Eyes as Green as a Fresh Pickled Toad

Chapter Fourteen

The Alley and the Cottage

It was with a collective sense of exhaustion that the four bleary-eyed teens woke the next morning, to the persistent hooting and pecking of several large barn owls.

"Oy! Oy! Gerroff!" shouted Sirius, waving his arms wildly. The owl nearest him hooted indignantly and took a snap at Sirius's ear. Sirius howled and a pillow came flying at him form across the empty fire pit.

"Shuddup, Sirius," Melody mumbled, disappearing into the depths of her sleeping bag.

Lily cracked open an eye and saw James fumbling to untie one of the letters from the leg of a very large owl. "G'boy, James," Lily said before rolling over and burying her face into her pillow.

Sirius, who was now wide awake, was cursing under his breath and helping to retrieve the rest of the letters from the owls. The owl that had snapped at Sirius earlier now hooted angrily and took a snap at him again before flying off. The rest of the owls followed suit.

"Oy! Melody!" Sirius shouted. "Letter!"

When Melody did not emerge, he threw it at her, and it bounced off her sleeping bag. A grunt came from within the bag's depths, and a hand snaked out to retrieve the letter. James, who had not been attacked by an owl, was not nearly so annoyed as Sirius and therefore did not chuck Lily's letter across the fire pit, but rather walked over to her and placed it gently by her pillow.

He was about to walk off when Lily, eyes still closed, mumbled something incoherent and grabbed at his pants leg.

"Oogon gobefst igoff oo," she declared.

"James most certainly is not going to have sex with you," Sirius said indignantly. Lily, though her eyes were barely open, managed to shoot a monstrous glare in Sirius's direction, and then slowly sat up.

"Breakfast," Lily croaked, eyes half-closed, still groping for James's pant leg. "You going?"

"Yeah," James replied, in a voice that suggested the deep necessity for more sleep. Lily nodded and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.

"I'm coming with," she said, and James offered her a hand, which she took and used to yank herself to her feet. "Melody, are you coming?" she asked as she and James, followed by a still-muttering Sirius, shuffled past her sleeping bag.

Melody grunted in an extremely annoyed fashion, which Lily took to mean 'no', though she did stick her hand out of her sleeping bag and grope a bit before finding Lily's pillow, which she promptly dragged to her sleeping bag and buried her face in. This action caused Lily's letter to skid across the ground and Lily retrieved it before walking with Sirius and James (who both still had their letters in their hands) down to breakfast.

The first clock they encountered pointed to seven, and Lily sighed, wishing she'd had a chance to grab just a bit more sleep. James and Sirius seemed to have similar sentiments, as they groaned when they saw the time on the clock, and elected not to talk the entire way down to the kitchen. They preferred to eat in the back kitchen, not the formal dining room, and Lily followed them there blearily.

"Juuuuuuice," Lily moaned, taking a seat near one end of the table. Immediately several glasses, each filled with a different-colored liquid, appeared before her. She surveyed her choices sleepily, her mind feeling rather numbed from the effort. She chose the most familiar-looking liquid--the orange one--and enjoyed the sensation of sweet juice and chunky pulp as she swallowed. "Toast," she demanded, setting down her glass. "Jam. Butter."

"Wow, you're good at this," Sirius said, impressed. "Bacon," he ordered, and then, when the requested item appeared, tried with, "Mount Everest." He paused for a moment, expectantly. Then, "Damn!"

Lily and James were too sleepy to manage adequate laughs. James looked at his place and considered.

"Milk," he requested. "Cookies. Hot fudge sundae."

Lily gave him an odd look as he dug into his sundae, but he just shrugged and kept eating.

As they ate, Lily stared at her Hogwarts letter. It looked just the same as it had for the last six years, but...it was different. It was the last one she'd ever get. And on top of that, it was the most important Hogwarts letter she'd ever received. It and it alone held Dumbledore's decision as to whether she'd be Head Girl or not...and, truthfully, she was terrified of opening it. Despite her ardent protests over the years that she'd never be Head Girl, that her grades weren't good enough, and that it didn't matter to her...well, it really did matter to her, a bit more than she was willing to let on, and her marks the previous year had been so very close to perfect....

She gulped, and not just to force down the bite of toast she'd been mulling over.

"Sirius," she said, rather evenly, "aren't you going to open your Hogwarts letter?"

Sirius froze, mid-bite, his mouth stuffed with bacon, and he looked at her. "I gueff ffo," he replied, and then swallowed. "Aren't you going to open yours?"

Lily attempted to shrug noncommittally but did not quite pull it off. "Oh, you know, maybe...later," she said quickly, unwisely stuffing another bite of toast into her mouth, which she sent down into her churning stomach.

James rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, Lily, I'm sure you're Head Girl."

Lily's head snapped around and she stared at him intently. "How do you know? Did your dad say so? Has he been talking to Dumbledore?"

"Er...no," James replied, and Lily's face fell. "But you're going to be Head Girl, everyone knows it--"

"You can't say that, James!" Lily said, quite shrilly. "I don't know that."

"Jesus," Sirius said, looking as though he'd like to bang his head against the table. "Why don't you just open it for her, James?"

"Yes, why don't you just open it for me, James?" Lily demanded, shoving the letter at him.

"Oh,no!" James said, holding up his hands so that Lily could not shove the envelope into them. "I don't want you to rip my head off if you're not Head Girl."

"You just said I was going to be, James, so what are you so worried about?"

"I--I just--well--hey! If you believe me all of a sudden why don't you open it?"

Ignoring James, Lily threw her envelope on the table, sat back, crossed her arms, and stared at it.

"Oooh, look, Prongs, she's going to open the envelope with her psychic powers!"

Lily snapped her head up and looked at Sirius, then James, then back again. "Why are you calling him Prongs?"

James and Sirius looked at each other for a moment.

"It's just a nickname, Lily," Sirius said. "Nicknames happen."

Lily's gaze continued slipping back and forth suspiciously between James and Sirius. "This isn't some code name for some new prank you're pulling, is it? I thought you'd given up on--"

"What do you take us for, Lily? Of course we have. Why, we haven't pulled a prank in nearly--"

"Why don't I just open your Hogwarts letter for you then, Lily?" James said quickly, snatching Lily's letter from the table.

"Wait a minute," Lily snapped, snatching the letter back. "When was the last time you pulled a prank, Sirius?"

"Oh--I think it was about--" Sirius began.

"I really think you ought to let me open your letter!" James insisted, grabbing for it, but Lily held it out of his reach.

"And I really think you ought to let Sirius finish his sentences," Lily retorted, looking at Sirius expectantly.

"Like I was saying--"

"Damn OWLS!"

Lily, James, and Sirius (who was annoyed at being interrupted yet again) jumped as the kitchen door banged open and Melody entered, looking furious, and clutching a very crumpled copy of the Daily Prophet in her hand.

"Don't those owls believe in beauty sleep? I NEED COFFEE!" she yelled, sitting down. She hadn't been very fond of coffee before visiting America (mainly she just drank tea), but now she found it more invigorating than your traditional English cuppa.

"Like you need beauty sleep," Lily muttered, reflecting upon her own appearance. She'd put her hair up before going to bed, but now some of it had tumbled down and tufts of it were sticking up in odd places. She was sure there were deep circles under her eyes and she could feel a pimple forming by the side of her nose. Compared to last night, she probably looked like the Wicked Witch of the West. Except for that whole "green skin" thing. And the pointed hat. And the broom. And the warts. And...okay, so the Wicked Witch was a bad example. Maybe she looked more like a hag, or...something.

The point was that Melody had no room to complain. She still retained some of her supermodel-like aura from last night. Her hair, at least, was not bushy and frizzy and sticking up everywhere. It lay straight and silky as ever, cascading to her waist in an almost artistic fashion. True, there were circles under her eyes and red lines on her face from sleeping on an oddly creased pillowcase, but still. She was more presentable than Lily.

"What are you waving in the air, Lily?" Melody asked, frowning over the top of a heavily creamed cup of coffee.

"My Hogwarts letter," Lily replied, lowering her hand, as James was no longer trying to grab the letter out of it.

"Oh. Lemme see," Melody said, setting down her cup of coffee. She reached across the table and lifted the envelope from Lily's hands. "'S thick," she noted, breaking the Hogwarts seal. Lily stared as she opened it, her hands gripping the edge of the table as Melody removed several folded pieces of parchment...

...and unfolded them, scanning the letters in silence, with no sign that she'd seen or felt any kind of badge indicating Lily's appointment (or not) as Head Girl. Her lips moved slightly as she mumbled the letters to herself, completely oblivious to the fact that Lily was staring at her so intently that her eyes were beginning to bug out of her head.

"Melody," Sirius said finally, sighing. "Why don't you tell Lily if she's Head Girl or not before she has an aneurysm?"

"What?" Melody asked, glancing at Sirius, then at James, and looking finally at Lily. She jumped slightly at Lily's on-edge appearance. "Jesus Christ, woman! Here!"

Melody tossed the empty envelope across the table at Lily, who caught it, feeling confused...at least until her hand hit the solid object between the folds of parchment. She shook the envelope rather more violently than necessary, and presently a shiny silver badge landed face-down in her palm. She turned it over and simply stared for a moment at the glinting letters that spelled out "Head Girl".

"Oh," she said, rubbing her thumb slowly over the badge. "Well...that..." She looked up, smiling crazily. "James, open yours!"

"What for?" grumbled James. "Dumbledore's not going to make me Head Boy. I cause too much trouble."

"Oh, just open it!" Lily insisted, shoving James's envelope into his hands.

James sighed and ripped the envelope open, and out fell several folded pieces of parchment--and a shiny silver badge, which landed on top of James's ice cream.

He stared at it for a moment.

"James! Don't let it just sit there!" Lily cried, exasperated, and she removed the badge from James's sundae and wiped it off with a napkin. James took the badge back from Lily and shook his head.

"Is Dumbledore bloody insane?"

"James! Watch your language!"

The teenagers all jumped as Mrs. Potter padded into the kitchen wearing a fuzzy blue bathrobe and matching slippers.

"Sorry, mum," James mumbled, returning to his eggs. Mrs. Potter quickly spotted the Head Boy badge James had discarded by his place and began exclaiming about it.

"Oh, James! That's wonderful! Your father will be so proud--he was Head Boy in his day, you know--"

"Mum, gerroff," James grumbled as his mother attempted to hug him and kiss his cheek and ruffle his hair. Mrs. Potter quit her attempts at physical contact, but did not give up her verbal assault. "Oh--I'll have to owl your father right after breakfast--and we'll have to go to Diagon Alley today--make sure you wear the badge, James--and we'll buy all your school things--"

"Mum, I'm old enough to go shopping on my own!"

"--and maybe a present--"

"--and I don't need you to--present?"

Mrs. Potter beamed.

"Let's get going, then!" James exclaimed, and began shoveling his sundae into his mouth so quickly Lily was afraid he'd impale the roof of his mouth with his spoon.

"James, that's rude! Be patient. I'm not going anywhere until after I've eaten, and it won't be until long after you're done, especially if you insist on eating like a pig. What are you eating, anyway?" she asked, sinking into a chair at the end of the table.

"Nothing!" James said quickly, and had a house-elf remove the dish.

Mrs. Potter frowned but decided to ignore it. "Oh, Lily, dear!" she exclaimed, having spotted Lily's Head Girl badge. "We'll have to get you a present, too!"

"Oh! No--that's all right--I--"

"Don't be ridiculous! I want to."

"I'm sure if my mother wants to--"

"Oh, I'll talk it over with her, dear, but really, I insist."

"I--well--all right," Lily said, shrugging. Mrs. Potter beamed at her as well.

Lily smiled and looked down at her badge. Her mother would be so proud, and her father would probably take her out for ice cream like he had after--

Oh.

Her father.

Lily felt suddenly as though someone had clamped a cold metal hand around her heart.

Her father would not see this. He would not give her a big hug and then take her out for ice cream, like he had after she'd gotten first place in the science fair in primary school, or like he had after she'd been made a Prefect, or...after any special event in her life, really...

"Lily?" James asked, nudging her elbow. "Are you all right?"

Lily looked up and nodded, then picked up her badge again and stared at it. "It's just...my father would have loved this. He'd've...been really proud," she managed, her throat tightening of its own accord.

Nobody said anything. There didn't seem to be anything appropriate with which to cut through the silence.

Then, unexpectedly,

"He is proud."

Lily lifted her eyes and saw Melody looking at her across the table, her eyes unnaturally bright. Lily nodded slowly, accepting Melody's full meaning.

"Yeah," Lily agreed. "Really proud."

"Every day," Melody replied.

Sirius, James, and Mrs. Potter looked on with peculiar expressions on their faces, until Mrs. Potter said,

"He'll always be with you, dear."

Then Sirius and James watched as the women had a silent, teary conversation, which persisted until Lily said, "I'm going to get dressed," and left.

She walked slowly up the stairs, digesting the morning, and prepared herself for the trip to Diagon Alley--her first real trip to the wizarding world since the attack.

* * *

Several hours later, Diagon Alley materialized around Lily in a flurry of ash and Floo powder. With a small amount of apprehension, she stepped out of the fireplace and looked around. Behind her, James and Sirius fell out of the fireplace, shouting, and Mrs. Potter materialized behind them, shaking her head.

"Pick yourselves up, boys," she instructed, and waited patiently for them to get to their feet. "Now, I have to go to Gringott's, so you all can just look around for a bit--I expect I'll find you at Quality Quidditch Supplies in about an hour?"

"Quidditch!" exclaimed Melody, who had just stepped out of the fireplace. All of the teens looked particularly eager to be getting along to the Quidditch store, so Mrs. Potter bade them farewell and shook her head again as she watched them rush along Diagon Alley in a flurry of excitement.

Lily, Melody, James, and Sirius all fought for entry to the Quidditch store, and it was James who managed to squeeze through first, and then the rest of them stumbled in afterwards. Melody, James, and Sirius immediately began gawking at the display in the window--a brand-new racing broom from the makers of the Nimbus 1001. It was a Nimbus 1002.

Lily was thoroughly unimpressed, and also had an irrational fear that if they caught her looking at the broom for too long they'd try to force her on it and make her fly. Lily was not the most talented of fliers. The most action she got on a broom was flying to the Hogwarts roof and back a couple of times a year, and that didn't exactly take the skill of a professional Quidditch player to accomplish.

However, James, Sirius, and Melody were thoroughly convinced that because Lily had quick reflexes, she should play Quidditch, and this was a dangerous idea, because they simply didn't understand that every time Lily tried to turn on a broomstick, she fell off. And there was no way--no way--she would ever make her broom go into a steep dive, like she'd seen James do a hundred times. She would drive herself right into the ground for sure, and Death by Quidditch was not exactly how Lily wanted to go.

So instead of staring reverently at the new Nimbus racing broom, Lily slinked off to the display in the back corner of the shop, where all of the Quidditch Magazines were kept. She hadn't seen one of these all summer, and therefore had no clue what was going on in the world of professional Quidditch. The Tutshill Tornadoes were easily her favorite team, though she could not for the life of her fathom why. They weren't very good, they didn't have an astonishing team record, and they hadn't won the World Cup for a while, but...their captain was a girl, which was rare, and they did have an exceptionally good Keeper, and besides Lily liked the writer who covered them in Quidditch Weekly. He was extremely amusing.

She didn't get a chance to read about the Tornadoes' most recent loss for long, however, before she was attacked, quite unexpectedly, by several people she hadn't seen for two months.

"Lily!" Mimi Ramirez cried, throwing her arms around her friend. Close behind her were Susie and Matt, who also threw their arms around her in a bone-crushing fashion, Matt's socks cheerfully singing out the Hallelujah Chorus.

"Didn't think I'd ever catch you inside a Quidditch store, Lily," Matt teased once they'd all released her.

"Yes, well," Lily replied.

"How have you been?" Mimi demanded, but then rushed over her words before Lily could speak. "Oh, that was a stupid question--I mean, we all saw the Prophet and--oh, I'm sure you don't want to hear about--it's just that I--"

"Mimi!" Lily interrupted. "It's all right. I'm...I'm okay."

"Oh--oh, Lily--that's good--" Mimi said, all in a rush, and she hugged Lily again. Lily squeezed her and then let go, and when she pulled back she saw Matt and Susie looking at her rather sadly.

"You're not the only one, you know," Susie said softly. "Not by far."

Lily nodded quickly. "I know. Oh--believe me. I know." It was amazing how quickly her joy at seeing her friends was dissipating.Why did people insist on bringing up depressing topics of conversation?

Matt's socks seemed to sense this, and quieted a bit. "Cheer up, Lily. We'll have fun today. Are you here with anyone?"

Lily nodded. "I came with James and Sirius and Melody."

"Ooh, James," Mimi said, teasingly.

"Don't you start!" Lily warned her, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks.

"Start what?" James demanded, coming up behind her. He, apparently, had been able to tear his eyes away from the new racing broom.

"Nothing!" Lily said quickly. "James, have you met Matt and Susie?"

James looked at them and nodded. "I think so. You're in Ravenclaw, right?" Matt and Susie nodded, and James squinted at Susie a bit harder. "Didn't I have class with you one year?"

Susie thought for a moment and then nodded. "I sat behind you and Sirius Black."

"What about Sirius Black?" Sirius demanded, coming around the corner of an aisle stocked with Beater equipment.

"She had class with us one year," James informed him, indicating Susie. Sirius looked at her for a moment before a look of recognition dawned on his face.

"Oh, yeah. You picked up my wand once, I remember!"

"Oh, that," Susie said, looking as though she'd rather hoped he'd forgotten the incident.

"Sorry about that, by the way. My wand's very touchy. No one's yet been able to figure out why."

"Been able to figure out why what?" Melody demanded, rounding the corner holding a new Beater club.

"Why Sirius's brain is like mush," Lily replied promptly, and Sirius glared at her.

"My brain is not like mush," he declared indignantly. Then, after a moment, he added, "It's more like porridge, really, if you're going to call it anything--"

Melody groaned. "That's enough, Sirius."

"Enough of what? I was just saying--"

"No more corny jokes."

"I do not make corny jokes. That joke was about porridge."

Melody groaned again. "Honestly, Sirius!"

Lily glanced at her friends from Ravenclaw to shrug in apology for Melody and Sirius's banter, and noticed that Susie was looking at Melody rather oddly. She frowned but didn't have much time to ponder this, as James interrupted her train of thought with a rather loud "Oy!"

Lily, along with Melody and Sirius, jumped.

"Would you two cut it out?" James requested, annoyed, and Melody and Sirius glared at him but remained silent.

"Sorry about that," Lily directed at Matt and Susie.

Matt shrugged. "I was going to tell them to bugger off after another minute, but it looks like your boyfriend did a pretty good job of taking care of everything, so--"

What Matt had been about to say they would never know, as Lily and James both burst into a stream of ardent protests against the fact that Matt had labeled James as Lily's boyfriend. Matt looked at them in surprise, and held up his hands to curb their speech. "Never mind! Forget I said it!"

Lily and James fell awkwardly silent and didn't look at each other for a moment.

"Well, that's enough being silly!" Mimi declared. "I daresay we have some shopping to be got on with. Didn't you want to buy something in here, Matt?"

"Oh--yeah. A Quidditch magazine."

"Well find it, then!" Mimi ordered. "We haven't got all day," she said impatiently, and Matt slinked off to find his magazine.

"Go Mimi! You'd make a very nice dictator," Melody informed her.

"Why thank you," Mimi replied, laughing.

"Found it!" Matt cried, reappearing with a Quidditch tabloid in his hands.

"Well, we ought to be going now. I have to meet my parents in two hours," Mimi informed them, glancing at her watch. "D'you want to come with us, Lily, or would you prefer to stay with this bunch of psychopaths?"

Lily considered for a moment. It would be nice to socialize with her Ravenclaw friends again, but at the same time...she was still feeling slightly unstable, and didn't feel quite as comfortable around Matt and Susie as she did around James and Sirius. This, however, was not the reason she gave Mimi for electing to stay with the 'bunch of psychopaths', as Mimi had so eloquently put it.

"I'd better stay here. I have to meet someone soon."

Mimi nodded. "Fair enough. Maybe we'll run into you later?"

"Maybe," Lily agreed, and Mimi hugged her one last time before heading off to the register with Matt and Susie.

"So what do you think of this Beater club?" Melody asked of Sirius, examining it. "It's a lot better than the ones we've been using at school."

James and Lily exchanged a glance and sighed before edging off toward the magazines. They didn't want to get in the middle of a Beater discussion between Sirius and Melody.

Sirius took the club from Melody's hands. "It's all right. I've seen better. But if you're going to buy a club for yourself I'd go with an Earlman. They don't cost much more, and they're much higher quality than the--" he cut off and stared behind Melody for a moment before speaking. "Er...can I help you?" he directed at the tall, imposing man who had appeared behind Melody.

"Sirius, who are you--oh," Melody said, turning around, her eyes widening as she saw who it was.

"'Oh', indeed," the man replied.

"Er--hello, uncle."

* * *

Mimi, Matt, and Susie explored the shops of Diagon Alley under Mimi's direction, Susie muttering about her dislike for Melody Cauldwell once or twice. Normally, she would not have been so demanding, but she was on a time budget, and her parents would accept no excuses if she were late. Because of this, she shoved her friends from store to store, buying her school supplies in a most efficient manner, hoping that if she got all her shopping done quickly enough she'd have time to simply relax. That was her philosophy, anyway.

Or, at least--it was her philosophy until she ran into Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew outside of Flourish and Blotts. Matt and Susie simply rolled their eyes, knowing that Mimi would stay outside the store talking to Remus forever if she could, and they entered and began looking around for their school books. Peter stared rather uninterestedly at the window display as Mimi and Remus carried on a rather lively conversation.

Mimi asked what Remus had done over the summer--spent a lot of time at his great-aunt's house, he said--and asked if he'd been made Head Boy--no, and apparently no one knew who had been--and Remus asked if she'd cut her hair--yes, and dyed it just slightly--and if she'd gone on holiday anywhere interesting--yes, as well, to Spain for a week, where she practiced her Spanish, which, sadly, was atrocious.

Susie and Matt returned from the bookstore to find Mimi and Remus still talking animatedly, and took it upon themselves to drag Mimi inside Flourish and Blotts to get her schoolbooks, so that she would not be late to meet her parents. Mimi said good-bye rather reluctantly to Remus (who had already bought his books and had to purchase Potions ingredients) and allowed herself to be shoved into the book shop.

Remus was frustrating. She liked him very much, and it was fairly clear to her that he was interested as well, but he was always holding back, always refusing to make his move. She strongly suspected that this was because he was a werewolf. She'd figured out this interesting little tidbit just before the end of school and hadn't told anyone of her discovery. If Remus wanted her to know, she wished he'd just tell her on his own terms. She didn't care that he was a werewolf; despite wizarding superstition, he was no different from any other human, and besides that he was one of the nicest people Mimi had ever met.

But still one of the most frustrating.

If only there was something Mimi could do, something to make him see that she didn't care that he was a werewolf, that she liked him very much just the way he was.... Maybe if she made him jealous enough...but knowing Remus, that might not work. Mimi certainly thought she'd made it clear enough that she liked him, but maybe he'd interpreted her signals wrong...maybe she thought she just liked him as a friend...but, no, that didn't make sense, did it? Even so, if she tried to make Remus jealous by flirting with other boys, that probably wouldn't send the right message....

Why did relationships have to be so damn complicated? Why couldn't Mimi and Remus be more like Lily and James? They both knew where they stood...didn't they?

Mimi looked helplessly at the leather hardbound volume in her hand, and then did a double take and stared at it again. She blinked and looked up, taking in a good view of her surroundings. How had she gotten to this section of the bookshop? Taking one last glance at the book in her hand, she placed Love Spells and Potions for the Wanting Witch back on the shelf and hurried quickly to a more innocent section of the bookshop.

* * *

Melody took a long, stressful walk through Diagon Alley and into the Leaky Cauldron behind her uncle. Questions were flitting through her mind like a million Golden Snitches, each grappling for a place at the forefront of her thoughts. Why is he here? What does he want? How did he find me? Am I in trouble? How much trouble am I in? Where's Catalina? Since when does he have a walking stick thingy? Did I leave my bag in the Quidditch shop?

Hans procured a private room for them in the Leaky Cauldron, and after Tom had provided them with tea and crumpets (which Melody had no intention of eating), Hans ordered that they be left completely alone, and fixed on Melody a gaze lethal enough to snap a wand. Speaking of wands...hadn't Melody left hers in her bag? She sincerely hoped that between Sirius, James, and Lily, one of them had had the good sense to pick up her bag.

"Well then," Hans said, and Melody's thought process froze. She just looked at him, unsure of what to say. How very different from their last conversation, in which she'd argued with him like a stubborn mule.

"Indeed," she said. "How...interesting to see you again, uncle."

"Interesting," Hans chuckled. "Yes, Melody, my dear. I'm sure you'll soon find that many things in this world are quite interesting."

Melody was beginning to regain her wits a bit. "And what do you mean by that, uncle?"

"I mean, my dear girl, that my life is not as glamorous as you think it to be, and that you are about to find that out right now."

Melody didn't like the tone in her uncle's voice. It had lost all its delicately toned courtesy and cordiality and had become flat and threatening and even menacing in a way. It was amazing the kind of shivers that voice could send up her spine. "Just tell me why you are here, uncle," Melody said finally, daring to look him in the eye even though it made her rather nervous to do so.

Hans shook his head a moment before speaking. "You are so like your father in ways you cannot even know."

At this, Melody felt a rush of pride. She forgot sometimes that Hans was her father's brother. Hans had been so much older than Melody's father that Melody's father hadn't really known Hans all that well growing up, but they got along well enough from what Melody understood, and having Hans compliment her like that (or had it been a compliment?) made her proud in a way she almost could not express.

"Stubborn, proud, and foolish," Hans muttered, and Melody's pride faded a bit. Perhaps her father and her uncle had not been as close as she thought. "You would not want those traits to be the demise of your family as your father allowed them to be the demise of himself, would you?"

Melody's eyes bulged. "Pardon me?"

"Allow me to rephrase. You would not want to allow your stubborn, foolish pride to be the downfall of your family, would you?"

"Are you threatening my family, uncle?"

"How astute you are at times, Melody. Really."

"Don't you lay a wand on my family, or--"

"Or what? You'll glare at me? Shoot a few little spells at me? That's interesting, Melody, really, but just to save on time I think we had better establish that I am the only one who is going to be making threats around here."

"And why would that be?"

"Because, Melody my dear, I am here to call in your debt."

"My debt? My debt for what?"

"Please tell me you're not serious. The hotels, the clothes, the meals, the lavish vacations--"

"You invited me to go with you!"

"And you agreed to go. You didn't have to."

"You can't possibly expect me to pay you back for that! That's ridiculous!"

"I don't see why. I provided things for you. I expect to receive compensation."

"Com--compen--compensation?" Melody sputtered.

"Have you suddenly gone deaf? Yes, compensation!" Hans snapped. "I fed you, I clothed you, I allowed you to go out and buy all sorts of things for yourself. Don't you feel I deserve something in return?"

"I'll send you a nice fruit basket at Christmas, how does that sound?"

"This is hardly a time for sarcasm, my dear niece. I'm afraid that I'm deadly serious about this."

"Well, this is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! You cannot invite someone to stay with you and then expect them to pay you back for everything you've ever given them!"

"Don't presume to tell me what I can and cannot do. I gave you no indication that anything you were receiving was free of charge."

"In--ind--indication? I'll tell you about indication! You gave me every indication to believe that I was traveling with you as your 'favorite niece', and that keeping up with the fashions was all part of the trip!"

"Buying three hundred pairs of shoes is not mere fashion!"

Melody winced a bit at that. She couldn't quite argue that case. "Well--you--you can have the shoes back if you want, but I'm not giving you anything else!"

"And why would that be, Melody? Spite? Pride? Greed? Or perhaps...you are incapable of returning the garments? The jewelry? The souvenirs?"

Melody thought for a moment, not at all liking the tone in her uncle's voice that suggested he knew more than he was letting on.

"Maybe it's just because you're a greedy old bastard who can't stand being parted from his money."

Hans looked at Melody for a moment before doing something completely unexpected. He smiled. It wasn't a nice, smile either; it was rather nasty and twisted and revealed his darkened, nasty teeth.

"Perhaps," he suggested in an oily voice, "you cannot return these things because you no longer have them."

Melody froze.

This was what she'd been afraid of.

"I thought we'd established, uncle," she said, in a higher-pitched voice than normal, "that I considered those things all gifts at the time--"

"Do not waste breath speaking of things we have already established. Do you or do you not have these items in your possession at the present time?"

Melody looked long and hard at her uncle before uttering one small, deeply significant, painful word. "No."

"No," Hans repeated softly, smiling still wider. "That puts you in an interesting position, now doesn't it, Melody?"

"I suppose," Melody replied, her teeth gritted. "What do you propose I do about it, uncle?"

"I propose that you do exactly as I say from now on, Melody, or you will be treading on some very dangerous ground."

"Would you care to specify, uncle, or are you going to continue to be cryptically threatening?" Melody snapped, unable to take her uncle's menacing hints any longer.

"Very well, Melody. I'm going to be blunt. I want all my money back or I am going to seize possession of all your family's belongings, including their house, and kick them out of it."

Melody, in spite of her mad attempts at self control, gasped and stared at him in fury. "You wouldn't."

Hans chose to ignore this pointless comment. "Since it does not seem likely that you will be able to repay me, I have come up with a solution to fix your indebtedness."

"Oh, really? And what would that be? Parading myself around like a little show monkey? I do have to go to school, you know, an--"

"Be quiet, child! You are in no position to mock the man who holds your family's livelihood in his hands."

Melody chose not to respond, but instead gazed at her uncle stonily. Every good thought she'd ever had about him--everything she'd ever done for him--every nice word that had come out of her mouth about him--

She'd take it all back right now for the ability to hex him into his grave. How dare he--how dare he--threaten her family! If she could, right now she would "seize possession" of her uncle's liver and kidneys, sell them on the black market, and then use the money to buy poor Catalina a new brain so she'd have the sense to stop gallavanting around with this monstrous greedy pig!

Her maddening thoughts quickly disappeared, however, when she heard her uncle's 'solution'.

"Now then," Hans began, "there are few ways in which you can come across a great deal of money in a short space of time. And since I do not wish you to earn money by gambling, playing the lottery, theft, or prostitution, there are even fewer. Plus, since stocks investments are too risky and I do not believe you have the skills required to trade on the black market"--Melody thought immediately of her plan to sell her uncle's liver and her lips twitched upward slightly--"that leaves me one simple, foolproof solution."

Melody, who was still a bit distracted thinking of the liver, could not imagine what her uncle might be suggesting, unless it was stripping (since that wasn't technically prostitution), but one could hardly make several hundred thousand dollars stripping. She looked blankly up at her uncle, waiting.

"Marriage," he said, savoring the word and smiling at his own genius. "Marriage into a very, very wealthy family."

Melody froze.

Time stopped.

The world ceased to function.

One thought blazed through Melody's mind.

He--did--NOT--just--say--that.

She opened her mouth but no sound came out. She closed it again to think but her head remained a blank. Her was looking at her, awaiting her response, and she opened her mouth again, wanting to give him one--wanting to give him a good one--something sarcastic--something negative--something--just--anything--

"Oh..." was what she said. "....my."

Hans's smile twisted itself wider. "Oh, my, indeed, my niece."

Melody looked back up at her uncle and her brain kicked back into action. A thousand thoughts crowded to the front of her mind at once, clamoring to spit themselves out of her mouth. "I won't do it!"

Hans froze and looked at his niece unpleasantly. "What do you mean?"

"I won't do it! I'm too young! It's not fair! I don't care about your money! Leave my family alone! That's disgusting! You're disgusting! I HATE YOU!"

Each thought seemed to infuriate Melody's uncle more, and finally he stopped her shrieking. "That is enough! Now listen, Melody, and listen well. You have put your entire family in jeopardy because of your foolishness, and it would not do well if you put yourself in jeopardy because of further foolishness. Now I need that money and you're going to give it to me. I don't care if you have to kill your husband on your wedding night to get that money, but I will have it, Melody, or it will be your livelihood I'm after and not your family's. Do I make myself clear?"

Melody's hands were shaking violently, and she was determined not to allow her voice to shake as well. "Perfectly clear," she replied, as evenly as she could.

"Very well," Hans said, breaking eye contact with her and gathering up his traveling cloak and cane. "I have one last--ah--gift for you. Let us make no mistakes this time--it really is a gift, my dear. And I ask that you wear it at all times."

He placed a small black box in front of her and she opened it to find a small silver ring topped with a tiny sparkling diamond glimmering up with her.

"A ring," she noted. "How appropriate."

"I'll be in touch with you about Christmas," Hans replied, and then he left.

Melody stared down at the ring with a sick feeling in her stomach. Slowly she removed it from the black velvet box and slid it onto the fourth finger of her left hand. The sight made her feel even more ill, and she hastily removed it and switched the ring to her right hand before pocketing the box and hurrying out of the Leaky Cauldron.

She didn't want to think about what her uncle had just said, or what her mother would say if she knew about this, or what she just might have to go through because of her uncle's blackmail. She tapped the bricks on the wall behind the pub frantically, wanting nothing more than to escape into the streets of Diagon Alley and forget how severely screwed up her life had just become.

Her hands were still shaking like mad when she rushed back into the Quidditch shop, and she couldn't quite get her breathing under control. Vision was a little fuzzy around the edges of her eyes because of the tears that were beginning to sting them. How could someone she'd trusted so much turn out to be just a fat--greedy--horrible--blackmailing--

Melody's thoughts whirled in her head as she hurried through the Quiddich store, searching for James, Lily--anybody--when she found Sirius. He was holding her forgotten bag and considering two different packages of Beater gloves when she ran up to him and threw her arms around him, shaking.

Sirius dropped the bag and the gloves and yelled slightly from shock until he realized it was Melody clinging to him, and then he said "Jesus, Melody! What's wrong?" and wrapped his arms around her. Melody didn't respond, just shook her head and buried it into his shoulder.

Sirius just stared at her, unsure of exactly what to do or exactly why she was clinging to him. It wasn't that he minded her attaching herself to him, it was just that it was so very uncharacteristic of her. However, once he registered the fact that Melody was shaking like a frightened mouse, he concluded that it wouldn't have mattered who Melody had run into--she would probably have thrown her arms around the first person she knew no matter who they were. Of course, Sirius was glad that he had been the first person she'd seen, but then again he wasn't so glad, because of course if nothing had happened between Melody and her uncle, she wouldn't be so distraught that she was clinging to Sirius and shaking.

"Melody, what happened?" Sirius asked, but Melody just shook her head again, this time violently, so that her long blond hair got tangled in Sirius's fingers.

Lily and James came around the corner, followed shortly by Mrs. Potter, and Lily, seeing Melody's less-than-fantastic state, ran up to her best friend and immediately demanded that Sirius tell her what was the matter. Sirius, who did not know, just shook his head helplessly.

Mrs. Potter, who was not about to allow three teenagers to stand in the middle of a Quidditch store with a very distressed friend on their hands (blocking up the aisle, no less), gently detached Melody from Sirius and ushered them all to the register. Lily, James, and Sirius, who at least had the good sense to realize that this might not be the best place to discuss whatever it was that was troubling Melody, all shoved their desired purchases onto the counter at once and practically threw their Sickles at the man behind the register, and didn't bother to stay to collect their change.

Mrs. Potter led them all to Florean Fortescue's and, though the place was hideously crowded, managed to find them a four-seater table, and then wisely disappeared to allow the teenagers to sort out whatever was the matter. She was deadly curious, of course, as to what was troubling Melody, but as all four teenagers were currently living under her roof and none of them seemed to have any concept of the word "whisper", she expected through a combination of her hearing and the house-elves, she'd find out what was going on sooner or later.

Lily, James, and Sirius all looked at Melody expectantly. Melody felt their gazes on her and attempted to compose herself. What was she going to say? What could she say? What was there to say? She looked up and gazed at her best friends blankly, and it occurred to her in that moment that she could not tell them. They wouldn't understand, they wouldn't believe her, or, even worse, they would try to come up with a solution.

And there was no solution, was there? Unless she really did go off and win the sodding lottery, what else could she do? Where else could she get that kind of money? She couldn't very well ask Lily for it, could she? Or James, or--or Sirius--or anybody she knew. And there was no bloody way in hell her family would still have any of that money. It had all been used for paying off bills that had piled up for months; house payments and car payments and credit card debts and sodding college loans leftover from her mum's years at university and then all manner of groceries and clothes and gas and schoolbooks and things to keep the children occupied so they wouldn't drive Melody's mum completely insane...

So instead of telling her friends the truth, instead of replaying the entire scene with her uncle and crying out in distress about the whole disgusting situation, Melody found a pack of lies running from her mouth.

"It was just--he was so--mad!" she told them. "Because I'd run off on him and all, and--oh--I don't know--I've just never seen him like that, furious and mean and--and everything. And that wasn't even the worst part. Then he just...got all calm and quiet and...informed me that I'd be spending Christmas with him. And then--then he gave me this and told me to wear it all the time, and that if I didn't he would know, and then...well...then...I don't know what," she finished lamely, holding out her right hand so that they could all see the ring he'd given her.

What she'd told them wasn't completely untrue, but it damn sure wasn't the whole truth.

They were all staring at her, looking a bit dumbfounded. Lily's mouth was actually hanging open slightly.

"So--wait--" Lily said, deigning to speak first. "Let me get this straight. Your uncle came from America to yell at you for leaving, and then basically informed you that you are going to spend Christmas with him whether you like it or not, and then he gives you this mysterious ring."

Melody nodded, feeling that her story was ridiculous and unbelievable, but if James, Lily, or Sirius thought so, they didn't say anything about it.

Sirius, however, did have a comment about the ring. "Bet it has a tracking charm on it," he muttered.

"And how would you know about tracking charms?" Melody demanded, still far too emotional and slightly miffed that this possibility had occurred to Sirius before it occurred to her.

"Look, why else would your uncle demand that you wear it all the time?"

Melody shrugged and looked down at the ring, her stomach churning. She closed her eyes and attempted to block everything out of her mind. Her uncle--her family--the money--the ring--everything. When she opened her eyes again, the very first thing she saw was Sirius, staring at her with all kinds of concern written all over his face. Immediately an image of Paolo's brown eyes flashed in front of Sirius's brown eyes, and Melody's stomach lurched.

Sirius...and Paolo. Several hours ago Melody had still been in serious confusion about both of them--what did she want, who did she want, and why did she have to want either of them? She'd been so crazy about Sirius for so long, and Sirius, she knew, had been mad about her--but for some obscure, unknown reason, both of them had been too afraid to take the next step. There'd always been some sort of hesitation, some sort of wall between them that they just couldn't get through.

Then there had been Paolo. And with Paolo there was no wall. Of course, their entire relationship had been established on the principle of being unattached--which was an odd way to start a relationship, Melody supposed. Then again, her relationship with Sirius had been established on the principle of exploding Dungbombs right in front of Filch's office--so--maybe that wasn't a much better way of beginning things.

But now--now--oh, God--now none of that mattered. Because Melody couldn't have a relationship with either of them, no matter what she wanted. Now Melody wasn't allowed to want. It would never matter, the rest of her life, whether or not she had really been in love with Sirius, or whether she really could have fallen in love with Paolo, or whether there was someone else out there who was really her perfect match that she just hadn't met yet--

She was going to be married. Married. The ring would shift from her right finger to her left and she would have no choice at all who to love anymore, except her family. Her mother--her sisters--her brothers--her stepfather--they were all that mattered. They were the only thing she had left to care for--they were the only people for whom she would even consider going through with this--

Melody's mind returned to her body, and she found herself still looking at Sirius. His dark brown eyes struck a chord somewhere inside her, in some deep hidden crevice of her mind where the truth often lurked, and her heart fluttered brokenly, her stomach lurched again, and her whole body, in one heaving motion, sobbed, tipping her head over onto the table, where tears spilled out of her eyes to make sorrowful little puddles on the glass.

* * *

It was occurring to Mimi, with a sinking heart, that she and Remus might never be together. She'd run into him again, this time outside the Leaky Cauldron, and seen that look in his eyes again. He always had this little look of sorrow deep in the pits of his eyes, like he was always holding himself back from something--back from doing something or saying something that might bring him closer to Mimi than he wished.

And Mimi--Mimi was beginning to get so very tired of feeling lonely. It wasn't that she didn't have friends--she had plenty--but it was so very sad not to have someone to really look forward to seeing every day--to go to Hogsmeade with--to meet in a deserted classroom--to maybe have a bit of a nap on during the train ride--

Mimi really just enjoyed having a boyfriend. Talking, kissing, slipping notes in class, taking prolonged walks around the lake--plus all those fantastic happy, bubbly feelings she got when she was with someone she really cared about. Fifth Year had been the last time she'd had a real serious boyfriend. Sixth Year, there hadn't really been much of anything--a couple of dates to Hogsmeade, several good snog sessions, but really, nothing serious.

And she felt that, for Seventh Year, she'd really like to have that something serious. At least as serious as any relationships were at Hogwarts, anyway. The most serious couple she knew was Lily and James, and they still refused to admit they were dating! Sure, there were other couples, but somehow they didn't seem quite as--as crazy about each other--and Lord knew Lily and James were good at driving each other crazy.

She adored Remus--she knew that much, anyway--and she was fairly certain he adored her. But what she didn't know--and this was what bothered her the most--was how long she could stand to wait for him.

* * *

Melody was vaguely aware of arms encircling her, of worried murmers and gentle shakes on her shoulders and a dish being set before her on the table, but everything was fuzzed and blurred and overshadowed by the tears. When Melody's mind finally cleared and her tears dissolved, she discovered that it was Lily who was attempting to hug her, however awkwardly, and suddenly intense guilt flooded Melody's veins.

How could she sit here feeling so monumentally sorry for herself and allow Lily to comfort her? How could she cry because she was protecting her family and look Lily, who'd lost her family, in the eye--and complain? How could Melody be so selfish and Lily so selfless? What was wrong with her?

"Melody, are you all right?" Lily demanded, her eyes clouded with worry, and Melody wanted to slap herself across the face. Of course she was all right. She was fine. She was dandy. Compared to Lily, she was bloody perfect. She had a bunch of siblings at home who loved her and a stepfather who'd die for her. Lily had an emotionally wrecked mother and a sister who hated her. Lily was being forced to deal with the most horrific experience ever, and Melody--Melody was falling to pieces because of a sodding wedding band.

She--she was still young, wasn't she? And who'd said she had to stay married to the rich bloke forever? Who was to say she couldn't get married, pay her uncle back, and then just divorce the bastard? Her uncle had said he didn't care if she stayed married, hadn't he? Hadn't he said something about murdering her husband on their wedding night to get straight at the money? So--so it wouldn't be the worst thing ever, would it? It was just a little nasty bargain, a little chunk of money, a little piece of her life, and then it would all be over and done with and she'd never have to deal with her uncle again.

Melody reached over and hugged Lily with all her might, attempting to think not of herself but her best friend. There were more important things in this world than Melody's sob stories.

"Better now?" Lily ventured, and Melody nodded. "We--we got you some ice cream. We thought you might need it." Melody glanced over at the dish of mint chip ice cream, smothered in fudge, and smiled.

"You're too fantastic for words," she told them, and slid the dish closer to herself. Lily perched on the arm of Melody's chair and occasionally stole a bit of ice cream, which was fine by Melody, as the sundae was huge and she was still feeling a bit queasy from everything.

"So're you going to tell your uncle to bugger off then?" James wanted to know, and Lily kicked him under the table.

"Let's not talk about that right now," Lily suggested.

"Why not?" James demanded, looking sulky and rubbing his shin.

"It's all right, Lily," Melody said. "I'm not really sure what I'm going to do. But considering the--the--fit- he just threw, I'm not sure 'bugger off' would be exactly the right thing to put in an owl."

"It'd be funny though," Sirius said. Melody smiled.

"Perhaps just a bit," she agreed, and then, quite unexpectedly, their table was attacked.

Arabella Figg and Mundungus Fletcher descended upon them in a whirl of noise and shrieks and hugs and shopping bags--which, they discovered, after Mundungus had plopped himself in Lily's old chair and Arabella had situated herself on his lap, all belonged to Arabella--and then stared enviously at Melody's sundae and ordered several for themselves.

Arabella and Mundungus--or 'Dung', as Sirius and James liked to call him--had been dating since the end of Quidditch season (though they'd been secretly snogging in classrooms long before that), and were still in that "beginning" stage of their relationship, where they couldn't get enough of each other--but, thankfully, were not one of those couples that was absolutely nauseating to be around. Lily didn't know either of them all that well (though she knew Arabella much better than Mundungus, as she'd done a fair bit of Potions work with her the previous year), but as they were on the Gryffindor Quidditch team, James, Melody, and Sirius knew them both quite well.

"'S been a bit of a madhouse, hasn't it?" Arabella commented, waiting rather impatiently for her ice cream.

"How do you mean?" James asked.

"Well--getting ready for school and all. I usually come the last day of August and nobody's here--they've all come and gone--but Dung said he wanted to come and see everybody when they were shopping, so it's taken us forever to get through it all--"

At this, Dung made a strangled sort of coughing noise, and Arabella whacked him lightly. "Not one word out of your mouth about my shopping! We'd be gone by now if it weren't for you insisting we stop at that Muggle shop in London and try to sell off some of those horrible watches."

Sirius perked a bit at this. "You been selling watches again, Dung? Care to invest some of that money at Zonko's this year?"

Mundungus grinned. "What else is there to spend money on? Books?"

Arabella sighed. "You know, Dung, maybe if you did pay attention to books your scores on the O.W.L.S. would have been higher."

Mundungus winced. "Aw, come on, Arabella, you know I don't care about tests--"

"It doesn't matter if you care about them, stupid! How're you ever going to get a job anywhere with those kinds of scores?"

"I've told you before, it doesn't matter what kind of scores you've got as long as you've got all the right connections--"

Arabella snorted. "Yeah, my ass. The only people you've connected with are those swindlers who gave you those stupid watches."

"What's the deal with the watches?" Lily demanded, intensely curious, though feeling as though she were intruding a bit on Arabella and Mundungus's argument.

"My watches? Well--well, now--you wouldn't happen to be in the market for a watch, would you?" Mundungus asked, perking visibly.

Arabella hit him. "She most certainly is not interested in one of your watches," she informed him coldly. "They're a sham," she informed Lily. "It's all a big hoax. They're these really shiny, pretty gold watches--all expensive looking and everything--only they're not, really, they've just been transfigured to look that way. And Dung charges an arm and a leg for the things--mostly pawning them off to harmless, ignorant Muggles--and after a couple weeks the spell fades off, and they turn back into whatever it was they were before--pens, bottle caps, napkins and the like. Doesn't really matter what they are to begin with. But anyway, the Muggles find the bottle caps and napkins and things and throw them away, and they can never find their watches again, and get real upset that they've lost them--and some of them have even bought the watches from Dung twice--" At this Arabella turned and glared at her boyfriend again, fiercely.

"What?" Dung demanded. "It makes a good buck!"

"Yes, but it'd be better if you were making an honest buck."

"What's dishonest about it? It's a real watch, isn't it? It works, doesn't it? At least for a while..."

Arabella hit him again, and just then their ice cream came, for which Dung looked very grateful, as it was much harder for Arabella to hit him with a dish of ice cream occupying her hands.

"It is a bit nasty of you to give those Muggles such a go," James agreed after considering for a moment, and Mundungus groaned.

"Aw, come on, James, not you too!"

"It is a bit illegal, you know," James reminded him.

"Oh, just a bit?" Arabella said sarcastically, through a mouthful of her ice cream, which she swallowed quickly. "It's reassuring to know that the Minister of Magic's son has such clear ideas of where the law begins and ends. It's completely illegal," she assured all of them, glaring at her boyfriend, and Dung just shrugged helplessly, looking as though he'd decided to give up arguing with her.

"Just as long as you don't go over to--that side--I don't care what you do, Dung," Sirius decided. They all sobered a bit at this comment.

Arabella's eyes flitted around a bit before her gaze landed uncertainly on Lily. "Yeah," she said thoughtfully, contemplating the ice cream in her mouth before swallowing. Her gaze dropped abruptly and she stared at her now-empty dish. "It's...it's been terrible this, summer, hasn't it, with all that--that--Vold--well, you know who I mean--all that business."

'All that business'. It sounded wrong to Lily, the way she'd said it. Like she was too afraid to mention it outright. Maybe she was afraid of how Lily would react, or maybe she was just afraid for herself, but it annoyed Lily.

"Well, Voldemort's done a lot of damage, hasn't he?" Lily said, and Arabella looked up at her, a bit surprised.

"Y--yeah," she agreed, nodding. "They're saying--well--a few people I've talked to anyway--it won't be long before he starts attacking wizards full-out. I mean--I know there've been a few attacks on--Muggle-borns--" Arabella's words faded into nothing, and she shifted a bit, looking uncomfortable, positively unsure of what to say around Lily. Lily didn't say anything. After all--what was she supposed to say?

Lily's apparent lack of reaction seemed to reassure Arabella, and she spoke again.

"It's amazing, though--you--you know? How--how weird people've gotten."

"How do you mean?" Sirius asked.

"Well--it's just--nothing big, you know, but just--little things. Like--Dung and I tried to say hullo to a couple of fifth years we knew from school a bit, and they just--kind of waved hello and ran. Like their mums'd told them not to talk to anyone they didn't really know--you know? 'S weird, yeah?"

"Now that you mention it," James said thoughtfully, "we ran into some people in the Quidditch shop, and they did seem a bit--well--shifty, I guess. Not so much like they were doing something wrong, but more just they wanted to be moving on; didn't want to stay and talk to us, or anything."

"Yeah?" Arabella said, interested. "'S 'cos of the rumors, I'd bet you anything."

"Rumors?" Sirius echoed.

"Haven't you heard any of them?" Arabella asked, raising her eyebrows. Her gaze shifted to James. "Your--your dad hasn't said anything?"

James gave her a bit of a funny look. "He's not really at home too much, to tell you the truth. We've got a bit of a national crisis going on...so...when he comes home he mostly just...sleeps."

"Oh," said Arabella, her eyes widening. "Well--well, you want to hear?"

Lily did not particularly want to hear, but James and Sirius looked curious enough, so she just shrugged and listened with the rest of them.

Arabella looked around and then leaned in, whispering. "I've--I've heard he's raising some kind of--army--or something. And it's not just those Death Eaters, either. It's other things. Creatures, you know? Like--trolls, and vampires, and werewolves and things."

"Werewolves aren't creatures," Sirius said suddenly, and a bit more harshly than may have been necessary. "They're people."

Arabella blinked, looking surprised. "Oh--well--you know--I didn't mean--" she cut off, looking uncertain. "It's just--well--none of us've ever met a werewolf, have we? So I--I just meant in their werewolf state, they'd be--they'd be creatures," she finished lamely.

"They're still people," Sirius insisted, quite adamantly, and Arabella's eyebrows shot toward her forehead.

Lily was just as surprised as Arabella. She'd known, of course, that there were those who were pro-werewolf--just small support and protest groups, and things, comprised mostly of relatives and friends of werewolves. She'd never known, however, that Sirius was much of an advocate for werewolves. And even more curious than that was the fact that neither James nor Melody seemed a bit phased by Sirius's sudden outburst. Of course--Melody hadn't spoken for a bit, so perhaps she was still recovering from the conversation with her uncle and wasn't about to be phased by anything.

However--Lily still felt she was missing some crucial bit of information, something that linked directly to James and Sirius and, oddly, had something to do with werewolves. Of all things...why in the world would Sirius be so passionate about werewolves? Did he--did he know a werewolf?

This thought sent Lily's mind reeling on some very interesting lines of thought. Did Sirius know a werewolf? Did Lily know the werewolf Sirius knew? Did James know that Sirius knew a werewolf? Did James know the werewolf? Was there--could there be a werewolf at Hogwarts? The more Lily's brain spun around this idea, the more sense it made. There were hundreds of students at Hogwarts--one of them could easily be a werewolf--

Well...Lily supposed it wouldn't be easy to be a werewolf...but still. Despite the fact that most of the wizarding community looked at werewolves with a certain amount of distrust and fear, Dumbledore was the kind of person who could see past the monthly transformations and see the real person behind the--the condition. Because being a werewolf wasn't a choice or anything, was it--it was the result of an unfortunate accident, a bite from another werewolf, something one didn't ask for and certainly couldn't reverse after it was over. And Dumbledore would understand that, and make accomodations as necessary--

But who? Lily's mind whizzed at this thought. Who could possibly be a werewolf? It most definitely wasn't James or Sirius, Lily knew--she'd spent too much time with both of them, and during the full moon, too. And it most definitely wasn't Melody. It just--wasn't. Obviously it wasn't Arabella or Mundungus, as they seemed just as surprised as Lily to hear Sirius's sudden defense of werewolves in general.

Lily distracted herself with this, even as they said good-bye to Mundungus and Arabella, even as they prowled through the streets of Diagon Alley, buying school things, running into Remus and Peter, watching Mrs. Potter buy James a large present, and traveled by Floo back to Potter's Cottage. It had to be someone in Gryffindor--didn't it? Well, it didn't have to be, but it seemed likely. Lily thought herself into frustration over it. Who--who in the world--could it be?

* * *

Remus was a werewolf. That was just all there was to it. He'd been a werewolf today, he was a werewolf yesterday, and he'd be a werewolf tomorrow. That would never change.

Luckily for Remus, he had three of the most fantastic friends in existence. Friends who didn't care he was a werewolf--friends who would do anything to help him out--friends who would spend years in agonizing research and trial-and-error to become Animagi so he wouldn't have to face those horrid monthly transformations alone. They were his sanity, his sense of self, on those moonlit nights, and he doubted very much if, in all of his life, he would find more wonderful people than they.

Which was why, with terrible conviction, Remus was positive that he could never date Mimi Ramirez. It wasn't that she wasn't a fantastic person--Remus thought she was one of the most fantastic people he'd ever met--it was just that--well--how did you explain being a werewolf to someone? Girls had a horrible habit of wanting to cure things, and there was no cure for being a werewolf. And if it wasn't curing things, it was taming them--and a werewolf couldn't be tamed, either. At least not by a human. He'd seen it loads of times with stray dogs. Girls would try to befriend them, take them in, and they'd just be nasty animals, no matter what you did with them, only the girls wouldn't see that until it was too late, and then they got up ending hurt--

And the last thing in the world Remus wanted to do was hurt Mimi. In fact, he was paralyzed, sometimes, with the fear that on one of those nights--one of those wonderful, reckless nights full of freedom and full moons and exploration--Sirius and James wouldn't be able to keep him in check, that he'd run away from them all, untameable, and really hurt somebody. It had almost happened once or twice, and they'd laughed it off--because, after all, no one had gotten hurt--but at the same time, it was still a fear Remus lived with.

And, though his friends were fantastic, and they really didn't care that he was a werewolf--that fear was one thing they just wouldn't ever understand. It was something every werewolf had to live with, Remus suspected. Werewolves weren't bad people--they really weren't--and, in fact, most of them were probably nicer than they had to be. The nicer you were, the less people suspected you of being something they feared. It always paid to be nice and smart and well groomed. Sometimes it was very difficult to be well groomed, but Remus tried anyway.

He'd tried, too, keeping his wits about him when he transformed. He'd tried not ripping things to shreds, scratching himself, biting himself, tearing the Shrieking Shack apart in agony--but it was impossible.When James and Sirius and Peter were there, though, it was easier. They weren't human, so he didn't have the mad urge to attack them, but nor were they completely animal, which he could also sense as a werewolf, and knowing that triggered something in Remus's mind which told him that he wasn't really completely animal, either. And that was why he allowed them to drag him around a bit, even when sometimes he might have preferred to stay holed up in the Shrieking Shack, safe from hurting anyone but himself. His worst fear was being responsible for turning someone else into a werewolf--from forcing them to endure what he had to every month, in addition to all the ridicule and ugly rumors he'd gotten from people who knew he was a werewolf.

And so he couldn't let Mimi know. He couldn't date her. He didn't want to get to close to her, for fear she'd find out. He couldn't bear the thought of her suddenly hating him. He wouldn't--couldn't--tell her, for fear it would ruin what little relationship they had. He'd rather have her friendship from afar than her hatred from up close.

Some little voice in his head told him that honesty was the best policy, and if she was the kind of person who would judge him just because he was a werewolf, then he wouldn't want to date her anyway. But another voice in his head, a much stronger one, reminded him, in no uncertain terms, that he didn't care if she was the kind of person who would be repulsed by his condition. As long as she didn't know, she could still be his friend, and in Remus's opinion, having her in his life, no matter what she really thought about werewolves, was better than all the honesty in the world.

* * *

Mrs. Potter was feeling quite chatty. She wanted to know how they'd all liked Diagon Alley, what they'd all like for dinner, how their night on the town had went, and who those people they'd been talking to at Florean Fortescue's were. The teenagers had a jumbled mix of answers for her, but mostly the gist had been--Diagon Alley was fine as usual, fish and chips sounded good (at which Mrs. Potter rolled her eyes--"Typical teenagers," she said, "offer them a castle and they'll ask for a hut"), the club had been fantastic, and they'd been talking to Arabella and Mundungus, Gryffindor Quidditch Players.

Mrs. Potter's questioning did not provoke only grumbling and thoughtless answers, however. When she mentioned the night club, Lily's mind immediately flew to the mysterious Frenchman, and her hand immediately flew to her necklace.

"Mrs. Potter, do you know anything about jewelry collectors?"

Mrs. Potter laughed. "I know I've had a fair argument with them a time or two. They always ask me about the ancient family jewels--Gryffindor's, you know--and I have to keep telling them that these jewels simply don't exist anymore. Some of them were melted down to make other things, some were sold to museums long ago, and some--as ancient things do--simply went missing or got carried out of the family over time. But I'm sure all that's very boring to you."

"No, not at all," Lily insisted. "So--so you do know a bit about jewelry and all, then?"

"Oh, no, dear--not really--just that I don't really have anything worth selling. That's all."

"Oh," Lily said, somewhat disappointed, fiddling with her necklace.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well--" Lily paused, hesitating, and glanced over at Melody (who had become quite a bit more normal since returning from Diagon Alley), and then at James and Sirius, briefly, wondering how just to explain. Melody saved her by jumping in and telling the story.

"When we were at the club, the owner called me and Lily up to his office," she began, and Mrs. Potter looked rather shocked. "He asked us--well, not us, but Lily--about Lily's necklace. He said he was a collector of fine jewelry, and wanted to inquire about buying it."

"He wanted to buy that?" Mrs. Potter asked, bewildered. "Not that it isn't a perfectly good necklace, dear--but--well, it's not exactly out of the ordinary, now is it?"

Lily nodded in agreement. "That's exactly why we were confused. There are thousands of necklaces like this one--why would a jewelry collector want it?"

"The only thing we could think," Melody continued, "was that it might be magical. Or it might've belonged to Gryffindor himself, at one point."

"Although that didn't really make much sense," Lily added, "as it looks so new."

"We-e-ell," Mrs. Potter said slowly. "James, that is the necklace that used to belong to your grandmother, isn't it? The one you gave Lily last Christmas?"

"Yes, mum," James said.

"That necklace did belong to Christopher's mother, but as far as I knew, she'd just had it. Maybe--maybe as a present from her husband. But she never talked about it as thought it were some kind of heirloom."

"Maybe the collector just had the wrong necklace," Sirius suggested. "Maybe he was really looking for something else."

"But why would he be looking for anything like this at all?" Lily pointed out. "Whether or not he had the right necklace, I want to know what he was looking for."

"He did mention that he didn't think many people knew of the necklace's value," Melody said, "so he might have been right about Lily's necklace being worth something, and he might not have. But I agree with Lily--I really want to know what he was talking about."

"Hm," Mrs. Potter said, considering, and she was silent for a moment. "Well, like I said, I know Christopher's mother never spoke of it as any kind of heirloom--but it's still possible. You could poke around a bit in the library if you really want to."

"The library? Mum, didn't you Cloak that up for the New Year's Ball?" James asked.

"Oh--oh, that's right, I did. But--well, it shouldn't be too much of a problem, really, the ballroom's all Cloaked up again. If you all want to have a look around, I can Uncloak it for you."

"Wait--what?" Lily asked, thoroughly confused. This wasn't the first time she'd been confused about Potter's Cottage, and after a year of visiting, she was determined to uncover all the mystery and magic the Cottage was so obviously shrouded in.

"We can't have everything Uncloaked at once, you know. It's a bit dangerous. So we keep a good count--mostly it's the house-elves, really--of the bits we have Uncloaked and the bits we don't. Helps keep everything nice and orderly."

Lily exchanged a glance with Melody, who looked equally confused.

"Mrs. Potter," they said in unison, and then glanced at each other, and only Lily continued. "We have no idea what you're talking about."

Mrs. Potter looked at them, blinked, and then realization dawned in her eyes. "You mean James hasn't told you why we call it Potter's Cottage?"

Lily and Melody both shook their heads, and Mrs. Potter's eyes widened. "Well!" she said, and scooted her chair a bit closer to the kitchen table, around which they were all seated. "It's a small bit of a story, but I daresay it's time you heard it. Only--I think this calls for a spot of tea!"

At that, the table blossomed with teacups and saucers, and a nice large tea kettle ready to be poured, along with biscuits and crumpets and such. Mrs. Potter directed the teapot to pour itself, with a simple flick of her wand, and as soon as she had a nice steaming cuppa in front of her, launched into an explanation of how Potter's Cottage had gotten its name.

"Long ago, during the time of the Founders," she began, taking a sip of her tea, "Godric Gryffindor, a brilliant warrior, set out to build a fortress. He'd come from a wealthy wizarding family, but they lived hidden in a Muggle city, and Gryffindor decided he wanted to have his own home, far from any prying Muggle eyes.

"He began his project after inheriting his parents' wealth but was destined never to finish it. Halfway through building the fortress, he met Rowena Ravenclaw, a brilliant young witch who was just beginning to make a name for herself in the wizarding world. Gryffindor's long-time friend, Salazar Slytherin, quickly became friends with Rowena as well, and the three began talking of ways in which to improve wizarding society. (As you can imagine, it was not nearly as organized one thousand years ago as it is now.)

"Shortly after the idea of building a school for wizards came into their heads, they met Helga Hufflepuff, who was the oldest of the lot--thought not by much--and easily the most famous of the age. You know the rest of the story of Hogwarts from there--together, they founded and built the first--and best--wizarding school in all of Europe.

"The construction of Hogwarts took many years and many, many Galleons to complete, and Gryffindor was never able to complete his fortress. As the years passed, however, he did gain several other very important things--a wife, and several daughters and sons. One of these sons, Gildric, was a brilliant businessman, and used his share of the family fortune to create another family fortune. He alone among his brothers and sisters was interested in finishing the project his father started, and took it upon himself to create an immense fortress, partly to live in, but mostly to be used if ever a time of war broke out.

"The fortress was designed half in Muggle terms and half in wizarding terms, with large stone walls and barricades as well as permanent defense spells to protect it. It was the height of engineering at the time, and the height of powerful wizardry. Many of the spells employed in Potter's Cottage were similar or identical to those placed on Hogwarts for the protection of its students.

"The fortress was originally (though not quite imaginatively) named Gryffindor's Castle. Though only those of the Gryffindor line inhabited its halls, it was originally intended for a much greater purpose than day-to-day living. Gildric wanted it to be a refuge for all those in need during times of war. He wanted it to be a strategically placed defense fortress, to be used for the protection of wizards, the training of armies, and the headquarters for any and all wizarding wars, past and present.

"As you can imagine, wars were far more violent and frequent in those days than they are now (though, of course, we are facing difficult times) and Gryffindor's Castle was, for centuries, used just as Gildric Gryffindor--and, in all fairness, Godric--originally intended it.

"However, over the years, the fortress became much too large and cumbersome to handle. Wars were becoming less and less frequent--at least the ones that required full scale combat--and as the population of Britain increased, so the open space around Gryffindor's Castle diminished. Before long, the castle was much too close to prying Muggle eyes, and far too big a structure to, first of all, be maintained by the Gryffindors alone, and, secondly, be made Unplottable. Of course, knowing that Hogwarts is Unplottable, this might sound unrealistic, but what you must understand is that Gryffindor's Castle really was positively enormous, and also that the Gryffindors who owned the castle, at the time, were not capable of such complex magic. Other, more talented wizards, did not quite see the need for this one--mostly unused--structure to take up so much space, and they refused to perform the Unplottable spell on it, telling the Gryffindors to come up with a better solution.

"What the Gryffindors decided was this: They did not want to leave their home, but nor did they want to inhabit all of it. They agreed that it had become obsolete as a military headquarters but were unwilling to tear it down. They decided, then, that rather than destroying part of their home or trying to make it Unplottable, they would simply employ a string of Cloaking Spells to hide bits and pieces of the castle from view--and consequently, from touch.

"When a room is Cloaked, it is not only unseeable, but also unreachable, untouchable, and Unplottable. The Cloaking Spell, were it to be employed over half of the castle at large, would be one of the most complex spells in existence. However, since the Gryffindors of the time were not talented enough to employ such a large spell, they decided to Cloak each room individually--and, sometimes, as later residents of the Castle discovered, put more than one Cloaking Spell on a particular room--and in this way removed most of their Castle from existence.

"As time went on, more and more of the Castle became Cloaked. Certain generations of Gryffindors would be larger than others, and so bits and pieces of the Castle became Uncloaked as necessary.

"After so many centuries, however, Castle living became obsolete. The Castle had no running water, no indoor bathrooms, too many windows and not enough fireplaces for people who were accustomed to more 'modern' living.

"New parts of the castle were built. Though the Gryffindors no longer desired to live in most parts of the old Castle, they still wished to keep the structure in their family. Certain parts they left Uncloaked--the ballroom, for example, and the library. It was lucky they had, too, otherwise they might have discovered--unpleasantly--some of the consequences of the Cloaking magic the earlier Gryffindors had so copiously imparted on their Castle.

"As later generations discovered, the Cloaking magic only worked as long as parts of the Castle still remained Uncloaked. Attempting to Cloak all of the rooms would nullify the effects of the spell, and the entire thing would be visible again. This is a confusing concept. However, think of it this way:

"Imagine a rainbow. It consists of seven colors. Rainbows are created by fracturing white light, and represent all of the colors in the visible spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. If you could, somehow, take one of those colors out of the spectrum, six of them would still remain. This is how Cloaking works. There is an entire castle, and if you decide to Cloak, say, a bedroom, all of the other rooms in the castle would still remain. Follow? Good.

"Now, imagine the rainbow again. Say you decide to take more colors out of it. Say you decide to take all of them out. What are you left with? Whiteness. You're back where you started. And the white can be used, in turn, to split into the seven rainbow colors again. This is the same as attempting to Cloak an entire castle, piece by piece. Eventually you will have all of it invisible--but, since it is all really there, the spell splits against itself and everything reappars again. Make sense? Almost? Not quite? All right, ignore that.

"Just think...in order to understand that there is light we must understand that there is dark. In order to recognize good we must also recognize what is evil. In this case, in order for something to be Cloaked something must also be Uncloaked. Is that better? Good.

"In this way, the Gryffindors discovered that to keep most of the Castle hidden, at least some of it had to be Uncloaked. So by building onto the Castle, the Gryffindors were able to keep all of the original Castle Cloaked and only the new part of their Castle Uncloaked. However, to prevent the spell from becoming undone (if, for example, a future owner decided to Cloak all of the new part of the Castle without realizing that nothing of the old Castle was left Uncloaked), the Gryffindors laid down a rule that any new additions to the Castle had to attached to the original Gryffindor's Castle in at least three places. That is, they wanted anyone who built a new addition to be able to easily access three rooms in Gryffindor's Castle from their new addition. The other rule was that at least one of these rooms had to remain Uncloaked at all times, to prevent the spell from undoing itself.

"The place we're living in--the home we call Potter's Cottage--is actually quite tiny compared to the original, monstrous fortress, especially if you include all the other additions that have been made over time. Actually, if you care to look for it, I think there's a map in the library of the entire structure--all the additions that have been made over time, the original fortress, that sort of thing. Anyway...this part of the Castle was constructed after the Gryffindor name fell out of the family. Potter became the primary surname for the last remaining descendants of the Gryffindors about two centuries ago, and the Potter who built this particular addition lived only about eighty years ago. It is the most modern part of the castle, and, actually, connected to the Castle in more places than the rest of the additions. The library, the ballroom, the trophy room, and even a couple of the bedrooms were all original parts of Gryffindor's Castle--and that's why we keep track of how many we have Cloaked and Uncloaked. We don't like to have too many Uncloaked at once, as it sets an unven balance on the whole Cottage.

"Anyway, the man who built addition decided to name it Potter's Cottage, because none of the additions had yet been named after a Potter, and because he thought the name both amusing and fitting at the same time.

"And--well--here we are!" Mrs. Potter finished brightly, finishing off her third cup of tea. Melody and Lily looked at each other, rather surprised. They certainly had not expected that to be Mrs. Potter's "small bit of a story". James looked partly interested but mostly bored, as though he'd heard the story too many times before to be very interested in it. Sirius was distinctly more interested-looking than James but not half as interested as Melody and Lily.

"Wow," Lily said, after a moment. "That's a fantastic bit of history."

"Well, I always liked the story," Mrs. Potter beamed. "Now, then--how about I Uncloak the library for you, and you see if you can't find anything on that necklace of yours. I'll send a house-elf up with you--house-elves are fantastic at finding books and things."

Lily nodded in agreement, and all the teenagers rose from the table. James looked slightly glad to be standing, but not so enthralled at the idea of spending the evening nosing through the library looking for something about Lily's necklace. He was flattered, of course, that she wore it so often, and always went around playing with it, and that someone thought it was valuable--but really, he thought the Frenchman from the club was a bit off his rocker, and it was mostly the fact that the necklace meant so much to Lily that he propelled himself to the libaray and began looking through old, dusty library volumes for some kind of hint as to the origin of Lily's necklace.

* * *

Lily, James, Sirius, and Melody got nowhere. There didn't seem to be anything useful in the library pertaining to the necklace--at least not textbook-wise--and they were at a bit of a loss as to what to do next. Going through library volumes was boring, tedious, rather dusty, sneezy work, and mostly they kept at it because none of them felt they were doing very good jobs of flipping through the books, and felt that if they at least kept looking they might fall on a stroke of good luck.

Even though the work was tedious, interesting things did happen in the library. For instance, the day before they were supposed to catch the Hogwarts train at King's Cross, Lily and James happened to be working very close together, and kept getting a bit distracted by each other. Their hands would brush together, James's arm would bump into Lily's, Lily would accidentally trod on James's feet...or sometimes James decided to tuck a stray piece of hair behind Lily's ear, and Lily would ruffle James's always-messy hair as a joke.

It got to the point where neither of them could really concentrate on work anymore, and Melody rolled her eyes and told them to get a room, and James decided to ask Lily if she cared to go look something up with him, and he grabbed her hand and led her to the back of the library.

Lily did not waste time asking James any stupid questions about why they happened to be in the very back of the library, but instead pulled him against her and opened her mouth against his. From there on their time in the library was a bit of a fuzzy blur, a mixture of safely exploring hands and deep, long kisses, and fiery little fluttering kisses on the neck and the throat and the jawbone.

Thought was a bit useless during this time, really. What was there to think about? There was just Lily, and James, and the intoxicating scent of James filled Lily's nose, and his taste filled her lips, his feel ran through her hands, and the sound of his breathing and his kissing fluttered to her ears. The only thing she didn't need was sight. Her eyes fluttered open and closed, but all the sensations became that much more intense if she let her eyes remain shut.

Lily had never realized how much people kissed, or how long people kissed, before she'd taken up kissing James. Most of James's early attempts at kissing Lily had failed miserably and ended with a slap across the face--which, Lily knew now, had been extremely foolish. Instead of don't bite the hands that feed you, Lily mused, the phrase should be don't slap the mouth that kisses you. Because, honestly, Lily was beginning to discover that there were very few things in the world she enjoyed more than kissing James. Of course, she couldn't think of what they were right now, but she was sure they existed. ....didn't they?

Oh, dear. This wasn't a good sign. There had to be--something--she enjoyed better than kissing James. After all, she couldn't spend her entire day kissing him...could she? Because if she could, that would be fantastic. And...

Oh. No.

No.

I shouldn't be thinking about spending entire days kissing James. I shouldn't. And I shouldn't be thinking about spending entire days with James for other reasons, either. This shouldn't be happening. I shouldn't be thinking about him all the time, I shouldn't be with him all the time, I shouldn't...kiss him all the time...No, no, no, no, NO! I can't be...seriously...we can't be...we can't be we. I can't do that. I can't be that attached to him. I just...I...I just...

Lily's thought process froze for a moment as James trailed a long line of kisses along her collarbone, up her neck and along her jawbone before finally catching her lips up in a long, deep, slow kiss. Lily's pulse jumped. Blood rushed to her face, pounded against her ears--she couldn't think--she could hardly breathe--

She couldn't begin to decipher all the emotions running through her. She felt lightheaded--very dizzy in a very good way--and happy--so happy--and warm and safe and--and-- There weren't words.

The only thing she could think was to transfer all her emotions--all her bubbly lightheaded insane horomonal happiness--to James through another insane kiss, but that only served to make more bubbly lightheaded hormones explode inside her head, and as the feeling rushed through her and her stomach did its flip-flops and her heart beat chaos against her ribs, something very, very frightening occurred to her, and amidst all the happy, bubbly, amazing feelings, Lily Evans froze.

James, because he was not an idiot, noticed. Reluctantly he separated his lips from hers, breathing a bit unevenly, and holding Lily a bit more tightly than she'd expected, after freezing. He focused his brown eyes, after a moment, on Lily's green ones, and she looked up at him, breathing a bit oddly herself, with a fair amount of confusion and a small bit of shock and fear churning inside her. Hopefully James would not be able to sense all this by looking in her eyes.

Something significant had just occurred to Lily, and she felt that she couldn't continue her rather brilliant snog session with James until she'd fully confirmed and processed this fact. She looked up at him and studied his face for a moment, tracing her fingers along his forehead and his cheeks and then his jawbone before allowing them to gently slide off of his chin.

"What?" James asked, and even just that did strange things for Lily's intoxicating emotions. She'd come to several rock-solid, rather frightening conclusions. She was not in love with James.

But she was falling in love with him.

Very, very hard.

* * *

Even as, in the back of the library, Lily and James's relationship was progressing, in the front of the library, Melody and Sirius's relationship appeared to be falling spectacularly to pieces. Melody had received an owl--an international owl, no less--that had sparked the worst fight with Sirius she could ever recall having.

Melody hadn't actually been there when the owl had come--she'd been fetching a book from somewhere else in the library--and Sirius, who had stayed up front by the large, boring stacks of books, had encountered the owl. The owl, extremely tired, had given a feeble hoot and allowed Sirius to untie the letter from its leg before flying off in search of food and water.

Sirius, who was accustomed to owls delivering to their exact customers, did not quite see (or perhaps quite register the fact) that the letter was addressed to Melody, and so received a bit of a nasty shock when he opened it.

Melody--

It is sad to me that you are no longer here. There are so many places now that remind me of you. We did not know each other long, but still I miss you and think of you. I did not even know you were gone until I met a girl named Eve who told me of the trouble of your uncle and your friend in England who lost her family. I am sorry that you had to leave so soon and more sorry that I could not help or say good-bye.

I hope that your family is all very well, and your friend is all right. What a terrible thing, losing so many people you care about. I would be sad to lose you, Melody. You are so wonderful. I hope that you will owl me from England--yes?

My mama, she sends her greetings and hopes you are well. Isabella, she hopes you still have the drawing of us. Gianni, he says he enjoyed dancing. Antony, he says it is bad that you went but good that I am home more. I have not been dancing so much since you left, but that is all right. I have more work now and I like the time to see my family. I know you understand.

Do not give up hope, Melody. Terrible things may happen now but there are still good things. We must remember the good things as we fight against the bad. I hope one day soon I may come to England and help save some of what is good.

Do not be afraid to love, Melody. Remember, we have to live for something other than revenge, and love is worth living for. You have such spirit. Do not waste it.

Love,

Paolo

Sirius read the letter, and blinked. Then he read it again. He was halfway through reading it a third time when Melody came back with a rather large stack of books.

"Lily and James are still at it," she informed him, rolling her eyes. "What's that?" she asked, indicating the letter.

Sirius made a rather garbled noise and shoved it in Melody's direction. Melody took it, frowning, and her eyes widened as she read through it. She looked at Sirius. "Did you read this?"

Another garbled noise, and Sirius nodded.

"Sirius, why did you read my mail?"

Sirius found words. "I--the owl came, and it landed right in front of me, so I untied the--the thingy--and the owl flew away, and then I read it, I thought it was for me and then I realized it wasn't and--"

"You might've stopped reading it after you got to the first 'Melody'," Melody snapped.

Suddenly, Sirius was furious. "Well--well--you might have told me there was a boy in America named Paolo!"

"What for?" Melody demanded, although she knew perfectly well what for, but at the moment was so completely angry that he'd read her private mail that she thought she'd wind him up a bit.

It turned out that, at this point, Sirius didn't need much winding.

"BECAUSE I MIGHT BLOODY CARE IF YOU HAD A BOYFRIEND, THAT'S WHY!" Sirius shouted. This might be entirely the wrong place, entirely the wrong time, and entirely the wrong situation for saying any of this to Melody, but he just didn't care anymore--this had been going on for too long, all this--tension, and longing, and random kissing that never led anywhere--and it all needed to be got over with, right now.

"WELL THEN I GUESS I HAD NOTHING TO TELL YOU BECAUSE I NEVER HAD A BOYFRIEND!" Melody informed him, shouting right back.

Sirius stopped for a moment, considering. "Well--well--you at least might've told me there was someone else!"

"Whoever said he was someone else? And for that matter, who ever said there was someone? Don't you have to have a someone to have a someone else?" Melody demanded fiercely.

"God damn it, Melody, I'm someone!" Sirius shouted, and Melody froze for a moment, staring.

"What are you saying?" she asked slowly, afraid of the answer. If he was going to tell her now--now, after years of avoiding the subject, after she'd found Paolo, after she'd started to get over him, after her uncle had blackmailed her into marrying some wealthy old bastard--if he was going to tell her now that he loved her, or even liked her, or--cared about her at all--well--then--she had the sudden idea that she just might tell him to go shove a broomstick up his ass. Because she was beginning to feel that it was a little late for all of this to be coming out, and--and--well, even if she was still crazy about him, even if she was just a little too much in love with him for her own good--well--well--what did it matter, anyway? She still had to marry the wealthy old bastard, and there was no point--none at all--in starting any kind of relationship with Sirius, even if she still had feelings for him--no, especially if she still had feelings for him--because they were both going to end up getting hurt in the end, and she couldn't stand that thought. She didn't want to hurt Sirius any more than she already had.

"I'm saying I'm crazy about you, damn it!" Sirius said, and the words exploded in Melody's ears. "And I know--I know I'm an idiot, I should have told you ages ago, I shouldn't have let all this--this--crap--all this--I don't even know what--get in my way. But I'm telling you now, and if I'm too late or this--Paolo--bloke really is your boyfriend--then--then--God, Melody, please don't tell me I'm too late--please--don't tell me that--" Sirius said, and then broke off, staring at Melody, looking horribly afraid and horribly sincere.

It only took Melody's brain a second to mull through all this, and then she knew. She could never tell him. She could tell from the way he was looking at her--the way he was pleading with her--that he really thought it wasn't too late, that no matter what had happened, his coming clean would sort everything right and they'd both skip off to fairy-tale land together and live Happily Ever After.

But there wasn't a fairy tale land, was there? Melody didn't have a Happily Ever After. She had a family. And she had to protect them, even if that meant throwing all her own feelings to shit.

So that was why she looked Sirius square in the eye and said, "I'm sorry, Sirius. But it's too late."

Sirius froze for a moment, looking very numb. "It's--is it--that Paolo bloke--"

"No, Sirius. It's just too late."

"Melody--Melody, please--if you--did you ever--" Sirius broke off and looked hard at the floor. "Just tell me if you ever cared about me. Because if you've just been leading me on--"

"Did I ever care about you? My God, Sirius, I...how could I not have cared about you?"

Sirius looked up at her suddenly and glared at her fiercely. "Well what is it then? What changed?"

"I...God, Sirius, I don't even know what to...where to..."

"Come on, Melody! Was it Paolo? Was it your uncle? Was it just too long for you to stand? What changed?"

"I changed, Sirius!" Melody yelled finally. "People change! They're allowed to do that!"

Sirius looked at her, long and hard, and Melody thought her face might crack, and she dropped her gaze from his.

"So you're telling me," Sirius said evenly, "that whatever feelings you ever had for me are completely over with, and that if I decided to get on with my life and ask another girl out tomorrow, you wouldn't give a damn?"

Melody's throat clenched. Would she care? Would she--oh, who was she kidding? Of course she'd care! She'd care more than she'd ever be able to let on! But what could she do? She couldn't ever have a relationship with Sirius...so why deprive him of a relationship with someone else? If he was ready to get over her...then...well...damn it...he could go on and get over her.

It was this train of thought that led Melody to raise her eyes again and lock them with Sirius's. "Yes, Sirius. That's exactly what I'm telling you."

How Melody managed to say that with a straight face, without any emotion at all, she would never know. Nor would she ever comprehend how she just stood there watching Sirius work this all out in agony for a minute without flinching at all.

"Fine," Sirius said, finally, evenly, although it was apparent that underneath the thin surface, everything with Sirius was absolutely not fine, and Melody almost broke down again, but luckily Sirius turned away from her and stalked out of the library, furious and hurt and rejected.

Melody waited until she thought he was a good distance away, until she couldn't stand it anymore, and then her knees gave out below her and she collapsed onto the floor, sobbing.

* * *

James and Lily, upon hearing furious shouts coming from the front of the library, had hurried through the aisles to see what was the matter, and stopped and retreated when they'd seen the way Melody and Sirius were glaring at each other. They cowered between the bookshelves, listening to absolutely everything, and waited until Sirius stalked out of the library to poke their heads around the corner. Lily's head popped out from behind the bookshelves in time to see Melody collapse in a sobbing heap.

This was the second time this week Lily had seen her best friend dissolve in sobs, and while the first time she wasn't exactly sure what had provoked the tears--except trauma, she supposed--right now, there was no doubt in her mind as to why Melody was sobbing on the floor like a wretch. Melody was a dirty, awful, rotten, nasty liar, that was why. There was absolutely no doubt in Lily's mind that Melody did care about Sirius Black, and she reflected on this as she tried to get her best friend to sit up.

Melody was not easy to persuade, but eventually she was sitting in an upright position, hiccuping, and Lily was glaring at her quite fiercely.

"Oh, d-don't do that, Lily! Sirius already hates me, I don't need you to hate me too!"

Lily's face softened. "Melody, I don't hate you. Only--you liar! Why did you tell Sirius you didn't care about him anymore?"

But Melody shook her head. "Don't, Lily. Please don't ask me that."

Lily just looked at her helplessly. "I don't understand you, Melody. I really don't. There he was, confessing his feelings for you--which, I might add, you've been waiting for, for who knows how long, and--"

"Stop it, Lily!" Melody shrieked. "Just stop! I can't--I can't explain it, okay? I don't know why I did that. I just--couldn't tell him. It wasn't right. I'm not right."

"What do you mean, you're not right?"

"Just what I said. I'm not right for him. I'd screw him up. I'm not good enough for him."

"Melody, listen to yourself! This is the biggest crock of bullshit I have ever heard!"

"Oh, this from the girl who's afraid to admit when she's in love!"

"I am not!" Lily insisted furious. "I just think--sometimes--we're far too young to really understand what love is."

Melody snorted. "Too young. Too young my ass. You don't have to understand love to have love. To be in love. Nobody understands love, least of all those of us who are in love." She froze for a moment and then said, hastily, "Not that I'm in love."

"Right, Melody," Lily said softly, angrily. "Of course you're not. Of course you're not sitting here crying because you just lied to Sirius about everything."

"Look, Lily, it's complicated, okay?" Melody cried.

"Complicated how?"

"Lily, I--" Melody cut off and looked around, alarmed. "Lily?"

"What?" Lily snapped.

"Where's James?"

* * *

James had heard all he needed to hear. Melody was a psychotic liar, but at least Sirius didn't have to go throw himself off the side of a bridge before he found that out. Why Melody had decided to lie to Sirius, James didn't know--he didn't expect he'd ever know--but he did expect he'd do something about it. Just--fix things up, a bit. Not that he wanted Melody throwing things at him after she found out he'd decided to screw up her "let's play with Sirius's mind" games, but still, bringing his best friend some sanity and possibly getting things thrown at him was better than letting Melody carry on.

Sirius wasn't hard to find. He just had to follow the loud motorbike noises, the kind Sirius liked to make before he took off--

James, on a stroke of luck, found Sirius before he took off, and managed to stop him from flying out of the window of James's bedroom.

"Sirius, listen to me!" James yelled, standing in front of Sirius's motorbike.

"Not right now, Prongs!" Sirius yelled.

"It's about Melody!" James insisted--but this, apparently, had not been the right thing to say, as it just caused Sirius to rev his motorbike a bit more and attempt to run James down. "She lied to you, Padfoot!" James tried again, desperate, and Sirius stopped trying to run him over, but appeared no less angry.

"Well, it doesn't really matter if she was lying or not, now does it?"

James blinked at him, very confused. How could it not matter? "Padfoot, listen to yourself!"

"I know what I'm talking about, James. Who cares if she lied or not? She still said no, didn't she?"

James considered this. "Well--well, yeah, Padfoot, but I think you could still get her, you know?"

Sirius shook his head furiously. "Just--just let her be alone," he spat. "I don't care anymore!"

"Yes, and that's so apparent from the way you're trying to fly out my bedroom window."

James had got him on that one, and Sirius, after a brief internal struggle, turned off his bike and ripped the keys out a bit more violently than necessary before throwing them against the wall. He flopped onto James's bed and glared at his best friend, waiting for James to speak.

"She still likes you, Padfoot," James informed him.

"Great. Wonderful. Who cares?" Sirius snapped,but James could see that he was not entirely unaffected by this statement.

"Look," James said. "I figure with Melody all you have to do is play your cards right."

"I don't care," Sirius insisted. "She hates me and I don't care."

"Oh, quit feeling sorry for yourself! Look, Sirius--all I'm saying is--it wouldn't hurt to make her a little jealous. That's all. I mean...look what it's done for me and Lily!"

Sirius snorted. "Who was Lily ever jealous of?"

James considered. "Um...well..."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Yes, James, I can see how much jealousy has improved your relationship."

"No--no--hey! There was that one letter, remember? From that girl we met at the water park! Y'know--before Lily invaded Potter's Cottage and all. Last summer. And she found it the day we went to King's Cross and my stuff got flung all over the place! Remember?"

Sirius shrugged. "One letter. Big bloody deal. You already had her by that time, Prongs. I don't know what you're going on about."

"Look--I know you're supposed to be the big relationship expert and everything--but just--trust me. A little jealousy might go a long way."

Sirius looked up at him. "What the hell d'you want me to do then? Ask out the first girl I see at King's Cross tomorrow?"

""Well, if you think she'd say yes..."

Sirius's eyebrows shot up. "Y'know, I tried dating one girl to make another one jealous, remember? In fourth year?"

"Sirius, what didn't you do in fourth year?"

"Well," Sirius said, considering, "I never climbed into bed with anyone."

Briefly the thought of climbing into bed with Lily flashed through James's mind, and then quickly shoved the thought aside. After all--they weren't even really dating, and Lily had never shown interest in doing--well, anything like that--and she'd just lost her family, so now really wasn't the time to be thinking about climbing into beds with--

James decided that he had better change the subject.

"It's worth a try, Padfoot," he said, reverting to the whole 'make-Melody-jealous' idea. Sirius considered this for a moment, and then sighed, rubbing his face with his hands.

"Well," he said, his voice slightly muffled through his fingers, "it couldn't hurt to try."

* * *

Mimi Ramirez had not expected to spend her entire trip to Hogwarts sitting next to Sirius Black. Nor had she expected that she would not run into Remus at all during the trip--or Melody, for that matter.

The train ride passed in a blur of talking and laughter, Sirius and Lily and James and other random friends popping by the compartment, Lily and James occasionally leaving to talk to other people (or maybe they were leaving to go "talk" somewhere in private--who knew?). When the smiling witch came around with her cart, they bought Pumpkin Pasties and Every Flavor Beans, Fizzing Whizbees and Chocolate Frogs, and ate until their taste for candy ran out.

By the time they neared Hogwarts, it was raining, and all the food had run out, and they were all terribly hungry again. Sirius had gotten to feeling restless and impulsive, and began suggesting imaginative ways of escaping from the train and terrorizing the nearest town for food. It was probably because of this impulsive feeling that Sirius did what he did when the train arrived in Hogsmeade.

As all the first years flooded off the train and were shuttled over to the lake to take their rides on the boats, as all the younger students of Hogwarts found space in the carriages, Sirius pulled Mimi aside and asked her if she'd like to be his girlfriend.

Mimi, rather dumbfounded, didn't know what to say for a moment. She--well--she liked Sirius all right, she supposed, and she certainly wasn't getting anywhere with Remus...and she had been wishing for a boyfriend, hadn't she? Sirius certainly wasn't hard on the eyes, after all, and he was fun to talk to, and--well--even if she didn't like him too much that way, she'd once had a spanking crush on him, hadn't she? Maybe she'd grow to fancy him a bit more over time. Or maybe--just--well--maybe it'd make Remus a bit jealous.

With these thoughts in mind, Mimi found herself saying, "Yes."

Grinning, Sirius landed a swift kiss on her, and then grabbed her hand and led her over to a carriage, which was half-occupied by Lily and James. Both of them looked quite a bit surprised to see Sirius and Mimi holding hands, and they looked a bit more surprised when Sirius informed them that Mimi was now his girlfriend.

Well, Mimi supposed, they did have a right to be a little surprised. After all, she hadn't seen Sirius much over the summer--hadn't really formed much of a romantic relationship with him--but--well--they knew each other, didn't they? They were friends and everything, so--it wasn't that odd. Maybe a little--sudden--but--not exactly weird or anything.

A thought occurred to Mimi as they rode up to Hogwarts front doors, and a smile twitched onto her lips. I said I wanted a serious relationship this year, not a Sirius relationship...