Arrival Unexpected

Remus was released from Madam Pomfrey's care on Monday afternoon, and as he made his way to the Great Hall, he joined his friends just as they were sitting down for lunch.

Lily made a patting motion at the free seat next to her and Remus sat down.

"Feeling a bit like your old self again, Remus?" she asked jovially.

He nodded as he filled his plate with food. Without intending to, his eyes slide over to the farthest table in the Great Hall; Remus scanned the length of the Slytherin table until his eyes met those of Severus Snape. It appeared that Snape had been watching him for sometime. Remus looked back down at his plate and began to eat.

"Did I miss anything of note in Herbology today?" He fidgeted slightly in his seat.

"Not really," Lily said to him. "James forgot his Herbology book again... And the Professor announced that we'll be having a test on the magical properties of Far East Spices next week." Having given her report, she shrugged noncommittally.

Remus gave James a small smirk across the table, doubting that his bespeckled friend had 'forgotten' his Herbology book at all--unless of course James had found a way over the weekend to make it stop shouting curses at people. Remus rubbed the arm that had sprouted dancing flowers last week because of the offending book.

James returned the amused smirk, "Say Remus, what are you doing after dinner? There is a project that Lily and I are working on, and we could use your help." While Remus had been indisposed, the game of keeping Lily busy while half the quartet worked on the map had taken an interesting turn. .

"Nothing planned, but I am going to conk out early for some extra sleep tonight. Where are we meeting?" he asked.

"We'll meet up in my room," Lily said. "It will take a bit of explaining, but I think you will be able to tell us a few things we haven't been able to figure out yet." Remus gave her a questioning look but knew that no response would be forthcoming when conversation turned to the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend and other trivial things.

At some point in this erstwhile conversation, Remus decided that he needed to speak to Snape to find out if the other boy had Lily's. As the bell rang calling them back to classes, Remus excused himself from his friends and made his way over to the sour looking Prefect.

Don't make it an accusation, he told himself one last time as he tapped the Slytherin on the shoulder. The best way to deal with anyone from Slytherin House was to appeal to their ego, compliment them, and cajole them into thinking that helping you was in their best interest.

Snape turned around and looked at him with a sneer. "Is there something that you need, Lupin? Or have you just decided to make my day worse by having to look at you?"

Nothing is ever easy, said a voice in Remus' mind. "I... uh... just wanted to uh... thank you for getting me to the Infirmary last week. That fall down the stairs knocked me pretty hard."

"Its part of the job," Snape pointed to the badge he wore, with a large shiny 'P' engraved on it. "Don't think that I was doing you any sort of favor."

"Well," Remus sighed, looking slightly flustered, "I also wanted to ask if you noticed a bracelet on the ground when you found me. I was wearing it when I fell, but it wasn't there when I woke up." He gave a small shrug. "It was a gift from a friend, and I'd hate to lose it."

"Silver chain... on your right wrist?" Snape raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, that's it. Did you pick it up by chance?" Maybe this was going to be easier than he'd thought.

"I don't pick up bits of trash, Lupin. There was no silver chain there." Snape sneered. "I've seen you wearing it before, though. Made you look like a girl--you're better off without it." The slimy git laughed at his own pitiful attempt at an insult and walked off.

Remus let out a deep sigh. No, he reminded himself, nothing was ever easy.

* * *

Sirius and Peter were lying on the floor of James' room, a dozen or so ancient spell books scattered around them. Since James, Lily and Remus were working on the puzzle of the vine, it had seemed the logical thing to have Sirius and Peter work on the map in the privacy of the Prefect's room. Currently, the two boys were trying to find the proper Latin words to use to alter the Chastity countercharm, and it was slow going, too. Neither excelled in Latin--Sirius was excellent at the casting of any spell, and was usually able to master the technique without any effort, but he sometimes wondered if that wasn't more of a curse than a gift. Since everything came to him so easy, he found the study of the theory of spell creation and alteration tedious. His frustration at the tedium was only enhanced by his impatience to see a project completed.

He slammed the book in front of him shut, sending dust into the air. He coughed, and Peter chuckled at him. "Oh sod off, Pettigrew." Sirius turned over, his back laying on the floor now. "You're not enjoying this anymore than I am."

"Nope," agreed Peter, giving him a chubby smile. "Not one bit."

Sirius picked up his latest version of the altered spell. He read each word over carefully. It looked perfect enough to him.

"Enough reading." Sirius stood up and went over to James' desk, grabbing a piece of parchment off it. "Let's give this a try."

"But, don't you think we should wait for Remus and James? What if something goes wrong?" Peter bit down on his lower lip anxiously.

"What could go wrong? It's a countercharm to a spell we haven't even cast... Plus I'm sure that I have this translation right." He cast a hover charm on the blank piece of paper, and it floated level with his chest. "Besides, once this part is done we can go down and work with the others; no offense Peter, but you're no where near as cute as Lily."

"Oh..." said Peter breaking into a grin. "So that's what this is about." The blond boy closed the book in front of him. "Who would have ever thought that Sirius Black would be at the beck and call of just one witch?"

Sirius wrinkled his nose, giving Peter a lewd hand gesture. "I'm not at her 'beck and call'."

Peter started to giggle.

"And it's not as if I'm marrying her... we're just dating. She's no different than any other girl." This was a lie, and Sirius knew it. He had always appreciated how Peter had looked up to him in the realm of all things female though. He couldn't have Peter think he'd turn into a nancy-boy just waiting to be cuckolded. And it wouldn't hurt to make a private show of flippancy to Peter, would it?

"So, if she walked in here right now and demanded that you abandon the rest of us and spend the next several hours snogging her up at the Astronomy Tower, you'd be able to resist?" Peter was smirking at him still.

Memories of Lily's kisses floated in the back of Sirius' mind until a dark blush colored his cheeks. "Of course. Friends always come before girls, and that's all that Lily Evans is - a girl." Sirius drew out his wand. "There are always more girls to kiss. Now, let's do this thing."

"Sirius, let's just wait--" Peter was taking a step back away from him, knowing that no words of wisdom could steer the young dark haired wizard from his chosen course. He wished he could run and get the others from Lily's room, but it was too far away.

Sirius touched his wand to the paper; he closed his eyes, going over the words for the spell once more before he began to speak. He kept the pace of the words slow and even, and soon enough, the magic started: A dark red cloud of smoke oozed out of the end of his wand, encircling the parchment that hovered in front of him. As he began the second stanza of the spell, bright blue sparkles replaced the red cloud, dancing merrily on the blank page. Sirius fought to keep Peter's mocking jests of his feelings for Lily out of his mind. He spoke the last words of the countercharm, which sent a bolt of white light out of the end of his wand. It bounced off the paper harmlessly, rebounding on Sirius and knocking him violently to the ground.

Peter ran over to Sirius, who was creating new combinations of swear words even as he stood back up. "I told you..." Peter began but was silenced with a sharp glare.

Sirius went over to the mirror, examining himself for any damage. No boils, bruises or third eyes had appeared. "Doesn't seem to have done any harm, though," he muttered under his breath. "The damn spell probably doesn't work at all."

Peter sat down on James' bed, pulling a chocolate frog out of his robe pocket. He took a bite out of it, tossing the card over his shoulder; he had three 'Gifford Ollerton, Giant-Slayer' cards already. "You were lucky," he said through a mouth full of food. "You could have lost a body part, I've never seen a spell rebound with that much force."

Sirius shrugged. "Aside from the landing, it didn't hurt at all. I've taken worse hits from a Bludger." He picked up his translation of the countercharm from the floor. "Going to have to have James take a look at this, I have no idea what went wrong." He walked over to the door. "I'll go see if we can't borrow him for a few minutes, Lily said it was Remus' brain she wanted to pick tonight anyway."

He knocked on her door, and when it swung open, he broke into a grin as he saw two emerald eyes looking back up at him. . Lily let him in and he saw Remus and James surrounded by books on the floor, much as he and Peter had been in the other room.

"Say, James... Peter and I need you for a bit, can you come back with me?" What he really wanted to say was 'Could you two bugger off so I can have some time alone with my girlfriend?' but he bided his time. Lily had been so occupied with her work on the vine that Sirius was starting to feel a bit neglected.

"What are you working on tonight?" Lily asked, flashing him a smile that made him weak at the knees.

"History of Magic homework. Dull stuff, but there is a bit of a Latin translation that Peter and I can't figure out." Lying to her was a lot harder than lying to Peter about her, Sirius realized.

Lily nodded at him, satisfied with the answer. James stood up, excusing himself and headed to the door. Sirius pulled the door shut behind them, giving Lily a quick peck on the cheek as he did.

It sounded like a clap of thunder in the corridor.

The force sent Sirius crashing back into the wall, and as Lily threw the door back open, a worried expression was on her face.

"Are you okay? What happened? What was that?"

Sirius just stood there for a minute, blinking furiously. James stared between the two of them, trying to figure out what had just happened, and Lily came out into the hall, giving Sirius a very stern look.

"I... I'm fine," he said finally.

"Gosh Lily, I had no idea that you had that kind of effect on him," James said, trying to make light of the event. Lily was still staring at Sirius, trying to figure out if it was a joke or not. She was squinting her eyes at him now; she knew that something was up, but she didn't have a clue as to what it could be.

"Just playing around, Lil..." he stammered, putting on a mischievous grin. "Though I didn't expect the joke to make such an impact." He rubbed a hand on his sore bottom.

Lily looked back into the room; she knew that whatever it was that they were on about, it could wait. Remus had already returned to reading. "Well, behave yourselves now... I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow." She waved them off and closed the door behind her.

Once they were alone, James turned his wide, questioning eyes on Sirius. Sirius, once the coast was clear, let his lip tremble and mouthed soundlessly to James 'I don't know!'

James pursed his lips, shaking his head. "Let's get back to the room, and then you can tell me what you've been doing tonight."

Sirius walked in step with James, whispering "If that's the result of a peck on the cheek, I'll be spending a lot more time in the Infirmary."

* * *

"Oh, my god..." James was still staring at Sirius in disbelief. "What were you thinking?"

Sirius let out a sigh.

"This isn't the Standard Book of Spells that you're messing with here--this is very difficult magic." James remonstrated, shaking Sirius' translation in the air for emphasis. "You used the wrong pronouns and possessives throughout this whole casting. Do you even know what kind of a spell you were messing with?"

"After what just happened in the hallway, I think I have an idea..." Sirius cursed again under his breath. Peter was cowering on James' bed; he didn't like to see the two boys fight.

"Look, there must be a way to fix it..."

"Hopefully there is," James said. "But it's going to take some time to figure it out." He put his fist to his forehead, pounding gently on it. He took a deep breath. "Okay, we need to know the extent of the damage you've done first."

"How do we do that?" Sirius smirked at him. "It's not like I can invite Lily in here and try various... activities with her."

"No, I think we have a good idea that Lily herself is off limits until we can manage to counter the Chastity spell that you've set on yourself." James frowned.

"I still don't understand how the countercharm could set off the actual spell," Sirius said.

"Like I said, it's all in your muddled translation." James held the paper out to Sirius, "Instead of enchanting the paper to look for a charm that was cast, you sent it to look for a charm that you cast. When it couldn't find one, the countercharm cast the spell for you to complete the cycle of the spell that you set into motion--with you as its target."

Sirius thought about this for a minute. "So, does that mean the paper is enchanted now?" He went over to the waste paper basket, retrieving the parchment he'd attempted to charm. He straightened it out, trying to remove all the wrinkles.

It was still blank.

James joined him, staring at the paper. "It should be..." James looked back at the translation of the spell that Sirius had cast. He nodded slowly as he read it, then took out his wand and touched it to the paper. "Tell me what you've seen," he said to it.

An invisible hand seemed to start writing on the page. In letters that resembled Sirius' own handwriting, the following words appeared: The subject kissed Lily Evans on the cheek at half past ten, and was punished for his indiscretion.

"Oh, my god..." Sirius stared at the parchment. "Punished?"

"I think you better sit down, Sirius." James directed his shocked friend to a nearby armchair, taking the parchment back from him. "Okay... We need to see how deep this bind it has on you goes," James let out a snort of laughter. "I can't believe I'm about to say this..."

Sirius just stared at him.

"Close your eyes, and imagine that Lily is here, naked."

Peter promptly fell off the bed with a loud squeaking snort.

"What?" Sirius goggled at James. "You have to be joking."

From his new spot on the floor, Peter sputtered out a reply betwixt his squeaking laughter. "He's not... The spell may well recognize a 'sin of the mind'" Peter snorted loudly, "as well as a 'sin of the body'." Peter was quoting lines from the actual Chastity charm, the book lying open on his lap. He returned the lewd gesture that Sirius had given him earlier that evening, still sounding like a mouse mating with a pig.

"And if it does?" Sirius asked, his rear end still aching from when he had been 'punished' for kissing Lily.

"Well," James said. "You're sitting down, so it can't throw you too far, can it?"

James took a step back though, just in case.

"Just relax, and think of Lily... it's not like it's that hard to do."

Sirius closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he recalled that first night in her room, the scent of her hair, the hunger in her eyes and the way that her skin felt when he put his hand up her robe--

A spark of white light appeared around Sirius' hand. He jumped out of the chair and started cursing; he shook his hand until the shock of the pain wore off. Behind him, James and Peter were laughing uproariously.

"This is not funny." Sirius glowered at them both.

James was staring at the enchanted parchment again. Shaking with laughter, he held it out for Sirius to see: At quarter after eleven, the subject had impure thoughts about Lily Evans and certain unmentionable parts of her anatomy. The subject has been properly castigated.

Sirius swore under his breath, shoving the paper into his pockets. "Look, let's just find a way to undo this..."

James attempted to put on a serious face. "I told you, this is really complicated magic." He pointed over to his desk where his Herbology book was still tightly bound to keep it from shouting curses at passersby. "Remus and I still haven't found a way to fix that mess, and that was just an encryption charm."

Sirius threw his hands in the air. "I cannot stay like this."

Peter and James started sniggering again.

"How am I going to explain this to Lily? I can't just stop kissing her; she's my bloody girlfriend. She... expects certain things..."

James and Peter lost all control at this, doubling over in fits of laughter.

Sirius clocked James hard on the arm. James managed to swallow some of his humour and replied, "Well, you're going to have to think of something to say to her. And you're going to have to make her believe it. We can't tell her about this map business; she's the reason we're trying to make it in the first place."

Peter was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down his chubby cheeks. "This is priceless," he gasped. "There are priests that can have more 'impure thoughts' than Sirius!"

Sirius turned away from them. "I'm going to bed. We'll work on this after classes tomorrow." He started out the door.

James called after him, "Watch those dreams tonight, mate. You don't want to wake up to another shock."

"Yeah," chimed in Peter with a wicked grin. "Who knows what people will think you're doing when those white sparks start flying out of your blankets in the middle of the night."

Sirius slammed the door behind him. He was muttering under his breath when the pain seared through his hand again. He pulled the enchanted parchment out of his pocket, staring at it in disbelief: At eleven twenty, the subject was punished for thinking that James Potter and Peter Pettigrew should engage in immoral relations with barnyard animals.

* * *

Sirius discovered over the next two days through a lot of trial and error (more error than he would have liked, as his hand was very sore by now) that if he focused on something really foul, like a screaming banshee or Severus Snape's face, that he could do very mundane things--such as hold Lily's hand. It was tough work though, and by Thursday evening, he was near a breaking point.

He ducked out of the way just as Lily had tried to give him a kiss in the library. Her pouty lips turned into a nasty frown, and she asked him to explain himself.

He had rehearsed this monologue in his head, "Lil... I just want to take things slow for a while." He gave her a soft smile, brushing his hand against her cheek while desperately trying to imagine that it was Snape wearing her Hogwarts' uniform--hairy, spindly legs and all. "You mean more to me than any other girl I've ever been with. I want each moment to be special." His mental image of Snape changed so that the greasy haired boy was now wearing a certain someone's Union Jack bikini; Sirius felt his stomach lurch and tried to keep the smile on his face. "And I can't think of any better way to show you how much I respect you as a person than to let things cool off for a while, so that you know I'm here with you because I like you as a person, and not just because of... other things."

Lily slowly tilted her head at him, eyes going wide. She spun on her heels and stomped away from him; she got halfway down the corridor before she turned around to shout at him. "Bollocks!" she continued cursing under her breath all the way up to Gryffindor Tower. Sirius followed her at a safe distance back to her room, where she promptly slammed the door in his face.

Sirius took a deep breath and knocked gently on her door. "Lily... c'mon... open up," he whispered. The cracked open just enough to reveal an angry green eye and half of a sour frown. "Can I come in?" he said in his sweetest voice.

The eye glanced around, looking up and down the halls. She glared at him and again. "Alright, but I'm only letting you in if you promise to tell the truth."

Sirius took a deep breath and nodded. The door opened, and the angry eye disappeared from view, allowing him access to the room. Lily stood next to her desk, hands crossed stubbornly over her chest. "Let me explain," he began, flashing her what he thought was a sincere smile.

Lily scoffed. "Explain is a good word... retract might be better." She waggled a finger at him. "If you expect me to believe that you, Sirius Black--known by everyone in this school for his escapades up at the Astronomy Tower and for a lesser known incident involving three different witches hidden in three different classrooms last May Day--if I am supposed to believe that that same Sirius Black wants to 'take things slow' and respects me in more than a carnal sense, you've fallen off your broomstick more times than I've thought."

For some reason, this offended him. "Lil... you really do mean more to me than anyone I've ever met." He was surprised at his own sincerity.

"Be that as it may," She gave him a long slow eye roll. "The fact is that since that little 'joke' of yours on Monday night, you haven't dared to so much as look at me in an ungentlemanly manner. No offense, Sirius, but its not as if I started dating you so I could spend my evening hours listen to you talk about Quidditch."

"So is that all that I am to you?" His mouth dropped open slightly. "Just your everyday average snog?"

Lily smirked at him, giving her eyes time to take in the whole of his body. Sirius flushed under her scrutiny. "There is nothing average about you... but it's the everyday part that I'm really starting to miss." She reached into her pocket and drew out her wand. "Now, we've done this the hard way before... and you remember how that ended... Make it easy on yourself this time and just tell me the bloody truth."

Sirius glanced between the outstretched wand and Lily's determined face. He took a deep breath, willing himself to think of the right thing to say for once.

Too late though, Lily was never known for her patience. She flicked the wand at him and said "Accio tie!" The red and gold tie unknotted itself from around his neck and flew into her waiting hand. A crooked grin crossed her normally angelic face.

"Accio robes!" Sirius watched in horror as his black robe unbuttoned itself and floated over to Lily. He did a quick mental count: he had eight items of clothing left before he was completely starkers.

Her wand flicked at him again, "Accio--"

"No wait!!!" he all but shouted the words at her.

She lowered her wand arm. "I'm listening."

Before he could think about it, the truth came rushing out. "Last year, James, Peter and I became Animagi so that we could keep Remus company during the full moon. Everything was working out better than we could have imagined until you came into our lives. After nearly getting caught by you on our way to the Screaming Shack, we decided that we needed something to warn us as we snuck out of the castle. Peter and I were working on a translation of one of the spells for it when it rebounded on me on Monday night. As a result, until we can figure out how to undo it, I can't touch you or even think about you in a romantic fashion without experiencing a good deal of pain or getting blown across the room." Sirius took a deep breath, waiting for her reaction.

Lily stared at him, dumbstruck for several moments. She spoke in a slow, icy precision, "Get... out... of... my... room." She just shook her head and turned her back on him.

Sirius reached out and touched her shoulder. "Listen, I know that you're upset... we shouldn't have hid it from you--"

"You are unbe-fucking-lievable you know that?" she snapped at him, flinching her shoulder out of his grasp. "It was bad enough that you fed me all that crap about respecting me and taking things slow, and now I'm supposed to believe a story that is so ridiculously impossible..." She turned and faced him, mouth agape. "I have no idea what is going on here, and why you feel that you have to tell me bold faced lies to hide it, but I can tell you one thing with certainty Mr. Black." She shoved him hard towards her door. "Until you see fit to tell me in something other than faerie tales, I don't want to speak to you at all." She pointed at the door. "Now get out!"

The door slammed hard behind him. He stared at it for a long while before heading up to his dorm room. In the back of his mind, he heard Remus mumble 'Nothing is ever easy...'

* * *

Lily spent every minute that she was not in class in the Prefect's Lounge that Friday; James had given her a valuable piece of knowledge when he had shown her how to get into the Kitchens, and she made ample use of it that day. Instead of taking her meals in the Great Hall, where she would have had to endure Sirius' pleading eyes, the House Elves had eagerly filled her knapsack with food, and she ate it alone in lounge.

Before dinner, a few Prefects had stopped by the room, and Lily was cordial but distant. Annalise had even asked if there was anything she could do to cheer her sixth year counterpart up. When Lily maintained that nothing was wrong, Annalise let out a snort of laughter. "Come off it, Lily... half the school is talking about it. Sirius Black has been walking around all day, looking as if you kicked him in the--"

"Thanks 'Lise," Lily muttered. "It's fine though. Off with you now; if I remember, you have your practice exams on the First."

Annalise made a gagging noise, and then waved at Lily as she left.

About an hour after dinner, Lily heard the door open again. She peeked over her shoulder and saw a tall wizard with black hair striding into the room. His face was in shadow, but Lily knew who it was: she'd been expecting this visit for sometime.

"Don't you even make any excuses for him, Potter." She said warningly.

The black haired boy that took the chair next to hers though was not the prefect from Gryffindor but rather one from another house entirely.

Severus Snape smirked broadly at her. "I have to say Evans, I've heard my fair share of insults in my day, but never have I been called something so cruel as 'Potter'." Snape shoved his hands into his hair, making it stick up in all directions the way that James' unruly locks did.

Lily chuckled, surprised to find that Snape had a sense of humour. She had rarely spoken with the sour looking youth during her time at Hogwarts. Slytherins as a rule reacted to her in one of two ways: They either insulted her to her face; or they gave her a wide berth, choosing to ignore her existence. Aside from a few comments that Lily was sure were intended for the benefit of James and Sirius, Snape's regard of her had fallen into the latter group.

"Not a bad presentation you made today in Potions, Evans." Snape had almost managed to say the words without sneering--almost. Even more surprising than his tone were the words themselves. The greasy haired boy prided himself on his command of that wizarding art; Snape might have been best known at school for knowing more curses than an angry Scottish Quidditch fanatic, but it had always seemed to Lily that his real love could be found at the bottom of a boiling cauldron. Lily couldn't have been better complimented if her Potions Professor had spoken the words herself.

"Thank you Severus," She gave him a half smile. "Come up to do some studying before rounds tonight?"

He nodded. "Usually no one is up here on a Friday evening." He gave a small shrug. "Its nice to have a place to enjoy some privacy out of the dorms. Not that the dorms are that private, mind you; even though a Prefect gets his own room, anyone can come and interrupt at anytime." He gestured around the room. "This is a nice change from that."

"That I can appreciate." She let out a long sigh, thinking back over the events of the last twenty-four hours.

Snape stood back up. "For tonight, I relinquish my sanctuary to you." He gave her a gentlemanly bow. "Anyone that can reduce Sirius Black to a sniveling pile of angst deserves such a reward."

Lily gave a soft snort of laughter as Snape was heading towards the door.

"Severus?"

The thought had just popped into her head, and she might never have a chance like this again.

He stopped and faced her.

"Can I ask you something?"

He gave her a slow, suspicious nod.

"Go ahead, Evans."

Lily took a deep breath. "Do you really hate Muggles?"

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. He moved slowly back over to where she sat, trying to surmise her reason for asking such a straightforward question. When he realized that there was nothing but genuine curiosity staring back at him, he replied: "It is a hard thing to explain... especially to one born of Muggles, such as yourself. There are a lot of things that I hate: the fact that my people have to hide themselves and their powers; that we must watch from a far while the Muggles pollute the world with their factories and smoke; and that even as we sit here, Muggles stand with their fingers poised over buttons to launch weapons that could destroy the whole world."

He pointed a pale finger at himself. "For whatever reason, my people were born superior to the Muggles; we were meant to rule them, and in millennia past we have. In order to save the world, we should take the reins of power once more."

Lily blinked several times. "You sound a bit like a vampire, trying to make a case to round up the mortals like cattle."

Snape gave a soft shrug. "From their point of view, that argument is plausible. I have no intention of becoming a bloodsucker's midnight snack though; if it came to that I would fight."

"And you think that the Muggles wouldn't?" She gave her head a small shake. "I don't claim to agree with what you say, Severus... but I can at least understand some of your fears. Thank you for being honest with me." She looked thoughtful. "I suppose, that if it's a question of power with the Muggles, then it must be a question of loyalty with someone born to Muggles--like me, right?"

A smirk crossed his face as he nodded. "And where do your loyalties lie, with us or with them?"

Lily thought about it for a few minutes.

"I will always be loyal to my friends and to the idea that doing the right thing is the best thing."

Snape snorted a laugh. "A very politic answer Evans, you should go to work for the Ministry."

"Lily," James Potter stepped out of the shadows, glaring at Snape. "It's time for rounds, are you ready to go?"

He had entered the room silently sometime during the conversation.

How does he do that, she asked her self for the umpteenth time that year. She got up, giving a small wave to Snape and pulled the glowering James out of the lounge.

"How could you even listen to him?" James was seething.

"He's not entirely wrong; there are Muggles that would blow up the world without a second thought... but there are wizards and witches that would gladly do as much damage for their own reasons." She shrugged her shoulders. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely, as they say. No one knows what one will do when his or her way of life is threatened. But there will always be people, magical or non, that will push others to that limit."

"Yeah," growled James. "And Severus Snape is one of them."

"Oh please," Lily scoffed. "Severus Snape is no Lord Voldemort."

"Maybe not, but if you think that he wouldn't sacrifice you or your family in the name of acquiring that precious power he was just describing to you, then you're not nearly as clever as I thought," growled James, shaking his head.

"Well," Lily replied in almost a whisper. "Let's hope he never has to make that kind of choice."

* * *

With the Hogsmeade visit the next day, the school was full of jumpy young wizards and witches; all the Prefects were kept on their toes as students snuck in and out of their houses until the wee hours of the morning. Once it grew quiet, Lily and James stopped off at the Kitchens for a snack, both planning to sleep through breakfast before leaving the castle that afternoon.

The Common Room was empty when they came in, each carrying a small plate of assorted cheeses and crackers, along with large glasses of milk. James set his tray down on a table and pulled out a chair for Lily. She took it gratefully; her feet were horribly sore from running up and down the stairs to the Astronomy Tower all night.

After a few minutes of idle chatter, Lily laid her hand on top of James'. "I want to thank you."

"For what?" James looked confused.

"For not defending him," she shrugged. "It wasn't something I wanted to hear last night."

"Sirius said a few things that he shouldn't have, and it's not my place to apologize for him." James gave her hand a small squeeze, and took another bite out of a slice of cheddar.

When Sirius had told him what he had said to Lily, James completely lost his temper. He spent several hours reminding Sirius that what they had done, becoming Animagi in secret, was illegal and that he had risked getting not only himself, James and Peter expelled, but also Remus-- for he had broken his word to Dumbledore each time he had ventured out of the Shrieking Shack with them. Sirius had been very lucky that Lily found the truth unbelievable; James didn't think that they would be so lucky again.

"Even so," she continued. "I appreciate it."

"Well, I hope you're not planning on hiding in the Prefect's Lounge for the rest of the year, seems that it gathers more unseelie characters than the Hog's Head pub."

James cringed inwardly, remembering the conversation he had interrupted just hours before between Lily and Snape.

"At least Snape is honest," her lips turned upside down. "That's more than I can say for Sirius at the moment." Lily gave herself a good shake, trying to rid her mind of thoughts of the well-built Mr. Black. "Are you going to Hogsmeade with him and the others?"

"We don't have any plans," replied James, "but we usually spend most of the day in the Three Broomsticks. Why?"

"I wanted to do some shopping, and I could use the company." She popped another cracker into her mouth.

James snorted. "You mean you wanted to do some shopping, and you could use someone around to keep Sirius off your heels."

Lily smiled coyly. "Well, maybe that too. What do you say, are you up for the job?"

"Might as well." James took a small amount of pleasure knowing that it would be a great thorn to his big-mouthed friend to see Lily walking around with him all day. In James' mind, Sirius deserved a bit of punishment (including any shocks he might get from the bind the Chastity charm still had on him). James, Remus and Peter had decided not to tell Sirius they had found a reversal spell for the charm just yet; they all felt that Sirius needed to learn a lesson from the trouble he had so narrowly avoided. Seeing James and Lily together would be a bit like adding extra credit to that lesson.

"Right then," Lily yawned. "I'll stop by your room around one, and we'll head down." She stood up, pushing her chair back into place. Lily walked around to his side of the table, leaned down and gave James an affectionate peck on the cheek.

"See you then," James heard himself saying. Well, he thought rubbing his thumb gently across the spot where her lips had just touched him, if my assignment is to keep Sirius away from Lily, who's to say that I'm not getting a bit of extra credit myself? With a self-satisfied smirk, he got up from the table and made his way up to his room and his waiting bed.

* * *

When Lily asked me if I wanted to go shopping, James mused, she should have said 'Would you like to spend a few hours sitting in an uncomfortable chair while I try on every piece of clothing in Gladrags Wizardwear?'

Despite his discomfiting seat, he decided that he really shouldn't complain as it hadn't been that dull of a day: Lily had tried on nearly every formal gown in the store, seeking James' opinion on each. When the other witches from school realized that they had the eyes of handsome young wizard at their disposal, they had all begun to parade in front of him in their would-be Yule Ball dresses. James had walked a fine line between honesty and kindness the whole afternoon as he offered suggestions to the crowd of giggling girls. The way they had taken his advice to heart had given his ego a long-overdue boost: he realized that he'd spent almost two months waiting for Lily to notice him, and as yet another slender witch threw him a flirtatious wink, he wondered if all this waiting was indeed worth it.

Lily breezed past him on her way into the changing room once again. "This is the last one, I promise!" she said as she shut the door behind her.

"Good, because I can hear a bottle of Butterbeer singing 'O Danny Boy' to me all the way from the Three Broomsticks." James fidgeted once again in his chair, happy to know that he would soon be removing his rear end from it.

The door to the changing room opened, and Lily stepped out. She was wearing a strapless gown of a deep emerald green; the fabric shined and almost sparkled in the light of the store, just as her eyes did. The corseted top hugged every curve on her tiny body, while the length of the dress stretched down to the floor making her look like a misplaced faerie princess. Whoever had made this dress, could only have made it for Lily. James couldn't imagine that it was possible for anyone to look more beautiful.

"It's completely worth it," he whispered under his breath, answering the question that had been nagging at him all day.

"What?" Lily had heard him. "What's worth it?"

"Uh, the dress... whatever the price, it's worth it." He stood up and walked over to her. "No one should ever wear that dress but you, Lily."

Lily's face blushed a deep red. "Thanks." She reached around and looked at the price tag again. "I don't know though, it's a bit expensive and it's not like I even have a date for the Yule Ball anymore, if I ever did."

"Lily, if you don't buy that dress, I will." His face was very serious, and he couldn't take his eyes off hers.

"Really James, I don't think it's your color at all. Though I must admit, I'd love to see how you'd fill out this bodice." A wicked grin broke through her blushing face. She spun around, looking at herself in the mirror again. "I think you're right though. I will buy it. Who knows if we'll have another Yule Ball before we graduate? If I don't have a date, I can always go stag."

Or you could go with one, James replied mentally. James made up his mind then and there--if Lily wasn't back together with Sirius before the first of December, he would ask her to the ball.

Lily changed back into her clothes and paid a very happy saleswitch for the dress. She held up her nearly empty coin purse. "I think you're going to have to buy the Butterbeers, James. That dress tapped me out."

"Alright then, but for every one I buy you, you owe me a dance in that dress." James winked at her as he led her out of the store.

"Easy enough," she replied with a smile. "Have you figured out who you're going to ask yet?"

Yes, he wanted to say, but she's too thick to realize it. "Haven't given it a thought really."

"Must be nice to be a guy," Lily mused as James held the door to the pub open for her. "Its all the girls have been talking about since the start of term." She wrinkled her nose. "Gets annoying fast too. I don't know where they all get the energy to flounce around like that." She gestured to a few straggling witches that were still in the pub. "Flock of giggling dingbats, most of them are. You know," she said as he directed her to an empty table. "Meg Surrey wouldn't mind if you invited her..."

"Meg?" James furrowed his eyebrows. "She's a nice enough girl, and a great Quidditch player, but..." ...she's not you, he finished silently. He shrugged at Lily. "It's a lot of bother, isn't it? I don't think of Meg that way and I wouldn't want to lead her on."

James excused himself and went to order their drinks. The barkeep was a shapely witch in her late twenties named Madam Rosmerta, who always had a wink and a smile to spare for James whenever he stopped by. She swept over to their table shortly after to deliver their Butterbeers. James watched her sashay away, surprised to see an almost jealous look on Lily's face when he turned back to the table.

"Everything okay, Lily?" he asked gently.

"Hmm? Oh, fine." She blinked a few times and then changed the subject.

Five bottles of Butterbeer apiece, and it was time to go. Lily threw down a few coins as a tip onto the table. "I guess that's five dances I owe you," she replied slyly. "You know, if neither of us gets a date, we might as well go together. I was going to ask Remus to be my backup, but the dance is only two days before the full moon." She looked up at him, waiting for an answer.

"Works for me," he said, trying to sound casual. 'Backup' might not have been the term he would have chosen to describe himself, but it was a means to an end. "You coming down to dinner tonight?"

Lily shook her head. "I'm going to get some sleep before rounds tonight, the Halloween feast is tomorrow and things will probably be as hectic as they were last night."

James nodded. A pleasant silence and a cool autumn breeze marked the rest of their walk back to the castle. James realized that he enjoyed the quiet moments shared with Lily almost as much as the conversant ones. And sometimes, he thought, people can say a lot more when they don't say anything at all.

* * *

The Halloween feast was halfway over when Lily and Remus came bustling in, arms laden with scrolls and books. They never glanced at either the Gryffindor table, or at their waiting friends giving them very curious looks; instead, they strode up to the head table where all the teachers sat.

Remus and Lily leaned in whispering to Dumbledore; the ancient wizard nodded and gestured for them to follow him out of the Great Hall. Up and down darkened corridors they walked, until they reached a statue of a gargoyle that guarded the entrance to the Headmaster's office.

"Peanut Brittle" whispered Albus Dumbledore. The gargoyle jumped aside, and the three of them climbed the stairs to his office.

As soon as they were seated, Lily and Remus launched into an explanation of what they had discovered that afternoon; after endless hours piecing together the Munroe family history, they had discovered that nearly fifteen hundred years ago an ancestor had been entrusted with the keeping of a piece of the Staff of Merlin.

Merlin had been the last wizard to rule in any part of the British Isles; as he grew older he decided that it was no longer in the best interests of the magical community to reign over their Muggle counterparts. He chose a successor, a young Muggle lord named Arthur and stayed on for many years as King Arthur's advisor. When it became apparent that as long as witches and wizards lived openly in Britain that Muggles would always seek them out to solve their problems, Merlin had gone before Arthur's court, holding his great staff--which was really a giant wand of focus--and smashed it into pieces. From that point on, the British wizarding community retreated to the realm of myth, as so many other magical communities around the world had before them.

The staff was said to have been broken into seven pieces, and over the years many people had claimed to own a piece of it--in fact, it was often speculated that if you laid all the splinters and pieces of wood that were supposedly from the Staff of Merlin end to end, that they would stretch from Hogwarts to Diagon Alley.

Apparently though, the Munroe family did have a piece of the staff and had guarded it carefully through all the passing centuries. Once this first connection had been made, Lily was sure that it was only a matter of time until they discovered that the other families attacked had also possessed a piece of the staff--or a fake that was so old no one (including the family) knew it wasn't real.

And this, they explained to Dumbledore, was the reason for Voldemort's attacks. Once finished, Lily and Remus waited for Dumbledore's response.

"You are both to be commended for your diligence." He gave them both a gentle smile. "However, the Ministry and I had concluded as much after the second wave of attacks. I fear that the Ministry's insistence that the Malkins turn their piece of the staff over to us was what brought about their deaths." The twinkle in his eyes faded slightly.

"Well, at least it's safe from Voldemort now," offered Remus weakly.

"Yes," muttered Dumbledore. "As safe as any other log on a fire..."

"Pardon, sir?" Lily couldn't believe that they would attempt to destroy a piece of the Staff of Merlin; magical properties aside, it was a valuable symbol of wizarding history.

"The portion that the Malkin's held was a fake, Miss Evans. Unfortunately, by the time the Ministry discovered this, it was too late." The Headmaster crossed his hands and laid them on his desk. He looked at the two of them for a moment and then asked, "Do you know why Voldemort is trying to gather the pieces of the staff?" His words were casual, as if he was asking them a question in a class.

Remus nodded. "The Staff of Merlin was a wand of focus." He reached into his pocket and held up his own wand. "Our wands each have a single core within them, the particular combination of the core and the wood relate to the kind of magic a witch or wizard has a natural affinity for. A wand of focus has many cores, and allows the user to excel at almost any type of magic, whether the talent is there or not."

"The Staff of Merlin, which was passed down to each generation of wizard rulers in his line, was rumored to contain nearly a hundred different cores." Lily added. "The few wands of focus that have survived the ages only have three or four, but with the Staff of Merlin, a powerful wizard would be nearly unstoppable."

"Very good." Dumbledore gave them a smile. "Professor Binns couldn't have said it better himself."

"Excuse me, Professor..." Lily half raised her hand.

"But if you knew that it was pieces of the staff that Voldemort was after, why not publish that knowledge so that the families could protect themselves?"

"Think of how long it took you to find out what it was that the Munroes were protecting, Miss Evans," replied the Headmaster. "And that was knowing that there was something to look for within that family line; the greatest protection that can be offered to the families that have not yet been attacked is their anonymity. Centuries obscure truth, and I believe that if we had asked the families to come forward, it would only have served to hasten Voldemort's attacks on them. As it is, he has only been limited to attack those he has discovered."

Lily nodded. "What about the families that have been attacked? You said that the Malkins turned their piece over, even though it was a fake... Have any of the others secured their parts of the staff with the Ministry?"

"Alas, no," the old wizard said with a small sigh. "They were asked, but after what happened to the Malkins they refused."

"So..." Remus was rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "That means that the family whose children woke up--the Panges, wasn't it? That they must have turned their piece over to Lord Voldemort, right?"

Dumbledore nodded again. "They never acknowledged to have had a portion of the staff, but yes... since they are the only ones to have awakened, it is safe to assume that they gave into his demands after his curse killed the eldest of their children." Lily noticed an odd look cross the old man's face, and she couldn't tell if it was anger or sadness. Or perhaps even pity.

"I think," the old wizard continued, standing up behind his desk, "that we should end our interview here for the day. There are questions that you would soon ask that, for your own safety, I should not answer. Miss Evans, has your father made any more progress with his sample of Nimue's Embrace?"

Lily shook her head. "No sir; my owl, Circe, is at home with him now. I've told her, if he has anything to report, to take his letter to you directly."

"Thank you Miss Evans." Dumbledore walked over to his door and held it open for them. "I trust that Mr. Lupin and yourself need not be reminded that this information should remain as private as possible." They both nodded at him, knowing that it would go no further than their circle of friends, all of whom had put some amount of time into the genealogy work over the last few days. "I am sorry that you missed the feast, would you like some food sent up?"

"No need, we'll just stop by the Kitchens and--" Lily clamped her hand over her mouth shocked that she had just revealed her knowledge of the secret passageway into the school Kitchens.

Dumbledore chuckled.

"As you wish... and give my regards to Fiddy when you stop by."

* * *

If Sirius had thought that life with Lily not speaking to him was bad during the days that she had avoided him, he soon learned that it was much worse once she had resumed her spot amongst the boys. All the meals they spent together, as well as all their time in the Common Room or in the library, found him facing her cold indifference--while the others were treated as if nothing unusual was going on. It was as if he was invisible.

Several times over the next week, he had tried to speak with her; Lily usually just walked away without acknowledging his presence. When Sirius had grabbed her arm after Transfiguration class, intending to hold her in that spot and make her listen, she had whipped out her wand and thrown a Lip-Locker curse. Then, she had stared off into the distance until he released her, so she could move on.

It took less time for Remus to remove the jinx than it had to get Remus to stop laughing about the fact that Sirius had been cursed.

The only positive effect of Lily's scorn was that he no longer risked any shocks from the Chastity Charm. Sirius was spending every free moment looking for a reversal, but so far he'd had no luck. Peter, James and Remus were supposed to be helping him, but they were conveniently occupied whenever he asked. Sirius strongly suspected that they were still upset with him for his revelation to Lily, but there wasn't much he could do about it but keep apologizing; after all, she hadn't believed him (thankfully, he reflected).

An odd turn of events in the Common Room on Thursday evening had revealed just how deeply Lily's anger ran. She was sitting in a corner, playing a game of gobstones with Peter when two of her fellow sixth year girls joined Sirius on the couch.

Petra Kensington was a bubbly girl with a head full of dark blond curls and not much else; her accomplice was the shapely Godiva Filanthropos, who was known for being very free with her... endowments. Sirius had spent not a little time with each of the girls on occasion, neither had the ambition or interest in being tied down with him. This had always suited Sirius just fine before, but now all he really wanted was to get back in Lily's good graces.

Petra leaned in on one side of him, while Godiva leaned in on the other. Godiva ran her hand slowly through his wavy black hair, an action that not only sent shivers down Sirius' spine, but also forced him to imagine Severus Snape wearing a pink nightgown with fluffy bunny slippers. Petra reminded him in whispering tones of previous trysts and suggested that the three of them take a bit of a walk.

Sirius had blushed at the thought. In low tones, he replied that he wasn't available, thinking to settle the matter.

Godiva had laughed out loud, drawing attention to the sitting trio. "Oh please," she replied in her beautifully accented voice. "She told us today. Lily said you are on the market again, and she asked us to keep you company." Godiva pointed over at Lily and then waved at the red haired girl, who returned the wave with a wicked smirk.

Petra's hand had found its way up his robe to his bicep, and was caressing it gently. Even if he had wanted to go, he couldn't have, so Sirius pushed both girls aside and stomped out of the Common Room.

As he was climbing the stairs, he heard Lily shout over to his would-be seductresses, "Don't worry ladies, he'll crumble within the week."

Even after a night's sleep, her words still burned as harshly as an Acid Pop from Honeydukes. It was a great relief when Peter told him at lunch that they'd found a reversal spell and that James and Remus were set to perform it tonight. Finally, he was going to have a chance to undo all the damage he had done.

* * *

James was sitting across from Albus, chatting amiably about trivial events in his life when they heard the soft tapping noise at the Headmaster's window. James leaned over and saw a large black owl perched on the ledge. Dumbledore let the bird in, and it hopped onto his desk.

"Circe, what are you doing here?" James asked. The Sooty owl looked exhausted, and after Albus removed the letter tied to her leg, fluttered over to James' lap.

"Your Miss Evans told me that I might expect her to show up, should her father make any further progress on the vine." He opened the letter up, adjusting his half moon spectacles and began to read.

On his lap, Circe let out a few whimpering hoots and then covered her head with her wing. Before James could decipher what was wrong, Dumbledore stood up.

"I'm afraid I must cut our visit short today James and ask that you leave." The old wizard tucked the letter in his pocket and ushered James and Circe (who hopped on to James' shoulder when he stood up) to the door.

"Is everything alright?" he asked as they reached the door.

"No, I'm sorry to say it's not." Albus sighed deeply. "I will explain it all later, but there are arrangements for Miss Evans that I must make immediately. I will call you back once I have seen her off."

James walked down the staircase, Circe whimpering in his ear the whole way. Once the gargoyle jumped back into place, he took the beleaguered owl up another staircase to a balcony that overlooked the Headmaster's office entrance.

It took a bit of prodding, but finally the great black owl told him in a string of sorrowful hoots what had happened: The night before, Marigold Evans and her daughter Petunia had been arguing about plans for Petunia's impending nuptials. During the heated shouts, Marigold had had a heart attack. She was rushed to a Muggle hospital, but had passed away that morning. Lily's father had sent Circe off with the news and was requesting that his daughter return home for the funeral and to be with her family.

It was as if the world had stopped and rolled backwards for James.

In stunned silence, he watched the corridor below as Professor McGonagall led a perplexed looking Lily into the Headmaster's chambers.

James knew what was coming next.

Every moment of the night of his parents' death flashed before his eyes. He saw Dumbledore standing out in front of his house, Sirius Black holding him back as he tried to run towards it.

He saw Albus' lips move silently in his mind as he told James what had happened, and what was going to happen.

James remembered being cold--it had been a hot summer day, but his heart had frozen the minute he knew that he'd never hear his parents' playfully bickering again or see his dad sneak a kiss from his mum when they thought no one was looking.

McGonagall was leading a sobbing Lily out of the office now. James gave Circe a reassuring pat and then sent her on her way. He then followed the forms of the teacher and student as best as he could from his vantage point on the floor above.

James ran to a window that overlooked the front of the school. His normally stern Transfiguration teacher was opening the door of a horseless carriage and gently helping Lily into it. Minerva McGonagall leaned into the carriage, and gave Lily a comforting hug. As the carriage took off towards Hogsmeade, the Professor turned back towards the school, and James saw her wiping tears away from her own eyes.

They must be sending her back on the Express, thought James. His memories flashed onward--seeing Sirius' Mum waiting for them at the door of his friend's house, remembering how it had felt when she had embraced him, holding on for dear life as the fifteen year old wizard in her arms shook violently. Before he had even realized that he was moving, James found himself in front of a statue of a hunchbacked hag. He took out his wand, uttering the password almost silently.

Once he was in the dark passageway, he broke out into a run. His heart pounded against his chest as the images of his parents' funeral burst into his mind. He had cried that day; in his shock, he hadn't shed a single tear before that moment. But as he saw them being laid to rest for an eternity together, knowing that they would never be without each other, he had cried.

Henry and Maddie Potter had never spent more than a night apart in all the years they were married, and it was a small relief to their only child that they would never be separated again.

James exploded out of the front door of Honeydukes, turning quickly towards the Hogsmeade train station. He could see her getting out of the carriage now, walking towards the platform. The train had just pulled up, and she was shaking so hard she could barely walk; James ran over to her.

Lily turned and looked at him through tear-filled eyes. He pulled her to him, holding her lovingly as the sobs wracked through her, as he had once been held. He stroked her hair, but said nothing. Slow, silent tears ran down his cheeks; the conductor called out "All aboard", and Lily pulled back from him.

"James... I... I don't... I can't..." The pain of her loss flowed out of her eyes, pleading with him.

"Don't worry Lily, I won't leave you alone." He directed her towards the train, giving her a hand up as they both boarded it. They entered the nearest cabin and sat down together. James put his arm around Lily and she buried her face in his chest, tears flowing freely in the safety of her friend's arms.

They sat together in silence for all the long hours of the ride. Lily never retreated from his embrace, and James never let her go until he passed her on to her father outside of the magical wall that led to Platform 9 ¾. Lily turned as her father led her away, "Does it ever get any easier, James?"

"No," he shook his head, wiping away a few more of his own tears on the sleeve of his robe. "It just gets further away."