Confusion's a Funny Thing

[beki14]

I know there are so many James/Lily fics out right now its probably getting really annoying but I really wanted to write this one. Please give it a chance, you might even like it.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, the setting, heck I don't own much of anything! If you recognize it, then it's JKR's. All I did was make up a few minor characters and the details.

(A/N: Please excuse the first few posts, they are in the midst of a major edit. I'd like to apologise for the grammar and spelling, and promise that this fic gets much better after the fifteenth or so post. Someday, they will be edited...)

So I present for your enjoyment: Confusion's a Funny Thing


James Potter was sitting in Potions, daydreaming. He was a Gryffindor starting his seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Their potions teacher, Professor Slughorn, tended to ramble on the first day of lessons, and its not like James had nothing better to do than listen to a long lecture on the polyjuice potion. He was remembering his first train ride to Hogwarts, the day he met the people that would change his life forever...

A short, scrawny boy with a thin face, hazal eyes, and very untidy black hair stepped onto the Hogwarts Express, wondering what lied ahead of him. This was the day James Potter had been waiting for all his life. He was on his way to becoming a wizard. As he said goodbye to his parents, he felt nothing but the happiness welling up inside of him.

James was walking through the halls of the train looking for somewhere to sit when he heard a bit of conversation from the conmpartment he was passing.

"I'M WARNING YOU SNAPE, DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT BOTHERING HER AGAIN!"

"Sticking up for Mudbloods are we, tut tut, what would your mother have to say."

"LETS LEAVE HAGS OUT OF THIS CONVERSATION SHALL WE?"

"Well, well, well, it seems we may have ourselves a blood traitor in training."

"What's going on here?" James asked, walking into the compartment. There were two boys standing in the middle with their wands pointed at eachother. One was very good-looking with long black hair and deep grey eyes. The other was scrawny and pale with greasy black hair and cold black eyes. A girl was standing between then trying to force them apart. Even though a full out deul was about to break out, James could not help but notice this girl was very pretty. She had long red hair and stunning emerald green eyes. There was something mysterious about her, something captivating. There was also a short chubby boy who was staring at the scene with his mouth slightly open.

"This git decided to make a big deal over Lily being muggleborn." said the good-looking boy.

"Allright, allright, I'm leaving." said the greasy haired boy. He left muttering about mudbloods and upholding the family honor.

"Fastinating, that, especially since he's half-blood himself." muttered the boy, "I'm Sirius Black, by the way, and this is Lily Evans and Peter Pettigrew." he said indicationg the other two.

"James Potter, and did you say your name was Black?"

"Uh-huh."

At this point James started laughing hysterically.

"What?"

"It's just I never thought I'd see the day when a Black stuck up for a muggleborn." said James through his laughter.

"Oh good grief." Sirius said as he pulled out his wand again.

"No, no, I didn't mean it like that, I think its brilliant." he said pushing the wand away.

"Really? Thats a first. Most purebloods like you think I should be disowned or beat or something like that."

"Yeah, well, my family's not like that."

"Sorry to interupt but do either of you know why that boy is sitting all alone?" Lily asked gesturing to the compartment across from theirs.

A boy with sandy brown hair and sad brown eyes sat there staring straight ahead and looking very depressed.

"No idea, we should tell him to come join us." Sirius said.

"Yeah, lets." James replied. With that the two boys left the compatrment for a few minutes and came back with the boy trailing behind.

"Alright, this is Lily Evans and Peter Pettigrew, guys this is Remus Lupin." After James introduced them they all sat down and made them selves comfortable.

"Hey, is it true that a hat sorts you into different houses?" asked Lily.

"Yeah, my parents said it looks inside your head and tells you what house you belong in." James answered, "There's Gryffindor for the brave, thats the best, Ravenclaw for the smart, Hufflepuff for the nice and fair, and Slythern for the gits." They all laughed at this last one.

"Almost my entire family has been in Slythern, but I don't care, the first thing I'm doing is asking the hat to put me anywhere but there." Sirius said.

But he needn't have worried. Sirius was the first student to be sorted. He walked up, put the hat on, and opened his mouth to speak to it. But before he could utter a single word, the hat yelled "GRYFFINDOR!" His face split into a wide grin as he joined the table.

Lily was next fron their compartment, then Remus, then Peter. Although the hat took awile to decide on Peter they all became Gryffindors.

James' turn was finially there. He walked up to the hat, shaking slightly, and put it on.

So what did you think?
I'm not sure how to get
a feedback
link but i'll try
to figure it out. Thanx for reading!

[beki14]

Hey guys are you enjoying this? Make sure to reply!

[beki14]

James took one last look at the Great Hall Before the hat covered his face.Then he heard a voice as clear as though someone was whispering in his ear.

"Hmmmm, very brave, and very loyal, extremely loyal actually, a wonderful mind, definately potential to have a brilliant mind. Tough, very tough, Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, I'm not sure which, give me a moment."

At that moment, James remembered that Lily Evans was in Gryffindor.

"No, not Ravenclaw, I want to be in Gryffindor." James thought.

"Are you sure? You have potential to be a great thinker?"

"I'm sure."

"Very well then, GRYFFINDOR!"

James took the hat off and practically ran to the table. All of his newfound friends were congradulating him, but he found the only thing he could think about was that Lily was the main reason he wanted to be in this house. He couldn't wait to find out more about her...

"Prongs, hello, are you with us Prongs?" James' best friend Sirius was waving a hand in front of his face.

"Huh?" asked James, coming out of his stupor.

"We were supposed to start our potion five minutes ago and dreul isn't an ingrediant."

"Oh, right."

"He's right you know," said Lily, leaning across Sirius to look at James. "You're not going to copy my notes this year. We have N.E.W.T.s coming up, and your head boy so you should set a good example."

"Oh you know very well that you're going to help him anyway." Sirius retorted.

"And what is that supposed to mean!"

Sirius and Lily went into a quiet argument. James rolled his eyes and started working on his Polyjuice. Sirius had taken it apon himself last year to try and get Lily to realize that she and James were perfect for eachother. He was having as much success as Severous Snape when trying to wash his hair. That is, not much.

"Do not." Lily muttered ten minutes later.

"Do too."

"Oh, would you two shut-it and do something useful like helping me with my potion!" Alice Baker, Lily's best friend exclaimed. Lily, Alice, and the marauders had been close friends since their first year, even though James and Lily spent most of that time bickering. These four were the only seventh year Gryffindors to make it into N.E.W.T. potions.

"Okay whatever, stay in denial all you want Lils."

"Idiot." Lily muttered under her breath.

After a tortourus double potions, they joined the other two marauders, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin, and headed for lunch. When they passed a group of girls, Sirius winked and smiled at them, and they burst into fits of giggles.

"Those poor things, falling for a git like you." Alice said as they sat down. They all laughed at the look on Sirius's face.

"You know Pad, she's got a point." said Remus.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be on my side!"

"So Alice, how's Frank?" James asked about Alice's boyfriend, who had graduated last year.

Alice blushed a little and said, "His auror training is going great, I can't wait to join him next year."

"By the way, James we have our first prefect meeting tonight." Lily added.

"Oh, okay, what are we supposed to do anyway?"

"Just give the prefects instructions and patrol the corridors. Actually, if we have to punish anyone just agree with me."

"Why?"

"Because you're a softie."

"Will you go out with me."

"No and do you have any idea how lame that was."

"I've tried creative, it doesn't work."

Lily opened her mouth for a second, then burst out laughing.

"What?" James asked, obviously confused.

"Your just so stupid it's actually kind of sweet."

"Riiiight, I'm going to take that as a compliment."

"You do that."

"Oh, this is going to be an interesting year!" Sirius said, shaking his head at the both of them.

"When is it not interesting at Hogwarts?" asked Peter.

"True, my small friend, very true." Sirius said, grinning widely.


Thats all for now.
Srry its slow but
Prefect meeting next,
watch James
mess up royally!


Alright, here's the feedback form. I'm not positive it works, so if it doesn't sorry, i'm new at this.

[beki14]

Alrighty, here's the next post. Hope you like it!

Lily was pacing the transfiguration classroom impatiently. All the prefects were seated around her, waiting. James was late(what a shocker) and she couldn't really start without him. Honestly, what was Dumbledore thinking when he made that head boy. And now she was stuck with him. For. An. Intire. Year. Urgh.

James finially rushed in ten minutes late and with a monster grin on his face. Lily didn't like that. That was his "I just pulled an amusing prank so I'm king of the world," grin.

"Sorry guys, you'll never beleive what Peeves..." he started but stopped short by the glare on Lily's face. He dropped the grin and stood beside her.

"Well now that our wonderful head boy has graced us with his presence, I think we can start the meeting. If thats okay with you." she said turning to James. He thought she sounded much angrier than the situation warrented.

"Er...yeah, sure." he replied uncertianly.

As Lily explained that it was the prefects responsibility to patrol the corridors and hand out punishments to rule-breakers, James' attention wandered to why Lily was so angry with him. After all, he wasn't that late.

"... so every night two pairs of prefects have to patrol the corridors for students out of bed. Sixth and seventh year prefects can deduct house points, and any nighttime wanderers should be taken to their heads of house immediately. Anything to add?" she asked James.

"Er, no I think you got everything."

"Alright, please make sure you set a good example. You will be a role model for younger students in your house. The patrolers for tonight will be the heads and the fifth year Slytherns. The rest of you are free to go."

The rest of the prefects thinned out and they were left with a boy and girl. James was shocked to find he recognised the boy. It was Sirius' little brother, Regulus. James had always seen Regulus as someone who really didn't know what his veiws on the purity of blood were, but wasn't brave enough to stand up to his parents. James wasn't sure if Sirius had spoken to him since he was disowned, but he had a feeling that his friend cared about his little brother more than he let on.

"James come on, we've got to patrol." said Lily, bringing him from his thoughts, "I swear, you daydream enough for the entire school." She was being very short with him, and he was starting to get confused.

They walked in silence for a very long time. James, bored, started humming under his breath.

"Would you please stop that!"

"Oh, sorry." He started whistling instead.

"Potter..."

"Whats wrong with you? You haven't called me by my last name in ages."

"I thought maybe you would take on some real responsibility this year but so far I've been sorely dissapointed." Lily said through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, well you haven't given me much of a chance." James muttered.

"WHAT!"

"OH YOU KNOW VERY WELL THAT YOU DON'T REALLY WANT MY HELP, YOU LIKE HAVING THE RIGHT TO COMPLAIN FAR TOO MUCH!

They were mow standing ten feat apart in a corridor, bellowing at each other.

"YOU KNOW WHY WE ALWAYS FIGHT WITH EACHOTHER?" asked Lily.

"OH, I'M SURE IT'S BECAUSE I'M AN IRRESPONSIBLE BIGHEADED GIT!"

"WELL AT LEAST YOU GRASP FACTS QUICKLY."

"YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR PROBLEM IS EVANS."

"WHAT, THAT I'M AN INSUFFERABLE NAG."

"NO, IT'S THAT YOU TRY TO PROVE YOURSELF SO MUCH THAT YOU FORGET TO HAVE A LIFE!" screamed James, "MAYBE THATS WHY YOUR SISTER HATES YOU!"

James froze. He hadn't meant to say that. Oh my God, did he really just say that? He braced himself, waiting for the explosion. But he would rather have been yelled at for the rest of eternity that have what happened next.

All the anger fell of Lily's face. Her eyes slowly filled up with tears.

"Lily, I didn't..." James began, but Lily shook her head and then ran off, back to Gryffindor tower.

After a moment, James followed her, wondering how he could have been so creul, wondering how he would make it up to her.

Lily was in her dormitory, sobbing harder that she ever sobbed before. She was angry at James for saying those things, angry at herself for letting him get to her. But what upset her more than anything else was the thought that he might be right.


FEEDBACK makes me happy!
Thanks for reading!

[beki14]

Over the next two weeks, Lily avoided James while James made desperate attempts to get her to talk to him. He tried everything from filling her dormitory with lillies to locking her in a classroom and trying to force her to listen. Poor Sirius had to go between them delivering apologies from James and not-so-pleasant responses from Lily. Finially he refused to do it in hopes that they'd just talk to eachother, but instead they ended up not communicating at all.

On Friday, Lily was heading towards Gryffindor Tower after Transfiguration when she ran into some unwelcome visitors. Five slythernis, great. Just peachy.

The group consisting of Severus Snape, Rabastan Lestrange, Narcissa Black, Larissa Malfoy, and Regulus Black spotted her and grinned at each other in enthusiasm.

"Well, well, what do we have here, the mudblood on her own?" asked Larissa with a sneer, "Where's your precious Potter watchdog today?"

"I can manage very well without my precious Potter thanks." retorted Lily, hand gripped around her wand.

"Lily? What are you doing?" James' voice came from a side passage.

"Or not." said Rabastan sarcasticallly.

"It's okay Potter, I've got this handled." answered Lily, ignoring Lestrange.

"Don't be ridiculous, now come on, were outnumbered."

"Oh, what, are you actually scared of them."

"No, but incase you never learnt how to count, there are five of them and two of us. Plus, you're head girl, you shouldn't be deuling in the halls."

The Slythernis were actually looking slightly confused.

"What did you guys do, switch bodies?" asked Regulus.

"Well, I think we should teach them a lesson, how about it?" Snape raised his wand, the others quickly following suit.

"Oh for Gods sake, leave them alone!" said an exasperated voice.

They all turned to see a harassed looking Adrianna Mulciber coming down the stairs. Adrianna was the only slytherin the marauders, Lily, and Alice actually got along with. They hadn't been thrilled with the idea of becoming friends with someone who's family were well known You-Know-Who supporters, but Adrianna was nothing like the rest of them. Her and Sirius had known eachother since before they could remember and acted like siblings, much to the displeasure of the other seventh year slytherins.

"Guys, go back to the common room, there's bigger fish to fry." she told the others.

They left relctantly, Lestrange turned around and asked, "Aren't you coming?"

"In a minute Stan."

James geinned at her. "Thanks girl, we owe ya one."

"Don't mention it. You weren't actually gonna take them all on were you."

"Well I wasn't but Lily seemed like she was."

Adrianna turned to look at her. She mumbled something about extra aggression and not thinking clearly.

"Right. Well I'd better get going before they send out the pureblood police or something. And do me a favor, tell that idiot friend of yours I'd like a word with him."

"Will do."

"Bye Adi."

As she left, Lily had fully intended to walk away from James without a word, but he grabbed her arm before she could take a step.

"What are you doing."

"Come on, were going for a walk."

Over the next few minutes, James explained how he never meant to say what he said and how sorry he was and how the last two weeks had been hell without them talking.

Lily finially held up a hand to stop him.

"James it's allright, I forgive you. We all say things we shouldn't, that's just part of life. I've just been being stubborn, after all, I've probably said worse to you." she smiled. "Did you really think I'd give up six years of friendship over something so stupid. The reason I was so angry was that I thought you might be right."

"Don't even think that, I was such an idiot. And your sister doesn't hate you, she's just jealous."

They sat down by the lake to watch the giant squid and talked about their last couple of weeks.

"Oh by the way, I set up quiddich tryouts on Saturday, I want the whole team there, can you tell Elaine?"

"Sure." Lily was quite excited. She was a seeker on the Gryffindor quiddich team, James was the captain and chaser. They were in need of a new keeper and beater.

"Oh yeah, we have to patrol Monday." Lily told him.

"Monday? I can't."

"Why?"

He started muttering about having a family commitment and all the marauders having to go, when something cilcked into place in Lily's brain. Full moon is Monday. Lily had figured out that Remus was a werewolf in fourth year, but never told the marauders, or anyone for that matter. She also knew the other marauders found a way to be there for his transformations, but could never figure out how they managed it.

"Oh okay, I'll just switch with the Ravenclaws or something." Lily said quickly to stop James' rambling. He looked quite releived.

"Thanks. We'd better get back."

When they reached their common room they were met by a cheer.

"Thank god, you guys are talking to each other again." yelled a grinning Sirius, attracting a number of funny stares from fellow gryffindors.

"Oh yeah, I'm supposed to give you a message." said James, "Adi told us to tell you she'd like a word with you. And she called you an idiot."

"Yeah, I'll be needing to have a word with her as well." Siruis said, looking strangely grim about the prospect.


FEEDBACK if you love me. Or if you dont, i'm not picky.
Fanks for reading

[beki14]

Sirius was eating breakfast on a Saturday morning, his eyes subconsiously following a girl as she walked out of the Great Hall. He noticed how gracefully she moved, her long, wavy black hair rippling behind her.

"Git a grip." he said outloud to himself.

"What?" Remus asked.

"Oh, nothing." My god Sirius, whats wrong with you? You can't be falling for her, can you? It goes against everything you stand for. I mean come on, she's practically my sister, I've known her forever, and I've never felt like this! But that's just it. Lately, I can't stop thinking about her. But is she even going to want to talk to me after...And I'm talking to myself again. I'm going mad. Well madder than I was anyway...

"SIRIUS!"

"Wha..." he said looking around wildly.

"I've asked you the same question six times!" said an irate Lily.

"Er, right sorry."

"What time did James say quiddich tryouts were." Sirius was a chaser as well.

"Quiddich?" Sirius asked wearily.

"Yes, I didn't catch the time. Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I think I'm going to the library. See ya later."

"But, you didn't say what time..." Lily began, but he was already out of earshot.

*******************

Sirius came out of the library two hours later, feeling very cranky. He couldn't concentrate on anything. He was intending to go back to his dormitory, take a nap, and try again later. No, he told himself firmly, you're not falling for her.

"SIRIUS BLACK!" said an angry voice from behind him.

Well, speak of the devil. A very perturbed looking Adrianna Mulciber was making her way towards him.

"Oh, hey Adi, hows it goin'?" he asked, trying and failing to look innocent.

She grabbed his arm and dragged him into an enpty classroom. "We need to talk." she said in a dangerous tone.

"Sit." She pointed to one of the desks. He sat.

"So?" she asked, looking down at him with her hand on her hip.

"Er, so what?" He attempted a feeble grin, waiting for the explosion.

"YOU'VE BEEN AVOIDING ME, THATS WHAT! YOU BARELY WROTE TO ME THIS SUMMER! WE'VE BEEN BACK TO SCHOOL FOR TWO WEEKS AND YOU HAVEN'T SAID A BLOODY WORD! WHATS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

"I figured you wouldn't want to talk to me." he muttered looking at his shoe.

"WHY THE BLOODY HELL DID YOU THINK THAT?"

"Well seeing as I almost killed your boyfriend last June, I figured you might have some lingering resentment." He still wasn't looking at her.

"Oh, is that all?" she asked, actuallly smiling. "I know you never meant to actually hurt him. I think you did me a favor, actually."

"What?" he asked, startled, finially looking up.

"I broke up with him, right before school ended. I think you were right about him. He can get real nasty when he's angry. Kept going on and on about how he would get you back if it was the last thing he did. When I told him to shut it, he accused me of taking your side. So I asked him what he would do if I did. He really blew up then. It was actually kind of scary. He was going on and on about muggleborns and blood traitors and how people like you needed to be taught a lesson. He reminded me of my father, so I dumped him. The last thing I need is another one of them."

"Oh thank god." he said with a look of great releif on his face. She raised her eyebrows. "What?"

"Now, now Sirius, I'm getting the impression you don't like Severus much." she asked, a smirk playing across her lips.

"Har, har." he said, grinning."So how's your year going."

"Reg's being an annoying little git."

"What else is new?"

"No, I mean more than usual. Well ever since you left last year, he's been trying too hard. He was never much of a real Slytherin anyway, but now he's so transparent you can tell he doesn't really agree with most what he's saying. He really does care about you, you know."

"I know. I care about him too, but I don't know what to do. He's too much of a people pleaser. I know I get through to him, I just don't know how to help him stand up for himself."

"He'll come around. Someday. When he has to make a choice, I think he'll choose what's right."

"I hope so."

They spent the better part of an hour talking about their classes and how long they think the new Defence professor would last. None ever lasted longer than a year. As they got up two leave, Sirius locked his eyes with hers. God, he loved those eyes. A deep, mysterious violet that always twinkled, like they were lit by an unseen light.

"Now you take care of yourself. No dangerous stunts."

"You're one to talk." she said, grinning. She gave him a quick hug and left with a wave.

Sirius stood motionless for a few minutes, then shook his head.

"Man, you're loosing your grip."


I've just contracted a disease
called writer's block.
The only cure:
FEEDBACK
Sorry 'bout all the fluff,
i'm in a poetic mood.

[beki14]

here's a post. beware of the flying monkeys, namely james and sirius. haha, i'm in all my humor today. er, right, post, here it is:


James was standing in the middle of the Quiddich Pitch at one-thirty in the afternoon, fully dressed in game robes. It was perfect. The sky was a perfect robins-egg blue, the perfectly manicured grass squished under his feet. He looked up at the six goal-hoops. They seemed to be calling to him. Well, he thought, why not? The rest of the team won't be here for a couple minutes anyway.

And with that thought, James mounted his broom and kicked off from the ground. The wind blew back his hair as he sped off towards the end of the pitch, joy rising inside of him. The joy that only flying could give, an unexplainable freedom you feel when you are high enough to touch the clouds. Nothing mattered right now. There was no evil, no sadness, nothing except for him and the clouds. He was home.

Scarlett and gold figures were moving below him. A grinning James landed next to a disgruntled Sirius and the extremely tired third year beater Andrew Baker, Alice's brother. Lily, however, looked painfully excited.

"Wait a minute we're missing someone. Lily, did you tell Elaine?" James asked, taking notice of his last chaser and fellow seventh year Elaine Prewett.

Lily sighed, "Yes, but you know her, never on time for anything."

Just then James caught sight of a frantic Elaine running down the hill toward the pitch, orangish-red hair flying madly.

"Sorry...late...forgot." she sputtered.

"'S all right." said James. "Look, they're coming. Andrew, wake up. Sirius, are you okay."

"Er, yeah fine."

"Well, we better get started."

Keeper tryouts went unbeleivably slow. Sirius and Elaine took turns throwing the quaffle at each of the ten hopefuls as James watched. Most of them were totally hopeless. In the end, they picked a fourth year by the name of Kinsely Shacklebolt, the last one to try out and the only person to show any talent at all.

Beater tryouts could be discribed as, er, interesting. There were twelve people trying to have some control over the bludgers. Basically, when they weren't running into each other they were hitting bludgers anywhere that they shouldn't be. One thing can be said, James definately got to see his team's skills at dodging them. James honestly wasn't comfortable giving any of these people a bat as he watched Lily almost get decapitaied for the second time. Just then, a fifth year by the name of Daniel Abercrombie ran in.

"Sorry, am I too late." he asked.

"What are you trying out for?"

"Beater."

"Er, I guess not, get up there, here's a bat." James answered in the vauge hope that he might have some shread of talent.

Then, suddenly, wow. James guessed he did have talent. Quite a bit of talent, actually. He could give Andrew a run for his money, and Andrew was the best James had seen for a good five years.

"Okay, come back down." he yelled.

After he told them that Daniel got the position, there was an uproar that he was late, so he shouldn't have been allowed to try out.

"He still had the best tryout, and I'm the captain, so it's my decision. Now clear out."

When the last of the grumbling students left, James muttered "Do try to be ontime from now on."

He looked at his full squad. They looked good, like they were meant to be a team.

"Well, I guess that's all for today. I'd like to welcome our new members, we're glad to have you here. Practice will start on Monday at seven."

They all left, save for Lily, who seemed to be hanging back. James started cleaning up, heart racing, wondering what she wanted.

"Did you want to ask me something?" he asked after a minute of Lily hovering uncertainly.

"Er, yeah." she braced herself, "I was wondering..."

"You were wondering..."

"Do you know what's wrong with Sirius." she stammered, losing her nerve at the last minute.

James frowned. He could tell that's not what she was going to ask.

"You noticed that too, huh. Yeah, I don't know what's going on with him. Like, lately, he's off in his own little world when your talking to him. If I didn't know him better, I'd say he's in love!" said James, laughing at the idea of a lovesick Sirius.

"Not very likely." muttered Lily.

"Is that all you wanted to ask?"

So he knew. "Yes, well no, but it's not important." she said, not meeting his eyes.

James smiled, "You know you can talk to me." Yes, she knew that, but this was different.

Lily mumbled something incoherent.

"What?"

"I asked why you liked me so much." Lily blurted in a rush.

"Oh!" said James, surprised. He frowned while pondering his answer. "I guess it's something about you that I can't quite discribe. Like how you feel when your flying. Ever since the first time I saw you, I knew you were different. Its an emotion too powerful for words. All I know is when I look into your eyes, I can't think, I can only feel. And thats never happened with anyone else before. I know no one's perfect, but you're as close as it gets."

Lily realised her mouth was slightly open. Where in the name of Merlin had that come from? Lily always knew James couldn't have been as immature as it looked, but she never knew he could be so deep. It was nice, but also a little scary. She needed time, time to sort things out.

"Lily?" James asked uncertainly.

"I...I have to go."

And with that she ran off to the castle at top speed, leaving a very confused James behind her. James walked after her with a sinking feeling in his heart. He was very disappointed and also a little irritated. He just spilled his guts to Lily and she ran off without a word. Well, one thing was for sure, they both had a lot of thinking to do.


FEEDBACK is
greatly appreciated.
Please?

[beki14]

Here's a post!!! I don't really like it but oh well.

Lily woke up at seven on Sunday morning. She always woke up early on Sundays, it was one of her little quirks. The other girls were still fast asleep. There were five Gryffindor girls in her year. They were all very close but about as different as could be.

Lily and Alice were both very smart, but they weren't bookworms. They were both very good at charms and Lily was one of the best in the class at potions. Sweet and sarcastic at the same time, they were quite popular. They were hoping to become aurors and start a family.

Elaine was sporty, but she was still very pretty and popular with the guys. She could be seen as the female equivalent of the marauders because she had a love for practical jokes. She was very powerful, her best subjects being defense and transfiguration. Her dream was to play proffesional quiddich or work for the Department of Magical Catastrophies.

Nora Pilker was slightly mad. With her long blonde hair, misty eyes, and indifferent attitude, she beleived in wild theories and was glad to tell people about them. She had quite a few friends but they all thought she was a little weird. She was brilliant at anything involving a wand, though, and she wanted to be an Unspeakable after graduating.

Emmeline Vance was short and chubby, and the sweetest girl Lily had ever met. She struggled in school, but she tried very hard and was nice to everyone. She was a bit of a wall-flower but didn't seem to mind all that much. She had no idea what she wanted to do after hogwarts.

Lily pulled open her hangings and looked around the room. Nora's cat walking past her, a transfiguration essay, Sirius sitting in a chair, a broken...wait a minute, Sirius sitting in a chair?

Sirius watched amusidly as Lily's eyes swept the room, did a double take and widened as they landed on him. He laughed as she clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming.

"Shhhh!" Lily whispered furiously, "you'll wake up the girls."

"Oh, sorry."

"How long have you been up here?"

"'Bout an hour."

"An hour?" He nodded. "How did you get up here."

"That's not important."

"Oh come on!" she whined, grinning in spite of herself.

"No, my dear, you'll have to figure that out by yourself."

"But why are you up here in the first place?"

"I need to talk to you about James."

"Oh." Lily's face fell. "What did he tell you."

"Nothing. He wouldn't talk to anybody last night, I figured it had something to do with you."

"You were right." Lily sighed. She had to tell someone. "Oh Sirius, I was such a jerk to him! He really opened up to me and I just ran off! He must hate me."

"Oh yeah, that'll be the day, James Potter hates Lily Evans and pigs will fly!" he said sarcastically.

"But I bet he's really mad! He just caught me off guard thats all, I never meant to hurt his feelings." she sat down and put her head in her hands. "I just don't understand much of anything right now."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." He sat down beside her. "He's not mad, he just thinks you couldn't care less about him."

"How could he think that! He knows I care about him, he's one of my best friends."

"Yeah, well, you need to talk to him. You might be surprised by how much he'd do for you."

"What's with you anyway? You've been weird."

"Oh its nothing, just everything."

"That made a load of sense." Lily snapped. He grinned half-heartidly.

A red-eyed Elaine stumbled out of bed and started walking across the room. She was about three feet away when she saw Sirius and screamed.

"D*****, Sirius, you scared me. What the hell are you doing here."

"He's here for you Elaine. You see, he's madly in love with you."

Sirius got down on one knee and said dramatically, "Will you marry me?"

"Ha ha, very funny." She didn't sound very amused. She kicked Sirius. He faked a look of deep hurt and Lily giggled. She glared at the both of them and stomped off into the bathroom.

"Honestly, some people have no manners these days." Said Sirius in an old granny voice. They both collapsed into fits of hysterical laughter.


Ok, i've asked,
now i'll beg.
Please, please, please,
please leave FEEDBACK

[beki14]

Here's the next post. I was gonna hold it hostage for feedback, but i was bored.

Monday came far too quickly for Remus. He would give anything for it just to be another day. To complain about homework and detentions. To not have to lie to almost everyone about who he was. Because he knew none of them would understand he was only a monster once a month. And who could blame them, really. With news about a new werewolf attack every week. He couldn't expect them to see that he wasn't the same, even if he thinks some of them might. He couldn't take that chance.

Remus didn't really know why he even bothered keeping his grades up when he knew he'd never be able to get a good job. The ministry had the werewolf register that employers could check names against. Remus knew he would have to spend the rest of his life alone. He couldn't get married. Even if someone could except his problem, he would never put her in that much danger. He couldn't live with himself if she got hurt. Yes, he would have the marauders, he knew they would never abandon him. But they would get married, move away, start a family. It wouldn't be like it was now, when they were all there for each other all the time. They wouldn't be there for his transformations. It would be like it was before. He would be alone.

It was always hard pushing people he cared about away. Up until fifth year Remus had a huge crush on Lily, but she never knew. One because of James. Remus knew James was completely infatuated with her, everyone did. But it took him until fifth year to realize that James and Lily belonged together. It was so obvious. And lets not forget about his furry little problem, enough said. Then there was Elaine. Alice told him about halfway through last year that Elaine really liked him. And he realized this summer that he really liked her too. But what could he do? He was a werewolf and always would be. There was nothing he could do about it, even though he would give anything to change it. There was nothing he could do.

James and Sirius came down the stairs, bringing him out of his thoughts. James was carrying a cloak made out of a silvery material, Sirius a large fat rat.

"Ready?" James asked Remus.

"No." he replied flatly. James grinned and they all made their way out of the portrait hole, splitting up once outside. Remus made his way to the hospital wing, the other marauders down to the whomping willow. They would meet him in the shreiking shack. This was going to be a long night.

********

The marauders were sitting sleepily in the great hall on Tuesday morning. James, Sirius, and Remus all had scratches on their neck and arms. They would go away in a couple of days, they always did. Well, most of them. Peter was asleep with his head in his plate of bacon. Lily and Alice sat down opposite them, wide eyed.

"What, you look like you've seen a ghost." said Sirius, looking up at the two girls.

"What happened to you three, you look aweful!" Alice exclaimed.

"Oh, thanks." said Sirius. "We're fine, just had a rough night."

"Is he asleep?" Lily asked, gesturing to Peter.

"Yeah, he's a party animal, our Peter."

"James told Lily you guys were going to a family thing, where'd you get all those scratches?"

"Well it was my cousin's wedding and they let off a load of cornish pixies instead of doves. Those things are horrible." James lied quickly. Lily thought he was a very good liar. Then again, he's probably used to it.

"Well, we better get going, I don't want to be late. Peter, wake up." Lily said poking him. "And James, we really do have to patrol tonight, I'm sorry." James groaned. He was so tired.

Classes dragged by. James could have swore that the teachers bewitched the clocks to make them go ten times slower.

At nine o'clock James met Lily in the common room. They started out on their patrol in a comfortable silence. After a while James decided now was the best time to bring up his idea.

"Lily, I've been thinking that the school should do something to help with the war effort, and I had an idea. I thought we could have a Halloween ball and charge a fee to enter. We could give the money to the families of the victims and we could dedicate the event to the people who died. I've already been to see Dumbledore and he thinks it's a brilliant idea."

Lily's eyes lit up. "Oh James that's a wonderful idea! I've been thinking we should start a fund for the families but a ball's so much better! We can make the fee a donation so people can donate whatever they can afford. We better make the first Hogsmeade trip eariler so everyone can get dress robes. Oooh, I can't wait this is so exciting!"

"Wow, that was easy." said James, grinning. "Hey, how about you handle the details for the ball, you'll do better than me, and I'll handle the charity and the Hogsmeade trip."

"James, you thought of everything." Lily exclaimed. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him, squealing.

"Lils, it's not that exciting!"

"Oh, yes it is!" she squealed, still hugging him.

They spent the rest of the night talking about the details. They decided that the seventh years would plan it, that way it could kind of celebrate their graduation as well. They went to bed at two o'clock in the morning, and fell asleep immediately.

The next day there were two new signs hanging on the house bulliten boards. One announced the first Hogsmeade trip on September 27th. The second read:

Charity Halloween Ball

October 31 from 7-12.
Forth years and above(you may invite a younger student).
Dress robes will be worn.
Donations for entrance. All proceeds will go to the war victim's families.
Any seventh years interested in helping plan should see the head boy or girl for details.

There were ooooh's from the girls. All the seventh year Gryffindors immediately ran up to James and Lily to tell them they wanted to help. After this process was repeated by the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs in the Great Hall they decided to set up a meeting Friday night.

The nine Gryffindors decided that they would go to the ball without dates so they didn't have to worry about finding one and no one would be left out. James wasn't crazy about this. He really wanted to ask Lily, he knew she probably would have said no anyway. But James knew that deep down Lily cared for him too. He could see it in her eyes. He just had to get her to see that.


FEEDBACK PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don't care what
you say, it's just
nice to know that people
are still reading this.

[beki14]

Hi guys. I know I haven't posted in forever. But my teachers are trying to kill us. But there's good news! I have an extra extra long post to make up for it and it should be ready tomorrow! If its not you all have the right to beat me with shovels. I've had the worst case of writers block this week though, so don't get your hopes up. But I'll give you a hint! Your gonna get.......

Spoiler: show

Ha, ha, made you look!

More backstory, yay! lol. Don't worry, it gets interesting soon. I'm evil, I'm going to Michigan for five days Saturday. I hope my writers block will be gone by then, but it might not be if you don't leave feedback, hint hint.

[beki14]

Okay, guys I’m soooooooo sorry, I haven’t posted in forever, but I’ve been totally swamped. It’ll get better I promise. I’ll try to be more reliable as long as you guys give me feedback!

James sat in the common room staring at his potions essay in disbelief. It might as well have been written in Chinese because he wasn’t comprehending a word. The teachers were really starting to freak out about N.E.W.T.’s now; they were piling the work on. James, who was usually a fairly good student, had gotten two D’s in Potions in the last three days. With Quiddich practice and head boy duty he was surprised that he remembered to eat. He looked down at his essay hopelessly. “Name ten ways to make the Polyjuice Potion wrong and what the effect would be on the human body.” Like he had any earthly idea. He decided to stay with a safe choice.

“Lily?” He turned to look at the red haired girl sitting beside him.

“Git,” she replied without looking up.

“What happens if you add an animal hair to Polyjuice?”

“You have various animal characteristics like fur and a tail for a couple of weeks. But Professor Slughorn said we couldn’t use that one, it’s too obvious.”

James swore. “Alright, what about if you add to much Boomslang Skin?”

“I can’t tell you, that’s cheating!”

“Come on Lily, I’ve got four more essays to do and we’ve got that meeting tonight!”

“Give me your book, I’ll show you where to look.”

James handed it over and she purposefully flipped to a page and handed it back to him.

“You turn blue.” James read out loud. “Wouldn’t it have been easier just to tell me?”

“Probably.”

“You have too many morals for your own good, you know that.”

“Mmmhmm.”

Sirius and Remus both walked down from their dormitory and sat in front of them as though waiting for something.

“What?” James asked.

“The meeting.” Sirius replied.

“Yeah.” said Lily.

“It’s quarter to eight dear.”

“Oh my, is it really? I thought it was so much earlier! We’d better get down there!”

They walked into the Transfiguration classroom five minutes later to see the other Gryffindors waiting for them. They stood at a corner of the room talking as the others filtered in. The Ravenclaws came first, then the Hufflepuffs, and one lone Slytherin. Adi hovered uncertainly by the door until Lily spotted her.

“Hi Adi!” she called, waving. Sirius’ head snapped around so fast James heard it creak. She smiled and made their way over to them.

“Ha, look at the Ravenclaws, they’re giving me funny looks.” she said.

“I wasn’t really expecting the rest of your house to be here, but it’s still a bit of a disappointment.” Lily said.

James had something to say about that, but thought better of it. Instead he settled for, “We’d better get started.”

“Alright, now if everyone would take a seat, we can get started.” Lily announced to the room at large. They all drifted to their seats. Adi sat next to Sirius. He turned to her, opened his mouth, then shook his head and turned away. After the process repeated itself about three times, she decided to speak up.

“Sirius, as much as I love your fish impression, is there something you wanted to say?”

“Oh nothing, just er...hi.” he finished lamely.

“I always knew you were the poetic type.” she replied sarcastically. He sneered at her. James was watching them from the front of the room strangely. How did he not see that before?

“As you all know we are here to start planning our charity ball. What James and I decided to do is split up the work between the girls and the boys. Us girls will be handling the decorations and the entertainment. The boys will be taking care of the charity and the food. James already took care of the details for the Hogsmeade trip next weekend, so you don’t have to worry about that. So right now were going to split into the two groups and see if we can figure out some of the preliminary plans.”

The rest of the meeting passed quickly. They made a lot of progress and decided to meet again the following Sunday. James and Lily walked back to the common room talking and laughing about the ball. Suddenly, James stopped her and pulled her into an empty hallway.

“Lily, will you go to Hogsmeade with me?” He caught the look on her face. “Just as friends.”

“Er, well, yes I guess, just as friends. I told the girls I’d go shopping for dress robes but that won’t take all day. You’ll be needing some too, so maybe you guys can come with us?” she answered, still a little uncertain.

“Sure, that’s brilliant. Thank you for giving me a chance. You won’t regret it!” He kissed her on the cheek and practically skipped down the hall. Lily stood there, blushing crimson, clutching a cheek that was still tingling slightly.

“The world has gone mad.” she said to herself before making her way to the common room on her own.

************

Adi walked into her dormitory and felt the familiar tension engulf her. It was always the same. Slytherins would be Slytherins alone. You had friends but none that you could confide in, none you could trust. Yes, Adi was a Slytherin, even though she’d give anything to be someone else. But she was as clever, as cunning, and as pure-blooded as the rest of them. But there was one difference, and it was the only thing that kept her sane. She had friends. Gryffindors. The other Slytherins thought she was a bit odd, and Adi was sure she would have been shunned completely if her father wasn’t such an influential member of the community. But she really didn’t care, she didn’t need them any more than they needed her.

She could remember the day of their sorting so clearly. She’d watched Sirius being sorted into Gryffindor and her heart broke. For she knew she would be sorted into Slytherin. Gryffindor was for the brave, not girls that can’t even stand up to their own father. And she thought he would abandon her. That she would be alone, without her best friend for the first time she could remember.

She was wrong. The next day, he sat next to her in potions, ignoring the strange looks they were getting. Soon Adi was friends with the rest of the Gryffindors too. She was so glad she had them, with the rest of her year being completely obsessed with blood. It drove her absolutely mad. The girls she was forced to associate with were all equally annoying, just in different ways. Larissa Malfoy was the worst. She thought being a Malfoy made you God. Adi thought the sneer on her face was frozen because it never seemed to be whipped off. Her best friend Narcissa Black was a follower. She wasn’t evil, but she followed the people around her. First it was her sister Bellatrix, now it was Larissa. Adi didn’t see a lot of hope for her to change her ways. She would probably make a nice pureblooded marriage and have lots of pureblooded children, just like the rest of them.

Veronica Bulstrode was thicker than cement. Adi tried to have a conversation about her views on the war once and all she received was a blank stare. Ginger Goyle could be described in one word: terrified. She was terrified of the other students, terrified of an overbearing father and brother, terrified of herself. Fair and deathly pale, she even looked terrified. Adi was the only girl who took pity on her, not letting her sit alone and get made fun of. People really could be cruel.

“Where have you been?” demanded Larissa immediately.

“Nowhere that concerns you mother.”

“You should be more careful you know. People will start getting the wrong idea. Were not stupid, we know you were at that meeting.” she said in disgust. “What would your father say.”

“My father happens to think that keeping a good public face is important.” Adi said through gritted teeth.

“Does your father also think it’s a good idea to make friends with mudbloods and blood traitors? They don’t care about you.” she said matter of factly.

“Oh and what, you do?” She was losing the little patience she had left.

She shrugged. “Never said that. But they’re using you.”

“Whatever. Malfoy, you don’t know the first thing about them.” Adi pulled the hangings shut with such force they ripped, and she had to repair them before going to bed in a huff.

**********

Sirius walked into his dormitory to find Remus and James waiting for him, smiling. Well, Remus was smiling, James was grinning from ear to ear. Sirius glanced at them and made his way to his four poster. They turned to watch him still smiling.

“What.” Their superior looks were starting to annoy him.

“Oh, you know what.” James said.

“No, I really don’t think I do.”

“What are you guys on about?” asked Peter from a corner.

“You like her.” said Remus, ignoring Peter. For the first time in his life Sirius Black was speechless. Was he really that transparent? At least Wormtail hasn’t figured it out yet, he thought dully.

“How bad was it?” he asked the others. Remus looked at him strangely. Obviously he’d been expecting him to deny it. James just opened his mouth like a fish. That was enough of an answer.

“Did I miss something?” asked Peter.

“Nothing Worms, nothing at all.” said Remus, half laughing.

“I’m going to bed.” said Sirius without emotion. “What are you so happy about anyway?” he asked James.

“Lily is going to Hogsmeade with him.” answered Remus as James laughed.

“And you owe me a galleon.”


FEEDBACK!
Please please please!
It's funny, I can't spell
serious any more!
In English the other
day I wrote Sirius, I
just barely caught it!

[beki14]

hey i just realized i've been a member of COS for 100 days!

just thought i'd annoy you all with that.

i'm gonna try really hard to post this weekend. big hugs to everyone who left feedback!

[beki14]

Ok, I have a couple of dedications for the beginning of this chapter.

The foot-meat thing is for my friend Britny, Evil3 for those of you in forumland, who is the only person I’ve ever met who is as obsessed with Harry Potter as I am.

The intermediate vector boson is for my dad, the person you can all thank or curse for my craziness. By the way, if there are any Physics professors on here, I know a intermediate vector boson has nothing to do with Sirius’s brain cells, I just liked how it sounds. Happy reading.


This was the last thing she had expected to be thinking but Lily definitely did not feel like flying. It was seven o’clock on a Sunday morning, she had a cold, it was raining, and James was showing indecent enthusiasm. He was running through plays apparently unaware that his team was not taking in a word. Sirius was asleep on Lily’s shoulder. She tried nudging, pinching, and poking him but he ignored her. Elaine was humming under her breath. Andrew looked like he was thinking about resigning. Kingsley was snoring, and Daniel was fighting a losing battle with his eyelids.

“...and that’s how were going to flatten Slytherin.” James concluded dramatically. “So what do you think.”

“It’s great, James, really great.” said Lily, taking pity on him when no one else seemed to be capable of speaking.

“Okay good.” he said cheerfully. God, he can be stupid, Lily thought. But he looks so cute when he smiles...wait, where did that come from?

“Oh for the sake of Merlin, Sirius, wake up.” Lily said as she shook him roughly.

“Addawibba.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Okay team, lets get out there and try it!” James walked out of the changing room bouncing slightly.

“Try what?” Sirius asked her.

“No clue.” He rolled his eyes. “What, I’m always the one that listens!”

She grabbed her broom and led the half-asleep team out of the room. Not only was it raining, it was raining hard. And it was freezing cold. Not to mention the wind. Lily had no idea how she was supposed to see the snitch in this. She could barely see her broom. James was shouting something; she didn’t know what. This was ridiculous. Her head was pounding and she was starting to feel dizzy.

A bludger flew so close to her head she heard the whoosh. Alright, she thought angrily, if I’m going to die, I don’t want to die wet. She had it in her mind to fly over to James and give him a piece of her mind. Now if she could only see him.

Lily began flying around looking for the illusive captain. She was definitely getting lightheaded now. She had just spotted him when she lost all the strength she had left. Her broom was twenty feet up in the air when everything went black....

***********

James’ mind was racing. He had been fighting the gale and had felt something fall right beside him. When he looked down at the ground, a terrifying sight met his eyes. A tangled mass of red hair and robes was lying face down with her arm twisted strangely at her side. James sped to the ground, seeing the rest of the team doing the same.

“Lily?” He turned her over and shook her. “LILY!”

“Oww.”she muttered feebly.

“Oh thank God your okay. Come on, I’m taking you to the hospital wing, your arm is broken.” He picked her up and started carrying her to the castle.

“James, I can walk, it’s just my arm. You’re going to wear yourself out trying to carry me to the castle.”

“Lily, you need your strength seeing as you just fell over twenty feet. Besides, you’re really light.”

“Whatever James, just don’t blame me when you end up hurting yourself.”

They reached the entrance hall with James panting only slightly and Lily grudgingly admitting to herself that he was pretty strong. That’s when they heard a voice from the shadows, a voice both of them recognized, and one that was least welcomed at the present time.

“What do we have here, the mudblood and her faithful lapdog on their own? But where’s your posse today. Surely they can’t survive on their own. You all share one brain, don’t you?” said Severus Snape icily.

“Leave us alone Snivelly.” replied James, fully aware that neither he nor Lily had their wands, as they usually didn’t bring them to practice.

“Oh and look the mudblood can’t even walk on her own. Pathetic. I swear, you Gryffindors are the saddest bunch I’ve ever seen. It’s like a blood traitor convention. There’s you, Black, that Prewett, and we shant forget Baker. All you need is a Weasley and you’d have it made.”

“And this is opposed to the pureblood maniacs and half-bloods pretending to be pure blood maniacs you lot have?” James said, putting extra emphases on the words half-blood. “Sorry, but I think I’ll take the blood traitors.”

“What is going on here? Mr. Potter, you are dripping mud all over the floor. And why are you carrying Miss Evans. Mr. Snape? What are you doing up so early? Breakfast doesn’t start until nine on Sundays as you know very well.” Professor McGonnagal seemed to come out of nowhere.

“Lily broke her arm at practice and I was taking her up to the hospital wing when Snape here stopped us.”

“I was going to send a letter when I decided to have a chat with some old friends.” said Snape quickly.

The professor closed her eyes for a second then said, “I’m sure you were not having a peaceful chat. However, I really don’t feel like assigning detentions, far too much work. Miss Evans’ arm is quite broken, so I suggest you all be on your way.”

James didn’t need telling twice. He sped up the stairs in the direction of the hospital wing without a backwards glance.

“Oh my, what happened?” exclaimed the new matron, Madam Pomfrey. She had only started last week, but she hadn’t resigned yet, so her future outlook seemed promising.

“Lily fell off her broom.” James replied quickly, before Lily could open her mouth.

She was starting to get quite annoyed. “James Potter, would you please put me down and let me speak for myself! Thank you.” she said after he’d placed her back on her feet. She swayed a bit but steadied herself. “I fell off my broom.” James glanced at her, clearly amused.

“Are you feeling anything else besides the pain in your arm.” the woman asked.

“Nothing. Well I have a cold but that’s all.”

“I think a pepperup potion and a day in the hospital will take care of the problem. Mr. Potter, I think I have things under control. You can go now.”

“No that’s okay, I’ll stay.” said James, completely missing the point.

“Oh, I’m sorry, let me try again. You need to leave.”

“Oh. Lily, will you...” he started.

“I’ll be fine James.” Lily said through gritted teeth.

“Very well, I’ll be back later.” he said as he reluctantly closed the door behind him. He didn’t really want to leave her. He’s been more scared than he had ever been when he saw her fall.

He tried to come back fifteen minutes later, but Madam Pomfrey wasn’t thrilled. So after lunch, him and the rest of the gang finally managed to visit.

“Hi, Lily. We knew you hated hospital food so we brought you lunch.” James greeted her.

“Ooh, great, thanks. What’re we having?” she asked eagerly.

“Pickled foot-meat.” Sirius replied as he handed her a paper bag.

“WHAT!” she yelled, and they all burst into laughter.

“He’s just kidding Lils, it’s steak and kidney pie.” said Alice through her tears.

“Sirius, you need your intermediate vector bosons checked.” Lily muttered.

“My what?”

“Nothing, just a term I found in one of my muggle science books. I thought it sounded cool.”

“Science?” he asked blankly.

“Never mind. Did you bring a fork?”

*********

Severus was fuming. How dare that James Potter speak to him like that! He was better than all of those Gryffindors put together. He really didn’t understand them. They took everything from him. His dignity, his sanity, any compassion he had left for the human race, his girlfriend, and very nearly his life!

Deep down Severus knew that Black never meant for him to meet the werewolf. He had meant him to go down that passageway much earlier, before the moon was up. After he entered the Shrieking Shack, he would see that no one was there and head back to the school, only to get caught when he was on his way out. But he chose to wait until the cover of darkness to go. That decision almost cost him his life.

He almost wished it had. Because the person who pulled him back out was James Potter, whom he hated more than anyone. He couldn’t bear to be indepted to him. And after all that Adi had still sided with the **** marauders over him! He’d given her everything and she’d dumped him for a bunch of bloody hypocrites. To hell with all of them!

Yes, Severus was very bitter indeed.

He was nearing the owlery. He hadn’t made it up, he really did need to send a letter. He realized for the first time as he walked down that dark, deserted corridor that he didn’t want power nearly as much as he wanted revenge. Revenge against the marauders, against his father, against all those people who had made his life hell. But most of all he wanted revenge against the love that he will never have. The love that was stolen from him.

Bitter. That’s how he will spend his life. Bitter and lonely.

He looked down at the name on the envelope. Lucius Malfoy. It was his answer. It was time for him to make his own decisions.

FEEDBACK!
Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeezzzzzzzzeeeeeeeee

[beki14]

Hogsmeade post, yay! This is one of my personal favorites and it really sets up the rest of the story. Sorry to disappoint you all but there won’t be as much fluff in this chapter as some of you probably expected. But this is where it starts getting interesting. And I promise, there will be more than enough fluff coming to make it up to you! Big hugs to all the people who left feedback!

Lily was rudely awoken far too early for her liking the following Saturday. She looked up to see her best friend shaking her awake and considered that new hex that turned you into a pickle she had just read about.

“Alice, what time is it.” she asked groggily.

“About six.”

“No, I mean exactly.”

“Six o’ two. Why?”

“There’s a time of death blank on the autopsy report I’ll have to fill out after I KILL YOU!”

“Oh, aren’t we grumpy today?! Come on, get up we’ve got to get you ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“Hogsmeade!” Alice was starting to get annoyed.

“And why would I possibly need three hours to get ready to go to Hogsmeade?”

“You’re going with James, you idiot.”

“James has seen me at Quiddich practice, Alice.” she said as thought this settled the matter. After all she did usually look horrible.

“So what, that doesn’t mean you can’t look good now. Up.”

Grumbling, Lily got out of bed. She knew there was no use arguing.

“Hey, why aren’t you getting them up too?” she asked, looking at her still sleeping friends.

“They don’t have dates.” Alice said while rummaging through Lily’s trunk.

“Even better. We should make them look so great they’ll have guys following them around.” Lily pointed out.

Alice looked thoughtful for a moment. “Hmmmmm, that’s a good idea.” She moved to wake the rest of them leaving Lily grinning evilly. ‘Well,’ she thought, ‘if I have to be up everyone else should too.’

After three grumbling girls we’re up, Alice resumed her searching.

“Er, Alice, what are you looking for?” she asked uncertainly.

“Something for you to wear.” she said. “Ahhh, wait a minute, here it is!” she said pulling out an emerald green blouse. “Hey, help me out and find something for Elaine.”

Lily kicked open Elaine’s trunk and pulled out a hand knitted burgundy sweater with a lion on it. “Elaine, what in the world is this?” she asked, trying not to laugh.

“Oh, that. My sister knits everyone in the family a sweater every Christmas. That’s not even the worst of it, I think I have one of a quaffle in there somewhere.”

Alice absentmindedly looked up from her search to say, “She is NOT wearing that!” They all burst into laughter.

Soon the girls had all picked out each other’s outfits and were chatting happily about the trip. Lily was wearing the blouse with a pair of black low-rise jeans and green high-heels. She had to admit Alice did a good job. Alice was now curling her hair so that it fell lightly down around her shoulders. Alice was wearing a pink off- the-shoulder sweater and a denim skirt, with her long brown hair pulled back in a loose French braid. Elaine was sitting in a royal blue sweater and light blue jeans as Emmeline fussed with her hair. The white V-necked shirt and tan skirt Emmeline was wearing flattered her short, layered hair nicely. Nora had her hair twisted into an elegant knot on the top of her head. Her red satin blouse and black skirt showed of her tall figure, but none of the girls could get her to take off her radish earrings.

“Here, everyone have a chocolate frog.” said Lily cheerfully, throwing one to each of her friends.

“What’s this for?” asked Emmeline.

“Remus always says chocolate cures everything.” Elaine mentioned. The rest of the girls hid grins.

Lily noticed that Alice kept glancing critically at her appearance.

“What’s up.” Lily asked so only she could hear.

“I’m just really nervous. This is the first time I’ve seen Frank since August.’

“You look great. Don’t worry, you’ll knock him off his feet.” Alice smiled. “Alright, are we ready to meet the guys?”

They walked down the stairs to find four very impatient marauders waiting for them and tapping their feet. When they stepped into the common room Sirius exclaimed, “Finally! I swear, you girls are horrible.”

“Well at least we look good.” said Lily.

“Are you implying that I don’t.” asked Sirius, feigning hurt.

“Yes.” Lily replied, grinning. Sirius stuck his tongue out.

“Oh, that’s mature.” Elaine muttered.

“You look great.” someone whispered in Lily’s ear. She spun around to see James smiling at her.

“Friends.” Lily said in a dangerous tone.

“I know. Consider that a friendly compliment.”

“Can we go now.” asked Peter, “We’re ten minutes late.”

They headed down towards the Great Hall to find most of the school already assembled. They saw Narcissa Black practically dragging Adi up from the dungeons. Sirius gave her an odd look and she just shrugged and waved. They were close enough to hear Narcissa say, “Oh, come on, you haven’t been to Hogsmeade in two years. It’ll be fun.” Larissa Malfoy took care to stomp on James’ foot as she passed.

“Oops, sorry Potter, didn’t see you there.” she sneered.

“Two-faced little git.” he said, pulling out his wand. Lily put a hand on his arm, pushing his wand down.

“She’s not worth it.” she whispered.

When they got to Hogsmeade, they decided to find dress robes first. The girls found theirs and decided that it was their duty to help the marauders, who were all hopelessly staring at the selection. They split them up. Lily took James, Alice took Sirius, Elaine took Remus, and Nora and Emmeline both took Peter, seeing as he needed the most help.

“They’re purple.” said James, disgusted.

“Yes, yes, I know, but they’ll look nice with your hair.” Lily was starting to get frustrated.

“But PURPLE?”

“Sirius, stop being stupid and just try them!” Alice yelled, shaking a pair of red robes at him.

“They match your eyes, Remus. Your being very difficult, you know.” Elaine said.

“No.” said Emmiline. Nora was staring of into space.

“Why not?” Peter asked.

“I wouldn’t let my worst enemy wear these in public.”

“JAMES, YOU GET OVER HERE AND TRY THESE ON NOW!”

***********

Narcissa liked to study people. She’d been doing it all her life, and she was good. She could decipher looks at a glance, she could tell what people were going to say before they said it. You didn’t need to be a seer to know what a person would do. You didn’t need legilimens to read minds. Narcissa knew that. Right now she was sitting in the Three Broomsticks studying her friends.

Larissa looked like she always did, superior. The sneer always plastered on her face deepened as she glanced at the people in the pub as though being in their presence would contaminate her. After six years of knowing her, Narcissa had never seen her “best-friend” smile. Smirk, yes, but never smile. She sometimes wondered if she’d ever learned how. With her family, it wouldn’t be surprising if she didn’t know what happy meant. ‘Well, look at my own family.’ Narcissa thought dully.

Severus and Rabastan were in deep conversation about something Narcissa really didn’t care about. Stan was really a block head, he just did what he was told most of the time. It drove her mad because he was very intelligent when it came to classes, but totally hopeless in the real world. Severus Snape, however, remained the only person Narcissa couldn’t read like a book. In fact, she couldn’t read him at all. In six years of close study she’d learned three things. He kept his opinions to himself. He sided with whoever on whatever benefitted him the most. And he could manipulate people better than anyone else Narcissa had ever seen, and she had Bellatrix for a sister.

Her little cousin, Regulus, looked like he was about to fall asleep on his feet. This was odd, for usually Reg was very energetic. She’d noticed the last few days, however, that he hadn’t been eating much at meals or doing his homework. She knew something was bothering him greatly but she just couldn’t figure out what it was. She only hoped it wasn’t Sirius. She knew Reg only bothered pretending to care about blood because he felt like he was supposed to. She also knew that he missed his brother like crazy. But Sirius had left last summer, so if it was him she didn’t know why these symptoms would suddenly manifest out of nowhere.

Her other friend, Adi, was giving her a death glare. She’d dragged her here because she had been planning on staying in their dormitory and reading or some other nonsense. Adi didn’t look like she was having fun though. More like she was bored out of her mind, actually. Narcissa was counting down in her mind how long it would take for her to make her cleverly crafted exit. Three...two...one...

“Well, as much as I’d love to stay here all day, I’ve got to go see a man about a hippogriff. Later.” Adi said rising from the table and making her was towards the back door. Narcissa muttered “Sirius” under her breath.

The bell on the front door jingled just as the last of Adi’s black hair whipped out of sight. Narcissa looked at the door to see who had come in, gasped, and knocked over her butterbeer. What in creation was she doing here? Narcissa couldn’t quite believe it. She hadn’t seen her twenty-seven year old sister in six months, yet here she was, standing matter-of-factly right in front of her. She got up and made her way over to her, far too shocked to notice that Regulus had noticed her as well, but didn’t look surprised at all, just scared.

“Bella?” she asked when she was two feet away.

“Cissy!” she exclaimed, throwing her arms around her little sister. “I was hoping I might run into you! It’s been too long.”

“But what are you doing in the middle of Hogsmeade? I thought you were supposed to be lying low after that...er...thing.”

“I was but we had some very important business here today.”

“We?”

“Yes, Dolf is here, and Lucius is as well.” Just then two men appeared behind Bella’s shoulder. One Narcissa recognized as Bella’s fiancé, Rodolphus Lestrange, the other as Lucius Malfoy, Larissa’s older brother who had graduated in their second year.

“Bella, we really shouldn’t be talking to the customers, you...Narcissa! How lovely to see you again! I believe you’ve met Lucius Malfoy before, haven’t you?” he asked, pushing a man with long blonde hair forward.

“A bit hard to forget, actually.” he chuckled. “Hello, Lucius, how are you.”

“Couldn’t be better, Narcissa dear, couldn’t be better.” he said, kissing her hand. She couldn’t help but think he was looking at her very strangely, almost like an appraiser looks at a piece of jewelry.

“Excuse me, I’d like a quick word with my sister.” Narcissa said dragging Bella with her. She could feel Lucius’s eyes on the back of her head and resisted the urge to turn around and curse him.

“Okay, Bella, what are you really doing here.”

She laughed. “Oh dear sister, I can’t possibly tell you that. You see...”

“You’re recruiting aren’t you.” Narcissa interrupted.

The laughter died from her face and she looked bewildered. But then, to Narcissa’s complete surprise, she smiled.

“You’re too smart for your own good. Now I really do have to go. As you know, we have very important things to do.”

She watched Bella walk out the door to meet the other two outside. She rushed back to her table, where she was not shocked to see Larissa had been left alone, and grabbed her bag and her cloak.

“Wait, where are you going.” Larissa asked, confused.

“Leaving before all hell brakes loose.”

“What? Where did everyone else go?”

“You’ll find out in about a year.” She said cryptically as she ran out the door. She was going back to Hogwarts as fast as she could. “Adi’s gonna boil someone’s blood if she sees them.” she muttered.

**************

“JAMES, YOU GET OVER HERE AND TRY THESE ON NOW!”

Adi smiled. She decided to go see how the marauders were today.

Sirius saw her when she came in to the shop and snuck up behind her.

“BOO!” he yelled and she screamed.

“Sirius!” she said, hitting his arm in outrage. “I hate you.”

“No you don’t.”

“Shut-up.”

“You know I’m incapable of doing so. What brings you here.”

“I heard Lily shouting so I decided to see what you guys we’re doing.”

“Sirius, would you please just try them?! Oh, hi Adi.” An exasperated Alice was still holding the robes. “Come on, you’re just being stubborn.” She threw the robes at him and walked away.

Adi looked at him. “She’s right, you know.”

“What, that I’m an idiot?” he asked.

“Well that too, but I meant the robes. Red’s a good color on you, although I’m partial to blue.” she said thoughtfully.

They all finished their shopping and left the shop, Lily and James heading towards Honeydukes, Alice heading off to meet Frank, and the other five going to Zonko’s. Sirius and Adi were left alone.

“You want to go for a walk?” Sirius asked.

“Sure.” she said happily.

The walked down the road leading through Hogsmeade, laughing and watching the people around them. About an hour later, they reached the deserted part of the road and sat down on a log. At this point Adi looked up and saw something that made her heart stop. She shook Sirius and pointed, unable to speak. Standing in the middle of the road about one-hundred feet away from them were three Death Eaters. But not just any Death Eaters, ones that they happened to know far too well for the situation to be called comfortable.

Sirius stared at them for a moment, then pulled Adi behind a tree and said in a hurried whisper, “Adi, you need to do me a favor.”

“What.”

“I want you to find one of the others, tell them to get out of here, and then get yourself back to Hogwarts as fast as you can.”

“What are you going to do?” she asked fearfully.

“I’m going to find my brother.”

“WHAT! No you can’t. Please, you’ll get yourself killed!” she exclaimed, tears forming in her eyes. “Don’t leave.” She grabbed his arm as he tried to walk away.

He took her hands and looked into her eyes. She felt an involuntary chill travel down her spine.

“As long as I know you’re safe, I’ll be fine. But I need to help my brother while I still can.”

“Then I’m coming with you!”

“NO!” he looked scared for the first time. “No. I want you to be safe.” he said softly.

“Sirius, I need you!” she said, close to begging. She buried her face in his robes and sobbed. “You’re all I’ve got.” Her voice was muffled and weak.

Sirius lifted her chin so she had to look at him. “Adi, I need you to be strong, okay. If I don’t do this, I’ll never be able to forgive myself.” He tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Please,” he was begging now, “do this for me.”

“Alright.” She gave in under his gaze. “But please be careful.”

“I always am.” he said, kissing her on the forehead, “Now go.”

It took all the self control she had not to go running after him. “Be strong, be strong.” she kept repeating, still sobbing freely. That’s when she heard a voice that could make her blood run cold.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Adrianna Mulciber. We’ve been looking for you. Tell me, where is my dear cousin today?”


And I have my first
successful cliff! Please
leave FEEDBACK.
I don't care if you just
want to talk about the
weather, just leave something!

[beki14]

Alright, here’s the next post! Sorry about the cliff in the last chapter. That was fun. Thanks a million to all the people who left me feedback!


Adi grimaced at the voice she immediately recognized as Bellatrix Black, tried in vain to stop the constant flow of tears, and turned around to face her.

“Hello Bella, I would say it was nice to see you again, but that would be a horrendous lie.” she said rather braver than she felt.

Bella smirked. “You’re avoiding my question dear. Where is that illusive little blood traitor of a cousin I have?”

“No idea. Haven’t got a clue.” she tried. Her heart sank when she heard her voice sounded very high pitched. Then she realized something. She was talking to Bella, Sirius was trying to find Regulus. They should have been together. That meant Bella had already finished. **** Cursing the older witch’s efficiency, Adi tried to think of how she would get away.

“Ah, not going to talk, are we? Your father remains so blissfully ignorant of your antics, bless his heart. You’re very lucky he’s right annoying when he’s angry, otherwise I would have exposed you to him by now.”

Adi would have given anything to say that her father didn’t have a heart, but Bella had an awful temper and she rather liked breathing. So she said nothing.

“You’ll be joining the cause next year, I would like to think?” she inquired.

“I would like you to think that as well.” Adi said, hoping this sounded effectively dark. She couldn’t outright lie to Bella, she would know. No such luck.

“Ah, I see we have a sarcastic streak. Very unsatisfactory, I think you should be taught a lesson...crucio!”

Adi didn’t even have time to try to defend herself. The pain was unbearable. It was only a few moments before the curse was lifted, but it felt like an age. Her very bones were on fire, her head felt like it would split down the middle. She was crying harder than ever now. Bella smirked at her.

“Let that be a lesson to you, Adrianna. No one messes with Bellatrix Black.” With that she walked away.

Adi slowly got to her feet and set off to do as she had promised Sirius, find the others. She found James and Lily in Zonko’s. Lily saw her first.

“Oh Merlin, what on earth happened?” she asked, seeing her bloody, tear stained face. James looked around and gasped. Adi managed to stammer, “Death Eaters...Crucio...Sirius” before she started shaking with racking, uncontrollable sobs.

Lily put an arm around her. They waited for her to calm down a bit before James asked her what happened again. She choked out how they’d seen the Death Eaters, how Sirius went after Regulus, how Bellatrix had used Crucio on her. Lily had tears in her eyes, James looked more solemn than Adi had ever seen him.

“Lily, take Adi up to the hospital wing, find the first teacher you see and tell them what happened.” James said immediately.

“But what are you going to do?” she asked.

“I’m going to find the others and then I’m going after Sirius.” He noticed Lily’s horror-stricken face. “I’ve got the invisibility cloak, I’ll be fine.”

“James, you’ll get hurt.”

“He’s my best mate, Lils.”

She didn’t argue any further, just hurried back down the road towards Hogwarts, dragging Adi with her. A vast man in a moleskin overcoat was outside his hut when they rushed through the gate.

“Hagrid!” Lily yelled in relief.

Hagrid turned around. “Lily! Adi! How nice ter...” They got close enough for him to see their faces. “Wha’ happened?”

“Hagrid, there are Death Eaters in Hogsmeade, and they used the Cruciatus Curse on Adi, and Sirius went after them to find his brother, and James went after Sirius.” Lily said very fast.

“Come on, I’m gettin’ you to the hospital wing and then I’m goin’ ter get Dumbledore.” he picked Adi up and ran back to the school, Lily sprinting to keep up.

“No, I don’t want the hospital wing, I have to go find Sirius!” she was sobbing hysterically again.

Madam Pomfrey screamed when Hagrid quickly told her what happened, then headed for the headmaster’s office. The nurse began muttering about various security problems and getting out bottles of potions as Lily held a squirming Adi in place.

“Let me go, I’ve got to find him before he gets himself killed, you don’t understand, THEY’RE LOOKING FOR HIM!” she shouted her voice echoing ominously around the room.

*************

Unfortunately, Sirius knew a thing or two about Death Eater recruiting techniques. He’d been sent a letter back in his fifth year from his dear cousin asking him to join. That was before he ran away of course. His reply had been the shortest letter he had ever written, consisting of five words:

Dear Bella,

Hell no.

-Sirius

He knew men were allowed to join as soon as they were fifteen or in their fifth year of school. Voldemort must have been slightly old fashioned however, for he didn’t let women join until they were out of school. And they knew the best way to manipulate a person who was unsure about joining. They sent the Death Eater that the new recruit would be most comfortable with. Rodolphus Lestrange was obvious, he was here for Rabastan. Bellatrix was sent for Regulus. But it had taken Sirius a while to figure out what Lucius Malfoy was doing here. His sister was, well, a girl, and he didn’t have any other relatives. But then it dawned on him in a illuminating brainwave. Snape. He was here for Snape. He and James had suddenly seemed a whole lot more vulnerable.

‘Okay,’ Sirius thought desperately, ‘If I was Reg, where would I go? Or should I say if I was Bella where would I go?’ He was starting to get frustrated. If he didn’t find his brother soon it would be too late. Where was he? What if he joined? What if he ended up dead?

Something caught Sirius’ eye. A figure was huddled under a tree by the Shrieking Shack. A trembling figure with black hair. Regulus.

He looked up as he heard Sirius’ approaching footsteps and Sirius saw his pale face and tear-stained eyes.

“Oh no, oh no. Sirius, just leave me alone, okay. It’s none of your business.”

“I saw Bella.” Sirius said simply, watching his brother’s face go, if possible, even paler.

“Oh God, you just don’t understand!” he screeched. “I don’t have a choice, you don’t know.”

“What don’t I know. Reg just tell me and I can help you!”

“I don’t need your help.” Regulus muttered to the ground.

“Regulus Arcturus Black, I want you to look me in the eye and tell me you don’t need my help.”

“Sirius, you left! You left, and you didn’t take me with you! Don’t you get it, I hate them, I hate them all! But I’m not brave like you. And it got worse. I can’t resist them any longer, I just can’t do it! THEY’RE GOING TO MAKE ME JOIN, SIRIUS!” He lowered his voice to a near whisper. “I’ve got to.”

Sirius took his brother by his shoulders and shook him. “Don’t you get it! You have a choice just like everyone else! Think about someone besides yourself for once! Some things are worth dying for!”

“I’m not thinking about myself, I’m thinking about you! ******, they said they’d kill you if I didn’t join by the end of the year!” The silence after this was so absolute that neither of them seemed to be breathing. James pulled his invisibility cloak off and turned to face the two Blacks. Sirius was too shocked to be more than slightly surprised to see him.

“Its not too late. You haven’t joined yet, there’s still time.” James said, his voice shaking slightly.

“But what can we do?” Regulus asked.

“Do what you should have done a long time ago.” Sirius said before James could open his mouth. “Go see Dumbledore.”

“There’s no need, Mr. Black.” said a voice from the shadows, “I’m already here.”

Albus Dumbledore stood in a patch of sunlight, his long white beard gleaming. Sirius could feel his blue eyes looking at him as though he was being X-rayed.

“I must commend your courage, coming after your brother for when all you knew he could have been with one of the most feared Death Eaters known to us, but it was very foolish. The same goes for you Mr. Potter.”

“Did you catch them, headmaster.” Sirius asked immediately.

“No, I’m afraid I did not. They seem to have disapparated. Sirius, I think there is something you should know. The Cruciatus Curse was used on Miss Mulciber.” Dumbledore said gravely.

“Bloody hell!” Sirius exclaimed. He would kill Bella with his bare hands. “Is she all right? Please say she’s all right.”

“I’d say she’s recovering nicely due to the fact she’s attempted to break down the door to the hospital wing several times in her insistence that she needed to come look for you.” Dumbledore replied, a slight twinkle in his eyes. Sirius let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding.

“Can I see her, sir? I mean, I know we’ve got to talk about Regulus and everything, but I just want to make sure she’s alright.”

“Ah, yes, of course you may. I’d like a word with young Mr. Black here anyway. If you would please meet me in my office in a half hour it would be much appreciated. I’d like Mr. Potter to come too, since you witnessed this event. Oh, and I like Ice Mice.” He took Regulus, who looked near passing out, by the arm and started back towards Hogwarts. James and Sirius followed at a slow trot, not talking much. When they opened the door to the hospital wing, a loud squeal of “SIRIUS!” greeted them.

Adi jumped out of the bed she had been sitting on and threw herself into Sirius’s arms, kissing him several times on the cheek. She was sobbing once again.

“Oh, god, you’re alive. You’re alive.” she moaned as though trying to convince herself. Lily, who was walking slowly towards them, let out a relieved sigh.

“I’m fine, thanks.” James, who was looking a tad annoyed, remarked sarcastically.

“James...” said Lily in a warning tone.

“I am so sorry.” Sirius said while whipping tears off Adi’s face. He couldn’t stand seeing her cry. “I’m never going to leave you again, I’m sorry. I’ll never let anyone hurt you again.”

“Stop being ridiculous, as long as your alive I’m fine.” She gave a weak smile. “But from now on I’m coming with you.” She still looked beautiful, even with puffy eyes.

“Promise me you’ll never die.” she whispered, burying her face in his shoulder.

“I won’t if you don’t.” he replied, laying his chin on the top of her head.

“Deal.” Sirius held her for five minutes, but it wasn’t nearly long enough. He wanted to stay like this forever. There was so much he needed to say but he had no idea where to start. Most of all, he wanted to speak three little words that he no longer had any doubt were true. He’d been trying to deny it for a month, view it as something that would pass. No longer. Today, he had realized what he was feeling was real. For seventeen years, Adi had been his friend, as good as a sister. Not anymore.

The door opened again and the rest of the Gryffindors walked in. Remus had his arm around Elaine, who was crying. Emmiline was as white as a ghost, Peter was shaking, and Nora’s eyes had lost their dreamy quality. Alice came in with Frank Longbottom a few minutes later, looking scared. They all wanted to know what happened, but none of them asked. Sirius could see the curiosity burning in their eyes. He couldn’t bring himself to say anything, he just sat down on the bed and buried his face in his hands. This was going to be a long night.


FEEDBACK!
You guys are awesome!
Thanks for reading!!!

[beki14]

Here’s the next post. It’s not very good, but it’s a post. A little L/J for all my patient readers:


Everything had went back to normal over the next few days. They had all reached a silent pact not to discuss the events of Hogsmeade. Unfortunately, this didn’t stop James from thinking about it. He hadn’t been sleeping well. His mind insisted on dwelling upon a conversation he never should have heard. He’d never really thought about how lucky he was before. But now he saw what Sirius was going through and all he could think about was how glad he was that his parents weren’t on the dark side. James had never really thought about just how amazing it was that Sirius had remained the person he is.

If James learned anything it was that your entire point of view can change in a second.

He was reliving the conversation they had in Dumbledore’s office.

“I assume you have been trained in occlumency, Regulus?”

“Yes, of course, all the Blacks are.” Regulus had replied. He still looked very sick.

“Am I also correct in assuming that it is not your wish to join Voldemort’s ranks?” Regulus hesitated. “I assure you that nothing you say now will escape this room.”

“Yes.”

“Good. Very good. I’m going to have to test you.” Regulus nodded.

“Is your name Regulus Black? Lie, please.”

“No.”

“Are you a Slytherin fifth year? The truth, if you will.”

“Yes.”

“Where were you last night? Lie.”

“The Ravenclaw common room.”

“What color is your hair? Lie.”

“Pink.”

“What is your brother’s name. The truth.”

“Sirius.”

“Very good. You’ve been trained well, I must say. That is as long as you weren’t in the Ravenclaw common room last night, I can’t tell. I suppose that’s a good thing.”

“Um, excuse me sir, can I ask what your plan is?” Sirius, who had been very quiet so far, spoke for the first time.

“Spies are very useful in times of war.”

“You mean...”

“Yes, your brother has agreed to become my spy. He will be most useful for he is young, and therefore underestimated, trusted because of his family, and very capable of doing the required tasks. He will be in much danger, I will not lie, but unfortunately we are all in danger at this troubled time. By doing this, Regulus will be saving many lives.”

‘We are all in danger at this troubled time.’ The words that have been haunting James since that fateful meeting. They were all in danger. Everyone James had ever loved could be gone in the blink of an eye. And what if he was next? He’d left so much unsaid. He never told his friends just how much they mean to him. He didn’t tell his parents he loved them nearly enough. And Lily, he’d never told her how he really felt.

The clock struck two in the morning. That had always seemed like an ominous time to James. Like if you were still out you were doing something you shouldn’t be. Not just a harmless prank, something dangerous.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs. Apparently he wasn’t the only one up.

James looked up to see Lily looking at him.

“Hey.” he said.

“Hey.” She just continued to look at him.

“Did you need something?”

“No, I just couldn’t sleep. I’ll go now...”

“No, don’t go!” James said quickly. “Stay. Come sit down.”

She sat down on the other end of the couch. She was very white and she looked like she had been crying. James scooted closer.

“Lily, are you okay?”

She looked startled. “Oh yes, fine.”

“No your not.” He placed a hand on her cheek. It was freezing. “Your shaking, what happened.”

“Oh, its silly! I just keep having very strange dreams.” she whispered, as though afraid he would laugh.

His brow furrowed. “What kind of dreams?”

“There’s always a flash of green light, and people are screaming. And the one tonight, the screaming stopped and I saw a pair of red eyes. Then it was completely quiet except for a baby crying.” Her face looked fearful. “They’re not like regular nightmares though. I mean, I’ve had plenty of nightmares and I know these are different. I can’t even see anything properly, but they feel so real!”

He took her hand in both of his. “I don’t know Lils, I’m no expert on dreams. What do they feel like? I mean when do you think they take place?”

He was absentmindedly stroking the back of her hand. Her skin was so soft, it was like velvet. She looked up at him. “Promise you won’t think I’m crazy?”

He squeezed her hand. “I promise.”

“I think it’s the future.”

James coughed. He wasn’t expecting that.

“The...the future?”

“I know it sounds crazy but I really think so. I don’t know why, but it just feels like whatever this is hasn’t happened yet.”

“When did they start?”

“The day we got back to Hogwarts.”

“Is that why you haven’t been able to get rid of that cold.” Lily was shocked. She hadn’t been able to shake her cold, but she thought she was hiding it well. But James had noticed.

“I think so.” she said quietly. “I think it’s because I haven’t been able to get any sleep.”

“Why don’t you take a dreamless sleep potion?” He asked. Surely she would be able to make one, she was one of the best students at potions in the school.

She hesitated. “They don’t work.”

“WHAT?!”

“Shhhhhh!” she said quickly, glancing at the stairs. “I know. That’s another reason I don’t think they’re normal dreams.”

James was silent for a long time. He was thinking hard. What could it be? It sounded like Lily was seeing the future since they weren’t technically dreams. But how could that happen? James had always thought Divination was a bunch of rubbish. And he thought Lily probably would have known if she was a seer before now. And besides, he thought seers made prophecies. Lily was seeing the future in first person.

“James, there’s something else.” Lily whispered. She was crying now.

“What?” he asked, putting an arm around her.

“The woman I can hear screaming.” Her face had no color left, she was beginning to sob. “I know who it is. It’s me, James, it’s me!”

She left him speechless. He didn’t know what to say so he pulled her into his arms and held her as though he would never let go. Lily buried her face in his neck and cried her heart out. She slowly realized that her fear was receding as James held her. The fear that had been almost paralyzing her all year left. She only felt the warmth of his arms around her. She’d never felt so safe.

Lily knew in that moment that something was special about James. And James knew in that moment that he wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of his life with Lily. He didn’t care what happened to him, as long as she never left him. As long as he had her, he would be fine.

He held her for a long while. After Lily had cried herself dry she lifted her head so she could look into James’ eyes. She’d never really noticed how gorgeous his eyes were. But there they were. A deep hazel with a hint of gold, filled with all the warmth and happiness of the world. She could get lost in them, stare into them forever.

“James, can I ask you a question?” she asked softly. She was still very close to him, their faces only inches away.

“Anything.”

“What does your boggart turn into?” James was speechless for a moment. He didn’t want to give Lily the real answer after hearing what her dreams were about. It would hit far too close to home. But as he looked into her eyes he knew he couldn’t lie.

“You.”

“What, you’re afraid of me?” she asked, bemused.

“Not you, Lily, your body.” she still looked confused. He sighed. “I see you dead.”

She looked shocked for a moment, then her eyes filled with tears once again. But she was smiling.

“That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.” she muttered weakly, touching the side of his face. He ran a hand through her hair. Slowly, gently, he moved his face closer to her’s. His lips were just a whisper away...

“No!” she jumped up and gave him a pained look. She didn’t know why she was resisting him when she knew it was the last thing she wanted to do. “No, I can’t do this.”

“Lily, wait...” He watched her run back up to her dormitory. “I love you.” he whispered to himself as her heels disappeared.


FEEDBACK!
I know it wasn't
very good, but leave
something anyway!
Next one will be better.

[beki14]

Alrighty, here’s a post. Isn’t it pretty? Sorry it’s shorter, but I kind of like it. Make sure to tell me what you think!! Links at the bottom of the page!


The next morning James entered the Great Hall to find Lily sitting alone at the end of the Gryffindor table. It looked like she was in deep thought. She didn’t even seem to notice when he sat down beside her.

“Lily?” She jumped.

“Oh.” Her face fell when she saw who it was. “Hello.”

“Hi.” She looked very uncomfortable. “Look, we need to talk...”

“Sirius!” James turned to see his friend walking towards them. Lily was calling him over frantically. “Lovely morning, isn’t it? Here why don’t you sit down?” She offered him her seat and then hurried out of the hall.

“What in bloody Merlin was that about?” Sirius asked as he sat down.

“I don’t really know.”

“Oh well. Look, she left bacon.”

As they took their seats in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Lily took care to make sure Sirius, Adi, and Alice separated her from James. The rest of the Gryffindors sat down at the table behind them. Elaine, who was sitting behind her, gave her a questioning look. She mouthed “later.” Elaine shrugged.

“Silence.” Professor Elictrus entered the room with his usual greeting. After being a teacher for a month, it was the general consensus that this miserable excuse for a human being had no right to call Hogwarts home. Even the Slytherins disliked him. When he wasn’t boring them to tears with his lectures, he was assigning them ridiculously long homework assignments or yelling at them for being completely incompetent. They’d all decided it was a good thing he’d probably be gone after a year anyway.

“Get out your quills, today will be a lecture. Be warned anything I say may show up on a quiz in the near future.” They all rummaged in their bags for quills and parchment. His quizzes were always very challenging.

“Today’s topic is werewolves.”

Lily couldn’t stop herself, she stole a glance at Remus. He looked slightly pale and his eyes were blank, but to the unsuspecting observer wouldn’t see any difference from his usual appearance. Peter, however, moaned and buried his face in his hands. Remus must have kicked him under the table, for he jumped and went back to acting as if nothing happened.

She looked at the other marauders next. Sirius was looking both worried and incredibly annoyed at the same time. He was staring at the Professor as though he had never seen one before. Lily was slightly surprised to see James’s face. He was glaring as though wishing a thousand painful deaths at someone in the first row. Lily followed his gaze to find Severus Snape at the receiving end, with a horrible smirk on his face. At the least, this could be described as odd.

“Now, Ministry guidelines for the control of dangerous beasts. Werewolves are classified as extremely dangerous, or five X’s, and certain rules have been put in place to protect the general public. The Werewolf Register keeps a record of all werewolves living in Britain, their area of residence, their identifying marks and so forth.” His voice was cold and impersonal. Lily could not help but think he was talking about werewolves as though they were not people at all. ‘How could he do that?’ she thought to herself, ‘The teachers must have been informed that Remus was a werewolf.’

“Now, I assume you all know the five signs used to identify werewolves. So I will not waste our time with the basics here. Today will be more theoretical, a wizard’s reaction if you will. Now nearly all werewolves are siding with the rapidly rising You-Know-Who, which can be expected since they have long been thought of as untrustworthy. At a full moon, the beast is released and the creature goes on a rampage, biting and killing...”

Slam!

Remus had picked up his books and walked out of the classroom, closing the door with an echoing bang. Elaine glared at the professor for a moment, then gracefully picked up her books and followed him out the door.

“Now, as I was saying, at a full moon...”

**************

Remus was sitting at the top of the astronomy tower staring straight ahead of him. He really shouldn’t have done that. He should have kept his cool like he always has. ‘Reckless’ something that often spoke in Elaine’s voice echoed inside his head.

“You shouldn’t have done that, you know.” Elaine was leaning against the doorway, gazing at him serenely. That gaze sent chills right through him. “It drew attention to yourself.”

“You don’t understand why I did it.” he said, trying to sound calm and failing.

“Oh, I understand a lot more than you think.” she replied. “I know, Remus.”

His face paled. “You...you know what, exactly.” a squeaky voice that wasn’t his own asked.

“I know where you go every full moon, why you always have scratches, why your nickname is Moony. The only thing I don’t know is why you never told me.”

“What?” he asked, taken aback.

“Why didn’t you tell me.” For the first time, she sounded angry. “Why couldn’t you have trusted me enough to tell me the truth!”

“I’ve never told anyone, Elaine. I didn’t even tell the marauders, they guessed.”

“Well why the hell not!” she exclaimed, now quite hysterical. “What do I have to do to gain your trust?”

“Didn’t you hear Professor Elictrus? Can’t you see why I don’t like to talk about it?” He was on his feet now, even though he didn’t remember getting up.

“Oh, so your letting some crack pot old professor keep you from being happy?”

“No, it’s not just him, it’s everyone! That’s the reaction werewolves get, fear and avoidance. Didn’t you hear the way he was talking? Like we weren’t even human? That’s how it always is, no one ever understands!”

“So you thought I’d be like the rest of them?” she asked, her voice deadly quiet.

Remus immediately felt like the stupidest person in the world. That was exactly what he made it sound like.

“No, I didn’t mean that.” he said, reaching out to touch her cheek.

“Don’t touch me.” Her voice was shaking, her eyes now full of tears. “I just want to know why.”

“I don’t know.” he said in a defeated voice.

“You’re lying Remus John Lupin, I can tell. I’m not leaving until I have the truth.” He looked up at her and saw the fire in her eyes. He knew she meant her words, she never said anything she didn’t mean. He’d spent his entire life being careful, not taking chances. Now was different. Right now all he wanted was to jump of the deep end blindfolded and head first.

“Because I cared too much about you to loose you completely.” he said, meeting her eyes for the first time that day.

Her eyes got large. “W-what?”

“Elaine Victoria Prewett, I’m afraid to say you’ve had quite an effect on me. I can’t think sensibly anymore. Actually, I can’t think at all. My conscience speaks in your voice.”

“What are you trying to say.”

“I’ve never met anyone like you. You make me want to do something totally reckless and completely sensible at the same time. You make me smile with a single glance. Your voice sends chills down my spine. I knew the moment you walked onto the train at the beginning of the year. Elaine, I think I’ve fallen in love with you.” His mouth had spilled these words before his brain had time to interfere. Now he was desperately trying to grasp what was happening. One more futile attempt.

“But we can’t be together, I’m too dangerous...”

“Remus, shut up.” And she kissed him. And in that moment, all his doubts, his level-headed motives, his worry, vanished as though it was never there. The world suddenly seemed a whole lot more fair.

*****************

Lily came out of the classroom an hour later, seething. She was very worried about Remus and very angry that Dumbledore could let someone like that teach. And the other students just sat there taking notes like nothing was wrong. It just all made her angrier than she had ever been.

“Lily.”

She turned around to face James. She was too angry to avoid him, so she might as well hear what he had to say.

“Look, there’s a lot going on right now.” She knew he was thinking about Remus. “So let’s just forget about what happened last night, okay?”

“Okay.” she said gratefully. “Friends?” she asked holding out her hand.

“Friends.” he said while shaking it.

“Where’s Elaine and Remus?”

James smiled a mischievous smile. “They’re not back yet.”

Lily laughed. ‘Well’ she thought, ‘at least something good came out of today.’



Well??????????????
FEEDBACK here my dears!

[beki14]

What was that thing I wanted you guys to do? Oh yeah, leave feedback! Something MASSIVELY important in this post, see if you can spot it.

The next few weeks passed rather uneventfully considering all that was going on. Lily couldn’t quite grasp that it was already the end of October. The only thing worth a mention was Remus coming clean with the other girls about his “furry little problem”, as James called it. He was shocked when Lily admitted that she too had guessed. Alice, Emmiline, and Nora had been supportive, although shocked. In hindsight, however, they didn’t understand how they hadn’t known.

The Gryffindors all failed their quiz in Defense Against the Dark Arts when they refused to answer any of the questions. The professor was not happy.

Today was the day before the ball and the teachers had given up all hope of keeping their classes attention by giving them the rest of the day off. The seventh years were using the time to get the Great Hall ready. Or running around like maniacs, more like. Lily had given up trying to keep order long ago, gave James permission to go join them, and took to making sure no one got hurt.

They had just brought a punch bowl five feet across to the refreshment table when James and Sirius had seized the nearest person and thrown them into it. An extremely unamused Alice, dripping in red punch, was now running after them, threatening death and disembowelment. Sirius took one look at Adi, threw her over his shoulder, and threw her into the punch bowl as well. Lily had never seen such a death glare.

“Okay, ENOUGH with the punch. James, don’t you dare, I will not hesitate to spread embarrassing rumors of my own invention around the school.” she said as James grinned at her.

His grin widened.

“Is that a threat?”

“Yes.”

He laughed. Alice tapped him on the shoulder. In the next few seconds, James’s hair turned pink and his nose grew to the size of a turnip.

“Go with your dress robes, that will.” Lily said happily.

“Oh, no Sirius, I’m not finished with you quite yet.” Sirius tried to hide behind James, took one look at his hair and burst out laughing. This was a mistake, for the next second he had devil horns protruding out of the top of his head.

Lily, trying desperately not to laugh, stood on the table to try and gain some control over the rest of them.

“CAN YOU ALL PLEASE REFRAIN FROM DUELING SO WE CAN GET THIS DONE!”

There was a loud scream in the entrance hall. “Oh, what now?” muttered Lily as she hopped down from the table to go see what the fuss was about. They found Hagrid stuttering an apology to Peter, who was trapped under a gigantic pumpkin. They barely managed to stop laughing long enough to ask him if he was alright.

Lily finally managed to subdue the students enough to get some work done on the hall. It was starting to look like a ball, she observed proudly.

“Lils, where do you want this thing.” Elaine and Remus were carrying the life-size replica of Dumbledore that was going to take donations at the door. Lily was quite fond of it. It was James and Sirius’s idea, looking exactly like the headmaster and saying “Thank you for your support.” when a student put money in it. Lily had also put a jinx on it so that if anyone tried to take money out, it threw them ten feet backwards and yelled “UNGRATEFUL GIT!” in a very un-Dumbledore-ish way.

“There you two are, where have you been. You left a half hour ago.”

Remus went very red and muttered, “Had trouble finding it.”

“Trouble my foot. Put it by the doors.” She said, smiling at Remus’s red face.

“Adi, would you PLEASE take these horns off?”pleaded an exasperated Sirius. So far all he had managed to do was make them bigger.

“Aw, but I’m rather fond of them.” she said as she hung bats from the ceiling. “They fit your personality so well.”

“I’m going to choose to ignore that because I know you find me a delightful person.” She snorted.

“Oh very well, come here.” she lifted the enchantment.

“See, I knew you couldn’t resist my charm.”

“Whatever gets you to sleep at night.”

“Hmph.”

“Oh, your so adorable when your sad.” she said, ruffling his hair.

“Your quite disgusting when your trying to be cute.”

“Your such a dog.”

“I know.”

“I didn’t mean that.”

“SHUT UP, the both of you!” James finally yelled, getting tired of their bickering. “You two fight more than a manticore and Frank Longbottom’s mother. Ever met her? Strange woman.”

“James, come here for a second.” Lily called. James ran off to find her.

Three hours and many minor injuries later, the hall was ready. It looked quite beautiful, draped in black with floating candles lighting the room. The stars shone brightly over giant floating pumpkins. The floor was enchanted so it shimmered silver. At the head table, a black candle with a blue flame was lit for every person who had lost their lives in the fight against the dark side. It was perfect. The decorations had passed inspection by the teachers and the headmaster. He had been quite amused by his model.

‘Tomorrow is the ball.’ Lily thought happily. ‘They all deserve a break.’ And with that, Lily Evans fell asleep a very happy person.

************

A young girl with long black hair, no more than six, stood silently beside a woman’s bed. The girl’s face was pale, tears pouring out of her large violet eyes. She fingered a necklace much too large for her as she gazed at the scene in front of her. Another woman was talking to a man in the corner, shaking her head sadly. The man nodded in understanding. He, the woman, and a boy left the room, leaving the girl with her mother.

“Sweetheart, don’t cry. There’s no need for tears.”

“You’re dying, aren’t you Mama?” she asked timidly.

“Yes, I’m afraid so. But Adi, listen to me. I need you to do something for me. I know you are young, but soon you won’t be. I need you to take care of your brother and father. They don’t have an ounce of common sense.”

“Don’t leave me.” the girl pleaded.

“I will never leave you sweetheart. I’ll always be there, remember that. Whenever you need me, I’ll be looking down at you, watching over you.”

She nodded, but she didn’t understand.

“One last thing. Follow your heart, my baby girl. Do what you know is right and don’t let anyone stop you. Even your father. Someday, you’ll understand.”

Those were the last words her mother had said to her. The next moment, the nurse came in and ushered her out into the hall. Within the hour, she was gone.

Adi woke up in a cold sweat. That was the first time she had thought about her mother’s death in a long while. She subconsciously reached for her sapphire necklace and fingered it for comfort. It was ancient, an old family heirloom from her mother’s side. She found it hilarious that her mother was actually descended from Ravenclaw. Adi often wondered why her mother had ruined her life by marrying her father. ‘Probably because they were bloody in love, or something.’

Adi had failed her, she knew it. She’d asked her to take care of her father and brother. But she hated her father. She had ever since the moment he joined the Death Eaters five years ago. And her brother, if anything, was worse. He’d graduated two years ago, but before that he had tried to control every aspect of Adi’s life. He made her miserable under the pretense of “caring”. Despite her pleadings, he also joined the Dark Lord’s ranks.

Needless to say, her home life wasn’t pretty.

A snore pierced the silence. Adi glanced at her companions, all sleeping peacefully. If only she could have been smart enough to follow in her mother’s footsteps, or brave enough to follow her heart. ‘Oh, if only she could see me now.’ Adi thought bitterly, ‘A disgrace to everyone.’

“Ouch.” The necklace had burned. It did that sometimes, usually when she was putting herself down. She had once tried to find out what kind of enchantment was placed on it. After three month’s wasted time in the library, she had given up.

Sirius hadn’t known, not that she had expected him too. She was lucky to have him, really. They hadn’t had a chance to talk about what happened in Hogsmeade yet. She knew that Regulus was going to be a spy for Dumbledore but she didn’t know how he felt about it. And they really needed to have a chat about Severus. He seemed to be in a unnaturally cheerful mood, and that’s never good.

There was a tap on the window. Adi looked up to see her father’s owl. ‘Oh no, not today.’ she thought desperately. Soundlessly, she slipped the window open and took the letter from the creature’s claws. With a large amount of dread, she began to read.

Dear Adrianna,

I hope your studies are going well. Although I haven’t heard from you lately. You know I am expecting good marks on your final exams, it is very beneficial to have many options. Have you thought anymore on your course of action this summer? The ministry is a nice option, but I was thinking more about the bigger picture. Joining would do wonders for your future. Your brother has found the work very satisfactory. The time is coming to make a decision.

Now on to less pleasant matters. I have asked you numerous times to sever contact with the Black boy. He is a traitor to our kind and unworthy of your attention. I have been extremely patient with you on this matter so far, but if I get any more reports on your disobedience, I will not be so forgiving.

Bellatrix told me she and you had a nice chat in Hogsmeade. It’s good to hear that you have begun to forge useful contacts.

Please respond in a timely manner,
Father

Adi ripped the letter into several pieces, threw it out the window, and stomped back to bed. She’d deal with that later.


Feedback here!!!

[beki14]

Sorry! This week was horrible, but I will have more time to post from now on, I promise!

The Gryffindor girls were very nervous. They had four hours until the ball, but were already getting ready. The boys had rolled their eyes and continued their Halloween pranking of anyone unlucky enough to stray into their path.

Lily and Alice were fighting over who got to do Elaine’s hair when someone knocked at their dormitory door.

“That’s odd, who would knock.” Lily asked no one in particular as she crossed the room and threw the door open.

“Hi. Can I get ready with you guys. I seem to be attracting a number of dirty looks in my own dormitory.” Adi was standing awkwardly outside their door.

“Of course!” Lily replied happily. “Ooh, this will be so much fun! Someone else’s hair to do.”

“Always fun walking through the Gryffindor common room.” she joked. The others laughed.

“Alright everyone, time to compare robes. We need to figure out accessories.” It was a ritual for the girls to share jewelry that matched each other’s robes at balls. Lily always said it was good luck to wear something borrowed.

They all changed into their dress robes and began rummaging in their trunks. Lily took time to notice what everyone was wearing.

Alice was dressed in soft pink robes with flared sleeves and silver embroidery around the hem. The top half seemed to shine, being made of silk. The bottom of the dress was a softer, flowing material which accented the silver flowers as they caught the light. Her dark brown hair stood out against the light color, her chocolate colored eyes sparkling with excitement. The natural flush on her round cheeks matched perfectly.

Emmiline was in light blue robes trimmed with ribbon a shade darker. The shape slimmed her waist and the color accented her best feature, her sky blue eyes. The light brown of her hair seemed to have golden highlights. The robes were made of silk, save for sheer sleeves and had a round neckline, extending her neck. She looked the happiest Lily had ever seen her.

Nora’s robes were pale yellow in color, made of a luminous material that was so lovely Lily was pretty sure it was completely magical. It was clingy at the top, flaring out at the waist, and showing off her skinny form. Her blonde hair didn’t look as straggly, although Lily thought it still needed a definite up due. Her ice blue eyes looked bigger as they shimmered with dreamy anticipation.

Elaine was wearing a gorgeous set of robes. They were made of ivory colored silk at the top which seemed to give off different colors when in the light. They had a V-neck and a low back, along with floating sleeves. The skirt was made of emerald green silk in a straight shape reaching her ankles. Her long orange hair flowed down her back, clashing perfectly, her hazel eyes dancing.

Adi was in soft robes of the palest lavender, covered in lace of the same color. Her stunning violet eyes seemed even more beautiful. The material flowed casually, almost easily, over her slim figure, the bottom being slightly longer in the back. Her pitch black curls flowed down her back naturally in a way Lily could never manage. Her pale complection glowed, and Lily suddenly felt very plain.

She frowned as she looked at herself in the mirror. Her robes were quite simple compared to the other’s. They were mint green colored silk, clinging and flowing at the same time. They matched her green eyes well and made her hair seem even redder, but were unremarkable in themselves. She fingered the shiny material critically. She’d just have to find a really pretty necklace or something.

Adi was in her element. She had brought a large bag of jewelry with her, which was now dumped on Lily’s bed as she sorted through it, separating it into piles.

“Okay, Lily, you need a pair of emerald earrings. Which one’s do you like best?” she asked, holding three pairs of beautiful gems in her hand. Lily gasped.

“Where did you get all this?” she asked, stunned.

“I have an interesting family.” Adi replied, slightly bitter. “That and Sirius insists on getting me jewelry for Christmas instead of something useful.” she added, smiling.

“Oh, these are lovely!” Lily exclaimed, picking up a pair with a large emerald and a small diamond set in silver.

“I’m glad you picked those ones, I have the perfect diamond necklace.”

“You don’t think it will be too much?”

“Ah, my dear, you can never have too many diamonds.” she laughed. “Now, lets see. Alice, I have a ton of rubies, and some pearls too. Elaine, I’d say emeralds, diamonds, or opals. Nora, definitely diamonds. Emmiline, I have enough sapphires to fill a house. I’d let you borrow my really nice one, but for some reason no one but me can wear it.” She indicated a large blue stone she had just taken off her neck.

“Why? What happens?” Emmiline asked curiously.

“You turn into a giant potato.” she said casually.

“Er, right, no thanks.” Emmiline said immediately. Lily, however, laughed.

“Who got turned into a potato?”

Adi grinned. “Larissa.”

They all roared with laughter. “You should have seen it, a great giant potato wearing a Hogwarts uniform. She’s never been the same since.”

When they finally stopped laughing, all the girls began picking out their jewelry, talking about how various boy’s jaws were bound to hit the floor.

“What are you wearing, Adi?” Lily asked, noticing she hadn’t picked anything out.

“Oh, I’ve already got mine.” She pulled out the most beautiful necklace Lily had ever seen. There was a dark purple stone set on a delicate silver chain and setting. It glistened, matching her eyes perfectly.

“Where did you get that?” Lily asked in an awed voice.

“Sirius gave it to me Christmas before last.” she said, smiling fondly.

“What exactly is going on between you and Sirius?” Alice asked, a look of gleeful anticipation on her face.

Adi frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Oh come on! You have to notice it! He is always staring at you, he talks about you all the time, I mean, you’re perfect for each other when you think about it.”

“Sirius doesn’t feel that way about me, I’ve known him forever.” Lily snorted.

“Oh really!” Adi said, turning toward her. “Lets talk about you and James, shall we?”

Lily glared at her. She glared back. Then they both burst out laughing.

“No, but it is completely different.” Lily said when she caught her breath.

“How?” Adi, Alice, and Elaine asked at the same time.

“Well I don’t like James that way for one.”

“I don’t like Sirius that way either. At least I don’t think I do.” she said, a little unsure.

They chuckled. “What?”

“You’re both clueless.” Emmiline answered.

“What?” Lily said.

“Nothing, Lils.”

After their hair and make-up were finished, and all the other little details were taken care of, the girls were ready to go meet the marauders. Adi opened the door and was about to proceed down the stairs when Alice grabbed her arm.

“What?” she asked, hoping she hadn’t forgotten anything.

“We have to make our grand entrance of course!” Alice exclaimed.

“Oh for Merlin’s sake!”

“Oh what, can’t you stand being away from Sirius any longer?” Adi rolled her eyes. “Besides, we’ve got ten minutes. Lets keep them waiting a little longer, shall we?”

***********

Sirius was not a very patient person, he knew this well. He really didn’t understand how girls could take this long to get ready for something as simple as a ball. After all, he was starving. He glanced at the rest of the marauders.

James looked very handsome in a set of black satin robes. They matched his hair, which was messy as usual. He had tried to comb it, but gave up when half the teeth were missing and it looked as bad as ever. Remus was wearing maroon robes and looked very bored. Peter didn’t look half bad. He was also wearing black robes, in a different style and cut that fit him better. ‘Emmiline and Nora did a good job.’ Sirius thought, chuckling silently.

He was dressed in midnight blue robes. He was quite fond of them, Adi had picked them out of course.

And they waited.

James was snoring in his armchair when Sirius heard footsteps on the stairs. He shook him awake and peeked around the corner leading to the girls dormitory. It was the girls. He stepped back to let them out and fully intended to give them a piece of his mind.

‘Well, it’s about bloody...” He stopped short. Adi was with them. His words died in his throat. She looked beautiful.

James was sputtering nonsense words at Lily, who was looking at him with a raised eyebrow. Sirius saw the corners of her mouth twitch, and he knew she was trying not to smile. Remus was kissing Elaine on the cheek and whispering in her ear.

“Uookelyettiliy”

Sirius snorted as he made his way over to the other girls. He stopped right in front of Adi, letting his hand brush against hers, and put on his best charming smile.

“I would tell you that you look beautiful, but you’ve just taken my breath away.” he said smoothly. She blushed.

“Not too bad yourself Romeo.” she replied.

“Well, you did say that you were partial to blue.” He stepped closer. They were almost toe to toe. Alice’s voice rang in her ears. “I mean, you’re perfect for each other when you think about it.”

Sirius fingered the necklace he now recognized as the one he had given her and she blushed again. He wondered why she was blushing, but was happy he could make her. He tilted her chin up and planted a lingering kiss on her forehead. She looked at him in surprise.

He intertwined his fingers with hers and led the group out of the portrait hole. Adi caught sight of Alice smirking at her before they entered the Great Hall and had everything else driven from their minds.


ALERT!!! Extreme fluffiness next few chapters. Proceed with caution!
Feedback goes here, please!

[beki14]

This post is dedicated to hermionefille, because she gave me the idea for the thing that happens to Snape. Go her!!! And now, the eagerly awaited ball! Sit back, relax, and enjoy!


It was perfect. The lit candles reflected the starry sky, the students milling around happily. Peaceful chatter echoed in waves, reaching the Gryffindor’s excited ears. They finally realized they were blocking the door. Sirius, who was still holding Adi’s hand, led them over to one of the many small tables on the side of the room.

Dumbledore stood up and was attempting to get the student’s attention. After much “shhhhing”, the Great Hall quieted enough for the headmaster to be heard.

“My dear students, thanks are in order. The donations taken at the doors will mean more to the victimized families than you could ever dream. Now, please enjoy yourselves, but take time to remember those who are no longer with us. That is all for now. Thank you to the seventh years who put so much work into the details. Enjoy the ball!”

Everyone cheered, and the band Dumbledore hired, The Hobgoblins, trooped onto the stage.

“Sirius, look, their lead singer looks a bit like you!” Elaine pointed out. They all laughed, seeing the young man with black hair the girls were all giggling at.

They struck their first note and the students started walking around on the dance floor. Lily saw James eye her hopefully and decided to make herself scarce before he asked her to dance. So she grabbed Alice’s arm and dragged her over to the refreshment table.

“Lily, I don’t understand why you do that, look how sad he looks.” Alice said, gesturing towards James. He was sitting at their table with a blank look on his face. Sirius, Remus, Elaine, and Adi were whispering in a huddle. Lily could guess the subject since they stole frequent glances at her and James.

“I’ll dance with him later.” Alice looked skeptical. “I promise! But if I go over there now, I’ll never get away from him.” She rolled her eyes.

Lily looked around to find the rest of her friends. Nora and Emmiline were standing at the corner of the dance floor, pointing at various boys as though assessing them. Peter was chasing a sixth year Ravenclaw around the side of the room, who was avoiding him like the plague. The rest were still in their huddle.

A girl went up to James, who was still staring at the table as though it had insulted his mother. She left pretty quickly however. Sirius and Remus, apparently losing their patience, grabbed the both of his arms and dragged him onto the dance floor, leading him over to where they were standing. Adi and Elaine followed them, soon the other three were over there as well.

“Hey, pretty nice isn’t...” Remus was interrupted by a exaggerated cry of, “Lily, dear!”

Lily closed her eyes, “Oh no...” She plastered a smile on her face and turned around to face Professor Slughorn.

“Hello Professor, enjoying the ball?”

“Ah, yes, you did a wonderful job, just wonderful. Oh, and Sirius m’boy, how are you? And Adrianna too! At least someone from our noble house decided to make an appearance.” He went on for some time, ignoring the others as though they were part of the decorations.

“And then, if you believe it, dear Millicent said to me...” James, who seemed to be bored out of his mind, grabbed Elaine by the arm.

“Come on, let’s dance.”

Remus looked slightly surprised. “But...I...Oh very well, Adi, do you want to dance?”

This seemed to bring the professor out of his pattern. He looked down at his watch and gave a very believable gasp.

“Oh, dear, I’ve kept you kids so long. Well, time flies when your having fun! See you in lessons Lily, Sirius, Adi.” He tipped then an enormous wink and left. Adi went off towards the dance floor with Remus. Lily watched Sirius, who was scowling.

“You really like her, don’t you?” she asked. His eyes went large.

“I’m going to kill Prongs.”

Lily laughed. “No, James didn’t tell me, I guessed.”

“Oh.” he said, looking slightly relieved. “No, I don’t like her.”

Lily snorted, and opened her mouth to protest when he said...

“I love her.”

She sputtered for a moment, before her face split into a wide smile. “I’d never thought I’d see the day that the great Sirius Black was in love.” she joked.

“Ha ha, very funny. Come on, let’s dance.”

When they were twirling around the dance floor, Lily asked, “So, do the guys know.”

He sighed. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?” She shook her head. “They know I like her.”

“Does she know?”

He gave her a look. “What do you think?”

“Sorry, stupid question. But I think you should tell her.”

“And I think you should tell James how you really feel about him.” he retorted.

It was his turn to receive a look. She gave up. “Alright, I’ll drop it.”

Soon Lily was having the time of her life. She had danced with Sirius twice, Remus twice, and Peter once(her toes were still a bit sore). She had also been asked to dance by a very unpleasant Hufflepuff boy named Wilson Smith. He spent the entire song talking about how Hufflepuff was the best house and how overrated the marauders were.

The ten friends were sitting around their table chatting later in the evening when it happened. Lily doubted James and Sirius would ever get over it. What seemed to be a small explosion went off out in the hall, coupled by a shout of, “UNGRATEFUL GIT!”

“It’s Dumbledore!” a fifth year shouted.

“I’m right here.” Dumbledore yelled from the front of the room.

“No, it’s the fake Dumbledore.” a tight lipped Professor McGonagall responded.

All the students pushed to get out of the door first. The marauders had somehow managed to get to the front of the crowd, where the sight of Severus Snape sprawled on the ground muttering curses sent them into gales of laughter. James and Sirius glanced at each other, evil grins appearing in a matter of seconds. Lily swore they must have read the other’s mind, because they both crossed the room in a seamless movement. In a matter of seconds they had picked up a thrashing and very angry Slytherin and carried him back to the Great Hall.

After being thrown into a punch bowl by his two biggest enemies in front of half the school, Severus doubted he would ever be quite the same.

Their laughing faces made him sick. He’d show them all, he was the powerful one now, and he had the mark on his left arm to prove it. Blood was pounding in his ears as he dragged his dripping self out of the bowl and crossed the room, slamming the door with an echoing bang. Seething, Severus ran into the nearest empty classroom, only to find he wasn’t alone.

************

Everyone pretty much shrugged and went back to their business after Snape left. Well, everyone except James and Sirius that was. They were still cheerfully accepting congratulations on their “accomplishment”.

Comments along the lines of, “Well, the evil git deserved it, stealing from a charity, honestly.” could be heard for a long while.

At about five minutes to midnight, the lead singer, who they now knew to be Stubby Boardman, took the magical microphone before playing the next song.

“Wow, the time has just flown by tonight. You’ve all been a great audience, and I’m sorry to announce that this will be the last song.” He smiled at their groans. “I’ll make it a slow one.”

There was no way in heaven, or hell, or anywhere in between that James was going to let Lily get away from him this time. He passed Remus and Elaine, who were dancing with their noses touching, and wished hopelessly that him and Lily would be that way someday. The head of red hair turned as he approached, green eyes met his.

“Hello, Lily, is it my turn.”

To his surprise, she smiled. It was a shy smile, but a beautiful smile all the same. “Yes, James, I believe it is.”

This was a first. It was a school dance, and the infamous ladies man, Sirius Black, had turned down ten offers to dance. There was a whisper about why he was now infamously single, or rather has been all year. What they didn’t know was that today, and forever, Sirius Black only had eyes for one. And she was sitting alone.

He pushed through the other dancing couples, catching sight of James and giving him an encouraging thumbs-up. He also saw Nora dancing with a Ravenclaw named John Lovegood, and that Alice had taken pity on Peter, where she was wincing frequently as he stepped on her toes.

“Well, Miss Mulciber, may I have the honor of this dance?” Sirius asked with an extravagant bow, while offering her his hand.

“Yes, I daresay you can, Mr. Black.” Adi giggled and allowed him to pull her onto the dance floor.

Seven days, and I already love you,
Seven months unafraid of the truth.
Seven tears, flooding the dry Earth,
Seven stars in the heavens above her.
Seven candles, lit at a funeral,
Seven children at a family reunion.
Seven words, and I can’t believe we’re through,
Seven years, and I keep coming back to you.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Remus.” Elaine whispered, fully aware that this was probably the happiest moment of her life.

“Really?” he asked, “Because I know exactly what I’d do without you. I’d forget how to smile. I love you more than I thought was possible.”

“You know, you really talk far too much for your own good.” She said, kissing him softly. “But I love that about you.” He kissed her back, and they both seriously considered staying like that forever.

This is when summer fades straight into winter,
I can’t see through the fog that’s clouding my vision.
I see your face as the sunlight surrounds you,
I can’t believe that I finally found you.

You’re a light summer’s rain, eternal beauty,
You light up the world with a soul that is so free.
My mind is blank, but my heart is singing,
You’re my reason for life, my deeper meaning.

Adi looked up at Sirius, getting lost in those gorgeous grey eyes she loved so much. She owed him so much, yet he asked for nothing at all. He’s fought all world’s battles, yet he was still the epiphany of happiness. He was, without a doubt, the most amazing person she’d ever known.

Sirius looked down at Adi, getting trapped in those beautiful violet eyes. She’d given him everything, yet asked for nothing in return. She’d faced all kinds of horror, yet she still had the heart of a saint and the smile of an angel. She was, without a doubt, the most amazing person he’d ever known.

“We need to talk.” they said at the exact same time. They smiled, then laughed.

“Astronomy tower, after the ball.” Sirius said, pulling her a bit closer.

Adi, who felt the need to look away from his eyes before she did something foolish, leaned against him and rested her head on his shoulder. They were so close, and it felt so right. How she wished they could stay like this forever. Sirius, laying his head delicately on top of hers, wished the exact same thing.

Look into my eyes, stare into my soul,
Can you see me loose my control.
It’s alright, I don’t want to fight.
My walls are coming down, this is gonna change tonight.

I can’t stand the loneliness, I’m not gonna let it win,
You care more for where I’m going than for where I’ve been.
Now I can see that we could never be wrong,
I don’t understand how you knew it all along.

Look into my eyes, stare into my soul,
Can you see me loose my control.
Just promise me now that you’ll catch me when I fall,
‘Cause without you I have nothing at all.

James and Lily were staring at each other, both unable to tear their gaze away. And neither of them wanted to. A pair of fierce hazel eyes seemed to melt into a pair of equally fierce emerald green eyes. Finally, James spoke.

“Lily, why won’t you just give us a chance?” He had a look nothing short of pleading etched on his handsome face.

“I’m sorry.” she said after a long moment. ‘Oh, if only you knew.’ she thought sadly. “We can’t be together.”

“Why?” He didn’t look angry, just sad. But the sadness was worse for Lily than an eternity of his anger would have been. Because she knew that only she could do this to him.

“You don’t understand, you can’t understand. It just can’t work.”

She’d expected him to argue. He didn’t. He just sighed. “I’m done. I know that there’s something special between us, and I know deep down you know that too. But until you realize it, there’s nothing I can do. So I’m done chasing after you. When your ready to face the truth, I’ll be there.”

“I don’t want you to wait for me, James.”

“I’d wait forever and a day for you Lily. But right now, I just want to enjoy this moment.” he said, moving closer. How he wished this dance would last forever

Seven days, and I already love you,
Seven months unafraid of the truth.
Seven tears, flooding the dry Earth,
Seven stars in the heavens above her.
Seven candles, lit at a funeral,
Seven children at a family reunion.
Seven words, and I can’t believe we’re through,
Seven years, and I keep coming back to you.

As the students flooded out of the Great Hall, Sirius stopped in front of the replica of Dumbledore. He slowly pulled out a bag and emptied it’s entire contents, several dozen galleons, into it. As the Dumbledore gave it’s thanks, he actually felt tears prickle in his eyes.

“Thank you.” he whispered back.


A/N: Sorry if I didn’t do this post justice, but I have a horrible case of writer’s block. One of the bad things about me getting writer’s block is that I can never tell if my writing is halfway decent or a bunch of bull-pucky.

Feedback here!!!!