Lily Evans: A History

Lily Evans; A History

Chapter 58- Sirius troubles

Rated: PG

By: Bethany

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The usually busy and crowded streets of Hogsmeade seemed eerily quiet. The full moon shone through the clouds, casting a white glow over the small patches of usually dark corners and alley ways. Street lamps stood stark against the night, giving a yellow hue to the ten foot circle around the post. James' hooves seemed to make a lot of noise in the quiet. He tried picking his feet up more, but stopped, feeling silly and somehow sure that if someone noticed a large stag looking as if it was tip toeing, it would attract more attention than just a large stag would in general. Still, he slowed, looking down every street carefully. Whilst doubtful that Remus was quietly hiding in a corner awaiting the arrival of someone to pick him up, James still didn't want to leave any stone unturned. Ahead of him Sirius was trying to pick up a scent to a trail they had lost almost immediately upon entering the village.

James had just caught up to Sirius, and was preparing to transform and tell him that they should regroup, when Peter came scurrying down a pipe, squeaking madly. While unable to understand one another, the message was clear: Peter had found Remus.

The three friends ran as fast as they could towards the Boar's Head, a pub at the back end of the village. Peter scrambled up a drain pipe, leaving Sirius looking around and growling at the bottom. James didn't have to be a dog to understand that Sirius was most likely cursing.

"Help!"

The voice gave no room for delay. James and Sirius turned back to their human selves and sprinted towards a pile of abandoned boxes lying next to the back door of the pub. Awkwardly, but still efficiently, they managed to grab hold of the top of the drain pipe and hauled themselves up to the roof.

Just across from them was a large werewolf, hovering over a man that was hidden under a large piece of tin metal that covered the roof. Remus growled and scratched at the metal, and would probably be able to get through it any second. Sirius and James looked at each other for just a split second, the plan unspoken but understood by two wizards that had been friends their entire lives. James leapt back down to the ground, transformed and ran around the building. On the rooftop Sirius transformed and headed straight to Remus as fast as he could. The werewolf, surprised by the attack, had no time to defend against the onslaught of Sirius' weight and strength and both fell off the side of the building to the dirt ground below.

The werewolf had no time to get his wits about him until James was shoving him towards the woods edge behind the pub. Peter scampered behind, unsure what to do and definitely afraid to get too close. It seemed to take forever; the werewolf was constantly fighting back, using his massive strength to try to gain an edge over the stag. But James refused to back down, insistent on his need to get Remus away from anyone he could harm.

The two struggled until they finally came to a clearing just inside the woods. At that point Remus turned to attack James, teeth flashing in the light of the moon, claws extended towards the stag. Over and over again the two came at each other. James used his strong antlers to block the attack of claws, while continuing to shove Remus further in the woods and away from the village. Suddenly from the side a large dog came at the two, giving James the upper hand at getting Remus under control. Finally, between the two animals Remus lay panting near a large tree, still growling, but no longer fighting.

To say it had been a long night was putting it mildly. When the last of the moon's rays were blinded by the sun's stronger ones, James felt like he could sleep for a week. Several times through out the night Remus had tried to get past them, and every time he had failed. Toward the morning hours, though, it seemed to James that there wasn't as much fight left in the werewolf. Either he was just as exhausted, or maybe they were getting through to him. James hoped it was the later.

When Remus was completely back to himself, James transformed, still lying on the rock and dirt ground of the forest. He turned over, moaning slightly. "Mate, I'm pretty sure you aren't going to be the only one not in class today."

Remus chuckled darkly, rubbing his arm where a long gash (compliments of Sirius' teeth) was still oozing blood. He looked over to Sirius, but Sirius had yet to transform back and was still lying on his side. Peter, back in his human form, was no worse for the wear. Outside of being sleepy from helping keep watch all night, there was nothing he could do to help and he knew better than to get in the middle of the fray. Yawning, he walked over to Sirius and nudged him. "Come on, gotta get up."

When Sirius didn't move, Peter glanced around at James and Remus, and tried again. "Mate, it's time to get moving. Come on."

Still there was nothing. James walked over quickly, kneeling down. "Sirius?"

"James, there is blood," Peter said, pointing and looking scared. "Where is it coming from?"

James let out a colorful string of curses and pulled his wand out. "Mobilicorpus!" Sirius' body, still as a dog, lifted up in the air and James practically started running towards the castle. Remus jogged up from behind, pulling on the large shirt Peter offered him in way of clothing.

"James, what are we going to tell her?"

"I don't care," James choked out, face determined. "I don't care if we tell her the bloody truth."

Remus and Peter followed closely behind James. It seemed to take forever to cut through the forest and get back onto Hogwarts' grounds. At this time of year the sun rose in the sky a little before most students were up, giving them a chance to run across the grounds undetected. Peter, back in his rat form, scurried back to the Shrieking Shack and retrieved the invisibility cloak. He made it back to his three friends just as they were entering the castle. He threw the cloak over Sirius' body, but he doubted James even noticed.

They burst into the infirmary just as Madam Pomfrey was coming out. "Boys? What is the meaning of this?"

Without a word James pulled the cloak off Sirius and landed him on a bed. Remus pulled the curtains around the bed and Peter slipped in behind the healer. Remus performed the counter spell that transformed Sirius back into his human counter part. He moaned, turning over and exposing a large gash on his side.

To give the matron credit, she didn't ask questions that James, Remus and Peter were not ready to answer. Instead she went to work with her wand, using wordless magic that caused a series of different colored patterns to appear above Sirius. James stood beside the bed, arms crossed; looking like he could either hit something, cry, or both. Peter stood beside him, Remus at the foot of the bed.

Possibly ten minutes later - but could have been a lifetime if you were to ask the three boys watching - Madam Pomfrey lowered her wand and turned to them with an expectant look.

"Is he going to be ok?" James asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"I've put him in a coma. His body is going to take a great deal of healing and it isn't likely something he should handle awake. I'm fairly sure there will be no lasting problems."

There was a collective breath of relief and the matron seem to calm down ever so slightly. "I take it this was not a planned adventure. Now, I'm sure you understand I am going to need to know what happened to get him this way."

The boys looked at each other, Remus finally stepping forward. But before he could say anything, James replied, "Ma'am, I know you need to know. And we are all ready to face whatever happens as long as Sirius is fixed. But do you have to tell--"

A strange knowledge and kindness coming from the young witch's eyes was followed by a sigh. "I will not let anything you tell me go out of this room."

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Anyone who happened to be in the halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was well on their way to seeing a strange site. Common knowledge of the school alone meant that strange things happened every day. However, one usually didn't get to see a normally calm and composed sixth year Gryffindor running through the halls like she was being followed by a death eater.

People were slammed into, toes stepped on, books scattered and still Kassie ran on. Down five flights of stairs, across four halls and then up three different flights of stairs, non-stop, until she arrived inside the double doors of the infirmary. Barely noticing her side's searing pain from the run, Kassie finally slowed, and ignoring the complaints of the healer, didn't stop until she was at the bedside were Sirius lay under a white blanket.

His face, usually smiling or joking, was at rest. But it didn't look like a sleep as much as death. He was too still and Kassie found herself staring at his chest until she could make out the rise of breath filling his lungs. Then she relaxed just slightly. Sitting heavily in the chair next to his side, she put one palm against the side of his face. "Sirius?"

"He's in a magically induced coma."

Remus appeared on the other side of the bed, having come through the curtain from the bed he was occupying on the other side. He looked bad, Kassie noted. The bandages on his side crisscrossed over his chest, a few along his arm. His eyes were dark circled, red rimmed and blood shot. Otherwise his skin was pale as the moon.

Kassie tore her eyes from Remus to Sirius, a tear falling down the left side of her face. "What happened? And, please, no more lies."

If Remus found it strange that Kassie had known there was secrets amoung them, he didn't show it. Instead he pulled a chair over to the bed and sat down, putting his head in his hands. "Kassie, I'm so sorry. More than you'll ever know. My greatest fear came true last night. I always feared they would be hurt." Kassie didn't need to be told who 'they' were - the four Marauders were always into something. But usually it didn't end like this. Never like this... "There are some things you need to know." Remus swallowed hard.

"I know there are secrets that I'm not supposed to know. And I've always felt that if Sirius was keeping something from me, it was for good reason and I don't question it. But I am now. I need to know."

Remus nodded. He let out a deep breath. "Sirius, James and Peter became animagi so they could be with me during the full moon."

This was news to Kassie, her head jerked up, black hair flying out a little. Her eyes were huge. "They what?!"

In a dead voice Remus went on to explain how they had been trying for years to perfect it. How they finally succeeded, how they stayed with him during full moons. Then, harder to tell, was last night, how Remus had escaped the Shrieking Shack, waking up on the forest floor to find James sore, but mostly unhurt, Peter unhurt and Sirius.... "Madam Pomfrey says she thinks he will be ok, but she had to put him in a coma to keep him from being in so much pain."

Kassie started crying, silent tears running down her face. "What is wrong with him?"

"Not sure. Broken bones, maybe internal injuries. James said he pushed me off a roof, fell down about fifteen feet to the ground. But when he showed back up in the forest, they thought he was ok..." Remus' voice trailed off and he dropped his face back into his hands. After several minutes Remus quietly went back to his bed, leaving Kassie with Sirius.

Sirius didn't move except to breath. His fingers didn't twitch, no muscles in his face moved. Kassie longed to see a movement, a sign, something to show that he was still in there. After about twenty minutes of just staring, Kassie's tears started again. She pulled his hand up to her face, relishing in the feel of it's roughness against her cheek. Closing her eyes, she could still feel this same hand lifting her chin up and demanding she not give up on her Patronus. Those same hands, one on each side of her face, as he pulled her close to place his lips on hers. As he happily kissed her all over her face, throat... whispering how he wanted to love her forever. Kassie hiccupped. She wanted to hear his voice, she wanted so badly to feel his voice. It seemed to talk to her soul. Was it just a few short hours ago they had snuggled upon the cot in the northern Gryffindor tower, talking about their life together? It could have been a million years ago, the way Kassie felt. The bad things that always haunted her, her history of constantly losing those she loved in one form or another. Could she lose Sirius? Remus said he would recover, but this was a dose of reality like Kassie hadn't allowed herself to have. Was this the first of many times she would sit beside Sirius, bandaged up and unaware she was there? A war, some calling it worse than the Grindelwald war, brewed all around them. Sure, it barely caused chaos inside the school walls like it did outside, but Kassie knew they were close to entering into the world where this could become a reality. Perhaps a reality where Sirius never awoke.

This line of thinking made Kassie's emotional state worse than it was when Lily had awoken her and told her that Sirius was hurt. Lily hadn't had time to explain anything that James had told her because Kassie had taken off out of the girl's dormitories at a headlong run to the infirmary. But sitting next to Sirius, able to see the rise and fall of his chest, was not as comforting as she thought it would be. Instead she was allowing herself to think of even worse scenarios. She laid her head gently upon Sirius' chest, listening to the sound of his heart beat.

That is how Lily found her at lunch time. When Kassie didn't show up for Charms class, Lily had been sure she would make it to the second class of the day. But when Lily and James (who figured it would be better if at least two of the Marauders were in class) took their seats in Defense Against the Dark Arts and Kassie never arrived, Lily began to worry. As soon as the bell rang, with an unspoken agreement the couple detoured from the Great Hall and went to the infirmary.

"Are you ok?" Lily asked, coming up behind Kassie and laying a hand on her shoulder. Lily sat in a chair next to her, putting her book bag on the floor. "When you didn't come to class, I was worried."

"Yeah. I know I should have come to class, but I couldn't stand to leave him just laying here..."

"He isn't going to do much more than that until Madam Pomfrey lets him out of the coma," James pointed out. Lily jabbed him in the ribs. "Ow, or, never mind..." he muttered.

Kassie smiled slightly. "That's ok. I know. I'm just overreacting, letting things get to me."

Lily gave her a one armed hug. "If it was James lying there, I'm sure I would react the same way. Look, we're going to grab something to eat. Do you want to come?"

Kassie looked longingly at Sirius. "No, I'm ok."

"I will bring you something back," Lily promised and stood, James following suite. "Remus, you want anything?"

"Sure!" came the reply from the bed furthest on the other side of the room. James chuckled and grabbed Lily's hand as they left.

Kassie watched her best friend's retreating back until she could no longer see her. Then she turned back to Sirius. "I wish you were awake." Her answer was Madam Pomfrey coming over and swishing her wand above Sirius' body. "What does that do?"

Madam Pomfrey studied Kassie for a moment while waiting for the lines she drew above Sirius' body to complete. Just when Kassie didn't think she would answer, she replied, "It's a diagnosing spell. See how the line here is indicating that there is still a little healing left in the rib cage. The black says there is no internal bleeding. Earlier this line wasn't complete, but perhaps it was a rib jutting into something... Without internal bleeding, I can wake him."

The matron put her wand to Sirius' chest and with baited breath Kassie waited for Sirius to wake up. For a moment nothing happened, then Sirius coughed, immediately followed by his hand jumping up to his chest as he glimpsed in pain. "Ugh... that is going to hurt for a bit..."

"Not nearly as bad as it would have when you came in this morning," Madam Pomfrey said briskly, checking the bandage wrapped around his rib cage. "I'll get you some potion for the pain."

Sirius rubbed his rib cage gingerly, wincing slightly, his blue eyes swung over to Kassie. "Hey..." You could almost see Sirius' memory returning, his recollection of the events that landed him in the infirmary. "Um. Kassie, I-"

"I know," Kassie whispered, bringing Sirius' hand back up to her face and nearly choking when he cupped her cheek. "I know where you were, I know what happened. And I know why you did it."

Sirius swallowed and painfully pulled himself up to a sitting position. He pulled Kassie over to sit next to him and wrapped his arms around her as best he could. "I'm sorry." Kassie started to argue with him, but he pressed his lips against hers quickly. "No, don't. I can see the tear streaks on your face, I can see your eyes. I wouldn't put you through this for just any stupid reason. I didn't have a choice, I couldn't let--"

"It's ok, I promise," Kassie insisted. She snuggled in against his side, being careful of his ribs. "I probably just overreacted, but when we read about all the bad things happening with the war, and I've already lost both my parents and when I saw you lying here not moving and--" by the time she got to this point the tears had started again. "If I lose you I don't know what I'd do."

"You are not going to lose me." Sirius tilted her face up, blue eyes meeting violet for several long moments. Kassie sniffled and Sirius smiled a little, wiping a tear from her face with his thumb. "You, future Mrs. Black, are stuck with me." And before she could argue further, he leaned in and kissed her.

"Excuse me, if you wouldn't mind, I have something here for your pain."

Blushing slightly, Kassie pulled away and looked at the matron who was waiting with a vial of white liquid in her hand. Sirius, undaunted as usual, took the vial and downed it in one gulp. "You really should be lying down and resting, Mr. Black. But I'm sure you know that." And looking like she was trying to hide a smile, she turned and left.

Sirius, acting like they had never been interrupted, pulled Kassie's face close again. "Now, where was I?"

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With one month until finals, the teachers started coming down hard on the students to study, study and study some more. Between quidditch practice, extra homework, using his charm to try and feel students out to see which side of the war they were on, and still squeeze in time for Lily, James was looking a little frazzled. He sat across from Lily in the library, trying to finish an essay in Defense Against the Dark Arts on the Unforgiveable curses and muttering to himself every now and then. Lily had been listening to him complain about one thing or another for the last couple of hours and had just about mastered selective hearing.

Around them other students from all houses could be found pouring over books. It was late, just fifteen minutes before curfew, but no one looked to be moving towards bed. Lily preformed a quick drying spell on her own essay and rolled the parchment up. "Are you about finished?"

James leaned back and moved his neck from side to side, one side making a loud pop. "Yeah. I think I am probably a few inches short, but I just can't care right now. I'd like to say I'm going to go sleep, but Kassie has been barging in our room at night again."

"Sleep walking?"

"I suppose so. She usually only does it when something is bothering her, or that's what Sirius says. I think he just likes when she does it so that's the excuse he gives." James shrugged. "Too bad you don't sleep walk."

Lily rolled her eyes and started putting all of her things back in her bag. James took longer to get his stuff together and Lily found her mind wandering back over things she had been trying to work out, but not think of all at the same time. They started walking back toward Gryffindor tower, but still Lily hadn't spoken. James pushed into her side gently as they walked. "What's wrong?"

Lily shrugged. "Nothing much, just thinking that it's nearly end of term."

"Yeah. I can't believe it, I don't have to keep remembering not to do magic when we go home. It's going to be great."

Lily smiled. "I hadn't even thought about that. I will have to wait until my birthday. I can't believe we are nearly done with school."

James opened a door for her and they continued through the hall towards the staircase leading to Gryffindor tower. "But that's not what is bothering you."

The red head sighed, glancing over at her boyfriend. It didn't seem like they had only been dating for five months. Maybe because they had been friends for so many years. Maybe because they had both had feelings for each other several of those years. Either way, James knew her well enough that he wasn't going to let it go. She readjusted her bag and stared at the stone floor as they slowed down. "Well, I was just thinking, I am not going to Petunia's and I don't have a house. I guess I could get a flat. Sirius did, so it can't be that hard. It just feels weird to know that when I leave here, I don't have a home."

They stopped walking, Lily still not looking up. She was only aware that James had stopped, and she figured she knew the reason already. She swallowed, not ready to have this conversation. She knew what he would offer, but whether she would take him up on that offer was a different scenario entirely. She could feel his eyes boring into her and finally she looked up into them.

"You have a home."

Lily smiled slightly. "James, I know that your parents would let me stay there. But I would hate to put them out like that. And--"

"You wouldn't be putting them out. Do you think my mum would let you get your own place? Do you think she'd sit by and let you work it out on your own? You're mad if you think that. You are like the daughter she always wanted." He laughed, trying to lighten the mood, "It's good practice for the future."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Who says I'm putting up with you for the rest of our lives?"

"I do," James said, taking her bag from her and swinging it over his shoulder. They started walking again since James felt certain he had solved all the problems. "Why would you want to get rid of me, anyway?"

"Oh, I don't know, thousands of reasons, I'm sure."

"Like what?"

Lily shook her head, her hair falling down to cover some of her face. "James, I don't know, it would be awkward, wouldn't it? I know I've stayed at your place before, but we weren't dating then..."

They stopped in front of the portrait of the fat lady and James put both bags down, reached out and pulled Lily towards him. "You are more than welcome at my house. I will even be on my best behavior, if it makes you feel better." He grinned and winked before kissing her softly. "Don't worry about it, ok? It will be fine."

"Are you coming in, or not?"

James glared up at the Fat Lady and picked their bags back up. "Hunkernickle."

The common room was still full. Books were piled everywhere, the scratching of quills against parchment and occasional small talk the only sound. Lily took her bag from James and went upstairs to put it away. When she got to her room Morgana was sitting on her nightstand looking harassed and holding her leg out. Lily untied the piece of notebook paper from her leg and rubbed her finger down her head. "I'm sorry for whatever you have been put through."

Just a week earlier Lily, already thinking about what she would be doing after school broke up, had written to Petunia to let her know that she had no intention of asking to stay there. She was nice about it, she thought, but wanted to let Petunia know that in no way would she dream of trying to stay at her sister's house until she became of age.

The return letter wasn't nearly as nice as the one Lily had sent.

Lily,

I'm sure you know you are not welcome here, so I'm not

sure why you would even assume I would let you. I really

don't care to hear from you again as long as you insist on

being a you-know-what.

The solicitor read the will on Monday. You were supposed to

be here for it, but I told them I didn't know where you were.
You will have to contact the solicitor's office to find out

what you have inherited.

Petunia

Lily read the letter over again and angrily wiped at a tear. Well, she really shouldn't have expected anything more, but it still always stung. Folding the letter up, Lily placed it in her nightstand drawer and went back downstairs. She had no more than sat down next to James on the sofa when Sirius came bursting through the portrait hole and skidded to a stop next to them, sitting down and trying to look normal. His chest was still rising too fast when Peter came in, followed by Remus.

"Ah, you let him in!" Sirius complained. Nearly everyone in the room had stopped to watch what was going on.

"I couldn't let him get detention because he couldn't say the password," Remus replied, smiling a little. "Besides, what are friends for?"

"You are my friend, too!" Sirius said.

"Don't put me in the middle," Remus laughed and went upstairs. Peter marched over to Sirius and pointed at his throat.

James snickered and Sirius grinned at Peter in mock innocence. "What did he do to deserve a silencing charm?" Lily asked.

"Making fun of me and Sirius," Kassie said. No one had seen her come in the room with all the other commotion. She flopped down in Sirius' lap and stuck her tongue out at Peter. "He tried to warn you to stop."

Peter made a face that suggested he might be sorry, but no one made a move to help him. Finally Lily raised her wand and before Sirius could stop her, said, "Finite."

"Thank you, Lily. And Sirius I wouldn't have said anything except that you and Kassie have been at a near sickening level lately."

"Not my fault you don't have a witch," Sirius replied, earning him a smack in the head by the witch on his lap.

Peter rolled his eyes. "Who says I don't?"

Peter barely had time to get up the staircase when Sirius and James both managed to make excuses to head off to bed. Kassie sat back down between Lily and Kathleen and shook her head. "They are worse than us."

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

To the pleasant surprise of everyone, the following Saturday they were allowed to visit Hogsmeade village. Lily was torn as to what to do, as badly as she wanted to spend the day relaxing and maybe doing some shopping, she knew she also had work to do. The pile of homework wasn't going to do itself, and being able to spend an entire day on it would help considerably.

Lily sat at the breakfast table Saturday morning, every now and then looking at the sunlight that was dancing through the windows and on the table. She sighed, resigned to her fate. It was a beautiful spring day, and after spending a long winter inside, Lily itched to get out of the castle. But she had already decided that the homework would have to come first. As she bit into her biscuit James suddenly appeared on her right side, Kassie on her left and Sirius in front of her. Slowly she swallowed and put her food down. James reached over and shut her Transfiguration book she had open in front of her. "What are you doing?"

"We are going to Hogsmeade."

"Um, no. I am going to catch up on my homework and you said, just last evening I believe, that you were going to squeeze in one more quidditch practice before tonight's game." Lily tried to reopen her book, but James' hand was still pressed down on it.

Sirius grabbed Lily's bag and started stuffing parchment and quills in haphazardly while Kassie conjured a bag and started throwing biscuits and pastries inside. Lily unsuccessfully tried to get her book back from James, but he had tossed it to Sirius and it was now in her bag, presumably crushing her essay. "Change of plans," Sirius informed her, zipping the bag and throwing it over his shoulder. "Quidditch is cancelled because we have decided it is more important to spend the day with you two lovely ladies."

"Three lovely ladies," Remus corrected, coming up the aisle between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables, Madison hanging onto his arm and grinning madly.

Lily looked around. It was obvious that she was beyond out numbered, so once more resigned to her fate (though this one would be much more enjoyable) Lily stood up, downing the rest of her pumpkin juice as she did. "Ok."

There was complete silence for several heart beats before James put her hand on her forehead. "You ok?"

The redhead laughed, pulling his hand down. "Perfectly. I really didn't want to stay in, I'm hopelessly outnumbered, might as well go with the flow."

"Exactly!" Sirius said, jumping the table and grabbing Kassie up. He threw her over his shoulder and took off out the Great Hall, the sound of Kassie squealing and threatening to curse him echoing back to them.

"Don't crush my homework, Sirius!" Lily called after him.

"Too late, I'd wager," Remus supplied.

"MR. BLACK, PUT HER DOWN!"

"And now Professor McGonagall has spotted them," James laughed, tugging on Lily's hand. "Come on, let's get out of here."

The four of them went out of the Great Hall to find Kassie finally back down on the ground and Sirius sweet talking Professor McGonagall. After promising he would be good for at least the next forty-eight hours, and with a roll of her eyes that meant she didn't believe him, they were finally on their way.

The sun beating down was actually quite warm, causing Lily, Kassie and Madison to remove their cloaks before they even entered the village. Students, fueled it seemed by the warm sun and promise of a beautiful day, filled the village shops and pubs. James, Sirius and Remus were in rare form, talking and joking as if nothing were amiss. It reminded Lily strongly of her first days at Hogwarts, when the most interesting thing to happen was whatever prank the Marauders were up to next.

"Hey, where's Peter?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Says he can't spare a day off. I felt kind of bad, but we couldn't drag him out of the castle. At this rate we'll have to sneak him vitamin D in his pumpkin juice."

Madison looked as if she wanted to say something, but thought better of it. Kassie threaded her arm through Sirius'. "Should we go back, drag him out?"

"Probably wouldn't work," James replied. "Short of dragging him out kicking and screaming, and he wouldn't be much fun that way."

Lily steered them into Gladrags Wizardwear to pick up a few more items of clothing. Her wardrobe was still hopelessly empty since most of her stuff was gone with the fire. The last shopping trip she had managed was during the time right after her parent's death when she couldn't have cared less if she owned anything.

After leaving the store with four more bags than she went in with, the three couples made a quick stop at Honeydukes Sweetshop where the boys filled up a bag of their own with everything from Fizzing Whizzbees to Ice Mice. Sirius had a bag full of chocolate covered grasshoppers, that much like the Chocolate Frogs, were enchanted to jump.

"Come on Kassie," Sirius whined, trying his best to give his girlfriend one. "They're good!"

Kassie eyed the grasshopper with disdain. "I don't think so. The frogs I can handle, but anything with more than four legs is out!"

Without ever discussing it, the six of them ended up at the Three Broomsticks. James found them a table in the corner with a nice view of the sunny street beyond and Sirius went to order drinks. Lily shoved her bags under her seat and sat next to James. "I hope I have enough room in my trunk for all of this stuff."

"We could just get you another one," James said, unconcerned as he drank his butter beer. "Or just shrink everything down. Get you a bottomless bag--"

"Ok, never mind, magic can solve it all," Lily laughed.

"Or cause more problems," Remus sighed. He had been the only one at the table not actively participating in the conversation. Lily looked over to see him pull a Daily Prophet from his lap and turn the page.

"What's up Mooney?' James asked, not looking as concerned as Lily thought he should. Sirius was trying to feed Kassie a chocolate covered grasshopper that was wiggling in his fingers and not paying any attention.

"Looks like Voldemort has managed to get Dementors on his side."

The chocolate grasshopper Sirius had been trying his best to shove down Kassie's throat suddenly landed in front of Lily, causing her to jump. Remus laid the paper down on the table, pointing to a picture of Minister McLaird holding his wand in front of him, a small bit of smoke leaking out the tip. Kassie rolled her eyes. "With him as Minister, no wonder we are doing so horribly..."

"I doubt it's his fault. Dark wizards occasionally turn up and try to take over the Ministry. There are always a few wizards that can't help but think they can take over the world. You can look at the history of our world and see one after another. But this one seems to be much worse. This isn't a simple job, Voldemort has hundreds of followers."

Lily glanced at Remus, waiting for someone to complain that he sounded like a Professor again. But no one did. James was studying the paper laid out on the table, Sirius appeared to be meditating on his wand, and Madison was hanging onto Remus' every word. Suddenly Kassie stood up. "I'm going to the loo."

No one paid her much attention as she left, Lily still waiting for whatever news the Daily Prophet had on the Dementors. She thought they had already joined the dark side, especially after the attack on Diagon Alley. But from what Remus was telling them, it was only a few that had left at that time, but now Azkaban was no longer guarded.

"Does that mean all the prisoners there will escape?" Madison asked in a small voice. She looked terrified by this news, the day's early joy having completely evaporated.

Remus sat back, allowing James to take the paper, and put one arm around Madison comfortingly. "I'm sure the Aurors will do everything they can to keep that from happening."

"I'm sure it's only a matter of time," James said. Instead of sounding uncertain, he seemed to think this was the general idea. "It wouldn't surprise me if there was a mass breakout. Life on the run, or even as a Death Eater, compared to living however long under the influence of Dementors? I'm sure everyone in there already has decided which they would go with. That, along with the ability to suck the happiness out of people, is surely why Voldemort convinced them to side with him to begin with."

Kassie returned and sat next to Sirius. He leaned back and put his arm around her, but instead of snuggling closer to him as she usually did, she sat forward, her eyes glued to the paper. "What's this?"

"The Dementors have joined Voldemort," Lily supplied. She felt a shiver run through her body. "I hate those things." There was agreeing nods all around. Lily closed the paper, no longer wanting to look at the picture of the Minister on the front page as he signaled out messages with his wand.

James threw back the last of his butter beer and proceeded to start ripping the label off the bottle in little slivers. Lily played with her own empty bottle, not really enjoying the silence, but not bothered by it, either.

Apparently Kassie was. "Are we staying here much longer?"

Sirius shrugged. "We don't have to."

Lily glanced at her watch. It was near dinner time. "We probably should be heading back, anyway, so we can grab a bite to eat before heading to the field."

James nodded, helping Lily pull all her bags from under her seat. Sirius, Kassie, Madison and Remus followed. The walk back to the castle was silent, and Lily longed for the fun, easy going day they had before something as simple as a newspaper had changed it all. Now the six of them walked in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. James suddenly let go of Lily's hand and pulled her close, putting his arm around her shoulder.

"Oh, isn't that just sickening," a voice sneered from behind them.

Lily didn't even have to turn to know who it was. Sirius, also, recognized the voice. "Sod off, Trixie."

"Oh, cousin dear, don't be like that. We are family, after all, and family should stick together through these... troubling times."

Sirius turned to say something, but lost his train of thought when Kassie didn't stop walking. Throwing a evil look at his cousin, he jogged to catch up with Kassie. "Hey, where you going in such a hurry?"

"To eat," Kassie replied.

"Ok..." Sirius said nothing else, only grabbed her hand and continued on. Without the resulting throwing of hexes, Bellatrix seem to have lost her interest and headed off in the other direction when they came to the castle doors where the caretaker was watching students return from the village with a careful eye.

Still feeling a little strange about how Kassie had completely ignored Bellatrix for perhaps the first time in her life, Lily went into the Great Hall and took a seat next to James. The up coming quidditch match against Ravenclaw shortly after dinner dominated the conversation. James and Sirius would discuss various strategies, only to have to bring other players over to their end of the table to discuss them further. Lily finally lost interest and rolled her eyes at Kassie. "Do you think they actually have a game plan, or do they make it up as they go?"

"Definitely make it up," Kassie replied, not bothering to reply to Sirius' attempts to get her opinion on his idea to just bludger the other team's seeker from the outset.

For a brief second Kassie's eyes met Lily's and the redhead felt her heart rate increase, a sense of doom engulfing her. As quickly as it came, the feeling left and Kassie went back to eating. For several minutes Lily tried to catch her eye again, but to no avail. Her line of vision was slowly becoming clouded and out of the empty whiteness flashes of shadows came and went, each bringing a sense of dread.

"Lily, you coming?"

"What?" Lily felt like she was being drug out of a dream. Small flashes of something she couldn't quite put her finger on kept tugging at her mind, but with James talking to her, she couldn't concentrate on it. "Yeah," she finally said, letting the images go and focusing on James. "I'm coming."

They all left the Great Hall together, heading towards the quidditch field. Several more times Lily tried to catch Kassie's eye, but it was almost as if Kassie was going out of her way to ignore Lily. Concerned, Lily found herself mentally noting where her wand was. When they arrived James pulled her over for a "good luck" kiss. As soon as they were out of ear shot of Kassie and Sirius, Lily threw her arms around James and put her mouth up to his ear. "Act like what I'm saying is funny," she instructed as James put his arms around her with a quizzical look on his face.

To anyone passing by, it would seem they were just a couple pulled off into a semi dark corner for a moment. Lily and James usually weren't as big on public affection as their respective best friends were, but no one paid them any mind. "What's going on?" James asked, his tone suggesting he had caught on to Lily's worries.

"I'm not sure, but something is up with Kassie. A vision was pulling at me--"

"A vision?" Now James did sound worried. "Lily, you haven't had one of those in a while."

"I know, and I couldn't grasp this one. Usually my visions come when I'm alone, or at least in a quiet area. This one came out of nowhere, and it's something to do with Kassie, I'd bank on it. She's been acting strange anyway, and when I caught her eye I felt like something very bad was going to happen."

"Did you See anything?"

"Not really, but the feeling of doom I got with it..."

James nodded, actually pulling Lily close for more than appearances. "Ok, look, she's one witch and all the Professors, including Dumbledore, will be here. Nothing will happen during the game, I'm sure of it. Keep an eye on her as much as you can, don't hesitate to hex her if you have to."

"James!"

"I'm serious, Lily. There are a million things it could be, but I trust your instincts enough to know it's something serious. I'll talk to my seeker, see if we can't cut this game short. I don't like being away from you when there is even a hint of danger." He looked into her green eyes, his voice slightly husky and very much determined. "I will not let anything happen to you. I'd die first."

Public affection or not, Lily felt her chest tighten and she stood up on her tip toes so she could press her lips to his as hard as she could. As he pulled away, he leaned his forehead on hers, "I love you. Always."

"I love you."

"Oy, Potter, you going to come lead this game or snog Evans?"

James glared good naturedly at Patrick over Lily's head. The seeker rolled his eyes and James squeezed Lily one more time. "Be careful." He walked away, slapping Patrick on the back. "Let's talk about how fast you can find the snitch."

"It's nothing to do with finding it, it's catching the bloody thing," Patrick laughed as they made their way into the changing rooms. "I thought you usually wanted me to just throw the other team off the trail so you can get the score as high as possible?"

"Not today," James said distractedly. He pulled his game robes on, messing his hair up more than usual in the process. Glancing around he caught sight of Sirius tying his shoes. He walked over to him and sat down on the bench. "Notice anything unusual?"

Sirius ran his hand through his hair and looked over at James. His eyes were slightly blood shot. "Yeah, I've noticed something. Kassie just broke up with me."

"What?!" James noticed several of the other team members look their direction and he tried to keep control on his volume. "Padfoot, what happened?"

Sirius let out a deep breath and went back to concentrating on his laces again. "I pulled her over for a pregame snog, like always, and she said she was tired of all the public stuff and wanted to cool it for a while. James, I know this sounds crazy, and I swear it's not just because I don't know what I'd do without her, but I think something is going on. She hasn't acted right all day, and now this?"

"There is something going on," James told Sirius everything Lily had said. "Do you think she's been put under?"

There was no need for either to elaborate that they were talking of the Imperius Curse. Talk had been in the Daily Prophet for years that Voldemort's followers were using it on anyone from high officials in the Ministry to pure blood wizarding families and everyone in between. Sirius's jaw clenched. "That is actually what I was thinking." He laughed bitterly. "Still didn't change the fact that when she said it I felt like I had been hit in the chest with a bludger."

James clapped him on the shoulder and stood up. "Lily is going to keep an eye on her. Let's get this game over with and we will take care of this."

Fairly sure that if Kassie had broken up with Sirius and had actually meant it he wouldn't have a game because he would be down one beater, James lead the team onto the pitch. Once more he reminded Patrick that he wanted the snitch caught as soon as possible. "I'm talking five minutes here." He clapped him on the back. "I know you can do it."

Patrick looked like he wanted to argue, but glancing back at Sirius, then back at James gave him the distinct impression something was going on here that was bigger than a quidditch game. He nodded, grabbed his broom and waited for the instruction to mount.

In the stands on the Gryffindor side, Lily was trying her best to act normal without overdoing it. And found out quickly that acting wasn't her strong point. Almost immediately Remus found his way over to her side and leaned close, pretending to point at something on the field. "What's going on?"

"Am I that obvious?" Lily laughed, also looking at the field instead of the person beside her.

"I'd say you look worried." Remus shrugged. "But I could be picking up on the fact that Sirius looked like he had been crying when he came out on the pitch."

Lily looked for Sirius, but the game whistle had already been blown and he was too far up in the sky to see properly. "Why would Sirius be upset unless...." Lily glanced over at Kassie. The black haired witch was planted firmly between Kathleen and Gabrielle and looking intently interested in whatever they were saying. Lily turned back to Remus and explained her worries. He didn't say anything when she finished, but the look on his face said he was taking her as seriously as James had.

"Wow," Peter said, coming up to the pair of them and watching the game. "Sirius looks like he has it in for Ravenclaw today."

Lily hadn't really been paying much attention to the field, but took that moment to glance up just in time to see Sirius whack a bludger so hard that Ravenclaw's chaser had to swerve hard right and nearly into the standing to avoid a head on collision. Peter leaned over the rail to see if the chaser was ok. "That was close."

Lily turned to Kassie, refusing to be ignored, but she needn't worried about that. "I broke up with the stupid toe rag," Kassie said matter of factly, then giggled. She looked over to Kathleen as if trying to get the other witch to laugh with her. "Guess he took it a little badly."

Later James would have a good laugh about this, when it was all said and done. But at the moment Lily felt rage burn through her because one, it was painfully obvious that something was up with Kassie because that was not her best friend talking. And two, Lily was just a bit over protective of all her friends and she was sure that later Kassie would forgive her for what she did because of what this Kassie had just done to Sirius.

"Stupefy!"

Kassie immediately fell over to the side, straight into Gabrielle's lap. Gabrielle promptly screamed, gaining the attention of Professor McGonagall and Professor McClure who were near by. Remus and Lily carefully pulled her off Gabrielle and laid her out on the ground. Remus looked up at Lily questioningly.

"James told me to hex her if I had to." She blushed slightly. "I had to."

--End Chapter 58.

Sooo.... There you have it. I've actually made good time between updates. Maybe, just maybe, I can handle this and three kids. Who knew?! HUGE thanks to Kate for getting this back to me so quickly, you are awesome! Thanks to Shannon for putting up with my mad ramblings at all hours of the night (literally! It's ok, we both work night shift!) and not going off the deep end (too badly) with my bad spelling in my rough drafts.

The next chapter is coming along nicely. Can you believe that we are actually coming up on 7^th year? And then poor James and Lily.... That's ok, when this is over and I can start on my story of what happens if they don't die and then I won't feel so bad knowing this story isn't going to have a happy ending at all!

Remember to review with your thoughts or any suggestions, etc. I've actually used them before, so it's not a wasted time, I promise! I don't own Harry Potter or any of JK Rowlings characters. I do own Kassie, cause she is all mad imaginations product! :D

Until next time sleep! Especially if you ever plan on having kids, because you sure won't be getting any after they are born!

~Beth

12.4.12