In All the Thunder

Chapter Three: Lily's and Krystyna's Day Off

James and Sirius had decided that they were going to do something very nice today. Lily and Krystyna had finally completed in furnishing the house, and it seemed perfect. And although it had been "bloody murder", as Krystyna so well put it, doing everything, even with magic, it was worth it. And after all of that hard work, she and Lily needed, according to the boys, a day off full of--what else?--them.

Well, Sirius hadn't said it so bluntly, but he had said, "All you've been doing is working on fixing up that house; and you two haven't been spending that much time out of here and hanging out with us and stuff so James and I figure that you need to spend an entire day having fun, along with us!"

"Pub hopping, club hopping--the works, we said!" James had exclaimed excitedly. "After all, when was the last time you drank with us and just talking?"

"Never! So we figure that you need to at least do that once in your lifetime, and I'm guessing now is the only time we can," Sirius had added quickly.

And so, it was ten in the morning. James and Sirius were standing outside of their quaint little thing Krystyna and Lily liked to call home. James, wearing Muggle blue jeans and a t-shirt Lily had bought him, knocked on the door. There was no noise, but suddenly, the door opened. Krystyna, pulling a sock on, was the one standing in the doorway.

"Oh, hello, James, Sirius, we didn't expect you to come so..."

"Soon?" Lily offered, brushing her hair and walking up from behind the raven-haired girl. She nodded her head slowly, setting her foot down onto the wood floor.

"Exactly," Krystyna agreed. "Both of you don't get up until at least eleven thirty."

Sirius chuckled and the two wizards walked into the house, Krystyna shutting the door behind them. Sirius suddenly grabbed Krystyna and dipped her down.

"Shows how much you know about me, love," he murmured with a lazy grin on his face. "I'll get up early if I get to do this."

He kissed her. James rolled his eyes and shook his head, kissing Lily--much less fervently--on the cheek.

"Are you ready?" James asked her. Lily nodded her head, walking into the bathroom to put away the brush. She walked out of the bathroom. "And are you two almost done snogging? You know, there are other people here, Sirius."

Sirius stopped and pulled Krystyna back to her feet. She was blushing terribly and scurried off to find her shoes--or escape anymore tormenting comments from James. Sirius grinned at his friend.

"Come now, why did you have to go and do that?" he demanded jokingly.

James shook his head. "If you continued on any longer, she wouldn't have any lips for you to kiss!" he declared, laughing loudly. Sirius joined in as Lily rolled her eyes at them.

Boys, Lily thought, can't live with them; wish you could live without them.

Krystyna slowly walked back into the room, determined not to blush again. She smiled at Sirius, who gave her a grin, and stopped at his side. She looked expectedly at James, who seemed to have all of the plans written down in his mind. The two boys looked at each other.

"Well, since we're ready, let's get going, shall we?" James prompted, grinning at Lily, who was beaming back at him. They left the house, sure to have a wonderful, if not chaotic, day. That was when James took a sudden turn, and they walked into a damp alley. This hardly seemed to be the perfect spot. They stopped, and Lily gave him a quizzical look.

"James, what's this on about?" she asked him suspiciously.

"Well, we have to Apparate, don't we?" Sirius pointed out, leaning against the brick wall in the shadowy part. Lily turned around to look at him; Krystyna raised her eyebrows. "We don't want any Muggles to see us, now do we, Lily."

"Where are we going to Apparate to?" Krystyna questioned.

Sirius gave her a grin and grabbed her by the elbow before saying, "France, of course."

That was when they Apparated out of sight.

~*~

James, Lily, Krystyna, and Sirius appeared in a dark alley, apparently in a sunny France. As to where in France they were exactly, Lily and Krystyna were still trying to figure out. They walked out of the alley, all of them quite curious, and into the gleaming sun. An amazing sight struck the girls' eyes and they widened: They were standing right outside of the gates of Twelve Flags Amusement Park!

Thirteen Flags was the only Wizarding amusement park in Europe and famous for its brand new "rollercoasters". Lily was the only one who knew what those were because they actually came from Muggle theme parks. They walked up to the teller booth, and Sirius pulled out some galleons. After looking at the French words for two minutes, trying to translate them, he gave up.

"Er, apparently, I can't pay because I don't know how much to pay," Sirius declared, turning around.

"What? Let me see." James pushed Sirius out of the way and saw the French words. He gaped at them and then turned around to give them all a baffled expression. He shrugged his shoulders. "The only one who knows French in our gang is Lorena, and she's not here! How are we going to get in?"

"This is hopeless!" Sirius exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air. "Why couldn't they have put the bloody park in England?"

"Oh, dear, Heavens," Lily sighed, shaking her head at the two of them. Krystyna rolled her eyes. The girls giggled together. The two boys stopped ranting uselessly and gawked at them. They grinned at them, but Sirius and James weren't getting anywhere. "There's bound to be someone who knows English and French, which means that they, whoever and wherever they may be, can translate for us right now."

"How are we going to find someone that speaks English?" James asked thickly, giving Lily and Krystyna very bored looks, as if he knew that there was no way that their plan was going to work. After all, the most logical thing to do was rant and rave until someone came along.

"Easy, we look cute!" Krystyna laughed, turning a little red in the cheeks. Sirius gave her a strange look and then glanced at James, giving him a careless shrug. Sirius hopped over the silver metal bars when he saw a group of people heading to the next teller booth.

"Yoo-hoo, I cannot speak or read French, and I am in need of some serious assistance over here!" Sirius called out loudly to the group. All of them turned their heads to look at him. A few of the boys gave him a strange look, but the girls were all grinning.

"Oh, I know English; I can certainly help you," a girl with flowing bright blond hair said with an equally bright smile. A few of her girl friends began to giggle, but he didn't even have to fight the urge to turn red because he didn't even think about blushing. The girl began to walk for them with one of her friends, who was idly looking from Sirius to James. "Normally, I wouldn't do zis because I'm wiz my friends, but since you are such a nice--and very cute--boy..."

At this point, Krystyna was positively flaming. Sirius was looking a bit uncomfortable as they got closer, giving James a cringing look. Lily had her arms crossed over her chest and was not looking happy one bit at all. Krystyna, however, was not going to stand by and watch. She stomped in front of Sirius and gave them both glares.

"Alright, sisters, get your arse into high gear and get far away from here or I'll kick them both!" Krystyna threatened angrily. She was red in the face from anger and her fists clenched at her sides. Fire was burning in her blue eyes. Clearly, she was on the jealous streak and Sirius was beginning to feel a bit of pride about it. "Sirius is my boyfriend; not your eye candy! Lose it and get away from us!"

"Fine, we shall leave," the girl mumbled grumpily.

The two girls walked away, irritated. Krystyna heard the girl's friend grumble in an undertone, "Zat was one jealous girl. It's obviously your beautiful hair."

"What?!" Krystyna yelped. "Anyone with bright blond hair is a poncy git! You must be related to a Malfoy or something because you think everything's yours, you twit!"

"But...Lorena has bright blond hair..." James pointed out with his finger in the air, giving her yet another confused look. Krystyna's eyes widened, and she looked a bit embarrassed.

"Er, except my best friend, who is not a git at all!" Krystyna shouted after them. They ignored her, and she stomped her foot, shaking her head. She pocketed her hands and turned around to face them. "Damn, I lost it again."

James and Sirius were guffawing very loudly. Krystyna walked out this time and saw yet another group walking along. She shot Sirius a devious look and then looked back at the group. She rumpled her hair a bit and got in a different stance.

"Hey, do you think you can give us a hand? I'm only in French One so I don't know how to translate any of this stuff yet!" Krystyna shouted loudly. Everyone looked over at them. Let's just say that all of the guys' jaws just hit the concrete floor as they gawked at her. They looked at each other and headed over for them.

"You say you need help, no?" one of the guys asked her. She gave him a shy smile and nodded her head a little. Sirius stopped laughing suddenly when he heard the guy's voice. He immediately locked his eyes on him suspiciously. This guy was bad news--already--he could tell from that snobby voice of his. He was just another guy like Lucius Malfoy! "I can help you there, of course."

"Thanks, I'd very much appreciate it," Krystyna replied coyly, giving them a sly grin. Sirius was slowly turning red in the background; she did her best to keep a straight face. The guy raised his eyebrows; she could almost picture Lily trying to smother her giggles in the background.

"Of course, I'd do anything for such a dashing young woman, such as yourself," the guy said. Okay, that was it for Sirius's mild-mannered temperament.

"Just tell us what it means and stop hitting on her, you prat!" Sirius boomed ferociously. The boys looked a little startled and frightened as they looked upon a very envious Sirius Black. "You either get your eyes off my girlfriend or I'll put your eyes inside your head!"

Obviously much more afraid of Sirius now, the guys hastily told them what to do and then sprinted away to their group of giggling girls and laughing boys. Sirius flattened his disheveled hair and shot them a few nasty glares. Krystyna wrapped her arms around his neck and looked at him happily.

"Aw, you love me so much that you're jealous!" Krystyna murmured in a mock-baby voice. James, who was paying the money, started to chortle, and Lily finally let it all out, laughing loudly. "See, now you know how it feels."

He gave her a simpering look. She kissed him on the cheek to make him smile a little. Sirius grabbed Krystyna's hand. Finally, they were able to get it and start having some fun.

~*~

Twelve Flags turned out to be a lot of fun. There were only a few things they hadn't ridden on yet, and one of those things was the rollercoasters. The four of them eyed a large metal rollercoaster with much anticipation and apprehensiveness. James didn't think the concept on the physics of the rollercoaster were safe enough for him.

"Um...it looks a tad bit...large, don't you think?" James pointed out nervously, craning his head back to watch the cars shoot through the first loop quite violently. He gulped. He liked to be high in the air and all--Quidditch was his favourite sport, after all--and twisting around was very easy. But all that metal? It just didn't seem logical to him and looked more like a death trap than anything. Lily smiled at him gleefully.

"Oh, no, this is rather small compared to some I've been on," she exclaimed in a cheery voice. James and Sirius looked at each other and then to Krystyna, who was cringing at a thought that had come to her mind. The picture had been frightening. "C'mon, let's ride it!"

Lily grabbed hold of James's arm and started dragging him for the ride. Krystyna and Sirius glanced at each other, still having not budged from their spot. It didn't look too safe to them either. James stopped her suddenly, and she turned around to face him with a confused look on her face.

"What?" Lily cocked her head to the right; James knew that he had to come up with some excuse. He tried to think harder.

"Er...I don't think I'm--er--uh--tall enough to go on it!" he finally lied, putting his finger in the air as a gesture of triumph. He gave her a rather hopeful look. She startled giggling; he frowned. That probably wasn't supposed to happen.

"You're tall enough, silly--now, c'mon!" Lily giggled and dragged him away. Krystyna sighed and started following her best friend slowly. Sirius thought about his life first and then jogged to catch up with them. This was going to be...different.

"I think this crazy rollycoast thing was made by Voldemort as a torture device for wizards and witches," Krystyna and Sirius heard James mutter as Lily dragged him along. Sirius snorted.

However, even after all of that, they didn't get to go on the rollercoaster just yet. There was a wait, which Sirius was not keen on at all. He hated waiting for anything. And wait was what they did for the longest time. They stood in line for what seemed like ages. Krystyna was talking to Sirius, making wide gestures and telling him a story.

"Well, Lorena and Sara came to help Lily and I unpack around the first few days, right? Well, I forgot to mention that these boxes are, like, way old and dusty; there could be anything in them." Krystyna grinned and Sirius chuckled. He knew what was coming. "Anyways, Lorena opened this box; and all of a sudden, all of these black spiders just came pouring out of the box! And you know how Lorena is when she gets near spiders--she freaks out, which she did."

Sirius began laughing already. He could just picture Lorena opening a box and spiders rushing out of it quickly. Everyone knew she had a large fear of spiders.

"Lorena started screaming her head off and hopped backwards, knocking into the edge of the open window and fell out of it backwards into the bushes!" Krystyna exclaimed, chortling. Sirius was now full out guffawing. He stomach was beginning to hurt badly. "We must have this fresh-out-of Durmstrang guy in our neighborhood, alright. He was walking by and saw it happen so he ran over to her and picked her out of the bushes.

"He was like, 'Oh, are you alright? That looked like it hurt!' And Lorena was so dazed that she said, 'No, I'm not all right--I'm all left!'" Krystyna and Sirius burst out laughing and fell on each other for support. Lily and James looked over at them.

Lily grinned. "Oh, you must be telling Sirius what happened to Lorena," she said gleefully.

Krystyna nodded her head. "Oh, it was hysterical!"

"Why? What happened to Lorena?" James asked quickly, looking from a laughing Sirius, a giggling Krystyna, and a smirking Lily. She turned to face him again and smiled. She began telling the story and by the time she finished, James was also laughing, and they were at the front of the line. That's when James stopped laughing.

But before James could say anything, Lily pushed him, Sirius, and Krystyna into their cars. It was too late to get off now. While she cheerfully buckled herself up in the two person cars, James looked to be getting ready for take off in a rocket, pulling the strap tightly and taking deep breaths. He held onto the bar tightly and closed his eyes shut. Krystyna felt like she was buckling up for her death; Sirius wondered if he would look bad if he puked before the ride started.

A Muggle rollercoaster, honestly! Sirius thought as he buckled up slowly. How do I get myself into these things all of the time?

Lily leaned up. "You're going to love it, Krys," she told her friend. Krystyna looked back at Lily with a look of uncertainty and smiled feebly at her friend, who was positively beaming with glee.

"Well, I certainly hope so," Krystyna replied, trying to suppress the nervousness that was rising in her throat. She turned back around to look in front of her. Of course Lily would have made Sirius and her sit in the front car.

Krystyna glanced at Sirius anxiously and saw that he was looking troubled. He looked over at her, and she gave him the same feeble smile. He tried to smile back, but the cars started and they jerked a little. He gulped instead.

"So, this is how I'm going to die, huh," Sirius mumbled as they started going up the hill. Krystyna looked oddly at him. "I'm going to fall out of this Muggle contraption when we go upside down on those little loops. Oh, this is just priceless. Mum always told me that I would die like this."

"Really?" James asked from behind them curiously. "She said that you'd die on a Muggle rollercoaster in Twelve Flags?" Sirius and Krystyna looked back--and now down because of the hill--at James and Lily. James suddenly pulled a face of concentration. "Wait a minute; this place wasn't built until last year."

Sirius was looking rather thoughtful. "Actually, it was more along the lines of, 'The Muggles are going to get you if you don't behave!' when I went to bed as a child, but same difference," he replied calmly. James smirked, but then, they jerked some more so he paled. Krystyna and Sirius turned around. They were finally at the top of the hill. The rollercoaster got faster. Krystyna's heart was pounding in her chest as she looked at the hill. She wanted off--now.

"Lily, I don't know why I let you get me on this," Krystyna said hastily. "I want ooooooooooooooff!"

The rollercoaster cars dropped down the hill very quickly; and everyone began to scream their heads off like mad. Sirius and Krystyna wrapped their arms around each other and pressed their faces together, screaming. And they had been in Gryffindor, too. They tightened their grip on each other as they started going through the first loop. It was amazing that even though they were screaming like crazy, they could still hear James's high-pitched screams.

I'm gonna fall out! Sirius first thought when he reHaydenzed they were upside down. Even though we all thought it wasn't possible, he held onto Krystyna even tighter than before. She closed her eyes.

Lily had her hands raised in the air; she was grinning like mad, laughing her head off. Every time she got scared or went on rollercoasters, she laughed instead of screamed. Also, James was making her laugh a lot from screaming in such a high-pitched voice. He had his arms around her.

When the ride had finally come to a halt, James's hair was sticking up on end and his eyes were so wide that they could've popped out. He seemed permanently glued to Lily. Sirius and Krystyna slowly separated themselves from each other; Krystyna was blushing severely as she hopped out of the car. The two of them watched as Lily tried to pry James from her.

"James, love, please, we need to get off," Lily cooed, stroking his hair back down. After a few minutes, he let go of her, and they got off of the rollercoaster.

While walking down the stairs, Sirius opened his mouth to say something when James cut it, "Don't you even say anything about it." Sirius grinned cheekily at him and they walked out into the sun. "Say, how about we go on a wooden rollercoaster this time?"

Lily gawked at him, astonished. "But James, you were about to wet your pants on that last ride!" she exclaimed quite loudly. He glowered at her when a group of girls walked passed them, giggling, and she smiled at him.

"Sure I was, but only because it was so bloody superb!" James declared, grinning at her. "Let's face it; that ride was awesome. Do you agree, Padfoot?"

"Don't I ever, Prongs," Sirius replied, giving James a high-five. Lily and Krystyna looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Ah, the immaturity of boys. They bounded for the closest wooden rollercoaster, which in, all reHaydenty, wasn't that scary. After the first try, they all enjoyed it--especially Sirius. He could always fake fear and grab hold of Krystyna, which was always very enjoyable to do.

~*~

It was nearing sunset and the closing of the park. Lily, James, Krystyna, and Sirius had ridden all of the rides and were completely exhausted. It happened to be a very large amusement park. They were ending the day with walking around the place, eating shaved ice. James and Sirius were practically engulfing their cherry, red ones; Krystyna and Lily were just eating it.

James swallowed and decided to slow down because he was getting a brain freeze. He held his head and groaned while Sirius snorted into his shaved ice, getting it all over his nose and spraying it at Lily, who yelped and jumped out of the way.

James peered at Lily. "How come Lorena and Remus didn't come? Or why not Peter and Michelle?" he asked. "I think Lorena would love a place like this; she'd probably laugh at everyone."

"Well, Remus and Lorena are house hunting--"

"Ooh, they're moving in together!" James and Sirius exclaimed in unison, wiggling their eyebrows at each other and guffawing. Krystyna shook her head at them. She put her hands on her hips.

"No, you silly nits, they're not moving in together yet," she admonished. They stopped to gawk at her. She rolled her eyes. "Remus is just helping Lorena find a flat."

Sirius and James looked at each other and nodded their heads.

"Right," they said at the same time, dragging the word out.

Krystyna threw her arms in the air. "You two are impossible when it comes to their relationship!" she exclaimed. They both grinned at her cheekily and nodded their heads unabashedly. Lily giggled a bit. "Well, I believe that Peter is at work and so is Michelle. You know, I believe she got a job in the Ministry of Magic."

"Good for her," James said, his voice thick with sarcasm.

"How many times have I told you all; the Ministry is not a Government at all, but a secret plot to spy in our secret lives and brainwash us all to become their soldiers of doom!" Sirius declared, sounding halfway serious and halfway joking. Krystyna almost stopped; that was not good. He possibly believed it, but she didn't ask him.

"Well, what say we go have a drink at The Three Broomsticks?" James stated gallantly after finishing up the rest of his shaved ice. Lily smiled at him and nodded her head. Krystyna agreed. Sirius was grinning from ear-to-ear. That sounded like a good plan to him. "Alright, how about we try the Knight Bus?"

"Eh...well, James..." Krystyna didn't really like the Knight Bus that very well. It gave her a head ache.

"Alright then, we'll take it!" James said loudly, dragging Lily out of the park. Sirius shrugged his shoulders. Once again, he and Krystyna had to jog to catch up with the two. James stuck his wand hand out and a violent purple bus appeared out of nowhere, nearly running them over. Lily jumped back and squealed. It came to a halt in front of them.

"How's it going, Hayden?" James asked conversationally as he handed over the money he had to pay. Hayden was a young man around their age with dark, tan skin, brown eyes, and black hair. He grinned at them as they all entered the bus. He shut the door.

"Not too bad, if I say so myself," Hayden replied coolly, sitting down.

Lily, who had never traveled by Knight Bus before, looked very excited as she looked inside. The sky was dark and now, instead of seats, there were beds. This bus had beds in it! She collapsed onto a bed and relaxed. Krystyna, on the other hand, sat on a bed and grabbed the edges of it, looking rather frightened. Sirius slowly sat on a bed. James jumped on Lily's bed, interrupting her great relaxation. He looked up at Hayden.

"This is Lily, my girlfriend. It's her first time on the Knight Bus," James informed proudly, grinning somewhat impishly at Hayden, who mirrored one.

"Ah, the first is always the best," Hayden replied, seemingly harmlessly. Little did Lily know. "Where are we heading to, James?"

"The Three Broomsticks would be great," Sirius replied before James could. The two friends smirked at each other and fought the urge to laugh. They were best friends; they were allowed to speak for each other. That was just the way things worked for them.

"The Three Broomsticks, eh; getting kind of late, wouldn't you say?" Hayden replied, grinning at them. That's when James gave him a sly grin, and the three guys all laughed. Lily and Krystyna connected eyes and shrugged their shoulders. It was another "guy thing", they supposed.

"Yes, but we have connections there," James pointed out coolly. Hayden raised an eyebrow. "One of our friends, Lorena Fawcett, works there late nights so we've got it covered."

Hayden raised his other eyebrow in an arch and grinned. "Your friend--she works at The Three Broomsticks at late nights?" he repeated curiously. James nodded his head, grinning at the other wizard. "You have to be--how should I put it?--quite aggressive and aloof to work there at this time, no?"

"You're right," James sighed, "but sorry, she's dating my other friend, you know, Remus Lupin. She's taken already, mate." Hayden sighed and then shrugged his shoulders. "Don't worry; there are plenty other of fish in the sea."

"You tell him that, but could you ever tell yourself that in the five years you stalked me?" Lily asked him rather dully. When Sirius, Hayden, and Krystyna began laughing loudly, James turned red a little. That was when the Knight Bus suddenly jerked forward. All of the laughing stopped immediately.

Hayden idly watched as Lily slid backwards off of a bed; Sirius was thrown backwards onto a bed; Krystyna slid down to the other end of the bus, cringing horribly; and James was thrown into the window, his face smashing against the cold glass. He slowly slid down and fell to the ground, rubbing his face. Hayden grinned as he saw Lily slowly pull herself back up onto the bed with her elbows and Sirius sit up. Krystyna seemed to be stuck to her bed. They abruptly stopped again.

Lily was thrown over the bed this time and onto the floor again, other beds sliding over her; she squealed once again. Sirius was thrown onto a completely different bed, looking quite surprised. Krystyna slid back down in their direction, still hanging onto the bed tightly with her eyes closed, as if getting ready to die. And James... Well, poor James careened into a pole that had curtains on it, tangling himself up in the curtains and falling down, wrapped up like a hotdog.

Hayden had to control his laugher as he greeted another person getting on. An elderly woman walked on with her head held up high and her arms wrapped around her large purse. When she saw James, Lily, Sirius, and Krystyna, she scoffed at them and went her merry way up the steps to the second level.

"What was all that about?" James asked, moving his head to look at Sirius. He shrugged his shoulders when he finally stood up again. Lily was attempting to unravel James from the curtain when the Knight Bus jerked again.

James began to roll down to the end of the bus, knocking Lily in her shins, making her fall to the floor and land on her face. Sirius, who had been on his knees on a bed at the time, was thrown off the bed and knocked into Krystyna, sending both of them onto another bed and then falling onto the floor. All while this was happening, they heard someone scream from upstairs. Hayden was laughing his head off.

When they all stopped moving, James had bumped into the wall of the back of the bus, now completely rid of the curtain that lay as a trail in the huge aisle of the bus; Lily was rubbing her red forehead; and Sirius was lying on top of Krystyna on the ground underneath a bed.

What an interesting position I am in, Sirius thought, a grin creeping across his face, which was only a few centimeters away from Krystyna's.

She smiled at him, but was actually thinking, Heaven, I can't breathe--and it's not because Sirius is so close to me.

Maybe Sirius read her mind, Krystyna didn't know, but at that second, he rolled off of her. He stood back up and then helped Krystyna to her feet. They sat on the same bed and stared at Hayden.

"How are we supposed to not fall down?" Lily asked exasperatedly.

"I honestly don't know," Hayden sighed with a grin on his face. She groaned. Soon enough after that, they came to another screeching halt, throwing them all to the floor. "The Three Broomsticks!"

Hayden opened the doors and they all stood up, rubbing their elbows. James shook hands with him.

"Smashing ride, mate," James told him, grinning at him. "It was hysterical--as usual."

"Any time, James, any time," Hayden laughed jovially. He watched as Krystyna staggered down the steps, and Sirius stumbled down them, careening into Krystyna and almost knocking them both into a puddle. He always got dizzy after riding the Knight Bus. Lily, groaning still, clambered off, and James jumped off. Hayden waved. "Adios, amigos; have a good time drinking!"

Hayden shut the door and with another jolt, the Knight Bus disappeared, leaving Sirius, Krystyna, James, and Lily standing outside of The Three Broomsticks alone in the wet weather. It must have rained in Diagon Alley, they supposed. Quickly, they scampered in the pub where it was sure to be warmer.