Days in Avalon
Chapter Thirty-Nine: Weird World
With the end of the year rolling by, the students busied themselves with their homework and studying for exams. As for the sixth year Gryffindors, they stayed unusually quiet. The marauders mostly kept to themselves after what had happened in the tunnel. Sirius was giving detention until the end of the year, but really didn't think anything of it considering the other bit of news he received at his uncle's will reading. Apparently dear Uncle Alphard had left a substantial amount of gold to Sirius for him to find a place of his own during holidays from school and to live off of for a while. Sirius could still remember the look on his mother's face when the lawyer read that part of the will. For a moment he thought her head was going to explode and new that as soon as she got home, she'd probably blast him off the family tree.
Once school was over with the Potters and Dumbledore helped the young man find a small flat in muggle London that would work for him. Of course Mrs. Potter insisted that Sirius stop by the house every Sunday to spend the day with them.
As for his little plan with Andy, the two of them decided it was best to let the idea go for now and to see how their two friends worked out their feelings for each other, but agreed to step in again when the time was right.
As September first came around, the air began to take a slight turn toward that of the fall season. Lily and Andy sat in the back of the Evans car gazing out at the sights of London as they sped by.
"How are you two girls doing back there?" asked Mr. Evans as he pulled onto Gray's Inn Road.
"We're fine, dad," said Lily with a small smile. Her mother had turned around to look at the two girls and found that Andy was still looking out the window with a far off look on her face.
"Andy? Andy?" called Mrs. Evans.
"Hmm? Oh, sorry. I'm fine," said Andy a bit embarrassed for not responding sooner.
"Are you alright dear?" asked Mrs. Evans with motherly concern.
"I'm alright. My mind just wandered off is all," replied Andy a bit cheerfully, hoping that this would satisfy Mrs. Evans.
"So are you two excited about your final year at Hogwarts?" asked Mr. Evans looking for a change in subject as he waited for the light to change.
"Yes, we are," said Andy with a smile on her face.
"This year is going to be great," said Lily with a bit of sarcasm in her voice that only Andy and Mrs. Evans had picked up on.
"Lily, you're still not upset about not getting the Head Girl letter are you?" asked Mrs. Evans.
Lily squirmed a bit in her seat as she glanced out the window to see the clock tower of King's Cross Station come into view as they turned onto Euston Road. "A little."
"Don't be," said Andy as she rolled her eyes a bit at her friend. "It's not the end of the world, Lil. This year is going to be a year to remember."
Lily couldn't help but laugh at her friend enthusiasm. As the lot of them pulled to the station, Lily and Andy jumped out of the car first and ran off to find a couple of trolleys while Mr. and Mrs. Evans began to unload the girl's trunks.
Once they had their trunks, school bags, and animals (Lily's pet kitten Sparkles and Andy's owl Ariel), the two girls bid Lily's parents good-bye with hugs and kisses before they made their way to platforms nine and ten.
"Last time we'll be doing this," commented Lily a bit sad.
"Thank Merlin! I hate trying to be sneaky with everyone around," said Andy in a low voice to which Lily laughed at.
The two girls walked up to the barrier seeing that a couple of other students were heading through to Platform 9 ¾. After a third year had made her way through the barrier, Andy ran toward the barrier followed closely by Lily before halting suddenly once they had landed on the platform. The two friends marveled at the bright red locomotive before them as they usually did each year. After a few moments the girls headed over to the train to begin loading up there stuff.
"Urgh, geez Lily! How many books do you have in here? Your whole library?" grunted Andy as she helped Lily lift her trunk off the trolley and on to the platform.
Lily let out a great grunt as she pushed her trunk up onto the train. "No. Only half," smirked Lily.
"Ha-ha," replied Andy dryly as she dragged a couple of Lily's bags to the porter that was now taking students things and putting them in storage.
"Oi! Lily! Andy!" shouted a voice through the billowing fog. Lily turned around as Andy looked up to see Kelly coming up toward them with her own trolley.
"Kelly!" squealed Lily as she gave her friend a hug.
"Hey Kel," exclaimed Andy as she jumped off the train to give her friend a hug. "How was your summer?"
"Pretty good," she commented as she modeled off her tan and new clothes. "Yours?"
"Not bad," nodded Lily as she noticed a few fourth years running around on the platform. "Unfortunately we had to deal with Petunia's boyfriend Vernon," she added while rolling her eyes.
"Oh, I'm sorry," grunted Kelly as she pushed her trunk toward Andy who had jumped back on to the train to give the porter another trunk.
"Oh it wasn't that bad," commented Andy as she gave Kelly's trunk a good tug onto the train. "I rather liked Vernon."
"That's because you used him as a human guinea pig for your new spells and powders," remarked Lily with a laugh.
Andy gave a mere shrug at her friend's words. "So? He was an excellent test subject. Besides I erased his memory after each test trial."
"True," nodded Lily, knowing she couldn't argue with that.
"So you stayed at Lily's the whole summer?" inquired Kelly as she handed Andy her owl cage. "You didn't patch things up with your dad after the fight?"
Lily slightly slapped Kelly's shoulder for her remark. Kelly glared at her friend, stunned at her actions before noticing Lily shaking her head as to say 'Don't talk about it.' This of course did not go unnoticed by Andy, who now couldn't help but laugh at her two friends. Since she arrived after Lily had gotten back from her family trip to Spain, Andy really didn't talk much about what had happened that fateful night in July when she left her father's house after their huge fight.
"No," chuckled Andy. "Not really. We did talk on the phone a few times but nothing major."
"I'm sorry, Star," said Kelly a little awkwardly.
"Don't be. It's not your fault. You weren't the one telling me to basically stop being a witch," said Andy as if it were nothing. She turned to drag Kelly's trunk over to the porter while Kelly quickly pulled Lily a bit closer so they could talk privately.
"Lily," she started but was cut off.
"She's fine Kelly. She's just…being Andy!" laughed Lily a bit.
"Oi! Karen! Felicia! Over here!" shouted Andy, who had now reappeared.
Sure enough as soon as Kelly and Lily turned around their other two friends Karen and Felicia were walking toward them with their own trunks.
All of the girls said their usual hellos to each other accompanied by a warm friendly hug and began to load up their stuff onto the train.
(Meanwhile a few feet away…)
"Well our last time going through that barrier," said Peter a bit sadly as he looked at the solid stone wall he had just walked through.
"What do you mean Wormtail?" asked James. "Don't tell me you expected to stay at Hogwarts forever?"
Peter began to turn a slight shade of pink as Remus and Sirius now walked through the barrier with their things. "Well…no," stuttered Peter, "I mean..."
"I know," laughed James as he lightly punched Peter in the arm. "I'm just messing with you." With that said James walked over to where Sirius was now standing admiring the train and all the students trying to put their things aboard.
"Our last year," sighed James as he to watched a couple of first years saying good-bye to their parents.
"Yup," commented Sirius.
"Kind of sad don't you think?" added James as Remus and Peter came up along side them. "No more pulling pranks on the Slytherins."
"The roar of the Quidditch field," commented Sirius.
"Or McGonagall screaming at the two of you to wake up during her lectures," said Remus with a smirk.
James and Sirius glanced over at their friend as he wore his smug look. "Well, some things won't be missed," chuckled James. With that said the four boys began to walk down the platform to find a place to start loading their things.
"Come on Kelly. Lift on three," grunted Andy as her and Felicia took a hold of one end of Kelly's trunk.
"Why can't we just use magic?" whined Kelly as she tried to lift her end of the trunk.
"Oh come on, its tradition!" said Felicia with a hint of amusement in her voice.
"That's right," commented Andy. "Plus it builds character."
"Yeah, and back problems that will last a life time," said Kelly under her breath so only Lily heard. Lily couldn't help but chuckle, while Karen bent down pick up the last of her bags to hand over to the porter.
"Ready?" asked Andy as she prepared herself.
"Yeah," groaned Kelly. "Three!" The lot of them then were finally able to heave the heavy trunk up onto the train and almost took out Felicia and Andy in the process.
"How many more do we have to load?" asked Felicia as she brushed her dark brown hair out of her eyes.
"Two," sighed Andy as she pushed the trunk farther into the train. "Lily's and mine."
"Thank Merlin," said Felicia as she looked up at the sky.
The girls couldn't help but laugh at their friend's remark. "I'll go get mine. You gals can start on Lily's," said Andy as she jumped off the train and went over to get her trunk.
"Wonderful," sighed Felicia as she took a hold of one end of Lily's trunk while Kelly took over Andy's stop and helped her grab a hold of the handle.
Lily and Karen took the other end and were not trying to get it onto the train. "This is definitely something I won't be missing," strained Karen as the pushed the trunk half way up onto the train.
"And what would that be, Karen?" said a voice from behind the two girls. "Surely not a charming dear friend like me?"
Karen gasped and let go of the trunk upon hearing Remus's voice. She spun around in place and saw the sandy blond haired boy before her beaming is warm smile.
"Remus!" she squealed as she flung her arms around his neck and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Oh, I've missed you."
"I've missed you too, love," chuckled Remus as she clung to him. "Hello, everyone," he added once Karen had let go of his neck.
"Hello," chimed the three girls as they saw the rest of the Marauders walk up to them. Felicia quickly pulled the rest of Lily's trunk on to the train and dragged it out of sight when she saw Sirius bring up the rear.
Peter was the first arrive and nodded hello to the girls, while James walked straight up to Lily. "Hello, Evans," he said with a smile.
"Hello, Potter," replied Lily, slightly afraid of meeting his hazel eyes. The two of them stood there awkwardly for a moment until Sirius made his presence known.
"Well, if it isn't the pretties girls in all of Hogwarts," said Sirius smoothly as he flashed his million gallon smile.
Lily couldn't help but laugh at his gesture. "Hello to you too, Black," said Lily. At that moment Felicia had reappeared from inside the train and glared at Sirius.
"Watch it there mate," whispered Remus once he noticed Felicia had returned. Sirius gave him a quizzical look before noticing his ex-girlfriend standing in front of him.
"Hello Felicia," said Sirius trying to sound cheerful.
"Black," sneered Felicia as she walked past him to retrieve her forgotten bag and then proceeded to walk back to the train.
Sirius watched her walk away and shook his head slightly. "Still mad I see."
"Well, you did kind of break her heart," commented Peter without really thinking.
Sirius raised an eyebrow to his friend's words. "Shut up, Wormtail," said Sirius as he messed up his friend's hair.
James turned around on the platform searching the crowd for the fifth member of the little girl group. "Where's Andy?"
"Oh, she went to get her trunk over there," said Lily motioning over to where a group of seventh year Hufflepuffs stood.
"Oh, I see," replied James. It was then that he noticed Lily trying to lift her last bag up onto the train. "Here let me help you with that."
"No, it's okay," smiled Lily as she struggled to lift up her bag. Suddenly she felt a hand on top of her own and saw it belonged to James, who was now grinning down at her.
"I insist," he said warmly as he picked up the bag almost effortlessly while walking side by side with her as they headed onto the train.
"Bloody stupid trunk!" growled Andy in a low voice as she tried to drag her trunk over toward the train but to no avail.
"Why did I have to pack all those potion bottles? Come on you bloody piece of shhaaaaaa!" screamed Andy as the handle slipped from her grasp causing her to fall backwards. Luckily for her, a pair of hands managed her grab a hold of her shoulders before she fell flat on her behind.
"Ow!" she groaned at the sudden firm grasp of her shoulders. When she realized that someone had grabbed a hold of her, she began to stumble back onto her feet.
"Whoa are you alright there?" said the voice from behind her.
"Yes, I'm fine. Sorry about that," stammered Andy as she got back up on her feet and came face to face with her rescuer with a sudden shock. "Sirius!"
"Hello Andy," said Sirius trying his best to look into her eyes but thought better of it. Instead he took in her slightly baggy bellbottom jeans and pink tank top underneath a baggy white button shirt that looked slightly familiar.
"Hi," squeaked Andy as she took in the young man before her. He was wearing a pair of slightly dirty jeans and a baggy black t-shirt which for some reason she couldn't help take her eyes off of.
The two of them stood there in awkward silence for a moment as more students began to hurry onto the train. It was Sirius who finally gathered all his Gryffindor courage to speak first. "How have you been?"
"Oh, I've been alright. You?" she asked with a nervous chuckle.
"Okay," replied Sirius to which he even thought sounded lame. Closing his eyes for a moment he continued on. "Listen about…"
"ALL ABOARD!!!" shouted the conductor as he walked down the platform. Sirius silently cursed and thanked the conductor for his impeccable timing.
"Better get a move on," said Andy with a smile as she began to take hold of her trunk again.
"Here let me help you with that, Sparky," he said with a little chuckle as he walked to the other end of the trunk and took hold of it with ease.
"Always have to be a show off, don't you Blackie?" she said with a smirk as she too pulled on the other end.
"Ha. Ha. Ha," said Sirius dryly as the two of them headed to where their friends stood.
The Hogwarts Express pulled speedily through the countryside toward Hogwarts, glistening in the sun. The students on board busied themselves with games, pranks, and talks of the summer holiday. As for three of the Marauders, they were content on talking about what the year would bring.
"I can't believe it's our final year," exclaimed Peter as he marveled at James while he played with the snitch he stole from school.
"Oh quit your belly aching," chuckled Sirius as he lounged across the two benches with his arms folded. "You sound like on of those daft Ravenclaw girls we heard when we got on the train.
"I wouldn't talk if I were you Sirius," chimed James as he grabbed the snitch effortlessly. "I recall hearing you on the way to the station how you'd miss being in the castle."
"Hey you know Hogwarts is the only real place I consider home. Other than your place of course," he nodded to James.
"I know, Padfoot. Just lay off Wormtail here," said James with a hit of authority in his voice.
Sirius gave a long sigh before glaring out the window again. "If I must. When is Moony getting here? Shouldn't that daft prefect meeting be over with already?"
"Geez Blackie, is that all you ever do? Whine and complain like a mule," said the familiar voice of Andy. Sure enough Andy stood by in the door way to the compartment with Remus right behind her. Sirius, caught slightly off guard, slipped off the bench and landed flat on his behind with his legs still propped up on the other bench.
"Smooth there, Padfoot," chuckled Remus as he took the empty seat next to Peter.
"James if you still want to have that team meeting I noticed everyone else is in a compartment one car over," laughed Andy as she watched Sirius's not so graceful fall.
"Yeah, sure. Come on Sirius," said James happily as he got up and followed Andy out the door. Sirius muttered something under his breath as he brushed off some dust from his jeans and followed the two friends out of the compartment.
"…so I think we should do really well this year, considering our record last year," grinned James as he remembered holding the Quidditch Cup over his head after they defeated Ravenclaw.
The rest of the team all beamed up at him as they too remember their glorious victory. Lindsay Price, the new fourth year seeker, couldn't help but giggle at remembering how Sirius and Kendrew lifted her up onto their shoulders after she caught the snitch in their final game. James smiled at her and knew that he chose the right person to be Seeker when he grew tired of the position and took over the third chaser position.
"Well I guess that does it for now. I'll talk to McGonagall about seeing if we could get onto the field by the end of the week," said James as he ended the meeting.
As he, Sirius, Andy, and Robin walked out of the compartment the four of them ran into Lily as she was walking by. "Hey Lil," said Andy as she waved good-bye to Robin.
"Hey Andy, how was the meeting?" said Lily as she nodded hello to the two boys.
"It wasn't that bad," smirked Andy. "That captain of ours gave this rather dull speech."
"Dull?" exasperated James, causing Andy and Lily to laugh at his reaction.
"Where are you off to," inquired Andy as she turned her attention back to Lily.
"I'm off to see about getting something from the trolley. I couldn't find my money before when she stopped by," replied Lily as she held up her money bag.
"Do you want some company," asked James quickly. "I…I'm kind of feeling hungry myself," he finished weakly.
"Umm…sure, I guess," said Lily a little cautiously. "I'll see you later then? Don't forget we have to be on duty in about fifteen minutes."
"See you then," nodded Andy as she watched Lily and James walk down the tight hallway. She smiled to herself thinking that this whole idea of them together might actually work out. As she turned around she suddenly came face to face with Sirius who was staring straight at her.
"Can we talk?" asked Sirius suddenly after a lengthy spell of silence.
"About what?" inquired Andy with a hint of sarcasm in her voice as she tried to walk past Sirius. She managed to get about a foot past him before he grabbed a hold of her arm.
"You know what," said Sirius as he stared into her eyes slightly pleading.
Andy could feel her defenses that she had been building up all summer begin to fall as she looked into the pair of grey pools before her. "Nope, not interested," said Andy a moment and turned away from him.
"Sparky, come on," growled Sirius as he walked after her.
"What part of 'no' do you not understand?" barked Andy as she turned around to face him, catching him off guard again.
"I'm serious, Andy," said Sirius as he felt his temper begin to rise up.
"So am I," she spat back in the same tone. After she took a moment to calm down and remember where exactly they were, she noticed a small compartment that usually held a few blankets and other supplies. "Look get in here," she growled as she shoved Sirius into to the compartment.
"Pushy aren't we?" said Sirius with an eyebrow cocked.
"Shut up," snapped Andy. "Now what do you want?"
Sirius gave a heavy sigh before he began to speak again. "I just want to know if you are okay?"
"I'm fine Blackie!" growled Andy. "I'm a big girl; I can take care of myself."
"Are you having anymore nightmares," he inquired. He watched as her expression change from being pissed off to one of hearing something scandalous.
"That's none of your business," said Andy in a low voice. She didn't know whether to leave right then and there or punch him in the face for asking her that question.
"Andy…" he started but was cut off.
"Look, I'm sorry I bothered you before," said Andy as she tried her best to control her temper.
"I'm not mad. I just want to make sure that you are alright," he said, trying to look into her eyes. He placed his hand on her shoulder in hopes to get her full attention.
"I told you I'm fine!" she growled as she shrugged his hand off. "Merlin! Why does everyone keep asking me that question? I'm fine. Nothing is wrong with me!"
"Okay," Sirius replied. He held up his hands in defense to show that he didn't mean any harm. Andy took a few breaths to try and calm her nerves, but for some reason she couldn't control her mouth.
"Besides if there was something wrong you don't need to worry about me," she snapped with venom.
Sirius looked at her with bewilderment. He tried his best to hide the pain that was caused by her words. "But I do."
"Don't be. You're not my keeper, or my father, or my brother, or my boyfriend," she laughed wickedly as if this whole conversation was a joke.
"But I am your friend," he replied quickly.
"Are we? Because I thought we weren't friends? Not to the public anyway," she snapped.
"Ouch."
Andy gave a long sigh and rubbed her temples as she could feel the on coming effects of a headache begin. "Blackie, we never agreed to become friends. We only agreed to help each other get our best friends together. But this," she said while motioning between the two of them. "Whatever this is between us…we didn't sign up for this."
"But it has happened Sparky. We can't go back to the way things use to be," he said almost desperately trying to make her understand.
Andy merely glared at him as if he were a puzzle that she just could comprehend. "Why not? Why can't we go back to hating each other, and making the other's life a living hell?"
Sirius let out a frustrating growl as he turned his back to her. He was trying his best not too loose his temper, but with her acting like she currently was, he was quickly losing his patience. He slowly turned back to look at her.
"What if I don't want to?" he said in a low voice staring deeply into her eyes.
"And why is that, Blackie?" she said staring right back at him with a bit of attitude.
"So…how have you been?" asked Lily as she and James walked along the train.
"Pretty good," shrugged James. "Trying to stay out of trouble."
Lily raised an eyebrow at his last remark to which did not go unnoticed by him. "What? It's the truth."
"Sure it is," said Lily with a bit of a smirk.
"You're having a go with me aren't you, Evans?" said James with a lopsided grin.
"Maybe," commented Lily acting childlike with her hands folded behind her back.
James couldn't help but laugh at her actions. In the years they've known each other, he never really saw her act like this around him. She usually reserved this type of teasing with her close friends. "Well aren't you the little flirt."
"I guess all those years of hanging around Kelly, Andy and Felicia have finally rubbed off," said Lily with a hint of laughter in her tone. In the back of her mind she was wondering where the old witch with the trolley cart had gone off too since they were now in the first car of the train. But really, she didn't care. She was actually enjoying herself with James.
"Right. So, how long were you in Spain for?" asked James bringing her out of her thoughts.
"Only for a few days after we ran into each other," said Lily as she began to fiddle with her hair.
"Oh?" he asked staring at her with curiosity as to why she was suddenly uncomfortable around him.
"What about you?" she asked quickly.
"Same. My mum got a little tired of dealing with the relatives," commented James as he placed his hands in his pockets. During the whole time during their walk, he kept suppressing the urge to run his fingers through her long auburn hair, even when he noticed a piece of lint that clung to her dark mane.
Lily nodded in understanding before she spoke again. "I'm sorry that your grandfather died this past summer."
"Eh, it's okay. But thank you though," he said as he shuffled along side her. "I really didn't know him that well. But he had a good long life. Not many wizards today live to see 152."
She stopped in her tracks for a moment upon hearing how old his grandfather really was. She knew wizards lived longer than muggles, but she had never really heard of one living that long without the aid of the elixir of life. "He was…152?"
"Yup, so what else have you done since Spain?" he asked looking for a change in subject.
"Nothing really. Andy got into an argument with her father, so she spent the summer with us once we got back," she answered. But the moment the words had left her mouth she mentally kicked herself for sounding slightly stupid. "Which of course you know, since she went to visit you."
"Yeah, that was an eventful day," snorted James as he remembered the past events.
Lily raised an eyebrow at the tone of his choice in words. "How so?"
"It doesn't matter. It's nothing big," said James half-heartedly. "We didn't get into a fight if that's what you're thinking. But she and Sirius did."
"Big surprise there," she said with a hint of laughter in her tone.
"Well, well, well. What have we here?" said a deep voice from behind them. Both of the quickly turned around to see that Severus Snape had just come out of a nearby compartment.
"Oh great," said James under his breath as he rolled his eyes at the unwelcome guest.
"What do you want now, Snape?" asked Lily with some annoyance.
"Oh, nothing," said Severus with a bit of odium in his tone. "I just hadn't gotten my latest issue of 'Who's dating whom at Hogwarts'. I really must check up on that."
"We're not dating," stated Lily. Both boys could see the anger flare up in her eyes.
"Sure," replied Snape with a hint of venom that didn't go unnoticed by Lily. Severus merely sneered at the girl before addressing James. "Honestly Potter, you could have done better than this."
James couldn't help the hatred for his long time enemy conjure up like a massive tempest. "You little piece of…" he growled as he pulled out his wand.
BANG, was all James heard before he was thrown off his stance and landed on the floor next to a body. Instinctively he knew it was Lily and placed a protective arm around her waist as he felt that the train had stopped. As James regained his composure, he watched as Lily began to sit up straight still holding her wand. He also couldn't help but notice the faintest tread of steam emitting from the tip of her wand.
It was then that he looked up and noticed what had become of Severus Snape. Whatever spell she had cast had now caused an unconscious Snape to be plastered upside down against the door that led to where the driver was. But what was more amazing was the fact that several windows were now either blown out or had large cracks in the glass.
James looked back at Lily who was currently staring at Snape while trying to catch her breath. "Lily?!"
"I was never really fond of him anyway," said Lily in a low voice. At that moment a low groan emitted from Severus causing Lily to gasp surprisingly. A few seconds later a great thud was heard as Severus had suddenly become detached from the wall. James and Lily both watched as Severus struggled to get up as he glared at the two of them.
"Why…y-you…"groaned Snape as he fought to regain his footing.
He made to lunge at both of them, but never got the chance to. James had managed to get his wand out in time and used it hang Snape upside down like he had done a few years prior.
"What's going on there?" shouted the train's engineer.
"Ah crap, RUN!" shouted James as he grabbed a hold of Lily's hand to pull her up and to run along with him.
A/N: I'm back!!!! Sorry for the long wait. Life got in the way again. (Stupid school keeping me from working yet again!!!) But hey at least I got the credits I needed. I originally had this chapter run a little longer, but seeing as it's about fifteen pages longs I thought it best to stop here for now and but the rest of it in the next chapter. I don't even remember the last time I updated (if it was before or after Deathly Hallows) but if was before, I don't plan on really changing anything major with the story, just a few small details that I originally had thought of but didn't explore because I wasn't sure what Ms. Rowling had planed. (Does that make any sense?)
Anyways…I'll try to update again soon. Hopefully sometime before I go back to school.
Thank you to all who have sent reviews and especially for those who have kept with the story for so long. I know it's tough and frustrating, but believe me people I am trying to get it out as fast as possible.
As always flames, praises, or whatever just hit that little button at the bottom that says review!
Until next time…
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except this story and the characters I made up. Everything else I borrowed from J.K. Rowling.