Lily Evans: A History

Lily Evans, A History
Chapter 37 - The Dark Mark
By: Bethany
Rated: PG
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On the first day of the new school year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry most students were still trying to adjust to getting up before lunchtime. The sun was up, but the students were not. Except one.

Lily groped her hand out from behind her bed curtains and slapped her hand on her wizarding clock that was screeching "GET UP YOU LAZY GIRL!" Rubbing her eyes sleepily, Lily stumbled across the room to wake Kassie up but when she reached her best-friend’s bed she found that it was already empty.

Lily blinked, rubbing her eyes harder. Kassie still wasn't in her bed, though it looked like she recently might have been. Confused, but not overly concerned, Lily stumbled to the foot of her bed, pulled out a set of robes, jeans, a shirt and undergarments from her trunk and headed towards the bathroom.

When she arrived, the mystery of where Kassie had got to was solved. Fully clothed, Kassandra Phillips was standing in front of a full length mirror, one hand holding her hair up off the back of her neck and turning to study her image. Just as Lily came up behind her, the mirror barked out; "For the hundredth time, dear, it looks lovely either way."

Lily blinked. "What are you doing?"

Kassie spun around, dropping her hair and blushing so red that it looked like she was on fire. "I-eh-nothing, really. Just brushing my hair..." Kassie gulped audibly.

Lily raised an eyebrow but decided against saying anything. Yet.

Smiling knowingly, Lily got in the shower. When she got out ten minutes later, Kassie had left the bathroom and Kathleen and Gabrielle were brushing their teeth. "Where did Kassie go?"

"I think Madison is plaiting her hair," Gabrielle said through a mouth full of toothpaste.

Lily hurried into the dormitory, clipping her Prefect's badge on her robes as she went. When she arrived, Kassie was sitting in front of Madison, who was french-plaiting her hair. "What's the occasion?" Lily asked, smiling.

Kassie didn't answer. Instead she got up, checked the mirror and grabbed her bag. "Are you ready?"

"Sure," Lily replied, smiling to herself.

As the two friends descended the stairs, Lily noticed that Kassie was growing more and more nervous. By the time they reached the bottom step, Kassie looked as though she was about to bolt back up them. "Kassie, what is wrong with you?" Lily bluntly asked, stopping on the step and crossing her arms. "You're acting very.... strange."

Kassie didn't answer right away. Then, suddenly, she turned. "What if--" She blushed, looking up the stairs as if it was the perfect escape. "What if Sirius doesn't wan--want to--you know?"

"Still go out with you?" Lily inserted helpfully.

Kassie sighed. "Yes."

Lily laughed, though she didn't mean to. Clamping her jaw shut on it, she put her hand on Kassie's shoulder. "He likes you. Don't worry about it. Come on."

Though a few minutes prior Kassie had been blushing beetroot red, her face had lost just about all of its colour by the time she stepped into the common room. Unsurprisingly, Sirius was sitting in an armchair across from James and jumped to his feet as soon as they came in. "Good morning," he said as he skidded to a halt in front of Kassie.

Lily, smiling to herself, went to stand next to James and Remus. Kassie stared at Sirius for a minute. "Good morning."

Peter went to the portrait hole and pushed it forward. "I'm hungry, come on."

Lily followed James, Remus and Peter out of the common room. Kassie and Sirius walked together towards the portrait hole after their friends and climbed out. Just as they started down the stairs Sirius reached out and grabbed Kassie's hand. All of her lost colour returned very quickly.

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Professor McGonagall handed out the timetables during breakfast. Lily looked hers over while grabbing toast from a plate. "Not too bad this morning. Herbology first. At least we get to breathe some fresh air before being stuffed up in Binns’ class until lunch."

"You mean test our skills at not loosing fingers in Herbology," Alexis corrected her as she sat down, "before being dulled into a stupor by Professor Binns. Sounds lovely."

Lily snorted into her glass, sending bits of pumpkin juice onto Kassie. But the black haired girl was paying no attention whatsoever. Lily doubted her friend even realised she had juice on her. Currently Kassie was hanging on Sirius' every word and he wasn't even talking to her. Lily kicked her hard under the table. "What?"

"You have pumpkin juice on your nose," Lily deadpanned.

Sirius turned his head to Kassie and grinned. "You do, actually. Here," He lifted a napkin and gently touched the tip of Kassie's nose. Beside him James was whispering urgently to Kathleen, Gabrielle and Peter, "all better."

"Thanks."

"Awwww Sirius, you're so sweet!" a chorus of voices suddenly said, loud enough that students at the Hufflepuff table turned to look. James puckered his lips while Peter, Gabrielle and Kathleen laughed. "Can we snog aga--OUCH!"

James suddenly found a very thick History of Magic book shoved in his chest, knocking the wind out of him. Sirius stood, taking Kassie's hand. "Come on, let's leave them to it."

As Sirius and Kassie left the table, Lily suddenly had a very shrewd idea of how Kassie must have felt while she had been dating Tim. Trying to think positively about the entire situation (after all, this was Sirius and Kassie's first official day as a couple) Lily went back to eating.

Meanwhile, Sirius led Kassie out of the Great Hall, away from the giggling coming from not only the Gryffindor table, but now the Hufflepuff table, as well. Kassie kept her head high as they left, knowing that there were several sets of eyes watching, but her hand gripped Sirius' firmly. Finally they made it into the Entrance Hall and Sirius stopped. "I have some very helpful friends, it seems."

Kassie grinned. "Me, too." She looked around, noticing they were very much alone and felt her heart flutter. Sirius seemed to have noticed, too, because he began tugging on her hand. Kassie soon found herself around a corner and very close to Sirius.

It was like the previous night all over again and Kassie's heart beat in anticipation. Sirius placed his hands on her waist, his face growing closer and closer....

"Meow."

Simultaneously Kassie and Sirius looked down and into the yellow eyes of a dirty grey cat. Which would only mean one thing… somewhere nearby was her owner. Mrs. Norris sprinted off and Sirius muttered something under his breath. Almost immediately they heard the shuffling of feet. They moved out of the shadows just as Mr. Filch came running around the corner, eyeing them suspiciously, holding his cat. "What do you two think you are doing?" he grated.

"Nothing that is any concern of yours," Sirius replied, grabbing Kassie's hand. The two of them headed off, with Sirius now very amusingly looking more determined to find a dark corner of the castle that they could be alone in. Finally settling on an old, unused classroom down the corridor from Transfiguration, they slipped inside. Once more Sirius attempted to pull Kassie close; and was immediately interrupted by a loud crash, followed by high pitched laughter. Sirius hung his head for a moment, not looking back. "Peeves?" he muttered.

Kassie giggled. "Yes."

Sirius whipped his wand out and spun around, pointing it straight at the Poltergeist. "Is the whole bloody world after me today?!" he growled. "Get out of here!"

In response Peeves dropped a desk, causing a huge crash. He cackled evilly. "Oopsie poopsie, must have let it slip. Poor old Blackie not going to get--"

Sirius had his wand out, preparing to curse the ghost into pieces when the bell rang. Muttering under his breath, he allowed himself to be pulled out of the room by Kassie. "Come on, we don't want to be late for class."

"Says who?" Sirius replied.

With a last look of warning to Peeves, who cackled back, Sirius joined Kassie in the hall. Students were now spilling out of the Great Hall, going off in different directions to their first class. The couple went out of a side door and down the slopping lawn towards the greenhouses. Sirius walked purposefully slowly so that everyone else was around the corner and they were still near the double doors. Then without warning Sirius pulled Kassie's hand, and when she spun around, kissed her quickly. "Finally."

"Ahem."

Sirius' face took on a resigned look. Kassie fought to control both her giggles and blushes as the two turned to face Professor McGonagall. "Mr. Black? Miss Phillips?"

"How many points, Professor?" Sirius asked.

McGonagall sighed. Sirius was still holding Kassie's hand and was wearing a sort of grimace on his face. Their Head of House uncrossed her arms. "One," she replied, "each." Sirius and Kassie both exhaled. "Now on to class.".

Sirius grinned his most charming smile at Professor McGonagall. "Have a good day, Professor." Kassie waved a little and the two took off towards the greenhouses before the bell could ring.

Shaking her head, McGonagall smiled to herself and headed back into the castle. When she got in the door Peeves swooped down on her. "Go away Peeves," the Professor said curtly, "before I finish what Mr. Black started."

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The first week of term pretty much came and went like any other first week. Professors reviewed past spells, loaded on some review homework, and lectured to the fifth years about the importance of this year. Ordinary Wizarding Levels were coming up and it would have a direct impact on the rest of their lives. Or so every Professor in the school had said about five times.

Life settled into a routine though, as it was bound to do. Only as an added bonus to this year, Sirius and Kassie were no longer at each other's throats. Well, perhaps only in the literal term of the phrase. Lily had taken to hanging around with the other four girls in her year because no matter where she went with Kassie, Sirius showed up and they ended up slipping off to snog in an unused classroom somewhere, leaving Lily alone. The redhead thought about hanging around with the Marauders; but seeing James only reconfirmed the ideas that she perhaps liked him more than a friend, and so she strived to avoid uncomfortable situations there as well. Remus, on a regular basis, assured them all that the newness of Sirius and Kassie's relationship would wear off and things would get back to normal soon, but some of their group was having problems believing this.

Lily could deal with the absence of her best friend for the time being though, because in the four years she had known Kassie, she had never seen her happier. Kassie smiled constantly, her entire face lighting up when Sirius came in the room. Of course the girls in their year sometimes poked fun at Kassie about this; but it really was a heart warming sight.

So it was with no small amount of concern when a week after term started that Lily noticed Kassie was distracted. More than distracted, actually. She looked downright upset about something. Lily tried all through Transfiguration to talk to Kassie, but with no luck. Professor McGonagall was doing a review of switching spells, giving them no time to talk. After the bell rang Lily hurriedly returned the pairs’ cactus to the front and tried to get Kassie by herself. Before she could however, Sirius was standing there, along with his friends, and Lily once more had to wait.

The fifth years split up in the entrance hall, Kassie, Lily and Madison heading up to the north tower for Divination and everyone else heading for Muggle Studies. Lily waited with Madison for Sirius and Kassie to say goodbye (after all they wouldn't see each other for a whole hour and a half) and finally the black haired witch joined them. They raced up to the North Tower and made it just as the silver ladder was falling from the trapdoor in the ceiling.

Lily and Kassie took seats at the back of the room near a window and pulled out their books. Professor Trelawney waited until everyone was settled before standing. "Welcome class," she said in her normal, misty voice. "I trust you all have completed your reading assignment of chapter two, “Dreams that tell the past”. Today we are going to work on chapter three, “Dreams that tell the future”. But first I want you to find a partner and using chapter two, complete an interpretation of what your partner dreamt last night. You will have thirty minutes; begin."

Kassie flipped her book open, but it was clear to Lily she wasn't really paying attention. Professor Trelawney went over to the far side of the room to help Celeste Dobbs with her interpretation and Lily propped her book up. "What's wrong with you?" Lily hissed to Kassie, low enough so that only Kassie could hear.

Kassie turned to Lily slowly, gnawing on her bottom lip worriedly. "It's stupid, really..."

"No, it's not. Just tell me," Lily replied, looking at Kassie over her book. Everyone else in the room was talking with their partners and not paying them any attention. Lily put her book down, pulled out a clean roll of parchment and pretended to be looking something up in her book. "Kassie, come on. I'm your best friend. You know you can tell me and I won't tell you it's stupid. Well, not to your face."

Kassie smiled and rolled her eyes. "Ok, here goes. Now, please don't laugh..." Lily gave her a stern look. "Well, it's Sirius. He's been acting a bit strange. Since about yesterday morning, I guess. It's nothing I can put my finger on; but he's a bit withdrawn."

"Really? He doesn't seem like it," Lily replied thoughtfully, dipping her quill in her ink. "But you would know better than me." Kassie nodded and flipped pages of her book over. "Have you talked to him about it?"

"Well, see, that's the thing. I don't want to seem like I'm trying to be an interfering girlfriend or something." Kassie cast her eyes down to her parchment, taking great pains to write her name out. "I don't want to ruin things."

"You aren't going to ruin them," Lily insisted, putting her quill down and staring at Kassie. "If you notice he's upset, talk to him. I bet he'll tell you. And don't worry about messing things up. Sirius adores you; I doubt you'll break up over something like this."

Kassie smiled, but then frowned just as quickly. "Something like this? Lily, I kind of hope we don't break up." She swallowed, looking Lily straight in the eye. "I know it's fast, but the way I feel when I'm with him is so much deeper than I ever could have imagined." She stopped short and bit her bottom lip. "I just hope we don't break up. Ever." After admitting that much, Kassie blushed (though it was hard to tell in the hazy light of the room) and frantically started scribbling out the heading for her dream interpretation.

Lily stared at her for a moment before starting on her own paper. But she couldn't help but wonder exactly how Kassie was feeling for her to say that. Forever was a long time, and they were only fifteen. What kind of strong emotion could make you want to forgo relationships with anyone else ever again?

And, more importantly, Lily wondered if she would ever feel that way about someone.

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After the Care of Magical Creatures class was over, Kassie began to feel like a dozen butterflies had been let loose in her stomach. Lily's advice had been right; she needed to talk to Sirius. But it sounded a lot easier than it actually was. Closing her bag, she looked up and saw that Sirius was waiting for her next to Hagrid's hut. Lily leaned over. "Good luck," she said, winked, and then headed up towards the castle with Gabrielle.

Slowly Kassie made it to where Sirius was standing, making sure that James, Remus and Peter had gone on ahead. Not that that was a problem; they usually did anyway. When she approached him, he grabbed her hand up and inspected it. "Are you ok? That billywig looked like it might have bitten you hard."

"I'm fine," Kassie assured him. Sirius kept her hand in his, but said nothing else as they climbed the lawn towards the castle.

Once both of them had dropped their bags off in Gryffindor Tower and were heading back downstairs, Kassie finally got up her nerve. Taking a deep breath, she tugged Sirius into an empty corridor. "I-is there somewhere we can talk?"

Sirius looked very surprised by this. He blinked several times and squeezed her hand. "Is everything ok?"

Kassie started to say yes, but caught herself. Sighing, she said; "Well, not really. Can we...?"

Sirius nodded, looking very worried now. He led her down the third floor corridor, toward a row of suits of armour. They stopped behind the third one and Sirius tapped the wall behind it with his wand. The stones moved to show a small opening just large enough for a fairly skinny person to fit through. Sirius squeezed through and Kassie followed. As they made their way up a set of stairs, Sirius turned his head a bit; "Is there something wrong?"

Kassie stopped, smiling a bit to herself. Sirius stopped as well and turned just in time to have Kassie wrap her arms around his neck. "I'm not going to dump you or anything, so stop thinking it."

The breath Sirius let out was audible in the small stairwell. He squeezed Kassie a bit, then still holding onto her hand, started up the stairs again. A few minutes later they were back in the same tower they had been in just over a week before. Kassie looked out the window, realising for the first time that they were directly across from Gryffindor Tower. Sirius stood beside her, but not looking at the view. Instead his eyes were focused on her.

Kassie twisted her hands in front of her, biting on her bottom lip again. Finally she looked up. "Sirius, I couldn't help but notice that you've seemed a little... subdued for the last day or so. And, well, I was thinking that maybe you had figured out that going out with me wasn't a good idea. But," she cut him off before the protest left his lips, "now I'm just thinking that something is wrong. And you don't have to tell me, but I...." Kassie's voice trailed off and she sighed, leaning against the windowsill.

Sirius leaned against the opposite side of the window and crossed his arms over his chest casually. For a long minute Kassie feared he wasn't going to tell her. But then, just as she was about to give up, his voice drifted to her. Softly at first, but growing stronger as he spoke. His gaze wondered across the sky outside. "I'm sorry. I was trying not to let it bother me, so that it wouldn't be a burden on anyone else. I think the only other person that actually knows for sure what day this is is James." Sirius swallowed and Kassie felt like her heart had nearly stopped. Sirius' blue eyes that were usually so happy, so full of laughter, were so sad. She had only seen him look that way once before. The night of the Welcome Feast, when he was looking at her....

Gently Kassie reached out and put her hand on his arm. "Sirius, you don't have to tell me."

Sirius covered her hand with his and his eyes finally pulled away from the sky and looked into hers. He squeezed her hand. "It was six years ago today that my dad died."

Kassie felt her breath catch in her throat. Sirius looked away from her again. The silence stretched seemingly on forever. Somewhere in the distance someone was laughing, but it might have been part of the wind blowing for all the attention Kassie was giving it. Slowly she stepped up to Sirius and did the only thing she could think of. She wrapped her arms around Sirius' neck and hugged him tightly.

For a minute he didn't respond. Then, suddenly, he uncrossed his arms and wrapped them around Kassie, pulling her so close she feared she wouldn't be able to breathe. They stood like that for what seemed an eternity. The sun dipped further and further behind the forest tree line and shadows grew longer and darker all around them. Sirius laid his head on Kassie's shoulder and squeezed her more tightly.

"Sirius?"

"I'm sorry," he muttered, pulling back a little.

Kassie rubbed her finger tips along the back of his neck and into his hair. "Don't be. I know that no matter how long after someone has gone, it still hurts."

Sirius pulled out of her arms and slid down the wall, sitting on the stone floor and putting his head in his hands. Kassie watched him, not knowing what to do or what to say. They had a lot in common, her and Sirius. Both had lost their parents and both of them kept all that hurt inside. But Kassie didn't want Sirius to keep it in. She wanted to help, even if she had no idea how to begin. Chewing on her lip again (as was becoming habit, it seemed) Kassie went over and sat beside Sirius on the floor, close enough that their arms were touching. Sirius laid his head over on her shoulder, wrapping his arms around her. "Thank you."

Startled, Kassie gave him a questioning look. "For what?"

"For being here. For letting me squeeze you to death," he added, chuckling a little. Kassie noticed his eyes were wet and she wiped her fingers across them gently. "You know, from the first moment I saw you, I always imagined this. But I didn't think it would ever happen."

"And why not?" Kassie retorted, though she knew perfectly well why not.

Sirius chuckled again, the sound rumbling through his chest. "Exactly how many times did I try to get close to you and you wouldn't let me?"

"You were being pretty cold yourself, for a while," Kassie reminded him, placing her chin on the top of his head. He seemed very content to simply hold her in this awkward, though not uncomfortable, position and Kassie was happy to let him. "That is if my memory serves me correctly."

"That doesn't count. You had broken my heart; what was I supposed to do?"

"Broken your heart?" Kassie giggled to herself.

"Yeah, broke it, ripped it out, tore it up, stamped on it. I think for that I deserve a lifetime’s supply of kisses."

Kassie laughed outright as Sirius sat up, took her face in his hands and leant his head towards her. "Time to start paying up."

"Gladly."

----------

The second week of school came and went. In a fit of weekend joy, the Marauders were outside on the lake's edge, feeding a couple of first years Fizzing Whizzbees. Lily and Kassie had been finishing a History of Magic assignment and joined the boys outside just as James was trying to coax one of the first years into taking an acid pop. Remus was sitting nearby under a tree, his face buried in a book and pointedly ignoring what was going on.

Lily stomped up to them, crossing her arms. "James Potter, you are not to give him that!"

The second boy, a Hufflepuff, finally came back down to the ground, having finished his Fizzing Whizzbee. "That was fun. Do you have anymore?" Lily highly suspected the boy was Muggleborn by the look of awe on his face.

"No," Lily replied for James, snatching the acid pop from his hand. "There is nothing else to see here."

"Lily!" James whined. "It wouldn't have hurt him!"

"Yeah, your tongue grows back. My always did," Sirius added. Kassie raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, it did...."

The two first years walked away and Lily distinctly heard one of them mutter something about spoil sports. Shaking her head, Lily turned back around. "Remus!"

Remus' head ducked down and he seemed to be intently reading his book, which from Lily's angle was upside-down. It was easy to tell Remus hadn't been reading it at all. "Well?" she demanded.

"It's just a sweet," Remus replied, closing his book and looking up at Lily. Her hair seemed to be on fire from the way the sun was hitting the red strains. "They weren't doing anything wrong."

"That wasn't nice," Kassie muttered to Sirius, seeing that Lily was giving James and Remus a telling off, she felt she needed to add her two knuts-worth. She glared at Peter, who shrank back and hid behind James.

"We were just having fun," Sirius replied, shrugging. "Perhaps I could direct those energies into having fun with you?" He winked at her suggestively and Kassie rolled her eyes.

"I want to spend some time in the sun, I think," she replied.

"That's fine," Sirius replied. He came up close to her and Kassie uncrossed her arms, trying to fend him off. "Kassie, love, are you ticklish?" Panic quickly spread all over Kassie's face and Sirius barked out a laugh. "Is that a yes?"

"Sirius, if you care about me you won't...." Kassie pleaded, backing up and looking over her shoulder for a place to run.

Sirius laughed again. "It's only because I care for you that I must do this!" And with his last word he lunged across the grass at Kassie, his fingers reaching for her ribs. Kassie screamed, trying to run, but Sirius had one arm around her waist while he mercilessly tickled her with the other hand.

Lily dodged out of the way as Kassie finally broke free of Sirius and ran behind her, panting. "She's a prefect!" Kassie yelled, nearly causing Lily to go deaf. "You can't get me!"

"So is Remus!" Sirius replied and took off after Kassie, nearly colliding with Lily, jumping over Remus' legs and having to side-step Peter in his pursuit. Kassie was running as fast as her legs would carry her, but Sirius' longer legs were giving him the advantage. It wasn't very long until he caught her again, knocked into her and both of them fell to the ground, Kassie on top of him.

Gasping for breath, Kassie slowly got up. "Are you ok?" she asked, checking Sirius over. He was laying flat on his back, staring at the sky, trying to get his breath back after having fallen with Kassie on top of him.

"Yeah, I think so," he replied.

"Good," Kassie said and leaned over him. "Tell me, Sirius love," she said, mimicking him. "Are you ticklish?" Without giving him a chance to reply, Kassie began tickling his ribs. At first he resisted, but the longer she kept at it, the more he squirmed. Finally he started trying to wriggle away, laughing. "Payback is sweet!" Kassie declared triumphantly.

Sirius squirmed and laughed, attracting the attention of several nearby students. Finally he managed to roll over on top of Kassie, sitting over her, their hands interlocked and pressing against each other. Kassie struggled to get up, but Sirius was stronger. He laughed maniacally. "Beg for mercy!"

"Never!" Kassie replied, grinning at him. She pulled her head off the ground and kissed him quickly. "Let me go?" she asked as sweetly as she could.

Sirius had a lopsided grin on his face that made him appear to be eight rather than fifteen. Kassie squirmed, laughing despite herself, trying to get free when suddenly Sirius said, "Merlin, but I love you," between his own laughter.

Shocked, Kassie buckled her arms, causing Sirius to fall forward. In an attempt to not fall on top of her, he rolled left, and both of them suddenly found themselves in the lake.

Sirius came up, sputtering and cursing under his breath, Kassie beside him. On the lake edge James, Lily, Peter, Remus and half a dozen students from other houses were laughing. Kassie pushed black, sopping hair out of her face and glared at the shore when suddenly she spotted someone in the crowd. "Oh no, oh no," she muttered, trying to get out of the water, "McGonagall..."

Minerva McGonagall had noticed the crowd gathering around the lake from her office window, but when she came down to see what the fuss was about, the last thing she expected to see were two of her students in the lake. Yanking her robes up a bit, she hurried closer. "What do you two think you are doing?!" she shrieked.

Sirius had hauled Kassie up out of the water and on the lake's edge, then pulled himself up. He grinned sheepishly at his Head of House. "Going for a swim?"

"Ten points from Gryffindor!" she barked, looking down on them sternly. "And if I find the two of you in the lake, or anywhere else you aren't supposed to be, again, it will be twenty!" Kassie stood, glaring at Lily, who was holding her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud, and began wringing the water from her robes.

Professor McGonagall turned and headed back up the lawn towards the castle. As she passed Lily and James, they distinctly heard her mumble, "...those two as a couple...Merlin help us all..."

----------------

As if life wasn't difficult enough this year; what with extra assignments, trying to become illegal animagi, and spending time with friends - and in Sirius' case, girlfriend - only three weeks into the school year the Gryffindor Quidditch team captain came bursting into the common room demanding to see all her players.

The six members shot each other looks from across the common room and slowly made their way over to see their captain. In her seventh and final year at Hogwarts, Emily Tankard had a determined, almost insane look about her as she paced the floor in front of the fireplace and barely acknowledged that her team members were waiting for her to begin. Clearly not as patient as the others, Sirius leaned back on the back two legs of his chair and said, "What do you need, captain?"

Emily shot Sirius a death look but stopped pacing. "I want the Quidditch Cup this year." She looked around, as if daring someone to speak. "For the past three years we've had the best ruddy team in the school, but the most horrible streak of luck I've ever seen. What with cancelled matches and what not, only one year has that cup had our name on it, and I want it back!" The last part was practically screamed. Nearly all of the team members jumped, as well as half the common room.

"So this is what we’re going to do: we practice. I've booked the pitch for Thursday night, six-thirty ‘til ten and Saturday day two ‘til six. I want you all there by six on Thursday, ready to go. All of you," she repeated, staring at James and Sirius, "on time."

Lance Prewett yawned and winked over to Patrick Mundame, who shook his head. "Emily, on another note, are you still seeing Dolphus Wood?" Patrick asked slyly.

Emily glared at him. The ongoing joke with the seventh years was that the only reason she was going out with Dolphus was because he was just as crazy about Quidditch as she was. Crossing her arms, she glared at her keeper and seeker. "I'm also to pick a captain for next year's team," she continued, deciding against answering the question, "anyone interested in the position needs to come and talk to me." James and Will visibly perked up at this.

"That's all for now. See you at six on Thursday." Emily took one last look at each of her team, turned swiftly and left the common room.

Sirius and James each stood and went back to their recently vacated seats just as Kassie stood up. "I've got to run down to the library." She gave Sirius a very pointed look.

Sirius shot up so fast, he looked like he had tried to sit on a fire crab. "I'll go with you."

James snickered as the couple left the room. "Do you even know how to get there?"

"I'm sure Kassie will show me," Sirius shot back. James and Peter laughed. Sirius climbed out of the portrait hole just as Remus was coming in through it.

"Where are you two off to?" Remus asked.

"Library," Sirius replied.

"Do you know how to get there?"

"Very funny," Sirius laughed hollowly and jogged to catch up with Kassie. Remus shook his head, fighting off laughter as he came in the common room and joined James, Peter, Lily and Kathleen. "Sirius is going to the library."

"If you believe that I'll show you the dragon I've got under my bed," James retorted.

"That I would believe," Remus muttered and pulled out a thick book. "Here James, I got this for you while I was down in the library." James took the book labelled A Complete Guide to Charming It All. "I thought it would help with that project that Sirius was talking about the other night."

Lily shot James a curious look, but he ignored her. "Really? Thanks. Perhaps I should take it upstairs and give it a look over." James stood up and grabbed all his books.

Remus stood as well. "I'll join you." The werewolf kicked Peter on his way past and the shorter boy shot up from his seat and followed.

Once they had disappeared up the stairs, Lily glanced uneasily at Kathleen. "Do you think they are up to something?"

Kathleen rolled her eyes. "Them? Never."

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Students that had complained about the work load the previous year were now about to crack under the pressure. The Gryffindor fifth years were so pre-occupied with all the assignments the Professors had been giving out that the Marauders had barely any time to play pranks. This was both good and bad; good because they hadn't landed themselves in detention, bad because without pranks to occupy their excess energy they were more susceptible to being loud in the common room when others were trying to work.

This particular Wednesday afternoon, the fifth years had moved from the common room to the library, cramming for a History of Magic test the following day. Well, the girls were cramming for it; the boys were trying to get them to go outside. Sirius was sitting beside Kassie, leaned back on the back legs of his chair, twirling his quill around. "This is boring," he announced to everyone at the table. Most ignored him. "This. Is. Boring," he repeated, a bit louder. Madam Pince, the librarian, scowled in his direction.

Kassie flicked him with her quill. "Hush."

Sirius leaned forward, the front legs of his chair hitting the floor and startling half the people at the table and causing them to glare at him. Suddenly James slammed his book shut. "I can't do this anymore." Without another word he stood, cramming his books in his bag and throwing it over his shoulder. Sirius, looking very happy, kissed Kassie's cheek and followed suit. Peter and Remus looked at each other and did the same.

As the four filed out of the library, Lily glanced up at Kassie who was flipping through her book to check something against her notes. "Are you just going to let him go, then?" she asked nonchalantly.

Kassie blinked in surprise. "Sirius? Of course! Now I can get some work done."

This grabbed Alexis' attention and she put her quill down so she could turn her full attention to Kassie. "Are you over him all ready?" Gabrielle, Kathleen and Madison looked up as well.

Kassie finally took her eyes from her parchment reluctantly. "No. Why would you think that?" Gabrielle and Kathleen looked at each other knowingly. Kassie rolled her eyes. "Just because I don't want to be around him twenty-four hours a day doesn't mean I don't still like him. He obviously won't get any more work done tonight. So it's better if he's off doing whatever it is he does when he's with his friends." Pointedly Kassie flipped another page in her book. "And with him off doing that, I can get on with my revision. Unless, of course, anyone else is up for some ice cream?" Kassie's violet eyes twinkled up at the other girls.

Gabrielle and Kathleen looked at each other and simultaneously shut their books. "Sounds good."

"I'm in," said Alexis, putting her own books away.

Lily and Madison followed their example and the six Gryffindor girls headed towards the kitchens.

Elsewhere in the castle, in a room at the top of a tower, Sirius was sitting on a window sill, his feet dangling off the side of the castle, throwing rocks to see if he could hit the lake. Behind him, sitting in old armchairs they had found in an unused classroom, James and Peter were playing exploding snap and Remus was staring up at the nearly full moon. He idly rubbed his elbow. "Already bothering you?" James asked quietly, his attention seemingly still on the game.

Remus caught himself rubbing his elbow and stopped. "Yeah," he replied a moment later, "it usually does a few days before."

Sirius didn't look at his friends, but instead threw a rock hard at the lake. It hit the water and a second later was thrown back out by the giant squid. "I'm going with you this time."

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am," Sirius insisted. He turned around and jumped out of the window. "That was the point of us becoming animagi, right? To help you." Sirius, his eyes dark, leaned against the wall.

Remus smirked, leaning back in his seat. "And what if something goes wrong?"

Sirius' face was half hidden by the shadows, but it was easy to tell that he was as serious as most in the room had ever seen him. "I don't care. You’re my friend, one of my best friends. I'd take that chance for you, James or Peter."

"Same here," James said, standing up and moving beside Sirius. "It's what friends are for." Peter stood and joined James and Sirius, crossing his arms with a determined look about him.

Remus sighed, knowing that fighting would get him nowhere. When his friends looked like that, there was no backing down. It didn't stop him from trying. "Look, I really think..."

Sirius cut him off. "Doesn't matter what you think, Moony. We are in this together."

"We should make some sort of a pack or something," Peter said thoughtfully. "There are spells that tie wizards together like that."

"That's stupid," Sirius muttered. But James was studying Peter thoughtfully.

"I read about those," James said. Peter brightened considerably.

Remus stood up, going to the window and fighting the urge to rub his elbow again. "Funny you should mention that, really," he said after a moment. "A pack. Sounds like a wolf pack, doesn't it?"

Sirius barked out a laugh that sounded a lot like the bark of the dog he became. "Ok, ok. So I solemnly swear that I will never cheat, lie, betray or turn my back on my friends." He held his wand out. "Wait, is it too late to take back the cheat part?"

James pulled his wand, Peter and Remus following. "Yes, it is." He placed his wand tip so that it touched Sirius'. "I, too, solemnly swear that I will never cheat, lie, betray or turn my back on my friends." He looked at Remus. "We are in this together, no matter what."

Remus felt like his hand would shake as he placed his wand tip together with James and Sirius', but it didn't. His hand was quite steady as he repeated, "I solemnly swear that I will never cheat, lie, betray or turn my back on my friends."

Peter was last. He placed his wand tip with the others but as soon as it touched, it sparked red. Peter gasped and pulled it back. Not wanting to seem as nervous as he felt, he again touched his wand tip to his friends' and this time nothing happened. "I solemnly swear that I will not cheat, lie or turn my back on my friends." Remus' eyes homed into Peters and the shorter wizard blanched. "I got that wrong, didn't I?" He swallowed. "Sorry. I solemnly swear that I will never cheat, lie, betray or turn my back on my friends."

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"Did you realise that it's only eight months until our O.W.L.s?"

Lily put her fork down and stared at Madison incredulously. The blonde girl fidgeted under the five gazes that were now upon her. Finally she picked up a roll. "I was just saying," she muttered, half hidden behind the bread.

"You and every bloody Professor in this school," Kassie scowled, spooning steak and kidney pudding out of a bowl. "If I hear another lecture on the importance these tests will have on the rest of our lives, I'm going to jump off a bridge."

"Aw, don't do that love." Sirius' voice drifted to the girls from behind them. He took a seat next to Kassie and grabbed the roll that Alexis had been going for. She scowled at him but the plate refilled itself before she could say anything. James, Remus and Peter took seats next to the Gryffindor girls and began dishing out their own food. "There's a Hogsmeade trip next weekend and I won't have a date."

Kassie rolled her eyes. "Pity, that. Perhaps you could get your other girlfriend to go with you?"

"Naw," Sirius replied, undaunted, "she's busy. Your other boyfriend?"

"Same. I suppose we are stuck with each other, then."

Sirius quickly kissed Kassie's cheek. "You're prettier than any other girl in this school, anyway." As Sirius started spreading butter on his roll, Kassie's face flushed and she grinned into her spoon.

Lily and Alexis rolled their eyes at one another and went back to eating. Remus' prediction had finally come to pass: Kassie and Sirius weren't snogging in every available moment between classes and in every dark corridor they came to. But there was still moments of sweetness that caused more than a few of their group roll their eyes. Peter, who was sitting next to Gabrielle, pushed his food away. "Well, there went my appetite."

Gabrielle took his roll. "Thanks." Peter glowered at her. "What? You said you didn't want it." She took a bite of the roll. "Eh, bit late for post, isn't it?"

"Post sometimes runs late on Mondays," Remus said, dismissing it and going back to eating. The rest of the Gryffindor fifth years looked up to where Gabrielle was pointing. Coming through a window above the Great Hall was a black raven. James and Sirius both dropped their forks with a clatter.

Lily gave them questioning looks. "What?"

The boys didn't answer. Apprehensively they watched the raven glide closer and closer. By now several other students from other houses had noticed the raven, and those who were familiar with what it meant had stopped eating and were whispering urgently to their neighbours. It glided towards the fifth years, hovered for a moment, but then went on. James, guilty though he felt about it, let out a breath of relief. Lily watched the bird land in front of a seventh year girl in their house by the name of Cylethia Wolfe. Before she even took the letter from the raven, tears had started gathering in her eyes. Kassie reached under the table for Sirius' hand. "What's happening?"

Sirius swallowed, his gaze fixed on the letter in Cylethia's hand. "That type of bird brings the worst news you can get."

As Cylethia stood up and left the room, a few of her friends following her, Lily turned back around to Sirius. "You mean to say...?"

"Voldemort probably attacked her family last night." Sirius' voice sounded cold and dead. His eyes had a far away look that made Lily think he was reliving something in his own memory.

"That’s awful," Alexis muttered. She looked back up apprehensively to the ceiling as the rustle of more feathers met their ears. But it was only the normal flock of owls coming through with daily post. As they each descended upon the student they were looking for, Lily felt her stomach contract. A small tawny owl landed in front of Lily and she dug in her pocket for a knut. After paying the bird she unrolled the Daily Prophet to the front page. Kassie leaned over her shoulder to read, and Sirius leaned over Kassie.

On the front page was a large picture of a symbol flying in the air above a house. A large skeleton’s face with a snake protruding out of the mouth. Lily gasped, dropping the parchment onto the table. She had saw that mark before, somewhere... "What is that?"

"It says here that it is called the Dark Mark. And that it has appeared over two other homes, also attacked by," Kassie wrinkled her nose in apparent confusion, "You-Know-Who? What's that about? They know his name; it's Voldemort."

Sirius leant over Kassie so he could get a better view of the paper and nearly banged heads with Remus, who was leaning in from the other side of Lily. "Does it say who the other two families were?" Remus asked quietly, scanning the article.

"No," Sirius replied, finally leaning back from Kassie.

Any further discussions about the Dark Mark or the Daily Prophet article was cut short by the bell ringing. The Gryffindors joined the hustle and bustle of students that were splitting up in the entrance hall to go to their classes. They headed off upstairs for Defence Against the Dark Arts. By the time they arrived, Professor Kittle was already at his desk, waiting patiently for all of the class to show up. Once satisfied they had all arrived, he walked between the centre rows of desks, his cane tapping every other step. "Good afternoon."

There were a few mutters of good afternoon in response, but most of the class were silent. The old man arrived at the back of the room, stopped, turned around and was silent for a long moment. Finally his rough voice came alive; startling half the students. "I have no doubt that you will have heard the news of the attacks last night. In case some of you haven't, however, I will enlighten you. Voldemort attacked three homes last night, killing one family."

Kittle's cane thumped against the ground as he started back up the aisle. Lily felt her head throbbing. Why hadn't she had a vision like she normally did? "This year I am supposed to review all you have learnt. This year I am supposed to prepare you for your O.W.L.s. However I feel, and Dumbledore agrees, that times such as these call for a different lesson plan. You need to be prepared for your tests at the end of the year, yes. But you also need to be prepared for something you cannot learn out of a book. You need to learn how to defend yourselves.

"This class isn't called Defence Against the Dark Arts for nothing. I will teach you how to protect yourself if you were to ever have the need." His eyes scanned the room, but everyone was paying rapt attention. "I will not teach you any dark magic. You won't need it."

Spinning around faster than most would have given him credit for, Professor Kittle laid his cane against the wall and pulled out his wand. "Put your books away, get your wands out and follow me."

--End Chapter 37.