Summer of Love
Lily Evans and her best friend Athena Asimokopoulos head for a vacation in Athena's homeland—Greece. Lily expects a great summer, filled with lazy days on the beach, checking out hot Greek men and eating bizarre Greek food. However, the best part of the entire trip would be NO JAMES POTTER!
James Potter, however, is stunned when he is told he has to go to Greece for his cousins' engagement party. He doesn't want to go at all, but with some persuasion from his mother and Sirius Black, they're off.
Lily is outraged when she sees her worst enemy, James Potter in Greece! She thought she could get rid of him! James, meanwhile, is thanking himself repeatedly for deciding to come to Greece after all.
James is desperate to make Lily fall in love with him before the summer is over, but the question is—can he?
Chapter 14—Arguing over a stupid plan/ Forgiving
Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, do you think I'd be writing this? (Didn't think so). I only own Athena Asimokopoulos, her grandparents, Eileen, Stella and other characters you may not recognize.
No flaming please! I really do think that flaming just makes the author of the story feel miserable and that they stink at writing—so no flaming please!
This story is dedicated to THE BIG DANCE, for being my first reviewer. Thanks so much TBD!
IMPORTANT NOTE: I got a review over confusion on Athena's heritage. The question was, 'How did she her last name if her dad isn't Greek and her mom is?' The answer is BOTH her parents are Greek—her dad is a Muggle born and her mum is a witch. I hope that clears things up!
Now, ON TO THE CHAPTER!
--
Lily walked a considerable distance away from the four before breaking out into a run.
It wasn't very easy as Lily was wearing high heels and every time she took a step into the ground, the sand would suck her heels in, making her run like a snail.
Finally, Lily tore off her strappy shoes and hurtled them down the beach. Who cares if she forgot about them—they were Petunia's old ones anyway.
In her bare feet, Lily was able to run faster than she had before. As she ran down the beach, she remembered the night's events in slow motion—getting ready, going to the restaurant, seeing James, him asking her to walk with him, him holding her hand, and then Niko coming.
What really stood out in Lily's mind was the fight. She had always wanted somebody to fight for her, like Helen of Troy. A huge war raged just because of Helen and the two countries, Troy and Greece (Sparta) had wanted her.
Lily had fantasized about that and thought it would be amazing but now, as she ran down the beach and witnessed that for the first time, Lily hated it.
Damn that James Potter. She was just starting to like him too when he had to fight Niko.
She knew it was too good to last.
James Potter would always be James Potter. And the James Potter Lily knew was cruel, arrogant, had a large ego, large head, a Marauder and a ladies man.
Lily felt tears leak through her eyes again and wiped them away. She wasn't going to cry over James Potter.
After a good two minutes, Lily stopped running and looked down the beach to see how far she had run.
Considering the fact that she couldn't see the Athena, Sirius, James and Niko, she had to have run far.
Lily dropped down to the ground, drew her knees to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them, staring into the inky black waters of the Mediterranean.
--
"I screwed up," James moaned, shaking his head (and wincing) as Sirius helped him go back to the restaurant. "I screwed up so badly. Lily hates me and I was so close! I WAS SO CLOSE!"
Sirius frowned and said, "It's your own fault, Prongs."
"How is it my fault?" James snapped, the restaurant coming into view.
"I'll tell you why," Sirius said, "one, you fought Niko and two when Lily said stop, did you stop?"
"No." James mumbled.
"There you go," Sirius said, as the two reached the restaurant. "And now, thanks to you, Lily will probably never talk to you again."
"Do you know what really sucks?" James asked as he stepped inside the restaurant.
"What?"
"My mum will kill me when she sees me like this."
--
Athena was in a seriously pissed off mood.
That dratted cousin of her—that tactless cousin—god, she despised him right now.
He ruined the chances between Lily and James! He just had to fall in love with Lily and then Athena just had to choose this restaurant at this time when Niko was here.
Thankfully, Niko didn't come alone. He had come with his mother, her Aunt Maria, and delivered him to her. She was pleased when Maria exploded at her son's appearance and when Athena explained what happened. The last Athena had seen was Maria dragging the seventeen year old out of the restaurant by the ear.
It was funny actually, how such a hotshot teenager can act like a little boy in front of his mother.
After his mother dragged out Niko from the restaurant, Athena went to find Lily.
All she knew was that Lily ran down the beach away from James so Athena started jogging down that way.
Lily wouldn't have gone far, Athena knew that for a fact. She was a foreigner to this country and would have no idea where she would have gone. In addition, Lily knew better than to leave Athena.
As Athena jogged down the beach, she realized that she could barely see a thing where she was going. It was nighttime and of course, she couldn't see a thing. She suddenly wished she was seventeen and able to do magic.
Oh well, guess she'd have to do it the Muggle way and strain her vision.
About five minutes of blindly looking around she finally stumbled upon something and there was a cry of, "Watch where you're going!"
As Athena scrambled up from the sand she recognized that voice. Only one person she knew had a British accent and had a feminine voice that was sitting on the beach at eight forty five at night.
Lily.
Athena turned to Lily and said, "Lils—it's Athena."
"Oh," Lily's voice became softer as she looked up to try to find Athena's voice. "Hey, Thena."
"What are you doing alone on the beach at night?" Athena sat down in front of Lily, not caring that the tide was reaching the back of her dress.
"What do you think I'm doing?" Lily snapped. "I tried to get as far away from Potter as I could."
Athena frowned. "You shouldn't be calling him Potter," Athena defended.
"And why shouldn't I?" Lily challenged.
"Because," Athena wrung her hands, hoping what she would say would change Lily's mind. "He really cares for you."
Lily looked away (it really didn't matter because it was so dark) and said quietly, "Potter did something very stupid tonight."
"For heavens sakes!" Athena exploded. "It's not like the guy cheated on you! If he cheated on you then it would be different! I would have murdered him with my bare hands!"
"He still did something wrong." Lily insisted.
"My god! It's not like he committed murder! He only got in a fight with my boufo of a cousin! And Niko deserved it after following you with James then throwing the first punch!"(A/N: Boufo means fool)
"Potter didn't have to retaliate!" Lily said hotly.
"God dang you, Lily!" Athena yelled, pounding the sand with her fists. "You are so stubborn! You shouldn't be mad at James! You should be mad at Niko!"
Lily scowled. "I am."
"Really?" Athena asked, "Because by the way things are going, it looks like you are blaming James for the entire thing! It's not James' fault, Lily, it's Niko's!"
Lily crossed her arms and stuck her chin in the air. "I'm not changing my mind."
"What is it with red heads? They're so stubborn! Greeks are supposed to be the stubborn ones!" Athena stood up and looked down at Lily (well tried to because it was so dark she couldn't see a thing). "I'm going back inside to eat some food. When you finally swallow your pride and apologize to James, I'll be waiting."
Athena left Lily on the beach to think about her words.
--
"Does she forgive me?" James asked Athena once she sat down in her seat again, a scowl etched on her features.
Athena glared at James. "Does it look like she forgave you?"
"Touchy!" James snapped, pressing the wet paper towel against his cheek where a particularly nasty cut was. "I was only asking!"
"Yeah well Lily is just so stubborn!" Athena looked down at her Greek salad and viciously stabbed it with her fork.
Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Aren't the Greeks supposed to be stubborn?"
"That's not the point!" Athena exploded, throwing her fork down. "The point is that Lily hates admitting that she's wrong!"
"What's that got to do with anything?" Sirius asked, not using his head.
Athena rolled her eyes and threw a roll of bread at his head. "Think boufo think!"
Sirius scratched his head. "I still don't get it."
Athena groaned and said, "What I'm saying is that Lily hates admitting she's wrong. She knows she shouldn't be mad at James but her stupid pride is in her way!"
James looked up in anger. "Lily's not mad at that prat I fought?" He asked angrily.
Athena shook her head. "She is mad at him but I believe most of her anger is directed at you for reasons I don't know."
James scowled.
"She also said she started to like you too." Athena said quietly.
James' eyes widened and his mouth formed the perfect 'O' shape as he dropped his forehead to the table and gave a shout in hurt. He forgot that there was a bruise on his forehead.
Athena rolled her eyes, grasped James by his hair and pulled him up so that his hazel eyes bore into her dark brown orbs. "Now, don't injure yourself even further, buddy boy." Athena said. "We just need to think of something."
Sirius could not help but notice that Athena and James were in close proximity and it made his blood boil for reasons he did not know. (A/N: )
James and Athena, who had no idea that Sirius, looked ready to kill, continued with there conversation.
"Well, what am I supposed to do?" James asked, his eyes starting to water from the pain because Athena was holding his head up from his hair.
"You could go and proclaim your love to her, beg her forgiveness and kiss her." Sirius offered, his teeth gritted at the sight of James and Athena.
Athena shook her head. "Nope—won't work."
"Why not?" Sirius asked, "It works with all the other girls."
"Key word," Athena pointed out, "other. It doesn't work with me and it doesn't work for Lily."
Damn. Sirius thought bitterly. I was sure it would work for you.
James sighed while Athena stared thoughtfully into space (her food forgotten).
Finally, her eyes brightened and she tightened her grip on James' messy hair.
"I got the perfect plan!" Athena smiled.
James winced as the pain in his head intensified.
"Athena," James choked out. "May I ask you one question?"
"Ask away, Potter."
"Would you let go of my hair?"
--
Lily was still alone on the beach, Athena's harsh words still echoing through her mind:
"By the way things are going; it looks like you are blaming James for the entire thing! It's not James' fault, Lily, it's Niko's!"
Was Athena right about this? Was her ridiculous pride getting in the way again?
Lily hated admitting she was wrong and this was one of the times.
Yet, she couldn't help but saying out loud to herself, "Athena's wrong. It is Potter's fault. He just had to instigate the fight! He could have just backed off and this entire thing wouldn't have happened."
Lily was so convinced that this statement was true, that her hate for James Potter intensified.
--
"Pray tell," Sirius said, propping his face on his hands. "How is this a brilliant plan?"
Athena seized the paper napkin and a pen from the waiter that passed and started scribbling things down on the napkin. Sirius and James craned their necks to see what Athena was writing but her fist met their faces.
"I think she doesn't want us to see what she is writing?" Sirius remarked, rubbing his nose.
"No crap, Padfoot." James said sarcastically.
Finally, Athena stopped writing, threw the pen down and shoved the napkin in front of the two boys so they could read her masterpiece.
Athena grinned as the two boys read her master plan.
"Well?" Athena asked eagerly. "What do you guys think?"
All she got were two blank stares.
"You guys don't get it?" Her grin slipped from her face as the boys shook their heads.
Athena stretched her hand and snatched the napkin. "See?" She jabbed at it with her finger. "We tell Lily that James is in trouble," she pointed to a stick figure with jagged hair and overly large glasses and head.
James glanced at it. "Is that supposed to be me?" He asked.
Sirius laughed. "You suck at drawing, Athena."
"Obviously. Now, PAY ATTENTION."
The boys did.
"That's better—now, after we get Lily over to James we'll put him in a 'life or death' situation. Then, she's help him out, look into his eyes, know that she loves him and everything will be good!" Athena clapped her hands in excitement. "This plan rocks, doesn't it?"
James and Sirius glanced at each other.
"Well?" Athena leaned forward, "doesn't it?"
"Actually," James started, slightly hesitating, "it kind of sucks."
"Excuse me?" She snapped.
"It sounds something like Sirius would think of." James shook his head (and wincing in pain at the exact same time), "Honestly, you two are more alike than I thought."
Athena turned crimson red while Sirius turned a slight shade of red.
"Anyway," Athena said loudly, trying to get rid of the tension between her and Sirius, "what do you guys think?"
"It sucks." James said, taking the wet paper towel off his cheek to see some blood on it.
"Blech." Athena wrinkled her nose and scrunched up her eyes. "James, please put that back on your cheek."
James shrugged and put the paper towel back on his cheek.
"Well," Sirius said, staring at the scribbles thoughtfully. "I mean—it has some pizzazz."
James laughed. "Sirius Black actually AGREES with Athena Something or another! Somebody hit me!"
Glaring, Athena gave a nicely earned kick to the shins to James.
"Ouch! I didn't mean literally!"
Athena shrugged and returned to hearing what Sirius was saying.
"But it lacks something that I can't put my finger on."
"And what makes you the expert?" Athena demanded.
"Easy," Sirius pointed to the scribble with long hair (which was Lily) and said, "Lily won't come to James' aid if he was in danger."
"Good point."
"I think that James should just beg for her forgiveness." Sirius said.
James made a noise in protest.
"No way!" Athena exploded. "Lily would HATE that! No, I think we should go my way."
Sirius crossed his arms. "But begging would make Lily know that James misses her."
"Putting James in a life or death situation is a LOT better."
"Begging is better."
"Life or death tops the cake." Athena said through gritted teeth.
"BEGGING!"
"DEATH!"
"BEGGING!"
"DEATH!"
James groaned. "I got to get out of here."
Bee lining towards the door, James made it just in time as the host came running over to see what the matter was.
A cool breeze caressed James' cheek as he left the restaurant onto the beach and stared at his surroundings.
It was inky black outside and if there wasn't any torches illuminating the way, James was sure he would have been lost.
Holding the wet paper towel to his cheek James squinted to see which way he could walk to get away from the noise.
He chose the right away (as the left way was where he and Niko had that fight) and walked down that path.
He walked in silence until he trotted upon something hard and fell flat on his face, the sand stinging his cuts and bruises. He bit his lip to keep the cry of pain from coming out of his mouth.
Looking behind him, he stretched and grabbed the object that made him fall.
It was a small boulder.
Now I wish I were seventeen. James thought angrily, chucking the rock into the sea, then I could do magic to see where I was going. I have to wait another three months.
As he slowly got up, he heard a low, angry voice saying, "Don't you even think of coming near me."
James' eyes widened as he saw the form of a sitting Lily Evans.
"Lily?" He asked.
"It's Evans to you." Lily snapped, "And what do you think you are doing here?"
"I came to escape the noise." James said, hesitantly sitting down next to Lily.
Lily gave him a sharp glare (if she could see where he was of course) and said, "What noise?"
"Athena and Sirius, of course."
A small smile etched onto Lily's face (the only smile in the last hour or so). "I swear to god, they're made for each other."
"They're just too dumb enough to admit it." James laughed. "I can see it know," He leaned back and looked to the heavens. "In four years from now, I'll be walking up the path to the Black's house. Not the Grimmauld Place—oh no. A nice house in the middle of the countryside. I'll be with my son, Harry, and—"
"Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute." Lily interrupted, "what makes you so sure that you'll have a son named Harry?"
James shrugged. "Oh, I dunno. I guess it's a thing with the Potters. When all the male Potters get married and have their first child it's always a boy."
"Oh yeah?" Lily crossed her arms, a scowl on her face. "Prove it!"
"Okay, me, my dad, my grandfather, my great-grandfather, my great-great grandfather, my great-great-great grandfather, my great—"
"Okay, okay, I get the point!" Lily cried out. "Just continue on with the story." As much as she hated James right now, she wanted to hear the rest of the story.
"Okay," James cocked his head and continued, "Well, I'll be with my son Harry and we'll visit them every day. There'll be a million kids spilling everywhere looking like Sirius and Athena."
Lily tried to imagine this scene in her head and could visualize it well.
"Where will I be?"
Right beside me. James thought, as my wife and mother of Harry.
He didn't dare say it out loud though.
"You'll be working in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and engaged to some oaf." James said quickly.
Lily snorted. "And who's your wife?"
"Er—," James thought quickly. "Myra Gillian."
Lily laughed. "That blonde haired smarty pants from Ravenclaw?"
James nodded vigorously. "Yeah!"
Lily raised her eyebrows. "Whatever."
What do you think you're doing Lily Marie Evans? Her conscience roared, why are you talking to POTTER?
Lily realized how right her conscience was and narrowed her eyes. "Go away Potter." She said through gritted teeth, hatred pouring through her veins. "Get the hell away from me."
James was taken aback. Just a second ago, she was laughing and they were agreeing on the future of Sirius and Athena. Now, she was nasty.
What was wrong with Lily Evans? Was she bipolar or something?
"Are you deaf Potter?" Lily snapped. "I said get away from me."
James raised an eyebrow. "I don't think so."
Lily curled her fists. "Get away from me or I will be forced to slap you."
James frowned. "No, Lily."
"GO AWAY!" Lily screamed. "I HATE YOU!"
"What did I do, Lily?" James shouted, his face getting red. "What did I do to deserve this?"
"Everything!" Lily shouted getting close to James' face. "You just had to come to Greece did ya? You spoiled my vacation!"
"Really?" James shouted angrily, "I had no idea that you were coming to Greece! I don't stalk you, Lily Evans!"
"It would seem like it!" Lily shouted, wanting to get the final word out.
James scowled and said, "Evans—I can't believe you. You're pissed off at me."
"No crap, Sherlock!" Lily shouted. "You just figured that out?"
Brushing the comment off, James said in a low, angry voice, "You are impossible, Lily Evans. I did nothing to you. Nothing at all."
"Yes you did! You fought Niko when I said no!"
James was silent for a moment and Lily, thinking that he had nothing else to say and was in a guilty silence, congratulated herself until her blood ran cold when she heard James' cold, angry voice.
"You listen here, Evans." James hissed, "I don't know what your problem is—but you have a tendency to blame me for everything when the problem isn't my fault. For instance, take what happened hours earlier. You blamed me for the fight instead of Niko. Does that mean you like Niko? If you do—go ahead and date him for all I care! I don't want to throw my feelings at a girl who plays with my heart and then throws them out."
Lily swallowed nervously. She didn't like the way James was speaking to her.
James stood up, brushed himself off from the sand and said in the same low voice, choked with fury, "Think about what I said, Evans next time you play with some bloke's heart."
James walked away even though he wanted to run back to Lily and hug her fiercely.
If she doesn't like me, James thought to himself as he walked away, then why should I put up with her?
--
Lily was still shocked from the outburst from James when he walked away. James never had used that kind of voice to her. It was either a deep voice, an arrogant voice or a sly one. He never used a harsh, angry tone with her.
Lily also stood up; her knees weak from sitting down for so long as she stared at where James walked off.
What have I done?
--
"DEATH!" Athena shouted, taking her wallet out of her purse and throwing down some money to pay the waiter who came with the bill.
"BEGGING!" Sirius shouted, slamming his hand on the table.
"Are you guys STILL at it?" James asked wearily as he walked back into the restaurant.
"Yes," Sirius glared at Athena. "It would have ended sooner if she had just agreed with me."
"Never!" Athena shouted.
James sighed in exasperation. Honestly, those two...
"Anyway," Athena said, switching the subject. "Where did you wander off too?"
"I got away from your yelling so I decided to take a walk on the beach. I met Lily on the way."
"A HA!" Sirius grinned and clapped his hands eagerly. "Tell me! Did you guys make up and snog?"
Say no, say no, say no. Athena prayed. Well, say 'yes' to the first part but 'no' to the second.
James shook his head and sat down. "Nope. I blew up at her."
"You—WHAT?" Sirius gaped at James and clunked him on the head.
"OUCH!" James covered his head and said, "Padfoot! What was that for?"
"For being an idiot! You blew up at Lily? How could you do such a thing—now you seriously screwed up!"
"She had it coming to her," James said simply. "She started yelling at me again and all of my frustrations came out of me. I guess I shouted at her quite a bit cause she sounded a bit shell-shocked."
Sirius shook his head. "We need to get you home, pronto." He said, "Let's let your mother look you over—shout at you and then send you to bed. I think those injuries caused you to malfunction in the head."
"Shut up, Padfoot." James sighed, but stood up anyway and left.
"My condolences to you." Athena smirked.
Sirius shook his head in exasperation. "He's just not right in the head now. He'll be beating himself up tomorrow morning."
Athena waved as Sirius turned around and followed James out.
She felt her heart ache as she watched Sirius walk out. God, how could he ever like her if they kept arguing?
"Seegnomi." The waiter said, returning. "Theles to lefta sou?" (Excuse me; do you want your money?)
"Oh!" Athena said, nodding. "Nea. Efcharisto."The waiter gave her the change and said, "Parakalo."
( A/N: Athena said, Yes, Thank You. While the waiter said your welcome)
The waiter nodded and left in a hurry, leaving Athena by herself.
Picking up her purse, Athena left to go find Lily.
It didn't take her long to find her. Right when she walked past the torches, she found Lily, walking towards the restaurant.
"Lily." Athena said, "Do you think we could go home now?"
Lily nodded. "I'm beat. I—I just want to go to sleep."
Athena crossed her arms. "Okay. Fine by me. Let's just go."
As the two left the restaurant and started to walk down the street, Lily spoke up.
"I feel bad." She said suddenly.
"Pardon?" Athena looked towards Lily. "I didn't hear what you just said."
Lily sighed and said, "I feel bad for yelling at Potter. It was more of Niko's fault."
"More of Niko's fault?" Athena questioned.
"All right, it was all Niko's fault."
"That's better." Athena sounded satisfied. "Are you going to apologize?"
"Will he accept it? He sounded angry at me."
"Of course he will! He's in freaking love with you!" Athena exploded.
"Not what he said."
There was a slight pause and Athena stopped and looked at Lily.
"What did he say?"
Lily sighed and said, "I guess I got him angry and he said, I don't want to throw my feelings at a girl who plays with my heart and then throws them out."
Athena rolled her eyes. "Lily—he was just mad. Besides, Sirius said—"
"Since when do you call him Sirius?" Lily asked in an amused voice.
Athena groaned inwardly but then lashed out, "Since when did you start calling James by his first name?"
"Point taken."
"Anyway, Sirius said that James was just tired right now. He'll be kicking himself tomorrow morning."
The two gave a nervous laugh and started walking again in silence until Lily broke the silence again.
"How do I say sorry?"
"Use my owl." Athena said simply. "Athens won't mind."
"Wait—you brought your owl?"
Athena shook her head in exasperation and said, "Just use Athens in the morning. It's late."
"What time is it?"
"Ten fifteen."
--
"Do I really have to go in front of my mother?" James whispered urgently. "She'll murder me."
"That is something I want to see." Sirius said, shoving James inside and closing the door.
"Shut up Sirius."
"Boys?" A feminine voice came out and the light flickered on to see an alert Aimee Potter standing in the doorway, a pink bathrobe on her. "Are you back already? I'm glad I was—James? What happened to your face?"
Aimee gaped in horror at her son's face that was covered in scratches and bruises. She quickly ran over to him and sat him down in a chair while reaching into her bathrobe and taking out her wand.
"What happened?"
James averted his gaze away from his mother's questioning eyes while Sirius said, "He got into a fight, Mrs. Potter."
Aimee, who was busy tapping James' face with her wand to heal the scratches and bruises, froze while her eyes grew wide.
"A fight?" She said furiously. "A FIGHT? With who?"
"Some bloke who harassed him." Sirius said, clearly enjoying the tormenting that James was receiving.
"James Tristan Potter!" Aimee screeched, trying to get eye contact with her son. "What did you do?"
"I fought someone." James mumbled.
"At the restaurant." Sirius added.
"You fought somebody at a restaurant?" Aimee gasped. "How inappropriate! James, how many times have your father and I told you NEVER to fight at a restaurant!"
"He deserved it." James muttered.
"Why did he deserve it?" Aimee asked sharply. "James, look at me in the eye and tell me why!"
"I'll tell you why, Mrs. Potter." Sirius said.
"Thank you Sirius, but I'd like to hear it from James." Sirius nodded and leaned back in his chair, ready to enjoy James being yelled at.
"We were at dinner with Athena and Lily Evans—"
"Lily Evans?" Aimee asked, "Isn't she the pretty red head you introduced to us last summer?"
James nodded. "Yes, she's in Greece."
"How delightful!" Aimee cried, clapping her hands. "Lily was a lovely girl!"
"Uh, Mrs. Potter? Aren't you a little far from the topic?" Sirius asked.
"Oh, yes—thank you Sirius. Now James, you were at dinner with the two young ladies and then what happened?"
"I asked Lily to walk on the beach with me while our food came. Lily agreed and we went walking, but we didn't know that someone was following us. It wasn't until I was holding her hand when someone told me to let go. It turned out it was Niko—some prat who likes Lily."
"So, you fought this boy?" Aimee asked angrily.
"He started it, Mum!"
"It was a wicked fight, Mrs. Potter! Blood was everywhere and they were scuffling on the sand..." Sirius said excitedly as Aimee cut him off.
"Blood everywhere! James Tristan! How bad did you hurt him?"
"As much as he hurt me." James said in a satisfied voice.
Aimee stood up, looking down at her son in anger.
"Go to your room." She snapped.
"Aren't you going to get rid of these scratches?" James asked.
Aimee shook her head. "Nope. You're going to have them heal the Muggle way."
"Is this some sort of punishment?" James asked aloud.
Aimee laughed. "Not even. No, you'll stay in the house all day tomorrow, and you will write an apology note to the boy."
"You're JOKING!" James cried, scrambling up from his seat. "Mum—you're not serious are you?"
"No, I'm Sirius." Sirius said.
Aimee and James groaned. "Sirius," Aimee said, "do you always have to say that awful pun?"
"Everybody else thinks it's funny." Sirius protested.
"Who?" James asked.
"The Sirius Black Fan Club." Sirius said proudly.
Aimee made a clearing noise in her throat and the two boys turned back to her.
"I am serious James. You are going to write a letter to that poor boy. No excuses! Now—MARCH!"
--
Dear Potter,
I want to say I'm sorry for acting so mean. It wasn't really your fault and—
"No!" Lily cried, crumpling up the letter. "That sucks!"
Throwing the parchment at the already full wastepaper can, she got another sheet of parchment and started to write again.
"Sixteen year old beauty coming in!" Athena shouted, banging open the door and walking over to the shutters and opening them, allowing the bright sunshine to spill through the room. "It's a beautiful day, Lily! Let's go to the beach!"
She turned to see Lily sitting at the table in the room, frantically writing a letter.
Glancing at the trash bin, she noticed how full it was.
"What are you doing?" Athena asked, walking over to the table to see what Lily was writing.
All she could read was a 'Dear Potter' before Lily's hand slapped over the paper.
"You writing a letter to James?" Athena asked in amusement.
Lily didn't say a word but Athena knew that she caught her.
"And I'm guessing you're stuck." Athena chirped, cleverly guessing everything.
"You're too good at this." Lily muttered.
Athena grinned. "Obviously. Now, let me give you a few pointers—give me your quill."
Snatching the quill from Lily's grasp, Athena bent over the parchment and crossed out the word, 'Potter' and put the name 'James' instead.
"If you really want to be sincere, then at least put his first name." Athena said, before leaving.
Lily stared at the parchment that now said James on it.
Inspiration struck Lily as she picked up her quill and wrote the sorry letter.
--
James lay on his bed, his hands folded behind his head, staring at the ceiling, trying not to think of Lily or the outside world.
Sirius had abandoned him hours earlier to go to the beach and try to snag a beautiful girl and hadn't returned since. Figuring Sirius, he probably was snogging a girl right now.
His mother kept popping in to remind him to write the letter to Niko and James kept saying he would do it later. Honestly, he didn't want to write a letter to that gigantic oaf. Why would he? It was Niko's fault that Lily hates him now.
He was mentally kicking himself at this very minute at what he told Lily yesterday night. Now, there was no chance that she'd ever like him again after the way he spoke to her.
James sighed and continued staring at the ceiling until he heard a gentle hooting.
Looking to his window he saw a tawny owl sitting in the windowsill, a letter attached to its leg.
Getting up, James crossed the room to the owl and undid the letter. Expecting the owl to fly away, he was surprised when he saw that the owl just sat there patiently.
Confused, James opened the letter and read:
Dear James,
Before I start anything, the first thing I would like to say is, I'm sorry for what I said to you yesterday night. You were right; I was blaming you instead of Niko for the fight. I realized (well Athena made me realize) that I was so furious that I pinpointed my anger directly at you because I had always hated you in the past.
I really hope that you can forgive me and that we can be friends again.
Always,
Lily.
P.S. Athena's owl, Athens is waiting for a reply. If you don't forgive me, I'll understand.
-Lily
A grin crossed James' handsome face as he re-read the letter, hoping that this wasn't a joke.
It wasn't.
Lily forgave him. Lily said she was sorry. Lily said she was SORRY!
James would have loved to do the cancan right now but he had no idea how to and second he didn't feel like insulting his masculinity.
Seizing a piece of parchment and a quill, he wrote in frenzied writing:
Thanks Lily! You don't know how glad this letter made me feel!
-James
Quickly giving the letter to Athens, he watched the owl soar away.
--
Lily waited impatiently in her room as she fixed her bed. Hopefully, James would write back.
After she finished fixing her bed, she heard a soft hooting and to her delight, saw Athens.
Grabbing the letter, she read it and she smiled. He forgave her too!
"Athena!" Lily shouted, running out of the room. "Thena! Guess what I got!"
Lily ran to Athena's room, the dreariness of the day evaporating. She and James were friends again and that was all that mattered.
Well people! Here is the chapter that took SO long to write! I hope that this makes up for the many days that I hadn't updated. It better too—it's 21 pages. :) Also, I hope that this chapter didn't seem rushed either. After all it took a while to write all of it.
Well, I better go. My mom is preparing a party for the Super Bowl (after all, it's being held in my home state, MICHIGAN) and she's getting mad at me. GO STEELERS. grins.
OMG the new My Chemical Romance CD is coming out in March! i'm SO excited!
The next chapter, 15, should be up by the weekend and this time it won't be as LONG.
Greekchic.
P.S. To those reviewers who wanted to know what happened to Niko, I'll give you a hint. He's NOT out of the picture. Not just yet...