A/N: This is the IT chapter, but… there's not any warning. Just read. Awe, I know a lot of you are struggling but this chapter, I swear, will make it up to you. Read and Review. (Oh, and I can't wait to release it, so I'm to just release it, even if it cuts down on how many people read/review the previous chapter).
Disc.: I created the plot, the twists, the anger, and the angst. I am also responcible to for the errors, omissions, and stupidity. Everything else belongs to someone else.
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Chapter Thirty
Lily had explained to them what she saw in painful detail. Some of it, they already knew. Apparently James had overheard most of the second to the last memory. He had opted not to tell Lily, which was his downfall. Had she known even that much, she wouldn't have let Severus rest until he told her what he had done. Finally, she came to the point. Sitting on Remus' bed, she went through each detail of what needed to be done.
"It has to be Sirius," Lily said quickly. The boys both looked at her in disbelief.
"Why me?" Sirius asked.
"Why him?" Remus demanded. She had expected this.
"Sirius will make it more believable," Lily said.
"How will it be more believable? You're going to actually having sex with him," Remus said. His tone was biting.
"Obviously Remus wants to," Sirius said helplessly.
"Remus, you have a better ability to focus. I need you to be our memory recorder," Lily said quietly. "If we leave this up to Sirius, we run the risk of him spacing out half way through and all of our sacrifice is lost. Plus, there's no need for both of us to surrender our virginity."
"I don't mind," Remus said a little too quickly. He's cheeks turned pink.
"She has a point," Sirius said hesitantly. "The idea is to only have to do it once and for it to be perfect and un-awkward. Two rookies together mean a lot of bumbling and such."
"Plus," Lily said quietly. "Sirius had a point when he said that you and I were the natural next couple. It was probably more expected for you and me than for Sirius and I."
"Couldn't you just lose it to James?" Remus asked.
"No," Lily said darkly. "That was Severus' doing. He made it so that James had to be in a position of watching, not participating. He hoped I'd turn to him to get James back to normal. He banked on the fact that I really love James and would do anything to help him."
"So, when?" Remus asked after a while. Lily looked at her watch.
"Why wait?" Lily asked. "Tonight?"
"The full moon is in four days," Sirius said nodding grimly. "We should get this done and over with quickly."
"Are you on board, Remus? We need you," Lily added as she glanced over at him. Reluctantly, he nodded.
"Just promise me that we can curse Severus to high hell," Remus begged.
"Yeah, about that," Lily said blushing. "I lost my temper and kind of knocked him out. With my fist."
"Ooh, violence!" Sirius laughed. The three laughed a minute and then an awkward silence fell over the three.
"Wouldn't it better to have James watch live?" A voice piped up from the corner. The three looked over at Peter standing there.
"I thought about that," Lily said shaking her head. "I think it'll make it less tense him not being there. Watching it from Remus' memory would be better, plus I don't like the idea of my boyfriend watching me give it up to his best friend."
"Just wondering," Peter said as he slunk back into the darkness.
"I just want to go on record and say that I really don't want to do this," Sirius said. He hesitated. "That being said, I guess I will see you at eight in the room of requirement."
"Ok, eight it is," Lily said.
"Oh, and don't worry," Sirius said as Lily headed out the door. "I'll shower."
Lily was more nervous that she could have ever imagined. This would be the night, the night she was no longer an innocent, starry eyed teenage girl. She would lose her innocents, shed the skin of girl hood, and walk among those who walked before her as women. She knew it had to be done. She would do anything to get James back to the way he was. James would do the same for her. She walked into the room of requirement. Neither Remus nor Sirius looked too happy.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Sirius asked.
"James once risked being a werewolf to prove his love for me," Lily said quietly. "I owe it to him to sacrifice a bit of me for him. I'm sure."
"I would again like to go on record and say I still really don't want to do this," Sirius said.
"No one really wants to be here, Sirius," Remus practically growled.
"Let's just get this taken care of, ok? We can plot Severus' assassination later," Lily snapped. The three stood there awkwardly.
"Ok, so we need a bed," Sirius said. Suddenly a mattress appeared on the floor.
"You've lost your mind!" Lily said as she pointed at it. She pulled out her wand but Remus had beaten her to it. The old looking mattress turned into a decent bed with pillows.
"Ok, so," Sirius said as he walked up to her. "I'm clean, I imagine you're clean. So how do you want to do this?"
"I don't know," Lily said shaking her head. "The regular way?"
"So predictable," Sirius smirked. Lily looked at Remus.
"Are you ready?" Lily asked him. He nodded. "I promise once Sirius and I are done, I'll take the memories from both of you. You'll know that we were together, but the details will be gone. It will feel like a distant memory."
"Ok," Remus said nodding as he took a chair.
"I know this goes without saying," Lily said as she stepped up to Sirius. "But, please… be gentle."
It was midnight when Lily entered her room. She had the phials of Remus and Sirius' memories in them, the silvery substance swirling in them. She placed them safely in her drawer, wrapped in her socks, and grabbed a change of clothes. She reeked of sweat, saliva, and Sirius' own special fluids. She gagged. It had been indeed awkward. She planned to give herself a grand scrubbing, to wash away the sins of the flesh.
Lily stood in the bathroom naked and standing in front of the mirror for a long time, her body now scrubbed pink. She refused to let her eyes go lower on her body than her own face. Heat rushed to her face as realization flooded over her in so many ways. It was at that moment, that very moment that she realized every truth about the world… or at least about the events that had transpired since Narcissa went to Severus in hopes of getting James Potter.
Lily pulled her clothes on, towel drying her hair. There were still several hours before morning, and today was a special day indeed. It was James' birthday, his eighteenth birthday, and Lily had to get working on his very special birthday present. Lily headed back to her dorm room, Alice sitting wide awake. The girl looked a little flushed, but none the worse for the wear.
"Hey, Lily," Alice said quietly. "Are you ok?"
"Alice, have I mentioned that you are, indeed my best friend?" Lily asked as she wrapped her arms around the girl.
"About a million times since nine," Alice murmured. She forced two phials in Lily's hands. "Now, take these off my hands, will you? They're disturbing, even if he had a right randy time."
"Thank you," Lily said as she took them. "I can never repay you."
"What are friends for?" Alice yawned as she climbed into bed. She looked back at Lily. "What? I'll shower in the morning, ok?"
"Ok," Lily said as she took the two phials and slipped them in her dresser drawer. She wouldn't need these two, either. She pulled out her wand and summoned a pensieve, reaching in her pocket for a small, ornately crystal phial. She put her wand to her head and extracted the memory. She poured it in the pensieve. "I'll be along to bed soon, Alice. Good night."
Lily was slightly tired the next morning as everyone rose with the sun. She was sore, more sore than she ever remembered being in the past. Then again, last night was the first time ever. She had never spent so long bent over a pensieve, poking and prodding, separating and conjoining. She had watched the memory about a dozen times. It was perfectly disturbing.
Lily pulled her jeans on, yawning as Alice headed off to catch a shower before all of the hot water was used up. Shoes on her feet, Lily chose to wear a light green gingham print shirt with little stingy ties on the shoulder. She swept her hair back, suddenly concerned about how James would see her after awaking from such a nasty spell. He would see the memory, and then he would see her.
At nine, Lily headed down to the great hall, ready to face the day with gusto. Her nerves wouldn't let her eat much more than a couple bites of toast and a few sips of juice. They had agreed to meet at ten, well before the Slytherin-Hufflepuff game, in the room of requirement. Lily was to bring the memory; Sirius and Remus were to bring James. As an added back up, Alice and Frank were to come for emotional support.
Alice, Frank, and Lily headed to the room of requirement on time, Sirius, Remus, and James running a bit late. James fought them tooth and nail, not wanting to part from some fifth year girl he was flirting with. Reluctantly he came, being promised so much more if he'd follow.
"I don't want her," James said pointing at Lily. Lily pretended it didn't hurt.
"I got you a gift for your birthday," Lily said calmly. She held out the crystal phial.
"Potion?" He asked. She shook her head and a pensieve appeared. She poured the potion in the pensieve and nodded toward it.
"Have a dip," Lily said. James, Remus, and Sirius looked at her.
"Aren't you coming?" Remus asked. Lily shook her head.
"I've experienced it quite enough," Lily said wearily. She glanced at Alice. "Right?"
"I'd say," Alice said. Frank nodded.
"See you in twenty," Frank said proudly. James, Sirius, and Remus disappeared into the memory.
"Do you think this will work?" Alice asked Lily as they waited patiently.
"God, I hope so," Lily said nervously as she conjured a sofa for the three to sit on while they waited.
"Do you think Remus and Sirius will notice the changes that you made?" Frank asked. Lily grinned.
"If they don't, they're idiots," Lily said as she checked her watch. "They should be entering that part of the memory now."
"I hope they've the sense to keep their mouth shuts," Alice said. Frank nodded.
"They will," Frank promised. "They want him back normal as bad as any of us, if not more."
"Who wants to bet Sirius comes out of the memory confused? Say two sickles?" Alice said grinning. Lily laughed and shook her head.
"You guys were wonderful," Lily said. "Who knew polyjuice potion would be so useful?"
"And you, my dear, have maintained your purity for James," Frank said as he wrapped an arm around her playfully.
The three looked up towards the end of the memory. James, Sirius, and Remus were standing there looking at each other. Lily looked at James hopefully, that vacant look gone from his eyes. She opened her mouth to say something but James moved first, his fist colliding with Sirius's jaw.
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO LET HER!" James screamed as he punched and hit Sirius. The boys were rolling around on the floor, kicking, biting, and punching. Lily and Alice looked at them in shock.
"Mate, I didn't! I don't know what that was!" Sirius said as he hit James back.
"We should do something," Alice said looking at Lily.
"Leave them be," Frank warned. "Never get into the middle of a fight."
"What in the world was that?" Remus asked Lily quietly as she siphoned the memory back into the phial.
"That was Sirius and Lily having sex," Lily said as she corked the phial.
"But you didn't have sex with Sirius last night," Remus said. "He got to the finish line too soon."
"Yes, I know," Lily said darkly. "I had to sit in that for four hours last night while I recreated the scene."
"Wait, what?" James said looking up at her, as if seeing Lily for the first time. His arm was still locked around Sirius' head.
"James, I didn't have sex," Lily said.
"But I saw…"
"You saw what you needed to see," Lily said.
"That wasn't a created memory, though," Remus said shaking his head. "It wasn't created."
"Polyjuice potion and two consenting adults," Lily said glancing at Alice and Frank.
"We've already had sex before," Alice said simply. "It was actually kind of exciting sleeping with Sirius, and Lily you have a hot body."
"Thanks," Lily said blushing.
"Wait, you turned Frank into me?" Sirius said frowning. "Why?"
"I got to thinking," Lily said. "About the time you peaked on me, thanks by the way… I'm traumatized. Anyways, Narcissa had said that James wasn't functioning properly… going off before he'd get started and what not… he never completed. So, technically he hasn't done anything more than I had at that point. When Sirius failed to perform, `getting to the finish line' before the race even started …"
"Hey, it's been like eight months!" Sirius defended. "I got a little excited, that's all. It could have happened to anyone."
"Gotcha," Lily said nodding. "It was gross by the way, thanks for the gift of your loving, Sirius."
"No problem," Sirius said from the choke-hold James still had him in, his face red.
"Anyways, I decided that maybe it didn't really have to be me," Lily said. "James just had to think it was me. I talked to Alice and Frank."
"Doesn't it take like a month to brew polyjuice potion?" James asked.
"Yeah, which I had started over a month ago at Professor Slughorn's request. Something about letting us experience it in April to see what it is like to walk in each other's bodies or something. So, I, uh, borrowed some," Lily said.
"So, you didn't sleep with Sirius, for real?" James asked as he loosened his hold on Sirius's head.
"Nope," Lily said. "I didn't go that far with him. I did kiss him and stuff, Remus too, but no, I did not sleep with him."
"Oh, thank god," James said in relief while releasing Sirius. The two boys climbed up off the floor.
"So, you're back to your old self, right?" Lily asked hopefully.
"Yes," James said. "And it is a relief. Do you know how many girls I kissed?"
"Not exactly something I want to think about, really," Lily said cringing. "It's ok. I got around a bit, too."
"Remus and Sirius," James said shaking his head. "How could you?"
"I wanted you back," Lily said simply.
"No, I mean physically? Their disgusting," James teased.
"What you ought to be asking was how far did I push the envelope, mate," Sirius teased ducking before James could deliver another well placed blow.
"Let's get you two checked out by Madame Pomfrey," Lily suggested as she slipping under James' arm. "You look like you were out for blood."
The two boys sat in the hospital wing on opposite beds. The witch shook her head, clucking her tongue disapprovingly as she checked them out. She had asked what had happened and before anyone could make up a believable story, Lily blurted out the truth.
"You should have come straight to me," Madame Pomfrey said shaking her head. "Every couple of years this rumored potion without an antidote strikes at Hogwarts, leaving its victim randy as fat kid in a candy shop and as useful as blind man's reading glasses. I keep the antidote on stock."
"An antidote? There's an antidote?" Remus asked as he brought his hand to his head, as if plagued with a horrible headache.
"I'm going to kill Severus Snape," James growled.
"Not if I get to him first," Lily said angrily. "I can't believe I went through all of that when there really WAS something less drastic to be done."
"You know what this means, right?" Sirius said as he leaned back to look at James who was creeping closer to Lily.
"What?" James asked as he encircled Lily with his arms and kissed the side of her neck.
"This means that you and Lily are both still quite pure, though," Sirius said smirking. Lily looked at him, confused as she pulled away from James a bit.
"You're still a… virgin?" Lily asked in disbelief. James shrugged and blushed.
"I was saving it for you."
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