Sirius: The Black Knight

AN: The character of Sirius Black (and any others you recognise) belongs solely to JKR, just as the world she created does.

Hello, and welcome to my fic! I have recently edited and improved these early chapters, because I wasn’t particularly happy with them, but I’ve kept as close as possible to the original! Any changes are for the better. I really hope you like it, and thank you for reading! I would like to thank my brilliant friend “Chomione” for believing in me, and for offering her constructive criticism. I would have given up by now if it weren’t for you, so thank you! Now, I shall keep you no longer, please enjoy.

Chapter 1: The End

“Come on, you can do better than that!” I yelled, laughing at my cousin Bellatrix. It was a phrase I used solely for taunting her. I always had done. I saw her eyes darken and suddenly a flash of light was coming towards me. I watched it hit me straight in the chest. At first it just felt as if the breath had been knocked out of me. Then, as I fell backwards, I realised it was not my breath, but my very life.

And then, everything was black. I heard someone calling my name. They sounded scared. And I knew that voice. Something about that voice made me feel something �“ a mixture of happiness and pride and love. Was it James? No. Lily? No. Remus? No. Lola? No, as much as I wished it, the voice was not hers. And then it came to me. Harry! Harry was screaming my name. He was yelling for me. I had to get back to him! I had made a promise. I had to protect him. I just had to get back to him. I tried to move, to walk back out from the veil, tell old Death thanks, but no thanks, life will do for now.

And so, I put every thought, every scrap of energy, every bit of willpower that was left in my body into moving out of the black hole I was trapped in. Minutes passed and nothing happened. And slowly, it began to dawn on me that I wasn’t going anywhere. Against my will, I began to think that if I was truly dead, maybe it wasn’t so bad. I could see everyone I’d lost once again. I thought of each of them, and the moment a part of me wanted to stay dead, I was moving so fast that everything was a blur of colours. And then I landed face first at James Potter’s feet.

*~*~*

“Blimey, mate! Have you forgotten that a Marauder always lands on his feet?” James asked, pulling me roughly up. “You haven’t changed. I wasn’t sure, you see, but I must have known you were happiest when I was around!”

I was still in shock. And I hadn’t a clue what he was talking about. I told him this, and he laughed. Then he handed me a mirror. I looked into it and got the shock of my life. I looked in my twenties again ... my face was full and healthy, my eyes had no trace of the sunken look they had picked up from Azkaban, and my hair shined, it was jet black again, with no traces of grey. I looked great. I told James this too, and he laughed again.

“Yeah, the thing about this place, is that you look like how you did when you were at your happiest. Even if you’re really old, you could look twenty one, if that’s when you got married or something,” James explained. I was still trying to take everything in.

A thought crossed my mind. “You look the same age as you were when you died, though. How come you didn’t change?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Because I was happier than I’d ever been when I was married to Lily, and we had a son. Isn’t it obvious?”

“Um, no,” I admitted. He shrugged. Then I wondered why he hadn’t asked me how Harry was. Surely it would be the first thing he asked? “Listen, so you know, Harry’s fine,” I quickly assured him. “Well, I hope he is. Last time I saw him we were �“”

“In the Department of Mysteries, I know. What, did you really think I wouldn’t take an interest in my own son’s life? Lily and I spend most of our time watching him,” he said. The comment made me realise that she wasn’t there with him. Before I could open my mouth to ask why, he told me, “She’s still making sure he’s all right. But I had to be here, to welcome you to this place. See, everyone who comes has to welcome someone at some point. For me, it’s you. And when Harry dies, it will be Lily. I’m supposed to tell you that you’ll have to meet Remus when he arrives.”

“Oh,” is all I could say. James stood there. He smiled. He seemed to be expecting something. “Uh ... I missed you?” I tried.

“I know,” he said. His smile didn’t falter. I tried again.

“And, uh, I looked after Harry for you.”

“I know,” James said again. He was still smiling. I had forgotten how infuriating he could be sometimes. I gave up.

“What? What are you waiting for me to say?” I demanded. He sighed.

“Don’t you want to know where you are?” he asked. I thought seriously about the question. Did I? I wasn’t sure.

“Is it ... heaven?” I asked.

“It has many names, popular ones being ‘Heaven’, ‘The Other Side’ and ‘The Afterlife’. I call it ‘Home’,” he said, and I got the feeling he had practised that little speech several times. Calling it ‘Home’ seemed odd to me, though.

“Why? Isn’t Godric’s Hollow you’re home?” I asked.

“All that doesn’t matter any more, Sirius. It was my home, but here just feels right. It really does feel like home. And if I wanted, I could probably make it look like Godric’s Hollow, like anything I wanted,” he said. I was confused.

“But how?” I asked. He smiled, like he had his own private joke, damn him.

“Maybe I’m not explaining this well...” he mused.

“I’ll say! I am lost, mate, lost!” I shook my head and he laughed. I had forgotten what it felt like to make him laugh. In fact, I had forgotten just how much I had loved him.

“Time and space, they’re not the same. The room we’re in now, it’s pretty small at the moment. But I could make it as big as Scotland, even bigger, if I really wanted. I could make it the size of a broom cupboard, but we’d be a little uncomfortable.”

“Wow,” I said. I really was impressed. “How do I get to do that kind of thing?”

“First, you have to watch your life,” he told me meaningfully, which made no sense at all.

“Watch my ... watch my life?” I asked, in confusion. I had every right to be confused, too. My best mate had clearly become a nutter since he died.

“Yeah. I did it. Just the important bits of course, otherwise it would literally take a lifetime. Bits are cut out. I mean, take out the sleep, and that’s already down by half, right? And all those boring, average days, you don’t have to watch them.”

“Why do I have to watch my life? What’s the point?” I asked, as I genuinely didn’t know.

“It’ll help you sort things out. So you can be at peace,” he shrugged. Suddenly, Lily came bursting through the door.

“James, James, come quick! I think Harry could be in trouble, he went after Bellatrix!” she gabbled all at once. “Hi Sirius,” she added, distractedly, when she saw me. Then she grabbed hold of James’s arm and dragged him away. James said something about me ‘watching the screen’, before he left. I was worried about Harry, but not surprised he had gone after Bellatrix. After all, she just killed me. No wonder he’s angry. Still, I had faith in him. He can handle himself pretty well ... so far.

I looked around for the screen James had mentioned. Then I realised that one of the walls was just one big screen, which I suppose I should have noticed before, but I was pretty distracted by seeing my dead best friend again for the first time in fifteen years. I also noticed a comfy looking armchair and I sat down on it. “So how does this thing start?” I asked myself out loud. And when I said the word ‘start’, the screen flickered and began to play ...

*~*~*

AN: Thanks for reading this! By the way, only this chapter is in first person, the others won’t be. This is a tribute to Sirius Black. All who love him, will (hopefully) like this! I’ve also edited parts since the original, so hopefully it reads smoother. Please review, I’d love to know what people think ... of the newer version or in general.

Chapter 2: The First Eleven

A tall, pregnant woman had apparated into the foyer of St Mungo’s Hospital. She immediately began bossing around everyone she could see.

“You there, with the mole on your chin, get me a Healer! Faster than that! I’m having a baby here, and you’re walking around like you’re taking a stroll! What attitude is that? Stop staring and go help her! Don’t you people have jobs to do?” Two hours of painful labour later, Mrs Black had her own firstborn son �“ if not in her arms, then at least in the same room.

In contrast, Mimi Gordon was a young, pretty Healer at the hospital, and she was getting worried. The baby was very small, and it’s breathing was irregular. She pushed an alarm button, and soon the newborn baby was being fed different coloured potions, so that Mimi could hardly see him anymore. She turned to Mrs Black, whom she suspected was getting worried by all the commotion, and intended to offer the soothing words of comfort she had become renowned for. But Mrs Black was asleep, looking quite peaceful amongst the chaos. Mimi frowned at this, but soon dismissed it as exhaustion. The woman had been through a lot in the past couple of hours.

Two days later, and the still nameless baby was improving. Since his parents didn’t seem particularly bothered about responsibilities, Mimi looked after him as best she could with the time she had. In fact, she had grown attached to his soft black hair and blue eyes, which were gradually turning grey. She thought it was appalling that his parents still hadn’t given him a name, and finally managed to confront Mrs Black about this.

“A name? I thought he was going to die anyway?” she asked. Mimi looked scandalised.

“He’s improved so much! You can take him home in a couple of days,” she protested, aghast. “And so I really think that you and your husband should think of a name for him! I’m sorry if parenthood is not an ideal occupation for you, but you’re stuck with it now. Unless, of course, you want to speak to someone about adoption ...”

And, in fact, Mimi knew she would happily take up the position herself, for despite it being unprofessional, she had begun to take the baby’s welfare personally. But this idea was soon shattered, when Mrs Black sneered, and spat out, “And have him got to a Mudblood like you? Him, a descendant of the House of Black? I don’t think that’s going to happen. If you say he’ll live, my husband and I will do what we need to, and don’t you think you can stop us! I’ve seen your kind before ...”

“Mrs Black, please, there is no need for that,” Mimi chastised, and left the room before she said something she might regret.

The next day, Mr Black came to the Hospital, and he and his wife decided to name their son Sirius, a family name which Mr Black thought had a nice ring to it. The day after that, Mimi gave baby Sirius a final kiss on the cheek, and the family left St Mungo’s for Number 12, Grimmauld Place.

*~*~*

Mrs Black did not take kindly to being a mother. Her son was now two, and she despised having to clear up after him, feed him and bathe him. The way she saw it, in the space of just two years, she had been stripped of her former life. She rarely saw her friends anymore, and when she did, they talked of all the things she missed so much about life, and soon she began to dread their visits. The only person she looked forwards to seeing was her sister-in-law, Druella, who had three daughters. Bellatrix was three, only a year older than Sirius, Narcissa was only a baby, and Andromeda was now eight. While their children played, the two mothers enjoyed their time out.

However, neither realised how little their children enjoyed this. Andromeda doted on her sweet faced cousin, but despaired at her sister, Bella, who seemed to go out of her way to be nasty, whether it was to Sirius, or the youngest of them all, Baby Cissy. Little Sirius spent most of his time hiding behind Andy, and being afraid of Bellatrix, just as the dark haired three-year-old wished.

So all in all, life seemed grim for the Black family. And it was about to get worse, when Sirius’s mother found herself expecting another child. Interestingly, when she first realised the truth, her screams could be heard all through the house, and down the street, too.

Around nine months later, Sirius, now three, had a baby brother. Regulus Black was everything Sirius was not. Instead of being born small and weak, he was large and strong. His parents saw the boy as a whole new start, a chance to raise the son they had always wanted. Around the same time Regulus Black came screaming into the world, Sirius was forgotten.

*~*~*

Sirius was six years old, and his mother delighted in the times when he was at the Muggle primary school, for she wouldn’t have to endure the son she had somehow grown to despise so much. He was glad of any excuse to get away, even if he couldn’t invite his friends home. Not that he had many, just a couple of boys who were like him �“ smaller than the others, and quieter. But it was the holidays that were worst, when he was stuck in Grimmauld Place, with his younger brother deliberately getting him into trouble.

“Why can’t you be more like Regulus, you worthless rat! Regulus would never knock my vase over!” Mrs Black was screeching at her eldest son on that hot day. “That’s been in my family years, it was given to my grandmother by Grindelwald �“ before he was defeated by that fool Albus Dumbledore, that is. And now you have broken it, child!”

Sirius burst into tears as his mother shouted at him. “But you can fix it!” he wailed, desperately. “And it wasn’t even my fault, Regulus pushed me into it!”

“Don’t tell lies, Regulus is a good boy! He would never do such a thing! But you, on the other hand! You did it on purpose!”

The fire roared a bright green, and Sirius’s father stepped out, along with Mrs Black’s brother, Alphard.

“What’s all these tears for, eh lad?” asked Sirius’s uncle, ruffling his hair.

“That ... that child knocked my vase over!” his sister spluttered. “The one that was given to our Grandmother!”

“Oh, Wally,” he laughed jovially. His sister glared at this nickname for Walburga �“ her real name. “It was an ugly old thing anyway. And it’s easily done, is it not? And just as easily fixed,” he said, winking at Sirius. “Reparo.” The pieces of the vile, twisted vase shot back together easily, and Alphard dusted off his hands, unnecessarily. “That’s that, then. Now, shall we go into the Parlour?” he suggested, in a put on, overly grandeur voice. He picked up Sirius, and lead the way. Sirius’s parents, who rarely communicated with speech, looked at each other angrily, but followed willingly.

Later that night, Sirius was woken to the sound of raised voices. He opened his door and crawled out onto the landing, trying to listen. He quickly worked out that it was his Uncle and mother quarrelling. He imagined his father sitting in the corner, letting his wife do the talking, yet nodding and grunting every so often in agreement.

“You’re too hard on the boy! He’s only six!” Alphard was saying.

“Don’t tell me how to raise my son! It’s all him, Regulus didn’t turn out so bad!” Sirius’s mother screeched.

“Regulus is a spoilt brat, and half the time, when you punish Sirius, it’s all Regulus’s fault! Sirius just needs some love from his family, and he’d soon forget all his insecurities, just give the boy a chance!” Alphard had a note of pleading in his voice.

“How dare you? You think I will stop giving punishment where it is due because my weasel of a firstborn is too shy? You dare question me? I shall raise him how I see fit!” she cried. Sirius heard glass smashing, and presumed his mother had threw something in her rage.

“You never understood this, did you? He will turn out the opposite of how you want! Just look at the boy! He’s underfed, he’s grubby and his eyes have lost their life already! He’s six years old, woman, just let him be!” Alphard cried.

“I refuse to listen to this any longer, from my own brother! This is my house, I look after it, and I will not have guests who don’t respect me or my principles!” Sirius’s mother said, calmly, but with a primness in her voice, that meant she was doing her best to control her anger.

“Then you won’t have many guests!” Alphard yelled. Sirius heard a loud crack, and presumed his uncle had disapparated. He tiptoed back to his room, not fully understanding what he had heard. But he knew that he wouldn’t be seeing his uncle very often any more.

*~*~*

When he was ten, and Regulus was seven, things weren’t much different. Sirius continued going to the Muggle primary school, so he would be “out of the way”, and yet Regulus was homed schooled by his mother. “No son of mine is mixing with filthy Muggles!” she would say. Sirius didn’t bother to point out the rather obvious fault in this statement. He knew not to take it to heart though, he was used to being declared an outsider. Besides, he would rather go to school than be taught by his ghastly mother.

By this time, Andromeda had long since left for Hogwarts, and Sirius learnt that soon �“ in just a year �“ he would get a letter from them, himself. He could go away for whole school years at a time if he wanted! Sirius couldn’t wait. It was also around this time that he had his growth spurt, unusually early for boys. He was soon the tallest in his class, and felt physically stronger. He began exercising in his bedroom, eating more (usually by sneaking into the pantry under the cover of darkness), and soon his confidence grew as well. The boys at school stopped trying to push him around, and he even stood up to his vindictive brother, making him cry. But it was worth being locked in his room for.

He was desperate to go to Hogwarts. With nine months to go, in January, he began crossing days off on his calendar. With seven months, in March, he began planning his escapades. With five months, in May, he began stealing his father’s wand and trying to perform simple spells in his bedroom, which never amounted to anything, but that didn’t stop him trying. Finally, in July, he got the long awaited letter. He pestered his mother to reply as soon as she could, and eventually she clouted him round the head, and sent the owl.

In August, he went to Diagon Alley with his parents, and they bought him all of his things, until all that was left were his robes. His mother dropped him off outside Madam Malkin’s, and then left to do some “personal shopping”.

Inside the shop there was a boy with black messy hair and glasses waiting with his fussy looking mother.

“Jamesy, stop fidgeting. And can’t you get your hair flat?” she began stroking his head, but the hair bounced up again as soon as she let go. The boy winked at Sirius and stuck his tongue out. Sirius did likewise, and he and the boy both grinned. “Jamesy, why are you pulling such silly faces?” his mother asked, now brushing him down, trying to get rid of the dust sticking to his clothes. The two twin girls being fitted currently were done at the same time, and James and Sirius stepped up.

“Hi. I’m James!” the boy grinned, as if Sirius could not have possibly worked this out beforehand.

“Sirius Perseus Black,” Sirius said. He held out his hand, but the witch fitting his robes swatted it down, when it pulled the fabric out of place.

“You’ve got a funny name, Serious Percy-us Black,” James laughed, and the witch fitting him told him to stay still, fussily.

“It’s Sirius. Not Serious, that silly,” he told James, who giggled impishly.

“Sirius-ly?” asked James, and almost toppled off his stool, he was laughing so hard.

“Jamesy, keep still!” his mother warned. James looked at Sirius and rolled his eyes. Now they both giggled.

“So will it be your first year?” asked James, and Sirius nodded. James jumped up and down in delight, “Me too, me too, we could be in the same house!”

“Please keep still!” the fitting witch, cried, exasperatedly, when all the pins came loose once again. James didn’t seem to notice.

Sirius had done by this point, but James was nowhere near finished, as the fitting witch had been forced to start again so many times. “Well, I have to wait for my mum to come back, anyway,” Sirius told James. So he stayed and talked to his new friend for five minutes, until Mrs Black arrived, paid Madam Malkin, and they left.

“See you on the train!” James waved after Sirius enthusiastically, so that all the pins came out of place once again.

“For goodness sake!” came a shrill female voice, as Sirius and his mother left the shop.

“Why were you talking to that boy?” she asked, icily.

“He was talking to me!” Sirius cried indignantly, “I couldn’t ignore him! And anyway, he’s my friend now.”

“Do you know who that was? The Potters are scum, that boy’s father is an Auror, he put a lot of my friends in trouble!” she snapped at him.

“Aren’t Aurors good guys?” asked Sirius, confused. In the comics he had stolen off Regulus, it was always the Aurors who appeared at the last minute to stop the bad guys.

“That depends on which side you’re on,” his mother muttered, darkly.

*~*~*

Finally �“ finally �“ September the first arrived. Sirius bounded down the stairs into the kitchen, at six in the morning. Only the house elf was awake.

“Good morning Twinky! Could you rustle up the biggest breakfast possible for little old me?” he asked, batting his eyelids and simpering.

“Yes master!” Twinky bowed so that her knobbly nose touched the floor, and Sirius thanked her, bowing back exaggeratedly, and laughing. Soon, he was tucking into a vast traditional English breakfast. The minute he was done, he ran upstairs and got dressed. Then he unpacked and packed his trunk a couple of times, and only after all this did his parents finally drag themselves out of bed. By this time Sirius was hungry again, so ate breakfast with his family.

“Why is he so happy?” demanded Regulus, flicking bits of bacon fat at his brother.

“Because, Reggie-poos, I don’t have to look at your ugly face for months!” Sirius trilled happily, wolfing down his second breakfast.

“Don’t speak to your brother like that, boy!” hissed Mrs Black, but he just shrugged.

Sirius swallowed his last mouthful and left the table running up and down the stairs a few times, then doing a circuit of the house and garden at top speed four or five times. Then he repacked his case once again, and it was finally time to leave for Kings Cross.

“Whoopee!” Sirius cried, jumping up and down, “I’m leaving! Goodbye forever, Smell-old Place!”

In no time at all, they were at Kings Cross. Sirius knew what to do, as his parents had filled him in on the way. He charged through the barrier, straight onto Platform 9¾.

*~*~*

AN: A pretty depressing chapter to start with, but things will go uphill from here. After all, there’s lots of Marauders stuff coming up!

AN: Sirius and any other characters you recognise, belong to JKR. This fic has now been moved from General to Marauder era. Enjoy ...

Chapter 3: Children are the Future

Sirius was sitting on a stool in the Great Hall, the sorting hat covering his eyes. Whatever happens, I do NOT want to be in Slytherin, he thought desperately, I’ll do anything. Do hats need money? Because I will personally pay you to keep me out of Slytherin. Anything. Do you need me to do a task or something? Do you want me to count to one thousand standing on my head? Do you want me run round the grounds naked? I will, name it, just please, PLEASE, put me anywhere but Slytherin. I’ll do any �“

Can I get a thought in edgeways? Sirius heard a voice say. He realised with a jolt that it was the hat. Entertaining as your pleas are, you don’t belong in Slytherin anyway. No, the place for you is ...

“GRYFFINDOR!”

Sirius jumped up happily, skipping and cart-wheeling over to the applauding table.

“We’ve got a live one, here!” Nearly Headless Nick informed his neighbour, laughing along with the rest of the House.

Sirius sat, his grin spreading from ear to ear. He couldn’t remember being happier. Revenge was his! It would just about kill his parents, knowing that their eldest son had broken the chain of many family members in Slytherin �“ he also noticed with relish that his cousin Andy was waving at him from the other end, grinning. He grinned back, and then waved enthusiastically to James, whom he had sat next to on the train. Soon enough, the two boys were sitting together once again, tucking into the amazing feast. Opposite them, were two first year girls. One had wavy red hair, and bright green eyes. The other was an attractive brunette, who had dark, almost black eyes.

“Hi, I’m James Potter,” Sirius said, nudging his friend under the table.

“And I’m Sirius Black.” James grinned at the girls.

“Hello,” the brunette said, smiling, “Lola Armstrong, and this is Lily Evans.” She pointed to her red headed friend.

“What’s the point in pretending you’re each other?” asked Lily bluntly, “Since I know it’s the other way around. Professor McGonagall said you were Sirius Black, and I remember because you started cart wheeling.”

Sirius blinked. James laughed.

“Excuse Lily,” Lola rolled her eyes, “she’s all nervous and jittery.”

“Hey!” Lily protested, “Just because I don’t think people should go around lying about something as unimportant as their name ... And who wouldn’t be nervous? I mean, look around you!”

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other word, would smell as sweet,” James quoted, grinning at Lily, who began to smile, but caught herself and turned it into a frown.

“That’s not the point,” she snapped, glaring at Sirius too.

“What is the point?” James asked, an eyebrow raised.

“What point? Who has a point?” demanded Lily, furiously. Sirius and James looked at each other, confused.

“Um, Lily, calm down,” Lola told her. Lily shrugged, and glared at the boys. Lola rolled her eyes, “Whatever. You be that way. So you two, tell me about, well, you.”

James swelled with pride at the opportunity. “My Dad works at the Ministry, he’s an Auror, and my mum’s a Healer. I’m an only child and we live in quite a big house ... it’s called the Potter Mansion, but I wouldn’t actually say it was a real mansion ... uh ... well, that’s about it, I guess.” He laughed.

“What about you, Sirius?” Lola asked.

Sirius looked at her, and raised his eyebrows “My family? You really don’t want to know.”

*~*~*

Eventually, the feast was over and everyone headed to the common rooms, and ultimately their beds. In the Gryffindor boys’, first year dorm, however, no one was even thinking about sleeping just yet.

“We are the two kings of this here dormitory,” James was saying, “and you shall cater to our every need.” He and Sirius were standing on his bed, trying to look regal. There were only two other boys there. One was small, and slightly plump, and he was watching the two in awe, as if they really were royalty. The other was taller, and skinny. He looked tired, and was lying on his bed, reading. Sirius found this annoying. In one swift movement, he jumped from James’s bed to the boy’s, took the book from his hands and put his face centimetres away from his. The smaller boy gasped in amazement and James stopped talking.

“Do you doubt the two kings of this dormitory?” Sirius asked the boy, over pronouncing each syllable in an attempt to make him sound more upper-class.

“N-No,” the boy stammered in reply.

“Then where, I ask, is your undivided attention?”

“I �“ I’m sorry?” the boy looked terrified.

“What is your name?” Sirius asked him.

“Remus Lupin, Your Highness,” the boy stated, fearfully. Sirius blinked. His mouth twitched. Soon, the dorm was filled with raucous laughter.

“I like you!” Sirius declared, slapping Remus on the back. “And you, rodent boy? Who are you?”

“Peter Pettigrew, sir,” the boy squeaked, hoping that Sirius would like him too.

“Well, you’ll do I suppose! Now, rule number one of this kingdom: There is a password. Rule two: No snoring. Rule three: No singing, unless given permission. Any questions?” Sirius looked around, “You, skinny kid. Remus. What is your question?”

“Well, I was wondering what the password is?”

Sirius thought, hard. Then James cried out, obviously trying to direct attention back to himself, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!”

“Perfect! That is the password. Good work, fellow king!”

It was long into the night before anyone got anything resembling slumber.

*~*~*

The four new friends settled easily into life at Hogwarts. Already, Sirius and James had received more detentions than most other students, and they were a little too proud of this achievement. They also enjoyed chatting to Lola and Lily, although the latter always seemed a little reluctant �“ but she put up with them. Sirius and James found the lessons easy enough, and were soon ahead of most. Remus was not far behind, although he had to study harder than the other two. Peter, however, was near hopeless, but was able to get by with help from his three friends �“ although mainly Remus, who had an aptitude for teaching, and a lot more patience. The two girls were good too, with enough work.

There were, of course, people Sirius knew in years above him. Bellatrix was in her second year, although they avoided each other as much as possible. Narcissa wasn’t there yet, but Andromeda was in her sixth year, also in Gryffindor. He enjoyed talking to her some evenings, happy for a familiar face, in all the chaos.

At Christmas, only Sirius and Lola were left behind out of the group of six, though for different reasons. Sirius refused to return to Grimmauld Place so soon, and Lola’s parents, who were Muggles, were going on holiday to Switzerland, but she despised skiing, so opted to stay at school. Sirius also got the impression that her family were a little scared at the idea of their precious daughter being exposed to magic, and other unknown things. She said it had taken them a very long time to even agree to send her to Hogwarts in the first place.

The pair got to know each other better, since neither knew anyone else staying behind. They played in the snow, talked, and played wizards chess. Both were hopeless at the game, but they didn’t really care. It was the happiest Christmastime Sirius had ever had. Not that it was hard �“ he could be locked in a cupboard all through the Christmas season, and it would be more fun.

When the morning itself arrived, they woke early, and Lola ran into the boy’s dorm, in her dressing gown.

Sirius yelled in fright, “Ever heard of knocking?” he asked. Seeing a girl in their dorm was unnerving. There was something not quite natural about it.

But Lola just laughed, and said, “What have you got?”

“I don’t know, I only just woke up. And who wants to open their presents alone on Christmas morning?” Sirius asked, before declaring, “Now, I’m gonna go first!”

“Yeesh,” Lola muttered, “Pushy much?” but Sirius wasn’t listening. He had already dived into his pile, greedily. Overall, he was pleased with his gifts. James had given him some dungbombs, the first Sirius had ever owned, Remus sent him a book �“ on curses, but still a book �“ and Peter had given him singing socks. Lola presented him with a box of sweets, his parents sent a generous galleon, his Uncle Alphard an expensive looking watch, and Andromeda had given him a pair of gloves that were always warm, in the coldest of weathers �“ perfect for playing in the snow. He also got a card from Lily, but no present. Still, it was more than he had expected.

Lola too, was happy with her gifts. She had loved the bracelet Sirius had given her, even though it was quite cheap, “I don’t care!” she had squealed, hugging him, “Thanks Sirius!” She let go, and he smiled. Normally he would have hated being hugged by a girl, but today �“ and only today �“ he didn’t mind a bit.

They spent the rest of the day having snowball fights (Sirius eventually had to give up on his new gloves when they kept melting the snow, but he wore them when he wasn’t in fierce battle), and had Christmas dinner in the evening. They stayed up by the fire that night, playing chess, talking and eating the sweets they had accumulated together, over the course of the day. It was past midnight when they finally retired to their beds, their young minds full of happy thoughts about snow and sweets and roaring fires.

After that, Sirius and Lola were firm friends, and James, Remus and Peter accepted her too. Lily, however, didn’t bond quite so strongly, but sat with them at dinner and in the evenings anyway. Sirius suspected that he and the other three boys were growing on her a little, and often caught her trying not to laugh.

*~*~*

The dungbombs Sirius had got for Christmas stayed under his bed, not forgotten, but not playing on anyone’s mind. Until, one day during the Easter holidays, all six were bored. It didn’t happen very often, but it was a feeling which they all dreaded.

“We should do something. Something really funny,” Sirius mused, lounging on an armchair, “don’t you think?”

James looked up from the lazy chess game he was beating Peter at, and thought about the proposition for a second, “Absolutely,” he decided, “do you still have those dungbombs under your bed?”

Lily looked up quickly. She frowned, “What dungbombs?”

Sirius raised an eyebrow, and smirked, feeling particularly cocky that day. “The ones under my bed. Of course.”

Everyone but Lily laughed. “I presume you aren’t going to use them, I mean, not even you four are that childish,” she said, with an air of haughtiness.

“Excuse me,” interjected James, “I just went deaf. What?”

“Oh, come on, dungbombs? First of all, it will make the place stink awfully, for no reason, and you could get in serious trouble! What if you were caught?” She tossed the book she had been reading aside, and glared at James and Sirius. Lola looked worried about the tension between her friends.

“If we were caught, we would do detention and get over it. And our motive is simple; we’re bored,” Sirius explained, “What’s wrong with that?”

“What’s the point? Can’t you do homework or practise some spells or something?” she asked, angrily, her cheeks flaring up. Sometimes people just have bad days, in this was certainly one of them.

James raised an eyebrow, “Are you kidding? What would those of us who have lives do?”

“You know what, I am fed up of all four of you!” she yelled, her voice bordering on hysterical, “You’re so childish and I don’t know what Lola sees in any of you!” she stormed up to the girls’ dorms, and the five remaining sat in silent shock. Lola soon got up and followed her, muttering something no one else could understand.

James was in shock. “She ... did you hear ... why ... what did we ... she’s just ...”

“Crazy psycho,” Sirius muttered, “Oh well, come on lads, let me go get those dungbombs, and we’ll show her who’s childish.”

“Um, Sirius, she may have a point,” Remus told him. At the look on his friends face, he said quickly, “but she’s still crazy. No doubt about that!”

Sirius agreed, and left to get the stash of dungbombs. When he returned, James was able to finish a sentence once more, and they left through the portrait hole.

Once the deed was done, they ran as fast as they could, determined not to be caught, with Lily’s words fresh in their minds. When they were three floors away, they quite literally bumped into her, and she dropped the books she had been carrying. Remus picked them up for her, and she politely thanked him.

“If you’re going to the Library, I’d avoid the Charms corridor,” James warned her, with a grin on his face.

“You didn’t?” she asked sounding exasperated. They nodded, “Did you not listen to a word I said?” she chastised. She seemed to have calmed a little, luckily.

“Sure we listened,” Sirius laughed. She sighed, and left down the corridor, taking the longer route to the Library.

When the four boys returned to the Common Room, Lola was waiting for them by the fire, and she looked upset.

“What’s wrong?” Peter enquired, as they sat down.

“I can’t be with you guys as much any more,” she sadly told them. “I value Lily’s friendship too much. I know you don’t always get on, but she’s really good fun, once you get to know her like I have. I mean, I’ll still be friends with you all. I’ll just, you know, not be around as much.”

“I’m sorry,” Sirius said, truthfully. He knew he would miss her, already. But she just shook her head, and left.

That night, Sirius lay awake, not being able to sleep for the first time in a long while. Lola’s announcement had saddened him. Already, he missed her, even though he knew it was for the best. No part of him wanted to ruin her friendship with Lily, and he didn’t resent either of them. But as he lay, staring at his canopy, he missed her far more than he would have expected.

*~*~*

AN: Thanks for reading, please review! Hope this makes up for the long wait.

The character of Sirius Black, and any others you recognise, belongs to JKR, and so does the world she created.


Chapter 4: “The Brilliant Quartet”

Their second year at Hogwarts came quicker than any of them thought. Sirius was ecstatic that the summer was over, as his family had ignored him and blamed him for everything, as much as possible. He was pretty sure he would never be forgiven for being in Gryffindor. It was, of course, made more bearable by his friends, who each sent him letters regularly, full of sympathy and support. He spent hours replying, writing individual letters to James, Lola, Remus and Peter, taking time to tell them everything, and writing to make them laugh. He found comfort in it, and he missed them each strongly.

And then, all of a sudden, he was back on the train, sharing a compartment with his four main friends and Lily, who was luckily in an agreeable mood. They spent the journey playing exploding snap and talking about their summers.

“You know, I started having predictions, and stuff,” Lola was saying, “about really weird things. I’d think ‘the phone’s about to ring’, and then it would!”

“What’s a phone?” Sirius and James asked. Lola and Lily spent five minutes explaining the concept of a telephone, yet when the two were still clueless, Remus declared it as ‘Muggle magic’, and they shrugged and went back to discussing the possibility of Lola being a seer.

“Can you see anything now?” Remus asked her, “The weather at Hogwarts or something?”

“Foggy,” Lola told him, then her hand flew to her mouth. “You see? I shouldn’t have any idea what the weather will be like, we’re nowhere near there yet! But I’m sure it’s foggy! I can’t explain it.”

They marvelled at this for a while, until the conversation was somehow steered to Quidditch, and Lola’s predictions were temporarily forgotten about. It wasn’t until the train began slowing, that they even looked out of the window properly.

“Where’s Hogwarts?” Lily asked, desperately trying to get a glimpse of the castle.

“It’s there,” Lola informed her, “you just can’t see it. Because of the fog.”

“She’s right!” James exclaimed, also peering through the window, in amazement. “You really must be a seer, Lola!”

“Well, we’ll leave it a while before we come to conclusions,” she laughed, although inside she was feeling a little shaken.

*~*~*

It was a few weeks later, when they were sitting in the dorm one evening, that it was decided the four boys would need a name for their group.

“One which makes people sit up straighter when they hear it!” described Sirius.

“One which lets people know we’re serious about our art of mischief making!” James added.

“One which has a deeper meaning, too, not just any random thing,” Remus chipped in.

“One which is really cool!” Peter finished off.

“How about ... The Amazing Foursome?” suggested Sirius.

“No, that’s stupid! What about The Brilliant Quartet?” James wondered.

“I have a much better idea. Instead of it saying that we’re great, how about we just have one word that focuses on the mischief part?” Remus said. The others agreed.

“Like ... The Intruders?” suggested Sirius.

“How about The Prankers?” Peter piped up. He sounded proud of himself.

“I’ve got it! It’s perfect!” James cried, standing up. He flourished his arms, and proudly stated, “The Marauders!”

His three friends sat in silence, until Remus murmured, quietly, “You’re right. It’s perfect.”

That night, they drafted a list of rules that each Marauder must abide by. The first, and most important, being, “A Marauder must always help another Marauder in need.”

*~*~*

Their first true prank came on Halloween, during the feast. They decided this, because they wanted as many people as possible to be there. It had taken a lot of work and planning on their behalf, and they had sneaked into the Great Hall the night before to set things up. No one else, not even Lola, knew what was going to happen, exactly.

The day passed by smoothly enough, although everyone was excited, and their concentration was anywhere but on the task the Professors gave them. Even Lily was caught up in the days festivities, nearly setting Lola’s robes on fire during charms. The Marauders found this immensely funny, but soon stopped laughing at the look on the girls’ faces.

The hours ticked by slowly. But finally, the students were gathered in the Great Hall, devouring everything put in front of them. While they ate, there were several performances. The ghosts acted out various tales, and some dancing skeletons came in. But the best act that night, was the stunt that the teachers were not aware was even planned.

On the staff table, were five or six pumpkins, purely for decoration. During dessert, fountains of sparks sprung up between them. The room was soon filled with gasps of awe and delight. Professor McGonagall began to pull out her wand, but Dumbledore stopped her. Just as the golden fountains were about to get boring, the pumpkins started emitting tiny bursts of sparks into the air, which exploded, much like fireworks, only in miniature. These got bigger and bigger, until they were a normal size. Then, the pumpkins themselves rose in the air, and exploded impressively, showering the professors in the orange fruit. The display continued for a couple of minutes after this, accompanied by the raucous laughter from the students.

James nudged Sirius and pointed towards Lily and Lola. They were laughing, and watching the fireworks with admiration. Sirius was happily surprised to see Lily doing this, although he doubted she would have if she had known who had pulled off the prank. And he was ecstatic that Lola seemed to have enjoyed it. He missed her still, and wished she would spend a lunchtime or an evening with them once in a while.

As far as he knew, she was still having predictions, and this was pretty much confirmed when she saw him looking, and spoke to him. “Impressive,” was all she said. In that one word Sirius knew that she knew they had set the whole thing up.

He grinned. “How did you guess?”

“Well, I woke up this morning, and I knew you four were going to something. I just knew. And I was right, wasn’t I?” she raised an eyebrow, pleased with herself.

“Yes,” he admitted, strangely glad that he was talking to her.

“It happens all the time. Last week, I told Lily to duck down, and a couple of seconds later, a stray bludger went flying past her, just missing her head. There was no way I could have known about it, but I saved her from being knocked out cold!”

“Wow,” Sirius breathed, staring at Lola in amazement. “I’m friends with a seer,”

“Well,” she laughed, “I wouldn’t say that just yet!” But Sirius was pretty sure he was right �“ Lola was different.

*~*~*

After that night, the Marauders steadily grew more famous �“ or infamous, you could say �“ at Hogwarts. Teachers were more wary of them, Prefects and the Head Boy and Girl looked disapprovingly at them as they passed, but students grinned, and clapped them on the back in the corridors. All four loved the attention, and basked in it, perfectly at ease with knowing that almost everyone in the school knew who they were.

One night around Easter, they were sitting on their beds, and talking about things whatever came to mind.

“So, what about ... I dunno, girls. Aren’t we meant to like girls?” James asked, as though it had been playing on his mind for a while.

“Well, come on, we’re only twelve,” Remus pointed out, “It’s not like there’s a hurry.”

James looked unconvinced. “Last Christmas, my cousin was round at ours, and he was boasting about all sorts of stuff. I didn’t get most of it, but he told me that I should have girlfriends by now.”

“In the plural?” asked Peter, laughing.

“Maybe he was joking,” Sirius mused, “Yeah, that’s probably it. I bet he was joking. Still, this is a good subject to pass the time with. If you could go out with any girl at this school, James, who would it be?”

“I dunno,” James shrugged, “I don’t know any girls. That’s why I didn’t get it,” the other three stared at him incredulously. “What?” he asked, perplexed.

“What? This castle is full of them, that’s what! What about Lola? Or Lily? Or there’s that Tara girl they talk to sometimes. Or ... or ... Moaning Myrtle?” Sirius suggested.

“Well, naturally Myrtle is top of my list!” James said, grinning. “Such a fetching attire!”

Sirius and Remus laughed. Peter noticed this, so he laughed too.

“Okay, come on, joking aside. James, who do you like?” Sirius pressed on.

James sighed, and screwed his face up in deep thought. “Well ... I suppose Lily’s quite pretty ...”

“Result!” cried Sirius, a little louder than was necessary. “Although, she is a little obsessive over rules, it’s nothing that bad. Remus, what about you?”

“Um, I don’t really like any girls yet. Like I said, I don’t see the rush,” he muttered, looking away.

“Me neither! Girls are boring. And they smell like flowers,” Peter said, supporting Remus, before James or Sirius could jump in and start chastising all over the place.

“Well, if you two are so old fashioned, that’s fine by me,” Sirius began, annoyed at his friends’ reluctance towards the fairer sex, “although I would ask out the fair Lola Armstrong in a second.”

“Really?” asked Remus, “But she’s a seer.”

“Your point being?” Sirius challenged him.

“Well, she might see that you two will break up one day, and then she’d be really paranoid and weird,” Remus explained.

Sirius thought about this. It was true, but now he had announced the feeling that had been nagging at him for a few months, he couldn’t shake it off. If anything, it was stronger, “Well, I’ll ask her out tomorrow anyway,” he decided.

*~*~*

“No way,” Lola said. Sirius pouted. “It’s out of the question. I’m far too young to start dating.”

“But �“”

“Sirius, I’m not saying I don’t like you. I do, just give it a couple of years, okay?”

Sirius deflated, and he walked dejectedly back to his friends. It was a weekend, so the four were sitting under a beech tree in the grounds, and had been watching Lily and Lola, who were by the lake. “Your turn,” he told James, who reluctantly stood and began to walk towards Lily.

The three remaining Marauders couldn’t see quite what was happening, but it looked as if Lily was telling James the same as Lola had done to Sirius. Except that Lola hadn’t looked quite so angry. James came back, fuming.

“I don’t believe her! Just who does she think he is?” he ranted, sitting down.

“She said no, huh?” Sirius sympathised.

“You bet she did! Didn’t even give me hope for the future, just ruled it out forever!”

“Well, lets show them both!” Sirius suggested. “From now on, we’re going to be bigger, badder Marauders!”

“Sirius, ‘badder’ isn’t a word,” Remus told him, but he was ignored.

“Starting with Severus Snape!” he continued, ignoring Remus, “Yesterday he tripped me up in the corridor, and called me a blood traitor. I would have done something, but there were too many teachers and beefy Slytherins about.”

“That ugly greasy kid?” Peter asked, and Sirius nodded. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

Sirius shrugged, “I forgot. Now what should we do to him?”

The four boys sat, thinking. “Let’s curse his hair green!” James cried, happily. The others agreed that it was an excellent idea.

From then on, the Marauders annoyed Snape as often as they could, cursing and pranking him. It was never anything dangerous, they just had fun letting off steam whenever he was around.

One day, however, during lunch, he came up to the Marauders, who were outside under the beech tree again. Peter noticed first, as Remus had been reading, and James and Sirius were taking turns to set things on fire, and then put it out again. Not in the least bit sensible, but fun all the same.

“You four! Marauders, you call yourself?” he sneered. The four boys stood, Sirius and James at the front, the other two behind. “What’s your problem?”

James spoke first, “We don’t have a problem! You’re confusing us with yourself.”

“You need a taste of your own potion!” he hissed, his fists clenched and nostrils flaring, which unfortunately made his nose look even larger, and the four Gryffindors noticed this.

“We’re just having some fun,” Sirius told him, reaching for his wand, just in case.

Snape was quicker. Remus was thrown backwards against the tree. Peter gasped, and both Sirius and James jumped on Snape. They hit him again, and again, both in a rage. Soon, they were being dragged away by McGonagall. She was furious, but the boys didn’t care. All they would say is that they would do it again, until she gave them detention, deducted fifty points from Gryffindor, and let them go.

Remus recovered quickly, but Snape had to stay in the Hospital Wing for a few days. After that, there was a war between him and the Marauders. This behaviour did not at all impress Lily or Lola. Lily, especially, began to like the four boys less and less each day.

But they no longer cared, and when the year came to an end, the Marauders were sad to leave Hogwarts. Sirius especially, wished that it could go on longer, and had to be practically dragged away from the Hogwarts Express.

He stepped out into Kings Cross Station and slowly and begrudgingly made his way towards him family, who didn’t even notice that he was silent all the way back to Grimmauld Place.

*~*~*

AN: Ah, another chapter completed. Thanks to my brother “CheeseKing” for the idea about the pumpkins. You got me out of writer’s block, and I thank you. Please review ... what did you like? What didn’t you like? I need to know what’s good AND what’s bad, so I can learn from it.

Disclaimer: The character of Sirius Black etc etc, belongs to JKR etc etc, none of it's mine, etc etc, you all know this anyway.

Chapter 5: Research and Lies

Summer. A time that is traditionally happy �“ warm weather, no school, lots of ice cream. But for Sirius Perseus Black, this was not the case. True, the weather was warm, if blindingly overwhelmingly boiling counted as warm. And yes, there was the advantage of no lessons or detentions, but Sirius would have preferred either of those to his family. And ice cream? He might as well as asked for a hug and for his mother to play Quidditch with him. It was ridiculous.

Instead he sat in his room, writing letters to anyone and everyone and doing homework. He went downstairs to eat, and that was about it. Until one day in early August, a letter from James arrived. What made it different from the many others he had got from his best friend, was the post-script at the end.

Sirius!

It’s me, James, again. Thought I would reply to your latest letters. Is it that boring at home that you send me one every day? And just how many owls do you have anyway, as Remus, Peter and Lola tell me that you are bombarding them too?

Things are ok over here, Mum is feeding me constantly, she thinks I am too thin. Still, I’m not complaining. Just be warned; when you next see me, I maybe even larger than Professor Slughorn! Dad, on the other hand, keeps quizzing me on what I’ve learnt at school and is trying to teach me about some of life’s finer things. Art, music, literature ... But Mum stopped him before had the chance to show me some of life’s finer wines, so there really isn’t much benefit.

Have you started any homework yet? I tried, but then I got distracted (i.e. Mum was baking cookies).

Well, that’s all I have time for, Dad is taking me to see another of life’s finer things. Although why fat Italian ladies singing ear splittingly high is considered “finer” I have yet to find out.

Your mate,

James

PS: Do you want to come over to my place sometime? Mum says you can stay the night if you like. You could enjoy the REAL finest thing life has to offer: My mum’s cooking! Oh boy!

It would be perfect. A win-win situation, for everybody. His family could be rid of him for a day, and he would be rid of them! He would be with James! He wrote back immediately, suggesting that Remus and Peter were invited as well. Over dinner, he proposed the idea to his parents.

“The Potter family? The Potter’s are inviting a Black?” His mother asked him.

“Well, yeah, you could put it like that,” Sirius shrugged, not seeing what the big deal was.

“I’m not sure. Seems suspicious to me,” she said. Regulus sniggered and Mr Black grunted in agreement.

“But why?” Sirius moaned.

“It just is! Although it would mean that I could be rid of you for a day. I could drop Regulus with his cousins, and have the day doing something I want for a change!” she reasoned. Sirius tried to cross his fingers in hope, while holding his knife and fork, which was proving difficult. There was no way of telling what his mother was thinking, which answer she was leaning towards. “I suppose, it may be possible,” she sighed, and Sirius tried to conceal his grin. He didn’t want his mother to think she was making him too happy, or she might change her mind.

“Thank you, Mother,” was all he said instead, but in his mind he was cart wheeling around the room. He would be seeing James, far sooner than he could have hoped for.

*~*~*

The day came by very slowly. But as soon as Sirius got to the Potters’, it seemed to speed up. He arrived two hours early, but no one seemed to mind. James answered the door, and let him in, slightly bemused.

“Um, not that I mind, but you do have clocks at your home, right?” James asked.

“Yes, Hogwarts has clocks,” Sirius told him. James looked confused for a moment before comprehension dawned on him.

“Oh, right, Hogwarts is your home, I get it. But I meant where your family is? You know, what’s it called? Grimmy Square or something.”

“Grimmauld Place. And yes, we have clocks, but Mother dropped me off early, so she could spend as much time as possible alone,” Sirius shrugged, taking off his coat, and handing it to James, “are the others coming?”

“Just Peter. Remus said he’s ill, and he’s very sorry. Come on, Mum’s dying to meet you,” James lead the way to the kitchen.

James’s mother was the opposite of Sirius’s. She was plump, and friendly, and seemed to love James in a way Sirius’s own mother had never done. She took to Sirius immediately, and began trying to feed him, proclaiming him far too thin for his age. Sirius wondered what would have happened if she had seen Remus.

Peter arrived on time, and soon he was being introduced to Mrs Potter as well. Peter, however, was apparently not too thin for his age, Mrs Potter subtly didn’t give him quite as much to eat as Sirius.

Mr Potter arrived home from work, and began talking to the three boys about a Muggle painter named Van Gough. The artist, apparently, produced life’s ‘finer art’, but the boys soon grew bored. They snuck out of the living room and upstairs while his back was turned, but when they saw him next, he didn’t mention it, nor was he deterred. Sirius imagined that he had simply laughed when he realised the boys were gone.

The day went by, and soon the three boys were upstairs in James’s large bedroom, talking past midnight. The main topic of discussion was Remus, and his supposed illness. The boys were growing suspicious �“ their friend often missed a lot of school too, because of “illness”.

“I mean, is anyone ever ill, that often?” Peter asked.

“Unless it runs in he family. He goes to see his Mum a lot during school, doesn’t he?” James pointed out.

“Well, that’s what he tells us,” Sirius muttered.

“What do you mean?” James inquired, looking confused.

Sirius lowered his voice, “Well, come on. Surely Dumbledore would have noticed how often he misses school. It’s gotta be like, once a month.”

“So, you think he’s lying to us? Why would he do that?” Peter asked. “He’s our friend.”

“Well, maybe he’s embarrassed,” James suggested. “Once a month, right? What kind of things can happen monthly?”

“My mum gets really moody about once a month,” Peter said. James started coughing and Sirius quickly cut in.

“I don’t think that has anything to do with it. Some clubs meet monthly.”

“You think he’s in some kind of evil cult or something?” James asked, surprised.

“Wait, I never mentioned evil!” Sirius quickly said, holding his hands up.

“Why else wouldn’t he tell us?” Peter reasoned. “It must be evil!”

“You’re probably right,” James nodded, “Remus is evil, who would have thought?”

“Hey, let’s not jump to conclusions!” Sirius said, “There could be another reason.”

“Well, lets ask him,” James suggested, “and make him tell the truth.”

*~*~*

All four boys met on the Hogwarts Express in the end compartment, as they had already planned. James stuck some parchment on the door, with a dire warning to anyone who dared enter (except the woman with the food trolley). After a couple of minutes of small talk, Peter blurted out, “Remus, are you in an evil organisation?”

“What?” Remus blinked, “Evil? Me? What are you talking about?”

“Well, you go away every month! It was suspicious, and the only reason we could think of as to why you wouldn’t tell the truth, is that you’re part of an evil cult or something, that meets monthly,” James explained, frowning at Peter and his bluntness.

Remus paled, “W-Well, I ... I do t-tell the truth. I ... I get ill a lot and s-so does my m-mum,” he stuttered, “I’m telling the truth!”

The other three Marauders exchanged glances, “Do you swear?” asked Sirius, and Remus nodded.

“Marauders oath?” James pressed on, and Remus gulped, and nodded again. There was silence.

“Well,” Sirius said, coughing slightly, “that’s that then. Who wants to play exploding snap?”

Despite what Remus had told him, the other three still weren’t entirely convinced. One night, when Remus was “ill”, they sat in the dormitory, discussing their friend again, the light of the full moon giving them eerie looks on their faces, as if they were ghosts.

“I just don’t know,” James was saying, “it’s so unlikely that he’s ill every month, or whatever his current excuse is,”

“We should keep a record of when he’s away. See if there’s a common factor or something.”

“Good plan,” Peter nodded. And thus, the ‘Remus diary’ began.

*~*~*

It was soon realised that Remus did indeed disappear once a month �“ almost to the day. His three friends hit the library, much to Madam Pince’s amazement. She was wary of the new regulars, and watched them closely. She was soon given the flattering nickname “Pincer”. After a few days of this heavy research, Sirius found something very interesting.

“Werewolves!” He exclaimed, loudly. Madam Pince gave him a warning look, and he apologised, leaning in closer to James and Peter, “What if he’s a werewolf? They change once a month, don’t they? And it would explain why he doesn’t tell us the truth.”

“It’s so obvious,” James whispered, “why didn’t we think of it before?”

“Well, has either of you even seen a book about werewolves in here? Because I haven’t. This one only mentions them in passing.”

“So, we should see if someone’s checked out the books on werewolves,” Peter suggested, “but how?”

James lowered his voice even more, so the other two had to strain their ears to hear him, “You distract Pincer, I’ll go through her files,” He stood up, and said, unnecessarily loudly, “Ok guys, I’ll go get another book on, um, starfish.”

“Star �“ oh, right,” Sirius got up and pulled a book off the shelf. It looked boring, but then it was about Arithmancy so Sirius wasn’t surprised. He pulled out his wand and set the book on fire.

Madam Pince exploded. She grabbed him and Peter by the neck and dragged them to Dumbledore’s office shrieking all the way. Sirius found it immensely funny, and relished in the odd looks being sent their way. He grinned and waved as he was bodily dragged to the statue guarding the headmaster’s office. A lot later that day, he and Peter returned to the Common Room, where James was waiting by the fire.

He looked over at them, and grinned, “All you had to do,” he began, “was spill some pumpkin juice on the book or something. Not set one on fire!”

Sirius grinned back, “Well, if you’re going to cause a scene, you might as well make the most out of it. I’ll never forget the look on Pincer’s face. It was priceless. But that’s not the point. Did you find anything, uh, interesting?”

James nodded, and indicated for them to sit down, “Every book on lycanthropy or suchlike, was checked out by Remus Lupin. And they have been consistently since we got here.”

“This year?” Peter asked.

“No, since we got to Hogwarts in our first year,” James said, and Peter looked incredulous.

“Somebody didn’t want anyone to get even a slight clue about where he really goes every month,” Sirius stated, and James nodded. Sirius thought some more, and said, “he probably just keeps them in his trunk and renews them when he’s had them too long.”

“Why wouldn’t he tell us?” Peter sounded betrayed, “We’re his friends,”

“He probably thought we’d hate him or something,” James shrugged, and Sirius agreed. He felt terrible. He could only imagine what his friend went through once a month. It didn’t bear thinking about.

“We should help,” he decided.

“How?” James asked, “There’s no cure, and even if there was we couldn’t look it up. He has all the books.”

The three boys sat, glumly trying to think of ways to help their friend, but their minds just wouldn’t give them a solution.

*~*~*

It wasn’t all research in the libraries, and boring lessons, although this did happen often. There was something much more exciting going on �“ Quidditch! The tryouts for the Gryffindor team were about a month after school began. James, Sirius and Lola all went together. James and Lola tried for Chaser, and Sirius was a Beater. These were the only places available, and it was a hard competition.

They were tried in alphabetical order, which meant Lola was first. She hopped on her broom, and tried passing to the different players already in the air. She hadn’t got the best aim, but was confident and managed to catch most of the throws. Then she tried to score, and got three of the five throws through a hoop. She landed, stumbled a little when she dismounted, but was smiling.

Immediately after was Sirius. He picked up the bat, and felt the weight of it in his hands. It was heavy, and he swung it, just to test it out. A fifth year had to duck out of the way, but Sirius was oblivious. He mounted his broom and took off. Once he was in the air, he smiled but didn’t have long to enjoy the sensation. There was a bludger speeding towards him. For a moment he blinked, his mind was blank. Then he lifted the bat and swung it, and the ball went ricocheting off towards the other beater, Frank Longbottom. Sirius flew after the other bludger which was heading towards the seeker, a fifth year called Toby Johnson. He caught up with the ball, and hit it towards a target, floating around in the air. He was pleased with himself, and the rest of his go went well. He almost got knocked out by his own bat, a bludger and a team mate, but overall, he didn’t do that badly.

After a few others tried out, it was James’s turn. Sirius was speechless, as he watched his friend zooming around the pitch. Lola came up to him, and smiled, “You’ve both got in,” she said.

“Let’s hope so,” he replied, still watching James score five times in a row in quick succession.

“I know so,” Lola told him, and he looked at her, “I just do, ok? Don’t ask how.”

Sirius nodded, understanding, “What about you?”

She shrugged, “I’ll try again next year,”

“You might get a place!” Sirius protested, but she shook her head.

“No, James and that fifth year over there will,” she pointed to a girl who had previously tried for Chaser. She had been quite good, and Sirius wasn’t all that surprised.

“Ok, as long as you’re not too upset about it,” he said, and she shook her head. She was right too, of course. James and the girl, Stephanie, were the Chasers, and Sirius was Beater. He was pleased with himself. He had his own broom, which his Uncle Alphard had given him for his birthday a few years ago, and he flew it a lot at home �“ it was a good way of escaping his family.

The team practised often, and they won their first match, which was against Slytherin. James had been the star, scoring ten out of the fifteen goals. The Gryffindor team were most definitely on form.

*~*~*

Meanwhile, no one knew whether to confront Remus outright about being a werewolf, so they decided to let it lie. James thought they should go for it, and tell him that they knew. Sirius thought they should work out a way to help first. Peter was in the middle, and could see both sides. They were discussing this issue again one full moon, as they sat around the fire in the Common Room. The Marauders were always guaranteed these most sought after armchairs, since they had claimed them a month or so before. No one seemed to mind, it was just natural now for the four in a semi circle around the fireplace to be left vacated.

“Look,” Sirius sighed, for what felt like the thousandth time, “all I’m saying, is that we should find a way to help him. If it can’t be cured, there must be a way we can be around him without getting eaten. There has to be a loophole, there always is.”

“And what I’m saying,” James began, annoyed, “Is that he should know that we know. What if he just needs someone to talk to?”

“A Marauder always helps another Marauder in need!” Sirius cried, passionately, “That’s what we need to do, help him, not say ‘yeah, we know you suffer every month, but there’s nothing we can do, sorry mate.’”

Peter was sitting in his chair, watching the two of them argue. He agreed with them both, but knew better than to say so.

James slumped back in his armchair, running a hand through his hair, without even thinking about it, “There’s no getting around the fact that Remus is a werewolf. We need to �“”

“What did you just say?” came a shocked voice. Standing behind James’s seat, was Lola, her mouth open.

James faltered, and Sirius quickly tried to save the situation, “Yeah, Remus is a real wolf when he gets mad. Or hungry. Or horny.”

“What?” Lola looked confused.

“Ok, not that last one, he’s thirteen years old, obviously, ha ha, silly me, bye then, Lola, thanks for stopping by!” Sirius said, in a rush. Lola ignored him.

“Remus is a werewolf?” She asked, looking shocked.

“Seriously?” Lily came up to the four of them, “Remus? A werewolf?”

“You’re kidding!” a girl in their year, Tara, came up to them as well. She was friends with Lola and Lily, but the Marauders didn’t know her too well. She was blonde, and pretty. Not very clever, but she seemed nice enough.

“Oh sweet Merlin,” James muttered, under his breath.

“That explains a lot,” Lily nodded, thinking, “about where he goes every month. Did you tell him that you know?”

Sirius sighed. There was no way he could convince the girls they had got it wrong, now. “That’s a topic of discussion,” he sighed again.

“You should tell him,” Lola said immediately, “it’s stupid not to.”

Sirius looked put out, “Ok, we’ll tell him tomorrow.”

*~*~*

They found him at breakfast the next day, eating a boiled egg.

“Did you get back from the Hospital Wing ok?” asked James, as they sat around him. Remus nodded.

“So, where do you really go when you change?” asked Sirius, oh-so-casual.

“Shrieking shack. Wait, what?” Remus looked up suddenly, his eyes sharp.

“Come on, man. We know,” James told him, and Peter nodded.

“But ... how did you ... when ...” Remus shook his head, as if trying to clear it of all thoughts, “how did you find out?”

“It has something to do with us not being stupid,” Sirius told him, but not unkindly.

“Oh,” was all Remus could reply, quietly, “who else knows?”

James shrugged, “Just us. Not another soul. Please, like we’d go blabbing to just anyone about you? No way, we Marauders can keep a secret.”

“Uh, James, nothing you just said had one iota of truth,” Sirius pointed out. James looked downtrodden. Remus sighed.

“Who did you tell?” he asked, tiredly.

“We didn’t tell anyone! Lola overheard, that’s all,” Peter reassured him. Remus nodded, knowing that he could trust Lola.

“And Lily,” James added, “but that’s all!” Remus looked unsure, but he at least he knew Lily could be trusted.

“You forgot Tara,” Sirius stated matter of factly.

“TARA??” Remus cried, “Tara knows? We don’t even know her!” the other three Marauders looked guiltily at their empty plates. Remus sighed, “Ok, fine. I can deal.”

The rest of their third year mainly involved his friends researching hard about werewolves, trying desperately to find a way in which they could help Remus. It wasn’t looking too bright. Although, Sirius and James had Quidditch practise often, so they weren’t always available to help. This paid off though, when Gryffindor won a stunning victory against Slytherin, and the party in the Common Room lasted all night.

Eventually, however, it was time to leave Hogwarts, and they all swore to keep studying at home. On the train back to London, Sirius wondered if he could chain himself to the Hogwarts express, and refuse to move. It was a good plan, he thought. He could just conjure food when he got hungry, and he wouldn’t ever have to see his family. But as the train slowed, he reluctantly followed the swarm of students, out of Platform 9 ¾, to his family, who were looking menacingly at passers by, and standing as far away from anyone as possible. He began to walk towards them, mentally preparing himself for another summer.

*~*~*

AN: Hey there, thanks for reading. I’m sorry there wasn’t much detail on the Quidditch stuff, I can’t write about sport, as I hate it all so much. While Quidditch far better than any other sports I know, I still don’t enjoy writing about it. Oh yes, and just a word to say that I have planned everything out, and this will have approximately 20 chapters. Also, I have to warn you that because they are young and innocent at this point, so is the story. But it will get darker, and a lot less innocent, so just be warned.

Disclaimer: The world or characters JK created are not mine, since I just said she created them.



Chapter 6: Not a Lot to Say



It was during the summer holiday, that Sirius found a solution to Remus’s ‘furry little problem’, as James had christened his lycanthropy. He was doing his Transfiguration homework, an essay about animagi. An idea hit him so hard he nearly fell off his seat. He grabbed his quill and wrote to James, explaining it at length. Then, he frantically began searching through his books, researching the ability to transform into an animal. The reply from James was written messily as though he had been in a hurry. The words ‘Bloody genius’ and suchlike, were mentioned a lot.



He wasn’t the only excited one. The whole Black family had something to be pleased about. Andromeda had married a man called Ted Tonks, and was ecstatic that she was soon going to be starting her own family, and was rid of her old one. She didn’t even mind when Sirius reported that she had been wiped off the tapestry. So most were glad that they were rid of a blood traitor, and his mother especially, delighted in looking over at him, and muttering things under her breath like, “One down ...” Regulus was finally going to join his brother at Hogwarts, and was determined to be in Slytherin, salvaging the family’s reputation since the ‘Gryffindor Incident’. Therefore, Mrs Black couldn’t wait to get her social life back on track, and Mr Black was happily anticipating his wife being in a better mood. Not that much of the family were nice to Sirius, in all this excitement. But he hadn’t expected them to be.



Still, he spent the rest of the holiday as he always did, writing to his friends, flying on his broom (low to the ground, to avoid being spotted), and doing homework. But now, he added extra research into the picture, which is something he never imagined he would do.



By the time they reached the King’s Cross, on September first, Sirius was getting very annoyed with his brother, who was asking him endless questions, and making snide remarks to cover up the fact that he was slightly in awe of his older brother, the way eleven year olds are.



“So ... How many people are there?” he asked, almost running to keep up with Sirius’s fast pace.



“A lot. You’d be surprised,” Sirius sighed.



“Yeah, and how many are your friends?” he laughed, checking to make sure his parents heard him. Sirius ignored his giggles, until Regulus calmed and asked, “How big is it?”



“Big,” was all Sirius could be bothered to reply.



“And how do you get sorted?” Regulus asked breathlessly.



“If I tell you, will you quit bugging me, and leave me alone?” Sirius asked, gritting his teeth.



“Yes!” Regulus nodded excitedly, then quickly added, “I mean �“ fine, it’s boring talking to you, anyway.”



Sirius sighed again, and said in a bored voice, “You have to fight a dragon while wearing a green wig and an orange tutu, ok? Now shut the hell up!”



Regulus looked put out, but stayed silent. After a minute of this, however, he couldn’t contain himself and blurted out, “But I don’t have an orange tutu!” Sirius ignored him, glad to finally see platforms nine and ten. He slid nonchalantly through the barrier. He was soon joined by his brother, who had taken it at a run. “Wow!” he cried, “How did I do that? That was amazing!”



Sirius left him behind, in search of his friends. They were waiting for him in the end compartment, as always. Before any of them knew it, the train had left, and James was teaching them poker, a game his dad had shown him over the summer, intent on teaching his only son more of ‘life’s finer things.’



“Mum went mad when she found out,” he told them as he shuffled cards. “She said that as my father he shouldn’t be encouraging me to gamble at such a young age. So then he spent a week taking me to operas and orchestras to make up for it. My ears are still ringing.”



“Has he let you taste champagne yet?” Peter asked, watching James’s every move.



“No, Mum’s still drawing a very strong line there,” he replied, sadly.



“Well, you are a little young,” Remus pointed out. His friends stared at him.



“Remus, I fear you are inhuman,” Sirius told him, and he shrugged. They were about to start, when there was a knock on the compartment door. Lola, Lily and Tara entered.



“Hey guys, everywhere else is full. Mind if we stay with you?” Lola asked.



“Sure!” Sirius said, a little quickly. He had been writing to her all summer, but it was nice to be able to see her again, to hear her voice. He had missed her.



“Hey Lily!” James smiled. “How have you been?”



“Fine,” she told him, curtly. There was an awkward silence. Tara noticed the cards.



“Playing that Muggle game?” she asked. “Snap or something?”



“Poker,” Peter corrected her. She nodded, smiling.



“I can play poker!” Lola exclaimed, grinning. “Deal some cards my way!” she told James, who obliged.



“Lily?” He asked. She nodded, and took the cards he passed her. “What about you, Tara?”



“I’ll just watch,” she chirped, still smiling, happily.



It was a good game. Lola played well, but Lily shone through. Even James looked uncomfortable as the game progressed, and he had been confident that he would win. Hours passed with no one noticing, and then it was over. Luckily, they hadn’t been betting real money, or everyone would have owed Lily a hefty sum. She looked pleased with herself, and seemed to be having fun. They settled down to talk about their summers, and soon had arrived at Hogwarts. Sirius smiled.



*~*~*



“I can’t believe Lily won that poker game,” James said later, as the Marauders sat on their beds late that night. “She’s so amazing.”



“You still like her?” Remus asked. He was reading a book and talking to his friends at the same time, a talent that no one else could compete with.



James sighed, dreamily, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”



“Does hatred make the heart grow fonder too?” asked Sirius grinning. James threw a pillow at him, and he laughed.



“Lily doesn’t hate me,” James told him, stubbornly. Sirius rolled his eyes at Peter, who giggled, unbeknownst to James.



“Do you still like Lola, Sirius?” asked Remus, still reading the ridiculously thick book. Despite all they had seen at Hogwarts, the Marauders still marvelled at Remus’s ability to read and hold a perfectly normal conversation at the same time.



Sirius gulped. He liked Lola, a lot, but remembered how she had rejected him in their second year, and the number of times she had referred to him as being ‘like a brother’ in her letters over the summer. He could take a hint. It was time to move on, he thought. So instead of saying what he knew deep down was the truth, he said, “No. She’s nice, but you were right, Remus. Her being a seer could make things difficult. No, tomorrow, I plan on seeking someone new. That Tara girl’s ok. She’s pretty, a Gryffindor, sense of humour, not the brightest, but she makes up for it by being so damn nice!”



“Tara. Not a bad choice,” Peter nodded, trying to sound knowing.



“What about you, Petey? Got your eye on any girls?” Sirius asked, deliberately patronisingly, and winking.



“No! Girls are too soft. And they think I’m weird,” Peter mumbled. Sirius, James and Remus laughed.



The next day, Sirius swanned up to Tara, smiling his bright white teeth. “So, Tara, how are you this fine morning?”



She looked at him, an eyebrow raised. “Fine,” she said, cautiously. Sirius was still grinning. He looked over at Lola, and saw her watching him. He hated the way that she made him feel. She didn’t want to go out with him, he was sure of it. So why did he feel this way? She was still watching him. He tore his eyes away, back to Tara, and blurted out, “Do you want to go to the next Hogsmeade weekend?”



“Sure, I always go to Hogsmeade weekends,” Tara told him, laughing. But Sirius didn’t think she was mocking him.



“I mean, with me?” he asked. She stopped laughing. Her eyebrows furrowed. She was silent for a moment, and then she smiled.



“Sure!” She walked away, and sat down by Lola and Lily. They began talking quietly together. Sirius watched them. Lola looked up at him suddenly, and her eyes looked hurt. Sirius felt rotten, and turned away, in search of his fellow Marauders. But he could still feel her stare burning into his back.



*~*~*



Lily cornered Sirius after the bell went for lunch. “I want a word,” was all she said, as she dragged him into an empty classroom. James looked shocked at this, but Sirius just shrugged, and winked at him, which he knew would drive his friend crazy. He concealed a smile.



“What do you want?” he asked, and Lily frowned. She stepped closer.



In a low voice, she murmured, “I can’t stop Tara going out with you, but I just wanted you to know: You really hurt Lola today. You know she likes you.”



“No, she doesn’t,” Sirius assured her. “She refers to me as being like a brother. People don’t date their brothers,” he stated, with the air of a proud toddler who had just learnt to count up to ten. Lily was not impressed.



She rolled her eyes, “Haven’t you ever heard of denial? I just wanted to tell you, if you hurt either of them, you’ll find yourself with a rather nasty case of being on fire.”



Sirius gulped. She nodded, and brushed past him. He stood, thinking for a moment, then followed her out. He was absolutely certain she wasn’t bluffing. In the Great Hall, he sat between James and Tara. He felt uncomfortable. James was trying not to watch him, but failing, and grinding his teeth (but no one else noticed this), Tara was looking over at him and smiling, Lola was staring at him openly, and Lily was looking at him, in a way that made him feel she was almost daring him to mess up. Eventually, he got up and left.



Tara followed, “Sirius! Sirius!” he closed his eyes, and carried on. She grabbed the back of his robes, and he turned. “Sirius, didn’t you hear me?” she laughed, good naturedly.



“I heard,” was all he said. Her smile flickered.



“What do you mean?” she asked. Her blue eyes looked scared, and confused.



He sighed, and turned away, “Just ... just leave it, Tara.”



As he walked away, he heard her cry, “Sirius!” and he was sure she was about to cry. Once he had turned a corner, and was sure he was out of sight, he ran.



*~*~*



He was sitting on a window ledge in the Astronomy tower, staring at the stars. He had been named after stars �“ Sirius was one of the brightest that could be seen from Earth, and Perseus was a constellation. He had no idea which ones they were, but sometimes, like then, he would pick one, and imagine it was his. He loved the stars �“ whenever he had been bullied by his family, he liked to lose himself in them. In London, of course, he couldn’t see many, but here the sky was full. It was breathtaking. He heard someone come in behind him.



“Sirius,” the person said, softly. He could tell it was Lola. She came up to him, and stood beside him, until he turned his face towards her. As soon as his grey eyes met her dark ones, she slapped him. He was completely shocked. “I don’t believe you! What were you thinking?” she spat at him.



“I �“ what? When?” he stuttered, lost.



“When you asked out my friend, crushing my spirit, and then ripped her own heart out hours afterwards!” she screamed. There were pink spots on her cheeks, and he couldn’t remember her looking like this before.



“What are you talking about?” he asked, bewildered. “How could I crush your spirit? You were the one who rejected me in second year!”



“I said to give it a couple of years! Because I knew that if we went out then, it wouldn’t work out! I knew we had to wait!”



“How? How did you know?”



“I don’t know!” she screeched. “The same way I know most things, I suppose! The reason that I’m top of our Divination class! Because I just, know!”



“Wait,” he held up his hand, “you mean that you really do like me?”



“Of course I do!” she yelled at him. Her voice caught, and she closed her eyes. When she opened them, she spoke more softly, and said, “But I don’t know why. You really hurt Tara, you know.”



“I didn’t mean to,” was all he said. He could feel his world crumbling.



“You know what? Screw you. I was stupid. We could never work. I don’t know why I bothered. I guess you being an asshole turned out to be a premonition that I missed. Just go.” But as he began to leave, she put her arm across the doorway, blocking his exit. “However, for some reason, I think Tara really likes you. So I want you to apologise.”



He nodded, and she let him leave. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he heard a choking sob, as if she was trying not to cry, but it had come anyway. More than anything he wanted to run back upstairs, and hold on to her, but instead he walked back to the dorm, in a daze.



*~*~*



After that, he and Tara went back out, and he mentioned neither his meeting with Lily or Lola. He wasn’t on speaking terms with either of them, which caused a lot of awkwardness.



Still, he distracted himself by keeping busy. He practised hard at Quidditch, taunted Snape with the rest of the Marauders, and researched animagi. Not that they were getting very far. As much as they tried to find out the key to turning into an animal, they just couldn’t.



“We need to get into the restricted section,” James thought aloud, after they were once again thrown out of the Library for ‘suspicious behaviour’, meaning they were there for over an hour and had been sitting quietly while reading the dusty old books.



Sirius rolled his eyes, “Sure James, you do that, and me and these two will stand and watch as you get detention for the rest of your life. Pincer just doesn’t trust us, even if we did manage to get a note from a Professor. Which in itself is a technical impossibility.”



“No, I think there’s another way!” James protested, “Follow me!”



Sirius, Remus and Peter looked at each other dubiously. Sirius shrugged and began to follow James, who was practically running to the Common Room. The four of them ascended the staircase until they came to the fourth year boys dormitory. James dived to his trunk he pulled something out, and in a flash of material �“ he was gone. Peter screamed in a manner that should really have earned him a weeks worth of taunting, at the very least. But Sirius barely heard him.



“James? Where did you go? You idiot, what on Earth did you do?” he yelled.



Remus, however, didn’t seem scared. He raised an eyebrow, and smiled knowingly. “Well, well, where did you get that then?” he asked.



“What? What has he got, Remus?” Sirius asked, his voice bordering on hysterical. His best friend, after all, had just vanished into thin air.



“He’s got himself an invisibility cloak. You kept that quiet, didn’t you?”



James’s head appeared. It was grinning. Peter screamed again.



“One has to wait for the opportune moment,” James said. “My Dad has one already, but he was given this as a present. Since he didn’t need it, he gave it to me on the last day of the summer holidays.” Sirius was a lot calmer, now that he knew what was going on.



“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” he demanded.



“Never mind that. Just get under here with me, and we’ll go to the Library.”



They went, and although it was awkward with the four of them, they still managed to get there in the end. They began to look across the shelves, searching for anything that could help them.



“Remember,” Remus whispered, “don’t open any books until we get back to the Dorm. Who knows what could happen? Just shove them up your robes or something, ok?”



“Stop nagging, we know. It’s not like you haven’t old us ten thousand times,” Sirius muttered, taking a book of the shelf and concealing it away.



“Come on,” James said, turning to leave, “we don’t want too many to go missing. Pincer probably does an inspection every morning to check that everything’s still in perfect order.”



So, as quietly as four teenage boys can be, they sneaked back to their dorm. Once they were there, they spread the stolen books on the floor, and stared down at them, in awe. James, reached down to open one, but Remus stopped him, and pointed his wand at the book.



“Silencio! You can never be too sure,” he muttered.



“Good thinking,” Peter squeaked. The four boys settled down, cross legged on the floor, and began to read.



*~*~*



And that is how the rest of the year passed by. Nothing particularly spectacular happened. The Marauders researched animagi and, of course, caused mayhem when they weren’t. Sirius and James practised Quidditch like their whole being depended on it, and Sirius went on most Hogsmead weekends with Tara, both quite content. She was, really, a lovely girl, and he enjoyed spending time with her. And any time a certain brunette floated to his mind, he pushed the image away. He was happy enough, for now.



During the last week, James made a discovery. He found how to become an Animagus in a dusty old book they had “borrowed” from the restricted section. First was a spell you performed on yourself, then you had to meditate for exactly a minute, and then down a potion. It was all very difficult looking, but the Marauders were not deterred, and swore to research the spell and potion more accurately over the summer.



And suddenly, without any kind of warning, they were going home. James was talking about the Quidditch final, and how he had scored almost all of the goals, the Ravenclaw Keeper completely oblivious as to how he could get past him every time. He was ignored by everyone but an adoring Peter, as Remus was reading avidly, and Sirius was staring out of the window, unusually quiet. His friends had no idea just how much he dreaded this journey each year, and he didn’t think they ever would. He contemplated going home to live with James, but decided against it. He wouldn’t �“ couldn’t �“ intrude upon his friend’s family. No, he would just hold his head up high and bear it. He was a Gryffindor. He was a Marauder. And, as much as he resented it, he was a Black.



*~*~*



AN: Ok, I know it seems really harsh Sirius going out with Tara when he likes Lola, but I think it has been established before now, that Sirius is in no way perfect. And I think my ages with Andromeda etc are all contradicting themselves at the moment, but really, this isn’t a novel that has to be 100% accurate. Just enjoy the story. Please review!

Disclaimer: JKR own everything you recognise, etc etc, I am nothing, so on and so forth, why don't we just get on with the chapter, hmm?



Chapter 7: Changes



The summer was over, and the Marauders were on the train. The girls had not joined them this year, but Sirius hadn’t expected them to. Lola hadn’t written to him all summer, and he had a burning desire to see her, but he knew there was no point. Her letters had been replaced with Tara’s, although they did not really replace them at all. He couldn’t help recalling that in previous years, he would know everything about her summer, and yet still long to see her. With Tara, he knew much less about what she had got up to, yet he was in no hurry to find her, or even see her from a distance. He had also been noticing all summer that as soon as he sat down to write a letter to Tara, he was immediately stuck, and the blank parchment mocked him. But he was sure that with Lola, he hadn’t even needed to think about it �“ the words simply came. And it wasn’t like he had trouble with his other friends’ letters. It’s different, he told himself, because we’re together. That’s all. It must just be easier to write to friends. That’s all it is.



James was talking animatedly, but it seemed only Peter was really listening. Sirius was a little bored. As much as he liked his best friend, he was sure that his head had inflated a little over the past couple of months.



“This is going to be my year, I just know it,” he was saying, “the Marauders are back �“ last year we let things get on top of us, and our reputation started slipping. We’ve spent too long in the Library. Now we know what we have to do, nothing can hold us back.”



“Uh, James,” Peter said, uncertainly, “DO we know what we have to do?” James stared at him. He opened his mouth. He closed it again.



Sirius sighed, it was time for him to take over, “Ok, we did all try and find out what that spell and potion are didn’t we?”



“Well, I tried,” Remus said, “but I didn’t get very far.”



“And it’s not like I could get far either,” Peter stated, “my parents are Muggles, after all.”



Sirius nodded, “Well, luckily, I found the spell. All we need is the potion now.” All heads turned to look at James.



“What?” he demanded.



“Do you have the potion instructions?” Remus asked. James grinned.



“Of course I do, I’m not completely hopeless!” He opened his trunk and dug out a piece of ragged looking parchment. “All I had to do was ask Dad, and he told me. I don’t think he even asked why I needed it.”



The four left the train a few hours later and got into one of the horseless carriages. Just as it was about to set off, someone else jumped in too. It was a small second year boy, who Sirius had a feeling was in Hufflepuff. He had gold ringlets framing his face, that swished and bounced around distractingly whenever he made the slightest movement.



“Hi guys!” the boy grinned, in an unnaturally high pitched voice, “You’re the Marauders aren’t you?”



The four stared at him in disbelief. He was in their carriage. Their carriage. No one got into the Marauders carriage, much less someone they didn’t even know. Remus recovered quickest, “Who are you?”



“My names Gilderoy Lockhart, and I’m your fan! Can I have your autographs? Will you sign my T-shirt?” Lockhart pulled out a shirt that had been customized with ‘I love the Marauders’ written on it. He held out an over the top looking quill, that made annoying tinkling sounds when it moved, and Sirius could only imagine how infuriating it would be during class.



James and Sirius looked at each other, and the corners of their mouths twitched. Together, they picked the boy up, Peter opened the doors, and Lockhart was dropped out. Before Remus had a chance to close the doors again, they heard the ridiculously high pitched voice call, “Talk to you later, then, guys!”



All four boys burst out laughing, and didn’t stop until they reached Hogwarts. Sirius was truly glad he was back with his friends, and forgot about everything that had been worrying him. He was fifteen, and decided there and then that he would no longer be troubled by his feelings towards Tara or Lola.



*~*~*



“Hey Sirius, wake up,” came James’s voice. Sirius was awake anyway, but pretended he wasn’t. “Sirius, I have something to show you. You’ll love it.”



He sat up. “What is it, mate?” he asked, slightly exasperated.



James handed him a mirror. Sirius looked at it, then at James, then back down again. After a minute, he said, “Okay, I’ve tried to think of a way that this could be something worth getting up for, but I really, really can’t.”



“Say my name,” James told him. Sirius merely raised an eyebrow.



“I’m beginning to wonder just what happened to you over the summer, because whatever you did to yourself, it’s made you a little abnormal.”



“Trust me, just say my name.”



Sirius rolled his eyes, and said in the most ironic I-can’t-believe-I’m-actually-going-to-do-this voice he could muster, “James Potter,” and then he yelled in alarm. The mirror showed James’s own grinning face was looking up at him. “What happened?” he cried, and heard it being said across the room, too.



“They’re charmed,” both the James’s told him. The real James turned his mirror upside down, and Sirius’s own face was reflected once again, “It’ll be great for detentions,” James grinned.



“You’re telling me! Where did you get those?”



“It was a present, since I was fifteen in July,” James told him, and Sirius nodded. He often forgot that James was the second youngest of them �“ Peter’s birthday was in August, Remus was in May and Sirius’s own was in December, making him the oldest. Not that it mattered to them.



“You know what else this will be good for? Pranks. We can communicate easier if we have to split up.” Sirius lay back and stared at his canopy. “This year really is going to be ours, you were right. Starting from now, we make new rules. We walk in a block, two in front and two behind. If people get in our way, we curse them. Soon, people will learn to move out of our way instinctively.”



“Look out, Hogwarts, we’re coming to get you,” James grinned, manically.



*~*~*



They were running, each of them going over what had just happened in their minds. Sirius grinned in spite of their predicament. It had been so much fun. They had made it rain over the Slytherin table during Lunch. Real, torrential rain, making the boys swear and the girls scream. Everyone else had been completely dry, but Professor Slughorn had seen the four of them pointing their wands at the Slytherins, and had stood up, pointing his finger at them. Before he had a chance to say anything, they had sprinted out of the Great Hall. They were still running, as they followed James, who was the most athletic and the fastest runner. But suddenly, someone grabbed the back of his robes.



“In here!” hissed a voice, and he was pulled inside an empty classroom. No one came in after him, and he had no idea who had pulled him in. Whoever it was lit the end of their wand. He saw that it was a girl who he had seen sitting at the Ravenclaw table, before. She had dark hair that was almost black, and olive skin with a prominent jaw. She was no Veela, but she was certainly not ugly. She extended her hand, “Hi. I’m LaLa, and I’ll be your rescuer today.”



LaLa. It was a strange name, a mix of Lola and Tara, and he wondered if her personality was too. “I’m Sirius,” he said, and she smiled as though she had her own private joke.



“Yes, I know, I’ve seen you before. May I ask who you were running from?”



Sirius shrugged, “We didn’t take the time to check. But someone must have been following us. No way would they let something like that slide.”



She laughed, “What did you do? Was it that bad?”



“I’m sure you’ll find out soon. It’ll be all round your common room by the end of the day, mark my words,” Sirius grinned.



She nodded, and smiled, “That bad? Well, I’m sure you’ll be ok to get back to Gryffindor now. I guess I’ll see you around.”



He nodded, and left her behind. He felt strange. She seemed like a good person, but there was something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Still, he hadn’t the time to think too deeply now. He had to get back to Gryffindor Tower without being spotted.



It was difficult. What he needed was a map, something to tell him where all the Professors were, so he could avoid them. Maybe he could ask Remus if it was possible when he got back to the Common Room. He just had to make sure no one drew any attention to him.



“Sirius! Hi, Sirius!” he stopped dead, and whirled around grabbing the person who had yelled by the robes. It was Lockhart, the boy who had been following them around for weeks.



“I should have known. Who else has such an abnormally high pitched voice? What do you want, why do you want it, and when will you be going away?” he asked, quickly and quietly.



Lockhart grinned, seemingly at ease with being dangled by his robes three feet in the air by an angry fifteen year old, “Great prank, Sirius!” he praised in his annoying high voice. Sirius glared at him, then had a brilliant idea.



“Lockhart. You know how I hate you, but you love me?”



“Yes?” Lockhart asked, breathlessly.



“I want you to help me get back to Gryffindor Tower without being spotted by Professors. Can you do that?”



“Absolutely, Sirius, old pal!”



Sirius gritted his teeth, and dropped him. Unabashed, Lockhart helped him back to the Common Room, checking round corners and signaling when it was clear.



“Does this mean I’m a Marauder now, since I helped you evade capture?”



“Not even the slightest bit,” Sirius turned and left Lockhart standing there, looking alone.



*~*~*



A month later, Sirius walked into the dorm to find it full of purple smoke. Which was an interesting discovery, to say the least. “What on Earth is going on?” he spluttered. He could just make out three figures, who he knew were the other three Marauders.



“It’s the potion,” came James’s voice, “it’s almost done.”



The potion needed to become an animagi had been sitting in their dorm for weeks (after they had bribed the house elves to keep quiet), and they had been adding ingredients as James �“ the one with the instructions �“ told them. They had tried it several times, as well as practising the spell needed. There had been a lot of unfortunate incidents that had required an inventive array of cover up lies, but now Sirius, James and Peter had mastered the spell, and this potion had been going perfectly for the weeks it had been brewing. Sirius had forgotten that today was the day it should be ready �“ it was a Saturday, and he and Tara had been “catching up” in an empty Charms classroom.



“We were just going to come and look for you,” Peter informed him. “We think it should be any minute now!”



“Are you all absolutely sure you know what to do?” enquired Remus, a note of worry in his voice. “Maybe this wasn’t a very good idea.”



“Don’t be ridiculous, man!” Sirius exclaimed, “We’ve come this far. Is it time, James?”



“Yes �“ look, the smoke’s clearing,” James whispered. It was hard not to �“ they had been waiting for this for so long.



“Together?” breathed Peter, and Sirius nodded.



They each took out their wands, and pointed them at themselves. Once the spell had been performed, they fell into trances now familiar to them, they had practised so hard. They sat for exactly a minute, and then each took a bottle, and scooped some potion from the cauldron.



Sirius looked at it for a moment. It was a deep, shimmering blue, and there was something beautiful, yet ever so slightly sinister about it. He closed his eyes, and downed it all in one go.



And suddenly, he could feel himself changing. He cried out as his back arched, and changed and morphed. He felt fur pushing its way out of his skin, felt his face change. He stared as his fingers withdrew into his hands, turned them into paws. The process hurt, and it took effort not to cry out again �“ but he had been expecting this. One of the books they had stole described that the first change would be painful, and after that it would be easy every time.



He was a dog. He sniffed the air, and was amazed how sensitive his smell was. He looked around, and saw Remus looking astonished. He opened his mouth and instead of words, the sound he made was a bark. He saw Remus jump and laugh. Something scuttled across his paws, and he looked down, and saw a rat. Peter or James? A shadow fell over him �“ and looking up, he saw a stag. He yelped, but quickly recovered from the shock. James. It had to be. He turned back into a boy, quite easily he was glad to say. He wasn’t entirely sure how he had managed to turn back, he had just thought it, and it happened. He collapsed onto his four poster, exhausted.



“Wow,” Peter said in awe, “that was the most amazing thing ever!”



“I was a stag! Isn’t that so weird?”



Sirius grinned, and sat up, “Well I was a dog. Which is obviously superior to the both of you.” They began bickering for a while. Remus was laughing in relief and happiness.



“When do you next change?” James asked him.



“Exactly a week.”



“It’ll be fantastic!” Peter exclaimed, almost jumping up and down. “Hey, do you know what would be great?”



“If you could snort chocolate from your nostrils?” suggested Sirius. Remus and James spluttered with laughter.



“No,” Peter said, matter-of-factly, “if we had nicknames to do with our animals.”



James grinned. “Hey, that’s a great idea! You can be called Ratty, I can be called Staggy, Sirius �“ Doggy, and Remus, Wolfy!” They laughed again, getting slightly hysterical with relief, pride and amazement.



“No, I think Peter has a good point,” Remus announced, sticking up for him. “It could be fun.”



“Well, you think of names then,” James suggested, “Or, we could all try and think up names, and pick the best ones!”



They did as he said, and eventually came up with Moony for Remus, Wormtail for Peter, Padfoot for Sirius and Prongs for James.



“So, what next? We can’t just research for about three years, then it suddenly be over,” Remus said.



“Yeah, and you enjoy the endless hours in the library, don’t you Re �“ Moony,” James laughed.



“Well, I will admit that I have become rather attached to the place.” He grinned back.



Sirius remembered a thought he had had, weeks before. A map �“ something to tell him where everyone was at any given time.



“Is it possible?” Peter asked, when Sirius explained this.



“I could find out,” Remus said, thoughtfully.



*~*~*



Remus eventually did find a way, and afterwards they spent hours designing, and creating the map, adding little characteristics as they went along �“ it insulted anyone who tried to find out what it said, for example. Finally, it was finished. They used it whenever they could, and along with the mirrors, the invisibility cloak, and now the map, their mischief got more and more complicated, daring, and original. Even the teachers begrudgingly respected them �“ everybody knew who was behind it, but they had no proof, there was never anyone at the scene. To catch a Marauder in the act became a challenge among the Professors, one that was never fulfilled. They became more infamous every day.



That was how the weeks went by �“ with pranks and transforming, OWL revision and boring lessons, Lockhart and occasionally for Sirius, a mysterious dark haired LaLa, who popped up now and then to help him out of a situation or just to say hello. Things between him and Lola were still strained, leaving Tara to have to flitter from the Marauders to her girlfriends.



“I’m getting really annoyed with it now, Sirius,” she told him one Saturday morning at breakfast, while the rest of the Marauders pretended not to listen. Sirius sighed, he wasn’t in the mood. Tara, however, continued, “I mean, why can’t you just make up with Lola? Why did you fall out in the first place? No one’s telling me anything!”



“It’s complicated,” was all he said, “I don’t want to talk about it.”



“That’s all she ever says too!”



James cut in, “We have to go in a minute, Padfoot. This game could be the difference between us winning and losing the cup.”



It was a Quidditch game that day. “I know. See you, Tara.”



“Sirius,” she said, her voice wobbling a little, “why wont you tell me?”



He looked at her for a moment. Her eyes were round, and glistening slightly. They looked upon him with such sadness that he had to turn away. “Let’s go,” he muttered, and left the Great Hall. James followed him.



“What’s up with you today?” he asked, falling in step. Sirius shrugged. He had no idea. James sighed, but said nothing more.



They played terribly. Sirius was angry with everyone, and the bludgers he hit went ricocheting off in the wrong direction. They were against Ravenclaw, who had seemed to have picked up on Sirius’s anger and were using it to their advantage. Bloody Ravenclaws, he thought, Why do they have to be so damn clever? In his frustration, he hit the next ball he saw with his bat. It was the quaffle, and was now speeding towards the wrong end of the pitch. He swore, and the referee blew her whistle sharply. Ravenclaw were given a penalty, and they scored. He could see the Gryffindor captain �“ seeker Toby Johnson in his seventh year �“ glaring at him. He scowled back.



They were losing badly at this point, 30-120. He saw James darting around on his broom agitatedly, trying desperately to get possession of the quaffle. Suddenly, from behind, he heard the familiar soaring noise that meant a bludger was heading towards him. He spun around on his broom and hit it with all his might. It hit Toby in the arm, just as he was reaching for the snitch. No one seemed to have noticed that the snitch had been sighted before now. The arm was thrown backwards, causing Toby to topple and lose his balance. He fell on the snitch, and as he fell from his broom, the snitch came down with him. With a thump he landed on the ground, pinning the tiny gold ball with his body. No one moved. For a second that felt like an age, there was silence. Then, Toby moved his arm underneath himself, and it emerged clutching the snitch. The Gryffindor supporters roared in triumph, but all Sirius wanted to do was get as far away as possible. He flew off the pitch, towards the castle, and dismounted at the oak front doors. He went inside, and walked down corridors aimlessly. There was no one around.



“Sirius!” He jumped �“ he had been sure that he was alone. He turned and saw LaLa. “You played well,” she told him, smiling knowingly.



He had to smile back, he couldn’t help it. “You’re not bitter because Ravenclaw lost?”



She shrugged, “I’ve never really got why Quidditch was so important to everyone, anyway. I mean, it’s just a game, right?”



He nodded, too tired to argue. He hadn’t even noticed how much the game had worn him out. “I have to get back. I’m sure the whole team is just dying to see me, and tell me just how much I nearly lost it for us.”



She smiled sympathetically, “See you around. And good luck.”



Sirius made his way towards Gryffindor tower. “Oakwood,” he muttered when he saw the fat lady. She swung open and he clambered in. It looked as if a half hearted party had begun, but when he appeared, everyone had stopped and turned to look at him. He looked round. The rest of the Marauders were in a corner. James looked angry with him �“ after all, he did care about Quidditch more than any of the four of them �“ Peter looked happy to see him, and Remus was smiling encouragingly. Lola, Lily and Tara were in the other corner. Tara was looking at him in annoyance, and he remembered their small argument this morning. Lily was glaring at him, but really, he was used o that. But what hurt most was that Lola was the only person not looking at him at all, but staring in the other direction. He saw that Toby had recovered from his fall, and his arm no longer looked broken, but he was looking at Sirius in such a way that it made him shiver slightly. He began to cross the room towards the Marauders, but Toby strode and blocked his way.



“Black, I want a word,” he hissed, although the whole room probably heard him.



“Funny, that. Come to congratulate me on my excellent flying this afternoon?” He asked, smirking.



“You nearly lost us that game! I’ve half a mind to look for a new beater!” Toby spat, and the room gasped collectively.



“And do you really think you’ll find one as good as me, right before the final?” He enquired, cockily. He strode around Toby, and headed towards the Marauders, leaving him there, twitching in anger.



“You’re a prat, you know that?” asked James. Sirius grinned at his best friend, who despite his best efforts, was forced to grin back.



*~*~*



The rest of the year went by in a blur. They won the final against Slytherin, which meant that all four of their egos were notched just a little higher up the scale. That night, Sirius drunkenly made a bet with James that he wouldn’t be able to get Lily to go out with him that year, and a similarly tipsy James had agreed. So, ever since then, James was asking her out, to no avail, despite Tara’s pleas to the both of them to leave her friend alone. It was midway through their OWLs that the next interesting event happened.



They had been tormenting Snape, when Lily had come over. She and James had fought, before she stalked off, leaving him in a bad mood all day. But it was another encounter that was so important to Sirius.



“Hey!” A voice had called, as he was wandering in the direction of the kitchens, with the half hearted idea that lots of pudding would cheer his friend up. He turned, to see Lola heading towards him. Lola, with her long, loosely curled hair swishing behind her as she walked. Her face looked angry, but as she came towards him, Sirius felt lifted �“ No matter what she was about to say to him, at least they would be talking.



“Lola! How delightful ...” he began, but she cut across him.



“What did you think you were playing at with Snape today? Lily’s really upset!”



“Well, yes, Snivelly called her a Mudblood. I would be upset too,” he pointed out, but Lola shook her head.



“No. That really doesn’t bother her. She’s upset because you and James think you own the place, that you can just go around hexing people and humiliating them whenever you feel like it! Well, you can’t and the sooner you realise, the better! And would you please, for the sake of everyone’s sanity, get James to stop asking out Lily? Don’t you people get the message?”



Sirius felt a flicker of annoyance �“ ok, maybe it was his fault that James was trying to ask Lily out. He did place that bet, after all. Angrily, he spat out, “Shouldn’t it be Tara telling me all this? Aren’t I beneath you?”



Lola rolled her eyes, “If Tara was here, you would just start using your charm on her until she had forgotten what she came for and was a giggling wreck. But I thought you might actually listen to me,” she told him, and turned away. As she began to walk off, she stopped, swivelled her head around, and added, “You were right on one count, though. You are beneath me.”



And with that, she was gone. Sirius was completely floored. Something in the way that those words had poured from her mouth with such venom had really hurt. “Well,” he muttered, angrily to himself, “Well, if that’s the way it is ...” He turned a corner, only to be confronted by LaLa, who smiled in her mysterious way.



“Talking to yourself?” she asked, smirking a little. Sirius looked at her. She really was quite attractive. She frowned a little, “What? What are you looking at?”



In answer, he grabbed her hand and dragged her into the nearest broom closet, kissing her all the way there.



*~*~*



AN: I am going camping for a few days, so I am sending this before I leave, and hopefully it will be accepted by the time I get back, with lots of nice reviews waiting for me!



Sirius is two timing Tara! Shock, horror, doom! Just in case you are confused as to why, it’s because he and Tara are arguing and stuff, he likes Lola really, but they had a massive argument, and LaLa appears to understand him at the moment, as well as being unknown to everybody he knows. Hey, no one ever said he was perfect! Now, tell me what you thought. Should LaLa (the character, not her namesake) be taken away and shot, or are she and Sirius the ones you think should get together and live happily ever after? Let me know!

Disclaimer: Sirius Black, and anything or anyone else you recognise belongs to JKR.

Chapter 8: Coming of Age

“You’re not going.”

“Like Hell! You can’t stop me!”

Sirius’s mother’s eyes flashed, “You just watch me,” she breathed, furiously. Anyone else would have crumbled, given in, but not Sirius.

“But she’s my cousin! And she’s your niece, and today is her daughter’s christening. Why won’t you go?” Sirius asked, his voice raising in volume.

“Because she is married to a Mudblood, that silly fool Tom Tonks, and now they have had a child �“ a Mudblood! They’re a disgrace to the entire family, I will not hear of this madness any longer,” his mother said, calmly.

“First �“ it’s Ted, not Tom. Second �“ Are you saying that her parents wont be there either?”

“That, Sirius, is precisely what I’m saying. Now get to your room.”

He did as he was told, almost in a daze. Poor Andromeda. This was the last chance he would get to see her for quite a while, not to mention his Uncle Alphard, whom he hadn’t seen in almost two years. He made up his mind. Like a man possessed he tore around his room, throwing anything he could lay his hands on into his trunk. Soon, the room was bare. He stopped and thought. He knew exactly where he wanted to go, but would it be too pushy? Should he at least owl them first? No, he thought, there’s no way I’m going to wait for a reply, I’ve only got two hours before I have to be at the church.

He went to the nearest fireplace, dragging his trunk with him. Soon, he was falling into the Potters’ Living Room, coughing, and trying to steady himself. James and his mother were there, Mr Potter evidently still at work. They seemed to be talking contentedly, while she knitted some kind of scarf, which was odd for mid-summer, until they both stopped and turned to stare at him.

“Um. Padfoot, why are you in my fireplace?” asked James, raising an eyebrow.

“Left. For good. Can I explain?” he asked, and James’s mum beckoned for him to sit down. He thanked her, and then launched into the whole story. When he had done, Mrs Potter was about in tears.

“But of course you can stay, darling! You’ve been through so much, I won’t have you staying there a moment longer! You can always have a bed here, for as long as you need one! Now, did you say you had a christening to attend?”

Sirius yelped, as he looked at the time �“ he had half an hour to get there.

“Find your dress robes, both of you, and I’ll get the fire up and ready,” Mrs Potter told them, shooing them into the Hall.

“Both of us?” asked James, perplexed.

“Well, unless Sirius wants to go alone ...?” she looked over at him, but he was grinning.

“Come on, Prongsy, we have a church to go to!” Sirius sang, ecstatic.

*~*~*

He lay awake that night, perfectly content. His mind wandered to the final events of last year. He had been with LaLa, and he knew that he shouldn’t have been. He had told her so many times since then that it was madness, but she always replied the same way.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You stop this thing with me, and Tara will know all about it. She won’t be happy now, will she? And what on earth would her friends think of you then?”

It had been that last part that swung him every time. He didn’t mind if Lily hated him for eternity. He liked her well enough, and he knew that James liked her a lot more than that �“ but it was Lola he was most worried about. She didn’t like him that much at the moment, and that was bad enough. But if she knew ... It didn’t bear thinking about. So now he was stuck. One moment of weakness and his life had fallen apart. He tried to push the thoughts out of his mind. He should be happy. He had left his family forever.

The next day, he awoke, still not quite believing that he was really there. He would never have to go to Grimmauld Place again. He didn’t have long to contemplate, however.

“Sirius! Get up!” James came into his room and physically dragged him out of bed. “Breakfast, then we’re going.”

“Where?” asked Sirius, grumbling slightly.

“Into the Muggle town nearby,” James said, as though it was obvious.

Sirius frowned, “But why?” He didn’t get an answer. He was being dragged downstairs by his energized best friend. They came to the kitchen, where the table was groaning with breakfast food, and Mrs Potter was bustling around behind it, and appeared to be making even more.

“Take what you like, Sirius, dear,” she told him when they came in. James sat down straight away and began piling his plate, but Sirius waited to observe in wonder for a moment before sitting down. Soon, they were finished, dressed and leaving the house.

They wandered about the town, looking in shops and trying to hide their amusement, playing small scale non-magic pranks on Muggles and discussing their plans for the rest of the holiday. Sirius decided for definite that from now on, he would stay with the Potters, after James had assured him that he was practically one of them anyway.

“Don’t worry mate,” he assured him, “Mum worships you, she’s always seen you as some sort of tragic hero, anyway. Forced to live with an evil family yet staying pure, etc etc. She hardly ever shuts up about you, actually.”

They reached a bakery, and when they looked inside, they saw a fantastic display of the squashiest of cakes, the gooiest of éclairs. “Do you have any Muggle money?” asked Sirius, his mouth watering. He heard James make an incoherent noise which he translated as ‘no’. An idea began to form. “Alright James. I dare you to go in there and buy two of those cakes.”

James came back to reality, “What kind of a lame dare is that?” he demanded.

Sirius grinned, “You have to convince the shopkeeper to take a galleon for them. He’ll presume you’re trying to fob him off with fake money, but you have to convince him to accept it.”

James seemed to think about it for the briefest of seconds. Then he grinned, and entered the shop. Sirius followed him, but kept his distance, pretending he didn’t know his friend. It was hilarious to watch. James put on a show of inspecting the items to the tiniest of detail, picking them up, sniffing them, poking them �“ at one point he even got out a tape measure and began measuring them to find the biggest. Sirius didn’t quite see how this all was necessary, but it was funny, so he wasn’t about to complain. Eventually, he selected the two that he had decided were the best and brought them to the counter.

The man standing there was quite short, and plump. There was flour on his cheek, but he hadn’t seemed to notice. “Can I help you?” he asked, and James placed the two cakes on the counter, and the man began wrapping them in paper.

James stood stock still not moving a muscle. But Sirius could tell he was doing this on purpose �“ he was standing in the same way he did whenever he was about to tell a punch line, or when he was winding someone up. No one else would have noticed this.

“That’ll be five pounds then,” the baker said. James didn’t move for a second, and then slowly, carefully, took a galleon from his pocket, and handed it to the man, never taking his eyes off him. He could tell “Ernie” (as it said on the name tag) was a little unnerved. “This, uh, this isn’t what I asked for,” he said. “I need five pounds.”

It was if he had set off a trigger in James, who immediately began yelling and storming around the shop. It wasn’t, however, English he was speaking, and Sirius had a feeling he was making it up as he went along. He shook his fist at poor Ernie, threw his hands into the air and even grabbed Sirius as a kind of hostage, all while raving non-stop in this unintelligible language. Even Sirius began to suspect that his friend had lost it a little. Eventually, strode up to the counter, took a blue biro from his pocket and brandished it threateningly in Ernie’s face. He fell silent in this position, still holding onto Sirius’s arm as a makeshift hostage and stood perfectly still, apart from his left eye which appeared to be twitching maddeningly.

Ernie was still holding the galleon in fear. Eventually he managed to stutter out, “The-this will be f-fine.” and he handed him the paper bag containing their prizes.

James’s face broke into the most pleasant, friendliest of smiles as he took the bag. He released Sirius, and put away the biro. “Thank you,” he said, brightly, and left the shop, leaving the baker in utmost shock.

*~*~*

The summer passed in a colourful blur, and soon they were back on the train. Both Sirius and James were talking non-stop about everything they had done, and boasting of their impressive OWL results, and how James was now the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, while Remus and Peter played exploding snap.

“And do you remember the hoopla girl?” asked James and Sirius spluttered with laughter.

“So ... so funny ... ‘I’m not a tomato’ she said!” Sirius screamed with howling laughter, and James nearly fell off his seat.

“And �“ and then �“ then �“ there was the poodle shenanigan!” James gasped, before they both burst into peals of laughter.

Sirius began pretending to be a poodle dancing around the room �“ obviously trying to act out what had happened. As the pair continued in this manner, Remus and Peter ignored them, except to glance a sarcastic I-can’t-believe-we-actually-know-you-lunatics look their way.

The door to their compartment opened, and Lily, Lola and Tara stood there. James and Sirius immediately got up from rolling on the floor in hysteria and sat down, trying to keep their cool. Sirius cleared his throat, and smiled slowly, indicating that Tara should sit next to him, which she did, after a quick kiss hello. James’s hand flew to his head and he ran his fingers through his hair, watching Lily as she sat in the furthest space and looked out of the window. She had grown, and was beginning to look as beautiful as James kept insisting she was. Only Lola was left standing. She looked away when she saw Sirius watching her, and sat by Lily.

“So, what brings you to this neck of the train?” asked James, his voice deeper and more manly than usual, which made Sirius smile slightly. Lily and Lola both glared at him, and Tara frowned a little at her two best friends.

“We got kicked out by Snape and those other drone-heads,” she told the Marauders, shrugging it off. “So we �“” Lily and Lola coughed angrily, and she corrected herself, “�“ So I suggested we come here instead.”

They carried on forwards in near silence. Sirius was filled with guilt as he felt Tara next to him, and remembered LaLa. What they had done. He hated himself for it. Ok, he thought, I’ll end it. Next time I see her, it will be over.

*~*~*

“I mean it this time, LaLa. We’re done.” There was something in his voice, or maybe his eyes, which let her know he was serious. Her own eyes darkened.

“I’ll tell Tara. You know I will. I’ll tell her, and it will all be over for Hogwarts’ most perfect couple.”

“We’re not perfect,” he told her and she laughed humourlessly.

“Oh really? There you are, every young witch’s dream, handsome and charming, funny and daring. There she is, blonde and pretty, and looking up to you. It doesn’t matter that she’s stupid, because without even trying, she’s got the one thing that all the other girls want.”

And suddenly, Sirius understood. LaLa was jealous of Tara. Being in Ravenclaw, he knew she must be intelligent, and hard working. She had just admitted that most of the girls at Hogwarts liked him �“ so did that include herself, even before they had started this madness? So there she was, clever and striking, yet he had never noticed her, he had gone out with Tara �“ who he knew must look like a complete air head to the outside world. And now, here she was, trying to break them up. She really was very clever to have thought out such a plan �“ to get underneath his skin, to start this affair, probably knowing how bad he would feel about it. And then, to break up him and Tara when he refused to carry on. But now he was here, he knew what he had to do.

“LaLa, I’m sorry. I’m sorry this ever started. But now it’s going to end. I know you’ll tell Tara, and I know she and Lily and Lola will hate me forever, but I suppose I deserve it. So go on, LaLa �“ do your worst.”

With this, he turned and ran from the deserted classroom they had been talking in. He was dreading Tara finding out, but he also felt relieved. He knew he had done the right thing.

*~*~*

Two weeks later, and it appeared that she hadn’t told Tara yet. Sirius was glad, and hoped that she had decided not to ever let it on. If he ever saw her in corridors, she would just smile serenely at him, and walk on.

He felt the mirror in his pocket go warm �“ James must be on the other end. He pulled it out, and sure enough, it was not his own face, but his best friend’s that was looking back at him.

“I’ve located the target. Old Snivellus is coming out of the dungeons, Moony and I are going to follow him from there. You and Wormtail head to us, and we’ll keep you updated on where he is.”

Sirius grinned, “Yes, sir.” He put the mirror back in his pocket, and felt it go warm again, which meant that James had left too. He and Peter left where they had been searching for Snape, and went to meet up with the rest of the Marauders. They found them quite easily, along with Lockhart, who apparently still had unnaturally bouncy blonde curls, and a voice that was far too high pitched for his age and gender.

“Hey guys! James and Remus just agreed to let me help you in your prank! It’ll be so much fun!” He chirped. Sirius saw his two friends looking pained behind Lockhart’s back, and shaking their heads.

“Um, are you sure they agreed?” Peter asked, frowning.

“Absolutely! Tell me what I have to do!”

Sirius sighed, “Alright you can help. I want you to go out there, and distract Snivellus.”

Lockhart paled slightly, and muttered doubtfully, “But ... But he knows dark arts ... I might be knocked unconscious and then wake up dead in the Hospital Wing!”

James stopped miming killing Lockhart behind his back, and frowned, confused. “Did you just say you might wake up dead?” he asked. Remus and Peter laughed, and Sirius smirked, but Lockhart didn’t seem to notice.

“Look,” Sirius began, bending down beside Lockhart (who was also unnaturally short for his age) and trying to seem friendly. “We need someone to distract Snivellus. But if one of us does it, he’ll get suspicious. Do you see?”

Lockhart nodded, and James smiled at him too, “You see, it’s almost as if we need you.” Sirius shot him a warning look, and he grinned back.

“Now, you go out there, and try and distract him.” Remus told Lockhart, who nodded vigorously, causing his curls to go into a kind of hyper-drive.

He left outside, where Snape had apparently gone, and the Marauders followed close behind. They watched from a distance as the small boy strode purposefully towards the gang of Slytherins. He tapped Snape on the shoulder, who turned and sneered.

“Sweet Merlin, Padfoot, if he is brutally murdered, you are getting all the blame,” Remus muttered.

“Ssssh ... I think we might be able to hear what’s going on if we get a bit closer,” James said, and the foursome moved slowly towards the group.

They managed to hear snatches of Lockhart’s high pitched voice, “So you see ... mumble mumble ... very important ... mumble mumble... pigeon baths extraordinaire ...”

They heard the Slytherins sneer, and Snape turned away. Lockhart looked at them desperately.

“Keep going!” Sirius mouthed. Eventually Lockhart managed to get it so that Snape was facing the opposite direction, and was very much distracted by Lockhart, as were the others in the group. At this point, the Marauders each sent their individual spells towards Snape, although he didn’t seem to notice until his friends began laughing at his appearance.

James had turned his hair into a mass of small thin snakes. Sirius had covered them in a kind of sticky green slime. Remus had switched his shoes into large clown ones, and Peter had transfigured his nose into a tomato. He looked like a kind of nightmarish clown.

He turned to see the Marauders falling over themselves in laughter, and began to stride towards them angrily.

“Why Snape, what on Earth happened to you?” James spluttered, trying to control his mirth. Snape made a kind of snarling noise and threatened all four of them with all manner of curses and dark magic. Eventually Sirius interrupted him.

“I’m sorry, but I really do fail to see how you could consider yourself in the least bit intimidating looking like that.”

“Why yes, Snape, what did possess you to choose such an unusual ensemble?” Remus asked, joining in with the game.

“Perhaps he had grown tired of his mandatory repulsive hair and oddly shaped nose?” Peter asked the others, and they considered this for a moment.

“If that was truly his intention, I don’t really think he did much of a good job of changing these aspects,” James said, thoughtfully.

“You’re quite right, of course. His hair is still repulsive, and his nose still a rather odd shape,” Sirius observed. All four of the Marauders nodded at this, and turned to Snape enquiringly.

“Pray, do tell us,” Remus began, as politely as possible, “were you possessed by some kind of devilish spirit which forced you to dress like a blind oaf?”

Snape was speechless. He merely stood there angrily, his wand hand twitching.

The Marauders began to back away, knowing when they should leave. “I don’t think that Snape is really willing to clarify the reasoning behind his current fashion statement,” James declared, and the four of them turned and ran away, laughing all along. They hid behind a large tree, and when no one was looking, James produced the invisibility cloak from his bag, and they all got under it �“ although it was rather cramped �“ and doubled back to see what Snape’s reaction would be.

They were just making there way over to him, when Peter spotted Lockhart, and nudged the others. The boy was wandering around looking confused. “Guys?” he called out, wildly searching the grounds, “Where are you? That was awesome, but ... but now you’re gone! Guys?”

*~*~*

The last day of term before Christmas also happened to be Sirius’s birthday. For the first time ever, Sirius was actually going to leave the castle during the holiday so that he could be with the Potter family. So as a farewell to the whole of Gryffindor, a birthday and leaving party was held, the Friday before they were due to depart the next day.

It was in full swing when the music stopped, and Sirius heard a female voice ask to make a speech. Sirius turned, and to his utmost shock and horror, saw that it was LaLa.

“How did you get in?” He cried, but was ignored.

“I’m sure that everyone here knows Sirius Black from some way or other. He is, of course, well liked. And today, he became 17, he came of age. There are now many things that he can do, and I’m sure he will waste no time in doing so. Now, I’m also sure that many of you are wondering who I am. Some of you may know that this is not even my house �“ I should really be in the Ravenclaw common room right now. But there was something that I really felt a need to tell �“ no, show �“ you all.”

Sirius watched in horror, as she performed a spell, which made a kind of shimmering cloud rise above the crowd so they could all see it clearly. He knew that this was advanced magic, and saw that she wasn’t in Ravenclaw for nothing. He looked around him, trying to see a way out, but there were people blocking his way on all sides. He heard the crowd gasp collectively. Dreading what he knew it would show, he looked up at the cloud. It showed the two of them kissing in a deserted classroom.

“This was sometime last year,” she told them all, and the scene in the cloud changed. It now showed a similar scene, but in a closet. “This was a couple of weeks later ...”

This continued for a minute or two, until someone in the crowd was able to find their voice. Lola strode up to LaLa, and screamed at the top of her voice, “Stop it! End it, you bi�“”

“NO!” a commanding voice cried. Everyone turned in shock to see that it was Tara who had spoken this time. “Let me handle it, Lola.” She walked calmly over to LaLa. While the crowds attentions were diverted, Lily managed to make the cloud disappear, and Sirius felt his liking for her increase. Not that it would do much good. “Is this all true?” Tara asked LaLa, her voice only shaking slightly.

“Yes.” The other girl said. Tara digested this for a moment, before she slapped her across the cheek. Then she turned and looked at Sirius with a look of loathing on her face.

“I thought you really liked me,” she said, her voice on the verge of cracking. He tried to step towards her, but found he couldn’t move. He opened his mouth to say something, but she held up her hand to stop him. “We went out for two years, Sirius. Surely, if you had never truly liked me, you would have at least bothered to tell me, to break it to me gently. But to go behind my back ... and then to let me find out in this way ...” She stopped, and wiped away a tear angrily, before continuing. “They say your family is evil. But they also say that you’re different. You know what? I agree. You are far, far worse.”

There wasn’t anything she could have said that would have hurt him more. She turned and ran away, up the stairs to the girls’ dormitories, with Lily and Lola following her �“ although not before they had both given him looks of pure hatred and disgust. Sirius continued to stand there, and before he knew it, everyone had left. He was alone, standing there staring into space. With all the strength he could muster, he climbed the stairs to his own room.

*~*~*

He retuned to Hogwarts in January, having spent the entire time wandering the Potters’ gardens. He felt terrible, and had barely spoken to anyone. Not even he and James talked much. He didn’t blame his friend at all, and once he was back at Hogwarts, he barely spoke to anyone, and the Marauders didn’t do any pranks or anything for weeks. One day, he had grown so bored of sitting on his four poster to do his ever mounting homework, that he ventured out to the Library.

He sat down, after finding a copy of Advanced Transfiguration, and was just getting into it, when he felt someone slip into the seat next to him. He didn’t look up until the person said his name. To his utmost surprise, he saw that it was Lily.

“Do you want me to move?” he asked, expecting her to start threatening him because of what he had done to Tara.

She laughed. “I never thought that you, Sirius Black, would ever offer such a thing to me.”

“Aren’t you here to kill me?” he asked, confused, and she smiled.

“Not today, I’m afraid.”

Before he could stop himself, he blurted out, “How is she?”

Lily frowned, in thought. Then she shrugged. “I guess she’s holding up ok. She’s starting to get over you, slowly.”

“If I told her I saw sorry, would it help?”

“No, I think that would make it worse. But I suppose I could always mention to her how sorry you look these days,” she added, thoughtfully. He nodded.

“And what about you and Lola? How much do you both hate me?” he asked, and she smiled.

“At first we were all set on finding you and turning you into something small and gross and slimy, but Tara made us promise not to. You know, that day, Lola was in such a bad mood. She kept saying something was going to happen, but she didn’t know what. She tried to make us have an early night, not to go to the party, but in the end we went anyway.”

“So, she still sees stuff?”

“Sometimes. It can be really specific, and she’ll say stuff like ‘Make sure you put a cloak in your bag, it will rain on the way back from Herbology,’ or sometimes she’ll be really vague like she was then.”

Sirius smiled. He couldn’t help it. He wished that they could be friends, that he could be there when she made these predictions, and he voiced this.

“Well, if you and me can have a civil conversation, and we were never close like you and her were, I’m sure that you can patch it up with her eventually,” Lily reassured him, but he was unsure. “Look, I have to go,” she told him apologetically. “I think you should try and make it up with your three boy mates, before you try Lola, ok?”

He nodded, and just as she was about to leave, he stopped her. “You know Lily, even though James can be an arrogant prat a lot of the time, he’s actually a really good guy, underneath. And I don’t think he would ever hurt you, he really likes you.”

She smiled at him, almost sadly. “Goodbye, Sirius.”

*~*~*

AN: I didn’t actually plan to finish there, but I realised how long this chapter was getting, and that seemed like a good note to end on. This was a pretty dark chapter, in places, but the next one should be a lot more fun, so don’t worry! I know that I left out some stuff �“ Quidditch, and whatnot �“ but I’m trying not to make the chapters too samey. You can presume that there WAS Quidditch, and they did take part, but nothing out of the ordinary really happened. Same goes for all the other stuff I may have missed. Anyway, I think Sirius did a lot of growing up here (hence the title of the chapter), and please tell me what you think!

Chapter 9: Together (Part I)

Sirius sat, quill in hand, staring at the four pieces of parchment in front of him. Two were filled, one a letter to Remus, the other to Peter. The other two had only a couple of words each. “Dear Tara,” and “Dear Lola,”. He had been sitting there for almost ten minutes, staring. He knew what he wanted to say, but when he tried to move his hand and write the words, he found he couldn’t move. A sudden pecking on the window made him jump, and he looked round to see an owl staring at him through the glass. It looked official, and he jumped up to let it in.

The bird swooped around his room, dropped a letter on his desk, and flew out again. Sirius picked up the letter, and saw that it had a black seal, imprinted with a skull. With a feeling of foreboding, he opened it.

“Dear Mr Sirius P Black,

We regret to inform you that Mr Alphard Archibald Black passed away yesterday at 11:28pm. The funeral will be held on �“”

He stopped reading. His Uncle Alphard had died. One of the only family members who hadn’t cast him out, and he’d gone. He wondered if Andromeda knew yet. He couldn’t tell her, he couldn’t be the bearer of such news. He placed the letter on his desk and collapsed, face down, onto his bed.

“Sirius! We have lunch! Mum made an inordinate amount of sandwiches, and I spy some pickle ...” James’s voice called up the stairs. It paused, and then, “Sirius?”

He heard the thudding of footfalls as his friend bounded up the stairs. He didn’t move.

“Hey Sirius, didn’t you hear?”

“Not hungry.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I said pickle!”

“I hate pickle. And so do you,” Sirius mumbled. James paused.

“Okay, you’ve got me there. It’s disgusting. But there should be something good, she made mountains ... again ... come on, what is it? Do you want to go steal a llama and hold it ransom instead?”

Sirius gestured to his desk. James went over and picked up the letter. There was a minute while he read it, before he said, quietly, “I’m sorry. What will you do with the money?”

"The what?"

"The money."

"The what what?"

"The money!"

"The what what what?"

"For goodness sake, the money that your uncle left you!"

Sirius sat up straight. "How much pickle have you been inhaling?”

James shook his head, smiling briefly. “He left all his money to you.”

Sirius blinked. He grabbed the letter, and read through it frantically. James was right. His uncle had left all the money he had in Gringotts to him. “I ... I don’t know ...”

“Come on, we’ll go show it to Dad, see what he makes of it. It’s a Saturday, he’ll be home.”

The pair went off in search of Mr Potter, and eventually found him in the kitchen, eating a pickle sandwich and reading the Daily Prophet.

“Hey Dad, can we show you this letter?” James asked, taking a sandwich, and checking it for traces of pickle.

“Did you know that someone else has gone missing?” Mr Potter asked, absentmindedly.

“Um ...”

“That’s three times this week, and there are reports of Muggles disappearing too ... Some people say it’s this Voldemort person ... Work’s hectic ...”

Mrs Potter looked worried, “Boys, I don’t want you wandering the streets any more, do you hear?”

“Mum, come on ... We were planning on holding a llama for �“ I mean, checking out that new ... uh ... wood store,” James quickly covered up, and Sirius almost laughed at his incapability to lie.

“You wont be “checking out” anything, mister, not when people are going missing! Merlin, if I lost either of you ... I don’t think I could ...” she composed herself. “You shall stay either in the house or the garden. Do you hear me?”

“Yes, Mum,” James said, meekly.

“Yes Mrs Potter,” Sirius muttered, and she bristled.

“I told you to call me Auntie, Sirius, dear.”

“Right,” he mumbled, “sorry.”

They turned to leave, and just as they were about to be out of hearing range, they heard Mrs Potter call after them, “And if I hear the slightest hint of a rumour about you and any kind of llama ... the garden is out of bounds too!”

*~*~*

“Dear Sirius,

I heard of your uncle’s death, and I’m sorry, I really am. He was your favourite, wasn’t he? I’m sure that’s what you told me, and when I read it, the first person I thought of was you. How you must feel right now ...

However, what you did was next to unforgivable. It really was. Tara has been distraught while her parents are wondering where their happy, let’s-look-on-the-bright-side daughter has gone. However, Lily tells me that she and you spoke in the Library a few weeks after it happened, and she stressed that you seemed to feel a lot worse than we expected you to. She also tells me that she didn’t murder you, which I think was a step forward for both you and her. Do you see now why I wouldn’t give up my friendship with her, all those years ago?

I was looking through The Daily Prophet today, and couldn’t help noticing the alarming number of deaths and disappearances. It made me scared. Whoever is behind all this is powerful �“ really powerful. We used to be great friends, Sirius, and I’m sure you haven’t forgotten. Despite everything you’ve done, I find myself sitting here, at my desk, extending the hand of friendship. If you take it, I will be so glad, and if you don’t, I wish you luck in your life. But I have a feeling that we’re soon going to need as many true friends as we can get. And that’s not just any prediction abilities I seem to have.

Lola

PS: Plus, it’s high time Lily got over her dislike of James, don’t you agree? Care to help me on my mission?”

Sirius put down the letter, his hands trembling. Had he really just read that? It spoke so many truths ... As he hastily began to write his reply, he imagined her watching the owl she had sent fly into the horizon, biting her lip, wondering whether she had done the right thing. He had to reassure her that she had, she had done exactly what he needed her to.

*~*~*

Seeing Lola again was strange. They had corresponded all through the remaining summer, rebuilding their friendship ... but that was different. They were just letters, words, it wasn’t actually seeing each other.

The Marauders were in their usual end compartment.

“So Sirius, are you worried about meeting Lola?” Remus asked, for some reason looking pointedly at James, who had received his Head Boy’s badge, much to the shock of everyone around them.

“Well, a little,” Sirius shrugged.

“I mean, surely meeting her would be very different from writing a letter. Your first real meeting is key, wouldn’t you think?” Remus was staring hard at James, emphasising on certain words or phrases. Sirius frowned, and looked at his best friend too. Suddenly he understood.

“Yeah ... it’ll be weird seeing her as a friend, for you, won’t it Sirius?” James said, obviously thinking that reason he was being stared at was because they expected him to answer.

“Well, yes, it will be like meeting for the first time,” Sirius nodded, and Remus looked at him and smiled, realising that Sirius understood. Neither Peter or James seemed to, however.

“Why do you guys keep saying ‘meeting’ in that weird way?” asked Peter, and James shrugged at him, until realisation hit him, and hard.

He jumped up, swore, and ran from the compartment yelling about missing his first Head Boy meeting.

“Poor James. Do you think we were being too subtle?” pondered Remus, as he watched James run away flailing his arms and cursing anyone who got in his way.

“Nah, he’s just too thick to take a hint,” Sirius laughed. “How dead do you think he’ll be when Lily’s done with him?”

“Oh, most definitely, very seriously dead. Maimed even,” Remus replied, smirking a little.

“I get it!” Peter suddenly cried, clapping his hands in glee, “You were emphasising on the word meeting because James was missing his, and you were trying to make him realise on his own!”

Sirius and Remus both turned and raised an eyebrow. Before they could make a remark along the lines of “duh,” the compartment door opened.

It was Lola. Sirius’s breath stopped short, and he tried to smile. “I’ll, um, I’ll sit down then, shall I?” she said after a minute.

Remus noticed that Sirius was preoccupied with watching every tiny movement she made, so took the concept of a greeting unto himself. “Of course, how have you been?”

As Lola came into the compartment, Tara was revealed standing behind her. This seemed to jolt Sirius out of his senses, as all the memories of their previous year came crashing down. He didn’t want to be in the same room, knowing what he had done. How could Lola force this on him? You deserve it, a voice that sounded oddly like Lily’s said.

“We want to talk about Lily and James,” Lola said, bringing him back to reality. He nodded.

“They’re Head Boy and Girl,” Peter pointed out. “Maybe, they’ll kind of ... you know, get to know each other better.”

Everyone nodded. “Should we nudge them along?” asked Lola. There were many uncertain nods. “Okay, then how?”

Silence.

“Maybe they should be left to their own devices,” Remus muttered, and everyone agreed a little too quickly. Suddenly the concept of bringing together two people who either didn’t know when to let go, or hated the other seemed like far too large a job for them.

“We’re terrible at this,” muttered Peter, and there were sounds of agreement.

*~*~*

“I think I love her,” James said to them one night.

“I know,” Sirius breathed, although he wasn’t talking about Lily.

“She’s so beautiful.”

“I know.”

“I got there, late, and she was so mad at me. She looked so ... amazing. Like she’s matured over the summer, she’s really grown up. And she was so good with the Prefects, she didn’t look down on them or anything. She’s everything. I really think that I love her.”

“I know,” Sirius said again, thinking about someone entirely different. The way she laughed, and joked, and tried to think of things she could say to convince Lily that James was right for her.

He heard her say, again, “I can see it, clear as day, Sirius. They’re going to end up together, but I also think we have to help them.” He got an idea.

“You have to stop acting like a prat, Prongs,” he told him.

“I don’t act like a �“”

“Yes you do,” the other three said, together. James pouted.

“Talk to her like she really means a lot to you. Like you’re really interested in what she has to say,” Remus advised.

“And do gentlemanly stuff �“ hold open doors or whatever. Andromeda once told me that she loved that sort of thing, and that’s why she like Ted so much �“ and look at them now! They’re married, and little Nymphadora’s nearly two,” Sirius said, and the others nodded.

“We know you’re a good person, it’s just that when you’re around her, you’re kind of ... different. Just be yourself, mate,” Remus said, and James nodded.

“Will you guys help me? Tell me if I’m acting weird?” he asked them. His eyes were pleading, hopeful. He reminded Sirius of a deer in that moment �“ not a full grown, impressive stag, but a small, sweet little doe eyed deer. He knew that James really did want to be with Lily, that it had gone past the school boy crush phase.

“We’ll help you.”

And so they did �“ every time Lily came near, they would discreetly nudge him if he started getting arrogant again, and eventually this happened less and less. Sirius also met up with Lola and she told him that she was working on Lily.

“I got her to admit he was good looking yesterday,” she told him when they were partnered in Charms one day, and trying to prove some old wizard’s theorem from 200 years ago.

“That’s progress,” he said. “Did you see how when they came back from patrol on Tuesday, they weren’t almost killing each other?”

“I know! It was so adorable, how he made her laugh and she tried to cover it up in case we noticed!”

“I think we should almost be there in a couple of �“ is that supposed to be on fire??”

“Mr Black, Miss Armstrong, could you please explain why there is a charred hole in your desk?” asked Professor Flitwick at the end of the lesson. He had been irritable all day.

They looked at each other, and without meaning to, they burst into peals of laughter, earning them both a detention in a week’s time.

*~*~*

“What we need, is a new plan of action,” Sirius announced when they were sitting around the fire a couple of months before the Christmas holidays. Lily and James were on patrol, and Sirius, Remus, Peter, Lola and Tara were doing their homework in silence. They had recently been being given more than ever, since NEWTs were coming soon. Tara still hadn’t forgiven Sirius, but she was friends with the others, and they had come to the kind of agreement where they simply kept their distance.

“What for?” asked Lola, without looking up from her Transfiguration essay.

“For Lily and James, of course!”

Peter looked up, and frowned. “But they’re doing okay. They’re friends, right?”

“Right! They managed to be friends �“ and then it stopped! Now they’re stuck in a rut �“ the kind where they get on, and they don’t fight, and they can hang out without one of them being murdered, but it never goes any further!” he slammed his fist on the table.

Lola looked up for the first time, and her expression was slightly amused at how passionate he seemed to be about this. “What do you want us to do? Lock them in a closet until they make out?”

Sirius paused, “That’s not a bad idea.”

“No, Sirius, that’s a terrible idea,” she said, smiling.

He looked a little put out. “We’ve got to do something to nudge them along.”

“We could always kidnap James, so that Lily realises how much she misses him,” Remus mock pondered. “Lily would realise her true love, we would get rid of James’s lovesick whining for a day or two ...”

They laughed, and for a minute continued with their homework. But Sirius soon got bored of this.

“Seriously though, we have to do something!” he burst out, as if he couldn’t contain himself. Lola groaned, and banged her head on the table.

“Sweet Merlin, Sirius, some of us are trying to work!” she complained. He grinned at her.

“So am I �“ work out a way of getting James and Lily together!” Despite herself, she had to laugh.

“All right Sirius, you think of a plan, and we’ll keep working, okay? But if you get detention for not doing your homework, don’t complain to us,” Remus said.

“I feel that this cause is far worthier,” Sirius stated, and began scribbling on a piece of parchment, occasionally crossing it out, or scrunching it up and starting again.

An hour later, Lily and James had returned, and joined them in their homework session. After Sirius had set James’s hair on fire when he tried to read what he was writing, he was mostly left alone to his plotting.

*~*~*

AN: Hmm, what could he be planning ...? How will he try and get them together ...? I would love any ideas you may have in your reviews! Be imaginative! If you make me laugh out loud, you will get the wonderful prize of ... Uh ... Handy, handy oxygen! I already know what will happen, but I would love to hear any theories anyway! It may even make me update faster ...

AN: This chapter is mostly to tie loose ends, as it is the last Hogwarts-based one. So I apologise for how jumpy it may seem, although I have smoothed it out as much as possible.

Disclaimer: Anything, anyone or anywhere that you recognise belongs to JK Rowling. All I have are the OCs.

Chapter 10: Together (Part II)

A week later, Lola entered the Room of Requirement as Sirius had requested, to find him already there, holding the end of a rope. The rope had a loop on the end, which was around the neck of a bad tempered llama, currently chomping it’s way through a curtain. It had a ginger coloured wig on. Sirius was grinning at her.

“Sirius, you have ten seconds to give me a very, very good explanation,” she told him, folding her arms, and fixing him with a penetrating stare.

He wasn't phased, but continued grinning madly while he divulged his plan.

When he finished, she slapped her palm on her forehead, and groaned. “Is there anything I could say that would be able to talk you out of this?”

The llama snorted, as if laughing at her question, in all it’s absurdity. Of course, it wasn’t laughing at all, but with a mind as vivid as hers, she took it as that anyway, and scowled at it.

“Of course not!” he laughed. “Now, hush-hush a moment.” He took the hand mirror from his pocket and said, “James Potter.” He waited until his friend’s face appeared, before speaking again, in a choked voice. “Prongs mate, something terrible has happened. Stop eating that cream pie and come to the Room of Requirement.”

“All right.” James nodded, sounding wary, and disappeared from the mirror.

“Remember, act very distressed,” Sirius told Lola, adjusting the llama’s wig, and pinching it’s cheeks. It snorted all over him. “An extraordinary likeness ...” he muttered to himself under his breath, but Lola heard anyway, and whacked him on the arm.

A minute later, James appeared, slightly out of breath. He had obviously ran from the Great Hall.

“What happened? Why does the room smell like farms? And, most importantly, why is that thing in here?”

Sirius adopted a solemn face, before saying, “Prongs ... Prongs, you see, Lily was in the corridors, when she got in a bit of ... well, a bit of a duel with Snape.”

“Oh my gosh, is she okay? I thought she was with Tara today?”

“She was, and Tara is fine. She, uh, got him with a ... a bubble charm, it knocked him right out. But it’s ... Lily, she ... Prongs, Lily was turned into the llama.”

“WHAT THE HELL??” James cried. Sirius was unsure whether or not he had believed him. The llama began sniffing James’s hair, ruining what would be a dramatic moment, had it not been so utterly ridiculous.

“And the thing is, the spell is permanent.”

James whirled round to face Lola. “Is that true? It’s permanent? I’ll kill Snape, the ba �“”

Lola cut him off quickly, stammering, “Yes, James, it’s permanent. Lily ... Lily is stuck as a llama.” She was putting all her energies into not bursting out with laughter. However, it became too much, and she had to quickly disguise it as sobs of distress.

“That ... that’s ridiculous! Is that even possible? How could he do this? I’ll kill him! We’ve only been going out for a week, and he bloody turns her into a llama??” James was getting very red in the face, but Sirius and Lola had gone pale.

“You ... You’re going out?” she stuttered.

“Well, we were going to tell everybody on Saturday, and make a party of it! But now ...” he gestured towards the creature, which snorted, and moved away, disgruntled at all the attention.

Sirius checked his watch. Lily and Tara were going to turn up any minute, as he had arranged. His plan was going horribly wrong. James was supposed to be so aggrieved by the girl he loved being tragically transfigured, that he would start proclaiming his love for her, when she and Tara would turn up, she would hear that he loved her, and he would be so euphoric that he would go up and kiss her, and she would realise that she loved him too. While they were occupied, Sirius and the others would smuggle the llama away �“ at their own risk, it had so far proved to be most violent when forced to travel anywhere �“ and James would forget all about it.

He began to realise, as Lily and Tara entered, just how stupid he really was. They were already going out. And James was looking from the llama to his girlfriend, with an odd expression on his face.

No one spoke. Even the llama stopped making heaving noises to turn and look at the girl it was supposed to be impersonating.

“I think,” Lily finally said, slowly and clearly, “that you all have a lot of explaining to do.”

*~*~*

Christmas came and went, and after ruthless mockery at Sirius and Lola (despite her protests that she had no idea what he had been planning, and couldn’t stop him anyway) about the “Gerald Incident” �“ for that was what Remus jokingly named the llama �“ it was soon forgotten about, except for the occasional argument between the four boys whose turn it was to feed and clean poor Gerald, who had grudgingly taken up residence in the Room of Requirement.

Sirius was walking down the corridor, with the intention of heading to dinner. It was the first week of the new term, and he was thinking about the night ahead �“ it was a full moon, and they had been planning on going into Hogsmeade. He looked forward to it. As he was thinking about this, he wasn’t particularly looking where he was going. Which is why it surprised him so much when he was almost knocked to the ground.

“Watch it!” he barked, turning round. He saw the retreating figure of Snape. “Oi!” he yelled. Snape stopped, and turned to look at him, his lip curling.

“Yes, Black?” he asked, loathing in his voice.

“I said, watch where you’re going, Snivellus. Washed your underwear lately?” he taunted. Snape whipped out his wand. “Hey, come now, let’s not be hasty,” Sirius said striding towards him. “You and me, we’ve not had a chat in a while, have we? How’s the Grease-Buster-Challenge coming along? I hear it’s a tough one.”

“Keep talking, Black, maybe one day you’ll say something intelligent.”

“Now, now, Snivellus, brains aren’t everything! In fact, in your case they’re nothing.”

“At least what I do have is not wasted on pathetic school boy jokes,” Snape spat. Sirius was getting more and more angry by the second.

“You know, everyone has a right to be rude, ugly and foul, but you, Snivelly �“ you abused that privilege.”

Snape sneered. “Tell me, Black, how is your dear friend Lupin? Has he been ill lately? Or is it his Mother this time? You know, I’m surprised the whole family isn’t dead yet, they always seem to have some kind of disease ... But maybe that’s just because they can’t afford to keep themselves.”

Suddenly, Sirius got an idea. “Do you want to know where goes? Do you really want to know?” He was advancing threateningly towards Snape, who sneered in answer, but couldn’t quite cover up the eagerness in his eyes to discover the truth. “Well, why don’t you slither along to the Whomping Willow just as the moon comes up. Touch the knot with a stick or something, and you’ll find a handy, handy passageway. Then you’ll see!” He turned, and walked away, smiling triumphantly.

Later in the evening, Remus had gone away to transform, and the rest of the Marauders were waiting to follow. Sirius was telling them about his encounter. When he had finished, Peter looked impressed, but James looked shocked.

“You told him? You TOLD him?” he cried, his hand automatically stretching towards his hair, and running it’s way through, causing it to stand on end. It was not, as some thought, a way of showing off, or a sign of arrogance, but a habit when he was nervous, or stressed.

“Yep. So if we don’t hear from him in a while, you’ll know why,” Sirius laughed.

“You idiot!” James cried. “He could get bitten, or he could DIE!”

Sirius shrugged. “I don’t see a problem with that.”

“Well what about Moony? Did you think about that? Imagine what it would do to him! Knowing that he was responsible for another life that had been destroyed, or even taken away! He wouldn’t be able to live with himself!”

Sirius’s mouth fell open with the realisation that James was absolutely right. He was an idiot. Before he could do anything, James had turned and ran away, heading towards the Entrance Hall, and the Whomping Willow. Sirius and Peter followed behind.

They arrived just in time to see James dragging Snape out of the passage. He must have ran faster than he ever had before to catch up with Snape, and be pulling him out just as they got there.

“L-Lupin’s a �“ a werewolf!” Snape was stuttering. “A werewolf! He �“ he’s a �“”

“We know what he is!” James snapped at him, throwing him on the ground. “Now you’re going to go away back to your hole, and you will never think of telling anyone this! Ever!”

But Snape wasn’t listening. He stood up quickly, his eyes darting around. “Does Dumbledore know? Does he? Because if he does ... I’ll tell everyone! You be warned, I’ll tell them all about Lupin’s condition, and how you sent me to be like him ... even to kill me! You’ll all be expelled!”

The three of them leaped on Snape, and began hitting him, until his yells for help aroused Professor McGonagall, and she was able to drag them away. Snape was taken to Dumbledore, who made him swear never to tell anybody. The Marauders weren’t expelled, they were merely given detention for a months time, and had fifty points taken away from Gryffindor.

After that, the Marauders and Snape simply avoided each other. Their “war” of around six years was over, and no one had come out the winner.

*~*~*

There was a Hogsmeade weekend on Valentine’s day, and the seven of them planned on all going together. However, once they arrived and went to get a drink in the Three Broomsticks, Lily and James snuck away together, and three of the others had disappeared to buy some more butterbeer. They had been gone for fifteen minutes, and were no where to be seen. Only Sirius and Lola were left.

“Do you think,” she began, “that they may have left us alone together on purpose?”

“Because it’s Valentine’s day and they think we should get together? Of course not,” he said, grinning.

She laughed. “Original lot, aren’t they?”

He smiled. “Yeah. My plan may have been insane, but at least it wasn’t boring.”

She grinned at him playfully. “Yes, but there’s a chance that theirs might actually work.” She stopped, when she saw him looking at her, surprise in his eyes.

“Let’s walk,” he said, and she agreed hastily.

They made their way up the road, neither saying anything. Sirius’s mind was racing. Did she mean that? Was she hinting, or did she not mean to even say it? IS there a chance that after seven years, I might ... I might ...

They reached the Shrieking Shack.

“Do you really think the plan could work?” he asked. She turned and looked at him.

“Do you want it to?” she breathed.

He smiled, “Don’t you already know the answer?”

She laughed. “Of course I do ...”

Meanwhile, hiding in the bushes, were Remus, Tara and Peter.

“This feels so wrong,” Tara whispered.

“Ssssh!” Remus hissed, trying to stop himself laughing.

Peter gasped and pointed. Sirius and Lola were kissing, and Remus grinned. “About time,” he muttered. “Come on, Padfoot will murder us if we’re found out. Let’s go ambush Lily and James.”

As they scrambled away as quietly as possible, Sirius and Lola broke apart, and smiled. Sirius glanced over at the three retreating figures and laughed. “I know where the others went.”

Lola looked over, and laughed too. “Spying gits,” she mumbled, before leaning in to kiss him again.

“Wait ... We ... We’re not doomed are we? I mean, can you see pain and misery in our futures together?”

“Would it stop you if I did?”

He grinned, and leaned closer. Just before he kissed her again, he muttered, “No chance.”

*~*~*

The news of Sirius and Lola finally going out spread around the school like wildfire. Not everything was rosy though. More and more reports or murders and disappearances were in the Daily Prophet every day. Everybody knew what was happening, and they all knew who was behind it. Yet somehow, worried as they were, the terror of the outside world didn’t effect the Marauders, Lily, Lola or Tara. Four of them were so in love that the others were sickened. Two of them were slowly developing their own feelings for each other. And Peter was happily oblivious.

They hardly ever saw LaLa any more. They heard rumours that she was slowly working her way around the male students of Hogwarts, blinding them with her looks and mysteriousness, using them, and moving on to someone else. Whenever they did meet, she would make a biting comment, and move along. After a while, they just began to ignore her.

Lockhart too, seemed to have got over his love of the Marauders. One day, when they were revising for their NEWTs outside by the lake, he wandered up to them. The four boys looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

“I’d just like to say,” Lockhart began, in a surprisingly deeper voice than they were used to, “that I am resigning from my place as a Marauder. I know we’ve had some good times, but frankly, I think we have grown apart. Besides which, you will be leaving at the end of the year. I should start getting used to being alone now.”

They looked at each other. “Um, Lockhart ... You never were a �“”

“We’ll miss you,” Remus cut James off quickly. “We’re very sorry that you’re leaving.” He glared at the other three until they agreed.

Lockhart sniffed, and brushed away a tear. “Farewell,” he said breathily, before turning and walking away. After a respectable amount of time, they burst out laughing, and couldn’t stop rolling around in their mirth for around five minutes.

On their graduation day, the impending war was forgotten completely. They had been attending Hogwarts for seven years, they were all confident about the NEWTs they had sat, satisfied that they had done the best they possibly could.

The Marauders had decided to deliberately get their beloved map confiscated. Their reasoning being that when pranksters came to Hogwarts who were worthy enough to find it, steal it, and find out how it worked, they would be rewarded with something to help them in their endeavours.

Dumbledore was finishing his speech. Lily and James were sitting very close together, each leaning on the other for support. Remus and Tara were discreetly holding hands, but no one had noticed this. Or if they had, they pretended not to. Peter was kicking his legs around under his chair, a little bored of all the talking. Sirius had his arm around Lola, and none of them �“ save possibly Peter �“ wished they could be anywhere else, or with anyone else.

Finally, they were able to stand up, take off their hats, and throw them high into the air.

*~*~*

AN: Aww, a nice happy chapter. The phrase “Calm before the storm” doesn’t come to mind at all does it? *Shifty eyes, shifty eyes*. Now, I need around three very minor characters (only a couple of lines each) so the first three people to review, who aren’t in it already, get to be in chapter 12! As long as you leave your real name at the end, of course. Oh, and only put your name if you won’t get offended by what I write �“ it won’t be TOO bad, but just in case. So, get reviewing! :D

Chapter 11: A Harsh World

It was hot. The kind of stifling heat that meant you could barely breathe, let alone talk. And watching James pace up and down was making everyone feel worse.

“James mate,” Sirius groaned, “would you sit down? Why have you got so much energy when the rest of us are dead?”

James stopped and looked at them. They had all came to the Potter Mansion, and had collapsed onto the comfortable furniture. No one had moved since, except James.

“I don’t know. I’m so restless. There’s always been something to DO in the summer holidays ... But we’re just sitting here.”

“It’s not the summer holidays,” Lola pointed out. “Because we’re not going back to Hogwarts in September.”

James sighed. “It’s so weird. What are we meant to do with our spare time?”

“I think it’s traditional to get a job,” Remus stated. Sirius, James and Peter stared at him.

“What do you mean?” Peter asked. Lola smacked her hand on her forehead, but Lily just looked exasperated.

“Are you honestly telling us, that it never occurred to the three of you that eventually you would have to get a job?” They blinked at her.

Sirius was shocked at himself. How could he possibly have forgotten? He had been so wrapped up in worrying about his NEWT results, spending time with Lola, and visiting Andromeda, Ted and their daughter that any thoughts of his future went clear out of his mind.

“Okay. Let’s talk about this. Me and Lily have both applied for the Healing Academy. Tara is working in that “Magic Touch” place. Remus is going to an interview on Saturday. But you three hadn’t even thought about what you want to do?” Lola asked them, incredulous.

“That about sums it up, yes,” Sirius laughed. “What “Magic Touch” place?”

Tara puffed herself up, proudly. “Well, it’s a Muggle beautician’s, technically, but the name is literal. It’s all owned and staffed with witches, but the Muggles who go don’t know that. I mean, I’m still being trained, but I’m actually quite good at it, everyone says,” she explained happily, speaking for the first time. Although she hadn’t totally forgiven Sirius, they were beginning to build up a friendship again. When she spoke about her job, she smiled, and it was clear she enjoyed it very much. “But stop avoiding the subject,” she told them sternly. “Don’t you have any idea what you want to do? Did you even GO to Careers Advice?”

“Of course they didn’t,” Remus laughed. “That would actually make sense!”

James flopped down next to Lily, and sighed. “I dunno. I always thought I would end up as a crime fighting superhero, but maybe that’s a little ambitious. Hey, I know! I’ll be a llama farmer!” he declared, grinning. “I’ve had enough experience with old Gerald. And it rhymes,” he added, winking.

“Or, maybe you could be an Auror ...” Lily prompted. He blinked at her.

“That’s a great idea! You’re so clever, Lily, why didn’t I think of that?”

“Because you’re stupid,” she muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear. They laughed, James included.

“I don’t know what I’d be good at,” Peter told them, sadly. “What do you think, Sirius?”

He thought for a moment. “You know, working in a shop doesn’t sound so bad. I could rent one on Diagon Alley with the rest of the money Uncle Alphard left me.”

“You don’t even know how to run a shop. And what would you sell?” Lola asked, interested in this idea.

“I’m not sure. We could go now, and have a look if anything’s for sale. And Peter, you could always help me in my shop, if you’ve failed everything.”

“Hey!” Peter protested. “I might not fail everything!”

They began to drag themselves up, and make their way toward the fireplace so that they could Floo to Diagon Alley and go shop-hunting. But Sirius stopped, and said, “Wait a minute. Lola, if you’re a seer, can’t you just tell me if there’s a shop for sale?”

“Sirius, if you relied on me for information, you would get even more lazy than you already are.”

“What’s the point of going out with a seer if you can’t be lazy?” he asked, laughing.

“We don’t know that I’m a seer ...” she protested. Even after about seven years, she still had trouble admitting it.

“For goodness sake, how long have you been �“”

Lily cut in, quickly, “Come on, let’s go poach ourselves a nice little shop,” she ordered, reaching for the pot of floo powder.

*~*~*

“I’m afraid I’m going to have to disagree with you, there.” Everyone turned to look at the speaker. It was Lola. They were in the Quidditch supplies shop, and were talking to the owner.

“Excuse me?” he flustered, affronted. He was very small, with an odd handlebar moustache. Naturally, it had taken all their efforts not to laugh.

“You may not be selling the shop now, but you will be in about six months, am I right in saying? Just enough time to show Sirius the ropes, give him an idea of how to run a shop, and then he can buy it from you once you leave.”

“How do you know that �“”

“She’s a seer,” Sirius told him.

“I might not be a �“”

“She’s a seer,” Sirius said again defiantly.

“Oh,” the man mumbled, glancing away. “Well, since you already know my plans, I don’t see why I can’t give you a trial ...”

James whooped, and jumped in the air. They laughed, and Sirius shook the man’s hand.

“My name is Mr Humphrey. I would prefer you to refer to me as such, and I will continue to pretend that I am unaware of the fact that I am called Humph-Man behind my back ...” He shuddered, as they each concealed a smirk. “There are two other assistants. Penny does the accounts, and also designs any graphics we need doing, she’s good with a quill. Jack helps me with the sales. He’s the lad who you spoke to first.”

Sirius recalled the youngish assistant whom he had asked to speak to the manager. He frowned, “I thought that was a girl?”

Mr Humphrey grimaced, “Yes, well, he refuses point blank to cut his hair. He’s a good salesman, but if I had to pick out a fault ... That damned hair would be the first thing on the list.”

“You mean I was attracted to a man?” asked Peter, looking horrified.

“Peter, there are some things in life that you just don’t admit,” James said, laughingly patting him on the shoulder. Without warning they all burst into hysterical laughter.

*~*~*

Three months later, and Sirius was packing things up in the shop, along with Jack. He was only a year or two older than Sirius, and with his light frame, and dark blonde hair that was quite long for his gender, it was clear why Sirius had mistaken him for a girl on first glance.

“I like my hair,” he would say whenever challenged. “And I’m keeping it like this!” He was a good guy �“ you could joke with him, and it was always a pleasant atmosphere when he was around �“ he had an unmistakable boyish charm, despite his slightly feminine appearance.

Penny, who took care of accounts, and design, was a nice person also. Chinese of origin, but had been brought to live in England when she was two by her mother, a witch, when her Muggle father died. Her name wasn’t Penny, he had learned, but since she began at Hogwarts that was what she had always been called. “It simplified things,” she had said, shrugging. She was in her mid thirties, and although quite quiet, would always lend some advice, or a helping hand. Sirius knew that once he had bought the shop from Mr Humphrey when he left, he would keep the both of them on.

Someone apparated into the shop. Sirius looked up, “Sorry, but we’re about to �“ Oh, hi Lola.”

“Hey. Evening, Jack.” She smiled. Jack greeted her back. “Ready to go?” she asked Sirius. They were going over to James’s for dinner that night.

But suddenly, there was a bang from outside. Penny came rushing out of her office at the back of the shop. “What’s happening?”

Sirius raised his finger to his lips, and began to creep towards the window and look out. Before he got there, the door banged open, and several hooded figures came through. Mr Humphrey ran through from the back of the shop too. He had just been about to ascend the staircase to his flat above the shop, when he had heard the door banging open.

“Who do you think you are? Get out of my shop!” he commanded, bravely. He knew exactly who they were �“ Voldemort and his followers were now well known throughout the entire Wizarding Community, and there were reports of murders and disappearances every day.

“Avada Kedavra,” the nearest Death Eater said, almost casually. Mr Humphrey crumpled and fell, and Sirius felt something clamp on his heart.

He stunned Mr Humphrey’s killer, but then he was hit with a disarming spell, and his wand flew towards a female Death Eater, who caught it.

“Hello, cousin dearest,” she said.

“Come on, you can do better than that!” he spat.

“Sirius, you always were far too big for yourself. You always thought you were doing the right thing, but you’ll always make everything worse when you do. And I know someone who’ll testify that.” She stepped aside, and another figure came forwards. Her hood and mask concealed her identity, but Sirius thought he had a good idea who it might be.

Lola did to, and stepped forwards. “Get out!” she cried, and the Death Eater shot a green light towards her. Sirius jumped on his girlfriend, and the spell just missed her. They quickly scrambled up so that they were standing to face the Death Eaters.

“Shut up, all of you,” the Death Eater said. The voice was now filled with anger, hatred, coldness, but it was still unmistakable. It was LaLa.

“You all have a choice. These two,” she indicated Sirius and Lola, “are probably going to die anyway. But the other two may be able to escape that fate. If you join us.”

Penny and Jack glanced at each other. For a moment, Sirius could sense a feeling of indecisiveness. But then Jack shook his head ever so slightly, and Penny nodded the slightest nod in the world. And they refused.

A smile passed across Bellatrix and LaLa’s faces. “In that case, we look forward to killing you all.”

There were around ten of them in all. Sirius’s mind raced. Where were the others? There had to be more than this, there wasn’t only ten Death Eaters. Where were they all? But before he could dwell on that any longer, the four of them were fighting off ten. And he was thankful that there were less than there should have been. He stunned and fought and cursed for all he was worth. They had to get out of there.

He grabbed the nearest thing and muttered “Portus,” before continuing the battle. A minute later, he managed to get Lola, Penny and Jack all in one place, and they touched the item. It was a Snitch, he realised when they arrived in a heap at the destination. It was James’s house. He stood, and looked around. Furniture was overturned, wallpaper was hanging off the walls, and there were burn marks in the carpet. He fumbled desperately in his pocket and found the old, hand held mirror. “James Potter,” he whispered. His friend’s face appeared.

“Sirius,” he whispered. “Where are you?”

“Your place.”

James suddenly looked terrified. “Come down into the basement, and quick!”

Sirius frowned. And then he heard footsteps. Whoever had attacked the house, was still here. He looked round and saw the door leading to the basement. “Follow me,” he hissed, and they ran down the stairs as quietly as possible. There, they found James, Lily, Remus, Tara and Peter, who looked as if they had each been through a lot in a very short space of time.

They all huddled in the dark basement for what felt like hours, although it was only minutes. “We need to get to Dumbledore,” Remus muttered. “Can everybody here apparate?”

When everybody nodded, James counted to five, and they all disapparated, finding themselves at the gates of Hogwarts. They entered, and ran towards the castle, getting odd looks from a lot of the students. They reached the large gargoyle guarding his office, and began banging on it frantically.

“Uh, guys?” Remus said, a note of amusement in his voice. They turned, to see Dumbledore standing there complacently.

“Can I help you?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

*~*~*

When they returned to James’s, much later that night, the remaining Death Eaters had been arrested �“ although Voldemort himself was long gone. James and Lily, along with the others who had been at the house, had explained what had happened, and the ones who had been at the shop had told their tale also.

Dumbledore had listened, and nodded, and “Mmm”ed and “Aaah”ed. He had then told them of an organisation who worked against Voldemort �“ he called it the Order of the Phoenix �“ and asked them to join.

“Now that you have each refused Voldemort and his supporters once, you cannot go back on that. So if you’re against him, you can be against him along with others just as valiant as yourself. But it’s serious business. Can you handle it?”

It hadn’t taken long for them each to agree.

“What I don’t understand,” Sirius began, when they were still discussing it all late into the night, “is why, if James was the main target �“ which he presumably was, since Voldemort had come here, not to the shop �“ they sent ten Death Eaters to us. Surely, with James training to be an Auror, they would need as many as possible?”

No one spoke as they thought about this, until Lola wondered aloud, “Unless they knew that we were on our way there, and would have been able to help. They were probably sent to stop us �“ especially Sirius and I, being strong fighters �“ or at least to ward us off while they got to the main target.”

“But how could they know all that? And why would James be a main target?” Remus asked.

“Sirius said it �“ I’m training to be an Auror. I guess the plan is to wipe us out before we get a chance to be properly trained,” James mused.

Lily sighed, and looked out of the window into the night. It wasn’t a full moon, but near enough. The silver light it gave made the rustling trees not eerie, but beautiful. An owl hooted. The stars shone, covering the deep black sky. “How can a world so wonderful, be so screwed up?”

*~*~*

AN: There was, of course, absolutely no underlying message in that last line ... *ahem*. And so, the darker, more action-y stage of the story begins ... Added a couple of new characters here, what did you think? And if you’re wondering �“ although you probably weren’t �“ I will be making many references to Jack’s hair from now on. He is named after my brother, who is just as effeminate. Well, I exaggerate (only a little) but you get the idea. He’s so going to kill me after he reads this, but there we go.

Chapter 12: Joy

“We’re getting married.”

Lola screamed and ran forward to hug Lily. Sirius clapped James on the back, in a ‘Man-Hug’.

“When?” cried Tara, a huge grin on her face.

“A months time,” Lily declared, and paused. “Will you be one of my bridesmaids? And Lola of course?” They both responded by screaming and running forwards again.

The Marauders stood around awkwardly while the girls squealed and hugged, although they were each grinning.

It was around a year after the visit from Voldemort and his followers. They were all stuck into working for the Order, and had quickly become important members �“ although this did mean there was more danger involved.

Which, James told Sirius later, was the reason he and Lily were getting married at only just twenty.

“Life’s just too short, mate,” he had said.

“Life,” Sirius replied, smirking, “is the longest thing you will ever have to endure.”

Sirius had taken over the shop, and kept Jack and Penny as partners �“ he still didn’t know everything about running a shop, but the two of them were showing him, and he was learning fast. In fact, business had been better than ever, and pretty soon they would need to hire someone new to help out.

“And when I say soon ...” Jack told him, biting his lip, “I mean soon.”

“Can we afford an extra wage?” Sirius asked Penny. They were in the office at the back where she mostly worked.

She ran an expert eye down the accounts, and after a moment said, “Just. And since �“ if we pick well �“ they will bring sales up even more, then easily.”

*~*~*

“So, why do you want to work here?” Sirius asked. He was in the back office for the first interview of the day. It was with a young woman named Lisa.

“Well ... I guess it seemed like a good idea ... I mean, I don’t have much to do, you see.”

“Right. So you don’t have a job already?”

“Ha! No! I hate working, really, I just need something to do, and this had the best pay.”

“Uh huh ... Do you play Quidditch yourself?”

“What? Merlin, no! Do I look suicidal?”

Sirius paused, and looked at her, sceptically. “We’ll be in touch.”

*~*~*

“My name is Morgan, and I would like your job.”

“And why do you think I should give it to you?”

“Well, I like Quidditch.”

Sirius raised an eyebrow. Then looking the interviewee up and down, asked, “How old are you?”

“Twelve, Sir. Are you a Marauder? The Professors at Hogwarts talk about you and your friends like you’re all the devil or something. But they always seem a little bit proud, too.”

“Really? Wait, I mean, get out, you’re underage!”

*~*~*

The next person, Cassie, Sirius was hopeful about. Third time lucky.

However, when she had sat down and talked for fifteen minutes (apparently without drawing breath), Sirius decided that it was futile.

“Okay! Thank you, we’ll be in touch!” he said loudly. Penny came in once she had left, trying to stifle her giggles.

“There’s only one left, so cross your fingers,” she said, handing him the completed form. He glanced at the name of the next person, and groaned. There, in spirally, over the top writing, was “Gilderoy Lockhart”.

“Someone’s trying to punish me, aren’t they?”

Penny smiled at him, in a motherly fashion. She stepped outside, and ushered him in.

“Hi, Sirius, old pal! What have you been doing? Any pranks lately? Oh wasn’t it fun when we were all Marauders together? Ah, those happy days ... You know, I was thinking of writing a book ...”

Sirius fell forward and banged his head onto the desk a couple of times. Lockhart didn’t notice.

*~*~*

James was in hysterics as Sirius was telling him about the interviewees.

He calmed down a little once the tale was told. “Well, luckily for you, Peter told me earlier that he was fired yesterday,” he said, grinning, as if he himself had arranged Peter’s convenient unemployment.

“What for?” asked Sirius.

“Being a prat, probably,” James snickered, good humouredly, and Sirius laughed.

“I’ll ask him later on then, once we’re done with this palaver.”

They were in Madam Malkins’, waiting to be fitted for matching dress robes �“ the groom and his best man.

Two young boys were being fitted currently, and one of them wouldn’t stay still. His fitting witch was getting frustrated, and had to keep re-pinning him. Sirius smiled, remembering when he and James had first met.

“Remind you of anyone, Prongs?” asked Sirius, grinning. James looked up and saw the two boys, as the hyperactive one started jumping up and down, pulling all his pins out of place.

“Absolutely not, Padfoot!” James replied, also grinning.

When it was their turn to be fitted, Sirius asked James if he was nervous about the wedding.

He thought about it for the briefest second, before saying, “Not a bit. The only thing that I’m worried about is if ...” he faltered.

“What?” Sirius prompted, expecting him to say ‘she doesn’t turn up’ or ‘I lose the rings’. Something ordinary like that.

“If You-Know-Who and his band of Merry Men decide to gatecrash.” His voice was light, almost joking, but it didn’t match his face, which was deadly serious. But it was just for a moment, before he masked it with a grin. “Still, we can fight ‘em off, can’t we?”

But Sirius wasn’t fooled by his light heartedness, and it immensely saddened him. What kind of world do we live in?

That evening, Sirius and Lola (who had recently moved in with him to the flat above the shop) were having dinner, and talking casually.

“Lily, Tara and I went looking for our wedding outfits today too. Oh, you should have seen Lily, she was glowing!”

“Never thought I’d see the day when Lily Evans was glowing at the prospect of marrying James Potter. I mean, he saw it, but we always just humoured him.”

“I know. And Lily ... Lily was always moaning about him, especially during fifth year. And now they’re getting married, neither seem to be having any doubts ...”

Sirius remembered James’s comment earlier. “Yeah. None at all.”

Lola gasped involuntarily. Her eyes were wide, darting about, afraid. “Sirius! Sirius, where ... where is James taking Lily?”

“What do you mean?” he asked, confused.

“On their honeymoon, where are they going? Do you know?”

He frowned. “Well, yes, but James told me to keep it secret ... it’s meant to be a surprise.”

“Is it Italy? That famous Wizarding town near Naples? Dammit, Sirius, I need to know!”

“Alright, yes it is! What’s going on?”

“They shouldn’t ... He knows, he ... waiting ... unless they switch ... or maybe ... to our advantage ... turn it around ...”

“Lola! Tell me what’s going on! Did you see something?”

She stopped muttering, and looked at him. “Yes. I think he knows that’s where they’re going. He’s going to wait for them there, get them when they arrive.”

“Who? You don’t mean ... Lola, do you mean You-Know-Who?”

“Of course I do,” she snapped, irritably, rubbing her temples. “We have to tell them!”

“No, wait! Did you ... Did you say we could turn it around?”

*~*~*

None who went to the wedding of James Potter and Lily Evans would forget it for a very long time. It was a grand occasion, taking place in a church near the Potter Manor. There were tears in people’s eyes as Lily entered, in a grand white dress, followed by Lola and Tara, who both had pale blue dress robes. Sirius smiled. James winked, and Lily gave him a demure smile. The service was over quickly, and everybody was soon having fun at the reception, before the big meal.

It was a celebration, but there was also a tense atmosphere in the air. James and Lily, unaware as to what was happening, did not notice �“ they were so wrapped up in each other, that they wouldn’t have noticed if all the other guests suddenly disappeared. But as the Order members mingled, talked, and laughed, they couldn’t help but check their watches, even when they knew there were several hours to go. Eventually, once speeches had been made, and everybody was full, all the guests who were not in the Order began flit away.

“Are you ready, Lola? Sirius?” Dumbledore asked. “Everything depends on you.”

“Wait,” James said, looking away from his wife and towards Dumbledore, “What’s going on?”

Sirius stepped forward. “I hope you don’t mind, but I changed your hotel booking. You’re staying in the country tonight, and you can make your way to Italy tomorrow.”

“We’re going to Italy?” Lily squealed. Everybody looked at her, and she blushed. “Sorry, wrong moment. James insisted that it was a surprise, and I’ve been wanting to find out for the past ... a long time. Carry on, Sirius.”

“No, don’t carry on,” James said, looking annoyed. “What did you change it for?”

Normally, Sirius would have teased him about contradicting himself, but today, for once, it was not the time. “To protect you. Nobody wants you getting hurt today. The hotel I booked is a good one, nice location. Like I said, go to Italy tomorrow. Just apparate to this address.” He handed each of them a slip of paper. But when they touched them, however, they both disappeared.

“What did you do?” Lola cried, whipping around to look at him. “What did you DO?”

Sirius shrugged. “The papers were Port-Keys. They never would have gone otherwise, you know them. Most stubborn pair I’ve ever met, why do you think it took so long for them to get together in the first place? And I put Anti-Apparating charms on them both earlier.” At Lola’s disapproving look at the way he had tricked them both, he grinned, and said, “I was a Marauder for seven years. Still am, technically. You learn things.” He checked his watch. “We’d better be going. Ready?”

Sirius ran a hand through his hair, to make it messier, conjured a pair of glasses, and put them on. Lola also took out her wand, and used it to turn her dress white. She let down her hair, then coloured it red, the exact shade of Lily’s. “Ready,” she said.

“We’ll be right behind you,” Dumbledore told them. They stepped towards each other, and began to kiss, and were transported like that to a small but elegant hotel room, in the little Wizarding town near Naples. They drew apart, and dropped to the ground, narrowly avoiding several green lights.

“Game on,” Sirius muttered, leaped up, and began to fight.

*~*~*

AN: Ooh, danger! I hope you liked it, please leave a review!

AN: Okay, I’m sorry, I know it’s been a while. I did send in this chapter over a week ago, but then I began to redecorate my room, which involved my computer being unplugged for a week or so. I checked my email on a friend’s, but had no rejection or acceptance letter. However, it had gone from the queue, so I presumed there was a glitch or something, and I just didn’t GET the letter for some reason. But anyway, since I had no idea what was wrong with it in the first place, I went through it and tweaked some parts here and there, in an attempt to improve it. But now, everything is up and running again, so hopefully this will be accepted �“ I don’t want to leave my precious readers in the dark too long, not when it’s just getting interesting!


Chapter 13: Fighting To Lose

The fight was almost over. It hadn’t taken long for the Order to apparate over and help them.

Sirius looked around for Lola as he stunned a Death Eater. He just wanted to check she was all right, before continuing to battle. At first, he didn’t see her, and his heart lurched. Then he saw a flash of red hair, and remembered that she had dyed it, to fool them into thinking she was Lily for a moment. It was enough to content him, and he rounded on the Death Eater he heard sneaking up behind him.

The Order were winning, as there were far more than Voldemort had anticipated �“ he thought it would be a quick, clean, ambush. Knowing he couldn’t win this one, he stopped, and hissed, “This is the second time those Potters have defied me ... But next time, it will be their last. And you two,” he pointed to Sirius and Lola, “have just been added to the list.”

With that final threat, he disappeared. With their master gone, the Death Eaters followed. Sirius looked around to see Lola. Her eyes were shocked, and afraid. He walked over to her, and looked straight into her eyes, gripping her shoulders. “We’ll be fine. I’m just offended that it took him this long add us to his list of most wanted.”

She looked at him, and her eyes looked so deep, Sirius thought for a moment that he would fall in. She nodded. “You’re right. You’ll be fine, Sirius.” She disapparated out of his grasp.

*~*~*

Sirius paced up and down the shop. Jack and Peter were waiting around for customers, chatting amiably. He knew that Penny was in the back, designing a new poster to put in the window, advertising the new Silver Arrow that they had recently added to their stock.

He couldn’t concentrate on anything, so took to prowling up and down.

“Dude,” Jack said, looking over at him, and flicking his hair without realising it. “Are you okay?”

Sirius ignored him. What had she meant? You’ll be fine, Sirius. But he had told her they both would. Did that mean she wouldn’t be fine?

“Seriously dude,” Jack tried again, “Any customers who come in are going to be scared off with you prowling like that.”

As if to prove a point, a woman came in. She began to ask Sirius a question, but he growled at her. She looked scared, and backed out of the shop.

“Okay. I think you have a problem here. Is this about that fight last month that you’ve been itchy from ever since?”

“No, Jack, I just can’t decide what to have for my lunch,” he said, sarcastically.

“Well, I always say that a cheese and pickle sandwich hits the spot perfectly,” Peter piped up.

“Wormtail, once again, your mouth is open, words are coming out, but I really don’t think anyone’s inside that head of yours.”

Peter looked offended. Jack took charge. “Look, man, would you like to go and chill out at home or something? Things are pretty quiet, I’m sure we can handle it.”

“I dunno,” Sirius hissed, angrily. “Would you like to shut up and leave me alone, or would you rather be fired?”

Jack shrugged, and turned around. Sirius immediately felt bad. It wasn’t their fault that he was in a foul mood, and he had no right to take it out on them.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I know you didn’t mean to ... It’s my fault that ... Are you sure you wouldn’t mind ...?”

“Just go.” Jack told him, a touch of coldness in his voice. It wouldn’t last long though, he had a very forgiving nature.

“Thanks.”

That night, Lola came home from St Mungo’s, where she was still in the final stages of her training. Sirius was sitting in the Living Room, staring at his hands. She said nothing as she came in, and he listened as she got changed out of her uniform, and into more casual clothes. She came back in and sat next to him.

“Sirius.” He looked up at her. “Can I ask you something?”

He nodded.

“What would you do, if ... if I died?”

“You’re not going to die,” he told her.

“But ... but if ...” she tried, desperately.

“It doesn’t matter, because it won’t happen.”

“I’m just saying, if You-Know-Who �“”

“Who?”

“You know who I mean,” she said, helplessly.

“Oh, you mean Voldemort?”

“Yes.”

“Then why don’t you say it, Lola? What are you afraid of?”

“I ... Sirius, please, can’t you just answer me? What would you do if �“”

“If what, Lola? If what?”

“IF VOLDEMORT KILLED ME!?” she screamed. Tears filled her eyes. He looked into them, sadly.

“I’d die too. Maybe I’d still be breathing, my heart might still beat, but I wouldn’t be alive. Not without you. And that’s why you’re not going to die �“ not ever. I won’t let you.”

She looked at him, her face white with fear. “So many people are going to die, Sirius. So many people will die. So many ... friends.”

A face appeared in the fire. It was Dumbledore’s. “Sirius, Lola. Emergency meeting at Head Quarters.”

“We’ll be right with you,” Lola told him, and he disappeared. She looked back at Sirius, and whispered, “Being a seer is a curse, Sirius. But I can’t ignore it. And neither can you. You can’t ... You can’t change the future.” She disapparated.

“I can always try,” Sirius breathed, before following her.

*~*~*

The whole Order was sat around, looking up at Dumbledore. Waiting for him to speak.

“I have some grave news, and some potentially helpful news,” he began. The word ‘grave’ stuck in Sirius’s mind like poison. “The Prewitt family have been murdered. The only survivor is Molly Weasly, formally Prewitt. She already has a large, and growing family of her own, but the loss is still great for her.

“They were an honourable family. We may have a way to avenge their deaths. A Death Eater today, came to me. He insisted that he was reformed. Once he had proved that he had seen the error of his ways, I gave him one last task. If he could provide me with suitable evidence as to the whereabouts of one of Voldemort’s hide outs, I would be convinced. He gave me two locations, saying that Voldemort and several of his closest followers would be at either, but he wasn’t sure which, exactly. If we split up, and go to both at the same time, then the ones who find him can alert the other half, and we will more or less give an element of surprise. Are there any objections?”

“How do we know it’s not a trap?” asked James, loudly. There were murmurs of agreement.

“I’m afraid, you will have to trust me,” Dumbledore said, sincerely.

“Once you’re a Death Eater, it stays that way,” Frank Longbottom stated, accusingly. He was an Auror, an idol for James, who was nearing the end of his training. “What is it that convinced you that he’s reformed?”

“I am afraid, that that is between me and him.” A lot of people seemed unhappy with this answer, and some angry buzzing began.

“Who was it?” asked Sirius, loudly. “We’re all wondering. That’s the only thing that any of us want to know. Everyone’s just too afraid of the answer.” People were looking at him, but he stared straight into his former headmaster’s eyes.

“It was Severus Snape,” Dumbledore said, in a resigned fashion. He knew the reaction this would cause, and he was right. James and Sirius stood. Remus and Peter looked shocked and angry. A lot of people looked at Dumbledore like they thought he was a madman.

“Who?”

“You heard me, Sirius.” Suddenly, everyone was talking all at once, in loud, angry voices. They were all arguing with each other, louder and louder. Some were with Dumbledore, saying that a lead is a lead, and they should at least try. Some were with Sirius and James; Snape was evil, and everything he said was a lie. Some were undecided. Lola had not said a word. Lily, who also was merely watching everybody else fight, noticed her friend.

“Lola? Are you okay?” she asked. “Do you see something?”

“Too much, Lily. Too much.” A tear slid down her cheek. “I’m going to die, Lily. I’m going to die, and Sirius will be alone. You have James. Tara has Remus. He’ll have no one.”

Lily’s eyes were filled with her own tears, but she tried to stay strong for her friend. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“There’s no way of stopping it?”

“No.”

“I love you, Lola. You’re my best friend. I ...” She gulped, placed a hand on her forehead, and shut her eyes. “I’ll miss you.”

“You won’t be alone, Lily. Right up until the end, you’ll never be alone. But Sirius, he has so much ahead of him. So much pain ...”

“Can you see it all?”

“No. Not details. I just ... I just know that he’ll have a lot of loneliness in his life. And I won’t be able to help him through it.”

“You will. Lola, have you told him? Have you told him just how much you love him?”

She shook her head.

“Then tell him. Right now.” She glanced at Sirius, who was having a heated discussion with Dumbledore. She grimaced slightly, “Or, at least, as soon as you can. I need you to tell him. He needs to know. Otherwise, all that loneliness, it will be worse for him.”

“Lily, I’m scared. I should have so much more to do in my life. Children. Grandchildren. I’ve worked to be a Healer, but I’m never going to be able to do that now, it was for nothing. I don’t want to die.”

“Lola, listen to me. Not one thing you have ever done in your life has been for nothing. Not one. Okay? Do you hear me? Maybe you have had a short life, but it’s been a good one. You have so many people who love you. Things will never be the same.”

They hugged, tears running into each others hair. Lola stood. “Listen to me,” she said, barely raising her voice. Miraculously, everyone stopped, and turned to look at her. “We’re doing it. Me and Sirius will lead one half. Lily and James will lead the other. I want all the Aurors to split equally. The same with anyone who feels they may be weaker, it’s time for some brutal honesty. If the first team doesn’t find Voldemort at their location, apparate immediately to the other. And vice-versa. Do you all understand? Yes? Then get into your groups. Dumbledore, where are the two places?”

*~*~*

The fight was in full swing. Lola and Sirius had been the ones to find Voldemort and his followers, but it hadn’t taken long for the other half to join them.

Sirius had never battled so hard in his life. Spells were flying everywhere, there was so much confusion. No thoughts were going through his mind. Once he had won one duel, he moved onto another with no hesitation. He couldn’t even keep an eye on Lola. So much was happening all at once, and all he could do was keep going. On and on and on and �“

“Avada Kedavra!” he heard someone screech. He ducked, and heard someone behind him fall. He didn’t want to know what side the person had been on, but something made him turn anyway.

It was Jack. He almost fell over in shock. So young ... so innocent. Such a good person, gone. He almost had a heart attack, when one eye opened. “She missed,” he mouthed. Sirius smiled, and turned around, pretending to be grief stricken.

“Oh, did you know him? I’m so sorry, baby cousin,” sneered the Death Eater. Bellatrix.

“Come on, you can do better than that ...” he began, and behind him, he felt Jack leap up. “Since you missed,” Sirius finished. Jack began to fight with another Death Eater, and went out of sight.

Bellatrix shrugged. “No matter. And yes, I do believe I can do better,” she said, coolly. She grabbed someone by the arm, and pulled them roughly over to her. “Your girlfriend, perhaps?”

“Lola,” he breathed.

“I love you, Sirius! I love you! I love you, I love you, I �“”

“Avada Kedavra,” Bellatrix hissed. She dropped Lola’s body, and smiled. “That emotional babbling was getting rather annoying, really.”

Sirius lunged. He forgot about his wand and used his fists instead. Eventually, someone grabbed him, and disapparated, taking him with them. They arrived at the Potter’s. Sirius whirled around to see who had taken him away from the battle. It was Lily.

“You’re not a murderer, Sirius. Keep it that way.”

“She’s gone?” he rasped, hoarsely.

“She’s gone.”

“I loved her.”

“And she loved you.”

“She’s really gone?”

Instead of answering, Lily pulled him into a hug. They sank to the floor, sobbing onto each others shoulders.

*~*~*

Sirius was staying with Lily and James. It was a month after Lola’s death, and Sirius still hadn’t accepted it. He was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling, but not taking anything in, when he heard someone enter.

“Sirius? I need to talk to you.” It was James. “Me and Lily, we just ... made a discovery.”

“Oh yeah?” There was no enthusiasm in his voice whatsoever.

“Yes. We ... Look, I know this will hurt you, but we want you to be the first to know.”

Sirius sat up. He looked into his friend’s eyes. “Tell me.”

“Lily’s pregnant.”

*~*~*

Time, time on your mind
A conscience ticking
Images passing by like picture slides arranged
Love will survive
It twists and turns you
A circuit inside your head reminds you that it's fine

I miss you more than words can say
A part of me has torn away
A china heart will always break
A fracture to a twisted face
But things are gonna heal again
Eyes once blind will see again
I miss you more than words can say
I miss you more than words ...
Quick fade

Try, learning to fly
Reach new sky
Find a new place to be and watch life pass you by

Try to get high
Jumped so you could feel it
You're living inside a dream
As waterfalls surround

I miss you more than words can say
A part of me has torn away
A china heart will always break
A fracture to a twisted face
But things are gonna heal again
Eyes once blind will see again
I miss you more than words can say
I miss you more than words ...
Quick fade
- Feeder, “Quick Fade”

*~*~*

AN: That song is beautiful, anyone who has heard it will agree. I was listening to it on my iPod, and it just made me think of this chapter, so I decided to put it on the end. It almost makes me cry when I hear it now! I recommend Feeder (especially that song) to anybody. But anyway ...

In case you were confused, Lily’s pregnancy would be hard for Sirius because it would make him think about all the kids (and other things besides), that he would now never have with Lola. Just to clear that up. And I’m sorry, so sorry, but I had to do it. It was horrible, but necessary. Please don’t hate me too much. And I’m sorry for all the angst stuff. I don’t mean to be so depressing, really. Oh, and I know it seems so unlikely that Lily and Lola would talk about her dying like that, but Lola had known for about a month, and Lily was trying to be strong for her friend. And when she and Sirius hugged it was to platonically share their grief. There is no S/L in this fic.

Woo, that was a long AN ... Please review.

Chapter 14: The Darkest Nights



Five months into Lily’s pregnancy, and things were going about in their normal fashion. Lola’s death had not, as one might assume, reduced Sirius into a kind of feral state, but had instead given him a fierce determination. Everything he did, was done with a feeling of anger put into them, and any missions he was given by the Order, he did with everything he had and more. It was even beginning to scare the people who didn’t know him as well.



He still ate at the Potter’s every day for dinner, and sometimes they were joined by Remus and Tara, Peter, or even Penny and Jack, who had been accepted into their group quite well. James had qualified as an Auror, and Lily as a Healer. Remus was working in the Ministry as a Researcher, and the job was perfect for him, while Tara remained at the Muggle beautician’s, “Magic Touch”, and adored her job �“ she was apparently quite good at it too. Peter of course, continued to work with Sirius.



This Saturday, however, it was only him. Lily was looking big, and although she was happy, seemed anxious and distracted. They sat to eat.



“So Sirius, how was work today?” asked James.



“Okay, I guess. We’re mainly preparing for the rush of Hogwarts kids this summer. And how is the ‘Good Fight’ going?”



James sighed, and stabbed a potato with his fork. “We think there’s a spy. Well, we know there is, someone passing him information ... maybe even someone in the Order somewhere.”



“Maybe they even have greasy hair and a large nose. Am I the only one to have noticed that?” Sirius asked, not really expecting an answer.



“Dumbledore trusts Snape. Trust me, he knows of our concerns, but seems determined that he’s right.”



“Well, Dumbledore may be blind and trusting, but I for one �“”



“How many times have you guys had this conversation?” asked Lily.



“Lily dearest!” James grinned playfully. “Wife to my husband, jam to my doughnut, Albus to my Dumbledore, wand to my magic ...”



“James,” stated Lily placidly, smiling a little. “Husband to my wife, pain to my arse, bane to my existence, leech to my life ...”



James looked at Sirius and shook his head, sadly. “It’s those raging hormones. She can’t control them, doesn’t know what she’s saying. You know, the other night, I came home from a hard days work fighting crime, and she �“”



“We’ll have no tales, thank you, James. And you don’t fight crime, mostly Moody makes you fill out paperwork,” Lily teased.



“But particularly naughty paperwork,” James laughed.



It saddened Sirius to see the two of them bantering away. It made him miss Lola all the more. They continued to eat their dinners, and despite their cheerful manner, he felt he was missing something important. There was a very slight fake-ness in their chat that was usually never there. It wasn’t much, but it was enough.



“Guys!” he exclaimed eventually. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”



They looked uncomfortable. “I guess you know that there’s a reason only you’re here,” James muttered.



“Yes, because surprisingly I’m not stupid, mate,” he said pointedly.



James nodded. “Fair point. Okay, about three months ago, Dumbledore came to us. He told us that there had been a prophecy made about a month before Lola ... well, about a month before that last battle. It said that the boy born at the end of July, to parents who had defied Voldemort three times, would be the one to defeat him. And ... well, when he found out that Lily was expecting for late July/early August, he knew it was possible that the child might be ours.”



Sirius was in shock, not believing what he was hearing. “Possible in a definite kind of way?”



Lily shook her head. “Alice Longbottom. She and Frank also have a child due around then. They also defied him three times.”



“They’re Aurors, right?” Sirius asked, recalling their faces from various Order meetings. “So why are you telling me now? Why not then?”



“We wanted to get used to the idea first. And we are only telling you, because we know we can absolutely, one-hundred percent trust you. We can, can’t we?”



“Of course,” Sirius nodded, taking all this in. “Absolutely.”



They smiled in relief. Lily had tears in her eyes. “Thank you so much, Sirius. Thank you so much.”



*~*~*



Sirius apparated in St Mungo’s Hospital and stood in the foyer. “Lily Potter!” he cried, grabbing a passing Healer. “Where is she?”



“The information desk is over there, Sir,” came the reply.



“Who cares about information? I want to know where Lily Potter is!”



“Are you family?” he asked, reluctantly.



“Sure, why not? I mean, yes, yes I am. Her brother. Sirius Potter. Evans. Yes, Evans, that’s her maiden name. Look, it doesn’t matter, just take me there!”



Eventually, Sirius found his way. “Lily!” he cried. “Are you okay? What happened? Tell me! I told them I was your brother, so if they ask, we’re twins. Tell me what happened, damn it! James said it was serious!”



“I had a son, Sirius,” she said, finally getting a word in edgeways. “He’s over there.”



Sirius blinked. “But James told me it was serious.”



Lily pretended to look shocked and offended, “You think that my first born son isn’t serious?”



“Lily!” a voice squealed. Tara ran in, and hugged her. “By the way, we’re twin sisters for now. Triplets actually, Remus is our brother.”



“Make it quadruplets,” Sirius laughed.



“No, no. Me, Lily, Remus ... three. Triplets. That’s right, isn’t it, Remus?”



“Yes dear. But I think Sirius means that he also said he was Lily’s twin,” Remus explained. Comprehension dawned.



“What a coincidence!”



“Sick, really,” Lily mumbled. “Tara, you’ve dated both of your twin brothers!”



“Oh no, Lily. I don’t have any twin brothers,” Tara said. They all laughed. Tara may not be the smartest girl in the world, but she was one of the nicest, really, and they all loved her. She had completely forgiven Sirius for all the “LaLa Business” long ago, and things had been good between them for a long time. James came into the room.



“Hi everyone! Have you seen our son yet?” When they realised that they hadn’t done this, they all rushed over to the little incubator, where a tiny newborn baby was lying. He was perfect. “We called him Harry,” James said, his eyes glazing over. Tara made an odd whimpering noise, which meant that she thought everything about him was adorable. He had soft black hair which was already sticking up on end, and he was sleeping contentedly, despite the commotion. There was a knock at the door, and Peter came in.



“Am I late?” he asked breathlessly.



“No, mate, the Wonderful One is still here. Speaking of which, stop crowding him!” James already seemed to be an oddly protective father.



“Oh, and Lily, I told them you were my twin so that they would let me in,” Peter whispered. They all burst out laughing, save for Peter, who looked confused.



A little while later, Harry had awoke, and everybody was crowded around Lily, who had him in her arms. He was quite content, and had grasped a lock of his mother’s hair in his hand. Two more people entered the room. Jack was holding a balloon, and Penny had a bunch of flowers.



“Hello,” Penny said, laying the flowers on Lily’s bedside table. “I thought I’d drop by, and so I called on Jack to see if he wanted to come too.”



“I brought a balloon!” Jack told them, grinning.



“Why?” asked James.



“Well, it made a lot of sense at the time ...” he muttered, thoughtfully, pushing his long locks out of his face.



“Please don’t say that you told them I was your triplet so that they would let you in,” Lily implored.



Penny snorted with laughter. “That’s ridiculous! Why would you think that? We said we were good friends, and they let us in no problem!”



Everybody’s mouths fell open at this. Jack and Penny burst into laughter. “Did you guys all say you were her twin, or something?” Jack gasped between laughs.



“Uh, yes,” Remus admitted. Penny and Jack fell into a new wave of laughter that was bordering on hysterical now. Tara began to chuckle too, followed by Remus, then Peter, then Lily and James. Finally, Sirius forgot his grief for a moment, and joined in, genuinely laughing for the first time. Suddenly, as clear as day, he saw Lola’s face break into a relieved smile. He knew this was because he had begun to head to some sort of normality again, just by being able to laugh with his friends over their own stupidity.



*~*~*



All the visitors had left except Sirius. Harry was sleeping again, and the three adults were talking.



“You know what the date is, don’t you? 31st of July,” Lily sighed. “The prophecy ... It could ... Our little baby might be the one to defeat Voldemort.”



“What about the Longbottom’s boy ... when was he born?” asked Sirius.



“Yesterday, I think. They called him Neville.”



“Neville Longbottom? That poor kid ...” James shook his head, sadly.



“Oh, get away with you, this is serious, James. I don’t want my son to defeat Voldemort! I don’t want him to ever come within 100 miles of him! Oh, James ... what if we’re killed, and we can’t protect him?” There was panic in her eyes. Sirius stepped in, quickly.



“Lily, you know that if anything happened to you, I would step right in. I promise, okay? I promise I’ll protect him.”



Lily smiled up at him. “I know you will.”



“But ... but only if we die, right? Which, let’s face it, may not happen. Right?” James looked worried.



“Come on, mate, you’re not going to die! Then you’d leave me on my own in this hell, and it would be hanging over your heads for eternity!”



“Sirius!” Lily cried, throwing herself at him. His eyes were wide, and he tentatively patted her on the back. “Oh, Sirius, you don’t deserve to have to go through all this! To see happy couples every day, and know that ... That L ... L ...”



“I know,” Sirius said, quickly. “But at least I still have you guys, right? I mean, without you both, I’d go completely mad and end up ... I dunno, Azkaban, probably.”



There was a gurgle the other side of the room, and Lily jumped up to take her son and rock him for a while. She passed him to Sirius.



“Say hello to your new Godfather, Harry,” Lily cooed.



“Godfather? Really?”



James grinned, “Unless you’d rather be his Godmother, but that might be a little weird, even for you. Hey, we could ask Jack to do that, I guess,” he said laughing, and the other two joined in.



“Godfather ...” Sirius muttered, waggling his fingers around Harry’s face. “I always wondered how it would feel to be a god of something ...”



Harry caught one of his mocking fingers, and smiled.



*~*~*



AN: Okay, I just about had a fit picturing little Baby Harry ... Didn’t you? I hope you liked this, please review! Then you can move on to Chapter 15, and either read it again (if you read it before I realised what I had done), or read it now, so you can understand. I hope you don't hate me about the whole thing.

Chapter 15: Foreshadowing

There was a spy. The whole Order knew it. They had once been so close �“ a tight band of good people, who wanted to change what was happening to their world. But lately, Voldemort seemed to be anticipating everything they did. Of course, there had been spies in the Ministry before, but never in the Order. Everyone was suspicious of everybody else. And if anyone was behaving differently than usual, then you couldn’t help but wonder. In fact, the thought of Remus crossed Sirius’s mind. Several times. Sirius, Lily and James had been planning for Sirius to be their Secret-Keeper the night before, and that night, Sirius had gone to Lily and James’s for dinner again, as he always did, and Remus and Tara joined them. There was something ... odd, about them both. In fact they seemed ... snappy at each other. Remus had said something like, “Sorry we’ve not been for a while, we’ve both been busy.”

And then Tara had rolled her eyes and muttered, “Whose fault is that? You’re always away on business!”

“Are you saying that it’s a bad thing? Sorry if I don’t want to waste my life!”

“I do not want to waste my life! I’m happy as I am, but you’re not, are you?”

And then, Lily had loudly announced something irrelevant, trying to change the subject. Remus and Tara had barely spoken the rest of the night. Sirius had thought that Remus’s “business” could have been with Voldemort, and Tara was suspicious, but didn’t know for sure. But he knew he should never have thought it �“ Remus was probably just working himself too hard, he always did it when things got tough �“ it was his way of dealing with things. But it was Voldemort again, making everybody suspicious of everybody else.

But somewhere inside, he decided not to trust him with anything. You could never be too sure when lives were at stake. And there was the werewolf thing. He had to admit, that a part of him thought that even though his friend was human most of the time, there was still something inside him. A kind of dark energy, that would make him just that bit more likely than others to turn to darkness.

Sirius, sighed as he got into bed. Voldemort was even getting between the Marauders. The four friends who had sworn to always stay together. To never betray each other. To never doubt each other.

There was nothing he could do.

*~*~*

Sirius woke up, and stretched. He shook his head, to get his hair out of his eyes, much like a dog does. Next, he had a quick shower, got dressed, had a rushed breakfast, and hurried downstairs to being preparing for the day. Everything was so easy living above your workplace.

He had half an hour to himself before Penny and Peter showed up (Jack, however, had a habit of taking 9:00 to mean 9:30).

It was a year and three months since Harry was born �“ almost exactly, as they were nearing the end of October. He couldn’t believe that the time had gone so fast.

He was in the corridor at the back of the shop, and entered the showroom at the front to begin preparing the stock for the day. He got the shock of his life when he opened the door to find someone waiting for him. She turned at the sound of him entering. The last time he had seen this woman, she was in full Death Eater uniform. Now, with her simple, yet elegant navy robes, she would blend into the crowd as easily as the next witch, nothing about her to suggest who her master was.

“Sirius,” she smiled, warmly. “I haven’t seen you in forever! Thought I’d pop over and have a little chat.”

“How did you get in, LaLa? The lock needs more than Alohomora, and an alarm should have gone off!”

“Well, first I broke your window. Then I broke your alarm. Then it got draughty, and I repaired the window. But not the alarm.”

He stepped closer to her, and stared at her, hard. “What do you want?”

She placed her hand on his cheek, and her voice softened. She smiled, mockingly, and murmured, “I just want to talk to you.”

“Like hell,” he hissed, grabbing her wrist and twisting away. “Now, don’t touch me again.” He let her go, and she brushed herself down.

She smiled. “Fair enough. Now tell me where the Potters are living.”

He snorted. “No! Did you think I’d just say it out loud like that?”

She shrugged. “Not particularly. I just wanted to be absolutely sure that you knew what I was here for.” She took out her wand, and twirled it round her fingers. “Do you want to do this here, or would you rather we went somewhere more private?”

“You’re not going to try and torture me, LaLa. You know I’d never betray my friends.”

“Why not? You betrayed your pathetic little girlfriend while we were in school. You remember ... You, me, a broom closet. Several, in fact.”

“And look how well that turned out. You’re evil, and I hate you,” Sirius scoffed.

“I’m not evil. Playing on the winning side doesn’t make you a bad person.”

“Okay, I’ll give you that. It’s all the murdering and torturing that contribute to that little label. But you know what? I don’t think you are evil. I think you’re absolutely terrified. Just because you’re winning, doesn’t strip you of a conscience. Are you going to deny that everything you’re a part of, doesn’t eat away at you? You’re not a bad person, LaLa, you weren’t even in Slytherin. You weren’t evil from the start. You were in Ravenclaw, you were intelligent; but somewhere in your life, something corrupted you. Something made you twisted. Maybe, that something was me. If it was, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. But you’re not evil.”

She seemed to wake from a trance that his words had put her into. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she spat.

“Don’t I? You shouldn’t lie to me, LaLa. I saw the way your eyes looked as I said all that. You realised I was right. And if you didn’t, why aren’t I dead, or being cursed right now?” He reached out, and took her wand easily from her hand. “You see? You’ve completely let your guard down. Because you realise now, that your side maybe the winning one, but it’s not the right one.”

There was silence for a minute, as they looked at each other. Sirius had fiery determination in his eyes, whereas LaLa looked worried. Finally, she looked away, and said something, “The first mission I was sent on was to kill the McKinnon family �“ all of them.”

“I remember,” Sirius told her, recalling the devastation, not long after they had left Hogwarts.

She continued, “I don’t even know why, I just know that they were on Dumbledore’s side. I’ve done so much more since then, but it’s that time that still haunts me. The very first time I took a life. I can still see the woman’s face �“ she must have only been in her twenties.”

Sirius didn’t want to hear it, it reminded him too much of Lola, but he knew she had to get it off her chest. He said nothing.

“And it haunts me, even now. Bella said everyone gets it sometimes, even she did, but it will pass. It never has.”

“Well, Bella can talk a lot of crap sometimes, none of it’s ever true. She’s always been a nasty bit of work �“ but you haven’t. The reason this woman’s face haunts you is because you know that being a murderer wasn’t you’re path �“ it’s not what you’re meant to do. Let me help you, LaLa, you’re in too deep. You’re not a killer.”

“But I am! I’ve killed people, that’s what makes you a killer, Sirius! Nothing can change that. And why would you want help me after all the things I’ve done? Wouldn’t you rather just kill me, or hand me to Dementors?”

“No I wouldn’t. Because we need all the people we can get on our side. Some people �“ like Bellatrix �“ will never be able to fight for the good side. But the ones who could, the ones who can find it in them to change sides, should come to us. Who knows? You change, and one more person might stay alive. Isn’t it worth it, just for that?”

LaLa almost looked persuaded. “But the people, the ones you fight alongside, they’ll all hate me. They won’t believe me.”

“You wouldn’t be the first Death Eater to do it,” Sirius told her, reluctantly thinking of Snape.

“I wouldn’t?”

“No. Now go upstairs and wait in my flat. Go to sleep or something, you can rest. Or help yourself to some food. Just don’t make too much noise.”

Her face began to crumple. “He’d kill me, Sirius. You know he would.”

“But at least you’d be killed for something that you know deep down is worth dying for. Anyway, I’ll try and protect you. We all will. But LaLa �“”

She bit her lip, nervously. “Yes?”

“You do this, and there’s no going back. Do you understand?”

She nodded, and left. He heard her go up the stairs. He checked his watch, alarmed to see that he had five minutes to set everything out. He began to run around like a madman, preparing the stock. He nearly jumped a mile when he heard a key turn in the lock.

“Hi!” Penny chirped, brightly. Peter followed her in. “Hey, aren’t you done yet? Need a hand?”

“Yeah, thanks. I had a visitor.”

“Oh, who?”

He stopped. He didn’t want to tell anyone about LaLa just yet. She wasn’t ready for people to start sniffing around her.

“No one important,” he muttered, turning away. She raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

*~*~*

By the end of the day, Sirius was worn out. He had spent it fretting and worrying, not able to steal even five minutes to check on his guest. Once Penny, Jack and Peter had finally left, and he had locked up, he raced upstairs.

“LaLa? LaLa? Are you okay? I’m sorry I couldn’t check on you, it was busy. Summer holidays, the kids all want new brooms.”

He found her on his sofa, holding a full cup of coffee, staring into space. He sat down next to her, and took it from her hands, not all that surprised to find it cold.

“How long have you been sitting here?”

“Three, maybe four hours. I’ve been thinking.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No. But ... but thanks for being so good to me. I don’t deserve it.”

They sat together in silence. Sirius was very conscience of her presence. Just her being there made him think about their history �“ how horribly things had gone when he was two-timing Tara. It may have been a long time ago now, but all the memories came surging up. These led to him thinking about Lola, something he usually tried not to do. Even over a year after her death, it was like a knife wound every time he thought about it all.

He looked at the time. Lily and James would be waiting for him. “LaLa, I have to �“”

She cut him off, throwing herself at him, and kissing him. For a moment he was merely bewildered, until he realised what was happening, and gently pushed her away. She looked as shocked as he felt.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to ... You were just sort of ... And so I ... I’m so sorry!”

“It doesn’t matter. But you know we would never work, you know that. I want to help you. It wouldn’t help. Nothing like that must ever �“”

“I know, I’m really sorry. I’m just so confused. Everything’s changed for me now �“ I hardly know what I’m doing.”

“It’s okay. We’ll talk, and try to work things out. But right now, I have to be somewhere.”

“Of course. But Sirius, could you not mention me to anyone? I want to get used to the idea myself, before I truly fight the Good Fight.”

“Okay. I’ll see you later. If you want to sleep, use my bed, or transfigure the sofa, it doesn’t matter. Whichever.”

She nodded, and he Disapparated, appearing in the Potter’s Living Room.

“Hey, Sirius. We were just coming to find you.”

“Sorry, something came up. Where’s my Godson? I’m usually being drooled on by now!” He looked offended that he wasn’t.

“He’s waiting in the Dining Room, you’re late!” she chastised, pushing him through. They sat down and began to eat.

“I had a visit today. From L �“ a Death Eater.”

James snapped his head up, “Who?”

“I ... didn’t see their face. They wanted to know about you, and where you live. I didn’t tell them �“ of course I didn’t �“ but it got me thinking. I mean, my being Secret-Keeper, it’s so obvious. They must have known it will be me straight away.”

“What’s your point?” asked James, while Lily fed a giggling Harry, but staring at Sirius so that she kept missing her son’s mouth.

“Why don’t we change it to someone less obvious?” Thoughts of his suspicions about Remus came to mind. “Like Peter? And if we pretend that I’m Secret-Keeper, tell no one, then they won’t know. I’ll look for a small house somewhere to move to, so that they think their visit scared me into going into hiding myself �“ it’s probably for the best anyway �“ and you can be Secret-Keeper for me. What do you say?”

“I dunno, Sirius. It’s risky �“ I don’t want to jeopardise Harry in any way at all,” Lily said.

“But this could keep him safer. No one will suspect Peter, and we can trust him.”

“You know, it’s actually a good plan,” James mused, thoughtfully.

“Shouldn’t we at least tell Dumbledore?” Lily asked. They continued to discuss the matter for some time, eventually agreeing to do the switch in two days time. In the meantime, Sirius would begin searching for a new home, somewhere more discreet that the flat above his workplace.

Harry managed to get more of his dinner on his face than in his mouth, giggling to himself, completely unaware of what was happening.

*~*~*

He got home to find LaLa curled up asleep on the sofa. Over the next few days, they talked things through, he arranged to move into a small, out of the way house, and Peter was switched to Secret-Keeper for Lily and James.

LaLa was making vast improvements �“ it would still be a couple of days before she could officially expose herself as a “good guy”, but every day she grew more confident with her new self. There hadn’t been any hint of an incident like the one on her first night, and Sirius was grateful �“ things were confusing enough. He walked in after work to find a tempting smell wafting from the kitchen. Picking his way over cardboard boxes, he found her making some pasta.

“Cooking? That’s new.”

“I feel so bad about staying here and not paying my way, so I thought I’d make some dinner for us both. Do you mind?”

“Well ... no, I guess not. Thanks.”

“I know you usually go to your friends, but I thought that for just one night ...”

“Yeah. Sure. Can I help?”

“Nope, I think everything’s �“ Merlin, what was that?” Sirius was already running towards the sound of a large bang in his living room. Around twenty Death Eaters were waiting for him.

“Sirius, cousin dearest, we’ve been dancing about far too long, with messages, and warnings. It’s time you had a word with the man who makes it all happen,” It was quite clear who was under the mask.

“What’s going on?” LaLa came running out of the Kitchen. Bellatrix raised her eyebrows at the sight of her former friend, but said nothing. LaLa, however, looked terrified.

“Well, well, we’ve been looking everywhere for you. We presumed you had duelled with Sirius on your mission, and lost. But please don’t tell me you actually started LIVING with him. Well, no matter. The Dark Lord will be ... interested to find out where you went, won’t he? Right then, stun them, and tie them both up.”

Sirius looked around wildly. There were too many to fight, too many stunning spells to dodge. Besides, everything had already gone black.

AN: Cliffie alert! Sorry! What do you think of LaLa’s change of heart? Did it surprise you? Review, and let me know!

Chapter 16: A Broken Home

Sirius awoke, chained to a damp brick wall. He felt a little dozy, and his first thought was, This is a little clichéd for a prisoner isn’t it? After that, they rapidly got more and more panicked and urgent. Voldemort was there, and smiled maliciously as he began to twist his head around, searching for escape routes, counting how many people he would have to fight, and trying to get an idea of where he was. James, being an Auror, had given a lecture to the Order one meeting about what to do in a situation like this. He saw one, heavily bolted door (it was probably magically sealed too), counted seven Death Eaters in the room, plus Voldemort, but he had no idea where he was. Dark, dank room. No windows, so possibly underground, he thought to himself. Not much to go on.

“Sirius Black. How have you been?” Voldemort asked, as he reached slowly for his wand.

“Just dandy, Voldepants. And you? You’re looking peaky.”

“Where the Potters?”

“With the Pixie Queen Dandelion. Anything else?”

“Crucio!” Voldemort hissed. Sirius yelled out in pain, writhing as much as his chains would allow. Voldemort lifted the curse. Sirius spat at him.

Someone entered through the door. Sirius craned to see what might lie behind it, but there was just a corridor. He moved his attention to the person. Or persons.

Bellatrix was dragging LaLa behind her, who was tied up with ropes.

“LaLa,” Voldemort said, turning to her. Now that he was not the centre of attention, Sirius tried to get out of his chains, but they were magically sealed to the wall, giving him no chance.

“She tried to escape,” he heard Bellatrix say, but he didn’t look round, having noticed that the Death Eater nearest to him had a wand sticking out of his pocket. If he could just reach it ...

“Oh, really? But you and I used to be friends, LaLa. You can’t have gone off me so suddenly. Unless of course you were brainwashed.” Voldemort whipped around again, to see Sirius leaning towards the careless Death Eater as much as his restraints would allow. “Macnair, be more careful about where you keep your wand. And Black, I wouldn’t try it. There’s only one way you’re getting out alive, and that’s if you tell me where the Potters are.”

“Right on one count, there is only one way I can get out. But you’ll kill me if I tell you or not, you won’t let me walk out here. Not after all the trouble I’ve caused. The only way out is if I kill you all.”

“And since that won’t happen with no wand, then you might as well tell me, and die quickly.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Crucio,” Voldemort said, simply, and Sirius was filled with pain again. LaLa tried to escape, to stop her old master, but it was no use.

“Let her go,” Sirius hissed at him when the spell lifted and he gathered some strength. “What’s one Death Eater to you?”

“Black, you are absolutely right. Her life means nothing to me. I could let her go. But then again, I could just flick my wand, and ... she would no longer trouble me.”

“No. No way. Let her go free! She can’t tell you anything, just let her �“”

He casually pointed his wand at LaLa. “Avada Kedavra. You see, Sirius, I don’t do what you tell me to. It’s the other way around. So, tell me, where is the Potter family hiding?”

“Go to hell!” Sirius yelled with all his might. He wouldn’t let on that he couldn’t tell Voldemort anyway, as they had changed who would be Secret-Keeper. But at least it would protect Peter for now. He also wouldn’t let himself look at the ground. He kept his eyes on Voldemort, and tried to ignore the figure lying on the floor in the corner of his eye.

There was a knock on the large door. Voldemort nodded his head at Bellatrix, who sneered at Sirius, and went to see the person behind it.

“How do you know it’s not the Order, come to get me back?” asked Sirius, trying to play a kind of mind game on Voldemort.

“Because they do not know that you have even been taken, let alone where we are.”

“They’re smarter than you think.”

“Undoubtedly, but not quite smart enough. And anyway, behind that door is one of my followers.”

The door opened, to reveal a slightly plump man, Sirius’s age, with watery eyes.

“You see! It’s Peter! I told you the Order knew where I was!”

Everyone in the room began to laugh, except Sirius (and Peter, who looked shamefully at the ground).

“Peter?” Sirius said to his friend.

“Peter, Peter!” Bellatrix mimicked. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you saving me gallantly?”

Peter seemed to have decided to ignore them both, and instead moved towards Voldemort. He bowed, and then stood again. “I have information. The Potters. They live at �“”

“Peter, no! They’re your friends, what are you doing? Lily and James! Little baby Harry!”

Peter wavered, but pretended not to hear. He ploughed on defiantly, although there was a new tremor in his voice. “They’re at Godric’s Hollow.”

“No! Peter you �“” There was a long string of swear words, which finally ended with, “�“ man-whore!”

“Man-whore?” asked Bellatrix, seemingly impressed at this inventiveness during such circumstances.

“You are sure? How do you know? This worthless filth is their Secret-Keeper!” Voldemort indicated Sirius.

“Damn right I am! The most secret, Secret-Keeper there ever was! Don’t listen to him, he’s always been stupid!”

Peter winced, but still ignored him. “They changed it to me two days ago, and this is the first opportunity I had to come and tell you. I’m sorry I was late, Master.”

“Well, let us go. Macnair, Crabbe and Goyle, you stay here to watch the impostor Secret-Keeper, I’ll be back to kill him later. Just be sure he doesn’t escape while I go and kill his friends.”

They had soon all gone, and Sirius was left alone with the three. They didn’t stay anything, just stood, watching him try to escape his chains. Eventually, the energy seemed to just deflate from him. He kept remembering all the times as a Marauder. And now look. James was probably going to die. Peter was evil. He had been falsely suspicious of Remus. And he was chained to a wall, Merlin only knew where.

How could he have been suspicious of Remus, when Peter was clearly the most likely to be a spy? And after all they had done for him.

He got an idea. “Hey, you,” he said to one of the Death Eaters. It was Crabbe, who looked up at him. “Yeah. You. Listen, since I’m going to die anyway, is there a chance you could reach the little hand mirror in my pocket, and hold it in front of my face? I want to go out looking good. You know?”

Crabbe looked at him like he was insane. Well, desperation can do that to people.

“No? Come on, I won’t do anything funny. I really am as vain as the rumours say, you see, and I just want to be doubly sure that I die looking the best I can.”

Crabbe turned away. It was no use. But he got another idea. It was so simple, he was almost disgusted with himself for not thinking of it sooner. But he would do all that bit later, once he was free.

He transformed into a dog, and easily slipped out of the cuffs tying him to the wall. None of the Death Eaters were watching him, so surprise was on his side as he leapt, and bit the closest. He transformed back into himself, stole the wand of the fallen Death Eater, who was rolling around in agony, and stunned all three of them.

The rest was going to be easy.

*~*~*

His old flying motorbike was in the courtyard at the back of the shop. He used to ride it all the time when Lola was alive, to take her on the back of it. And when she died, he sometimes took it out to try and forget all his pain as he flew through the clouds. Sometimes it worked, but when he came back down, and everything came back to him, it hit him twice as hard. It had been sitting unused for a long time, but he decided that he would use it now to go to the Potter’s. If they were injured, or if he had to take Harry to safety, he didn’t really want to side-along apparate.

The journey seemed to go by in a flash. It was dark, and cold �“ after all, it was the end of October. But when he reached Godric’s Hollow, there was nothing but ruins. He slid off the bike, and could feel himself shaking. But maybe, there would be a chance ... They could have escaped ...

He saw a huge figure emerging from the clouds of dust. He could tell it was the Gamekeeper of Hogwarts, Hagrid. None of it made sense. All he could hear was a loud buzzing noise inside his head.

“Sirius Black?”

“Hagrid. Hagrid, what happened? Where are they? What about Harry?”

“I’ve got ‘im. But as fer Lily an’ James ...”

Sirius fell backwards, the motorbike catching his fall. Hagrid went over and comforted him for a while. Eventually, some sense sank, slowly into his mind. He had promised Lily that he would protect Harry if anything happened to them. He remembered the look of relief on Lily’s face, how she’d calmed at his words, like she completely trusted him. He wasn’t giving in now.

“Harry. Give him to me, Hagrid. I’m his Godfather, I’ll look after him.”

“No. Dumbledore’s orders, I’m afraid. He’s ter go ter his aunt an’ uncle’s.”

“Please, Hagrid. You can’t mean Lily’s sister? She hates them both, it’s not what they would have wanted. Hagrid, please.”

“I’m sorry, I really am. But it’s Dumbledore’s orders. An’ I can’t go back on ‘em.”

Sirius knew it was no use. But there was one thing he could do to help. “Take my bike. I won’t need it any more.”

He disapparated to wherever Peter might be.

*~*~*

Sirius appeared in a small alley. He looked around. Peter wasn’t here. Instead he ran towards the main street that it led to, and sure enough, he could see the traitor’s retreating back.

It didn’t take long to catch up, and he grabbed him by the back of his robes, then pinned him against the wall. Muggles were staring. Sirius took out his wand, and pointed it a Peter Pettigrew’s heart, ready to kill. It didn’t matter about the consequences.

Peter chuckled. “You found me, then.”

“You murdered Lily and James. They were your friends. They had a son �“ a fifteen month old son, Peter. He’ll never know his parents, because of you.”

“And you’re going to kill me?”

“Damn right I am,” Sirius spat, but as he spoke words from long ago drifted into his mind.

You’re not a murderer, Sirius. Keep it that way. It was what Lily had said to him, after taking him away from Bellatrix when Lola was killed. The thought of Lola, of Lily, of James, or what would become of Harry’s future was too much. He began to lower his wand, only slightly.

“Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?” Peter cried, noticing this weakness. There was an Earth-Shaking explosion behind them, Peter took out a dagger in his pocket, and cut off his finger, then transformed and scurried away.

Sirius swivelled round, wand still in hand, surveying the chaos. Bodies of Muggles. Surviving Muggles screaming. And all because of little Peter.

***

“And you, rodent boy? Who are you?”

“Peter Pettigrew, sir,” the boy squeaked, hoping that Sirius would like him too.

“Well, you’ll do I suppose!”

***

“Um, I don’t really like any girls yet. Like I said, I don’t see the rush,” he muttered, looking away.

“Me neither! Girls are boring. And they smell like flowers,” Peter said, supporting Remus, before James or Sirius could jump in and start chastising all over the place.

***

Peter arrived on time, and soon he was being introduced to Mrs Potter as well. Peter, however, was apparently not too thin for his age, Mrs Potter subtly didn’t give him quite as much to eat as Sirius.

***

“So, you think he’s lying to us? Why would he do that?” Peter asked. “He’s our friend.”

“Well, maybe he’s embarrassed,” James suggested. “Once a month, right? What kind of things can happen monthly?”

“My mum gets really moody about once a month,” Peter said. James started coughing and Sirius quickly cut in.

“I don’t think that has anything to do with it.”

***

After a couple of minutes of small talk, Peter blurted out, “Remus, are you in an evil organisation?”

***

“It’ll be fantastic!” Peter exclaimed, almost jumping up and down. “Hey, do you know what would be great?”

“If you could snort chocolate from your nostrils?” suggested Sirius. Remus and James spluttered with laughter.

“No,” Peter said, matter-of-factly, “if we had nicknames to do with our animals.”

James grinned. “Hey, that’s a great idea! You can be called Ratty, I can be called Staggy, Sirius �“ Doggy, and Remus, Wolfy!”

***

James sighed. “It’s so weird. What are we meant to do with our spare time?”

“I think it’s traditional to get a job,” Remus stated. Sirius, James and Peter stared at him.

“What do you mean?” Peter asked. Lola smacked her hand on her forehead, but Lily just looked exasperated.

***

“You mean I was attracted to a man?” asked Peter, looking horrified.

“Peter, there are some things in life that you just don’t admit,” James said, laughingly patting him on the shoulder.

***

“Okay. I think you have a problem here. Is this about that fight last month that you’ve been itchy from ever since?”

“No, Jack, I just can’t decide what to have for my lunch,” he said, sarcastically.

“Well, I always say that a cheese and pickle sandwich hits the spot perfectly,” Peter piped up.

“Wormtail, once again, your mouth is open, words are coming out, but I really don’t think anyone’s inside that head of yours.”

***

And now he had betrayed two of his closest friends. And, Sirius realised, as Ministry officials apparated all around him, he had successfully pinned the whole thing �“ as well as the murders of about thirteen Muggles �“ on him, Sirius.

He began to laugh.

*~*~*

AN: Well, that’s it. They’re dead. Peter has gone. Sirius has been captured. Three guesses what the next chapter is about. But the way, the little “Peter-montage” was to show that even though he’s evil in the end, Peter hadn’t used to be. He was a bit of a tool, but I think, reading back on those quotes, he was a loveable tool. Until he went evil, of course. Anyway, that’s what I was trying to prove there. Please review.

And for some blatant advertising, I have a new one shot up in the Other Pairings called "Azkaban Mistry"! It starts with Sirius being put in Azkaban, but is NOT part of this fic - it is a completely different story. What happens in that does NOT happen in this.

Chapter 17: A Prisoner

I’m innocent.

Sirius stared straight ahead inside his cell. He knew every brick, every bar, every mark he had carved. After all, he had been here for over ten years. For most of the time he was a dog. But other times, like now, he was himself. His matted hair and beard tickled slightly, but he didn’t have any way to cut it. And Lily and James had died.

I’m innocent.

Nearly twelve years was a long time. Harry had been one when Sirius was arrested. He would be almost thirteen now. Almost a teenager. Sirius, his Godfather, had missed it all. Maybe Harry didn’t even know that he had a Godfather. Maybe Harry had been turned evil by his aunt and uncle, and was in Slytherin.

I’m innocent.

What if Harry wasn’t at Hogwarts at all? What if Harry was still at his aunt and uncle’s, unaware that he was a wizard? And then, Sirius wondered, what if he never knew that Sirius had ever existed? If someone said, “Have you heard of Sirius Black?” Harry would reply, “Who?”. And Lily and James had died.

I’m innocent.

He couldn’t even remember their faces. All he could remember was that they had been his best friends, the most wonderful people he had met, and now they had died. And people thought he had done it. Remus would think he had done it. How many times had Remus cursed his name? Did he really think that Sirius could have done that to them, deep down?

I’m innocent.

What could have happened to Remus? He and Tara would have broke up, he was sure. Or maybe that was the Dementors making him think like that. But Sirius had a feeling that he was right. Remus would blame him, of course. Tara wouldn’t be able to cope losing her best friend after Lola, Remus wouldn’t be able to cope with losing all three of his best friends in forty-eight hours. They would have decided to go their separate ways. It was what people did when things got really hard. They pushed everyone away, and tried to deal with it alone.

I’m innocent.

In a week, Harry would be thirteen. Sirius wanted to see him so badly, that it ached. Did he look like James, or did he look like Lily? Did he look like James’s parents, maybe? They were dead too. Or did he have some of Lily’s parents in him? He had only met them a couple of times, but they had seemed like good people. They were dead now.

I’m innocent.

How could he get to see Harry? It was the thing he most wanted. But he didn’t have a hope of ever seeing his Godson. There was no hope left. He was stuck in this dark, dank cell. Something was dripping. Someone was walking down the aisle in between the cells. That wasn’t something you heard very often.

I’m innocent.

Sirius moved forwards to see who it was. Fudge. Inspecting, probably. It happened sometimes. He stopped outside Sirius’s cell.

“Hello, Minister,” Sirius said, croakily.

“Ah, yes, hello, Black.”

“Are you done with that paper? I miss doing the crosswords, you see.” It was true, but mainly he just wanted to scour the paper for information on what was happening in the outside world.

Fudge looked baffled. “Well, alright, I don’t see why not. You’ve surprised me, Black, I must say.” He walked off.

I’m innocent.

Sirius looked down at the paper. He began to read it avidly. However, there was nothing really of much interest. When he reached a story about a family winning some money and going to Egypt, he gave up hope. He tossed the paper aside. Of course he had got the useless paper, the one filled with unimportant waffle. But at least if there wasn’t too much bad news, then nothing too terrible could be happening to the outside world.

I’m innocent.

The family were waving up at him, distractingly. He picked the paper back up. It was the Weasleys. The children all looked so grown up. At least the Weasleys had had some good news. Sirius hadn’t known them too well, but they seemed like a nice family. Sirius read the article. It mentioned that a lot of the children were returning to Hogwarts in the summer. The youngest boy, Ron, looked as if he would be in Harry’s year. Sirius looked at him carefully. A friend of Harry’s?

It was then that he got the biggest shock for about twelve years. Peter was in the picture. As a rat. It was definitely him. There was even a toe missing, where he had cut off his own finger. And he looked as if he was pretending to be the young boys pet.

He’s at Hogwarts.

If he was at Hogwarts, then Harry was in danger. If Harry was in danger, then he, Sirius, would have to help him. He could escape. He could find Harry, find Peter, and do the two things he had wanted to do for twelve years. He could see Harry, and he could kill Peter. All he had to do was escape. Something had clicked inside him. He knew what to do, and how to do it.

He’s at Hogwarts.

*~*~*

Sirius ran and ran. Being in dog form made him quick, whether he was starving or not. Which he was. But at least he could slip through the bars. He jumped into the icy sea. He swam, and swam. It couldn’t be too far to land. He could already see it on the horizon. All he had to do was carry on swimming.

And eventually, he made it. It took him a while to find civilisation, and by that time, he was shaking with hunger. It was nearing late at night, but a little boy was playing in a garden, and spotted him.

“Mummy, mummy, it’s a doggy! Look how skinny it is, Mummy!”

Sirius knew an opportunity when he saw one.

“Benny, come back inside!” the boys mother called.

“But Mummy, the doggy!”

Sirius tried to look even more hungry. The boy’s mother came out of the house. She did a double take when she saw Sirius. “Oh my goodness,” she muttered, before hurrying inside again. She came back out with a plate of leftover chicken, still on the bone. Sirius devoured it, gratefully.

“Oh, Mummy, look! Can we keep him?” the boy asked, when Sirius had nearly finished. He looked up. That couldn’t happen. He had to find Harry. He came up to Benny, licked his face appreciatively, nuzzled his nose into the mothers palm, and ran away.

He knew where he had to be, and if he found somewhere isolated, he could apparate without being seen. But first he wanted to find Harry. Just to see him.

He and James had visited Lily at Privet Drive long ago. If they weren’t there, he supposed he would have to just go to Hogwarts and wait there. But if they were there ... What? What will I do? He shook his head. It didn’t matter. He would find that out as it happened. He disapparated to Little Whinging, and appeared on a street. He looked around, hoping he was in the right place, searching for a street sign.

Suddenly, he saw a boy, dragging a trunk angrily, muttering to himself. It was dark, but Sirius’s spirits lifted in hope. The boy went under a street lamp, and it was clear that it was James’s son. Sirius nearly fell over in shock at the similarity. But he stayed in the shadows, and followed Harry until he collapsed onto a low wall. The street was called Magnolia Crescent. Sirius was in a gap between a garage and a fence, watching him. It looked like he would need a place to go �“ he had evidently left his aunt and uncle for something. After about ten minutes, Harry began searching through his trunk looking for something. Sirius was so enchanted, that he moved a little, trying to see his face again.

Harry looked up, and Sirius shrank back. Harry went back to his things for a moment, and then stood up, his hand clenched around his wand. He was staring at Sirius, but it was too dark to be seen properly. Especially when he looked like a large black dog.

“Lumos,” Harry muttered. Sirius was blinded by the light, but it didn’t last long. Harry stepped backwards, tripped over his trunk, and landed in the gutter. There was a bang as the Knight Bus appeared. Sirius knew that he would be safe for now, and slipped away.

As he wandered the streets, he found a newspaper. It was a Muggle one, but anything was better than nothing. Sirius transformed into a man briefly, picked it up, and retreated into the shadows with it. He scanned the headline. Something about an escaped prisoner. What a coincidence, he thought. Which was followed by, Oh, Merlin, that’s me!

He quickly turned back into a dog. If Muggles were looking for him too, then he would have to stay hidden like this all the time.

In that case, Sirius thought to himself, Let the chase begin.

*~*~*

AN: Sorry it’s so short! But they probably will be from now on, since we know what happens. I’ll try and make it still worth reading, though. Please review!

Disclaimer: A lot of the plot from here on will be very similar to books 3-5. Although I have tried to make the following chapters different, please remember that this all belongs to JK Rowling. I have taken some direct quotes, but you’ll probably recognise them. Please keep in mind that it is not all mine. I will put stars next to the direct quotes, and make a footnote at the bottom of where they came from (or this probably won’t be accepted). Thank you.

Chapter 18: Harry

It was October, and he had a plan to get Peter once and for all.

Getting inside the castle would be easy. Everyone would be inside at the Halloween feast. The Dementors wouldn’t know that he was a dog. After that ... well, he’d work it out from there.

Sirius transformed and began to leave the Shrieking Shack, where he had been living for the past couple of months, since he got there. He travelled along the tunnel, and pulled himself out onto the grounds. The big ginger cat he had become friends with was waiting. It purred as he approached. He sniffed at it in reply. They slipped past each other, and he entered the castle, shivering as he passed the Dementors. But they did nothing.

Once he was nearing Gryffindor tower, he transformed back into himself. Most of the portraits were asleep, including the Fat Lady’s. The sight of her snoozing made the corners of his mouth twitch reminiscently. He’d been doing that a lot, lately.

“Ahem,” he said loudly. She opened one eye blearily, obviously about to put on a show of being affronted. But both eyes snapped open straight away when she realised who it was.

“You shouldn’t be here,” she told him accusingly.

“Well, a lot of people shouldn’t be a lot of things. Can you just let me in?”

“Not without the password.”

A password. How could he have forgotten? He was so caught up in his plan, that it had slipped his mind completely. He cursed himself. How long would he have? He had planned on escaping out the window, so he didn’t have to leave the way he’d come. Did he still have some of that Sirius Black charm, he wondered? “I ... look, just let me in, I won’t be long,” he assured her, smiling. He remembered what he had seen last time he looked in the mirror, and his hope suddenly crushed. He knew what the answer was, before she even said it. The fact that she did say it just made his blood begin to boil.

“I don’t think so. You never were much good at planning ahead, were you, Sirius? You know, I’ve been hearing things about you. Azkaban? I wouldn’t have thought it of you, you were always very careful you didn’t get caught.”

“Are you going to let me in, or not?” he growled, getting more and more aggravated with her. He had to be in there by now. He had to be leaving by now, or he’d end up back in Azkaban, and this time they would be doubly sure that he would never see daylight again.

“Not without the password, no,” she said, primly, patting he hair in a manner that made it clear she was getting bored of him.

It was all too much. He let out a cry of anger, and tore at the canvas in frustration. Peter was still free, and he could get to Harry any time he wanted. How was he supposed to protect Harry like he’d promised if people wouldn’t cooperate? Were they all brain dead? Wasn’t it blindingly obvious that he would never have gone over to Voldemort? Surely Dumbledore could see that? Surely everyone who had ever met him could see that? The Fat Lady shrieked, and fled the portrait in terror. He felt immediately guilty, but it was too late. He turned around to see Peeves, doubled over, gasping with laughter.

“What do you want, Peeves?” he hissed. He needed to be going. All that shrieking was beginning to wake up the portraits.

“Welcome back, Sirius Black. I’ve missed you and your friends terribly ... no one here is nearly as inventive. I’ve had to cause all the mayhem myself. Well, those Weasley twins have helped a little, but there are only two of them ...”

“I need to go, Peeves, I’m sorry.”

“Sirius Black, Sirius Black, always in a hurry, is Sirius Black!”

Sirius ignored him, running past him until he was out of sight.

“Someone’s been a naughty boy!” he heard Peeves cackle after him. He groaned, and transformed into a dog. He ran out of the castle, and back to the Shrieking Shack. Once he was inside, he found the big ginger cat waiting. He needed a new way inside Hogwarts.

“Hey, do you know of a scabby rat in Gryffindor Tower?” he asked it stroking its head. Mentally, he shook himself. It was a cat, not a spy. It looked up at him, and purred. He smiled half heartedly. “Try and do your best to bring him to me, hmm?”

The cat meowed, and its eyes sparkled.

*~*~*

There was an atmosphere that Sirius knew only a Quidditch match could bring. He had been cooped up for so long, and this could be just what he needed �“ it was a long shot, but Harry might even be playing. The way things have been going lately, though, it’s not likely, he thought resignedly.

He was skirting the edges of the seating. He could see that the back row was mostly empty. A perfect place to watch without being noticed.

The weather was terrible, but Sirius could just make out that it was Gryffindor and Hufflepuff playing. Someone flew past him, not noticing that he was there. But Sirius saw him.

It was Harry.

From then on, Sirius could barely keep his eyes off the blur of red that was his godson. He flew well, even in these conditions. Sirius couldn’t help feeling proud, yet sad at the same time, reminiscent of when he and James were on the team. Maybe James was over-competitive, and maybe he himself got overly violent sometimes, and very often a game against Slytherin got nasty, but it was almost always in good fun and spirit. And they could certainly always laugh about it later.

The weather was getting worse by the minute. And suddenly, Sirius started shivering. No one else had noticed it yet, they were caught up in the heat of the game. But he had lived with this cold for twelve years, and when it was near, he felt it. It wouldn’t be long until everyone else did, too.

Harry was nearing the Snitch. The crowd was roaring. Sirius saw his godson wavering slightly in his flight, and knew he felt it too. There was a clap of thunder, and their eyes connected.

The next thing he knew, Harry was falling gracefully through the sky. People began to scream. Sirius tried to get to him, but they were blocking his route down. There was a flash of light. Sirius caught a glimpse of Dumbledore, slowing Harry down, picking him out of the sky. He was angry �“ Sirius couldn’t recall seeing him so enraged before, although he had come close. But Harry was safe, and that was all Sirius cared about. A thought occurred to him, and he looked around for Harry’s broomstick �“ only to see it crash into the Whomping Willow, and get smashed to splinters.

At least I know what to get him for a Christmas present.

*~*~*

Time went by. Christmas passed, and he sent Harry the best broom there was �“ without a note, but he still felt a little better knowing that his gift would probably make up for the other times he’d missed. The cat, he decided, was no ordinary cat, and had been able to get the Firebolt for him relatively easily. He marvelled at it, and it often told him of how it had tried to frighten Peter for him. Sirius liked hearing this, but knew that more needed to be done. He was still no closer to actually finding the rat. It agitated him, knowing that vermin like that walked free �“ scampered free, technically �“ and yet he was living in a haunted shack for fear of his life, and had to change into a dog if ever he needed fresh air. And he was the innocent one.

It was a Gryffindor match that day, but Sirius decided not to risk it this time. He had been reduced into a melancholy of hopelessness, and rarely bothered to go outside anymore. The only communication with another living thing he had had in the last few months had been with a cat. A very intelligent one, but it was still a cat.

Speaking of which… It slunk around the door now. Sirius glanced over, but didn’t watch it for too long. He was slumped in an armchair that had been torn to shreds by Remus years ago, and couldn’t muster the enthusiasm to get up. Until the cat jumped on his lap, claws digging in.

“Aaargh!” he screamed, and it jumped down. But at least he was alert now. Alert enough to notice the piece of paper in its mouth. He took it, since it must have been important to warrant the new punctures in his leg. There was a title scribbled at the top.

‘This Week’s Gryffindor Passwords’

Sirius’s mouth dropped open. He looked at the cat, which was licking its paws, innocently.

“Are you really that smart? Or is it just a fluke?”

The cat went right on licking its paws.

He left in the middle of the night. He would be able to get to the Dormitory and steal Wormtail away. Just one slash of a knife, and it would all be over. He could use the rat as proof of his innocence, and Harry would be safe. He would be able to keep his promise. He could even ask Harry to move in with him �“ they could live together, like James would have wanted. It would be like having his best friend back ...

He had the knife. He made it to the third year boys’ dormitory undetected, and all seemed to be asleep. He started checking through the curtains of the four posters for the boy Ron, with the Weasley red hair. He reached Harry’s bed first. The boy seemed to be having some kind of nightmare. Sirius slipped away, moving on to the bed next to him. As he stood before it, memories of Peter, of Lily and James, of all that had happened came rushing back. In a sudden fit of frustration and anger, he tore at the curtains with the knife. Ron’s eyes opened. A look of horror and fear appeared on his face, when he had looked so peaceful a moment before. For a second, they stared at one another in shock. Then Ron’s eyes flicked to the knife in his hand, and all of a sudden, he let out a long, loud yell. Sirius fled, knowing it was his only choice. Already the other boys were sitting up, Harry included.

He ran as fast as he could, knowing that he would be caught for sure if he didn’t flee. He transformed as he ran, and bolted past the Dementors so fast, he barely felt their cold.

He scrabbled under the Whomping Willow, and didn’t stop until he had collapsed in a heap onto the old armchair. As the adrenaline seeped away from him, one thought penetrated his mind.

Foiled again.

*~*~*

Sirius was running out of hope. He had tried and failed so many times to capture Peter, and he was beginning to think that what he had set out to do was impossible. The cat had told him that Peter had left blood on the sheets, and disappeared. Sirius was sure that Peter had actually just started feeling the heat, faked his own death again, and ran away, even from the safety of Ron Weasley. Peter was smarter than they had taken him for. Or maybe just twisted, thought Sirius dryly.

He knew he didn’t have long left �“ the year was drawing to a close. How could he have been here for a year and achieved nothing? He hadn’t even spoken to Harry �“ who, if he was anything like James, he would know somehow that Sirius was his Godfather. And if he was anything at all like any of the Marauders �“ well, probably not Peter �“ then he would also be determined to find Sirius and kill him for what he thought he had done.

He decided to walk around the grounds for a bit �“ he had a feeling that a curfew had been put on the school because of him �“ If only they knew I’ve had been living a mere mile from them all along �“ so the chances of him running into anyone were slim. He transformed, and took the familiar journey down the long tunnel.

He poked his head out. Ron Weasley appeared from nowhere tearing after the rat �“ Peter. He seemed to be calling it ‘Scabbers’. The cat was there too, attacking Ron as well as Peter in an attempt to get at him. Sirius simply stood there in shock. Harry and another girl their age appeared too, running over to Ron, who was rolling on the floor, trying to free himself from the cat, and keep ‘Scabbers’ still.

*“Ron �“ come on �“ back under the Cloak �“ Dumbledore �“ the Minister �“ they’ll be coming back out in a minute �“”*

Ah, the cloak. Of course. I had wondered what happened to that. Sirius thought. And then he sprang into action. He wasn’t entirely sure how it happened, but before he knew it, he was dragging Ron by the arm back into the tunnel, knowing that he would be taking Peter with him. Harry and the girl would follow, he was sure. He could explain himself to Harry. Give him the truth, let him see past the lies that there were about him. He was so desperate, he was getting even more reckless.

He placed Ron carefully on a bed �“ his leg looked broken. He transformed back into himself, and waited for Harry and the girl, while Ron threatened him feebly. But Sirius could tell the boy was in pain. Not long now ...

They came. Ron whimpered that it was a trap. Harry looked him in the eye, and it was clear he was convinced that he had killed Lily and James. He also said that Sirius was going to try and kill him, Harry, too. Sirius was hurt, but not entirely surprised. Of course that’s what the Ministry would have thought. Eventually, Harry tried to attack him, in a complete rage. This was almost too much for Sirius, who found himself grabbing the boys’ throat, his thoughts wild, none of them connecting. But then, the girl kicked at him, and he let go, suddenly realising what he was doing. But soon, Harry was standing over him, wand pointing at his chest. There was such hatred in the boy’s eyes that Sirius lost all the feeling of wanting to live. Lily’s eyes, looking at him, filled with such hate ... with the desire to kill.

But then, something wonderful happened. They managed to talk. Remus appeared �“ he had apparently been teaching there all along that year. Snape also came, as ugly and greasy as Sirius remembered, but he didn’t last long. Sirius was particularly impressed with Harry’s talents in dealing with what was apparently his Potions teacher. James would have been proud, he was sure.

Eventually, they were able to change the rat back into Peter �“ probably for the first time in thirteen years. When Harry and the others finally believed him, Sirius and Remus were all set to kill Peter there and then.

It was surreal to see Remus there, so old looking. He was greying, and tired looking. Although, Sirius doubted that he looked like Remus remembered him, either. They kept sneaking subtle glances at each other, in pure amazement. What had happened to the four innocent young boys? One dead, one responsible for it, and the other two about to be murderers themselves. It seemed at that point that James was the only one who was still innocent. Ironic, really.

*“He would have killed me, Sirius,”* Peter had whimpered in excuse, and something inside him had snapped.

*“THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!”* he had roared, all the emotion from thirteen years suddenly spilling out. *“DIED, RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS! AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!”* The thought that this was true �“ he would have given his own life for this pitiful creature claiming to be a man �“ had sickened him.

Remus, always the calm one, even when about to become a murderer, had softly said to Peter, *“You should have realised, if Voldemort didn’t kill you, we would.”* He paused for a moment, and took a deep breath. Harry had looked torn, as Remus said, *“Goodbye, Peter.”*

And now, they were raising their wands towards the man who had once been a close friend. The girl �“ Hermione �“ turned away.

But Harry stopped them. Sirius had known deep down that he would have, but he still argued his case a little longer. Harry stood firm, saying that they would take Peter to the Dementors. He was so like James, Sirius suddenly thought that it really was his best friend. But the eyes �“ they were sweet little Lily’s. He missed her, too. She was always so rational, but at the same time, she had a fun nature about her. He missed them all, and wondered dimly what ever happened to Tara. He could find out later �“ when he was finally free.

They tied Peter up, and began to leave the Shrieking Shack, heading for Hogwarts. Sirius walked with Harry, and couldn’t remember being that happy in a long time. He asked Harry to consider living with him, and was delighted at how eager the teenager seemed. He could see it in his mind, and was so happy at the thought, it was almost surreal.

But then the full moon made its presence known. And Sirius knew it wasn’t over yet.

*~*~*

He woke up in a small office. It took a moment for his memory to come back to him. And then he remembered. He had had to fight Remus-the-wolf. He had done this in his teens, but always had a large stag with a lot of brute force to help him. But on his own, he was overpowered. Peter had transformed, and escaped into the forest. Dementors had come. He had tried to fight, but ...

And now he was here. Something must have drove them back for a while, but if he was in what appeared to be Flitwick’s office (he had gotten to know the offices of all the heads of houses quite well during his time at Hogwarts) that meant that they were probably on their way to give him the Kiss soon anyway. Bugger.

There was a knock on the door, and Dumbledore entered. Sirius was extremely surprised. He stood up quickly. “Professor �“”

Dumbledore raised a hand to silence him. “What I would like, Black, is for you to tell me just what has happened tonight. And as much else as I may need to know to understand. You may also want to proceed with haste.”

“First �“ can I ask how Harry is? And his friends? None of it was their fault, they weren’t trying to help me or anything.”

“I am aware of that. And they are all unconscious, but already on the mend. Madame Pomfrey continues to be a blessing to our many accident prone students.”

Despite himself, Sirius gave a weak smile. “I remember it well.”

Some ice seemed to have been broken a little. If Sirius could just tell Dumbledore everything �“ absolutely everything �“ Sirius knew that things might just turn out all right. The trust and awe at this man he had felt as a boy seemed to have not gone away, through all that had happened.

And so he did tell him everything, from the beginning. And at the end of it, he felt better. Still terrible, but better than before. A glimmer of hope had awakened inside him.

“Thank you, Sirius,” Dumbledore said when he had finally finished. “I believe you, and confess I had never really thought you capable of what you had been accused of. But that is for later. I must go and see to Harry and his friends. They will be waking soon. I will do what I can, but I am afraid there is not much I myself can do. But do not give up hope just yet. Something could still be done.”

But as his old hero and headmaster left the room, Sirius struggled to believe him. How could he ever come away from this alive or with his soul intact?

Around five minutes went by. It was nearing midnight. And suddenly, there was a tap at his window. His jaw dropped. How on Earth could Harry and Hermione be outside on a hippogriff? It was like a bizarre dream. But he was sure he hadn't fallen asleep.

“Stand back!” He heard Hermione call through the glass, before she unlocked the window. Before he knew what was happening, he had clambered out of the window, onto the hippogriff, and they had gone up to the battlements on the West Tower.

Harry and Hermione slid off. *“You’d better go, quick,” Harry panted. “They’ll reach Flitwick’s office any moment, and find out you’ve gone.”*

After he had been assured that Ron was okay, and been yelled at to go �“ he had no idea where �“ he said, with all the emotion he had, *“We’ll see each other again. You are �“ truly your father’s son, Harry ...”*

He saw the boy’s eyes burn with equal emotion. For a moment they stared at each other. And then, without even thinking, he squeezed Buckbeak’s (for that is what Harry had called the hippogriff) sides, and flew away.

He felt complete. Harry believed him, and although the circumstances were still pretty dire, he didn’t mind quite as much.

*~*~*

Quote Notes:
* - From chapter “Cat, Rat and Dog,”, page 245 (UK hardback)
* - Next 5 from chapter “The Servant of Lord Voldemort”, page 275 (UK hardback)
* - Next 2 from chapter “Hermione’s Secret”, page 303 (UK hardback)

AN: Sorry, the above was necessary. Merry Christmas! And yes, I’m sure you all knew a lot of that already �“ I tried my best to skim round most of the important-but-plagiarism stuff, but of course, a lot of it was unavoidable. So no, it’s not the best, but it was necessary, and the next ones will be better.

Disclaimer: Once again, may I stress that the following chapter is based heavily on JK Rowling’s fourth book in the Harry Potter series, and many, if not all, of the events came from her mind, not mine. I have simply rewrote them to fit this fic.

Chapter 19: Paradise is Overrated

It was a remarkably pretty island, really. The sea was a turquoise blue, unlike anything Sirius had ever seen before this latest stage of his life. The sand was a golden yellow. Large exotic birds occasionally flew out of the jungle behind. Food was aplenty. Sirius had built himself a wooden hut, which was quite impressive. Well, it would have been if he hadn’t had a wand. Which, incidentally, he had taken from Snape in the Shrieking Shack, while he had been unconscious. Good times.

A bird swooped overhead. He recognised it as the one he had sent a letter to Remus with, asking for updates on everything that had happened during his time in Azkaban. He was particularly hoping for details on their friends that had survived Voldemort’s tirade.

Sirius�“

I know what you’re hinting at. And don’t think I don’t. You want to know about Tara. I could tell �“ Even now, I can still tell what you really want, just like I could with James and Peter (I am speaking, of course, about the Peter we knew and loved. Still no word on the thing that he became, I’m afraid, but don’t think we have given up). In order to tell you about what happened with Tara, I must tell you what else happened once you had been arrested.

We were both, of course, distraught. I had lost my closest friends in one night, and Tara had lost her remaining friend. You have heard of the five stages of grief? First we were shocked. We sat there for a whole night, while all around us celebrated at Voldemort’s demise. We could not do anything. Then came the denial. We convinced ourselves they had survived, and began searching Godric’s Hollow, looking for some kind of clue. We then became angry, swearing to go out there, find the remaining Death Eaters �“ including you, I’m afraid �“ and kill them all. And then there was depression. We stopped talking to each other, we stopped living our lives. It took us weeks. Finally, there came to acceptance. And she left. I woke up one morning, and she had gone. I thought to work �“ for we had taken our respective jobs back up again by that point �“ but as I wandered around our flat, getting ready for my own day, I came to realise that she never woke up before me, let alone left. And then I found the note on the table. Something along the lines of “I can’t take it anymore, I’m going away to start again”. I had to go through the five stages again without her.

Since then, I’ve tried to find her, even if it was just to be friends, but she seemed to really want to stay hidden. I’ve just accepted it, hoped she’s happy, and moved on. What else could I do?

I’m sure you’re wondering about Penny and Jack as well. We kept in touch after that night, but eventually Penny met someone, and they married, and moved away. I occasionally get a letter from her. She’s always happy enough sounding, she has twins now �“ a boy and a girl �“ who seem to enjoy getting into mischief. Jack stayed on at the Quidditch shop, and I think he even cut his hair, once he met a nice girl, and settled down too. Eventually he sold up, and got a job somewhere else, for a whole new start. He seems to be happy now too, and still likes to have inappropriate fun every now and then, I gather. Last I heard, he too had a family on the way. Neither of them ever forgot you, even if they did think you were a murderer �“ I’ve been to see them both recently, however, and explained what happened. I’m sure once your name is cleared, they would love to see you again.

Around a year ago, because of my, erm, “Furry Little Problem”, and a certain Ministry woman with striking resemblance to a toad, it began to get increasingly difficult for me to get a job anywhere. As I got poorer and poorer, I went to Dumbledore in sheer desperation, and he offered me a job straight away. But that didn’t work out, and I suppose I must forgive Severus for what he did, and just try to earn what I can. I can help Dumbledore more easily now, at least, as I don’t have classes to worry about. There’s plenty I can do, if I stay positive, so do not worry about my welfare. It is yours that should be worried about. I gather from your choice of bird that you are somewhere tropical �“ and by the way, you may want to think a little more about discretion �“ and hope that you are having fun somewhere with sea and sand. Just remember to stay isolated, Sirius. For Harry’s sake.

Speaking of Harry, you may be interested to know that Dumbledore has informed me that the Triwizard Tournament has been reinstated. Let us hope that he is sure what he is doing. Still, it will be good for Harry to have some entertainment, and hopefully a few less ... adventures.

I hope we will meet again when things are considerably calmer, and you, my friend, have finally been recognised as innocent.

Your friend,

Remus

*~*~*

The next thing that happened of note, was the receiving of a letter from Harry, a little after his fourteenth birthday. A letter from Hedwig, that was clearly trying to be casual, but also said that his scar had been hurting. Disturbing rumours had begun to reach Sirius through the various people he was in contact with, and this was one final straw. He would have to go back. Harry needed him, even if he didn’t know it. Not only that, but he himself felt a need to be on hand if anything got out of control. And he had an increasing sense of foreboding, that such a thing was likely to happen. All the signs were pointing that way. He needed to get back to Harry. He needed to get back.

The first thing he did was write a letter to Dumbledore, telling him of his plans, and warning him not to try and stop him returning. He explained about Harry’s letter, assuming that Dumbledore was unaware. He then left his hut to find Buckbeak outside, eating a small creature he had evidently hunted.

“Harry says hello,” Sirius told him, before giving him a quick check to make sure he was able to fly. Sirius had no possessions except his �“ or rather, Snape’s �“ wand, and the letters he had received. He kept all of these on his person, so he was able to mount Buckbeak, take one last look at his breathtaking surroundings, and kick off into the sky.

The journey was a long one. He had been on a tiny island half way across the world, but when he was on his way there, he had been able to stop every now and then for a break, usually for about a day or so. But now if he was in one place for more than about three hours, he became agitated, and had to get moving again. This caused him to be often tired, often hungry, and nearly always uncomfortable. His need to be near to the people he knew and loved was overwhelming. At one time, after about a week and a half of travelling, when he was resting on the side of a mountain in a country that was neither too hot, nor too cold, an owl came swooping down on him. He blinked, and took the letter it presented him. He immediately recognised the handwriting.

Dear Sirius,

Thank you for alerting me to Harry’s complaint of his scar hurting him. It is yet another worrying element in what is becoming an increasing amount of warnings and signs, all pointing to something coming, as I am sure you yourself have deciphered. I feel obliged to tell you of another.

I am unsure whether you were aware, but the Quidditch Cup final took place some days ago �“ as I am sure you are wondering, Ireland won against Bulgaria �“ and after most of the merriment had died down, a group of people dressed in masks (Death Eaters, we believe) took to causing mass destruction around the campsite where many spectators were staying the night after. They were victimising the Muggles who owned the campsite, in a display of unfeeling brutality. As I am sure you can imagine, there was chaos. Nobody knew what was happening, or how to handle it. And then, the Dark Mark appeared above a clearing in the forest. Harry was found at the scene, and the guilty wand happened to be his, which had been stolen some hours previously. Of course, no one thinks Harry caused the Dark Mark, no one at all. But we do not know who did, and I thought you should just be aware of what happened.

There is a cave, on the side of the mountain which overlooks Hogsmeade. There is a map of where exactly it is on the back of this letter. I would advise you to live there when you return �“ it is close to Hogwarts, but not close enough so that you might be easily spotted.

Yours sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

PS: I would tell Harry that you are flying home, Sirius. He would want to know, you cannot suddenly appear. He needs to have the chance to try and stop you, even though it will not work.

Sirius read through the letter again, to be sure he didn’t miss anything, and wrote a reply to Harry, quickly telling him what he was doing, and to go straight to Dumbledore if his scar hurt straight away. He sent it with Hedwig, who had been following him on his journey home, clearly waiting for him to do what he had just done. She flapped her wings, and set off into the horizon. Watching her go gave Sirius the urge to get going again himself. He stood, and mounted Buckbeak, storing Dumbledore’s letter �“ and map to the cave �“ inside his robes. He set off in the direction Hedwig had gone in.

*~*~*

It took another two weeks to reach Hogwarts, and when he finally arrived, Hogwarts had already began. The cave was far from luxury, but it was dry, and there were plenty of resources for a fire for when the weather got colder. He was often able to steal newspapers from Hogsmeade, and was also fed often by an old lady on the outskirts of the town, who had taken a shine to animals in her old age. If he could not do that, he ate rats. It wasn’t ideal, but he was alive.

Not long after arriving, he got another letter from Harry, saying that he shouldn’t come back, that he had imagined his scar hurting, and that everything was fine. Sirius smiled at how much he was reminded of James. He had never been much good at lying either. He wrote back, something along the lines of “Nice try, but you’re too late”.

In November, he received another letter from Harry. What he read made his blood go cold with fear for his Godson. He had to read the letter several times before he took it in.

Harry was to be a Champion in the Triwizard Tournament. He was underage, he hadn’t even wanted to enter. But someone had clearly hoodwinked the Goblet of Fire. Someone had wanted him in the competition. But why would someone go to so much trouble?

Because someone wants him dead, Sirius realised. It all made sense. Everything that had happened, and everything that was beginning to happen, it all pointed clearly to one thing. Someone wanted to kill Harry. Someone with brains, to have gone to such extents. He needed to speak to Harry. In person �“ or as near as possible in person. He stared into the fire that he was cooking a rat on. It drew him in the way naked flames do if you stare at them for too long. He began to see faces in the fire. Harry. James. Lily. Remus. Lola.

And then it came to him. Faces in the fire! All he had to do was break into a house, at night, and he could speak to him, in the Gryffindor common room fireplace.

He wrote to Harry, telling him to wait by the fire on the 22nd at one in the morning. The reply told him that he would. It would be easy.

*~*~*

*“... And now Hagrid’s just shown me what’s coming up in the first task, and it’s dragon’s, Sirius, and I’m a gonner,”* Harry finished, his voice and face full of desperation. Dragons they could deal with, relatively easily, Sirius knew. But first he had to warn Harry about what he thought was happening �“ and who he had begun to suspect. Namely, the Durmstrang headmaster, Igor Karkaroff. They discussed this, until it came back to dragons again.

“Right,” Sirius began. He began to tell Harry his plan, but before he got to the important bit, Harry suddenly looked panicked.

*“Go!” he hissed. “Go! There’s someone coming!”*

As Harry stood, evidently blocking the fireplace from view, Sirius brought his head from out of the fire. He began to hear footsteps upstairs above the ceiling of the house he had broken into. The family must have woken up. He turned back into a dog, and ran from the house, out of the door he had silently forced open, and back up towards the mountain he had taken shelter in. He’d have to keep a low profile for a while.

Months went by. Harry completed the first task successfully, and the second too, he managed to survive. It was sometime after this that he met him, Ron and Hermione in Hogsmeade, and was able to take them to the cave. They brought food �“ real, wonderful food, straight from the kitchens at Hogwarts. It had been a long time since he had eaten civilised, proper food. Years, he didn’t doubt.

They discussed matters again, and Sirius told them of Barty Crouch, and how he had been so close to being the Minister of Magic, but had fallen at the last moment. They were shocked, especially when they learnt of how he himself had been put in Azkaban without a trial.

It was worth it though, he thought. To be here now, talking to my godson and his friends. It was almost worth all that suffering, if it meant I could be here now.

He did not reveal his sudden rush of emotion to Harry. His voice cracked a little, but then he carried on. Neither of the boys noticed, but he caught Hermione watching him a little closer. She was intuitive.

Eventually they had to leave, but as he watched them go, he didn’t feel as lonely any more. But the fact that his feelings for James’s son were growing only meant his worry worsened when he thought of what was still to come.

Whoever was plotting against Harry, the third task was their last chance, and the most obvious one to strike. He turned back to make his way up the mountain, and began writing to Remus �“ he seemed to be the only one left who he could speak to about Harry completely freely.

*~*~*

Sirius�“

I’m glad to hear that you, Harry and his friends are getting along so well �“ they are good kids, I learnt that only too well when I taught them. I hope one day I will be able to form a friendship more than teacher-pupil. But as you said, there are obstacles to overcome, still. The third task; whatever this person is planning; it is all looming ahead in the near future. We �“ particularly you, being in a much more at hand position than I �“ need to concentrate on preparing him as much as possible for whatever lies ahead �“ be it dragons or murderers (real ones, that is, not innocent ones like you, he has proved that he can deal with them just fine).

Since you asked, I am still in and out of jobs all the while, but I am getting by just fine. There is something about being poor that teaches one the important things in life.

I have no word on anything new happening that is too suspicious �“ just the things you already knew. Bertha Jorkins is still missing, but that isn’t surprising any more, and of course, there was that Muggle murder that Dumbledore was so worried about. But nothing recent seems to have come about just yet �“ we can take this as a blessing, an omen, or both. Neither have I any news on Peter, I’m afraid. No one has seen him or heard of him, so I suppose he is lying low in the sewers or something. Or maybe he got eaten by a cat, but something tells me that we shouldn’t rely on that being the truth.

Let your new found love of Harry mean only one thing �“ that you become even more determined to help him. He needs a father figure, not a friend, Sirius, do try not to forget that. No matter how much he resembles James �“ and I admit, I had trouble with that fact too last year �“ he is Harry. They are not the same person. Just try to remember that.

I must go now.

Yours,

Remus

*~*~*

Sirius was prowling Dumbledore’s office. His ancestor Phineas Nigellus had tried enquiring exactly which spirit he was possessed by, but had been thoroughly ignored. The other portraits respectfully pretended to sleep.

All manner of things were racing through his mind. It was his fault. If only he had been there to protect him. If only he had put his foot down and stopped him taking part. If only he had made him better prepared. If only he had been there ...

Harry entered the room, along with Dumbledore. They both looked weary, Harry especially, and he was also limping.

But he’s alive!

Sirius strode across the room to Harry, and asked him if he was all right. He got no reply, as he carefully guided him into a chair. A million questions were racing around his head, but all he could do was stare at Harry. Eventually he said more urgently, “What happened?”

Dumbledore explained about Barty Crouch Junior disguising himself as Mad Eye Moody. Sirius could barely take it in, but he listened intently, occasionally glancing at Harry to make sure he was still there, still alive. Once Dumbledore finished, he sat at his desk and looked at Harry, who now had Fawkes on his lap. He looked so tired.

*“I need to know what happened after you touched the Portkey in the maze, Harry,”* Dumbledore said. Sirius saw the look of pain and dread on Harry’s face.

As anxious to know as he was, Sirius didn’t want to put him through any more that night.

*“We can leave that ‘til morning, can’t we, Dumbledore?”* he asked, a little harshly, he was forced to admit. Somehow he had ended up with his hand resting on Harry’s shoulder, without even thinking about it. *“Let him have a sleep. Let him rest.”*

But Dumbledore ignored him, and insisted that Harry tell them what had happened. And he did. Sirius kept wanting to but in, to ask something, but was silenced every time.

“... And then Wormtail got some blood from my arm with a knife, and �“”

Sirius could no longer contain himself, but Dumbledore didn’t try and stop him. He himself had gotten up sharply to inspect the wound.

Harry continued to describe the horrors he had seen. Eventually he came to describing how his and Voldemort’s wands had somehow connected, and how a shadow of Lily and James had come from it. Sirius could see them in his own mind, as he was sure Harry could too. He saw the boy wince at the tight grasp he now had on his shoulder, and loosened it a little.

When Harry finished his story not long after, they proceeded down to the Hospital Wing, Sirius in his dog form. He sat beside his bed while he slept, refusing to leave. Madam Pomfrey wasn’t happy about it, but he didn’t care. It wasn’t until Dumbledore returned and began giving out orders, that he was forced to change into his human self. He was made to shake hands with Snape, and it made his skin crawl to do so, and got the sense that the feeling was mutual.

But Voldemort was back. It was as if no time at all had passed since Lily and James had given up their lives, and Voldemort had gone on the same night. It was a surreal feeling, but he was used to these little pep talks, so it was almost comforting to have something real.

Voldemort was back. There was nothing they could do now except reform the Order, and fight him, just as they once had, years before. It would bring back terrible, haunting memories of all the people he had lost to such a war, but he would do it.

There was no alternative.

*~*~*

He was speaking to Dumbledore a little later, discussing their plans �“ or at least, the beginnings of their plans.

“What we need,” Dumbledore said, thinking, “is somewhere that could be used as a base for the Order members and meetings. Somewhere that is less obvious than Hogwarts, and easier to keep secret.” He rubbed his temples. “Before I turn to my Pensieve, you wouldn’t happen to know of anywhere, would you?”

Sirius was about to say no, when suddenly, he realised that he did. He knew the perfect place. A slow smile formed on his face.

“What about Grimmauld Place?” he suggested, casually, his eyes beginning to sparkle.

Dumbledore looked up in surprise. His own eyes began to twinkle also.

Way to piss off an angry portrait of my mother ...

*~*~*

Quote Notes:
* - Taken from chapter “The Hungarian Horntail”, page 291 (UK hardback)
* - Taken from chapter “The Hungarian Horntail”, page 293 (UK hardback)
* - Next three taken from chapter “The Parting of the Ways”, page 603 (UK hardback)

AN: Heh heh. Thought I’d just end on something a little less over-dramatic than “There was no alternative.” So, what did you think? How are you finding these less original chapters? Only one left now, and then a final chapter (yes, we will return to Heaven). I can’t believe it’s almost over! I think I’ve been writing this for almost a year ... it certainly feels like it! Don’t forget to review!

AN: Sorry about the wait, guys, my internet crashed on me for two weeks. I hope this makes up for it! And, as before, the direct quotes from the books are *asterisked*, and there are references at the bottom. Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 20: The Final Struggle

“Sirius, I think you should hear this. It’s about Harry.”

Sirius looked up, in shock. He was feeding Buckbeak some rats in the attic. What could have happened to Harry?

Arthur looked uncomfortable. “He, uh ... he’s just been expelled.”

Sirius blinked. “From Hogwarts?” he asked, in shock. Arthur nodded.

“Dumbledore’s trying to work it out, and I’ve just sent him a letter telling him not to surrender his wand. But ... well, I’m sure they’ll suspend it, give him a hearing. I mean, he was attacked by Dementors, he had to use a Patronus to stop them ... well, you know.”

Sirius reached for some parchment and a quill, and quickly scribbled his own message to Harry, warning him not to leave the house. He wouldn’t like it, but he knew Harry would listen to his advice.

A little later, Dumbledore appeared back at Grimmauld Place. “Do not worry too much, Harry has merely been suspended, for now. He has a hearing at Ministry on the twelfth of August. Arthur, I presume you will be able to escort him ...”

“Of course,” Arthur said, nodding. Sirius stood at the back, scowling. He had been stuck in this house for so long already, and knew that he had a lot longer to go. He had begged to Dumbledore so many times to be allowed out, but his old Headmaster had remained firm. There was nothing he could do, but continue trying to make the house habitable. He hated being stuck here. Last time, he and James in particular had been key members of the Order, part of every mission they could. Particularly after Lola died, Sirius had done what he could with such force, a lot of the other members had been unnerved by him.

And now what was he doing? He was cleaning. Even Snape was doing so much more than he was.

“I presume,” Sirius said, “that we will be collecting him, and bringing him back here?”

“Naturally,” Dumbledore replied. “But it will take a little more planning than arriving at his Aunt and Uncles, and merely walking away with him. Attention must not be brought to this house. Do we have volunteers?”

Eleven people raised their hand, Sirius included. Dumbledore look pleasantly surprised, but his eyes saddened upon reaching Sirius, who was only volunteering in protest, to be honest. He knew that he would not be on the squad who went to Harry.

“Sirius ...” Dumbledore warned, slight exasperation in his voice. Sirius lowered his hand. There was an uncomfortable air in the room.

Three days later, Harry arrived. This was evident when the portrait of Mrs Black began screaming obscenities, and Sirius and Remus had had to try desperately to close the curtains and get her to be quiet. It was only once this had been done, that Sirius was able to turn to Harry, and say, *“I see you’ve met my mother.”*

Harry had an eclectic mix of emotions on his face. Confusion, happiness, relief, and a little anger. Sirius wasn’t really surprised. He knew perfectly well how Harry must be feeling.

His own feelings of happiness at seeing his Godson again were quickly dispelled. Soon, Harry became part of the woodwork at Grimmauld Place, as Sirius, Molly and whoever they could rope into helping continued trying to clean the house. He enjoyed speaking to Harry, but had reached such a state of melancholy that he was even getting sick of himself. He had hated being trapped at Azkaban, but at least then he hadn’t had everybody else strolling in and out at leisure. At least then he hadn’t had the knowledge that the only reason he himself wasn’t leaving as he pleased, was because his old headmaster had told him not to.

But Harry being with him helped a little. In fact, he almost wanted Harry to stay suspended. They could live to together permanently, like they’d planned. He had to keep reminding himself that Harry wasn’t James. But sometimes when he walked into the room, or Sirius saw him in the corner of his eyes, his heart skipped a beat. Living with a constant reminder of his best friend was both good and bad for him.

When it came to the hearing, Sirius spent the day with Buckbeak. Molly knocked on the door to try and get him to come out, and even Remus stopped by to try and talk to him, but he was in far too much of a brooding mood.

When he heard Harry return, he went straight downstairs. From the atmosphere, it was clear that he was going back to Hogwarts in September.

Sirius began to feel a clock ticking down inside him, counting the days until he was alone again.

*~*~*

Around a week after Harry had left, Sirius was in the kitchen, summing up the courage to read the Daily Prophet. He hadn’t seen anyone all weekend. He got up to get himself a butterbeer, and could hear Molly tutting in disapproval as if she was really there, but it served only to make him glug back half the bottle in protest. He caught sight of himself in a wall mirror, and grimaced. He picked up the newspaper, and flicked through it, uninterestedly. His own name caught his eye, and he smiled; reading articles on himself always gave him a twisted amount of pleasure. This particular one was of note.

Apparently, someone had tipped off the Ministry that he was in London. But no one outside the Order knew where he was, and Dumbledore had made sure that they never told anyone �“ he was Secret Keeper of that little bit of information, too.

But London was more general than ‘Number 12, Grimmauld Place’. Anyone who spotted him could report him. But the only time he had been outside was escorting Harry to Platform 9 and ¾. And no one knew he was an Animagus ...

He shook it off, finished his butterbeer, and went to feed Buckbeak.

The day before he had received a letter from Harry, telling him of their new Defence professor: Umbridge, the woman who had made getting a job so hard for Remus. It also mentioned his scar hurting again, and a subtle hint about Hagrid. He planned to contact them through the Gryffindor fireplace, knowing how risky it would be to reply in a letter.

He managed to do this, and seeing Harry again lifted his spirits considerably. On a whim, he suggested that he visited them in Hogsmeade, in his Animagus form.

As Harry, Ron and Hermione, began to protest, shocked and afraid at the mere thought, he began to get angry again. As he stared at Harry, one thought penetrated his mind, and it crushed him.

*“You’re less like your father than I thought. The risk would’ve been what made it fun for James.”*

He made an excuse about Kreacher, and pulled his head back out of the fire.

He was back to being sullen again, and headed straight for his supply of butterbeers.

*~*~*

The door banged open, and Mundungus entered, to a series of protests from Mrs Black.

“SHUT UP, you old HAG!” Sirius screeched, pulling the curtains closed.

“You look awful,” Mundungus told him. Sirius raised a sarcastic eyebrow, and moved on into the kitchen. “Got any Firewhisky?”

Sirius opened a cupboard, and took out a bottle, then poured it into two silver cups. “So, what have you got to tell me?” he asked.

“How about some news on young Harry’s latest rebellion scheme?”

“His latest what?”

Mundungus grinned slowly, clearly immensely pleased that he was the bearer of this kind of news. “Well, you know I was on watch for him yesterday? Turns out it was a Hogsmeade weekend. I heard them planning to go to the Hog’s Head, and �“ well, you know my history with that place. So I nipped in to see this mate of mine, who’s handy with disguises, and managed to beat them to it, dressed as a witch, like.”

“Dung, has this story got any kind of interesting point to it?” Sirius asked, gulping down the last of his Firewhisky, and pouring himself another.

“Alright, have patience. So, there I am, dressed as a witch, and the bartender has no idea who I am, of course. And then comes Harry and his two friends, and they order themselves some butterbeer, and go over to a large table. And I thought to myself, What do they need all that space for? But I soon found out when about twenty other kids come in, and order a load of drinks as well. And they all group round, and start this ... this meeting, like.”

“In the Hog’s Head?”

“The very place. Turns out they’re setting up this organisation in rebellion against that new Defence teacher of theirs. Young Harry’s going to teach a select few all he knows, as his own secret class, like. Course, the whole pub probably heard, and I won’t be surprised if Umbridge finds out anyway. Wonder how the old bag’ll take it ...”

Sirius was laughing loudly. “And they did all this at the Hog’s Head? The fools, Umbridge will know by the end of the day! Still, you’ve got to give them credit, it’s an interesting idea. Harry’s?”

“The girl’s as far as I can make out. Quite the little organizer she was. The kind of person who could sort our government out in about half an hour, if she was given the chance.”

Sirius smiled at this image. “You’re probably right, too! Come on, let’s have another drink, and toast them.”

“Right you are, mate, right you are. To naïve rebellions?”

“To naïve rebellions!” Sirius agreed, clanking his goblet on Mundungus’s.

Learning of Harry’s secret rebellion at Hogwarts brought Sirius out of his brooding state for a while, and he had a lot of fun that night, as more people found out. He was able to reminisce with Remus about their own excursions, and even though he had to assure Molly that he would insist on her part that they didn’t go through with it, he himself thought it was an excellent idea.

And he was able to tell them so as well, which made his day even more.

What he had said about James to Harry was forgotten about, it didn’t matter any more.

He was still alone a lot of the time, but he was able to close his eyes and think about the stand his Godson was taking. Even though he himself could do nothing remotely interesting with his life, he was happy knowing that the person he cared most about was doing enough for the both of them.

*~*~*

The house became full again at Christmastime, when Arthur was bitten by a giant snake while guarding the Department of Mysteries. Although it was horrible at the time, as soon as he was in the clear, Sirius was able to enjoy the house being full of life once again. He was the happiest he had been in a long time, and had even taken to singing loudly as he went about his business.

But a visit from Snape destroyed that. He learnt that Harry would be having Occlumency lessons with him, something that Sirius was immediately concerned about. Leaving Harry in the hands of the most loathed person that he wasn’t technically at war with, was almost too much. It was this visit that made him realise that soon, he would be alone again, and he began to feel reclusive again. He avoided company, although he managed to meet with Dumbledore at one point.

“You can’t give Snape that job, Professor!” he argued, heatedly. “It would make so much more sense for you to teach him! He and Snape will get nowhere together, and you know it.”

“Sirius, you know all too well that I �“”

“Have your reasons for trusting Snape, I know. But I personally haven’t ever been given any proof that he’s stopped working for Voldemort. And I don’t see why you can’t just teach him yourself!”

“I have my reasons for that matter, also. But I do not wish to discuss them at the moment. If I were you, Sirius, I would go home and enjoy the time you have left in Harry’s company. He won’t be staying at Grimmauld Place forever. In fact, he only has a day before he must return to School. Do not waste it.”

Sirius glared. “What happened to you, lately? It’s like you don’t care about anyone anymore. It would be easy for you to teach Harry, and if it’s so important he can do Occlumency, it makes a lot more sense to pair him with a teacher he doesn’t hate, and who doesn’t hate him in return.”

He left, apparating home. He then spent hours searching for something, so that he barely even saw Harry. He knew how much it would hurt him, so instead, he tried to find something that he hadn’t laid eyes on for a long time. If he could only find it, everything would be so much easier ...

Eventually, he did, just in time, and presented it to Harry wrapped in brown paper. It was one of the mirrors that he and James had used in their school days. He stared at the place where the Knight Bus disappeared for what seemed like forever, a horrible sense of foreboding growing inside him.

*~*~*

Between then and Harry’s OWLs, a lot seemed to happen, and Sirius remained feeling helpless about it.

There was a mass Azkaban breakout, and seeing Bellatrix’s face on the front of the Daily Prophet haunted him.

He remembered all the times she had bullied him in his early childhood.

He remembered her and LaLa turning up at the Quidditch shop, and killing Mr Humphrey. How they had only just managed to escape.

He remembered her killing Lola in front of him, and the sick smile that had crept across her face as she had done so.

He remembered her coming to his flat, and taking her him and LaLa hostage, where LaLa had later been killed also, the night of Lily and James’s own deaths.

He remembered seeing her being brought into Azkaban, shrieking that she would always remain Voldemort’s most loyal servant.

The amount of death connected with her made his skin crawl. And now she was released into the open again. How could that monster be free? How could the Ministry still deny that Voldemort had returned, when evidence seemed to be mounting daily?

A while after this, news came from McGonagall that Harry and his Defence Association had been caught in the act, and as a consequence, Dumbledore had been forced to leave Hogwarts, and Umbridge had somehow managed to become Headmistress.

Harry appeared in the fire, asking desperately about James. He had apparently fallen into the Pensieve, and had seen the afternoon when they had taunted Snape by the lake after their Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL. He was confused as to why Harry wasn’t using the mirrors, which would be far safer, but didn’t get the chance to ask.

They heard from a delighted McGonagall that Hogwarts was in disarray, thanks to Fred and George sparking the largest student rebellion against authority that anyone could ever remember, with Peeves joining in for all he was worth, and all the staff except Umbridge and Filch doing absolutely nothing to help.

And then, Harry was doing his OWLs. Sirius was in a reasonably good mood, knowing of the destruction happening at Hogwarts. His only grievance was that he couldn’t be there helping things along. The Marauder that remained inside him was begging to have a hand in the chaos. He imagined what it would be like if all four of them were there, in their youth again, and the thought made him laugh every time. Umbridge would be a quivering wreck.

His hatred for the woman he had never even met deepened when McGonagall was admitted to St Mungo’s with her injuries. He couldn’t visit her, although he wanted to, so had to content himself with writing a letter to her. He had always had a respect for her, and it had grown during the last year. His need to fight was mounting.

On the evening he knew Harry had taken his final exam, he was planning on finding a way to contact them, and congratulate them on the end of their OWLs. He hoped it would serve as a distraction from wanting to be doing something drastic.

Instead, he heard from Snape that Harry had gone to the Department of Mysteries.

He was told to stay while the Order went.

He refused.

He left Grimmauld Place with them, and he was finally able to release all his energy.

It felt so good to finally be in the thick of battle.

It was there that he duelled against Bellatrix.

It was there that he died.

*~*~*

Quote Notes:
* - From chapter “Number twelve, Grimmauld Place”, page 75, UK hardback
* - From chapter “Percy and Padfoot”, page 273, UK hardback

AN: Well. Well. Now I know how JK must feel coming to the end of book 7. No, this isn’t the end. But there’s only one chapter left, and that’s more of an epilogue. I’ve been working on this fic for about a year. It’s so bizarre that his story is finally ending. Please review.

Chapter 21: The Beginning

I blinked. And that was it. That was my life. It was bizarre, and crazy, and terrifying, and upsetting, and wonderful. Because I feel so much better now. Like James said I would.

“James?” I called out. “Lily?” I tried next. The next name caught in my throat, and I had to try again. “Lola?”

A door appeared out of thin air. I took a step towards it, and said her name again. There was a crack between the door and the frame, and a bright light seemed to be shining out of it, getting brighter and brighter, the closer I got. I reached out for the handle ...

“Boo!”

I screamed, swivelling around away from the door. James. “What did you do that for? What was that door all about?” I yelled, angrily.

“Just my little joke. Man, you scream like a woman. What’s with that?”

“You made me jump!” I said in my defence, but I couldn’t help grinning. It was so good to see him. He smiled knowingly.

“Feel better? Do you ...” he waved his hand around as if searching for the right word. “Understand more now?”

“I guess. Hey, is Harry all right?”

“I wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t. And remember, just as I was here to welcome you Home, you must welcome Remus when he arrives.”

“Who welcomed you?”

“My Dad.”

“And Lily?”

“Lola.”

“And Lola?”

“Her aunt.”

“Oh. So Lily will welcome Harry?”

“Yes.”

“And Remus ...”

“Tonks.”

“What? Why?”

“I guess we’ll find out, won’t we? Being here doesn’t mean we know everything that will ever happen, it just means we’ll understand it when it does. We watch. We have fun. We talk. We laugh. We do whatever we want. If we get bored, we watch some more. Not necessarily the people we care about, either. There’s always something in the world worth watching. Lily likes weddings, bless her. I like watching school friends have random, everyday fun, because we had so much ourselves.”

“And that’s it?”

He spread his arms wide. “That’s it. Forever, as far as we know. You never get bored, because there’s always something to watch, and there’s always someone new to meet, and that’s if you’re not spending time with your friends, or �“ in my case �“ wife.”

“Is it just for witches and wizards?” I asked, thinking it wouldn’t be fair if it was.

“No, it’s for absolutely everyone who’s ever lived. That is, anyone who isn’t evil, and didn’t end up as ghosts.”

“What happens to the ones who are evil?”

James shrugged, “Dunno. Don’t particularly want to know, either. Do you?”

I thought for a moment. “No, I guess not. So ... is there anything else I need to know?”

“I don’t know. Do you have any more questions?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Then follow me.”

We left the screen room, and entered a long corridor, with many doors. A sudden recognition hit me. “James, are we in the Department of Mysteries?” I blurted out. He stopped, and turned to look at me.

“No ... we’re in a whole other dimension, Sirius. Remember when you got stuck in that vacuum type thing after you first arrived? That was the In-Between. And as soon as a part of you wanted to stay dead, you went rushing forwards, remember? That was the journey between dimensions. And then you landed in front of me? That was your arrival here. Haven’t you been listening?”

“Of course! But this is a lot to take in all at once, and this corridor looks a lot like the Department of Mysteries.”

“Does it? Well, I never went there, so I wouldn’t know. Come on, it’s through this door here.”

I followed him through, and found myself ... in a meadow. There was a lake, and people were sitting around it, looking in. Not enough to feel too crowded, but enough to give the atmosphere of some kind of community.

“The lake is where you can watch stuff. Everywhere else is for you to wander, doing whatever you feel like. There are hundreds of places you can go in that corridor we were just in, but this is where Lily and I like to be. It feels most like home, we think. Lola’s usually around here, too.”

I looked over at him, and he smiled a small smile. “Soon,” he said, and I knew he was referring to when I could see her, just as I knew he knew I wanted to know. Which makes sense if you say it slowly enough.

I followed him over to the edge of the lake.

“What do you want to see?” he asked, as we sat down in front of it.

“Harry,” I said, with rather a lot of certainty in my voice.

“So see Harry,” James said profoundly.

A little uncertainly, I looked into the lake, but I suddenly saw him, as if I was there, standing over him. He was asleep in the Hospital Wing, a bottle of Dreamless Sleep potion on the table at his bedside. It was as if I was standing right by his bed. I stayed there for what felt like hours, with people occasionally bustling around, but not paying any attention to me. Probably because I wasn’t really there. Eventually, I looked around, and realised where I really was.

James smiled, encouragingly. “It’s like you’re really there, isn’t it? Lily and I have been with him through all his main adventures in life. It’s a bizarre feeling, but eventually you get used to it. And speaking of Lily ...”

She came up behind me, and tapped me on the shoulder. I jumped up. “Lily!” I cried, and threw my arms around her. She laughed.

“Hey, Sirius. You haven’t changed.”

“Yes I �“” I began to protest, but then I remembered what James had told me. Here, you look like you did when you were at your happiest. I look about twenty-two �“ after all, my happiest was with Lola, running the shop with Jack and Penny. Both Lily and James look as they did around the time when they died, a couple of years older than how I appear, because my top personal happiness ended before Harry was born �“ when Lily and James were at theirs.

“So, where’s ...?”

“Lola?” she asked, and smiled at me, her eyes shining. “Right behind you.”

I whipped around for what seemed the hundredth time in ten minutes. I wished people would stop doing that. But then, there she was, looking the same as when she died. Her long, light brown hair tumbled, loosely curled, down her back. Her brown, nearly black eyes sparkled.

For a moment, all we could do was stare. And then she jumped up, flung her arms around my neck, and kissed me.

It felt as if no time had passed at all.

And so, time goes on. I’ve settled into ‘life’ at Home considerably well. I can watch Harry whenever I like. I can talk to Lola, to James, to Lily, to people I don’t even know. I’ve spoken to LaLa before now �“ she’s found a group of strange but wonderful people from various eras in time who have taken her in. She says that after spending her life grasping and flailing in the dark to find somewhere to belong, it was death which finally brought that privilege.

And so, time goes on. The possibilities of this place are endless, but like James said, mostly we stay in the meadow, by the lake.

And so, time goes on. When Remus dies, I can welcome him here. Lola will welcome Tara when she arrives, and it will be nice to see her again, to find out how she’s changed, after all this time. I don’t particularly miss life on Earth. Being here in Lily’s words, “is like living, but with less worry, and more sparkle.” The only hard part is not being able to talk to the people who haven’t ‘moved on’ yet. But I know that when they do, I’ll be able to talk to them forever, if I want.

And so, time goes on.

*~*~*

BN:*Ahem. I'd just like the say that I've been with this story from the beginning and it rocks and you should all give Pussycat123 a big round of applause for all her hard work and I'm so sad and happy that it's ending and...Okay, I'll stop now. Go Pussycat!* ~ Chomione, beta and best fish to Pussycat123

AN: Thanks Chomione! I’m going to take this opportunity to make a just-won-the-oscars style speech. Ahem ... *wipes dramatic tear from eye*

I would like to thank my best friend, and wonderful support, Chomione, for checking over EACH AND EVERY ONE of these chapters, and pointing out mistakes, and offering her constructive criticisms. I would also like to thank ForbiddenLove and Twizzle_loves_Lupin for being wonderful (and, in Twizzle’s case, for checking over chapters 18 onwards for me). I will also mention my little brother CheeseKing, because I’m sure he doesn’t want to be left out. I would also like to thank all the mods who have helped me with this fic (literally couldn’t have done it without you). I think it was Magical Maeve for earlier chapters, and Vindictus Viridian for later ones, although I’m not sure when the changeover was. Probably around the time “ok” turned to “okay”! ;D Thanks you guys! Finally, I would like to thank everybody who ever read, reviewed (and who will review in the future), particularly the ones who have faithfully stuck with this fic all the way to the end. And anyone who put this on their favourites. You guys ALL rock, you know who you are!

If you’re distraught that this is over, and aren’t reading The Things I Do For L.O.V.E, you can always do that to ease your pain! I love and reply to all reviews, so don’t hesitate to drop me one sometime. I also have several one-shots you might want to check out.

So, here’s the big question ... WHAT DID YOU THINK? Not just of this chapter, but of EVERYTHING? What was your favourite part? Who was your favourite character? What was your favourite quote by Sirius? What was your favourite quote by one of the other characters? Who were your favourite couple? What bit made you saddest? What bit made you happiest? What bit made you laugh most? Thanks again for reading, especially if you reviewed. If not ... well, what are you waiting for?

Toodle-pip!

**Pussycat123**