Author's Note:
Is it sad of me to have been really excited when I noticed you now need a scroller to see all of the chapters? Ok yes it is, but it's amazing seeing how this story's grown from a quick chapter around two years ago to something I'm writing and thinking up ideas for all of the time. Thank you everyone who has commented, it means so much getting feedback. Don't stop, and it's not near the end but I'm so happy I'm saying thank you to the people who've recently commented.
YD-WB-Paramore: Oh you're too kind! Thanks for your comment, genuinely made me smile, here's the chapter now :-)
Lovewriting12: That means so much because I've done that to fanfics I love and it's great knowing someone's doing it for mine as well :D
"I do" Petunia beamed up at Vernon whilst Lily and Sirius sat there pretending to wretch on the side-lines.
"Please Sirius, if I ever end up like Petunia when I get married just slap me in the face" She laughed.
"Lilypop, if you get to that point I don't think I'd want to be anywhere near you" Petunia gave them a death glare from the alter and they just burst into a fit of silent laughing.
"She's going to kill us at the reception, you know" Lily whispered to Sirius.
"She'd be doing us a favour considering…" After one more glare from Petunia they decided it was better if they stopped. After all there was free cake at the end of it.
They suffered in silence until it was time for the reception. As they shook Petunia's hand before they walked into the hall she pulled Lily up to her mouth and harshly hissed
"That wasn't funny you spoilt brat" Then pretended it was a joke and laughed as she walked away, pretending she hadn't seen Sirius as he walked past.
"Oh God, look where she's put us" Lily pointed over at the table half filled with Vernon's posh friends, the other half filled with Petunia's friends.
"She's done it on purpose I swear, the cow" Sirius glanced back over at Petunia who was smiling smugly to herself knowing that their friends were going to put Lily and Sirius through hell.
"If it isn't Lily" One of Petunia's friends – Mary – falsely smiled.
"Ah, I've heard a LOT about you" One of Vernon's friends smirked at the rest of the Smeltings boys and they all laughed. Lily and Sirius awkwardly sat in the middle of them.
"So, Lillers" She hated that name, and Petunia and her friends knew it "How is the boarding school? Oh what did Petunia say it was called?" Lily stared and Sirius in horror trying to think of an answer.
"It's fine. Yeah. It's called Ho…." She trailed of looking over at Petunia desperately for some help as to what she'd told them it was called.
"Hosma's for girls, that's it" Mary smiled "Weird, I've never heard of that"
"It's, uh, not very well known?" Lily was trying to get away from the subject.
"So how did you meet Sirius then if it's an all-girl school?" Emma asked as she shuffled closer towards Sirius twirling her hair around her finger, he edged away twice as fast.
"I go to, uh, Boy boarding school near to Hoesmea's"
"Hosma's" Mary corrected him, Lily gave him the 'shut up you're being an idiot' glare.
"SO, has anyone, um, seen the weather recently?" Lily butted in awkwardly trying to get Sirius to shut up with the rubbish lying.
After an entire day of being grilled by Petunia's friends over the dinner, and cringing at the frankly terrible speeches Sirius and Lily grabbed three slices of cake and hastily made an excuse about exams to leave. There was a massive sigh of relief from the room after they'd gone.
"I'm telling you that Emma was coming onto me" Sirius shivered.
"Wow, normally you'd jump at the chance to quickly get with a girl"
"NOT her, she gives cows a bad name"
"Sirius!" Lily lightly hit his arm "You can't say that!"
"We were all thinking it" he muttered.
"Anyway, now you know the horrors that are my family" Lily sighed, preparing for the non-stop jokes and insults for the next ten years.
"If I'm honest, Lilypop, I can't see how you came from a family like that, I would have turned into a whirlwind of embarrassment, self-consciousness, and boredom by the time I was ten"
"Yeah, they have that effect on people. The once one of Vernon's aunts came around to tea with him because she wanted to 'check out' Petunia and she left a blubbering mess once Petunia had given her a lecture on the potted Petunia she'd 'lovingly raised' that she made the mistake of complimenting, and my mum had force fed her about five slices of fruit cake" She laughed at the memory.
"Let me tell you, I would have traded my comb to have been in her place during the vows. Did they really have to write their own?"
"Oh god, I was there when Petunia was writing hers, she kept reading me out parts and I almost threw up with the pure fluff"
"'You have made a place in my heart where I thought there was no room for anything else. You have made flowers grow where I cultivated dust and stones' Eugh, if I ever turn like that Lilypop please just put me out of my misery" they both laughed and stood waiting behind the bus station where they'd agreed to meet Dumbledore, luckily he was only five minutes and beamed as soon as he saw them.
"Ah Miss Evans, you look lovely" He adjusted his half-moon spectacles.
"Oh gosh, I forgot to take it off!" Lily looked down in horror at the disgusting dress she was wearing.
"A dress is not one of the most important things to be worrying about you know, miss Evans" feeling guilty because she thought Dumbledore was referring to the war she dropped the dress and looked up again "What's more important" Dumbledore continued "Is whether or not you got me cake"
"Madam Pomphrey!" Lily smiled when she saw her, Madam Pomphrey was new at the school when James and Lily first got there so they knew each other well.
"Lily, I suppose you're here to see James?"
"How does everyone at this school know?" Lily thought to herself. "Uh, yeah, so I'm guessing he'd through here?" Lily asked marching over to one of the doors and was about to know on the door when Madam Pomphrey butted in.
"Sorry Lily, but James has asked for no-one to go in the room" She softly pulled Lily's hand away from the door but she quickly snatched it away and whispered
"Please just let me try"
"I won't let you go in the room, but you can try to talk to him through the door" She sighed and knocked on the door "James? There's someone here to speak to you" there was a grunt from inside the room and Madam Pomphrey walked off to tend to the boy with a wand stuck up his nose on the other side of the infirmary.
"James? "Lily called softly "James are you there?"
"Lily!" His voice raised and she heard a shuffling from inside the room which stopped beside the door.
"James tell me what's wrong" it was a long shot but Lily had to try.
"I don't know if I can Lils, come sit with me" James' muffled voice could barely be heard through the door.
"You know I'm not allowed in"
"Ok then, sit down on each side of the door with me" They sat down opposite each other and put a hand up on the door where the others was.
"Please tell me James, I can help you through it" she could hear James rest his forehead on the door so she did the same.
"Ok then. It's my family. There's been an outbreak of wizarding flu"
"That doesn't sound too bad" Lily thought back to the muggle flu, she'd had it in year one and the worst thing that had come of that was her falling asleep in a maths lesson.
"Wizarding flu is different to your version, it's deadly." He went silent.
"Who has it?" Lily asked seriously concerned.
"It's my mum" he started to sob "Apparently some stupid doctor took her into the wrong ward after the attack" He punched the door on the word stupid "They realised quickly but it's slowly been wearing her down" he burst into tears.
"Oh James" A tear rolled down her face as she listened to James in pain.
"They've had to put her into a special controlled room. I got called in with my dad to talk to her through a screen" he explained through the tears.
"Why are you here now?"
"Well, uh, I got angry with the doctors because I couldn't see her so I stormed through the door to hold her hand" He sounded like he didn't regret it at all "So now I'm in here. They tested me but they found no trace of it but I'm definitely not risking you catching it"
"So I can't even hug you?" Lily stroked the part of the door where James' hand was.
"No, I would never be able to forgive myself if anything happened to you"
The two of them sat in peaceful silence with their hands on the same spot on the door wishing they could just throw the door open and hug each other.
"Lily, it's time to go now" Miss Pomphrey announced as she walked over to her and helped her up off the floor "James should rest" Lily knew James didn't actually have to rest as there was clearly nothing seriously wrong, but just an attempt to get her to leave, so reluctantly she got up and left the infirmary.
On the way down the stairs Lily wondered about how weird it was how close she has actually got to James Potter now she's seen the real him when she bumped into Severus.
"Uh, hey, Lily" He muttered trying to walk around her in case he said something he'd regret.
"Sev" Lily was shocked that she'd called him by her old nickname.
"What is it" Severus was yet to forgive Lily after she'd got together with James. He couldn't look at the two of them together without it feeling like a hundred knives were stabbing him in the chest, it felt like she'd betrayed him, well, it had felt like she'd betrayed him the second she sat down on the bench and he'd shook his hand.
"I just thought we should start making friends again, me being with James is no excuse for us to get even further apart" He hated the fact that Lily could speak so openly to him about James, as if she didn't care. The anger of knowing that she'd clearly just been with James and was now talking to him as if nothing had happened grew too much.
"Don't act so high and mighty, Evans, I tried to stay close to you and look how you repaid me" He paused mid rant, desperate to say something that would make her see how much he was hurting "You mud blood" He couldn't stop the words as they rolled out of his mouth. The smile on Lily's face vanished in a flash and her lip started to wobble.
"Forget about it" She managed to say before running back to the common room, tears streaming down her face.
"Lily" Severus whispered as he watched he run away from him. Again.
"Lily what's wrong?" Sasha shouted after Lily as she charged up the stairs to their dorm and slammed the door.
"I've got a feeling she doesn't want to tell you" Sirius pointed out, she just slapped him in the arm and ran after her.
That evening in the common room after Kara and Sasha had dragged Lily out of her bed, slapped some make up on her face, and brought her down to the common room to cheer her up everyone was sat in the usual place by the fire discussing Sirius' plan to bring Quidditch back when Mary Macdonald walked up to Lily and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Yes?" Lily was confused because Mary rarely spoke to her friendship group and much preferred hanging around with her best friend, Emmeline Vance.
"Lily, I just thought you should know, I was on my way back up from the Great Hall and I found Severus sat outside the painting" She explained.
"Why should I care?" Lily scorned.
"Well, he's said that he's intends to stay out there all night to apologize to you"
"Really? Oh what an idiot, thank you Mary" Lily smiled at her, debating in her head whether or not to go and speak to him after everything. After remembering a time when they could tell each other everything Lily decided that everyone should get a chance – she was going out with James Potter – so she got up without saying a word and left the common room to find Severus sat leaning against the wall.
Lily coughed to get his attention.
"How did you know I was out here?" Severus looked around to find any hidden cameras or peek holes.
"Mary Macdonald told me" She explained "So what did you want to tell me" Lily attempted to sound like she didn't care about him anymore.
"Look, Lily, this is going to sound totally cliché and very sad and pathetic, but I need to tell you" he stood up so that he was face to face with her "I only called you what I called you because I was jealous because of what you clearly have with James. Yes, I'm actually jealous of James Potter. I'm jealous not because of his hair, or annoyingly high confidence and self-belief. I'm jealous of him because he has you" Lily was completely gobsmacked by this "So I called you that. That was my stupid way of telling you I was hurt, but I'm going to try and find a more direct way of telling you this" Severus plucked up the courage he'd been trying to gain for the last fifteen years, stepped forward, and kissed Lily on the cheek. As soon as he'd done this the normal, unpopular, greasy nerdy, shy Severus came back and he charged down the stairs away from Lily.
"Oh. My. God" She thought to herself.
"NEAR, FAR, WHEREEEEVER YOU ARE, I BELIEVE THAT THE HEART DOES, GO ON"
Remus lay with his pillow shoved on top of his head, he'd been suffering in silence for the last half an hour but enough was enough.
"Sirius!" he yelled over the singing "Yes I am happy you've gone back to your normal self, yes, at any other time you singing like that with a broomstick would be funny, BUT NOT AT HALF MIDNIGHT!"
"Well, if my musical talents aren't appreciated here…"
"THEY'RE NOT"
"Calm down, moony, God, if we're left on our own again without James and Peter I don't want to know what's going to happen"
"If you haven't stopped singing by then, death is involved" Remus scorned after throwing a pillow at his head. He then grabbed all of his bedding and marched down the stairs. "I'm sleeping on the couch" he called angrily back over his shoulder.
Once Remus was in the common room he went to throw his duvet onto the settee when he noticed an outline of a person slumped over it.
"Hello?" He asked inquisitively.
"Muurghfff" The figure rolled over and a lock of fiery red hair fell off the side.
"Lily?" Remus asked in shock kneeling down next to her and shaking her shoulder "Lily what's wrong?"
"I could ask you the same question" She grumbled rubbing her eyes.
"Sirius was singing" That was enough to explain anything "So what are you doing down here?"
"I was just thinking" She said dreamily, hauling herself up so Remus could sit opposite her "About life"
"How very philosophical" Remus was trying hard not to fall asleep.
"No, I mean about my life, at the moment. I have no idea where to go from here, it just seems so messed up. Nothing is the same anymore. I've finally seen James for the amazing person he really is, and Severus, someone who I always thought I could rely on, turned out to be someone completely different, and had secrets I don't even want to think about" Remus raised an eyebrow, but she shook her head to tell him not to ask.
"Well I can't see any of those as a bad thing" Remus couldn't think of anything to say.
"It's not just that either, though, it's Petunia, my family, school's seeming completely different now that loads of people have left and there's even more pressure on because we've got NEWTs next year, plus there's the massive threat of the war and it's just getting to me" Lily paused for breath for the first time.
"I see what you mean, I think that's what I'm feeling too, but with the whole werewolf thing on top" He whispered the word werewolf. Lily nodded her head apologetically.
"Remus, what do you think I should do?"
"Lils, I'm going to be honest, I have no idea what to say to you. I have only really had one massive problem that's taken up all of my time so I have no idea how to react to something like this let alone advice you how to. The closest thing to a girl talk I've had with the rest of the guys is when James accidentally went through a girls bathroom cupboard instead of his own when we went to a summer camp once and I had to explain what 'something' was" Lily laughed at his naivety.
"It's fine Remus, it's nice having someone I can talk to" Lily smiled at him and slowly drifted back to sleep. Remus let out a sigh of relief, the looming cloud of tiredness was raging a thunderstorm above him, so he leapt onto a nearby settee and fell straight asleep.
Authors note:
And that last section gets the award for most pointless section ever! Well, ok, I used it to make Lily and Remus closer because there hasn't really been any interaction with the two of them so far and considering in the films he knows so much about her it seemed necessary to have something. Please, click on that little box down there, literaly it's right there, the comment box, you could always leave a little review... Anyway, that's
-Mischief Managed
(I haven't spelt mischief right first time since I started writing it -.-)