A/N It's a slightly longer chapter and I hope it makes up for my absence of late. Thanks for the reviews and to everyone who has stuck by me throughout this story. It's been a rather difficult haul, what with senior classes and all, but nevertheless it's been wonderful to have all your encouragement.
So for all who have me or this story on their favourites and for the spectacular authors of all my reviews, this chapter is for you and I hope you enjoy it. Don't forget to leave a review!
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Chapter Four – Memories
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Unconnected memories, flashes of images and sounds too quick to follow, are drifting across her mind like clouds blowing rapidly across a clear sky.
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"You gave Sirius a what?" Lily asked incredulously, raising her eyebrows.
"A motorbike, yeah, good idea, huh?" James said, tugging at her sleeve. "Come see,"
His bright hazel eyes sparkled with excitement and Lily felt her breath catch in her throat. She'd thought she was over him. He'd happened in Seventh Year and then it ended and that had been that.
"You alright?" James raised a sharp eyebrow mockingly, and Lily realised that she'd been staring. Blushing furiously, Lily made her way out of the little kitchen.
Peter was standing in the middle of the yard, whooping with joy and pointing up at a dark speck contrasted against the evening sky. Remus was leaning against the fence, arms crossed over his chest, looking torn between worry and laughter.
"He got it to fly!" James exclaimed, letting go of her sleeve and peering up at the sky, laughing buoyantly.
Lily rolled her eyes. Boys will be boys, right? After a few minutes she left them to it and returned to the house.
She was fetching a cup of tea from the Potter's kitchen when there was a dull roar and an ear-splitting crash. With a curse muffled by the scone in her mouth, she dropped her mug and raced to the doorway.
Remus was hauling a blackened James from the wreckage of the bike. For a heart-stopping moment, Lily thought he'd been hurt. A second glance proved that he was grinning from ear to ear. Peter tugged Sirius out from under the remains of the Potter's garden shed.
"Hey, Evans!" Sirius called, spotting her across the yard. He wobbled rather unsteadily in her direction, pressing a hand to the gash on his cheek. "Did you see? We got it up fifty feet before the flying charm cut out!"
Remus snorted, waved his wand and the cut on Sirius's cheek healed up with out a mark.
"Happy Birthday," Lily said faintly, her eyes still fixed on James.
"Yeah, it's been great," Sirius said enthusiastically, only upright by the clutching grasp he had of Remus' sleeve. "But I think I'm going to pass ou –"
He crumpled in a dead faint. Remus didn't look unduly worried, only caught Lily's eye with a wry smile on his face. Peter staggered towards them, supporting his much taller friend with difficulty.
"You should have seen us, Lils, it was awesome!" James said, sitting down on one of the outside chairs. "Hey, what happened to Sirius?"
"He fainted," Remus said, a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth. He was bending over the young man, a hand on the pulse on his neck.
"Always was a little excitable, our Padfoot," said James loftily, with the superior air of someone who had also survived the fifty foot freefall and hadn't fainted yet.
Lily couldn't hold back a giggle. James looked somewhat surprised, but gratified nonetheless.
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A different cloud…
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The porch was dark, a welcome contrast to the loud and vibrant party inside the house. Lily curled up like a cat in the swinging chair, tucking her long stockinged legs underneath her.
How could they party when the war raged on their doorsteps, threatening at any moment to come inside? She sighed and took a healthy swig from the glass clenched in her hand.
"James is looking for you,"
Lily started, whipping her head around. Peter's eyes were shadowed in the darkness and she couldn't quite make out his expression. He'd seemed to have gotten taller since he'd last seen him, which had only been a couple of weeks ago.
She couldn't quite place the feeling, but something just wasn't right. Peter looked different.
He looked away from her as he stepped into the soft light of the doorway, his eyes unreadable. Lily narrowed her eyes as she watched him. As he walked through the door, an almost undiscernible change passed over his face and there was the old familiar Peter she knew. He was anxious and slightly uncomfortable, neither handsome nor ugly, only nondescript and pale.
Lily jerked her eyes away almost forcibly, bright amber liquid slopping out of her glass and over her hand. The firewhisky tingled on her skin, pleasantly warm in a slightly impossible way that made her think of magic.
"I've had too much to drink," she murmured to herself, shaking away the unpleasant feeling at the back of her mind.
She could hear James from some where inside the house, calling her name. She wondered vaguely what he wanted. Regretfully, she glanced around at her comfy little place on the swinging chair, at the breath of wind that was gently stirring the trees. Then she got up and went inside.
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Present day.
James could hear voices somewhere above him, just a little too far out of reach for his brain to grasp. Tensing slightly, he blearily opened his eyes, hoping against hope that he wasn't being held captive by vicious Death Eaters.
" –what are you doing here?"
James recognised Sirius' voice faintly tinged with shock and let himself relax a little. Blinking quickly he focused on the two shadowy shapes above him and attempted to sit up. White-hot pain lanced through his head and he didn't have any time to cry out before he found himself lying on the floor again.
Then he remembered where he was; in that horrible dark, cold house, searching for that wraith-like Death Eater girl. His memories after that seemed strangely blank.
The voices intensified, echoing around him, speaking over his head. Sirius sounded tired, but James didn't recognise the softer murmur of the second voice.
"…stay still," said the second voice, sounding violently familiar to James' scrambled mind. "Don't move just yet, James…"
Then it clicked.
"Lily?" James murmured, opening his eyes again, "What are you doing here?"
Lily's thin worried face swam into focus, leaning over him with a strangely tender expression. Sirius was peering over her green-clad shoulder, a dark bruise beginning to appear on his grimy, handsome face.
"Dumbledore sent me," Lily replied moving backwards and helping him sit up. "I think he's worried about R-Remus,"
Neither James nor Sirius missed the slight catch in her voice. Somehow for both of them the room seemed a little bit darker. The little light from Lily's wand cast heavy shadows on her sharp face, making her seem about ten years older.
"We need to get out of here," Sirius was looking at Lily, an uncharacteristically anxious look twisting his face. The dark walls felt as if they were closing him away, trapping him within the terrible house forever. He felt twitchy and the spark of worry behind Lily's eyes wasn't helping.
"We can't apparate," James gritted out shortly, struggling to his feet with Sirius' help. "I tried. There must be some kind of twisted apparition wards over this house."
Lily nodded, "It makes sense, that must be why you fainted –"
"I didn't faint," James managed huffily, breathing heavily as Sirius helped him out the door and down the stairs. "I was merely briefly incapacitated,"
Lily rewarded him with a small smile and a very green-eyed look. Sirius chuckled breathlessly, holding most of James' weight off the ground.
The house was still dark and quiet and creepy and Sirius was glad to be free of the confining smell and his own overwhelming memories of an unhappy childhood. It was still dark on the street outside, but bleak early morning light was appearing on the edge of London's grimy horizon.
"Where are we headed?" he asked, eyes constantly scanning his surrounds, watching for that single shadowy movement that could spell out death for them all. Lily seemed to be leading them somewhere, equally cautiously, her wand held out in front of them like a sword.
"Peter's waiting with the portkey," she replied briskly, her curt tone reminding Sirius sharply of McGonagall's sharp and capable characteristics. The idea made him smile briefly.
James' eyelids felt heavy, his limbs felt like lead and his entire body ached for sleep or restorative potions and draughts. Lily was weaving through the alleyway in front of him and Sirius, her bright red hair a beacon in his foggy vision.
He could hear Sirius breathing quickly, helping him along without question and was struck with a sudden sentimental bout of affection for his best friend.
And then was immediately disgusted with himself for being so soppy.
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Was she leading them into an ambush? Lily had never trusted Peter, but she knew that Sirius and James and Remus trusted him without question and she thought that that should probably be enough for her.
Their path was deserted. Nobody would hear them scream if a pack of Death Eaters descended with frightening efficiency.
The idea sent a panicking spasm of shock through her mind. Something shifted in the shadow of a doorway and she bit back a hysterical scream.
Brushing her hair from her face, she stopped shaking and made a visible effort to slow down.
Peter was a member of the Order and no matter her feelings for the man, he would be here, because Dumbledore trusted him and that was that.
She arrived at the rendezvous point, as they'd agreed and stopped. With every passing second, she could feel her breath quickening, her muscles tightening, readying for some imaginary battle.
"What's happening?" asked Sirius sharply, he could feel it too, the faint instinctive tingle of approaching doom.
Lily was fully aware that she was panicking, overtired and hungry and seeing things that weren't there. Peter would come, he was just late as usual. Those thoughts didn't stop her heart beating double time in her chest and her palms breaking out into slippery sweat on her wand.
"Lily," James' quiet voice cut through her useless terror easily and she whirled around, her hair flying and her eyes wild. His calm hazel eyes held her captive and she stopped freaking out for a moment.
"Lily, what's wrong?" he stepped away from Sirius, towards Lily's frozen figure.
Lily would have told him everything, spilled her life secrets to him at that single moment. She wanted more than anything for him to comfort her, to lead her through this frightening war and all the terror it posed for their little group.
"Oh, sorry," Peter turned into the alleyway, looking pale and short and blond as he always did. "Were you guys waiting for me?"
Lily sighed and looked away, folding her arms to her chest and huddling into her long dark green robes. James grinned, forgetting about Lily Evans and her craziness for the moment.
"You're late," Sirius said, looking less uneasy, "You had me worried for a tick,"
"Well, hurry up, you lot," said Peter, ushering them closer to him and drawing an old coke bottle from underneath his black robes. "Dumbledore wants to speak to you,"