United in Battle

Chapter 9

Sessho-Maru and Tori wandered through the sand covered streets of Mos Espa. They would stop every so often and look at the various wares displayed in the booths lining the streets. Tori felt Sessho-Maru's hand tighten on her own. She looked up from the jewelry that she was perusing and saw the Dug that had tried to kill Jar Jar only the day before. She tugged on Sessho-Maru's hand making him look down at her with his amber eyes.

"Come on, darlin'. Let's go back to Koga's." Tori started to pull Sessho-Maru away from Sebulba. "I want to see how far you can go without making me your mate."

"You would do well as a slave, girl." Sebulba had wandered over to them. His eyes skimmed down Tori's slender body. "I might buy you myself."

"You touch my mate and you will die." Sessho-Maru stepped in front of Tori to hide her from the Dug. He pulled Tokijin from its sheath and pointed it at the Dug. "I will take pleasure in watching you go to hell."

"Sessho-Maru, please calm down." Tori pulled on his extended arm and tried to grab his sword. "Don't kill him. He's not worth it."

"You have been rescued, fool. My mate has spared your life." Sessho-Maru growled once more at Sebulba and slid his sword back into its sheath. He looked down into Tori's crystal blue eyes. "You will be a mighty mate and ruler of the Western Lands."

Tori blushed as Sessho-Maru scooped her into his arms and bounded down the street.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remus placed the steaming cup of tea before Shmi. "This will help you feel better."

"Thank you." Shmi lifted the steaming drink to her lips and took a sip. "This is good."

"I'm glad you like it." Remus leaned back in his seat. "Maybe you want to talk about what is bothering you."

Shmi sighed softly as she put the cup on the scarred table. "I'm worried about Annie. He's not like other children his age. He had to grow up fast to survive."

"I know what that's like." Remus smiled softly as he took out his worn picture of his friends. "My friends also know what that's like."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You see, where I come from there is a Dark wizard that is trying to cleanse our world of Muggle-borns, half-breeds, and anyone else that he thinks doesn't fit." Remus laid the picture on the table and pointed to himself. "I'm a werewolf."

"Werewolf?" Shmi tilted her head slightly. "What's that?"

"I'm forced to change into a wolf during the full moon. My friends discovered it when we were in Second Year. Since that day, they tried what they could to become Animagi."

"Animagi?"

"People who can willingly turn into an animal. This young lady here..." Remus pointed at the picture of Veronica. "...Figured out how to do it by the end of our third year. I've always suspected that McGonagall helped her with it a bit. James and Sirius had it by the middle of our Fifth Year. They even helped Peter figure it out." He shook his head slightly. "They surprised me the night of the full moon the first month after they accomplished it. I was so happy that the wolf wasn't any where near as out of control as he used to be."

"That's very interesting to know." Shmi sipped her tea.

"Now Veronica really knows what it's like to grow up fast. She lost her parents a few days after she started at Hogwarts. She had to grow up real quick, especially since she was going to be staying with James's family. She didn't know what was going to happen but the Potters have treated her like a daughter since the day that they took her in." Remus leaned back in his seat slightly. "Anakin is the same way. Life may have dealt him a rough hand but he's willing to make the best of it. He'll be fine no matter what life throws at him."

Shmi nodded slightly. "I see what you're saying. Just because Annie is growing up, I shouldn't try to hold him back."

"Exactly. He'll wind up resenting you if you do that."

"Thank you for telling me your story, Remus. I'll try to keep it in mind when Annie's out there in the race tomorrow." Shmi slowly gathered the cups together and carried them into the kitchen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Koga wiped a rag over the tools before placing them back into Anakin's tool kit. "Are you sure we've done all the modifications to this thing?"

"Of course, Master Koga." Anakin crawled from underneath the podracer. "We finished it all." He wiped his hands on a rag as he walked over to the wolf demon. "Why do you ask?"

Koga shrugged slightly as he turned his face toward the setting suns. "No reason. I'm just not that anxious to go and find out what Sessho-Maru and his mate are doing."

Inu-Yasha dropped from his perch on the roof of the building. "Like any of us want to know what they are doing."

"Yeah, whatever, mutt face." Koga turned back to the tools he was cleaning.

"Look, you baka ookami. We're going to need each other to get off this rock and back to our own homes." Inu-Yasha's face twisted slightly as he decided what he wanted to say. "I think we should call a truce."

"A truce? Are you sick, Mutt face?" Koga looked shocked. He couldn't believe that Inu-Yasha wanted a truce.

"Yeah. That's what I said. We can try and be civil to one another. At least until we get home." Inu-Yasha stuck out his hand like he'd seen Kagome do in her time. "Do you think we can get along for that length of time, Koga?"

"I'm game if you are." Koga gripped Inu-Yasha's hand.

"We can't tell the runt that we've got a truce." Inu-Yasha raised one of his silver eyebrows.

"No point in making him happy." Koga jerked his hand out of Inu-Yasha's hand. "Should we tell Kagome about this?"

"Nope. No sense in making her worry that we'll wind up killing each other."

"We'd better let Qui-Gon know what is going on." Inu-Yasha started toward the hovel that Anakin called home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tori rolled her shoulders slightly as Sessho-Maru ran his fingers through her shoulder length hair. Tori placed gentle kisses along his exposed collarbone. Sessho-Maru growled slightly as he caressed her silky smooth skin.

"You are now my mate, Tori." Sessho-Maru heard Tori chuckle softly.

"What's Inu-Yasha going to say when he finds out that we've...mated?"

"He will accept you as part of the pack. I am the Alpha male and you are my mate."

Tori nodded slightly as she laid her back against his chest. "You've made me a very happy woman, Sessho-Maru."

"You have made me a very happy mate." Sessho-Maru leaned down to place a kiss on her lips. "Come. We must return to the others. They will begin to worry once the suns begin to set."

"Sure." Tori stretched slightly as she scrambled from the bed and reached for her clothes. "Are you sure that the guys are going to respect your decision about me?"

"I assure you, my mate, that they will think better of me for taking a human as a mate." Sessho-Maru nuzzled her neck slightly as she struggled to hook her bra. His fingers gripped the hooks and pulled them together. "Allow me."

Tori sighed as she felt the hooks grip the other side. "Thank you." She smiled slightly as his fingers skimmed down along her spinal column. "This isn't getting us dressed."

"I know." Sessho-Maru picked Tori up into his arms and tossed her back onto the bed. "Perhaps we should make them wait for us."

"Okay." Tori pulled Sessho-Maru down as his claws shredded her bra. "You're going to replace that you know."

"With anything you desire, my love." Sessho-Maru swallowed her groan as he kissed her lips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inu-Yasha looked out the window at the darkening streets. Koga played a game of Scrabble with Shmi, Padme, and Remus that Remus had conjured for them. Anakin was on the back porch staring at the stars appearing for the night with Qui-Gon and Miroku.

"Do they all have a system of planets?" Anakin glanced at Qui-Gon for an answer.

"I'm not sure but most of them do." Qui-Gon looked at the wound on Anakin's arm.

"Do you think that anyone's been to them all?" Anakin stared at the stars as Qui-Gon cleaned out the cut on his arm.

"No. There are too many. Even if a person were to live to be several millennia they would never see them all." Qui-Gon smiled softly as he indulged the boy's curiosity.

"I'm going to be the first one to see them all." Anakin jumped slightly as Qui-Gon took a small sample of his blood. "What's that for?"

"I want to make sure that there aren't any infections starting. You can never be too careful." Qui-Gon smiled as Shmi stepped toward the door.

"Time for bed, Annie." Shmi disappeared into the house as Inu-Yasha joined them on the porch.

"You'd best get in there, brat. She's said she'd drag you in there herself if you didn't hurry." Inu-Yasha perched himself onto the railing of the porch as Anakin hurried into the house. "Do you think Sessho-Maru and Tori have found themselves trouble?"

"Not likely, idiot." Tori's voice floated from the rooftop.

The three men looked up and saw Sessho-Maru carrying Tori. She waved as Sessho-Maru jumped from the rooftop. Inu-Yasha sniffed the air tentatively and gave his brother a toothy grin.

"So... you took care of the problem?" Inu-Yasha ducked as his brother's fist came close to hitting the back of his head. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Drop dead, Inu-Yasha." Tori stood on her toes and placed a kiss on Sessho-Maru's lips. "I'm going in to talk to Shmi and Padme. I'll see you in a bit."

Sessho-Maru watched his mate's hips sway slightly as she entered the house before turning back to Inu-Yasha, Miroku, and Qui-Gon. "How did things go around here after we left?"

"Fine. The podracer is ready and now all we have to do is race." Miroku leaned on his staff. "So how was your day?"

"Fine. That creature that attacked Jar Jar yesterday made some comments about Tori and she kept me from killing him." Sessho-Maru watched a Qui-Gon put the blood sample into the comlink. "What is that?"

"I'm sending it to Obi-Wan and having him check the midi-chlorians." Qui-Gon thumbed the comlink on. "Obi-Wan, I want you check this blood sample I'm sending you."

"Just a moment." Obi-Wan's voice crackled through the comlink.

"I need a midi-chlorian count." Qui-Gon looked around at the gathered men.

"Got it. That's strange."

"What is strange?"

"The count is off the chart. Over twenty thousand. Even Master Yoda doesn't have a count that high." Obi-Wan shook his head slightly though his master couldn't see him. "What does this mean?"

"I'm not sure. I'll contact you after the race tomorrow." Qui-Gon turned the comlink off as he turned slightly and saw Shmi standing in the doorway.

"What are we doing tomorrow?" Sessho-Maru ignored the looks that passed between Qui-Gon and Shmi.

"The race is tomorrow morning. We've got to get there early so we can set up." Miroku started toward the door. "I think we all need to get some sleep."

"Good idea." Inu-Yasha started after him before turning to face his brother. "Miroku said sleep, not other things."

Tori rolled her eyes as the men stepped into the room. "Well, did we have fun talking?"

Sessho-Maru wrapped his arm around her and pulled her flush with his body. "We return to our quarters to rest, my mate."

"Good. This afternoon was certainly tiring." Tori smiled broadly as Sessho-Maru growled. "Time to go."

Padme looked up from the Scrabble board. "May Remus and Koga stay? I would like to finish this game."

Remus stretched as he climbed to his feet. "We can finish this on the ship. We've got a race to get ready for in the morning." He pulled his wand from within his robes and made the game board vanish. "The game board will be exactly as the same as when we stopped."

Padme frowned for a moment until she caught Tori's grin. "That will be fine. Perhaps the Queen would like to learn how to play it."

Remus grinned. "I'd be honored to teach her." He bowed slightly as Sessho-Maru hurried the rest of the group out into the night. "Good night, ladies." He turned and followed the rest of the group out into the night air.

Qui-Gon followed them for a moment. "Perhaps you would like to let your friends know that you spoke to the ones that were left behind." He held out the comlink.

"Thanks." Tori took the comlink and slid it into a pocket of her tunic. "We'll get this back to you in the morning."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sirius lounged against one of the struts for the Queen's transport. He glanced over at James. "I wonder what Veronica did to Peter when she found out that he deserted us."

"Knowing her, she probably tried to kill him." James looked up into the darkening sky.

"Yeah. I wish we could be there. For once she wouldn't be torturing us."

"Whatever."' James heard a small thumping against the hull of the ship. "You know they're going to watch the kid race tomorrow."

"I know. I wish we could go." Sirius sighed as he tossed a small ball up into the air. "Do you want to drive Lily crazy?"

"How so?"

"Just the usual. She knows about our Animagus forms so why not chase her around the ship?"

"Because she'd kill us, find out a way to contact Veronica and tell her; then Veronica would kill us but not before Lily told Sango and let her kill us."

"Damn. You're right."

Lily's soft foot falls sounded on the ramp of the ship. "I'm glad to see that given the choice of listening to me or annoying me you choose to listen."

"It wasn't you. It was Lioness and Sango." Sirius turned on his heel and started past her. "Maybe you can get James out of the funk he's in."

"I'll try, Padfoot. I'll try." Lily walked toward her fiancé and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Worried about something?"

"Just the race tomorrow. I hope the kid makes it out of there alive."

"What makes you say that?"

"Obi-Wan lent me some datapads about podracing after we heard that they were going to have a racer in it. It's highly dangerous."

"No more than that of Quidditch or Muggle auto racing. Anakin's lived through races before and he'll do it again." Lily laid her head on his shoulder and stared at the stars coming out for the night. "Have you ever wondered if we're truly alone in the universe?"

James looked over his shoulder at the ship glistening in the dying sunlight. "I believe that has become a moot point, Lils."

Lily playfully punched his arm. "You know what I mean."

"Actually I never really thought about it. I just knew that if there was life out there, we would find out about it one day."

"Come on. We'd better get inside before the temperature drops too much." Lily and James turned back just as Sirius came barreling back down the ramp.

"You're not going to believe it, Prongs. Moony talked to Lioness and she went after Wormtail."

"How deep did her claws go?" James socked his head to one side.

"She told him that she would give him all the details once she talked to us." Sirius preened slightly. "Can you believe it? She wants to tell us first. She's doing us proud."

"What else did she say?" Lily nudged James slightly.

"Just to tell you she said hello and to give you this." Sirius wrapped his arms around Lily and James. "She also wanted Moony to give each of us a kiss but he won't do it."

"Did he talk to Dumbledore or McGonagall?" James shoved Sirius away from him.

"Nope. Just Lioness. And I bet she broke down after he talked to her. I think Moony said that she said that she should have been angry with us but she was glad that we're safe." Sirius kept his arm draped around Lily's shoulders.

"Did any of the others talk to their friends?" Lily shoved her elbow into Sirius's side making him move away from her.

"I think Inu-Yasha got to talk to his bird, Kagome." Sirius moved away from Lily. "Moony said that Tori drove him crazy after that contact."

"Tori would even drive me crazy if I had to hang out with her all the time." Sango stepped away from the console and bowed slightly. "Inu-Yasha has indeed heard from Kagome. He and Sessho-Maru both spoke to Rin and Shippo as well. It turns out that Koga snuck on board with us and managed to bring Shippo and Rin with him. The children are on Coruscant at the Jedi Temple. Master Qui-Gon says that they'll be safe there." Sango sighed deeply.

"What's wrong?" Lily hurried over to her new friend and pulled her into a hug.

"Miroku was flirting with another woman. Again." Sango swiped at the tears forming in her eyes. "I wish he wouldn't."

James looked at Sirius who nodded. He kissed Lily's cheek. "We've got some business to take care of. Don't wait up."

Lily watched James and Sirius race off the ship and shook her head. "I feel sorry for Miroku."

"Why?" Sango looked after James and Sirius.

"They're going to have a man to monk talk with him."

"I'm starting to feel sorry for him too."

Lily and Sango wandered back to their quarters for the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once out of sight of the ship, James transformed into Prongs and Sirius transformed into Padfoot. Together they hurried to the small settlement that they had landed near. Padfoot barked at the stag running beside him. They turned down several roads keeping to the shadows as they went. It wouldn't do for anyone to see them before they got to where Remus and the others were staying. Padfoot slid to a stop and sniffed the air. He barked at the stag again and hurried down another street. They stopped before a door and changed back into their human forms. Sirius straightened his robes as James knocked on the door.

"How many times do I have to tell you bakas I'm not interested in buying anything?!" Koga slid the door open and saw the two men in robes. "I take it you're both friends of Remus?"

"My name's James and this is Sirius." James extended a hand. "You must be Koga. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Well, get in here, you bakas." Inu-Yasha stepped up behind Koga and pushed him out of the way. "Did Lily and Sango send you?"

"I think Lily may know that we're here but not Sango." Sirius nodded at Remus. "Hey, Moony."

"Padfoot. Prongs. I take it you heard about Miroku and his little slip up with Shmi last night." Remus leaned back in his chair trying to ignore the moans coming from Tori and Sessho-Maru.

"Yeah. Where is the lecher?" James looked around the room.

"He's meditating on the roof. Come on. I'll show you." Remus led his friends to the roof with Koga and Inu-Yasha trailing behind them.

Miroku was sitting Indian style on the rooftop when the others stepped out in the night. He didn't move when he heard them coming towards him. Remus moved toward him while Sirius and James whispered the plan to Koga and Inu-Yasha. They nodded and started toward the monk.

Miroku heard Remus behind him. "Evening, Remus. May I ask what brings you up here?"

"Nothing really. James and Sirius decided to pay us a visit." Remus leaned on the railing running along the edge of the roof.

"Interesting. I take it they have news of Sango."

"Now that you mention it, they might." Remus looked over his shoulder at his fellow wizards. "Guys."

"Miroku, we heard about what happened last night..." Sirius fingered his wand slightly.

James nodded slightly to Koga and Inu-Yasha to grab him. "... And we've decided that you should have a good talking to about how to treat women."

"Especially a woman like Sango." Koga tackled Miroku to the rooftop. "If you three are going to tie him up, I suggest you do it now before he gets any ideas about tossing me over the edge of the roof."

Ropes shot from the end of Sirius's wand. Inu-Yasha and Koga watched in amazement as the ropes wrapped up Miroku's body and even covered his mouth. "Now that we have your undivided attention I think we need to talk. James, if you would start."

"Thank you, Sirius. Let's get one thing straight. No matter how much you enjoy flirting with women, you never do it in front of the woman of your dreams." James sat beside the bound monk.

"Exactly. If you show a woman that you're even looking at another woman, she'll most likely do something stupid, like kiss your best friend to make you jealous." Remus crossed his arms while he glared at Sirius.

"Still haven't forgiven me for that, have you, Moony?" Sirius smirked slightly. "I told you before that you're the idiot that was ignoring your girl."

"You didn't have to enjoy it!" Remus rubbed his eyes slightly. "That's not the point."
James shook his head. "You never feel up the bird you like either. That just royally pisses them off."

"Don't you have a scar from where Lily tried to take your arm off for grabbing her ass, Prongs?" Sirius just smiled at James as he threw him a "Shut up or die" look.

"I had almost drowned in the lake and she was giving me CPR. It's not my fault that my hands took that as the signal to grab her ass." James rolled his eyes as he turned to face Miroku again. "Where was I?"

"You just told him not to feel up a bird. Tell me, what do birds have to do with this." Inu-Yasha watched James and Sirius shake their heads as Sessho-Maru and Tori joined them.

"Birds are what English men call women." Tori perched herself on the railing beside Remus. "What's all this about?"

"Miroku flirting with other women." Remus laughed as Miroku glared at him, which wasn't very effective given the fact that he was tied up and gagged.

Tori looked down at the tied up monk. "It serves you right to have to go through this. You grabbed my ass and Lily's..."

"You dare touch my Lily! I'll kill you!" James jumped toward the monk only to have Sessho-Maru grab him from the air.

"That is enough." Sessho-Maru calmly placed the young man onto his feet. "I'm the Alpha of this pack. I will tell you what is to be done." He looked down upon the gagged Miroku. "You will end your lecherous ways, monk. You have a mate in Sango and the more you flirt the more she's hurt." He turned to James and Sirius. "Untie him." He spun around and headed back into the house.

Tori jumped down from the railing as James and Sirius untied Miroku. "I warned y'all not to mess with my mate." She hurried after Sessho-Maru.

James glared at Miroku one last time. "I guess we'd better head back to the ship."

Remus grinned. "We could always contact Veronica before you go."

James started for the door. "Let's go."

Remus, Koga, and Sirius hurried after him. Inu-Yasha looked down at the embarrassed monk. "Think you can keep your hands and eyes to yourself?"

"As long as those two don't try to kill me again, yes." Miroku climbed to his feet. "Let us go in, my friend."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arthur was kneeling before the droid and looked up when he heard the buzzing noise. He grinned when he saw the three young men that he thought of as sons. "What can I do for you boys?"

James looked around the room. "Where's Veronica?"

"Miss Croft is sleeping, Mr. Potter." Dumbledore stepped through the open doorway. "What may I help you with?"

"We just wanted Vee to see that we're okay." Sirius fingered his wand. "Are you sure you can't wake her?"

Veronica slipped through the doorway making James, Remus, and Sirius smile broadly. "He doesn't have to."

"You are to be asleep, Miss Croft." Dumbledore looked down at the young lady.

"I placed an alarm on the droid to let me know when someone was contacting us. I wasn't about to miss these three contacting us." She turned back to the hologram. "How are you guys?"

"Fine." Sirius took in the shadows under her normally bright eyes. "How have you been taking this whole thing, Vee?"

"Okay. I've been worried about the three of you. You have been behaving, haven't you?" Veronica giggled as James shot a quick look over his shoulder.

"We've been behaving. James and I are staying on the ship while Remus is in town here getting parts for the ship."

"I should have known that the two of you would leave Remus to do all the work as usual." Veronica smiled as Remus grinned beside James. "Actually I'd rather he was getting the parts. You two would spend the money on dungbombs and candy."

Sirius pretended to look shocked. "I resemble that remark!"

"I know." Veronica giggled slightly. "So what are the three of you doing together?"

"Well... We have a friend named Sango and she likes one of the guys that she travels with but he's been flirting with every woman in sight." Sirius cringed as Veronica lifted one of her eyebrows in question.

"Where is he? On the ship?"

"Nope. He's right here." James reached behind him and grabbed Miroku. "Do you want to talk to him?"

"How'd you guess?" Veronica watched as Miroku was hauled into the hologram. "So you're the man that flirts with every woman that you see."

"Milady." Miroku bowed slightly. "I trust you have some advice for me as well."

"Yeah. Just one piece. Tell Sango that you love her already. She'll most likely be willing to forgive and forget if she knows that you love her." Veronica crossed her arms and glared at Miroku. "If you don't, I'm coming there and killing you."

Sirius placed a hand on Miroku's shoulder. "Trust us. She means that."

"I will tell her as soon as I see her." Miroku moved out of the hologram.

James looked back at Veronica. "So what's this I hear about you hurting poor Wormtail?"

"I didn't hurt him...much. Besides, Madam Pomfrey fixed him up." Veronica rocked slightly on her heels all the while looking innocent.

"How deep did your claws go?" Sirius examined his fingernails.

"Not much. About an inch." Veronica cocked her head to one side.

"That's not as deep as you did to me." Sirius rubbed his backside.

"You barked at me. What was I to do? Let you get away with it?" Veronica flexed her fingers. "Besides you deserved it."

"Not the point." Sirius huffed slightly.

"Aren't your new friends going to contact their families?" Veronica dropped to the floor as the hologram shimmered.

"Not tonight." James grinned. "Any message you want to give to Lily?"

"Just that I miss her and you guys. Contact me as soon as you guys get away from there." Veronica smiled as the hologram shimmered away to nothing. She turned to face Dumbledore. "I'm going to bed now."

"Miss Croft, they will return home soon. And when they do, you'll be happy again." Dumbledore extended a hand to Veronica.

Veronica took the offered hand. "I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to them. They've been my family for six years."

Dumbledore nodded slightly. "I trust you've been giving some thought to the request I made before graduation."

"I've been thinking about it. I can't do that to the guys. If I disappear, they'd think I was abandoning them, and the war, but I know that Voldemort can't get me either." Veronica shrugged slightly. "I haven't made my decision about the Memory Charm yet, Professor."

"Very well. I suggest you go and get some sleep. I believe Mr. Black is a little worried about you."

"I'm sure he is." Veronica glided from the room. "Unfortunately I won't be able to stop worrying about them."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sirius turned to his two friends. "Did either of you notice the shadows under Lioness's eyes?"

James nodded. "I noticed. She's taking this a lot harder than she's telling everyone. Once we get home she'll be happy to see us and our new friends."

"What are we going to do with her? Voldemort is still after her and we're no closer to capturing him." Sirius looked between Remus and James.

"I'm sure Dumbledore has a plan. We'll just have to wait and see what it is." Remus moved across the room to his pallet on the floor.

"You know his idea of a plan, Moony. Ignore it and see if it goes away." James leaned against the wall.

"You can't really think like, Prongs. Dumbledore is one of the greatest wizards of all time." Remus shook his head slightly. "I think you should head back to the ship."

"Padfoot is going to stay here with you guys. I've got a feeling you're going to need him." James moved toward the door.

Miroku stepped toward James. "Do you mind if I return to the ship with you? There isn't much that I can do here with my Wind Tunnel."

"Sure." James waved to the others. "We'll see you after the race tomorrow."

Sirius waved as James turned into Prongs and Miroku climbed onto his back. "Say goodnight to Sango and Lily for me."

"We will." Miroku's voice lingered on the air for a few minutes after they hurried out of sight.

"I hope Lily and Sango don't kill them." Sirius looked over at Remus lying on his pallet.

Sessho-Maru turned to the two wizards lounging on the floor. "Who is this Voldemort and why is he threatening my pack mates?"

"He's a dark wizard during our time. He's been after Veronica for six years. He even had her at one point but Remus messed up his plans." Sirius leaned back slightly to look up at Sessho-Maru. "We've been trying to figure out how to stop him."

"You have me to help protect our pack." Sessho-Maru turned slightly as Tori wrapped her arms around his waist.

"You also have me. I'm a cop so I'm able to find things that you normally can't." Tori smiled down at her new friends. "All you've got to do is call and I'll be there."

"Thanks but no thanks. We can't put you into that kind of danger. You barely understand the problem." Remus jumped to his feet and hurried out of the room.

"What's with him?" Tori looked up at Sessho-Maru.

"His mate is the one in trouble." Sessho-Maru placed a kiss on Tori's forehead. "I will go and speak with him."

"Okay." Tori dropped onto the floor beside Sirius. "So tell us more about this Voldemort guy."

"What do you want to know?" Sirius watched her with his mischievous eyes.

"Everything that you know." Tori leaned against the wall.

"Well. All I know is that his name is Lord Voldemort. He's a Dark wizard and he's been gaining power the last six years. More so since he found out about the prophecy about him and Lioness."

"Why do you call Veronica Lioness?" Inu-Yasha dropped onto the floor beside Tori.

"That's her nickname. You know that my other form is a large black dog. They call me Padfoot." Sirius grinned broadly. "James can change into a stag so we call him Prongs. Remus is a werewolf so we call him Moony. Our friend Peter, you haven't met him yet, can change into a rat so he's known as Wormtail. Veronica was the first of us to get the Animagus form down, and has tried to protect us with her life, so we call her Lioness. We're all a part of her pride." Sirius pulled a small book form inside his robes and flipped through the pages. "This picture was taken around Christmas." He turned the book around and showed them the picture that Remus kept looking at. "This is the lot of us. James, Lily, Peter, Remus, Veronica, and me. We're like a family and when one of us is in danger the rest of us jump head first into the problem. The first day we met Lioness she was attacked on the train to school. James, Remus, and I were terrors to deal with after that. No one could go near her or talk to her without one of us there. That's when we found out about the prophecy. She moved up into our year and we were thrilled. Our third year started without a hitch, unless you call Bellatrix messing with her a hitch. Anyhow, we were at our first Hogsmeade Weekend when Voldemort decided to try and kidnap Veronica again. Of course, James and I were elsewhere trying to get Dungbombs. Remus was trying to get owner of the shop that they wanted to look in. We were lucky. It didn't work. Her screams brought a couple of Aurors to her rescue. Remus came and got us. We helped the teachers out by getting all the students back up to the school. Unfortunately, one of the students didn't make it back alive. She was with Veronica when Voldemort attacked. She died protecting her and Emma. Veronica was terrified. She wouldn't go anywhere or do anything. We even had to let the alternate Seeker take her place to play Quidditch. She was so scared that I did enough things to get me tossed out, which didn't happen. Nothing we did could cheer her up. For a while we thought we were going to lose her."

"Why would she put herself into such danger?" Koga sank onto his pallet.

"She didn't. She didn't know that Voldemort was going to be there in that alley. Just like she didn't know that Voldemort was going to kill her parents the previous year. She takes the blame because she thinks that she's to blame. Just like what happened to us. She's blaming herself for not being there when we needed her. She also tortured the one person of our group who was there and got away." Sirius smirked slightly.

"Who was that?" Tori yawned slightly. "Excuse me."

"No prob. Peter was with us. He managed to transform and disappear as usual. He never stays when there's a fight."

"Sounds like you shouldn't trust him." Inu-Yasha pulled Tori toward him and leaned her against his chest. "My brother would want his mate comfortable."

"Thanks." Tori snuggled into his chest slightly. "Inu-Yasha's right. It does sound like Peter is up to something."

"That's just what Veronica says but I'm not sure how I'm supposed to understand it. I've been friends with Peter for seven years. Even longer, if you count the fact that our parents know each other." Sirius shivered slightly. "I'm going to tell you now that we're going to stick by her no matter what."

"And we're going to stick by you no matter what." Inu-Yasha looked down at Tori and saw her sleeping. "I'm going to put Tori to bed for Sessho-Maru. Tell him for me, Koga." He scooped Tori into his arms and started toward the room designated for Tori and Sessho-Maru.

"No problem, Mutt Face." Koga moved out of the room.

Sirius looked at Inu-Yasha. "Was he talking to you or me?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sessho-Maru stood in the shadows and watched Remus stand beside the railing and stare out at the stars. Remus moved his hand slightly and looked down at the picture he held.

"You can come out, Lord Sessho-Maru." Remus barely turned as Sessho-Maru stepped from the shadows.

"How did you know that I was here? I masked my scent."

"A werewolf's sense of smell is incredible compared to yours. So is my strength." Remus turned to look up at the stars again.

"What is wrong this time, my friend?"

"You're offering to help with a problem that no one is able to understand and yet here you are telling me that we're a part of your pack."

"I meant what I said as did Tori. We will help in anyway that we can."

"Why do you think that we're part of your pack?"

"You were captured just as we were. That is what makes you a part of our pack. My brother and I rarely agree on anything but this is one thing that we agree on. You and I are pack mates, no matter that I'm an inu-akuma and you are a wizard and a werewolf. I will always think of you and your mate and your friends as a part of my pack." Sessho-Maru laid a clawed hand on Remus's shoulder. "We will always try to protect you as much as we can."

"Thanks." Remus looked up into Sessho-Maru's golden eyes. "I guess it would be a good idea to have a few more people looking out for Veronica and for the rest of the Marauders."

"Marauders?"

"It's a name that we came up with for ourselves to keep people from knowing who played pranks on them."

"Interesting." Sessho-Maru started for the door.

Koga bounded through the door. "Inu-Yasha put Tori to bed. She fell asleep listening to Sirius's explanation." Koga turned to Remus. "We've all agreed that we're going to help in any way that we can."

"Thanks." Remus gave the ookami-akuma a lopsided grin.

"Perhaps we should go inside and head to bed?" Sessho-Maru motioned toward the door.

"Sure." Remus took one last look at the stars scattered across the sky and turned to follow Sessho-Maru and Koga into the building.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prongs stopped at the foot of the ramp heading up into the ship. Miroku climbed from his back and watched as James transformed back into his human form. Miroku looked up the ramp before turning back to James.

"Are you sure she wants me to tell her that I love her?"

"Yes. If you tell her, she's going to be thrilled." James started up the ramp. "I'm going to head to bed." He pointed to a door halfway down the hall. "Sango's quarters are over there."

"Thanks, James." Miroku started down the hall and knocked on Sango's door. "Sango, are you asleep?"

Sango opened the door with a push of a button. "What are you doing here, Miroku?"

"Not much use for my Wind Tunnel at the race tomorrow so we decided that Sirius should take my place." Miroku rubbed the back of his neck.

"Any other reason?" Sango raised an eyebrow in question.

"Well..." Miroku looked behind him to make sure that they were alone. "James and Sirius knocked some sense into me as did Remus and his mate."

"And what did they say to you?"

"I shouldn't go around flirting with every girl in sight because it hurts you." Miroku looked down at his feet. "I should never attempt to feel you up because you hate it and might really hurt me. And finally, I should tell you that I love you."

"You love me?" Hope sounded in Sango's voice. "Do you mean that or are you just saying that because they said to do it?"

"I'm saying I love you because I mean it." Miroku pulled Sango into his arms and kissed her gently on the lips.

Meanwhile James and Lily were watching from Lily's quarters. Lily turned to her fiancée and kissed him gently. "I love you, James."

"I know." James pulled her back into her quarters and the door slid shut.

Sango pulled Miroku into her quarters and the door slid shut behind them.