The Last Laugh
Chapter Sixteen: Sisters (War of the Child, Part 2)
By: Star*dust
A/N: Last chapter I had mentioned Lily was a Ravenclaw and she played quidditch and stuff and I'm pretty sure that that's not true but this is fanfiction and I wanted it to happen that way for the plot. So, don't worry about it, it's not important anyway.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! There's so many of you!! And now, on to the story:
"Excuse me?" James exclaimed.
"You're excused," Lily said.
"Cute, Lily." James snapped. "I can't believe…. You're serious?" He asked disbelievingly.
"Black? No," James did not look amused. "Why would I joke about something like this?" Lily asked.
"I… a baby…" James didn't know what to say. "I need to sort some things out. I have to have some time to think," He said, standing up.
"That's just great!" Lily shouted. "You're going to leave me here?"
"Lily! Please, I'll be back. I just need to get out of here for a while." And he walked out the door.
"That went well," Sirius said coming down the staircase.
"Well! You call THAT well?" Lily asked.
"Don't worry about it. He'll be back," Sirius assured her. She looked very unconvinced.
"Do you want me to go talk to him? Sirius asked. Lily didn't say anything.
"By the way, this is way more than I EVER wanted to know about your personal life," Lily rolled her eyes.
"I think we'll just let James think about it for a while. Let it all sink in." Lily said with a rather evil grin.
~*~
"LILY!" A voice called. This was a couple of hours later and Lily and Sirius were chillin' on the back porch in the hot sun. "LILY!" The voice called again, this time it was closer.
"We're out here!" She called and in a few seconds Angie appeared.
"OMG! I just heard! Why didn't you tell me? I can't believe it! You should go talk to James! He's not taking it to well. But, he'll get over it! OMG! You're going to have a baby!" Angie said all in one breath before she had a chance to say anything. "Oh," She said realizing Sirius. "What's he going here?" Lily ignored the last remark.
"Angie, did you see James?" Lily asked her.
"Yeah, he was in the Three Broomsticks. He had a huge tankard of butterbeer in front of him."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "The man doesn't even know how to properly get himself drunk. Pathetic,"
"We could do without the peanut gallery," Lily told him hastily.
"Peanuts! Excellent idea!" Sirius said, getting up and going into the kitchen in search of some peanuts.
"Anyway, Lil. James didn't seem too happy about things."
"Really? That's great!" Lily said; her face lit up.
"Great? What do you mean?" She wore an expression of mystification.
"This is working out perfectly!" Lily said.
"Did I miss something here?" Angie asked.
"She's not pregnant!" Sirius called through the open kitchen window.
"Oh…my…God!" Angie said slowly. She was speechless for a couple of seconds before she started laughing. "You're kidding right? You wouldn't honestly do that. Would you?" Lily nodded and they started laughing again. "High five!" Angie said as they high-fived.
"Aha! Peanuts!" They heard Sirius exclaim from inside.
"He deserves to," Angie said, her grin growing. "Brilliant, Lily. Absolutely brilliant!"
"Thank you, thank you very much," She said standing up and taking a bow.
~*~
James came back well after dinner time. Sirius and Angie quickly left the room when they heard him come in.
"Lily, I'm sorry," He said kneeling down and giving her a bouquet of lilies. "I must admit this isn't how I would have planned things to happen. But, I want you to know I'm going to be here for you,"
Lily didn't say anything.
"Say something," He urged her.
"Like what?" Lily asked. His eyes were bloodshot. Apparently, Sirius had been wrong. He had known how to get himself drunk. Lily felt a pang of guilt but quickly pushed it aside. James had done much worse to her in the past.
"Anything,"
"You're drunk," She said sharply getting a whiff of his breath. He got up and threw his robes onto the chair.
"Good night," He said, tripping up the stairs.
Angie and Sirius came back in.
"He looks pretty bad, maybe I should tell him," Lily said.
"No, come on Lily. A little longer." Angie urged. "It'll be good for him. Wait until he's used to the idea. Wait until he actually likes the idea. Then tell him," Sirius nodded.
"Girl's got a point. If you're going to do this, then do it right,"
~*~
Lily woke up very late the next morning. The sound of many voices was coming from the kitchen. She came downstairs and Angie and Josh were sitting at her kitchen table, being positively gross considering what time it was. That was interesting. What was even more interesting was Sirius pretending to read the newspaper. And James was… cooking?
"Morning Lily!" James called. "Want some eggs, or pancakes, or toast, or bacon?" He asked. She gave him a queer look.
"Who are you and what have you done with my fiancé?" She asked.
"Sit down," He said. "I've been thinking about things, and you know. I think this is going to be a good thing. I mean, you know, the baby," Sirius was holding in laughter and Lily put her head in her hand. "This is going to be a good thing. I mean, we're going to have a real family now and-" Finally Lily and Sirius started laughing.
"What?" James asked turning around.
"It's just you, being OK with the idea of children, and the fact that you're cooking in your boxers just adds to the… humor," Lily said. James looked down and shrugged.
~*~
For the next couple of days all James could talk about was the baby.
"You know, this room will be perfect. It's right by ours. It's big enough and it has a nice window. We can put the crib right here. And we can paint…. We can get him a little 'Go Arrows' t-shirt… I can't wait until he is old enough to start training for quidditch…. We can build a swing-set out back and put a little sandbox here…"
Finally Lily decided that she had better tell him that she was not going to have a baby. She sighed, now she had kind of gotten used to the idea herself. "This is silly!" She said aloud. "Why be sad about something I never had?"
"That's the spirit!" The mirror encouraged. "You've got him used to the idea now, so maybe you really will have a little baby soon,"
"Yeah, you're probably right," Lily said putting her hair up with a chopstick.
"Are you talking to that mirror?" Sirius asked appearing in the doorway.
"Yes," Lily said. "Do you know where James is?"
"James? He's… you know, I don't know," Sirius said. Lily frowned. Suddenly the front door burst open.
"There he is!" Lily, Sirius, and the mirror said together.
"Lily! Look what I found!" James said rushing in. He was holding up baby Arrow's quidditch robes. Lily started laughing.
"James, there's something I need to tell you," Lily said.
"What is it?"
"Um…" Lily played with her ring. Sirius had momentarily disappeared.
"You can tell me anything, it's OK," James assured her. Sirius appeared again in the doorway with a small bowl full of popcorn and Angie at his side.
"Well, you see, you know how we're having a baby?"
"Yes,"
"Well, we're not," For a few seconds James couldn't find any words.
"Yep, you were right," Sirius said. "That look is priceless," He said referring to the look that James now wore.
"What?" James finally managed to say.
"I'm not pregnant," Lily said. "Surprise,"
"What the hell do you mean, you're not pregnant?"
"I'm not having a baby. But, now I know that you'll be OK with it when we do have kids," James dropped everything he was holding. His mouth too fell open.
"Do you mean to tell me this was all some big joke?" Sirius threw up a piece of popcorn and caught it in his mouth.
"Well… yeah," Lily said with a smile.
"I can't believe this," James said.
"Quite the little marauder, isn't she James?" Angie asked.
"You knew? Both of you knew?" James gasped in complete shock. James looked back at Lily.
"What? I can't play a prank or two? You used to do it all the time in school." Lily asked.
"I can't believe you would do this,"
"I can't believe you were OK with having this baby," Lily said.
"We're not having the baby!" James shouted.
"Yes, I know," Lily said. "Don't worry about it James. I'm sure you'll get your revenge." Lily said patting him on the head.
~*~
October 13th
"I'm going to miss you," Lily said. She was, yet again, saying good-bye to James.
"I miss you already," He said kissing her cheek. "It's just two weeks," He said.
"Yes, but then it will just be another two weeks and more and more," Lily sighed. "Let me come with you,"
"If that was possible, I would." James told her.
"I know you would."
"I have to go." He kissed her lightly on the lips and turned to go but she pulled him back and kissed him fiercely.
"I love you,"
"I love you too," He kissed her hand and flew off into the sky, the rising sun at his back.
~*~
She was about to close the door when Angie suddenly apparated in front of her. Lily jumped. "What are you doing here so early?" She asked.
"Lily, I'm nervous. I'm late, very late," Angie said. Lily's eyebrows rose. "Can I come in?" Lily stood back and allowed her to come inside. She sat down on the fifth step up from the ground.
"What do you mean you're late?" Lily asked. "You're not…are you?" Lily asked.
"I don't know." Angie cried. "I don't know!"
"Oh my god. You're pregnant?" Lily exclaimed. Angie bit her lip. "You and Josh? Already?"
"Well… I'm not sure, but…"
"Oh honey," Lily said bringing her into a hug.
"Lily what am I going to do? What will Mom say? And Josh, I don't think he's ready to be this serious. What if he leaves?" She started crying.
"Angie…" Lily wasn't sure what to do. "Well… let's just hang on a minute. You don't even know that you really are… pregnant."
"Lily! I'm more than three weeks late!" Angie cried.
"Well… OK. The first thing we have to do is we have to tell Josh. OK? We have to figure out if he's going to be OK with this." She was crying hysterically.
"I don't know…"
"Yes," Lily said firmly. "You've got to talk to Josh."
"But what if he totally freaks?" Angie asked.
"Well, it's no use crying about it,"
Just then Sirius walked in. He was about to say something but seeing Angie he quickly did an about face and walked out of the room.
"Come on, you'd better put your game face on and have something to eat," Lily said. Angie wiped her eyes and nodded.
~*~
October 22nd:
Dear Lily,
I've missed you and I wish I could write more often. I know I told you that we wouldn't be able to communicate but I'm town now. (Hong Kong) This is a very interesting place.
Anyway, there was an attack on the camp two days ago. Don't worry we're all OK. Frank Longbottom was treated for a broken and bone but the rest of us are fine. Except Alastor Moody. He was head of the camp and he took a blow right in the eye.
They've had to remove it in the hospital. If he gets clearance from the ministry they're going to give him this magical eye. It's a gift from one of the royal wizards in the palace here. We were protecting him at the time.
Anyway, I just had to write you a letter while I have the chance. I'll be back on the 27th. Miss you more everyday.
Luv,
James
PS I'm sending you this small picture. It shows the palace where the Chinese 'Ministry' stays. You should really see this place. It's beautiful!
Lily set down the letter and picked up the small picture that fit in her hand. James was right. It was beautiful. If you watched you could see the plants gently bending in the wind. She set in on the fireplace mantle in the living room.
She couldn't wait until he came home. Even though she knew he was safe, she was still very uneasy about everything. The attack sounded serious. It was serious enough for Moody to lose an eye and that said enough.
She wanted James to come home.
~*~
October 27th:
Today meant one thing to Lily: JAMES. That was all that was on her mind.
The weather was finally cooling down so she kept the windows closed today.
Tonight, Angie was going to tell everyone she was going to have a baby. Josh would be there with her. They were all having dinner at 7:00PM. (Peter, James, Sirius, Lily, Josh, Sierra, Angie, Misty, Matt McKinnon, and Karen Christianson, his fiancée.) It was going to be a full house tonight. Lily had set up the dining hall for this occasion rather than the kitchen.
She had decorated the house for Halloween with Jack-o-lanterns and many other such festive things. She dressed in her old Hogwarts robes and long pointed hat.
Lily was in the process of lighting a Jack-o-lantern which was suspended over the table when James startled her.
"Be careful up there Miss Evans," He said. Lily gave a small startled cry as she jumped and nearly fell off the table. James laughed at her.
"You're home!" She cried jumping down and throwing herself at him. They kissed and Lily stayed in his arms not saying anything for a while. "I was so worried about you," She finally said.
"I'm fine, Lily." He told her. "By the way, Dumbledore and Moody are joining us for dinner tonight, I hope that's alright."
"Dumbledore!" She cried. "On a school night! Well, I guess we ought to set two more places." She said springing away from him. She rushed to the kitchen door and directed extra silver ware, plates, glasses, napkins, and chairs to their proper places at the table.
"We're having loads of company tonight, I should like to know who all is coming," James said watching the napkin fold itself and gently fall on top of the plate.
"OH! Of course, there's Peter and Sirius, and Angie and Josh and Matt and Kerrie and Sierra and you and me and Dumbledore and Moody." She gave him an exhausted look but she quickly smiled.
(A/N: Kerrie is a nickname for Karen)
"You work too much!" He said grabbing her and kissing her.
"Where's the grub?" Sirius was yelling. "I can't wait to- HELLO!" He exclaimed as he discovered his friends making out in the dining room. "I think I'll eat in the kitchen tonight."
"Oh, shut up Sirius!" James said.
"I mean, seriously, isn't there some sort of rule against that? You know, you don't drink before dark you shouldn't be allowed to do THAT before dark. Or at least not in public." He continued.
"This is our house, this is not a public place and why are you here so early?" Lily asked. "And if you don't mind me saying, what the hell are you wearing?"
"Yeah, you look like you just walked out of the Shakespearian age," James added.
Sirius gave them a Look. "Yeah, yeah. It's a long story, you don't want to know."
"Lost a bet?" James asked.
"Yep," He said. "I'm going to change. Hey- Lily, toss me an apple, will you? Thanks," He took a huge bite and disappeared upstairs. James shook his head.
"Don't look at me," Lily said. "He's YOUR friend,"
~*~
"I'm going to go change too," James said and he left Lily in the huge dining hall. She looked around before quickly zipping off to get things ready.
The doorbell rang.
It rang again.
"Lily, are you going to get that?" James called.
It rang again.
"LILY!" James shouted as he dashed down the stairs and answered the door.
"Doesn't anyone know how to answer the damn door? How many times to I have to ring the thing?" Angie shouted as she stepped inside followed by James.
"Hello, Angela. It's good to see you too," She stopped her complaining and looked at James. His shirt was hanging out and open and his robes were half on.
"I don't think I want to know what you and Lily were doing," James frowned and then he looked down.
"Oh! You caught me at a bad time. I was in the middle of changing and I thought Lily was down here but I don't know what happened to her." Suddenly they heard a loud crash coming from beneath them. Lily suddenly appeared in an opening in the wall behind the chair carrying a very old looking broom. She looked very dusty.
"What were you doing?" James asked.
"This will go perfect on the north wall above the fireplace. I needed something to go there." She said walking into the dining hall.
"She's a little over-excited about this dinner thing." James said. "I guess you're the guest of honor then aren't you?" James asked suddenly remembering Angie was supposed to make some announcement tonight.
"I suppose. Is Sirius here?" She asked.
James was a little surprised that she had asked that question. "Yeah, he's getting dressed, I think. Which reminds me, if you'll excuse me for a minute here," James said disappearing up stairs.
Angie and Josh went into the dining hall where Lily was precariously perched on the edge of a chair hanging the broom on the wall. The hall reminded Angie of Hogwarts on Halloween.
"You've out-done yourself a bit, haven't you?" Angie asked as Lily got down from the chair.
"No! There was so much more I was going to do. I'm glad you're here!" Lily said giving her friend a hug. "Tonight's the big night!"
"Sirius is here," Angie said.
"Yes, I told you that he could come if he was here," Lily said.
"Yes, but, what do you think he'll do?" Angie asked.
"I don't think it matters what he does. It shouldn't matter to him. He's not your boyfriend." Lily said.
Just then he walked in. He gave Josh a dark look. "So, where do we sit?" Sirius asked Lily.
"I don't care," She said. "Except, James and I will sit on the ends, at the heads of the table."
"When are you two marauders getting hitched anyway?" He asked looking thoughtfully at the table.
"Oh, in February, probably," Lily said.
"Who's all invited?" Sirius asked.
"By invited I suppose you mean who is the best man and who's the maid of honor. I don't Sirius but I'm sure you'll be the best man, but do we have to have this conversation right now, I have to make sure all the salads are ready and I'm not sure if I have enough to drink," She said walking briskly out of the room leaving Angie, Josh, and Sirius in the room.
"So," Sirius said awkwardly. "You've got an announcement to make tonight?"
"Yep," Angie said. Sirius nodded.
"Ah yes! This one will be perfect," He said choosing the second chair from the end.
Just then, James walked in and Alastor Moody followed behind. One of his eyes looked very strange and it moved around quite independently of the other.
"Why don't you take a seat, anywhere you like." James said. "Moody, this is Angela Star and her… boyfriend Josh…"
"Thompson," Josh finished for him.
"Right, and that over there is Sirius Black. And Lily's probably in the kitchen." No sooner had he said that did Lily walk in with Matt McKinnon and Karen Christianson.
"Where's Peter?" She asked. James shrugged. "And Dumbledore?"
"Did someone say my name?" Lily spun around to see Albus Dumbledore smiling at her.
"Oh hello! It's so good to see you. Sit down everyone, have a seat, have a seat." Just then Peter and Misty walked in. Peter sat next to Sirius and everyone else gathered round the table.
"I've got five knuts that Lily and James kiss 18 times before the night is over," Peter said in undertones to Sirius.
"Five knuts says they kiss 14 times."
~*~
After a while of pleasant chit-chat ("That's five! They've kissed five times,") and fine dining ("This food is wonderful! God bless the cook!") conversation turned to Moody's magical eye.
"Alastor, you never really told us how this thing works," Dumbledore said.
"It's a suspicious thing. Very magical. It can swivel around and see through things and I can see through the back of my head. But, it's really nothing special," He said taking a drink of something from a flask on his hip. Lily frowned as she glanced at his full goblet in front of him.
Lily got up to get something from the kitchen. She stopped by James and filled his goblet. He kissed her on the cheek. ("Nine times, Sirius. Half way there," Peter said.)
Suddenly the doorbell rang. Lily looked at James and he looked back.
"Is there someone else?" Dumbledore asked.
"Well, not that I know of…" Lily said trailing off. The doorbell sounded again. Lily stood up.
"I'll get it," James said.
"No, don't bother," Lily said rushing out the open doorway. Just as the doorbell sounded for a third time Lily pulled open the door. On her front doorstep was a woman, who looked to be in her middle thirties. She had long dark hair and bright green eyes, just like Lily's. Her skin was olive- colored and she wore billowing black robes. She was very pretty but very stern looking, and tall.
"Is Sirius Black here?" She asked.
"Yes, Sirius is here, but who are you?" But Lily barely had a chance to answer before the woman pushed past Lily and stomped yelling down the hallway.
Lily followed her yelling as well. "EXCUSE ME! I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU THINK YOU ARE BUT YOU BETTER GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Lily was yelling but the woman was yelling too.
"SIRIUS BLACK! SIRIUS, DON'T YOU TRY AND HIDE FROM ME!" She screamed. She walked into the dining room where everyone was eating.
Sirius closed his eyes and put his head in his hand. "What did I do to you?" He asked suddenly looking upwards.
"YOU! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? TRYING TO SELL THE COMPANY OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT! DON'T TELL ME YOU'VE FORGOTTEN THAT I OWN 10% OF THAT COMPANY AND I'M NOT GIVING IT UP! YOU ALREADY PUT IT UNDER YOUR 'NEW MANAGEMENT' AND THAT WAS ENOUGH! WHY SHOULD YOU SELL IT ANYWAY? YOU DON'T NEED THE MONEY. GOD KNOWS YOU DON'T NEED THE MONEY! YOU'VE GOT MORE MONEY THAN ALL OF THESE PEOPLE HERE COMBINED! SO WHY THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO SELL OFF THE COMPANY? YOU STUPID IDIOT! I'M THE ONE THAT SHOULD HAVE THAT COMPANY AND ALL THAT MONEY! I'M THE ONE-"
"GEMINI! SHUT THE HELL UP!" Sirius stood up and yelled. Moody looked at the woman with distaste and Dumbledore looked amused. Everyone else just looked shocked.
"I WILL NOT SHUT UP! AND WHERE DO YOU GET OFF CALLING ME GEMINI? IT'S MRS. VANESSA BLACK TO YOU! I DEMAND TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON AND I WANT THAT COMPANY! GIVE IT TO YOUR POOR SISTER AND DO SOMETHING NICE FOR A CHANGE. GOD KNOWS YOU DON'T NEED TO MAKE ANY PROFITS!"
"Gemini! If you'd just shut up for a minute maybe I could talk to you!"
"DON'T YOU TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" She screamed.
Lily had been watching this and a growing curiosity had been growing inside of her. Without even meaning to she blurted out what she had been thinking. "Sirius doesn't have any money. He practically lives here," James dropped his fork and it clattered loudly on the plate. Vanessa Black's mouth dropped open. She slowly turned to Sirius who had a scowl on his face.
"They don't know?" She said in awe. "You haven't told them. YOU'RE LIVING OFF OF THEM!" She shouted. "HE'S THE RICHEST PERSON IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY!" She screamed. "HE'S GOT HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF GALLEONS SITTING UNDER LONDON COLLECTING INTEREST!"
"All right! I've had enough of this," James shouted standing up and throwing his napkin on his plate. "I want to know who the hell you are and what the hell is going on before I kick you out of my house!" Mrs. Vanessa Black looked at Sirius.
"Tell them Sirius. I would like to know what's going on myself." She said with a smirk on her face.
"Locusts! Darkness! Plagues and curses! Oh no! You have to give me her!" Sirius shouted to apparently no one as he looked skyward. He gave a huge sigh and sat down. "Gemini is my older sister."
"Vanessa," She cut in.
"Whatever," He said waving his hand. "The money she's referring to is something that I don't have," He looked pointedly at her. "Not until I'm 25. The company she's referring to is Black&Black Cauldrons which I inherited-"
"I have 10%!" Vanessa snapped.
"WHATEVER!" Sirius shouted. "Anyway, I don't make any money from it because it all goes to that vault which stays locked until my 25th birthday. The company is something that I have no desire to run and I would rather sell it. So, I don't see what the problem is VANESSA," He said annunciating her name.
"25th birthday. What load of @*%# is that?"
Sirius acted as if he was going to yell. But he stopped, closed his eyes and took a deep breath before continuing in a calm voice. "It is in Dad's will. You can look it up. At that point in time perhaps I would have been a little more generous with my wealth if my older sister hadn't been such a bitch since as long as I can remember. But, I guess it's too late to change that. And about the company, seeing as I own the majority of it, 90%, I think I can do what I damn well please, so if I choose to shut down the company I don't expect to have my bitchy older sister come and yell at me about it during my dinner. Not that you have a right to even come see me after… what is it?... six years?" Vanessa stood and stuttered for a few moments. "That's what I thought, if you'd be so kind… the door's just down the hallway and too your right, and don't let the door hit you from behind. We just had those washed today," Vanessa's mouth dropped open. She turned and left in shock.
Sirius sat down and started eating. "Sirius-" Lily began.
"I don't want to talk about it!" He said sharply. She stopped immediately and everyone continued eating in silence.
"Angela, weren't you going to tell us something?" Sirius asked. She stuttered for a moment.
"Um… yes. I…" She looked at Josh. "I'm going to have a baby," She said. James sprayed wine all over the table and Sirius choked on a piece of lettuce. There were a few moments of shocked silence.
"Well, congratulations!" Kerrie exclaimed.
"That's wonderful news!" Peter said. And soon everyone except Sirius was congratulating Josh and Angie.
"A toast!" Dumbledore cried. "To Angela, Joshua, and the new child!"
"Cheers," Lily said as they chinked glasses and Angie drank water.
~*~
"So, when did this happen?" Sirius asked, casual enough.
"A couple of months ago," Angie said slowly. It's like duh! Obviously…
"Are you getting married then?" He asked. Josh started coughing, continually.
"Excuse me?" Angie asked. Everyone was silent.
"Are you getting married? Isn't that the normal thing to do? I mean, a guy knocks you up, the least he could do is marry you," Lily bit her lip.
"I don't really think that it's any of your business," She said quietly.
"I didn't think so," Sirius said, getting up and leaving. Lily gave James a meaningful look.
"Well, excuse us, Lily, dinner was wonderful, we'll have to do it again sometime. But, I think we should be going," Kerrie said.
"Oh yes," Many of them said standing up and gathering their things.
"And congratulations again," Kerrie said. "We'll be in touch!" Soon everyone had left.
"That didn't go at all how I hoped it would have," Lily said to James.
~*~
"So that was Sirius's infamous older sister?" Lily asked. "I knew he had said something about her before but I didn't really think much of it. I wonder why he never talks about her. Well, I guess they don't have the best relationship, judging from tonight…"
"He never talked much about her when we were kids," James said. "Every once in great while she'd send him a postcard or something, but I'd never seen her before."
"She never came to visit him?"
"No. Sirius came just before he turned ten, I think. She never came, although she was into her twenties by then. Sirius never said anything about her."
"Did you know he had all that money?"
"No, I never heard anything about that. And Black&Black Cauldrons. Can you imagine? He practically owns the company! It must drive him crazy not to be able to touch the money. It's strange though. You think you know everything about a person and then something surprises you. What I'm wondering is why he wouldn't have used this talk about all his money when he was trying to get Angela's attention."
"James Potter! You're terrible!"
~*~
October 31st:
Angie, James, and Lily were sitting in front of the fire in the Potter home. Outside darkness was settling. "Full moon tonight," Lily said absently looking out of the window. "I wonder if Sirius was going to the Halloween thing in Hogsmeade tonight?"
"I don't know. I haven't seen him much since…" James trailed off.
"Angie, we should go shopping. You're going to need loads of new things for the baby. Not to mention some maternity clothes and stuff. Let's go tomorrow, are you working?" Lily asked.
"I can get the day off, it's no big deal."
"Shh," James said putting his finger in front of his lips. He moved the curtain on the window and peered outside. Suddenly the doorway burst open.
Holly Mischel was covered in dirt and blood and she was crying hysterically. "Bill and Kelly! And Sarah and Mike! Help!" She was yelling, and then she collapsed onto the floor. Lily screamed and Angie cried out.
"Oh my god!"
"Stay here!" James shouted taking out his wand and rushing towards the door. Lily followed him but Angie just stood in shock.
~*~
James ran down the street leading out of Godric's Hollow. Lily was close behind him. He wasn't exactly sure where he was going but he knew it couldn't be far. Every once in a while he could see spots of blood.
"James!" Lily suddenly exclaimed. Her heart tightened in her chest and her breath stopped. "The dark mark," She whispered. James looked up and a few hundred yards off, high in the sky, the ugly outline of the dark mark was imprinted in the sky.
Wand out, he dashed towards it. He hadn't gone far when he saw several dark shapes on the ground. He took a deep breath and approached them. Lily was at his side.
There were four of them. Bill and Kelly Prewett. And Sarah and Michael Star.
~*~
Lily gasped. "Oh my god," She whispered. James bowed his head. But Lily, getting a strange feeling whipped around just in time to yell "Stupefy!" A man fell to the ground with a heavy thud.
James quickly sent up a signal with his wand and in no time aurors were swarming. The man was bound and quickly taken away.
"James! Lily!" Frank Longbottom called to them. "What's going on?"
"I'm not sure yet," James said. "Mischel came to our house and she was hysterical. We came out here and found this…" he said. Suddenly, Lily and James looked at each other.
"Mischel!" They cried at the same time.
Alastor Moody approached them. "Moody, Holly Mischel was the one who alerted us about this, she's at our house, but she was hurt-" James said. He held up his hand.
"Say no more, just lead the way," He followed Lily and James as they led him to their house.
The strangest sight met their eyes when they walked inside. Mischel and Angie were sitting at the kitchen table. Mischel was sipping something out of a mug and Angie was gently cleaning a deep cut on her arm.
"Did you get them?" Holly asked immediately.
"One of them," Moody said. "I think we need to hear the entire tale. What were you doing out there?" He asked quickly. "Make haste, we may still be able to get them,"
Holly took a deep breath and a sip from her cup. "Well, I was having dinner and Mom and Dad's. Something I don't often do. And, Kelly and Bill came over to see Angela. Of course, she wasn't there, she has her own place now, but she was here anyway. Well, they all got to talking about everything and so we decided to take a walk and maybe go and check out Hogsmeade. We had just made some comment about the full moon when they attacked us. There were so many of them. And they used wands but they had knives too. And…" She stopped now trying to remember. "I don't really know how I got away. I just know that I got stabbed and I cried out. I remember falling and hitting the ground, then I ran. I ran all the here. I heard someone scream and…"
"Did you see anyone?" Moody asked.
"No, nothing. It was all confusion. Are they…"
"Yes, they're dead, all of them," Moody said without a sympathetic thought. Holly started crying again and so did Angela, but silently.
"Now, what happened after that?" Moody asked turning to Lily and James.
"We just followed the dark mark in the sky. I found them…" James said.
"I heard something behind me, and I spun and around. I just cried out the first thing that came to my mind. I didn't really even know what was going on." Lily said.
"It's a good thing for you she's alert." Moody said to James. "If you don't mind I need to report this information. Ms. Mischel if you'll come with me we'll get you some medical care. I'll be in contact." He said and left.
~*~
After Moody and Mischel had left everyone was quiet for a while. Suddenly Angie started crying hysterically. Her mother and father had died tonight, along with her friends. And her sister had also been killed many years earlier on this same night. Halloween seemed fated to be a horrible night.
Lily tried to comfort her but she didn't really know what to say. They stayed up all night not talking much, just thinking and grieving.
In the afternoon Holly Mischel came to the house. She looked tired and weary. Her eyes were bloodshot.
"Is Angela here?" She asked. Angie suddenly appeared at Lily's side. They hugged and cried on each others shoulders. James and Lily just stood in shock. Holly Mischel and Angela Star, sworn enemies, were hugging?
Sirius showed up, having read the news in the Daily Prophet. He didn't seem at all surprised at Holly and Angie's behavior, however.
"Don't you people read the paper?" He asked handing them a copy of the front page of the Daily Prophet.
"… Among the dead were William Prewett and his wife of three months Kelly Prewett. Mrs. Prewett was pregnant with their first child.
Mrs. Sarah Star and her husband Mr. Michael Star also were killed last night just outside of the Godric's Hollow. Mr. and Mrs. Star have two daughters Ms. Angela Star (20 years old) and Ms. Holly Mischel. (Also 20 years old)
Ms. Mischel was at the scene last night when they were attacked. She was able to escape with minor injuries…"
~*~
A/N: Well, this chapter turned out a lot shorter than I had originally planned it to be. I hoped you liked it. Next chapter (I think) will include the wedding and the reception so look forward to that!
Thanks to everyone. I don't have time right now to write all of you and thank you but I enjoy reading all of your reviews. So, thank you very much!
~Star*dust
Chapter Sixteen: Sisters (War of the Child, Part 2)
By: Star*dust
A/N: Last chapter I had mentioned Lily was a Ravenclaw and she played quidditch and stuff and I'm pretty sure that that's not true but this is fanfiction and I wanted it to happen that way for the plot. So, don't worry about it, it's not important anyway.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! There's so many of you!! And now, on to the story:
"Excuse me?" James exclaimed.
"You're excused," Lily said.
"Cute, Lily." James snapped. "I can't believe…. You're serious?" He asked disbelievingly.
"Black? No," James did not look amused. "Why would I joke about something like this?" Lily asked.
"I… a baby…" James didn't know what to say. "I need to sort some things out. I have to have some time to think," He said, standing up.
"That's just great!" Lily shouted. "You're going to leave me here?"
"Lily! Please, I'll be back. I just need to get out of here for a while." And he walked out the door.
"That went well," Sirius said coming down the staircase.
"Well! You call THAT well?" Lily asked.
"Don't worry about it. He'll be back," Sirius assured her. She looked very unconvinced.
"Do you want me to go talk to him? Sirius asked. Lily didn't say anything.
"By the way, this is way more than I EVER wanted to know about your personal life," Lily rolled her eyes.
"I think we'll just let James think about it for a while. Let it all sink in." Lily said with a rather evil grin.
~*~
"LILY!" A voice called. This was a couple of hours later and Lily and Sirius were chillin' on the back porch in the hot sun. "LILY!" The voice called again, this time it was closer.
"We're out here!" She called and in a few seconds Angie appeared.
"OMG! I just heard! Why didn't you tell me? I can't believe it! You should go talk to James! He's not taking it to well. But, he'll get over it! OMG! You're going to have a baby!" Angie said all in one breath before she had a chance to say anything. "Oh," She said realizing Sirius. "What's he going here?" Lily ignored the last remark.
"Angie, did you see James?" Lily asked her.
"Yeah, he was in the Three Broomsticks. He had a huge tankard of butterbeer in front of him."
Sirius rolled his eyes. "The man doesn't even know how to properly get himself drunk. Pathetic,"
"We could do without the peanut gallery," Lily told him hastily.
"Peanuts! Excellent idea!" Sirius said, getting up and going into the kitchen in search of some peanuts.
"Anyway, Lil. James didn't seem too happy about things."
"Really? That's great!" Lily said; her face lit up.
"Great? What do you mean?" She wore an expression of mystification.
"This is working out perfectly!" Lily said.
"Did I miss something here?" Angie asked.
"She's not pregnant!" Sirius called through the open kitchen window.
"Oh…my…God!" Angie said slowly. She was speechless for a couple of seconds before she started laughing. "You're kidding right? You wouldn't honestly do that. Would you?" Lily nodded and they started laughing again. "High five!" Angie said as they high-fived.
"Aha! Peanuts!" They heard Sirius exclaim from inside.
"He deserves to," Angie said, her grin growing. "Brilliant, Lily. Absolutely brilliant!"
"Thank you, thank you very much," She said standing up and taking a bow.
~*~
James came back well after dinner time. Sirius and Angie quickly left the room when they heard him come in.
"Lily, I'm sorry," He said kneeling down and giving her a bouquet of lilies. "I must admit this isn't how I would have planned things to happen. But, I want you to know I'm going to be here for you,"
Lily didn't say anything.
"Say something," He urged her.
"Like what?" Lily asked. His eyes were bloodshot. Apparently, Sirius had been wrong. He had known how to get himself drunk. Lily felt a pang of guilt but quickly pushed it aside. James had done much worse to her in the past.
"Anything,"
"You're drunk," She said sharply getting a whiff of his breath. He got up and threw his robes onto the chair.
"Good night," He said, tripping up the stairs.
Angie and Sirius came back in.
"He looks pretty bad, maybe I should tell him," Lily said.
"No, come on Lily. A little longer." Angie urged. "It'll be good for him. Wait until he's used to the idea. Wait until he actually likes the idea. Then tell him," Sirius nodded.
"Girl's got a point. If you're going to do this, then do it right,"
~*~
Lily woke up very late the next morning. The sound of many voices was coming from the kitchen. She came downstairs and Angie and Josh were sitting at her kitchen table, being positively gross considering what time it was. That was interesting. What was even more interesting was Sirius pretending to read the newspaper. And James was… cooking?
"Morning Lily!" James called. "Want some eggs, or pancakes, or toast, or bacon?" He asked. She gave him a queer look.
"Who are you and what have you done with my fiancé?" She asked.
"Sit down," He said. "I've been thinking about things, and you know. I think this is going to be a good thing. I mean, you know, the baby," Sirius was holding in laughter and Lily put her head in her hand. "This is going to be a good thing. I mean, we're going to have a real family now and-" Finally Lily and Sirius started laughing.
"What?" James asked turning around.
"It's just you, being OK with the idea of children, and the fact that you're cooking in your boxers just adds to the… humor," Lily said. James looked down and shrugged.
~*~
For the next couple of days all James could talk about was the baby.
"You know, this room will be perfect. It's right by ours. It's big enough and it has a nice window. We can put the crib right here. And we can paint…. We can get him a little 'Go Arrows' t-shirt… I can't wait until he is old enough to start training for quidditch…. We can build a swing-set out back and put a little sandbox here…"
Finally Lily decided that she had better tell him that she was not going to have a baby. She sighed, now she had kind of gotten used to the idea herself. "This is silly!" She said aloud. "Why be sad about something I never had?"
"That's the spirit!" The mirror encouraged. "You've got him used to the idea now, so maybe you really will have a little baby soon,"
"Yeah, you're probably right," Lily said putting her hair up with a chopstick.
"Are you talking to that mirror?" Sirius asked appearing in the doorway.
"Yes," Lily said. "Do you know where James is?"
"James? He's… you know, I don't know," Sirius said. Lily frowned. Suddenly the front door burst open.
"There he is!" Lily, Sirius, and the mirror said together.
"Lily! Look what I found!" James said rushing in. He was holding up baby Arrow's quidditch robes. Lily started laughing.
"James, there's something I need to tell you," Lily said.
"What is it?"
"Um…" Lily played with her ring. Sirius had momentarily disappeared.
"You can tell me anything, it's OK," James assured her. Sirius appeared again in the doorway with a small bowl full of popcorn and Angie at his side.
"Well, you see, you know how we're having a baby?"
"Yes,"
"Well, we're not," For a few seconds James couldn't find any words.
"Yep, you were right," Sirius said. "That look is priceless," He said referring to the look that James now wore.
"What?" James finally managed to say.
"I'm not pregnant," Lily said. "Surprise,"
"What the hell do you mean, you're not pregnant?"
"I'm not having a baby. But, now I know that you'll be OK with it when we do have kids," James dropped everything he was holding. His mouth too fell open.
"Do you mean to tell me this was all some big joke?" Sirius threw up a piece of popcorn and caught it in his mouth.
"Well… yeah," Lily said with a smile.
"I can't believe this," James said.
"Quite the little marauder, isn't she James?" Angie asked.
"You knew? Both of you knew?" James gasped in complete shock. James looked back at Lily.
"What? I can't play a prank or two? You used to do it all the time in school." Lily asked.
"I can't believe you would do this,"
"I can't believe you were OK with having this baby," Lily said.
"We're not having the baby!" James shouted.
"Yes, I know," Lily said. "Don't worry about it James. I'm sure you'll get your revenge." Lily said patting him on the head.
~*~
October 13th
"I'm going to miss you," Lily said. She was, yet again, saying good-bye to James.
"I miss you already," He said kissing her cheek. "It's just two weeks," He said.
"Yes, but then it will just be another two weeks and more and more," Lily sighed. "Let me come with you,"
"If that was possible, I would." James told her.
"I know you would."
"I have to go." He kissed her lightly on the lips and turned to go but she pulled him back and kissed him fiercely.
"I love you,"
"I love you too," He kissed her hand and flew off into the sky, the rising sun at his back.
~*~
She was about to close the door when Angie suddenly apparated in front of her. Lily jumped. "What are you doing here so early?" She asked.
"Lily, I'm nervous. I'm late, very late," Angie said. Lily's eyebrows rose. "Can I come in?" Lily stood back and allowed her to come inside. She sat down on the fifth step up from the ground.
"What do you mean you're late?" Lily asked. "You're not…are you?" Lily asked.
"I don't know." Angie cried. "I don't know!"
"Oh my god. You're pregnant?" Lily exclaimed. Angie bit her lip. "You and Josh? Already?"
"Well… I'm not sure, but…"
"Oh honey," Lily said bringing her into a hug.
"Lily what am I going to do? What will Mom say? And Josh, I don't think he's ready to be this serious. What if he leaves?" She started crying.
"Angie…" Lily wasn't sure what to do. "Well… let's just hang on a minute. You don't even know that you really are… pregnant."
"Lily! I'm more than three weeks late!" Angie cried.
"Well… OK. The first thing we have to do is we have to tell Josh. OK? We have to figure out if he's going to be OK with this." She was crying hysterically.
"I don't know…"
"Yes," Lily said firmly. "You've got to talk to Josh."
"But what if he totally freaks?" Angie asked.
"Well, it's no use crying about it,"
Just then Sirius walked in. He was about to say something but seeing Angie he quickly did an about face and walked out of the room.
"Come on, you'd better put your game face on and have something to eat," Lily said. Angie wiped her eyes and nodded.
~*~
October 22nd:
Dear Lily,
I've missed you and I wish I could write more often. I know I told you that we wouldn't be able to communicate but I'm town now. (Hong Kong) This is a very interesting place.
Anyway, there was an attack on the camp two days ago. Don't worry we're all OK. Frank Longbottom was treated for a broken and bone but the rest of us are fine. Except Alastor Moody. He was head of the camp and he took a blow right in the eye.
They've had to remove it in the hospital. If he gets clearance from the ministry they're going to give him this magical eye. It's a gift from one of the royal wizards in the palace here. We were protecting him at the time.
Anyway, I just had to write you a letter while I have the chance. I'll be back on the 27th. Miss you more everyday.
Luv,
James
PS I'm sending you this small picture. It shows the palace where the Chinese 'Ministry' stays. You should really see this place. It's beautiful!
Lily set down the letter and picked up the small picture that fit in her hand. James was right. It was beautiful. If you watched you could see the plants gently bending in the wind. She set in on the fireplace mantle in the living room.
She couldn't wait until he came home. Even though she knew he was safe, she was still very uneasy about everything. The attack sounded serious. It was serious enough for Moody to lose an eye and that said enough.
She wanted James to come home.
~*~
October 27th:
Today meant one thing to Lily: JAMES. That was all that was on her mind.
The weather was finally cooling down so she kept the windows closed today.
Tonight, Angie was going to tell everyone she was going to have a baby. Josh would be there with her. They were all having dinner at 7:00PM. (Peter, James, Sirius, Lily, Josh, Sierra, Angie, Misty, Matt McKinnon, and Karen Christianson, his fiancée.) It was going to be a full house tonight. Lily had set up the dining hall for this occasion rather than the kitchen.
She had decorated the house for Halloween with Jack-o-lanterns and many other such festive things. She dressed in her old Hogwarts robes and long pointed hat.
Lily was in the process of lighting a Jack-o-lantern which was suspended over the table when James startled her.
"Be careful up there Miss Evans," He said. Lily gave a small startled cry as she jumped and nearly fell off the table. James laughed at her.
"You're home!" She cried jumping down and throwing herself at him. They kissed and Lily stayed in his arms not saying anything for a while. "I was so worried about you," She finally said.
"I'm fine, Lily." He told her. "By the way, Dumbledore and Moody are joining us for dinner tonight, I hope that's alright."
"Dumbledore!" She cried. "On a school night! Well, I guess we ought to set two more places." She said springing away from him. She rushed to the kitchen door and directed extra silver ware, plates, glasses, napkins, and chairs to their proper places at the table.
"We're having loads of company tonight, I should like to know who all is coming," James said watching the napkin fold itself and gently fall on top of the plate.
"OH! Of course, there's Peter and Sirius, and Angie and Josh and Matt and Kerrie and Sierra and you and me and Dumbledore and Moody." She gave him an exhausted look but she quickly smiled.
(A/N: Kerrie is a nickname for Karen)
"You work too much!" He said grabbing her and kissing her.
"Where's the grub?" Sirius was yelling. "I can't wait to- HELLO!" He exclaimed as he discovered his friends making out in the dining room. "I think I'll eat in the kitchen tonight."
"Oh, shut up Sirius!" James said.
"I mean, seriously, isn't there some sort of rule against that? You know, you don't drink before dark you shouldn't be allowed to do THAT before dark. Or at least not in public." He continued.
"This is our house, this is not a public place and why are you here so early?" Lily asked. "And if you don't mind me saying, what the hell are you wearing?"
"Yeah, you look like you just walked out of the Shakespearian age," James added.
Sirius gave them a Look. "Yeah, yeah. It's a long story, you don't want to know."
"Lost a bet?" James asked.
"Yep," He said. "I'm going to change. Hey- Lily, toss me an apple, will you? Thanks," He took a huge bite and disappeared upstairs. James shook his head.
"Don't look at me," Lily said. "He's YOUR friend,"
~*~
"I'm going to go change too," James said and he left Lily in the huge dining hall. She looked around before quickly zipping off to get things ready.
The doorbell rang.
It rang again.
"Lily, are you going to get that?" James called.
It rang again.
"LILY!" James shouted as he dashed down the stairs and answered the door.
"Doesn't anyone know how to answer the damn door? How many times to I have to ring the thing?" Angie shouted as she stepped inside followed by James.
"Hello, Angela. It's good to see you too," She stopped her complaining and looked at James. His shirt was hanging out and open and his robes were half on.
"I don't think I want to know what you and Lily were doing," James frowned and then he looked down.
"Oh! You caught me at a bad time. I was in the middle of changing and I thought Lily was down here but I don't know what happened to her." Suddenly they heard a loud crash coming from beneath them. Lily suddenly appeared in an opening in the wall behind the chair carrying a very old looking broom. She looked very dusty.
"What were you doing?" James asked.
"This will go perfect on the north wall above the fireplace. I needed something to go there." She said walking into the dining hall.
"She's a little over-excited about this dinner thing." James said. "I guess you're the guest of honor then aren't you?" James asked suddenly remembering Angie was supposed to make some announcement tonight.
"I suppose. Is Sirius here?" She asked.
James was a little surprised that she had asked that question. "Yeah, he's getting dressed, I think. Which reminds me, if you'll excuse me for a minute here," James said disappearing up stairs.
Angie and Josh went into the dining hall where Lily was precariously perched on the edge of a chair hanging the broom on the wall. The hall reminded Angie of Hogwarts on Halloween.
"You've out-done yourself a bit, haven't you?" Angie asked as Lily got down from the chair.
"No! There was so much more I was going to do. I'm glad you're here!" Lily said giving her friend a hug. "Tonight's the big night!"
"Sirius is here," Angie said.
"Yes, I told you that he could come if he was here," Lily said.
"Yes, but, what do you think he'll do?" Angie asked.
"I don't think it matters what he does. It shouldn't matter to him. He's not your boyfriend." Lily said.
Just then he walked in. He gave Josh a dark look. "So, where do we sit?" Sirius asked Lily.
"I don't care," She said. "Except, James and I will sit on the ends, at the heads of the table."
"When are you two marauders getting hitched anyway?" He asked looking thoughtfully at the table.
"Oh, in February, probably," Lily said.
"Who's all invited?" Sirius asked.
"By invited I suppose you mean who is the best man and who's the maid of honor. I don't Sirius but I'm sure you'll be the best man, but do we have to have this conversation right now, I have to make sure all the salads are ready and I'm not sure if I have enough to drink," She said walking briskly out of the room leaving Angie, Josh, and Sirius in the room.
"So," Sirius said awkwardly. "You've got an announcement to make tonight?"
"Yep," Angie said. Sirius nodded.
"Ah yes! This one will be perfect," He said choosing the second chair from the end.
Just then, James walked in and Alastor Moody followed behind. One of his eyes looked very strange and it moved around quite independently of the other.
"Why don't you take a seat, anywhere you like." James said. "Moody, this is Angela Star and her… boyfriend Josh…"
"Thompson," Josh finished for him.
"Right, and that over there is Sirius Black. And Lily's probably in the kitchen." No sooner had he said that did Lily walk in with Matt McKinnon and Karen Christianson.
"Where's Peter?" She asked. James shrugged. "And Dumbledore?"
"Did someone say my name?" Lily spun around to see Albus Dumbledore smiling at her.
"Oh hello! It's so good to see you. Sit down everyone, have a seat, have a seat." Just then Peter and Misty walked in. Peter sat next to Sirius and everyone else gathered round the table.
"I've got five knuts that Lily and James kiss 18 times before the night is over," Peter said in undertones to Sirius.
"Five knuts says they kiss 14 times."
~*~
After a while of pleasant chit-chat ("That's five! They've kissed five times,") and fine dining ("This food is wonderful! God bless the cook!") conversation turned to Moody's magical eye.
"Alastor, you never really told us how this thing works," Dumbledore said.
"It's a suspicious thing. Very magical. It can swivel around and see through things and I can see through the back of my head. But, it's really nothing special," He said taking a drink of something from a flask on his hip. Lily frowned as she glanced at his full goblet in front of him.
Lily got up to get something from the kitchen. She stopped by James and filled his goblet. He kissed her on the cheek. ("Nine times, Sirius. Half way there," Peter said.)
Suddenly the doorbell rang. Lily looked at James and he looked back.
"Is there someone else?" Dumbledore asked.
"Well, not that I know of…" Lily said trailing off. The doorbell sounded again. Lily stood up.
"I'll get it," James said.
"No, don't bother," Lily said rushing out the open doorway. Just as the doorbell sounded for a third time Lily pulled open the door. On her front doorstep was a woman, who looked to be in her middle thirties. She had long dark hair and bright green eyes, just like Lily's. Her skin was olive- colored and she wore billowing black robes. She was very pretty but very stern looking, and tall.
"Is Sirius Black here?" She asked.
"Yes, Sirius is here, but who are you?" But Lily barely had a chance to answer before the woman pushed past Lily and stomped yelling down the hallway.
Lily followed her yelling as well. "EXCUSE ME! I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU THINK YOU ARE BUT YOU BETTER GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Lily was yelling but the woman was yelling too.
"SIRIUS BLACK! SIRIUS, DON'T YOU TRY AND HIDE FROM ME!" She screamed. She walked into the dining room where everyone was eating.
Sirius closed his eyes and put his head in his hand. "What did I do to you?" He asked suddenly looking upwards.
"YOU! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? TRYING TO SELL THE COMPANY OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT! DON'T TELL ME YOU'VE FORGOTTEN THAT I OWN 10% OF THAT COMPANY AND I'M NOT GIVING IT UP! YOU ALREADY PUT IT UNDER YOUR 'NEW MANAGEMENT' AND THAT WAS ENOUGH! WHY SHOULD YOU SELL IT ANYWAY? YOU DON'T NEED THE MONEY. GOD KNOWS YOU DON'T NEED THE MONEY! YOU'VE GOT MORE MONEY THAN ALL OF THESE PEOPLE HERE COMBINED! SO WHY THE HELL ARE YOU TRYING TO SELL OFF THE COMPANY? YOU STUPID IDIOT! I'M THE ONE THAT SHOULD HAVE THAT COMPANY AND ALL THAT MONEY! I'M THE ONE-"
"GEMINI! SHUT THE HELL UP!" Sirius stood up and yelled. Moody looked at the woman with distaste and Dumbledore looked amused. Everyone else just looked shocked.
"I WILL NOT SHUT UP! AND WHERE DO YOU GET OFF CALLING ME GEMINI? IT'S MRS. VANESSA BLACK TO YOU! I DEMAND TO KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON AND I WANT THAT COMPANY! GIVE IT TO YOUR POOR SISTER AND DO SOMETHING NICE FOR A CHANGE. GOD KNOWS YOU DON'T NEED TO MAKE ANY PROFITS!"
"Gemini! If you'd just shut up for a minute maybe I could talk to you!"
"DON'T YOU TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" She screamed.
Lily had been watching this and a growing curiosity had been growing inside of her. Without even meaning to she blurted out what she had been thinking. "Sirius doesn't have any money. He practically lives here," James dropped his fork and it clattered loudly on the plate. Vanessa Black's mouth dropped open. She slowly turned to Sirius who had a scowl on his face.
"They don't know?" She said in awe. "You haven't told them. YOU'RE LIVING OFF OF THEM!" She shouted. "HE'S THE RICHEST PERSON IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY!" She screamed. "HE'S GOT HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF GALLEONS SITTING UNDER LONDON COLLECTING INTEREST!"
"All right! I've had enough of this," James shouted standing up and throwing his napkin on his plate. "I want to know who the hell you are and what the hell is going on before I kick you out of my house!" Mrs. Vanessa Black looked at Sirius.
"Tell them Sirius. I would like to know what's going on myself." She said with a smirk on her face.
"Locusts! Darkness! Plagues and curses! Oh no! You have to give me her!" Sirius shouted to apparently no one as he looked skyward. He gave a huge sigh and sat down. "Gemini is my older sister."
"Vanessa," She cut in.
"Whatever," He said waving his hand. "The money she's referring to is something that I don't have," He looked pointedly at her. "Not until I'm 25. The company she's referring to is Black&Black Cauldrons which I inherited-"
"I have 10%!" Vanessa snapped.
"WHATEVER!" Sirius shouted. "Anyway, I don't make any money from it because it all goes to that vault which stays locked until my 25th birthday. The company is something that I have no desire to run and I would rather sell it. So, I don't see what the problem is VANESSA," He said annunciating her name.
"25th birthday. What load of @*%# is that?"
Sirius acted as if he was going to yell. But he stopped, closed his eyes and took a deep breath before continuing in a calm voice. "It is in Dad's will. You can look it up. At that point in time perhaps I would have been a little more generous with my wealth if my older sister hadn't been such a bitch since as long as I can remember. But, I guess it's too late to change that. And about the company, seeing as I own the majority of it, 90%, I think I can do what I damn well please, so if I choose to shut down the company I don't expect to have my bitchy older sister come and yell at me about it during my dinner. Not that you have a right to even come see me after… what is it?... six years?" Vanessa stood and stuttered for a few moments. "That's what I thought, if you'd be so kind… the door's just down the hallway and too your right, and don't let the door hit you from behind. We just had those washed today," Vanessa's mouth dropped open. She turned and left in shock.
Sirius sat down and started eating. "Sirius-" Lily began.
"I don't want to talk about it!" He said sharply. She stopped immediately and everyone continued eating in silence.
"Angela, weren't you going to tell us something?" Sirius asked. She stuttered for a moment.
"Um… yes. I…" She looked at Josh. "I'm going to have a baby," She said. James sprayed wine all over the table and Sirius choked on a piece of lettuce. There were a few moments of shocked silence.
"Well, congratulations!" Kerrie exclaimed.
"That's wonderful news!" Peter said. And soon everyone except Sirius was congratulating Josh and Angie.
"A toast!" Dumbledore cried. "To Angela, Joshua, and the new child!"
"Cheers," Lily said as they chinked glasses and Angie drank water.
~*~
"So, when did this happen?" Sirius asked, casual enough.
"A couple of months ago," Angie said slowly. It's like duh! Obviously…
"Are you getting married then?" He asked. Josh started coughing, continually.
"Excuse me?" Angie asked. Everyone was silent.
"Are you getting married? Isn't that the normal thing to do? I mean, a guy knocks you up, the least he could do is marry you," Lily bit her lip.
"I don't really think that it's any of your business," She said quietly.
"I didn't think so," Sirius said, getting up and leaving. Lily gave James a meaningful look.
"Well, excuse us, Lily, dinner was wonderful, we'll have to do it again sometime. But, I think we should be going," Kerrie said.
"Oh yes," Many of them said standing up and gathering their things.
"And congratulations again," Kerrie said. "We'll be in touch!" Soon everyone had left.
"That didn't go at all how I hoped it would have," Lily said to James.
~*~
"So that was Sirius's infamous older sister?" Lily asked. "I knew he had said something about her before but I didn't really think much of it. I wonder why he never talks about her. Well, I guess they don't have the best relationship, judging from tonight…"
"He never talked much about her when we were kids," James said. "Every once in great while she'd send him a postcard or something, but I'd never seen her before."
"She never came to visit him?"
"No. Sirius came just before he turned ten, I think. She never came, although she was into her twenties by then. Sirius never said anything about her."
"Did you know he had all that money?"
"No, I never heard anything about that. And Black&Black Cauldrons. Can you imagine? He practically owns the company! It must drive him crazy not to be able to touch the money. It's strange though. You think you know everything about a person and then something surprises you. What I'm wondering is why he wouldn't have used this talk about all his money when he was trying to get Angela's attention."
"James Potter! You're terrible!"
~*~
October 31st:
Angie, James, and Lily were sitting in front of the fire in the Potter home. Outside darkness was settling. "Full moon tonight," Lily said absently looking out of the window. "I wonder if Sirius was going to the Halloween thing in Hogsmeade tonight?"
"I don't know. I haven't seen him much since…" James trailed off.
"Angie, we should go shopping. You're going to need loads of new things for the baby. Not to mention some maternity clothes and stuff. Let's go tomorrow, are you working?" Lily asked.
"I can get the day off, it's no big deal."
"Shh," James said putting his finger in front of his lips. He moved the curtain on the window and peered outside. Suddenly the doorway burst open.
Holly Mischel was covered in dirt and blood and she was crying hysterically. "Bill and Kelly! And Sarah and Mike! Help!" She was yelling, and then she collapsed onto the floor. Lily screamed and Angie cried out.
"Oh my god!"
"Stay here!" James shouted taking out his wand and rushing towards the door. Lily followed him but Angie just stood in shock.
~*~
James ran down the street leading out of Godric's Hollow. Lily was close behind him. He wasn't exactly sure where he was going but he knew it couldn't be far. Every once in a while he could see spots of blood.
"James!" Lily suddenly exclaimed. Her heart tightened in her chest and her breath stopped. "The dark mark," She whispered. James looked up and a few hundred yards off, high in the sky, the ugly outline of the dark mark was imprinted in the sky.
Wand out, he dashed towards it. He hadn't gone far when he saw several dark shapes on the ground. He took a deep breath and approached them. Lily was at his side.
There were four of them. Bill and Kelly Prewett. And Sarah and Michael Star.
~*~
Lily gasped. "Oh my god," She whispered. James bowed his head. But Lily, getting a strange feeling whipped around just in time to yell "Stupefy!" A man fell to the ground with a heavy thud.
James quickly sent up a signal with his wand and in no time aurors were swarming. The man was bound and quickly taken away.
"James! Lily!" Frank Longbottom called to them. "What's going on?"
"I'm not sure yet," James said. "Mischel came to our house and she was hysterical. We came out here and found this…" he said. Suddenly, Lily and James looked at each other.
"Mischel!" They cried at the same time.
Alastor Moody approached them. "Moody, Holly Mischel was the one who alerted us about this, she's at our house, but she was hurt-" James said. He held up his hand.
"Say no more, just lead the way," He followed Lily and James as they led him to their house.
The strangest sight met their eyes when they walked inside. Mischel and Angie were sitting at the kitchen table. Mischel was sipping something out of a mug and Angie was gently cleaning a deep cut on her arm.
"Did you get them?" Holly asked immediately.
"One of them," Moody said. "I think we need to hear the entire tale. What were you doing out there?" He asked quickly. "Make haste, we may still be able to get them,"
Holly took a deep breath and a sip from her cup. "Well, I was having dinner and Mom and Dad's. Something I don't often do. And, Kelly and Bill came over to see Angela. Of course, she wasn't there, she has her own place now, but she was here anyway. Well, they all got to talking about everything and so we decided to take a walk and maybe go and check out Hogsmeade. We had just made some comment about the full moon when they attacked us. There were so many of them. And they used wands but they had knives too. And…" She stopped now trying to remember. "I don't really know how I got away. I just know that I got stabbed and I cried out. I remember falling and hitting the ground, then I ran. I ran all the here. I heard someone scream and…"
"Did you see anyone?" Moody asked.
"No, nothing. It was all confusion. Are they…"
"Yes, they're dead, all of them," Moody said without a sympathetic thought. Holly started crying again and so did Angela, but silently.
"Now, what happened after that?" Moody asked turning to Lily and James.
"We just followed the dark mark in the sky. I found them…" James said.
"I heard something behind me, and I spun and around. I just cried out the first thing that came to my mind. I didn't really even know what was going on." Lily said.
"It's a good thing for you she's alert." Moody said to James. "If you don't mind I need to report this information. Ms. Mischel if you'll come with me we'll get you some medical care. I'll be in contact." He said and left.
~*~
After Moody and Mischel had left everyone was quiet for a while. Suddenly Angie started crying hysterically. Her mother and father had died tonight, along with her friends. And her sister had also been killed many years earlier on this same night. Halloween seemed fated to be a horrible night.
Lily tried to comfort her but she didn't really know what to say. They stayed up all night not talking much, just thinking and grieving.
In the afternoon Holly Mischel came to the house. She looked tired and weary. Her eyes were bloodshot.
"Is Angela here?" She asked. Angie suddenly appeared at Lily's side. They hugged and cried on each others shoulders. James and Lily just stood in shock. Holly Mischel and Angela Star, sworn enemies, were hugging?
Sirius showed up, having read the news in the Daily Prophet. He didn't seem at all surprised at Holly and Angie's behavior, however.
"Don't you people read the paper?" He asked handing them a copy of the front page of the Daily Prophet.
"… Among the dead were William Prewett and his wife of three months Kelly Prewett. Mrs. Prewett was pregnant with their first child.
Mrs. Sarah Star and her husband Mr. Michael Star also were killed last night just outside of the Godric's Hollow. Mr. and Mrs. Star have two daughters Ms. Angela Star (20 years old) and Ms. Holly Mischel. (Also 20 years old)
Ms. Mischel was at the scene last night when they were attacked. She was able to escape with minor injuries…"
~*~
A/N: Well, this chapter turned out a lot shorter than I had originally planned it to be. I hoped you liked it. Next chapter (I think) will include the wedding and the reception so look forward to that!
Thanks to everyone. I don't have time right now to write all of you and thank you but I enjoy reading all of your reviews. So, thank you very much!
~Star*dust