Unofficial Portkey Archive

Chapter 20: Puzzle Pieces

"Just think of me as the pages in your diary" - Diary, Alicia Keys

Saturday, December 6^th, 1979

Lily woke up and laid in bed for a few minutes. There was nothing she had to do all day. Sarah wasn't here to talk with, she did all of her schoolwork, and she had nothing else planned to do. Then she remembered the diary. She hadn't been able to read them with Sarah sharing her room, because she could easily walk in on her at any time and Lily still didn't feel like sharing her little treasure. If she showed them to anyone, it would be like she was betraying Gabriella. She walked to the secret hiding place and lifted the diary out of it. She replaced the floorboard and sat on her bed with the diary.

November 1957

Charles and I are not seeing each other. Harold whistled and hummed the whole day and nearly drove me insane. As well as Brianna.

My Gabella finally got her head on straight and dumped Charles! I am so very happy! Almost as happy as Harold was. He fancies you Gabriella Anastasia Sawyer whether you want to acknowledge it or not. And I do not drive Gabella insane. I am deeply hurt. But I will manage to survive, somehow.

Oh, just the thought of Nicholas is enough to keep my heart beating. Never mind not living. He talked to me yesterday in the library. I am quite sure he knows who I am now.

I think I write in this more than you do Gabella. Pity. You should write more. We live such fascinating lives. Who would not want to read about it? Maybe someday somebody will write about us. That would be grand. I bet it will be called Gabriella & Brianna: A Tribute to the Greatest Girls Ever to Live. That's too long. Maybe just Gabriella & Brianna or Gabella & Brina. Or maybe they will write Gabriella and Harold, then a sequel: Brianna and Nicholas. Or Gabriella & Brianna: Best Friends. That fits. Yes, that will do quite nicely. I wonder how they will find out about us. Gabella, we have to do something great. I will think of what. But you probably will, you are much smarter than I am. And that is the truth. Gabriella Anastasia is smarter than I am. Nicholas is smart too…smarter than I am. As well as Harold. He got a detention the other day for not paying attention in class. I suppose he was thinking about my Gabella. I looked at him after the professor notified him of his detention, and smiled at him, letting him know that it was ok to be thinking about her. She is my best friend after all. So I gave him my consent. He just sort of looked at me when I smiled at him though. Maybe he did not understand what I meant. But maybe he did because then he grinned and looked back at Gabella. Boys are thick sometimes.

Yes they are. And Harold does not need Brianna's consent to think about me. I suppose I give Nicholas consent to think about my Brina then. I will have to talk to her about this tomorrow. If I was in the Gryffindor dorm, I could talk to her right now, but she is not. So it will have to wait until tomorrow.

Mid-November 1957

Brianna Mishelle Davis is at the library flirting with Nicholas right now, so it is safe to write. I love her, but she annoys me so much sometimes. Harold kept smiling and trying to catch my attention today. I do not know why he is acting so strange. Isabelle told me today that Harold fancies me. I am not sure if this is the truth though. Isabelle is not the most honest person, although I am sure that she means well. People perplex me. Brianna Mishelle the most though. She breezes through everyday without a care. Everyone loves her. She is very easy to get along with. I do not know what will become of us once we leave Hogwarts. It is a scare and foreboding thought. After Hogwarts. Hogwarts has been my home for the past six years. And now, this is our last. I do believe that I would like to be an auror. There are not many female arurors, but I do have my heart set on becoming one. I think it will be rather exciting. In addition, I am almost positive that Brina is going to be an auror also. Would that not be fantastic? Working with Brina everyday? I believe Harold is going to be an auror. Brina is coming, I must hide you. Only Brina sings while coming into the Heads' Dorm.

It is your darling Brianna again! Gabriella Anastasia Sawyer is out doing rounds yet again with Harold. I know she enjoys them. Why she does not admit to liking Harold, I will never know. And not everyone likes me. Jelnise abhors me. She is in Slytherin. She is dating that Lestrange boy, who is in fact, very strange. I have not a clue what his name is. And quite frankly, I do not really care. Gabella makes it seem like am a wonderful person to know. She is the greatest person I have ever known. Except maybe for Dumbledore. She is well-known and well-liked throughout the school. Many of the teachers like her too. Sometimes she is a bit shy. She is like me but reversed. No, she is not, Hope is. And I do not really enjoy Hope's company. Gabriella Anastasia is a hundred times better than that dreadful Hufflepuff is. A hundred times better than anyone I know. Isabelle would know who Harold fancies, she is good friends with his friend Andrew.

I too shall miss Hogwarts. But I shall enjoy working with my Gabella everyday. If I did not sing in the little Heads' common room, how would she know that I was coming? I love to sing. Gabella is a magnificent singer. I must sneak back to my own dorm before Gabella and Crison catch me out. Although I doubt Gabella would give me a detention. Still, Professor Artris might catch me, and I do not wish to serve a detention with him. I still ache from the last one. He should not be allowed to hand out detentions or supervise them.

Lily laughed, she liked Brianna and Gabriella, even if she never met them. She decided to keep reading and turned to the next entry.

December 1957

Harold and I are going together. He makes me laugh, and I love to be around him. He makes me smile. Harold is much better than Charles. He was so boring compared to Harold. It is like trying to hold a candle to the sun. It just does not compare. Never mind, I am not making any sense. Isabelle seems upset with me. I suppose it is because Harold is always with me instead of her and Andrew. I cannot say that I mind him being with me all the time. He is so sweet and I am so lucky to have him. I never though I would say this but Brina was right. And if she was right about Harold what else is she capable of being right of? I sometimes wonder. Well, only the past few days actually. Harold got a detention tonight. He was not paying attention in transfiguration today, although he is quite brilliant at it. Brianna laughed and whispered that he was probably thinking about me. Brina is off talking with Nicholas right now. I am lonely, so I decided to write. The Heads Room does not seem quite as inviting or warm as it does when Brina or Harold is with me. Maybe I will just go see what everyone is doing in the Gryffindor Common Room. Yes I think I will. I will catch up with all the girls and try to maintain Isabelle's friendship. I hope she is there. Actually, I hope she is not, for what shall I say to her? "I'm sorry I am going with Harold?" No, I shall not. Maybe Rebecca will know what to do. For a fifth year, she is quite grown up. I remember when I was in fifth year, I was a prefect then. Last year Melanie was prefect. And now I'm Head Girl. I wonder what Dumbledore was thinking. If I knew what Dumbledore and Brina knew, I would be quite well off. Harold is calling for me. Is his detention over already?

Back again. Harold and Gabriella look so cute together. I am glad she gave him a chance. She is much happier and better off than she ever was with Charles. Or Char, as he hated to be called. Nicholas is the nicest boy I have ever met. Although Harold comes in at a close second. Isabelle is a pain, and I hope you are not that concerned about her Gabella, she is not worth it. There is nothing she can do about you and Harold. She has Andrew. I'm not sure if her and Andrew are more than friends. Harold snuck out of detention because Professor Ingham fell asleep. Gabriella Anastasia and Harold are out on a walk now. I am not quite sure what his middle name is. I will have to pry it out of him. I am quite upset with Melanie. She said that she fancies Nicholas and that he fancies her. She told me that I was interfering. She never said anything about him before. I do not know why she is acting like this. What a shame. There is this group of girls that follow my Gabella, me, and Harold around all of the time. It is quite unnerving. I suppose Gabella and Harold have not noticed it though, for the never seem to notice anything, other than each other, when they are together. So romantic. I wonder if I shall have to paint a sign for Nicholas for him to notice me? Actually, that is not a bad idea.

The thought of Brianna painting a sign for Nicolas sent Lily into a fit of giggles. She was glad she didn't have to do that for James. Instead she just kissed him in front of the entire school, she blushed instinctively at that thought. She still couldn't believe that she did that. Lily shook her head of James and continued to read the diary.

Mid-December 1957

Writing again in this little book. I wonder if I shall still write after school? And my dearest Brianna Mishelle Davis is going with Nicholas. Finally, after what seems like forever. He asked her this very day in the library. What happened you ask? I shall tell you.

I begged Brina to go to the library with me since Harold was busy helping Andrew with something. She went along with me reluctantly. She was happy she went when she spotted Nicholas in there but not so much when she saw that he was with Cadence. She wanted to leave but I got her to stay. I hate being in the library all by myself. It is so boring. When Nicholas saw Brianna, he immediately had a reason to push Cadence away. I think she was annoying him. Cadence, that is, not Brina. Cadence had to make up some excuse to leave because she knew she obviously was not wanted. Nicholas and Brianna were talking and they were laughing. Then Brina got this huge smile on her face. She gave him a hug. He blushed a little and left. She came bounding up to me from where I was watching in on the aisles and told me that they are going together! How exciting. I am so very happy for Brina. I know she fancies him a great deal. She danced around the library singing a bit until she was kicked out.

Now she is in the common room basking in her glory of finally getting Nicholas. Everyone is happy for her. Well, the girls are. They have been putting up with her talking about him forever. Now we both have boyfriends. How sweet.

I cannot believe it. I am going with Nicholas. The Nicholas that I have dreamed about forever. I am very happy. Very, very, very, very, very, very, extremely happy. Happy does not even begin to describe it. I feel like a cloud. Yes, that is better. I am off to go spread my joy with the Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs. Whomever I run into first.

So now both Gabriella and Brianna had boyfriends. She tried to imagine what they looked like, but found it slightly difficult as Gabriella nor Brianna never wrote what they looked like.

Christmas 1957

Harold is so adorable he bought me an amazing pair of earrings. They're hanging diamond-shaped sapphires. I can't believe he got them for me. I'm so lucky to have him. He's amazing, plus he has good taste in jewelry. And from Brina I got a beautiful jewelry box. It's wood and the top opens to four little compartments. The top is glass and it has a picture of a castle on it. They know me so well. I love Christmas.

I wonder if the boys went shopping together, because Nicolas got me a gorgeous diamond bracelet. It's so pretty. I'm wearing it right now, I doubt I'll ever take it off. My wonderful Gabella got me a notebook and pasted all our letters that we wrote to one another over all of our summers. There are pictures in it too, and notes that we wrote back and forth while in class. She actually took the time to make it. I have the most amazing best friend in the world. I doubt anyone knows how much it means to me.

The jewelry box, Lily thought. Is that the one…? Lily uncovered the hole in the floor and reached for the jewelry box. She placed it on the floor beside her. The top was covered in dust and dirt. She wiped away most of it with the hem of her robe, and sure enough she could make out a beautiful castle. She opened the top and there were a few pieces of jewelry inside. She immediately spotted the earrings and took them out. They were beautiful, just as Gabriella had described them. There was a sapphire bracelet and a pair of diamond earrings inside the jewelry box as well. Lily put all the pieces of jewelry back inside carefully. She then put the box back inside its hiding place. She covered the hole and smiled. She got dressed and went down into their common room to see James reading on the couch. "Hello," she said as she kissed him on the cheek. He put his book down and she sat on the edge of the sofa next to him.

"What have you been up to?" James asked her.

"Nothing much," Lily said.

"You know Christmas is coming up. Are you staying here for the holidays?" James asked her suddenly.

Lily was taken aback, she hadn't even given the holidays much thought yet. "I, I don't know. I usually go home…but this year…"

"You don't want to be away from me?" James smiled.

Lily laughed, "Oh yes."

"You'd miss me too much," James told her as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her towards him.

"And you would miss me," Lily smirked.

"You should come home with me. You can meet my parents."

"Your parents?" Lily asked uneasily.

"I'm sure you'll love them. Sirius does. He calls my mum 'Aunt Gab'," he chuckled.

"Aunt Gab?"

"Yeah, my mum's name is Gabriella," he told her.

Gabriella? Gabriella from the diary? "James, what's your dad's name?"

"Harold, why?"

"No reason," she lied as her heart raced. She had found the diary that belonged to James' mum. But that would mean that she knew who Brianna was. Did James know? "Tell me about your mum."

"Uh, well, she was a Gryffindor and she was Head Girl, just like you. Her best friend's name was Bri-something, she's mentioned her once or twice and she met my dad here. Brienna? No, Brianna? Yeah, that's it. Brianna helped get my mum and my dad together actually."

"What happened to Brianna?" Lily asked. "Are they still friends?"

"No, not anymore. I think she died when I was little. I remember my mum crying when she heard the news. She was really close to her yet. What's with all the questions?"

"Nothing, it's just, if I'm going to meet your parents I want to know a little bit about them," Lily said smoothly.

"Are you really going to come home with me over break?" James asked.

Lily shrugged, "I don't know." She didn't know how she felt about meeting James' parents just yet. "What if we both were to stay here over break?" Lily propositioned him.

"Hmmm," James pondered as he stroked his chin. "I suppose I could think about it," he teased.

"You're horrible," Lily laughed.

"And you're all mine," James replied with a kiss.

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Sunday, December 7^th 1979

Lily walked out of the bathroom to find Sarah sitting on her bed. "Sarah! You're back!" Lily exclaimed as she ran over to Sarah's bed and hugged her.

"I'm glad to see you too Lily," Sarah smiled as she hugged her back.

"How was it?" Lily asked.

Sarah shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't know my dad knew that many people, he never had any company over when I was home. Mr. and Mrs. Potter were there too actually. I didn't know that they knew him either."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Mr. Potter talked about my dad and my mum, saying how close they were. The last thing he said was 'I know Nicked missed Brianna very much after she died, and now they're finally together again,'" Sarah recalled. "It was so sweet."

"What's your parent's names?" Lily asked her.

"Nicholas and Brianna," Sarah answered. "Why?"

"Oh, no reason," Lily shrugged. "I just never heard you say their names before."

"Yeah," Sarah said sadly. "I promised Sirius I'd see him once I got back…"

"It's okay Sarah, you don't need my permission to go see Sirius," Lily laughed.

Sarah smiled, "I'll be back."

Lily watched Sarah leave, and as the door shut she fell back onto Sarah's bed. Brianna and Nicholas were her parents. The Brina from the diary was Sarah's mum. And Gabriella was James' mum. She smiled up at the ceiling, no wonder Brina seemed so much like Sarah. That's her daughter.

A/N: LIST TIME! =)