a/n: thanks to those who reviewed. Anyway, here's the next chapter!
CHAPTER 14: VOW ON THE SAND
"So, where's our next stopover?" Sirius asked Kristanna.
Kristanna swallowed her bacon with haste before answering. "We're going on a vacation, since my proxi in St. Mungo's has arrived," she said happily.
Lily gaped at her, neither happy nor angry. "Well, it's a good thing, Kris. You need rest," she said.
"Thanks, Lils. We'll be apparating to a muggle resthouse. I got trouble with the old woman guarding the place," Kristanna said, taking from her pocket a few bills. She smoothed them and folded them. "Sometimes, muggle money is better because they're lighter than our coins," she said to herself. "Noli," she called out.
The group jumped when a loud crack was heard. It was Noli, the house elf of the Potter Manor. "Mistress Spencer called Noli?" the house elf said in a voice-that-inhaled-helium voice.
"Yes, yes. Kindly bring the baggage here," she ordered kindly, her voice muffled with the sandwich she was eating.
"It's Noli's honor to serve the mistress who will become Master Black's wife," he blabbed.
"Noli, one thing," Kristanna said, closing her eyes and rubbing her temple. "I hear those words seven days a week. Can't you cut it out?" she asked him.
"Certainly, my Mistress," he said happily as he disappeared in a crack.
Noli reappeared, carrying piles and piles of boxes. "That's too rude!" Lily exclaimed, standing up. She scooped up some of the boxes and noticed how light they are.
"Lily, I don't abuse house-elves, they're still empty," Kristanna said. "Now, if you're still planning to make a club to introduce elf rights, try to contact Remus Lupin, okay?" Kristanna said, laughing a little.
"Mistress Lily is so kind, even though she's a muggle-born, she's deserving to be the next Mistress Potter," Noli beamed, his huge eyes teary.
"Noli, get a life and return to the kitchen," James said. "And wear the socks I gave you!" he shouted at him as the elf went inside the kitchen.
"Socks?" Lily repeated. "I thought giving clothes to a house-elf marks his freedom?" she inquired.
"Nah, his family is too loyal. My father gave him a jacket but he just kept it, their family never left this house," James said, putting his feet on the table.
"That's ridiculous, James," Kristanna said, pushing his feet off. "I'm still eating!"
"And Sirius too," he said. "He eats anything you cook. Right, Padfoot?" he asked Sirius, who was almost eating the plate delectably.
Sirius gave a thumbs-up. "She'll be great, I promise," he said. "As long as she does not put any poison on my food," he added darkly.
"I might as well add Veritaserum now and then," Kristanna chuckled. "Must be time!" she gasped as she looked at her silver-and-gold watch.
"Apparate? Aren't we…?" Lily started.
"You have passed the test and you're registered, Lily," Kristanna assured. She magically placed their entire package inside a trunk and had Sirius hold it. "Off we go," she said. She apparated first, then Sirius.
"That leaves us," James smiled. He could tell that Lily was nervous. "You go first," he said.
Lily closed her eyes. The three D's… (And it sucks remembering them)
As she started to feel like she was sucked, James held her and apparated too, guiding her to the resthouse. They ended up inside a small, wooden house smelled like sunlight.
"You really cannot leave her alone, can you?" Sirius teased James, who blushed a little.
"We have a week here, guys. Enjoy yourselves!" Kristanna vociferated, opening the door that took in lots of sunlight.
"Lily, I hope you'll remember something here," Kristanna told her friend.
Lily smiled. "Kris, thanks for the help. Even though I hate Potter, few people knew what I really felt for him."
"And that includes me," Kristanna said. "I knew that from the very start. You just don't want to believe your heart.
Lily embraced her best friend from the back. "Thank you," she said.
"Thank you, too," Kristanna replied. "Come on, we have to prepare lunches," she said, dragging Lily to the kitchen.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
It was nearly sunset when the girls went out of the house, carrying baskets of food. "You two, having fun?" Kristanna asked Sirius and James, who shook themselves dry as they approached the nearby hut where Kristanna and Lily sat, watching them.
"Yo, Kris! Why don't you come over?" Sirius asked his fiancé. Kristanna muffled his ramblings by stuffing on his mouth one large sandwich.
"There. Don't convince me to get near the water," she threatened.
"Are you scared?" James asked her.
"No, I'm not," she said boldly. She stood up and dragged Sirius by the neck to the water. She pushed him and chased him wildly, later transforming to an eagle that pecked on him.
"They look good together, don't they?" Lily asked James kindly, for the first time in days.
James looked around him, slightly expecting that she was talking to another person. "Err… well… yes! They really look good together. They're very stubborn as a couple," he said, chuckling slightly.
Their gazes locked with each other in a moment. Sirius stared at the eagle and nodded. Sirius apparated and Kristanna (as an eagle) flew away.
"Where are they?" Lily asked James as she looked at the spot where the lovebirds were.
James' face was enlightened. "Do you want to remember something, Lily?" he asked her, cautious at the use of her first name.
"I do want to remember everything, James," Lily said, slowly saying his first name. James shuddered as he heard Lily calling him with his name. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Lily said with her original bossy tone.
"Yes, ma'am!" James said, standing up straight. He took a stick from the sand and drawing a heart and the letter "U." he laid down on the spot where it was supposed to be "I."
Lily ran towards him. She muffled her laughter as she saw James swallowing the sand as he was on the "I" spot. "James!" she shouted happily.
"Lily, I love you!" James shouted, determined to let the whole world hear him. He repeated the sentence three times.
Lily giggled like a schoolgirl. She knelt on the sand and tears were falling down her eyes silently. James sat up. Lily motioned him to come near her.
"James," Lily said, looking directly to his eyes, piercing his very soul.
"What?" James asked, kneeling before her.
Lily embraced James and cried. "James, I don't remember anything after what I remember now," she said, crying more horribly every second. "I'm really touched."
She let go and looked at him. "But I would like to tell you that ever since I met you, ever since you started to play jokes on me, I love you," she admitted, hugging him tightly.
James was bewildered. The "old" Lily didn't tell him that she had loved him ever since they were in third year, the year when he started to notice her and the year when he started to show off on her.
"Lily, I loved you ever since I noticed you," James also admitted.
"But do you think we're going too fast?" Lily asked him, letting go.
"Do I have to woo you once again?" James asked her.
Lily smirked. "Well, you should, James Potter," she said, standing up and going back to the resthouse.
"She's still the same Lily Evans," James sighed, shaking his head and lying back on the sand.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Do you think they're well?" Sirius asked Kristanna.
"Hey, don't you think my plan's great?" Kristanna asked, eyeing the huge "I (heart) U" drawn on the sand.
"How about us? When will we work out?" Sirius asked hopefully.
Kristanna smirked. "How about now?" she said, kissing him passionately.
NCSP:
"Why don't you try to give me a star?" Lily asked James as they stared to the starry sky. "Taking one won't hurt, they're too many."
James looked at her disbelievingly. "Even magic cannot do that," he said reasonably.
"James, reaching out a hand to pick a star might not be as you have wished, but it won't dirty your hands," Lily reminded.
"You have a lot of quotable quotes," James said, kissing her cheek.
"Honestly, James, I'm serious. Trying to do it doesn't hurt. It doesn't hurt at all!" Lily argued.
