with her over the summer. On the train back to King's Cross, she let it be known that she'd be attending Uni in London. James must have been the most excited to hear, for his training, and HQ would be in London, at the Ministry. Sirius politely let them talk of this for a while before telling them about Remus.
"He stayed behind, saying he would catch up with us later. What do you think that means?"
"He said the same to me and Peter," James looked from Sirius to Peter as he spoke. "I wonder what he is up to."
"None of your business I fear." Lily supplemented.
"I need to go see to Isobel." Ava broke in. "Goodbyes and all." She played casual. It was written all over her face though, how sad she was. She kept a small smile on her face, trying to hide it.
"Would you like me to come with you?" "Need company?" Lily and Sirius asked. Ava shook her head, declining.
"I'll see you when we get back." She looked at Lily, they would meet up at the station. "Same with the rest of you plus one Lupin." She winked at James and Peter. Her eyes fell to Sirius, she nodded to him. "Padfoot." And she slipped out the door to find Isobel's compartment.
He practically purred as he heard it. He could feel his friends' hot glares on him but they could hold off a moment. After that moment, he turned to them, knowing what to expect.
James looked like his eyes were going to pop out of his head. Lily seemed just as stunned, but was polite enough to wait for it. Peter jumped in immediately. "What-You-" He could hardly speak.
"Ah, don't pop a vessel, I-"
"How could you?" James hopped on him. "We discussed this!"
"You mean you discussed it while I had to listen to you?" Sirius' defenses coming up. "Give me a break."
"Yeah, we want to." Peter tossed in his two cents.
"Shut up, Wormtail." James and mostly Sirius snapped.
"Come down from your high and mighty broomstick," Sirius turned to James. "I didn't tell her the rest. She asked about my name. Whose fault is it if she overheard that? Not mine. I don't go around calling myself Padfoot. Hey pad-"
"Fine," James cut him off mid rant. "But she doesn't know the rest?"
"No." Sirius bitter words kept short. "She should. Remus didn't say I couldn't"
"Just another time, okay?"
Sirius and James came to a truce and let it go. Sirius would tell her when the time was right; James gave him that. But James had to decide when that was, along with Remus. It's not that he didn't trust Ava, James told Sirius, it was just a precaution.
What James didn't tell Sirius is that he wanted to be sure the girl would still be around in a few weeks, months, a year, whatever. He did have a feeling that Sirius was, well, serious. But he hadn't been completely absent from the past seven years; Sirius did have somewhat of a reputation. His friend just needed to be patient and wait for said perfect time.
Within the hour, a pop regained the attention of the group, as Remus appeared in what seemed to be a satisfying mood. With a quiet grin, he sat down, waiting for them to ask. He loved to keep them in suspense.
"Well?" Lily took the plunge this time, since James took Sirius. "Where were you?"
"The walls have ears." His aloofness kept them waiting until he saw fit.
After hearing their constant whining, he broke. Giving in, he spilled where he was but not why. "I had a summit with Dumbledore. Albus," he tested it out with a smile.
'And…' their faces seemed to say. He told them he did in fact have news to share with them, but it would have to wait until another time, when they were in less open space. Who knew what slytherin, er person, was creeping around.
"Where's Altair?" Lupin looked around for his game mate.
"Water works over Isobel." Sirius rolled his eyes. Lily gave him a hard smack plus a glare.
"They've been together a while and through a lot, now she won't see her for a while. Have some sympathy."
"Hmm." Peter mused. "Seems like you've taken that spot."
Sirius and Lily both looked at him, not sure which one he meant. Seeing their looks he turned and looked out the window. Apparently, his foot taste bad.
"Yeah, I know." Sirius turned back to Lily. "She's just keeping it to herself I guess."
"She's like that." Lily nodded. "But, she'll be fine when we see her later."
Arriving at the station, the group found themselves waiting on Ava. They had decided to have a final dinner together before heading back home for some time apart. Ava was staying with Lily for sometime over the summer, until they had found a flat and moved in. Sirius was sure his place needed dusting, not that he'd do it, after ten months of uselessness. James needed to stop by the 'rents to exchange goods and visit some. Remus and Peter had similar plans.
Just as predicted, Ava arrived as her normal-for her that is- self. Informing her of the plan, they set off to look for an appropriate place to dine. Somewhere were they would each be satisfied. Finally after sitting down, and ordering, Lily pounced on Remus verbally, in question of his early absence.
"Yes, so I was with Albus." He got quite a kick out of calling their former headmaster by his given name. He had his permission now.
"We've already established that." James groaned.
"Do you want to hear or not?" Remus smugly said. That shut him up. "He told me that he is developing a venture that we might have interest in. He didn't allude to much, but said that he would stay in contact."
"That's it?"
"That's the short version, yes."
"Took you all the rest of the time to decipher Dumbledorian." Laughed Ava. "Not surprised."
"Are you sure you got it right?" Peter tried. "He can be rather vague many a time."
Remus told them what the man had said, and they had agreed that for the most part that is what it meant. But they had some fun creating what he might have meant. And at the end there were farewells and goodbyes. Even though it would be for a couple days or weeks, they would miss each other. While Lily and Ava would probably see James and Sirius, respectively, more, they would miss the other two just as much. James, Peter and Lily stood together talking while Sirius, Ava and Remus stood slightly farther off.
"So I'll see you on Saturday right, luv?" Remus teased Sirius about hooking up wit his girlfriend. Sirius had a tolerant look on his face.
"Sure I can fit you in," Ava played along. "After breakfast and before lunch, gives us plenty of time."
Before she could even say bye, he had hopped on his train that had pulled up as they spoke. She couldn't help but grin at his escape. He was a character when you got to know him, even more than James and Sirius sometimes. She did get the feeling that he had his studious days in his past, when they count. Much like her, he could afford to goof off now, or at least somewhat. Enjoy the summer they had decided.
"Leave me for a dog, now me friend," Sirius shook his head at her. Mock hurt played no his handsome features.
"A girl's got to do…" She trailed off as they went over to where Peter wait for his train. He was agreeing with James over something pointless, which made Sirius want to disagree just for the hell of it.
"Why are you taking the train again?" Lily asked.
"Same reason Lupin, didn't get enough of it on the way back." He grinned as he took his ride.
"And then there were four." Lily sighed.
Wrapping it up they said their goodbyes after making plans to meet in Hyde Park later in the next week. Walking off in different directions they went home. Lily had to take Ava the long way so she knew where Lily's house was. Sirius and James took the easy - pop! - way home.
To say that Ava didn't get along with Petunia would be an understatement. Lily's parents were polite enough, humoring their daughter to let her weird friend stay for a while. But eventually Petunia and her endless medalling and bickering, add in complaining and hounding, drove Ava away. Lily was sad to see her go, but their flat would be ready soon. Well, that is when they found it, choose it, settled on one, whatever. Sirius said she could stay with him. He would be happy to have company, especially as lovely as her. If only they had been given a warning…
Lily was ready for school, enrolled and set to go. James was in training, sometimes no one saw him for days at a time, possible weeks. Ava found a job at a garage that was somewhat low key. She was happy enough not to draw attention, that way she could subtly work on her ideas without to much notice. She did the muggle work, but had access to the tools to test her own theories on wizarding paraphernalia, without having to have her own equipment. Remus seemed to be conferring with Albus as they set into this project he talked of. And Peter? Well, Peter remained aloof, but nothing new there.
Ava finished her letter to Isobel and sent it off. Presently Isobel was in France for the end of the summer. She was staying for the fall as she found her own way in life. She watched the Owl fly from Sirius window in to the night. She bit her bottom lip in thought. She and Lily were going out to night while they guys went out alone. A separation of Sexes was needed tonight.
Sirius had already left, he went to James's new place that he had found down the way from the ministry. If Ava admit it to herself, she was jealous. She and Lily were still waiting for theirs. Patience is a virtue right? She tried to remind herself. Not that Sirius wasn't great, she told herself. She just didn't like the pressure of living with someone; she'd done it before. Things could get strained. But Sirius was very good about it surprisingly. Not much seemed to bother him it seemed.
With a pop, Lily arrived and Ava had to tuck her thoughts away. They went out to a club she had found out from her co-workers-Rehab, Reality, something like that. It was worth a shot, she was always game, and it would hurt Lily. After slight conversation, they were off.
Elsewhere, Sirius and James met up to wait on their accomplices. They hadn't actually planned where to meet, but the Red Lion on Birch St. was always a good place to start. It was a pastime for the crew. Halfway through their pints, Remus showed up walking inside the smoky parlor. After procuring himself a suitable drink, he met them in the beer garden. Followed behind was Peter.
"Look who I found skulking about."
"Getting in fights no doubt." Sirius guessed.
Peter conjured a weak grin. He found himself alone lately and wasn't all that fond of it, even Sirius' ridicule was better. He sat down unaware of how he clutched his bottle. He forced a smile on his face while even though he didn't hear the craic they guys passed around. Probably would have been above his head he darkly considered.
While Remus flirted with the waitress, James and Sirius talked about James' work. He could only say so much, things being classified, but they still talked. The talk soon turned to Lily, and how she would be when the reality set in that James was/would be an Auror.
"She'll nag you over the late nights, and dangerous cases." Sirius warned him sincerely. "I love her, you know that, but she won't take a back seat to anything."
"She'll have to." Peter intoned.
James nodded his head. "It's true. She knew I was going into this. She'll learn. But I think you're right, I don't think its set in yet."
"So you're still gonna go through with it?" Remus brought his attention back to the table.
"Not any time soon." James denied it through their snickering. "Go on, laugh. We'll see what happened your turn." This just brought more sniggering, much louder.
"Not going to happen mate." Remus broke it to him.
"Never?" James eyed him skeptically. The other two he scrutinized. "We'll see."
"We already know who's next anyways," Peter brightened up. Grinning, Remus caught his eye as he stood up to go get another round. James sat back eyeing Sirius.
"Ava's not going to wait around forever for you," Peter stared him down. "Especially you."
James roared with laughter as he went to the bathroom, hearing the comment just in time. Sirius fell forward from the way he was reclining the chair back. For once, he didn't have a snide remark in store for his small friend. He had the look of a dear in the headlights.
Marriage? When had he agreed to that?! Hell yeah Ava was great, but that great? Was she as white lace and promises as Lily? A million and one questions ran through his head, but no answers came. The moments he didn't have the questions burning in his head, he just sat there dazed. Amongst confusion, bewilderment, and stunned.
They didn't even say the L-word to each other yet. Living together right now before she found a flat-wait! Would she find one? Or would it turn into a full-fledged committed L-l-love? Sirius continued to work himself up, practically foaming at the mouth. He hadn't realized that when he had invited her to stay for a while after she left the Evans's, what he was doing. What would he do now? What could he do?
Peter admitted, to himself, that he was secretly pleased that he could throw Sirius off like that. How many times had he done it to him? Peter hadn't even planned it, or really meant it, but it didn't hurt-him. Let Sirius sweat, he'd figure it out, always did. That thought brought Peter back down in to his former dismal mood
When Remus and James returned, they were in particularly good moods, and were oblivious to their friends reverse. Sirius managed to bring himself out of his funk by the end of the night. Peter remained as Peter always was, the tagalong.
As Ava was putting her key in the door and coming into the flat, Sirius was on his way out. An awkward silence passed between them as they stood in the doorway for a moment. Quickly, it came and went, and things merely rolled on as they could.
"Going out?" Ava asked him upon entering in, asking over her shoulder.
"Yeh."
"Have fun." She called after him.
Completely unaware of the sneer that came onto his face, he left out the door. Certainly a good thing his back had been to her. But the fragile balance couldn't be maintained as things came to a wall. Things built up and were subdued until finally, one day thing exploded…
After a long day of work, Ava fell inside and staggered through the hall. With her gray coverall arms tied around her waist, and her white t-shirt smeared randomly with black, she looked down at her sleeve to see a streak. Resisting the urge to fall into the couch, as she truly wanted, she walked over to the bar in the breakfast nook, and leaned against it for support.
Sirius came out, mentally cursing himself for taking so long. Usually he tried to be gone when she got home. Feeling the guilt, he went over to say hi and bye. Kissing her on the cheek, he asked how her day was insincerely. He turned away to get a drink, and then he would be on his way.
"Don't ask." She cut him off, not wanting to get into it. "The guys," her co-workers, "are having a shindig later. Want to come?"
"No."
"Come on," she tried again, unsure if she really wanted him to come or not. "They still want to meet you."
"No."
"Maybe you'd like them. Have a good time…" she tried to sound playful, though it was very hard.
"Maybe you should let it go." He snapped.
"Maybe you should lighten up." She bit back at him. Wow did this sound familiar a part told her in the back of her head.
"Get. Off. My. Back."
"Fine." She pushed off the bar and turned around, walking away. "If you don't want to do anything with me that's fine. I don't need that and I don't need you if that's how you're going to be."
"Like what?" he egged her on, following into the living room. Both couldn't hold back their irritations now. The stress came to its boiling point and overflowed.
"A dodgy muppet that doesn't have time to spare for me!" she burst forth, unaware of the venom that went with it.
"And I don't some cocky little misfit wench!" he snarled back at her, his anger as fierce as her own. His handsome features wicked with rage and hair in his face.
She spun around and locked her eyes on him, neither moved nor said anything. Their eyes burned into each other in a standoff. Not taking her eyes from him, with a snap and a pop she was gone, along with her valise.
He fell into the couch, feeling a huge burden lifted from him with a sigh. However, he was completely unaware of the weight that he would soon feel in its stead.
:: Ouch, pretty rough. They seemed to have little bouts of frustration occasionally. But then again, who doesn't? Ah, till next time crew, stay tuned…
