Harry Potter AU: Harry's Godmother

by kaeleykaeley

When Lupin gives Harry a tin of magical photographs of his parents and Sirius, one face sticks out to him. A mysterious blonde stranger appears in over half the photos, causing Harry to question why he's never heard of this woman. To his surprise, the woman his godmother, Tawny, and that his godfather, Sirius, was madly in love with her; and learns her impact on everyone's lives.

Harry Potter AU: Harry's Godmother

When Lupin gives Harry a tin of magical photographs of his parents and Sirius, once face sticks out to him. A mysterious blonde stranger appears in over half the photos, causing Harry to question why he's never heard of this woman. To his surprise, Harry learns that the woman his godmother, Tawny, and that his godfather, Sirius, was madly in love with her. Harry, Ron, and Hermione find themselves listening to Lupin tell the story of how Sirius and Tawny fell in love, and the impact she had on all of their lives.

Since Dumbledore had dropped Harry off at the Burrow the week before, Harry had been spending his summer playing Quidditch with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. Living at the Burrow was a million times better than life at Number Four Privet Drive. Here he felt more loved in five minutes that he had ever been the entire fifteen years he had spent with the Dursleys.

After a few games of Quidditch, Harry told the others he needed a rest break and went inside to crash on the Weasleys couch. When he walked in the door, Mrs. Weasley had given him a tall glass of water, and enough snacks to fill him up before he had even eaten dinner.

As he lay on the couch, his mind drifted back to Sirius. One thing about being at the Burrow, was that he was distracted from thoughts about the dark world around him. If he was playing Quidditch with his friends, he wasn't thinking about Voldemort trying to kill him, and having Sirius's murder or repeat in his mind.

"Hello, Harry." Lupin said, taking a seat in front of Harry and setting a leather briefcase on the coffee table.

"Professor." Harry nodded, sitting up.

"There's no need to call me Professor anymore, Harry." Lupin smiled.

Lupin's arrival wasn't out of the ordinary. One thing Harry had noticed since he'd been staying at the Burrow was that it was a lot like Number Twelve Grimmuald Place in terms of the flow of members of the Order of the Phoenix. Although the Burrow wasn't the new official Headquarters for the Order, it sure felt like it. Most of the time, Harry and the Weasley's would have a couple of Order members joining them for dinner, or Harry would come down stairs to one or more of them hanging around the house.

"I've brought you something." Lupin said, opening his briefcase. He pulled out a large tin and handed it to Harry.

"Er – thanks." Said Harry, examining the tin.

"I think you'll find the contents more fascinating than the wrapping."

Harry opened the lid, revealing a pile of enchanted photographs. In all of them, the occupants were moving, usually smiling, and occasionally waving back at him. He picked up the photo on the top to see his father, James, and Sirius hanging upside down from their brooms, while laughing. He smiled and picked up another. This one was of the four marauders, all in their animal form. Harry laughed as Sirius's tail swept Peter off Lupin's back and onto the grass. "Professor… where did you get these?"

"Sirius had them stored in his bedroom at Grimmuald Place. I found him pulling them out on more than one occasion last year when I was staying with him." Lupin paused, rubbing his eyes. "I've been going through them myself lately… I thought you might like to see them."

Harry gave Lupin a weak smile before proceeding to rummage through the photographs. He saw several taken from his parents wedding. The picture Hagrid had given him his first year was also in the tin, accompanied by a similar one, including a fourth person – a blonde woman, no older than his parents. She stood in-between his mother and Sirius. Her pale blue dress matched the color of her nails, and her long blonde hair fell in ringlets down her back. Her silvery-grey eyes, Harry thought, felt vaguely familiar.

As Harry continued to look through the pictures, he continued to see images of his parents, accompanied by Sirius, Lupin, and Wormtail. Most of the pictures were taken at Hogwarts, in their school uniforms, or their Gryffindor Quidditch robes. Others were of their time after Hogwarts. Towards the bottom of the tin, he found pictures including himself. As a newborn, and what he believed to be about a year old. He found pictures of his parents holding him, putting him on small broom that hovered a foot about the carpet, and one of what he was sure was him as a one-year-old riding on Sirius' back while he was in his dog from.

However, as Harry flipped through the pictures, he couldn't help but notice the same woman, with the familiar grey eyes from the picture before. She was in almost every other picture. Usually with his mother or Sirius. He paused when he picked up a photo of Sirius, himself, and the blonde stranger. Her hair was cut short compared to the picture from his parents wedding day, but Sirius looked the same. The blonde woman was holding him in her arms, rocking him back and forth. She leaned in to kiss his forehead before looking back up at Sirius. Sirius gazed down upon her lovingly, before giving a smile and a wink to the camera. Harry felt this strange connection to the woman. He had never seen her before, but he could tell she, whoever she was, truly cared from him. Or, at least that version of him. He turned the photograph over. On the back, written in black ink wrote:

Harry, Sirius, & Tawny – Harry's First Birthday

"Lupin who is… Tawny? She's in a lot of these pictures."

Lupin stared back at Harry with a look of surprise, then his face fell. The full moon was still weeks away, but Harry could tell that he was looking more ill than he'd ever seen him. His hair had more touches of gray, and he seemed paler, and skinnier than normal. He was surprised Mrs. Weasley wasn't over there offering him sandwiches to put some more meat on his bones. This illness, Harry believed was caused by sadness rather than the effects of turning into a werewolf. "Sirius never told you about her?"

"No, who is she?"

"Who is who?" Ron asked, taking a seat next to Harry. Hermione followed behind him, sitting next to Professor Lupin. Harry handed Ron the photograph, pointing to Tawny.

"Is this you and Sirius."

"Yeah."

"I guess it was too painful for him." Lupin whispered. "Harry," he continued, speaking up this time, "her name was Tawny Lovegood."

"Lovegood? As in Luna Lovegood?"

"Yes. Tawny was Luna's aunt, and Xenophilius Lovegood's sister." Harry lingered on the word, was. Tawny was her name. She was Luna's aunt. That couldn't be good.

"She's dead, isn't she?"

"Yes, Harry." Lupin answered. Harry didn't think he could look any more depressed. But, the moment he said yes, it was if a dementor has swept into the room and sucked all the happiness out of Lupin. "But Tawny wasn't just Luna's aunt. She was our friend, your mother's best friend to be exact." Harry had always heard stories about his father, and his best friend Sirius, but never about his mother having one. He glanced back at the wedding photo of the four of them. If Sirius was the best man, Tawny must have been his mother's maid of honor.

"That's why she is in all these photos."

"Not exactly." Lupin paused. "To your mother, she was a best friend. To Sirius, she was the love of his life." He dropped he photo is his hand, and felt his jaw drop to the floor. No wonder Lupin was surprised Sirius never said anything about Tawny. How could he have never mentioned someone so important to him before? Harry was about to stop Lupin and ask, but the next thing Lupin brought a new wave of shock over him. "To you, Harry, she was your godmother."

Hermione let in a small gasp, as she cupped her hands over her face. Ron, on the other hand looked just as Harry. Jaw to the floor, and frozen at hearing this new revelation. Three years ago, Harry had been surprised when he learned Sirius was his godfather. Now, the shock of that moment didn't compare to this one. How could Harry have gone all these years without the slightest mention of his godmother? From what Lupin was saying, Harry believed Tawny to practically be a Marauder, just like his mother. In his third year, Harry could see no one telling him about Sirius. Maybe the world didn't want him to know about his so-called murderous godfather that played a role in getting his parents killed. But Tawny… what could she have done to keep people from mentioning her?

"My godmother? Why didn't I know about her? When did she die? I know when my parents died I couldn't live with Sirius because, well you know why, but her? What about her?"

"You couldn't have lived with Tawny because she died less than two weeks after that photograph was taken." Lupin sighed, pointing to the picture of Sirius, Tawny, and himself. Harry took the photo back from Ron and began examining it once more. He watched as Tawny kissed him on the head, pulling him closer as she did so. The longer Harry watched her, he felt as though he could feel her arms embracing him now. The edges of the photo were worn. He was sure Sirius had rubbed at the edges of the photo many times. The writing on the back was slightly smudged, and the corners had water stains on them. Someone, most likely Sirius, had cried onto the photo, causing the right corner to crinkle and fade.

"That was his favorite photo, you know? Both people he loved the most in the world in one picture."

"Did he always love her? Like my dad did my mum?" For the first time, Harry saw the corners of Lupin's mouth turn up into a smile.

"Oh no! For the first five years they knew each other, they loathed one another."

"What? Really? But… they look so happy here." Hermione said, picking up a photo of Sirius spinning Tawny on the dance floor at what Harry assumed was his parents wedding. "How could they have hated each other for so long?"

"Well, Sirius started it on the train in our first year at Hogwarts." Harry smiled. Of course, Sirius had started it. "He'd met your father, and the two hit it off right away. About halfway to the castle, Sirius and James started talking about magic, and spells they could do. Sirius bragged that he could make someone's hair stand up straight on top of their heads. Your father, didn't believe him, and told him to, 'prove it'. So, Sirius chose, at random, an unsuspecting victim for his spell, and that person just happened to be Tawny."

"Did it work?"

"Oh yes, but a little too strong. Tawny's hair shot straight up in their hair for three days. When she was sorted, the sorting hat was stretched to the max to fit under all her hair." Harry, Ron and Hermione all laughed, imaging the sorting had stretched and complaining about Tawny's hair.

"Well that explains her hating Sirius, but what about the other way around?"

"Tawny was not going to take the prank Sirius pulled lying down. To get back at him, she entrusted the help your mum, who'd she'd met on the train, and a sixth year from her house, Ravenclaw. Together, the bewitched all of Sirius's quills to write only in pink ink. In addition, every time he dotted an 'I' the dot would transform into a heart shape." If Harry thought Sirius' prank was funny, he was sure Tawny's was even better. Harry wished Fred and George were here to hear the story. He knew they would approve of his godmother's revenge.

"How long did it last?" Ron asked, still laughing.

"Three weeks."

"Three weeks!"

"Yes, all of the professors gave him funny looks until the charm wore off. Your father, Peter, and I made sure to make fun every time he had to write for those three weeks. His brother had sent him an owl the first week of classes, and Sirius refused to answer until the charm wore off two weeks later."

"I'm guessing that made Sirius rather angry with her."

"Tawny's revenge started a war between the two of them. For five years, they would prank one another. The whole school was in on the war. Each of them would get help from anyone they could to pull off pranks against each other. The older they got, the worse the pranks. Usually, they involved earning the other person detention, loss of house points, and on rare occasions, hospitalization."

"Hospitalization!" Hermione cried. "How could they do that to each other!"

"It was usually minor, earning a quick visit that lasted no more than a few hours with Madam Pomfrey. However, in our third year, Sirius left Tawny a box of chocolates from her, "secret admirer,' that caused her to puke slugs for three days." Harry remembered when Ron's spell on Malfoy backfired in their second year, causing Ron to puke slugs. However, that only lasted a few hours. He couldn't imagine three days of endless slugs regurgitating from his mouth. "Madam Pomfrey had a field day with that one. Oh, and your mother, she was furious."

"Looks like your candy worked. Lovegood wasn't in Transfiguration this morning." Peter said, running to catch up to Remus, Sirius and James, while carrying the Gryffindor case of quidditch balls. The foursome was on their way down to the Quidditch pitch for Sirius and James to get some practice in during their free time.

"Someone told me she was in the hospital wing, puking into a bucket. Apparently, Madam Pomfrey had to put and extension charm on it because it kept filling up too quickly for her to empty it." James added, catching his golden snitch, then releasing it back into the air again. He eyed it, ready to catch it the moment it was close enough for him to grasp.

"That'll show her. Her last prank had me cleaning bathrooms with Filch every night for a week!" Sirius shuddered just thinking of the memory. Dropping his bags on the ground, he took his broom off his shoulder, stepped over it, and pushed off from the ground. "Come on up, James! Grab the quaffle. I want to practice before doing that stupid potions essay for Slughorn."

James shoved the snitch into his pocket before mounting his own broom and joining Sirius. Remus and Peter remained on the ground. Peter laid back, resting his head on his bag, while Remus was making notes in his transfiguration textbook. A few other books on transfiguration peeked out of his school bag, including one from the restricted section of the library. He noticed it showing and shoved it back into his bag. If a teacher or a prefect happened by and saw it, he was sure to end up in detention for having a stolen book from the restricted section on him.

Above Remus, James and Sirius were taking turns as keeper and chaser, trying to score on, and block one another. Both were still in their school uniforms, but they had ditched their black robes on the ground. James had pushed up his sleeves and loosened his tie around his neck. Sirius on the other hand has completely disregarded his tie, and had his button down completely unbuttoned, exposing his white undershirt. "Yes!" Sirius cheered, scoring on James. James dove after the quaffle, catching it before his hit the ground. He was on his way back up to Sirius when he heard his name being shouted from below.

"Sirius Black and James Potter get your arses down here right now!" Sirius and James looked down to see Lily storming across the quidditch pitch, fuming.

"Can't you see we're busy, Evans?" Sirius called. "Besides, don't you have better things to do than yell at us? Why don't you go check on Lovegood. I'm sure she'd like someone to increase the extension charm on her bucket!" Sirius and James laughed, but it only caused Lily to grow angrier.

"You put her in the hospital wing! Do you not even care?"

"Oh please, Evans. She's put me in the hospital wing before. Do you not remember when she convinced Fang to attack me last month?"

"You were there maybe an hour for a few cuts and scrapes. She's been in there for two days, Sirius!"

"Calm down, she'll be fine! The charm will wear off in another twenty-four hours. She'll be good as new." James said, throwing Lily a wink.

"You know what? If you think she needs some company there, maybe you should join her." Lily unhooked the bludgers from their restraints in the case, and watched them fly after Sirius and James.

"What do you think you're doing, Evans! Are you trying to kill us?" Sirius yelled, dodging a bludger.

"If you're as good of a quidditch player as you think you are, you should be fine!"

"We don't have any beaters!" James yelled in an attempt to get her to call off the bludgers. Sirius dove to get away from the first bludger, flying straight through the center hoop on their side of the pitch. James performed a similar tactic as Sirius, and managed to get away from his bludger.

On the ground, Remus was trying to hide his smile, while Peter was inching behind Remus, hoping he'd be a shield if the bludgers came his way, or Lily chose to enact revenge on them as well. Lily stood smirking, watching both Sirius and James flying every which way to avoid the bludgers. Sirius dove once again to avoid one bludger, and stopped a few feet above the ground, thinking he'd escaped. To his surprise, the second bludger flew in behind him, crashing into his left arm, knocking him off his broom.

"Sirius!" James yelled! Diving down to the ground, and hopping off his broom. As James tended to Sirius, Lily summoned the bludgers back into their restraints into the quidditch box. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Sirius grumbled, sitting up and rubbing his arm. "It's just a bruise."

Lily stormed over to the two of them, hovering over them. Before they could muster a word, she had her wand pointed at them, ready to fire. "If you ever, put Tawny in the hospital wing again, I will personally end you!" She finished, and stormed away across the grounds.

"Looks like we learned to never mess with Lily." Remus piped up, smirking.

"Shut up, Moony!" Sirius groaned, throwing the quaffle at Remus's chest.

"She really did that to them?" Harry asked, flashing Lupin a smile. Hearing that his mother single handedly kicked both Sirius and his father's arses was quite impressive. Releasing the bludgers… he thought he'd have to try that next time Malfoy made another snide comment about Hermione's blood or Ron's family.

"When your mother got mad, there was no stopping her, Harry. Your father and Sirius got off lucky, I'd say. She could have easily put them both in the hospital wing. But, she held back."

"So, if Sirius and Tawny hated each other, how did they get together?" Hermione asked, clearly confused. Harry thought the same thing. How on earth could two people that hated one another end up as happy and in love as they looked in the pictures that sat spread out on the Weasley's coffee table.

"It's actually thanks to Professor Slughorn."

"What?" Harry, Ron, and Hermione questioned in unison.

"A month into our sixth year, Professor Slughorn noticed that Sirius was struggling at potions. Potions was not his best class by far. Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts were his top subjects, and his potions grade failed in comparison. But, he had lucked out on his O.W.L. and made Exceeds Expectations. The problem was, he was showing subpar work at most, and Professor Slughorn thought that if he continued at the rate he was going, he was going to fail his N.E.W.T. the following year.

"So, he recommended that Sirius get a Potions tutor. Someone that could work with him in the evenings to help him bring up his performance."

"Let me guess," Ron started, "that tutor was Tawny."

"Right you are, Ron."

"Professor, I'm sure Remus can help me bring up my performance –"

"I do agree Mr. Black that Mr. Lupin does exceptionally well in my class. However, I think that someone outside of your friend group would be better suited to teach you." Professor Slughorn said, glancing around the room. His eyes widened, and his lips curled up into a smile when he noticed another student had hung back. "Ms. Lovegood!"

Tawny looked up from her parchment. She had been hastily writing down notes about her potion and it's uses. "Yes, Professor?"

"Would you come here for a moment?" Tawny nodded before proceeding to tuck her parchment into her Advanced Potion Making textbook, and neatly resting her quill on top. "Ms. Lovegood, I would like you to tutor Mr. Black a couple of nights a week until his performance starts improving."

"Oh," Tawny looked surprised. Sirius shot her a glare, silently telling her to decline. "Professor, I'm not sure that is the best idea. I am rather busy –"

"Of course, you are! Well, I could make it worth your while Ms. Lovegood. How about extra credit in my class? The better Mr. Black does, the more credit you will receive! How does that sound?" Sighing, Tawny agreed to Slughorn's request. If there was one thing that Tawny Lovegood could not refuse, it was extra credit.

"Their lessons, twice a week, usually included Tawny barking orders at Sirius, and Sirius either refusing or doing them wrong just to mess with Tawny. Regardless of Sirius's efforts to sabotage the lesson in hopes of getting Tawny to resign, and allow Slughorn to assign him a new tutor, he was progressing. Slightly.

"Halloween that year fell on a Tuesday, their typical study session night. However, the full moon also occurred that night as well. Sirius told us that he would study with Tawny for an hour, make up and excuse to leave, and meet us in the Shrieking Shack before eight o'clock that evening. Unfortunately, Sirius lost track of time."

"Okay, now add three diced valerian roots and stir counter clockwise until the potion turns clear." Tawny said, while jotting down notes onto her parchment. While she was tutoring Sirius, she was working on her Ancient Runes translations. Every few minutes she would look up at Sirius to check his progress, and make sure he hadn't set the room on fire.

Tonight's lesson was more relaxed that Sirius and Tawny's usual lessons. Instead of arguing, Tawny's focus on other work had allowed for a peaceful silence to fill the room. The only things the two heard were the scratching of quills against parchment, and the sound of Sirius's ladle occasionally scraping the sides of his cauldron. Due to the silence, Sirius could easily say this was his most productive lesson to date.

"Okay." Tawny yawned, looking up to check his progress. She dropped a leaf into Sirius' cauldron, watching it burn and shrivel into ash. "Great. Surprisingly, you have successfully made draught of living death."

Normally, an hour in a lesson with Tawny felt like four to Sirius. However, when he checked his watch, he quickly realized it was almost nine, and he hadn't left to meet his friends in the Shrieking Shack as promised.

"Now, we can move onto –"

"Sorry, Lovegood. I have to go." Sirius said hurriedly. With a flick of his wand he vanished the draught in his cauldron, and scooped his textbook and ingredients into it.

"Wait, you're leaving?"

"Yeah, that's what I said." Sirius began, pulling on his black robes over his uniform.

His tie was undone, hanging around his neck like a scarf, and most of the buttons of his shirt were open, showing off his undershirt. Sirius felt his uniform constrained him. Every chance he had, he'd unbutton his shirt, and loosen his tie, if he hadn't already abandoned it completely.

Tawny on the other hand, always dressed with purpose. While she did remove her black robes, her uniform was always in shape. However, she dressed it up with rings and bracelets. Instead of flats, like recommended, she wore ankle booties, with a slight heel to them. Whenever she stood up to Sirius, she needed the extra height the booties gave her. He was much taller than her, a least without the heels.

"I'll see you on Thursday."

"Where do you think that you're going? Our lesson is supposed to last another hour. I'm not carving all this time out of my week for you to just up and leave whenever you feel like it."

"I'll do an extra hour on Thursday if you like, but I can't tonight."

"I can't just fit in an extra hour, Sirius. That's not how this works."

"I have to go. We can argue about his later." Sirius finished, rushing out the dungeon door.

"Tawny didn't trust Sirius's leaving early. He'd always grudged through their lessons before. She took his leaving as a sign he was up to something. So, she followed him."

"Oh no." Hermione squeaked, cupping her hands over her mouth. Hermione was right to yelp. Harry knew that could only end poorly. He remembered the story that Lupin had told him his third year where Snape wondered into the Shrieking Shack because of Sirius. If his father hadn't stepped in, Snape would have ended up dead, or turned into a werewolf himself.

Tawny followed Sirius at a distance, careful not to make too much noise. After a few minutes, she saw him climb up the stairs to the portrait of the Fat Lady. He slipped inside, allowing for Tawny to breathe normally.

"He's just going back to his dormitory. Probably meeting up with James. They're probably planning their next massive prank on me. Godric knows it's been a while since Sirius has pulled one on me." Come to think of it, Tawny couldn't remember Sirius pulling a prank on her since before he started their tutoring sessions. She brushed it aside as Sirius being too busy with his lessons and other school work to focus on pranks. She had been keeping him busy two nights a week that he ordinarily could have used to plan her next trip to detention, or the loss of fifty house points.

She was just about to head back to the dungeon to collect her things when she noticed the Fat Lady's portrait open. She ducked behind a suit of armor just in time to see Sirius stepping out of it. He'd ditched his robes and his tie behind, and was heading down the stairs. Tawny took pursuit and followed behind him. Sirius was looking around in all directions, hoping not to see Filch or Mrs. Norris, as he crept down the hallway towards the front doors of the castle.

Tawny followed him across the grounds. "What is he doing?" She whispered, hiding behind a stone pillar. Sirius looked back as though he had heard her, then turned around once more and headed for the Whomping Willow. Tawny had heard the stories of the willow, and knew that Sirius was walking into dangerous territory. Right as she was about to call out and warn him, she stopped.

Right in front of her eyes, she saw Sirius tap his head with his wand and disappear. In his place, was a shaggy black dog. The dog took off toward the tree, jumping over one of the swinging branches and vanishing through an opening at the base of the willow's trunk.

"To this day, I'm not sure how Tawny managed to get passed the Whomping Willow. But she did. Sirius, James, Peter, and I had agreed to stay in the shack that night. We knew with it being Halloween, students were bound to attempt to sneak out of the castle.

"Sirius hadn't been with us more than ten minutes when I sensed her presence. I wasn't a threat to my friends while they were animagi. But Tawny… she was human. The moment I sensed her I could feel my mind slipping away. I chased out into the hall, finding her looking through the banisters on the steps. A moment later I had her pinned up against the wall. I would've hurt her or worse but…"

"But what? What happened?" Harry questioned on the edge of his seat.

"Sirius happened. He attacked me, gave me a nasty bite in my side."

"Wait, he saved her life?" Ron asked.

Lupin nodded, and continued. "It distracted me long enough for Tawny to get away. Sirius checked on me momentarily, and left James and Wormtail to watch after me while he ran after Tawny. I expected him to beg her not to say anything about him or me, but… he skipped the begging and went straight to the yelling."

"Lovegood!" Sirius barked, following Tawny across the grounds. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Getting as far away from you and… Remus. He's… he's a werewolf! You're harboring a werewolf in the Shrieking Shack! Does Dumbledore know about him? Who am I kidding, of course he does. You couldn't keep that quiet. And you… you, James, and Peter… you're all animagi. Illegally I presume-"

"Will you shut up! What were you thinking following me? You could've gotten yourself killed!"

"If you hadn't run out on our lesson, we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"If I? If you hadn't been so damn nosy I'd be with my friends instead of out here with you!"

"What you're doing with your friends is stupid, reckless, and dangerous! No wonder you're failing potions. I'm surprised you're passing anything seeing as you spend your free time plotting revenge on me, and spending full moons with a monster. If Dumbledore finds out about what you're doing you could get expelled, and the ministry… the ministry can send you to Azkaban for being an illegal animagus!"

Sirius crossed over to get right in front of her face. Through gritted teeth he said, "I don't give a damn if I fail potions. Dumbledore can expel me if he wants, and the ministry can throw me in Azkaban for all I care. But I will not, let my friend spend one more full moon alone!" With than he spun on his heels, transformed back into a shaggy black dog and dove back into the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack, leaving Tawny hurt, frustrated, and confused at what to do next.

"He didn't ask her to keep quiet? What was he thinking? That should've been the first thing out of his mouth! 'Don't tell anyone, Tawny!' It's not that hard!" Harry groaned, thrusting his head in his hands. "Idiot…" He mumbled.

Looking down, he saw a picture of Tawny with her arms around a black dog, obviously, Sirius. He was licking her face while she smiled and giggled. At this point in Lupin's story, Harry couldn't see how Sirius and Tawny could've gone from fighting on the Hogwarts front lawn to that picture at the top of the pile. It didn't make sense.

"What happened next?"

"Hey, Lily. Where are James and his gang of misfits this morning?" Tawny asked, trailing beside her best friend. The girls were leaving Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall and on their way to the Great Hall for lunch.

"Alice told me Remus was in the hospital wing. I wouldn't surprise me if James, Sirius, and Peter were all with him. They weren't in herbology this morning either."

All through lunch Tawny remained quiet. Lily went on and on about how James had been surprisingly nice to her lately, although she didn't believe it. Lily was convinced it was some sort of trick James was playing. Tawny's mind was too occupied to notice. She kept thinking of Remus lying in the hospital wing, a giant dog bite in his side. Was he okay? He wouldn't be injured if Tawny had minded her own business and followed Sirius last night.

On the other hand, she had every right to follow him. He was acting suspicious, and she was a prefect! She had to make sure that Sirius wasn't up to no good, which he was. The events of last night kept running through her head. Discovering the marauders in the Shrieking Shack and her fight with Sirius just out of reach of the Whomping Willow. Everything had happened so fast. In the course of a night she realized more about Sirius than she'd ever expected too.

His speech about Remus… him saying he'd rather go to Azkaban than let Remus spend another full moon without him… that was… caring. Up until nine thirty last night, if you had asked Tawny if Sirius was capable of such a thing she would have denied it. Now however, she'd saw that there was a caring side to Sirius she'd never seen before. Maybe he wasn't the worst person on the planet… just one of the worst.

"What do you think, Tawn? Is he up to something? Tawny? Are you even listening to me?"

"Sorry, Lily. I've got to go. I'll see you later." Before Lily could protest, Tawny was across the Great Hall and in the corridor on her way to the hospital wing. She didn't know what she was going to say when she got there, but all she knew was that she needed to talk to someone about what happened last night. The only people she could discuss that with were in the hospital wing.

When she reached the hospital wing, she was met with Madam Pomfrey. Tawny made up an excuse involving delivering Transfiguration homework to Remus and the others to get past her. Sighing, Madam Pomfrey reluctantly let her in.

Walking up to Lupin's hospital bed, she saw he was sitting up, reading a book. He seemed oblivious to his friends around him. Beside him, Sirius was leaning back, sleeping in a chair, his feet propped up on Remus's bed. His arms were folded and his head rested on his right shoulder. He slept as if he was trying to look cool to anyone visiting Remus. On the other side of the bed, James was sleeping in another chair, using the bedside table as a pillow. His glasses were slipping off the bridge of his nose. At any moment, Tawny was sure they'd fall off onto the stone floor. At the foot of the bed, Wormtail was almost completely on top of the bed, sound asleep.

Sirius let out a soft snore, still causing Remus to jump slightly. He looked over at Sirius, checking to see if he was still asleep. He smiled softly noticing he was, and turned back to his book. A moment later, as if he had sensed her presence, he glanced up, noticing Tawny in front of him.

"Tawny!" He gasped, closing his book immediately. "About last night, I'm so sorry. I was out of my mind. I promise, I'd never hurt you. I'd never hurt anyone if I could help it!" He tried to continue, but Tawny cut him off.

"Remus, it's okay. I know you didn't mean to. Actually, I wanted to apologize to you."

"She what?" Harry, Ron, and Hermione once again asked in unison.

"That was your godmother… always full of surprises." Lupin laughed, and continued the story.

"You – you do?" Remus asked, clearly surprised. He rested his book on his lap, hanging on every word Tawny spoke.

"If I hadn't followed Sirius, you wouldn't be in here right now. The four of you have worked out a plan to keep all of you safe. I ruined it by crashing your little Halloween party, and you got hurt."

"But, I could've…" He whispered, "killed you…"

"Like you said, you didn't mean to. If I didn't follow Sirius I would've have needed saving, and he wouldn't have had to bite you. I'm sorry."

Remus sat with his mouth hanging slightly open, speechless. He didn't know how to answer that. The last thing he expected to happen that day was for Tawny Lovegood to be apologizing to him for his attempt on her life. He ought to wake up James, Sirius, and Peter. He knew they'd never believe him. He barely believed what was happening.

"So, what book are you reading?" Tawny asked, hoping to change the subject.

"Oh, it's a muggle book for my muggle studies class" He said, finding his voice. "We're supposed to write an essay on muggle literature on the supernatural, and how it differs from wizarding life."

"Are the muggles right about anything?"

"Well seeing as I've never known a vampire to sparkle… I'd say the muggles are pretty far off." Both let out a light laugh, accompanied by a smile.

Tawny checked her watch, seeing she only had a few minutes until her Ancient Runes class. "I better get going. The runes aren't going to translate themselves."

"Yeah, good luck."

Tawny turned to leave, but stopped. "Remus, one more thing. Will you tell Sirius that I'm still on for our lesson on Thursday? Same time, same place. If he wants."

"I will." Remus confirmed. As she was leaving, Remus spoke up once more. "Tawny, one more thing –"

"Don't worry, Remus. I won't tell a soul." With that, Tawny swept out the door and into the corridor.

"Well I was not expecting that." Hermione said.

"Neither was Sirius." Lupin added. "When I told Sirius, he didn't believe me. He was very convinced I had made the whole thing up. It wasn't until he had made it through the next day of classes without being expelled that he realized that maybe I hadn't dreamt it."

"Did he continue with the lessons?"

"Oh yes. He was in desperate need of her help."

Tawny waltzed into the dungeon at five minutes after seven on Thursday evening. She assumed that Sirius, if he was even coming at all, would be fashionably late, as usual. So, she didn't see the problem getting there a few minutes late herself. However, when she entered the dungeon, she found it was not empty. Instead, Sirius sat at a table, his cauldron ready and his textbook open to the instructions for the potion he was supposed to work on Tuesday night.

"You're late." He said, when she walked in.

"You're early." Tawny replied, taking a seat opposite of him and getting out her own work.

"I was starting to think you weren't going to come."

"I figured you were going to be late. How was I supposed to know today was the day you'd actually arrive on time?" She laughed. To her surprise, Sirius didn't have a snappy comeback.

"True." He agreed. "You're going to pick up where we left off last time, right? Invisibility potions?"

"Yeah. I noticed in class earlier this week you were close to getting it right." This was true. Her help so far had improved his performance slightly. However, in class, when he tested his potion on a rat, the rat appeared to look like Nearly Headless Nick's dead pet rather than disappearing. "Hopefully with a little more practice you can perfect it."

Just like Tuesday night, the pair worked silently. Tawny continued to work on Ancient Runes translations, while occasionally checking up on Sirius. Every once in a while, he'd ask a question such as, "Does powdered rabbits foot work the same as a whole one? Would it give me luck?" While the questions were slightly annoying, she also found them to be rather amusing on occasion.

After a about thirty minutes of pure silence, it was Tawny's turn to ask the questions. "How did you do it?"

"Get the juice out? I did what you told me last time. I crushed it with the blade of my knife." Sirius replied, adding a few dragon scales to his potion.

"No, become and animagus." He immediately stopped what he was doing, and looked at her in surprise.

'Why do you want to know?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow. "Sheer curiosity, or do you want to become one?"

"I dunno. Maybe both." Tawny closed her Ancient Runes book, and leaned against the table. "I've read about it, it's not easy to do."

"No, it's not. We asked Professor McGonagall as many hypothetical questions that we could muster without drawing alarm. Plus, we spent quite a few nights going through the restricted section of the library."

"The restricted section? McGonagall gave you permission for that?"

"Not exactly…" Sirius trailed off, turning back to his potion.

"You sneaked in, didn't you?"

"Regardless of how we got into the library, we did it. We spent hours upon hours in there, and in abandoned classrooms practicing. It took us a couple of years to get it right."

"Years? That's dedication." Tawny said, sounding impressed.

"Well, we wanted to do it help Remus. So, it didn't matter how long it took to get it right, as long as we did."

Tawny thought about how long they three of them spent trying to figure out how to become animagi. It wasn't just dedication to become an animal to have fun and sneak around the castle. They were dedicated to helping their friend. Tawny thought what she would've done if she was in his shoes. If Lily was a werewolf, would she spend years researching how to help her during her transformations? Tawny realized that if there was one thing she learned about Sirius over her time working with him so far, it was that he was incredibly loyal when it came to his friends.

"Have you started your essay on the uses of dragon scales for Slughorn yet?" He asked, changing the subject.

"No. I'm going to after I finish my translations though. It's bound to take a while. Twelve inches. There aren't that many uses for them. How are we supposed to fill twelve inches of parchment on that?"

"Write big." Tawny couldn't help the corners of her mouth turning up into a slight smile at his comment. "I haven't started it either. We could work on it together if you like. I'm sure between the two of us we can figure out something to fill up the parchment."

"Yeah, we can do that." Tawny confirmed, turning back to her translations.

Two hours later, their longest, and most civil, tutoring session finally ended. Sirius had been right, and their two minds had come up with the best solution to filling up the parchment. Tawny was sure her essay would land her an 'Outstanding,' while Sirius was banking on his giving him at least and 'Acceptable.' They rounded up their things, filled their bags and headed back to their common rooms.

They walked together in silence up the stairs to the main floor. Right before they were about to go their separate directions to their respected common rooms, Tawny stopped them. "Can we agree to a truce?"

"A truce?" Sirius asked, curious as to what she was asking.

"On the prank war. At least on the massive try-to-get-each-other-detention-or-worse pranks?"

"What about little pranks?"

"Those can be fair game. If I want to dye your hair blue or you want to fill my dormitory with owls that's fine. But if we're going to work together, I think it's best we try to get along and not plot ways to get each other expelled."

"A dormitory full of owls… how have I not thought about that already? I'm definitely going to use that!"

"So, you agree?"

"Agreed." Sirius said, extending his hand with a smile.

"They called off the war?" Ron asked.

"Yes. That did wonders for their relationship. Their hatred of one another started with the prank war. When they called it off, for the first time in five years they were civil. Actually, they started to become friends. Not that either of them would admit that to anyone.

"In their lessons, Sirius wasn't the only one learning. He taught Tawny a few things too."

"Really?" Harry said, "What could he be teaching her?"

"So, the team needs a new beater, and a keeper. Do we really think anyone off the list McGonagall gave me is going to be any good?" James asked, letting the snitch go. A moment later he had recaptured it, and released it again, ready to repeat.

"You never know, Prongs. Maybe there's a few Gryffindors with secret, mad Quidditch skills." Sirius said, laying back against their favorite tree, resting his hands behind his head.

"Let's hope so. The team has to be good. I don't think I could take it if we lost to Slytherin this year."

"You couldn't take it if Slytherin beat us any year." Peter piped up.

"What time do tryouts end on Saturday? I have a lesson with Tawny at seven."

"Another one? I swear you spend every waking moment with Lovegood." James said, making a difficult catch of the snitch.

"I do not."

"You're joking, right? You've practically been spending all of your free nights with her? Just wait until Quidditch practice starts. The only time we'll see you is at meals."

"We're studying for potions."

"Yeah, I doubt potions is what you really want to study when you're with her." Remus said, smirking without looking up from his Transfiguration textbook.

"Shut up, Moony!" Sirius grumbled, punching him softly in the arm.

"Oh, look whose coming this way. It's your girlfriend." James joked, making kissy faces at Sirius. Just like he punched Remus, he did the same to James, except harder. "Ouch!" James shot Sirius a smirk before directing his attention to Tawny. "Hey Lovegood! Here to steal Sirius away for a 'study session'?"

"No, you can keep him until tomorrow." She told him before addressing Sirius. "I've asked Professor McGonagall if we could use her classroom instead of the dungeon. She's approved it. So, instead of meeting at Slughorn's, meet me in the Transfiguration classroom at seven."

"Yeah, will do." Replied Sirius.

"Alright. See you." She began walking away, "Oh, James. Lily wanted me to deliver a message. Watch you're back tomorrow during tryouts. You'll be down a beater. She wouldn't want you to fall off your broom after you've been hit by a bludger." Tawny winked at him before turning on her heels and heading back to the castle.

"Looks like Evans is finally falling for me."

"I'm pretty sure Lily is the one that wants you to do the falling." Remus added, still not looking up from his book. James reached across Sirius to punch Remus in the arm, but Sirius didn't notice. He was too busy watching Tawny walk away. A part of him hoped she'd turn back and flash him a smile, but she kept straight for the castle.

On Saturday, a few minutes before seven, Sirius gathered his bag and his cauldron and headed from his dormitory to the Transfiguration classroom. He rubbed his arm soothingly as he stepped out of the portrait hole. Instead of James getting hit by a bludger like Lily wanted, Sirius had had the unfortunate fate of getting hit by one after a third year aimed directly at him. When asked what they thought of the students who tried out, Sirius was first to say the third year boy had to go.

When he reached the Transfiguration classroom, he wasn't surprised to see Tawny had already arrived. Since it was Saturday she wasn't in her uniforms. Instead, she wore a white turtle neck, with a short, high-waisted skirt and a pair of brown booties, almost identical to the ones she normally wore with her uniform. Draped on the back of her chair, she had a button-up leather jacket, with her wand sticking out of the pocket.

Sirius waited in the doorway for a minute, watching her scribble down notes in the margins of her charms textbook. He wasn't sure why, but he seemed to like watching her work. A moment later she closed her book and looked up to see Sirius standing in the doorway.

"Hey!" She smiled. "You made it."

"Yeah. Why the change of venue? Tired of the jars of eyes watching you from across the room?" He asked, setting his things down on the desk, and getting out his ingredients.

"Funny, but no. The potion you'll be making tonight requires high ceilings. The dungeons weren't going to cut it." She said, taking a seat on the desk next to Sirius's. "Also, I wanted some more space. I've been teaching you all this time. I thought, maybe you could teach me something too."

Sirius nearly dropped his jar of spider eyes on the charms floor out of surprise. What could he teach her that she didn't already know?

"Is it true you can produce a patronus charm?" She asked, answering his unspoken question.

"Oh, yeah. I can." He said, wiping the gel from the spider eyes on his cuffed t-shirt sleeve.

"A corporeal patronus?"

"Yeah. It's a dog, just like my animagus."

"Do you think you could teach me how to do it? I know it's seventh year stuff, but I figured why not?"

"Yeah, I can do that." He agreed. While Sirius worked on his potion, he and Tawny talked about their weekends. She told him she had spent most of it with Lily and Remus doing homework and patrolling the halls on their prefect duties. He was surprised to hear she'd been spending time with Remus. He hadn't said anything to him about it. Then again, since Halloween she'd been getting along with Remus pretty well. However, he was even more surprised to realize it bugged him she'd been spending time with him. It made him feel better knowing Lily was there too.

Then Sirius told him about Quidditch tryouts, and about the third year with as much quidditch talent as a sack of rocks hitting him with the bludger. The conversation flowed smoothly. Occasionally, she'd correct him on his potion, or have him switch ingredients, but for the most part there weren't any interruptions. Just steady conversation.

"Okay, time to test it." Tawny said, picking up a dropper and sucking up some of Sirius' bright purple potion.

"If we have the charm, wingardium leviosa, why do we need a levitation potion?"

"A levitation charm requires concentration the entire time you want something to levitate. A levitation potion doesn't. Using the potion gives five minutes of continuous levitation." Tawny answered, dispensing a few drops of the potion on Sirius' transfiguration textbook. Moments later the book began to shake and the rise in the air.

"It works!" Sirius cheered.

"Now you take some." Tawny insisted, ladling some of the potion into a mug she'd transfigured from Sirius's quill.

"What? You're kidding."

"Why did you think we need the high ceilings? You'll be able to fly for five minutes!" Sirius eyed the potion suspiciously. It smelled like grape flavored medicine mixed with acid. Following Tawny's instructions, he held his nose and downed the potion on one gulp. Once he sat the mug own he began to shake and hover in the air just like the textbook was. He rose higher and higher until he was high enough to touch the candle chandeliers.

"This is so cool! Tawny, you have to try this!" He called, doing a front flip in the air, almost kicking the chandelier closest to him. Tawny laughed, yelling, 'watch out for the chandelier you idiot!' before taking the potion herself, and floating up to join him.

For the next few minutes the duo did their best to soar around the room, do as many flips and tricks and possible while in the air. They were having so much fun, the only that stopped them was a quick BANG! They stopped laughing and looked around the room trying to figure out what just happened. They pondered what was going on for a minute before realizing the noise was made by Sirius's transfiguration book dropping down and hitting the desk.

"Wait if the book fell then –" Sirius couldn't finish before he fell to the floor, this time making a loud bang. The noise was so loud he was sure that if Filch was on this side of the castle, he'd be running in at any moment.

Above him, Tawny was giggling, making fun of him for not being prepared to fall. She spoke too soon. As if someone had popped the bubble holding her up in the air, Tawny felt gravity pressing back on her. She let out a yelp, and began falling to the floor. Luckily, Sirius was standing right beneath her. She fell right into his arms. There was a long silence as they were face to face, barely inches from one another.

"Well, looks like I've saved your life twice now." Sirius joked, breaking the silence.

"What?" Tawny asked, jumping out of his arms and onto the stone floor.

"I saved you once from Moony, and now I've saved you from falling to your death."

"Oh, come on! Falling to my death? You fell and you were fine! The worse you saved me from was falling and busting my arse."

"Okay, what about a thank you for saving my arse, Sirius?" Tawny rolled her eyes and mumbled a thank you to make him happy.

They bottled up two vials of the levitation potion and then vanished the rest away. After cleaning up, they were ready to start the Patronus charm. Sirius waved his wand and the desks moved to the sides of the room, leaving a clear path for them to practice the spell.

"Okay, so the Patronus Charm as you know fends of dementors." Tawny nodded, rolling up her sleeves. "The spell you use in called 'Expecto Patronum'." Tawny stepped back, and began whispering the spell over and over again.

"Just saying the spell won't make it work. You have to think of a happy memory. The happiest memory you can think of. Concentrate solely on that memory."

Tawny nodded, closing her eyes and trying to focus on her memory. Taking a deep breath, she raised her wand. "Expecto Patronum." A silvery-white mist rushed out of the tip of her wand for a few seconds.

"That's not bad for your first time." Sirius said reassuringly. For the next hour, she continued to try to the spell. Each time, the mist appeared for only a maximum of ten seconds, and then fizzled out.

"You're flourishing your wrist too much." Said Sirius. "Like this. Expecto Patronum." Unlike Tawny's patronus, Sirius's took form as the mist left his wand. In front of them, a silvery white dog ran ahead and then circled them.

"Wow." Tawny's mouth fell open watching his patronus. She followed it with her eyes as it ran around the room, jumping from the desk tops and into the air before vanishing. "How did you do that?"

"I'll show you. Hold out your wand." As instructed, Tawny raised her wand, once again ready to try, and fail to produce quality patronus. Sirius stepped to her side, placing one hand on her waist, and the other on her right wrist to guide her. Tawny swallowed hard, and felt her heart rate jump at his touch. Sirius practiced with her for a minute, guiding her how to correctly flourish her wand. "Now, together."

"Expecto Patronum!" Tawny said, doing her best to concentrate on her memory, although this moment was still at the forefront of her mind. To her surprise, her patronus lasted almost fifteen seconds this time and was larger and stronger than it had been before.

"Much better." Sirius said, letting go of her, and returning to sit on one of the desks. "Try again." For another hour or so Tawny practiced her patronus. The longer she tried, the stronger it became, but it never took a form as Sirius's did.

"Let's take a break." Tawny agreed, sitting down where she stood. Sirius's took the mug Tawny had transfigured earlier, and filled it with water, "Agumenti." Handing it to Tawny, se eagerly took it and drained its contents. "Agumenti." She said, refilling it and returning it to Sirius. Once he had taken the glass, she laid down on the stone floor, crossing her ankles and resting her hands on her stomach.

Sirius laid down beside her, resting his hands behind his head. "McGonagall needs to enchant the ceiling like the one in the Great Hall. I'm sure she could do it."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, go for it."

"What do you think about? You know, when you do your patronus. What memory do you choose?" Sirius sighed, thinking it over whether to share his memory with her. "You don't have to tell me. I was just curious."

"I ran away from home this past summer." Tawny sat up on her elbow, giving him her full attention. "My mum, she's not a fan of my friendship with blood traitors, half-bloods, and muggle-borns. That on top that I'm not a Slytherin like every other member of family sets her over the edge. Every time I'm home I get shit for not being like the family, for not following in their footsteps. I just couldn't take it anymore. So, I left."

"You leaving, that's the memory?"

"No. Walking out that door, dragging my trunk and my broom behind me was a pretty great moment though. Mum was outraged, and threatened to burn my face off the family tree, which I'm sure she did. But, my memory is where I went, not leaving home."

"Where did you go?"

"James's house. The moment I landed on their doorstep the Potters welcomed me in. They didn't ask how long I was staying, or why. They just accepted me, gave me their spare bedroom upstairs and told me join them for dinner. The Potters… they feel more like my parents than Walburga or Orion ever have."

"I didn't know you were living with James."

"I don't advertise it. For Regulus, you know? He doesn't need the whole school knowing his brother has been unofficially kicked out of the family. Although, I'm sure burning the tapestry made it official."

"That's a really nice thing to do for your brother."

"It's not Reg's fault I walked out. He didn't do anything." Tawny laid back down, and returned to staring at the ceiling. She couldn't help but picture Sirius running out of his house, with his mother screaming at him, shaking her wand, and calling him a 'disgrace to the family' while his Regulus watched from the foot of the stairs. He didn't deserve that.

"What memory have you been thinking about?" Sirius asked, breaking the silence.

"When Xen and I were young, my mum would transfigure cushions into hares and we'd chase them around the yard. Xen and I would run around, and every time we would get close to catching he hare, we'd jump and before we could grab it mum would transfigure it back into cushion. When I was seven, one afternoon we decided to team up. We were going to pretend to go after different hares, but at the last moment we'd both jump to converge on one. Mum would be busy transfiguring the other cushion to catch ours."

"Did it work?" Sirius asked, leaning up on his elbow as Tawny had done.

"Yeah. You should've seen mums face when we held up the hare. She was so proud of us." Just as she finished her sentence, her smile faded. "She died not too long after that."

"What happened?"

"I think the muggles call it cancer. I just know that magic couldn't cure her." She blinked hard before sitting up, trying not to cry.

"I'm sorry about your mum, Tawn." Sirius said, taking her hand. "I didn't know."

"I don't advertise it." She gave a lighthearted laugh, using Sirius's words. "Xen and I haven't been as close since she passed. We talk of course, but not about anything important. Dad… I don't think he's ever fully recovered from her loss. He does his best though."

Sirius reached up, brushing away a tear from her cheek with the back of his knuckle. "I want you to try again. Your patronus I mean. Focus solely on your mum." He stood up, and offered his hand to help her up. Tawny nodded, wiping away a few more of her tears before taking his hand.

"You can do this." Sirius assured her, stepping back.

Tawny raised her wand once more, focusing all her attention on her mum. She could see her laughing as she picked up Xen, kissing his cheeks. She felt her mum's arms wrapping around her, giving her the warmest hug she had felt in ten years. 'I'm so proud of you, darling. I knew you could do it.' "I can do this." She said to herself, listening to her mothers' words. "I can do this."

"Expecto Patronum!" Tawny felt a wave of confidence fill her chest as a silvery-white hare sprang from the tip of her wand and began hoping around the room, taking the same path as Sirius's dog had.

"Yes!" Sirius cheered, punching the air. "You did it!"

Tawny watched the patronus until it disappeared. The moment it did, she rushed in to Sirius's arms, hugging him tightly. Sirius almost fell backwards in surprise, but then wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.

"Luna's patronus is a hare, too." Harry said.

"It wouldn't surprise me if Xenophilius's was as well. I'm sure he played the same game with Luna as he had with his mother." Lupin said. "Luna looks so much like her aunt. The first time I saw her in my class I had to look again. For a moment, I thought Tawny had just walked through the door. But, the first time I heard her talk, I knew she was just like Xenophilius."

"Sirius told me he went to live with my dad, but I didn't know that memory powered his patronus."

"For a long time that was the memory he chose. It changed over the years. His others usually involved Tawny or your parents. Recently, when he sent Patronus messages to Order members, the memory he chose a was one that involved you, Harry."

"Thank you, Sirius." Tawny said, happily, pressing a kiss to his cheek. It lasted no more than a second before she pulled away, turning away. After realizing what she had done, she pretended to rummage through her bag to hide her blush from Sirius.

Sirius's face began to flush a light shade a pink as well. Subconsciously, he reached up to touch his cheek were Tawny had just kissed him. The corners of his mouth turned up as he replayed the moment over in his head. The thought shook from his mind as he heard the classroom door creak open.

Both Tawny and Sirius looked to see who had wandered into their tutoring session, only to see the wooden door close by itself. A first they were confused. However, the next moment, out of thin air, Remus appeared, dressed in his ragged pajamas and bedroom slippers with James's invisibility cloak draped over his arm. Sirius, who had seen this a million times before, didn't flinch when Remus revealed himself. Tawny, on the other hand, jumped in surprise to see her classmate before her.

"Remus? What are you… how did you…you have an invisibility cloak?" She turned to Sirius, noticing his calm state. Then it hit her… "That's how you were able to get into the restricted section! You were invisible!"

"How do you know about the restricted section – you know what, never mind. Do either of you know what time it is?" Both Tawny and Sirius shook their heads, 'no'. "It's two in the morning! Tawny, you're a prefect. If Filch catches you, you can say you were doing rounds, but you Sirius – he'll give you detention every night for a month for being out of bed at this hour!"

Their study session had been going so well that they had failed to check the time. They had been in the Transfiguration classroom for seven hours now, practicing potions, flying around the room, working on Patronus Charms, and learning about each other's happiest memories. Sirius couldn't believe it had been so long. It sure didn't feel that way to him. He felt as if he had just left Quidditch tryouts. He also realized that he had just spent forever with Tawny, and… enjoyed it. Really enjoyed it. It hadn't felt as if he'd just been in a study session for all that time. It hadn't been work. It was… fun. Seeing the shocked expression on Tawny's face, Sirius believed she felt the same way.

"Look, gather your things. Sirius, you can wear the cloak. Tawny and I won't need it." Both nodded as if they had just been scolded by their mothers. Tawny slipped on her leather jacket, and pulled her school bag onto her shoulder. Sirius did the same, then wrapped the invisibility cloak around him, vanishing before their eyes.

The three of them walked in silence as they made their way back to the main corridor. Tawny muttered a quick goodnight to them both before parting ways and leaving Sirius and Remus to walk back to the Gryffindor common room. Once out of ear shot of Tawny, Remus whispered, "You must be really awful at potions."

"Why do you say that?" Sirius asked, sounding offended.

"Because two months ago, you wouldn't have spent five minutes alone with Tawny, much less seven hours. So, either you are worse at potions than Peter – who failed his O.W.L. miserably – or you have feelings for Tawny."

"Neither of those statements are true, Moony. Like I've said a million times, Tawny is helping me study, that's all. Besides, we took so much longer tonight because I was helping her too." Remus stopped at the base of the stairs, turning to face Sirius.

"Why would she need your help in potions?"

"She doesn't. I was teaching her how to do a Patronus Charm." Remus seemed to be thinking it over, but still didn't seem convinced by his friend's answer. "How did you know I was still with her anyway?"

"James, Peter, and I were waiting up for you. The last full moon of the term is next week. We were planning our next adventure. When you didn't come back, we checked the map and saw you were still with Tawny." Sirius' shoulders sank, not that Remus would notice. He'd been so caught up with Tawny, he'd forgotten about making full moon plans with his friends. "James and Peter wanted to come with me, but I told them it was safer for me to go get you. You know they're going to ask you a dozen questions." Lupin said, before giving the password – Felicem Memoriam– to the Fat Lady, and climbing through the portrait hole.

"Sirius went straight up to bed, trying to avoid their questions. That only made it worse. For the next week James and Peter asked him, and Tawny, questions about their late study session. They finally dropped it when we had out next full moon outing."

"Who could blame them? The only person that wants to study for that long is Hermione. No wonder they didn't believe him. I wouldn't have." Ron added.

"Both Tawny and Sirius made sure to make sure to end their study sessions around eleven for there on, to prevent another storm of questions."

"Mr. Black, may I have a word?" Professor Slughorn said. Sirius nodded, and told his James and Remus he would catch up with them later. They waved goodbye before heading back to their dormitory.

"What did you want to speak about, Professor?"

"Well, as you know you all took a practice exam last week." Sirius agreed, afraid of what was coming next. Tawny had taught him loads. There was no way he hadn't passed his practice exam. "I haven't finished grading everyone's… but, I thought I would go ahead and give you yours."

Slughorn passed Sirius his results back. After unrolling it, he scanned the page immediately for the score… "Professor..."

"Looks like your lessons are paying off, Mr. Black. Ms. Lovegood seems to be an exceptional tutor." All Sirius could do wad nod; his eyes were still transfixed on the letter at the top of the parchment.

"Thank you, sir."

"I don't think I'm the one you should be thanking, Mr. Black." He rolled up the parchment immediately, and grabbed his cauldron off the desk and sprinted out the door of the dungeon.

Meanwhile, outside the Great Hall, Lily and Tawny were discussing their holiday plans. Lily, and her muggle family, were going to spend the holidays at home. Lily admitted she wasn't looking forward to it. Her sister, Petunia, rather disapproved of Lily's wizard status, and would do anything to put her down.

Tawny on the other hand, was hoping to spend time with her family. Although her younger brother, Xenophilius was in her house at Hogwarts, she hadn't been spending much time with him lately. With his O.W.L.s coming up at the end of the year, he'd been too busy studying to hang out with her. Not that Tawny had time to complain. These days, all her free time was split between hanging out with Lily, and tutoring Sirius.

"Tawny!" Their conversation paused when they heard Sirius yelling from the end of the corridor. Tawny turned to see Sirius running towards her, waving a piece of parchment in the air. The closer he got she could see the huge smile plastered on his face. Before she could ask him what he was so happy about, he had picked her up and spun her around, saying, "I swear Tawny Lovegood, you are the most wonderful person in the world!"

"What did she do?" Lily asked, clearly as confused as Tawny.

"Look!" He said, thrusting the parchment into Tawny's hands. When she unrolled it, she saw in red ink, a large 'O' in the top corner, accompanied by the praise, "Well done!"

"Outstanding! Sirius, this is fantastic!" She said, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him into a hug. There hug lasted for only a moment, but she could already feel heat rising to her cheeks.

"It's all thanks to you! I couldn't have done it without you, Tawny. Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He took a step forward, but changed his mind quickly. For a moment, there, he thought about kissing her out of excitement. Only on the cheek of course. "I'm going to go show James and Remus. They won't believe it!" Sirius said, thanking Tawny one more time before he left.

"Looks like you're going to have a lot of free time on your hands." Lily said.

"What do you mean?" Tawny asked, watching Sirius running back across the corridor. Out of excitement, every few steps he'd throw in a little skip. She couldn't help but giggle at it.

"He made an 'Outstanding'. That must mean he's not going to need your help anymore." Tawny didn't know why, but her heart sank hearing Lily's words.

"Sirius told Tawny and Lily he was on his way to tell us about his miracle of a pre-exam score. But, Sirius didn't tell us about his 'Outstanding'. Instead, when we asked, he said he made an 'Exceeds Expectations'.

"He lied?"

"Yes, Harry."

"But why would he do that?" Hermione asked, a look of pure confusion on her face. Harry knew Hermione would never have lied about her grade on an assignment, even if it was embarrassing. But an 'Outstanding'… that's something to brag about. Especially when you've been failing in the past…

"If I had to guess, it would be so he could spend more time with Tawny without being questioned by us."

"Alright, this round is on me." James said, getting up to persuade a young Madam Rosemerta into selling him four more butterbeers. It was winter holiday, a few days before Christmas. Although the marauders had barely been apart, they still felt the need to meet up over the holidays. This would be the first of many trips to Hogsmeade – although sometimes they chose the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley – over the break.

A few minutes later, James returned with four bottles in his hands. "I swear that woman loves me. She just gave me these, free of charge. Said it was a Christmas present." He laughed, taking a swig of his drink. The Three Broomsticks was almost empty except for the four boys. Besides them, a newlywed couple were wrapped around each other in a booth across the room. The boys kept making bets on whether they would pass out due to lack of oxygen because they were snogging so deeply. Other than the couple, a few others were sitting alone at tables, and Madam Rosemerta was chatting up an older fellow at the end of the bar.

The boys had been absorbed in a conversation about their next meet up, which they were planning for the full moon this month, when they heard the familiar laughter of two girls. Turning around, Sirius saw Tawny and Lily striding across the pub to a table on the other side of the room. Lily, hoping to get out of the judging eye of Petunia, had sent an owl to Tawny begging her to meet up at Hogsmeade. Tawny had happily accepted.

Sirius interrupted James's planning on sneaking into the Shrieking Shack, to show him who had just arrived. "What are the odds?" James said, shaking his head, a smile growing on his face. "I'll be back, lads. I've got to go make Evans swoon." With that, he sauntered across the room to the girls table.

Remus and Peter were mocking James, acting out his conversation will Lily, ending it with Lily pouring a bottle of butterbeer over his head. However, the real conversation between the two seemed to be going quite well, from what he could see. His focus was mainly on Tawny. Her long blonde hair was falling in her face, keeping her from noticing his starring. He watched her smiling while she tucked her hand behind her ear. James undoubtedly said something funny, and Sirius was glad he had. He felt a tightening in his stomach seeing her smile. One that he would not mind feeling again.

Somehow, to everyone's surprise, James had talked Lily into a dance, and made his way out to the open space in the room. He called to Madam Rosemerta, who – at his request – turned up the music. Before Tawny could catch him starting at her, Sirius looked to watch James and Lily. James spun her around the dance floor, pausing every once and a while to dip her. For those who had never met the two, they would never have known Lily had been turning James down for years. They appeared to be a couple, having a romantic moment together.

"You should ask Tawny to dance." Remus said, addressing Sirius.

"I can't dance." Sirius replied.

"Neither can James, but that didn't stop him from asking Lily." Remus said, gesturing to James who had almost sent both Lily and himself to the floor after tripping over his own feet. "This could be your chance to tell her how you feel –"

"How many times must I tell you, Moony. Tawny and I are just friends."

"Then you won't mind If I ask her to dance."

"Of course, not." He said, hesitantly.

"Fine then, I will." Remus said. Patting Sirius on the shoulder, he approached, Tawny who was now sitting alone.

"Could I have this dance?" Tawny looked up to see Remus, extending his had to her. She paused, unsure what to say. "It's not the full moon, I won't bite." He joked. She glanced over to the table Sirius and Peter occupied, noticing Sirius fixated on the wall behind the bar. A small part of her had hoped he would have been the one to come over and ask her. Redirecting her attention to Remus, she nodded and followed him to where James and Lily were dancing.

Remus was no virtuoso at dancing. Regardless, he was much better than James. He and Tawny swayed to the music, and occasionally he'd spin her around, usually a few times in a row. As they danced, Remus would whisper jokes about James's pitiful dance skills, and how he must have slipped Lily a love potion to get her to dance with him.

Watching from afar, Sirius scowled seeing Tawny laughing with Remus. He could tell by the smile that wouldn't fade from her face that she was having a good time. The longer he watched, the feeling he felt a few weeks prior about hearing that she'd been spending time with Remus returned. He refused to believe what he was feeling was jealousy, but he didn't know what else to call it. Nevertheless, the couldn't help but think that she was happy with Remus.

Remus was one of his best friends, he knew how great of a guy he was. He was intelligent, caring, responsible (compared to the other three), and funny. Tawny and Remus had a lot in common. They both always had their nose in a book if they weren't spending time with their friends – although sometimes even with their friends. They were both prefects, and were taking a lot of the same subjects. Sirius knew for a fact Tawny was the smartest Ravenclaw in their year, and Remus (only rivaled with Lily) was the same for Gryffindor. Sirius couldn't help but think, maybe they were made for one another.

"Wormtail," Sirius said, turning to his left, "Moony hasn't said anything to you about Tawny, has he?"

"Only when mentioning how much time she spends with you." Peter replied, raising his bottle to his lips.

"He hasn't said anything about fancying her, has he?"

"No to me. I'm pretty sure you've got that covered." This time, Sirius was too focused on the small wave of relief washing over him to argue with Peter. "Why?"

"No reason." Sirius redirected his attention to James and Lily. They were dancing dangerously close to the mistletoe. He was sure that any minute now, James would try to capitalize on the chance to kiss Lily. Instead of standing around to watch his failure, he wrapped his scarf around his neck and pulled his coat on. "I'm going to get some fresh air. Let me know if something exciting happens." He told Peter before stepping out the door, letting the Christmas music fading behind him.

The cold night air stung Sirius's exposed cheeks. He pulled his scarf up over his nose and leant back against the outside wall of the pub. The commotion in the bar was too much. He needed some silence to clear is head. But not matter how hard he tried to think about something else, anything else, his mind wandered back to a certain blonde.

Sirius had only been outside in the cold a few minutes before he had company. Lily was pulling Tawny out the door. He took notice of Lily's flushed cheeks, the dark green scarf clutched in her hands, and her unbuttoned coat. Clearly, she was rushing to leave.

"Sirius!" Tawny said, stopping Lily from dragging her down the street. "What are you doing out here? Aren't you freezing?"

"It's warm in there, I just needed to cool down." He lied, a shiver running through him. "You seemed to be having fun. Both of you." He nodded to Lily. Lily refused to look at him, and urged Tawny to leave once again.

"Yeah, we did – looks like we're leaving – Happy Christmas, Sirius!" She called as Lily began trying to pull her down the street.

"Happy Christmas!" He yelled back before heading inside, curious to see if James had a bright red slap mark across his face.

Once again, he found the night full of surprises. Entering the pub, he saw James sitting at their table with Remus and Peter, a huge grin plastered on his face. "Padfoot, you missed it! I kissed her, and she didn't hex me for it!" For the next half hour Sirius sat, listening to James repeat over and over how he's snogged Lily under the mistletoe. As far as Sirius could tell, the kiss had only lasted a few seconds, but Lily had indeed kissed him back. Her rushing out of the pub wasn't out of anger. Rather it was embarrassment, confusion, or a combination of the two that made Lily want to depart the Three Broomsticks immediately.

As James told the story, Sirius couldn't help but think what could've happened if he'd listened to Remus and had asked Tawny to dance. Would she have had a good time? What would have happened if he'd had the same amount of nerve as James and had kissed her? Would she have run out like Lily, or slapped him as Sirius had originally thought? He wasn't sure. But the more he thought about it, the more he began to think that his friends were right. Maybe his feelings for Tawny were more than platonic…

"You see, there were two reasons I decided to dance with Tawny. One, she was my friend. Lily had left her to go dance with James, and It wasn't fair for her to have to sit alone."

"Secondly?" Ron asked, waiting to hear his less noble reason.

"I knew that it would make Sirius jealous." Lupin smirked. "Sirius was right on the verge of realizing his feelings for her. He just needed a little push."

"Why did I do it? What came over me?" Lily groaned, with her face in her hands. "How could I possibly think it was okay to kiss James Potter." With that she sank her head into her Arithmancy textbook.

Tawny rolled her eyes, and went back to her herbology homework. Since the night at the Three Broomsticks, Lily could not stop talking about the kiss. Repeatedly she would declare that the kiss was a moment of weakness, or completely embarrassing. She refused to believe that it was a rational decision that made her do it, and could not stop questioning herself.

"Have you considered – and this is a longshot – but that you might actually like James?" The moment the words exited Tawny's mouth, Lily let out a loud moan in protest. It was so loud that Madam Pince rushed over and threatened to expel her from the library if she didn't keep quiet. With that, Lily stopped her griping and went back to her work.

"Have you started your Transfiguration essay?" Lily asked, a few minutes later.

"No, I'm waiting on Remus to start that one." Remus, Lily, and Tawny had started a study group at the beginning of the year. Since they were taking most of the same classes, the trio thought it would be a good way to manage all their work and their prefect duties. At first both girls were skeptical of Remus. Knowing who his friends were. But, he grew on them quickly, and they spent most of their study time together.

"Lily. Tawny." Remus said, joining them.

"Remus." The girls answered, although Lily's response sounded as though she was going to relapse into a fit of groaning.

"Lily, that must have been some kiss you gave James. He won't shut up about it." He laughed. "You saw it, right Remus? She kissed me back! I got Evans, to kiss me back!" Remus mocked James, earning another moan, although this one was much quieter, from Lily.

"Of for the love of Merlin, I bet the whole school knows about it by now!"

"Oh, I guarantee it! James has had all of us spreading the word. So Lils, where are you and James registered. I need to know what wedding present to get you –"

Tawny moved to kick him under the table, but it was too late. Lily had already wacked him with her Arithmancy textbook and stormed out of the library. "You know she's mortified, right? You're only making it worse." Tawny said, trying to suppress the grin spreading across her face.

"I wasn't kidding. James really won't shut up about it. It's all he talked about over holiday. Do you know how many owls I received talking about what that kiss meant to Lily? I started throwing them in the fire the moment they arrived." Tawny laughed, turning back to her Ancient Runes notes.

"You know, I'm surprised to see you here. Don't you have a lesson with Sirius at seven?" Tawny checked her watch, seeing it was ten till seven.

"We haven't talked about whether we're continuing them since he got his practice exam back. I mean, he got an 'Outstanding'. I didn't think he'd be needing them any –"

"He got a what?" Remus yelled, earning a death glare from Madam Pince. "Sorry." He mouthed to the librarian before turning back to Tawny. "He got an 'Outstanding'? I didn't even get one!"

"He didn't tell you? He told me right after he got it back from Slughorn. When he left, he said he was going to tell the three of you." Remus shook his head 'no'.

"How could he have gotten an 'O'? Not that you're not an excellent tutor, which you clearly are if you can earn Sirius and 'Outstanding'!"

Tawny sat, confused beyond belief. Sirius hadn't told his best friends about his amazing grade, and expected to be continuing their lessons… She had been sure that he wouldn't want them anymore. Why would he need to take time out of his week to dedicate to a class he was excelling in? And why wouldn't he tell his friends about that grade? They would have been impressed.

"Why wouldn't he tell you?"

"Maybe he thought that if we knew, we'd want you to tutor us too? Could you only imagine? I don't think we'd get through that lesson without –" Tawny checked her watch once more, noticing she only had a few minutes until their scheduled lesson time.

"Remus, I've got to go." She said, stuffing her books in her bag. "Can we work on that Transfiguration essay tomorrow?" Before he could agree or disagree, Tawny was already halfway across the library. As she raced down the hall, she couldn't help but continue to check her watch. She knew for a fact she was going to be late. She just hoped Sirius didn't think she wasn't going to show.

Tawny wasn't sure why she was so eager to get to the lesson. Maybe it was because she hadn't seen Sirius since the Three Broomsticks, or maybe it was because she was excited to get back to their lessons. She had to admit, she missed him over the holidays. She had been tempted to write to him, but she didn't know what to say. They didn't have any lessons to talk about, and she didn't know if he thought they were close enough to send owls about updates on her life.

Tawny stopped, swinging open the door to the Transfiguration classroom. However, instead of finding Sirius waiting on her, the room was empty. She felt her heart drop into her stomach. Remus had been wrong. He didn't really need her help after all. She sighed turning on her heels – BANG.

"Whoa!" Sirius said, as Tawny turned into his chest. "Careful, Lovegood. Try not to break anything, the match against Slytherin is coming up. Captain would kill me if I couldn't play." He laughed, walking through the doorway into the classroom.

"You – you came."

"Of course, I did. It's Tuesday, right? I'm here every Tuesday." He crossed over to his usual desk and began unpacking his bag. "Sorry I'm late. James wouldn't stop asking me questions about Lily. Do you know if Lily is a veela? That would explain a lot. If she's not, then she's put some spell on him. He's out of his mind."

"I – I just thought," She began, disregarding his comment about James, "that since you did so well on your practice examination, you wouldn't want my help anymore."

"The practice examination covered last term's lessons. I have a whole other term of potions to master before the exams. I'll need your help for that. Don't you think?"

"Yeah. I guess you will." Tawny said, doing her best to suppress her smile.

"You know, Harry," Lupin said, taking a bite of one of the cookies Fleur had brought by a few minutes before, "last spring Sirius and I told you that your parents starting dating in seventh year."

"Yeah, after dad deflated his head a bit."

"They were dating in seventh year. But really, they got together at the end of our sixth."

"What happened?"

"Well, Gryffindor had just beat Ravenclaw for the Quidditch cup. That win had pretty much solidified the House Cup for us as well, so everyone was excited. We threw a big part in the common room, and well…"

"Two-hundred and seventy to one hundred and fifty! They may have caught the snitch, but we have the best damn chasers in the school!" A seventh year yelled, earning a deafening roar from the crowd of celebrating Gryffindors. Someone had put a charm on the radio to where the entire common room could hear the rock music. A couple of sneaky third years had found their way to the kitchens and brought back treats for everyone, including enough butterbeers for each member of Gryffindor house to have two or more.

James, who had been the big scorer of the game, was being praised for his skills by everyone. Sirius could have sworn he heard several fourth-year girls ask James if he had planned on joining a professional Quidditch team after he graduated next year. James smiled, but brushed them off. Sirius could tell he was scanning the room for Lily.

Sirius sat with Remus and Peter. Remus, somehow was reading a book in the midst of all the chaos, and didn't seem to notice when an empty bottle of butterbeer came flying over his head. With the singing, cheering, yelling, and commotion, Sirius wasn't sure how he could possibly be concentrating on herbology textbook. Peter on the other hand was too busy eating all the treats in sight. At one point, he asked Sirius to count how many chocolate frogs he could fit in his mouth at one time. The answer – this is before he puked them into a first years' bag – seventeen.

Sirius kicked his feet up into Remus's lap – who didn't seem to notice – and tipped back another butterbeer. Although he played well, scoring almost as many goals as James, Sirius didn't really feel like celebrating. Because of the match, Tawny had cancelled their usual Saturday lesson. He'd seen her at the match sitting with Lily in the Gryffindor section. Even though she had been sporting a Ravenclaw t-shirt, he was sure he'd seen her cheering whenever he scored a goal.

"James!" Sirius heard Lily shout. Gaining his attention, James turned around to see Lily rush into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck, congratulating him on the win. "You did it!" She cheered as he picked her up and spun her around.

"Hey, Moony," Sirius smirked, tapping Remus on the arm, "look at Prongs and Evans." Remus looked up in time to see James setting her down. The two were inches apart, yet James didn't try and kiss her. Afraid of repeating what happened the last time the two had lip locked, James was going to wait for Lily to make the first move this time. Luckily for him, he didn't have a wait long. A moment later, Lily had pushed up on her tip toes to press a kiss to his lips. The room erupted at the sight. The two didn't seem to mind though.

"About time." Remus said, seeing James tighten his arms around Lily's waist and pulling her closer to him. "Now we don't have to listen to him pine over her anymore."

"If anyone asks, I'm headed to the library." Sirius said, getting up from his comfy chair.

"You're going to the library? Who are you, and what have you done with Padfoot?" Remus asked, closing his book. Peter, who had stopped stuffing treats into his mouth, looked up too, clearly confused.

"You're going to miss the party to study?" Peter said. "You've never missed a party. Ever."

"We've got exams coming up."

"You don't have Quidditch practice anymore. That's plenty of extra time to study for exams." Sirius looked back at James and Lily, still happily wrapped in each other's arms. They'd come up for air and were gazing at one another, both with huge grins on their faces. James tucked a strand of hair behind Lily's ear, and whispered something to make her smile grow even larger than before.

Remus noticed Sirius's stare and immediately knew why he was leaving. "Tell Tawny we say hello." He said, returning to his book.

"I will." Sirius replied, rushing up to their bedroom to retrieve his bag.

About few minutes later he came back through the common room, bag over his shoulder and made his way through the portrait hole. "Have fun, but not too much fun!" Remus called after him. Sirius rolled his eyes, and continued his way.

"Hey, is this seat taken?" Tawny looked up, seeing Sirius standing across from her.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the party?"

"Oh, I was." Sirius said, taking a seat. "I thought you'd like to know that James and Lily have been snogging in the middle of the common room for quite some time now."

"They're what? No way!"

"I couldn't believe it either."

"So, did you just come here to relay the message?"

"Not just that. I'm not really in the partying mood. I'd rather be here." Tawny shifted her gaze to her books to hide her smile. "So, have you started studying for the Transfiguration exam yet? I haven't." Sirius said, changing the subject.

Later that night, after they'd had studied transfiguration for a couple of hours, Sirius walked Tawny back to the Ravenclaw tower. He claimed it was on his way back to the Gryffindor Tower, but really, he just wanted to spend a few more minutes with her.

"You played really well today." Tawny said, looking over to Sirius. "I know they were cheering on James the most, but I think your goals were more impressive. That one where you timed it so that the bludger would knock it in was wicked. I dunno how you did it!"

"Oh, that one," Sirius laughed. "That was sheer dumb luck."

"Regardless, it was impressive." She said, beginning to walk up the staircase. Peeves flew over their heads cackling about Filch, and was leaving a trail of dung bombs behind him. Tawny side-stepped to avoid one, and ended up tripping on the step. Luckily, Sirius caught her hand, making sure she didn't fall.

"Thanks." She whispered. They spent the rest of the walk in silence until they reached the door of the Ravenclaw common room. Tawny reached up to use the brass eagle-shaped knocker.

A moment later, the eagle spoke. "I'm at the beginning of the end and the start of eternity; at the end of time and space, in the middle of yesterday but nowhere in tomorrow. What am I?"

Tawny thought for a moment before saying, "The letter 'e'." The door swung open.

"Now that was impressive." Said Sirius.

Only when Tawny went to walk through the Common Room door did she realize they were still holding hands. Neither of them had seemed to notice. Reluctantly she dropped Sirius's hand.

"Goodnight, Sirius."

"Goodnight." He replied, watching her step through the doorway. He smiled, looking down at his hand that had just been intertwined with Tawny's, and made his way to a short cut that he was sure would get him back to the Gryffindor tower without being caught by Filch.

"He skipped the celebration so that he could see her?" Hermione said, a smile of adoration on her face. "That's so sweet."

"That's how my parents got together?" Harry asked.

"Yes, there was no coming back from that."

"Hey, Tawny!" Sirius called, spotting her across the hall. She waved back, before saying goodbye to her classmate and joining him.

"How'd your exams go?"

"Good, I think. I know Potions, Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts went well, but Divination… let's just say I think I'll be dropping that subject next year. What about you?"

"I think they went pretty well. I spent almost all my free hours this week studying with Lily and Remus, so hopefully it paid off."

"I'm sure you were brilliant. You always are." Sirius said, loosening his tie. "I know we don't have anything else to study for this week, but we could still get together. What about under that beech tree on the grounds. I'll bring snacks. We can make it a summer send off."

"I'd like that."

"Hold on. Did he just ask her on a date?"

"Sort of. It started off as the two of them, but it ended with your parents, Peter, and I joining them."

"Date crashers." Ron said, stuffing another cookie into his mouth.

"Ronald Weasley don't fill up on cookies! You won't eat any dinner!" Harry heard Mrs. Weasley yelling from the kitchen.

"Sorry, mum." Ron apologized, still chewing on his cookie. When she wasn't watching, Ron grabbed another, and hid it out of her sight.

"Divination was the worst. I don't know how you stuck with it." Tawny laughed, unwrapping a chocolate frog.

"Neither do I. I mean she predicted my death every other day. Always in some different way, and nothing normal." Sirius said, resting his hands on his chest. He was laying on the ground with his head in Tawny's lap.

"What was the last death she predicted for you?"

"Well it started off cool. I was supposed to die years and years from now, fighting alongside my friends, in a duel at the ministry."

"That doesn't seem so bad." She said, playing with his long hair.

"That's what I thought. But, then she said that I'd die by falling through a black curtain. Death by curtain. Can you believe that? How the bloody hell is a curtain supposed to kill me? It's completely mental!"

"I heard she's retiring in a few years. Maybe, the first years will have a new Divination teacher by the time they're in third year."

"Hopefully." Sirius said, closing his eyes. They sat in silence for a while. But it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. Instead, they were just enjoying each other's company. For the first time, when they hung out together, they didn't have something to do. It was nice, they thought.

Tawny continued to play with Sirius's hair, and was now making an effort to braid it. He was so relaxed, she thought he might have fallen asleep. "You know, we should write this summer." He said, his eyes still closed. "I'll still be at James's house, and I'm sure he'll be writing to Lily every five minutes. So, why not us?"

She stopped, messing with his hair, causing him to open his eyes. For a moment, when he looked up at her he's thought she was going to say, 'no'. "Yeah, that would be great –"

"Well don't you two look cozy." A voice interrupted them. Looking over, they saw James, Lily, Remus, and Peter crossing the courtyard to join them. Sirius sat up, leaning back against the tree. "Oh, don't stop on our account." James said, taking a seat next to Sirius, and throwing an arm around Lily. Remus and Peter spread out in front of them.

"Can you believe we're going home tomorrow? This year has flown by."

"A lot has happened this year. You two are together," Remus said, pointing to James and Lily, "you two are friends," shifting to Sirius and Tawny, "something I thought would be even less likely."

Tawny laughed, nodding in agreement. If you had told her at the beginning of the year that she would be here sitting here right now, she would've told you that you were mental. Now, she couldn't believe she had gone so long without his friendship. Really, without all of their friendships. Although she had been on good terms, if not friends with Remus last year, this year she had grown closer to not only Sirius, but James, and Peter as well. While her relationship with James and Peter was not nearly the same as with Sirius, she had learned to at least tolerate, if not enjoy their company. Plus, with as much as Lily had talked about him this year, she thought she couldn't possibly know any more about James.

They'd all grown up more since Halloween, and sitting here together as friends proved it. For the rest of the afternoon, the six of them cracked jokes and retold stories from the past year. Lily updated them on Alice and Frank's relationship finally taking off, while Remus told her the official story of how Tawny found out about him being a werewolf (after Lily admitted to knowing about him since their second year). She was surprised, however, to learn that the other three were animagi. As they sat, Remus kept catching Tawny and Sirius sneaking glances at one another. When night fell and they all walked back up to the castle, he mentioned it to Lily, who claimed she had seen them as well.

"How long until they're the ones getting together?" She whispered to Remus, pointing ahead to where Sirius and Tawny were walking closely together.

"Can't be long." He assured her.

"My mom knew, too?"

"Of course, she knew. We'd talk about it whenever Tawny was running late to study with us. She wasn't late often, but when she was we'd joke that she had been too busy snogging Sirius somewhere on the grounds to meet us."

"I know you talked to Sirius about his feelings for Tawny, but did you ever with her?"

"Plenty of times, but just like your godfather, she denied it. She was more stubborn than your mother when it came to her feelings. At least Lily owned up to how she felt about James. Tawny would say she and Sirius were just friends, but we all – besides Sirius – knew there was more to it than that."

"If they wouldn't admit to anyone about how they felt, then when did things change?"

"Officially, 1 September, 1977. Unofficially, two weeks before that." Lupin said, pulling a letter addressed to Tawny out of the photo tin.

Tawny,

Thanks for your last 'gift' it was great! I haven't laughed that hard since you came running out of Ravenclaw tower covered in owl feathers! I know, you're wondering why I think it's funny. You'll see soon! We're all getting together at James's house on Saturday. Fleamont and Euphemia went on a work holiday without us, so we have the place to ourselves. We're all planning on apparating to Hogsmeade after we run out of butterbeer! See you Saturday!

Sirius

"That Saturday was the night everything changed for the two of them."

CRACK – Tawny appeared outside of the Potter's house a few minutes before six o'clock on Saturday. As she approached the front door, she could already hear her friends laughing. Before knocking on the front door, she heard a glass shatter. She couldn't help but think that Peter had let his butterbeer bottle slip through his fingers.

"Come in, it's open!" She heard James call as she knocked on the front door.

"You do realize your door was unlocked and I could've been a death eater, right?"

"A death eater wouldn't have knocked, Tawny." Remus said, raising his bottle.

"Fair point." She agreed, turning to James. "James, your hair!" James's hair, although she could tell it was fading slightly, was bright pink. This was the surprise that Sirius was talking about in his letter.

"That's what he gets for opening my package." Sirius said, entering the room with two bottles of butterbeer. "Hey, Tawn." He said, handing her the bottle.

"You opened his package?" She asked James, taking a seat on the floor next to Sirius.

"I was curious. How was I supposed to know you had sent him a potion who's mist turns hair pink! Aren't hair changing potions only supposed to last a couple of days? My hair has been like this for a week!"

"I might have accidentally added a few extra valerian roots."

"Accidentally? Yeah, right!"

"I think it suits you, babe." Lily smirked, messing up his hair even more, if that was possible. "You should keep it."

James rolled his eyes. "Lovegood, please tell me it'll wear off before the term starts."

"It should. If not, tell anyone that asks that you're a metamorphmagus and you're trying out a new look." James shot her a death glare. "Or wear a hat."

"I'm definitely wearing a hat to Hogsmeade tonight."

"Please tell me somewhere in the pile is a picture of my dad with pink hair!" Harry laughed, rummaging through the pile.

"There should be." Lupin said, helping him look. "Ah ha! Here!" He handed him the photo. Sure enough, his dad was glaring at the camera (although Harry could've sworn for a brief second when the picture moved, James's lips twitched into a smile), and Tawny had her arm wrapped around him laughing and pulling at the ends of his pink hair. "She wanted a picture to prove that she had tricked the great James Potter."

"This is priceless." Ron laughed.

The six friends had all managed to end up sitting on the floor the more butterbeers they drank. Remus filled in the girls on the Marauders last full moon adventure. Dumbledore had told Remus of a secluded cave near Hogsmeade that would be good for his transformations. The foursome had spent the few days before the full moon camping out in the woods and then wandered around, within the bounds of the protection spells they cast, during the night.

Now that they were all of age, James told them the boys had been busy practicing as much magic as possible. Their trip to the woods for the full moon had not been their first. They'd spent many days there practicing spells during the day, and hitting the streets of Hogsmeade at night. They'd spent so much time there, Peter suggested they make an enchanted map of Hogsmeade just as they had Hogwarts.

Next, James, Peter, and Sirius took turns transforming into their animagus forms after Peter had transformed momentarily to scare the girls. James as stag in the Potters living room was quite a scene. Lily, who had never seen him up close in his animal form was both surprised and impressed by his magical skill.

Lastly, Sirius transformed, appearing as shaggy black dog in front of everyone. He ran around the room, jumping on everyone and licking their faces. Lily pet him behind the ears, making him stick his tongue out in pleasure. James, pushed him off and right into Remus's lap. Remus didn't seem to mind. Going over to Peter, Peter transformed again, jumping on Sirius's back. Sirius bucked him off almost immediately, sending him flying onto the couch cushions. Peter reappeared a moment later, tumbling over with laughter. When he reached Tawny, he knocked her to the floor. "Sirius, stop!" She laughed as his fur tickled her neck.

Seeing the scene in front of him, James smirked and tapped Lily on the arm. "Watch this." He whispered just loud enough or her to hear. He raised his wand pointing it at Sirius, and nonverbally thought of his spell. A moment later, Sirius – in human form – was on his hands and knees, straddling Tawny. Their faces were merely a couple of inches from one another. They were frozen, breathing hard, and holding eye contact. James, Lily, Peter, and Remus were silent watching the two of them. Sirius's gaze flickered to Tawny's lips them back to her eyes. For a moment, he thought he was going to kiss her. But, he came to his senses.

Sitting back up, they saw the look plastered on James's face. Sirius rolled his eyes. "Very funny, Prongs."

"I thought so."

"He didn't kiss her! Ugh!" Hermione groaned, slumping into her chair. "If not then, then when?" Harry saw Hermione was clearly caught up in the romance of Lupin's story. But Harry had to admit – even though he didn't have nearly enough experience with girls – that would have been an opportune time for Sirius.

"Patience, Hermione. It's coming."

Later that night, the six apparated to Hogsmeade. This was not the first time they had been to Hogsmeade this summer. In fact, they all shared this booth in their last trip to the village of last term. Since then, every time they were together they sat in their signature booth. Upon their arrival, Madam Rosemerta brought them their drinks, without being asked. Since they were there so often, she had their order memorized. "Enjoy!" She said flashing the group a wink.

"Tawny, isn't that your brother?" Lily asked, pointing across the pub. Surely, Tawny spotted her younger brother, Xenophilius sitting at a table by the bar, snogging a witch, with short, dirty blonde hair.

"Hey, Xen!" Tawny called, gaining his attention. "Get a room!" The girl blushed a bright shade a pink before grabbing Xenophilius's hand and pulling him out the door of the Three Broomsticks.

"Since when has Xenophilius had a girlfriend?" James asked, taking another swig of his drink.

"Longer than you." Tawny said. "They started dating at the beginning of last year. I only found out about it at Christmas when she sent him a gift: live nargles. He loved it."

"What the bloody hell are nargles?" Sirius asked.

"I honestly, couldn't tell you."

"Sounds like they're made for one another." James added, throwing an arm around Lily's shoulders. "Just like you and me, Evans." He finished, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Like a told Xen, get a room!"

"If we were at the Leaky Cauldron I would have." He piped up, earning a smack on the arm from Lily.

As the night went on, the crowd at the pub thinned out. Lily and Tawny ducked out around nine to swing by Honeydukes before they locked up for the night. They were taking their sweet time coming back, and the guys were sure they'd bought some candy for the girls to share without them. Or, as Remus suggested, they were talking about the four of them, and didn't want to be overheard.

Almost right on cue, as the clock struck ten, they came sauntering back into the pub, with two large bags in their hands. Instead of joining them, they walked straight up to the bar. For a minute, they chatted with Madam Rosemerta and handed her a wrapped package with a Honeydukes label. The boys watched as Madam Rosemerta reached over the bar, throwing her arms around the girls' necks.

Approaching the boys, James reached out for Lily's bag, but was disappointed when she tossed it to Remus instead. Remus immediately pulled out a large bar of Honeydukes chocolate. Before James could protest, Lily was pulling him up from his seat. "You can have some after you dance with me." She said, nodding to Madam Rosemerta. Instinctively, Madam Rosemerta turned up the radio behind the bar.

"And you," Tawny said, taking Sirius's hand, "that goes for you, too."

"Yes, mam." Sirius laughed, joining her. As she pulled him, Sirius turned back to look at Remus. Remus just shook his head and raised his glass, tipping it in Sirius's direction.

Taking dance tips from James and Remus, Sirius spun Tawny around the floor. Once, she spun right into his chest. For a moment, they stood still looking up at one another, breathing heavily. Then, Tawny's lips twitched up into a smile, and once again she grabbed his hand and this time, spun Sirius. He laughed and then, faked as if she had dipped him, kicking his leg up into the air.

The radio switched to a slow song. At first, Sirius was unaware of what to do. He looked over at James and Lily, and saw Lily wrap her arms around his neck, and sway to the music with James. Sirius focusing back on Tawny, saw her too wrap her arms around his neck. Just like his best friend, he swayed to the music, holding the girl of his dreams in his arms. Tawny rested her head on his chest. Sirius only hoped she couldn't hear his heart racing.

He caught Lily waving at him. "Kiss her!" She mouthed repeatedly. And as if he didn't understand her, she leaned up and planted one on James for an example.

"That's what I'm saying!" Hermione said, on the edge of her seat. "Please tell me he listens to her!"

"The song ended before he got the chance."

"Are you serious?" Hermione yelled, tugging on her hair.

"No, I'm Remus." Lupin laughed. "Sorry, Sirius would've killed me If I didn't tell that joke."

When the clock struck one in the morning, Madam Rosemerta told the group she needed to close for the night. Reluctantly, they collected their things and left the pub. James and Lily lead the group, walking hand in hand. The remaining four followed suit. Sirius and Tawny walked awfully close, almost able to brush fingertips. But, neither of them made a move.

"We'll I better be heading home. If I'm not back soon, my dad is going to send Xenophilius after me." She gave everyone a hug, leaving Sirius for last. As his hug lingered, they could feel the group's eyes on them, watching them very carefully. She pulled back hesitantly. "Night." She whispered before backing up and with a loud CRACK she was gone.

"You've got to me shitting me!" Lily and Remus yelled in unison.

"You were supposed to tell her how you feel!" Lily said, crossing to smack him on the shoulder.

"Ouch, Evans!"

"You told us at James's before she came that you were going to tell her! Tonight!" Remus groaned.

"I wasn't going to do it in front of you lot!" Sirius argued.

"Then go after her!"

"She's at home –"

"Sirius, you're in love with her!" Remus yelled silencing Sirius. "She deserves to know, mate."

"What if she doesn't feel the same way?" Sirius said, sitting on the stone wall. For the first time, the group could hear the fear in his voice. "I don't want anything to change."

"Sirius," Lily said softly. She squatted down, pulling hands from his face, and gripping them tightly in her own. "That's a risk you have to be willing to take."

Sirius inhaled a shaky breath before dropping Lily's hands – CRACK.

A moment later he appeared on the path up to the Lovegood's front door. To his surprise, Tawny was sitting on the steps twirling her wand. "Sirius," she said, standing. "What are you doing here?"

"Tawny," he began approaching her. She met him halfway. "There's something I want to tell you. I – I just don't know how. Well, I do – I just – oh, Godric this is hard. Tawny – you and I – we're friends. Somehow over the course of this year we became friends. Don't get me wrong, I love being your friend. I – just –" He stopped, and began to pace back and forth, trying his best to come up with the right thing to say. His hands were shaking, and he felt sick to his stomach. Normally he was incredibly confident, sometimes overconfident. But now… with Tawny… he was scared out of his mind.

"Sirius, what are you trying to say?" She said, stopping him in his tracks. Her bright eyes stared right into his, doing her best to try to figure out what was going on in his head.

In a snap decision, he cupped both her cheeks pulling her lips to his. His lips moved eagerly against hers, doing his best to translate his feelings to her through the kiss. Tawny stretched up on her toes, and took a hold of his wrists, curling his fingers around the palms of his hands. They lost track of time to how long they had been kissing. For all they knew it could have been seconds – minutes – hours. Honestly, it didn't matter.

When Sirius finally pulled away, he left Tawny speechless. She had kissed other guys before while at Hogwarts, but never had she been kissed with so much passion before. She stood almost frozen, unable to speak or move, still trying to wrap her head around what just happened. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and her mind was racing. Her head was begging her to reach forward and kiss him again, but her feet wouldn't move.

To Sirius though, he took it as a sign of a mistake he had made. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have." He said, stepping back. Before Tawny could say a word, Sirius had disappeared, leaving her standing in her front yard alone.

"Why am I not surprised." Hermione said sighing, rubbing her temples. "All of that build up, and he leaves. He kisses her and he leaves."

"I did tell you they didn't officially get together until September, Hermione."

"I know, it's just…ugh."

"Lils, what are you doing here?" James asked, opening his front door to find his girlfriend standing in front of him. "Not that I'm not glad you're here."

"What happened between Sirius and Tawny? I've sent Tawny three owls, and Sirius two. Neither of them will answer me." Said lily, walking through the doorway.

"Sirius kissed her."

"Oh, thank Godric. I was worried he hadn't." Lily said with relief.

"He kissed her, and then he left."

"He what? Is he here? SIRIUS BLACK GET YOUR ARSE DOWN HERE!"

"What did Sirius do this time?" Euphemia asked, walking out of the kitchen and joining the couple in the sitting room.

"Mrs. Potter," Lily squeaked, looking mortified. "I didn't realize you two were back from your holiday."

"Oh, don't be embarrassed, dear. Now what happened with Sirius?" James told her what happened between Sirius and Tawny. "No wonder he's been shut up in his room all week." She sighed.

"I'm going to go talk to him." Lily said, apparating up to Sirius's bedroom. CRACK – she appeared in Sirius's room.

"For the love of Merlin, Evans!" Sirius jumped. "I could've been naked!"

"You haven't been answering my letters. I want you to tell me what exactly happened with Tawny." Sighing, Sirius agreed. He recounted the events of that night just as he remembered it. Lily sat on the edge of his bed, listening intently. When he finished, she said, "You should've waited, Sirius."

"I did. She didn't say anything. I did what you said. I took the risk, it just didn't pay off."

"I'm going to go see her. I have to find out what she's thinking –"

"You can't. She's on holiday with her family in France, remember." Lily sat with him a few more minutes, doing her best to reassure him that Tawny did feel the same way about him, but he ignored her. When she realized, he stopped listening, she left him be and returned downstairs.

"Did you fix him?"

"He's not broken, James."

"Yes, he is. He's heartbroken."

"This isn't a joke –" She was cut off, as Remus appeared in the middle of the room. "Remus, please tell James he needs to take this whole Tawny-Sirius situation seriously."

"Did you just tell him to take Sirius, seriously?"

"Not you too!"

"Sorry. Look I've talked to Sirius, and I've sent Tawny almost a dozen letters. I am taking this seriously. But, I still don't know what happened. We were sure that if he went and saw her, he'd come back boasting that she was his girlfriend."

"You were wrong."

"We shouldn't have been!" Lily said, pulling at the ends of her hair. "Remus and I know how she feels the same way about him!"

"Did she specifically say that she was in love with him?"

"There is more than one way to say 'I love you', James."

"So, no."

"I know my best friend. Have you seen the way she looks at him? It's not the same way she looks at you or Remus. I've seen her search for him in the halls, and the smile that appears on her face when she spots him. When he gives her a compliment or even mentions that he'd rather be spending time with her, she turns away to hide her blush. Also, she turned down William MacMillan – who she had been talking about forever – when she asked her out last year."

"MacMillian asked her out?"

"Yeah, after the Hufflepuff-Slytherin match. That was first term! Even then, I knew she had to have feelings for Sirius. There was no way she'd turn down MacMillian if she didn't."

"What about you, Remus? What do you think?"

"She does spend a lot of time with him. Remember that first Tuesday after we got back from the winter holiday? Lily, you left early because you were in denial about James –"

"You were?" James asked, unable to hide his smirk.

"Oh, shut up."

"Anyway, when I told her Sirius would be waiting for her to have their lesson – which she thought they had finished – she practically ran out of the library to go meet him. And when we all went to the Three Broomsticks a few days before Christmas, I kept catching her looking at him while we were dancing. Oh, and don't forget that date we interrupted at the end of last term. It might not have been an official date, but you saw them. Even you admitted, Prongs, that they looked like a couple rather than just friends."

"Also – I don't know if you know this – that night that you went and retrieved them from the Charms classroom at two in the morning, Remus, for a minute there, Tawny thought he was going to kiss her. He caught her after her levitation potion wore off, and they were awfully close. Tawny told me, she kind of hoped he had."

"She did?"

"Yeah, but she never mentioned it again."

"That was the same night Sirius told her about living with you, James. He never tells people about that." James agreed. He had never, once heard Sirius inform anyone that he wasn't living at home. Sirius had even told his younger brother, Regulus, to keep the news quiet.

"And Tawny told him about her mum's death. She's only mentioned her to me a couple of times, and we've been best friends for six years. She has to really trust him to tell Sirius that."

"Okay, so she feels the same way. Then why didn't she say anything when Sirius kissed her?"

"That's what we need to find out."

"Lily and I continued writing letters to Tawny. Even James sent a few. We were hoping maybe she would reply out of annoyance. She didn't. Lily placed a charm on the Lovegood house to alert her the second anyone stepped foot on the premises. So, the moment that Tawny arrived home, Lily was going to apparate there and confront her."

"Did it work?"

"Your mother was a brilliant witch. Of course, it worked."

On the Saturday before the Hogwarts express left to take the new and returning students back to school, Tawny, Xenophilius and their father returned home. Loaded down with their luggage from their trip, plus their new school supplies they had just picked up in Diagon Alley, they walked one by one out of the fireplace, dusting soot off their clothes. Since none of the three particularly liked flying, and Xenophilius was still not of age, the chose to travel through the Floo Network. Mr. Lovegood had arranged for them to be able to connect their fireplace to one in Paris due to his close friendship with the French Minister of Magic.

The Lovegoods had barely been home a minute when, Xenophilius spotted Lily making her down the path to their house. "Tawny, what is Lily doing here? Aren't you going to see her tomorrow?"

Tawny ran outside, already knowing what Lily was going to say. "Before you start yelling at me, I should've written you back. I just needed some time to think."

"Needed some time to think? Tawny, we've been worried sick about you and Sirius. I've heard his side of the story, now tell me yours."

For the third time, Lily heard the story of what happened two weeks before. "That kiss, Lily… I've never been kissed like that…"

"Was it bad?"

"No, not at all! It was excellent! There was so much warmth and passion behind it. I tried to say something afterwards, but I couldn't find the words to describe it. He left me breathless. By the time I finally figured out what to say, he had already said that he'd made a mistake and disapparated. He regretted it, Lily."

"No, he didn't. When you didn't say anything, he was scared. He thought he messed up, that he'd lost you."

"Sirius Black, scared? He's not scared of anything."

"There is only one thing on this earth that scares Sirius: you. He was terrified to go after you that night. Remus and I pushed him to do it. But now, he doesn't think you feel the same way about him as he does about you. But I know you do, don't even try to deny it Tawny Lovegood! You've done it long enough." Tawny remained silent, trying to wrap her head around what Lily was telling her.

"Look, Tawn. You can sit here and contemplate whether I'm right all you want. But, the truth is, you're going to have to see him tomorrow on the train. He put his feelings out there. You ought to return the favor." Lily flashed her a smile, before squeezing her hand and disapparating.

"1 September, 1977. That was the day she had to see him on the train. You said earlier that was the day everything changed for them. Officially."

"Yes, Hermione." Lupin smiled. "When we boarded the Hogwarts Express, Sirius and Peter went and booked our usual compartment while James, Lily, and I made our way to the prefect's carriage. As head boy and girl, your parents lead the meeting. Also, it was James and I's first time at seeing Tawny again."

"James? What are you doing here?" Tawny said, stepping into the prefects' compartment

"I'm head boy."

"Dumbledore has lost his mind." She laughed, giving him a quick hug. "Congrats." Although as she slipped past Remus, she did whisper, "It should have been you." Remus smiled, taking a seat next to her.

"It looks like my potion wore off." Tawny told James, noticing his black hair was prominent again.

"Yeah, it completely faded a few days ago."

"Dang it." Tawny said, snapping her fingers. "I should have added a few more valerian roots." James shot her a glare and proceeded with Lily to go over the prefects' responsibilities.

Once the meeting ended, the four proceeded back to their compartment. Lily and James walked hand in hand in front of Tawny and Remus.

"You didn't answer my letters." Remus said, just loud enough for Tawny to hear.

"I know. I'll tell you about it later. I just have to do something first." Remus nodded, before stepping into the compartment.

"Oh, here comes the head boy and head girl." Sirius taunted, throwing a few of Every Flavor Beans at the couple. He got annoyed when James caught one in his mouth, and cheered on his victory. James, Lily, and Remus sat down, joining their friends. Tawny, however, remained in the doorway.

"Sirius," she said, gaining his attention. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Of course," Sirius said, swallowing hard. As he stood up, all eyes were on him. Tawny slide the compartment door closed to give them a little privacy.

Tawny didn't have time to say anything before Sirius started rambling. "Tawny, again, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you that night. I just – I think you're amazing. How could I not? You're stunning, intelligent, and an incredible prankster. But, you're also one of my best friends, and I don't want to do anything to jeopardize that –"

She didn't let him finish. Tawny had pulled him down by the collar of his shirt and kissed him. Just like their first kiss, the passion between them only grew the longer they continued. Tawny could feel that any butterflies in her stomach has completely faded and had been replaced by the fire to kiss him. Although surprised at first, Sirius wrapped his arms around Tawny's waist. Tawny wove her fingers through his long hair, doing her best to make any space between them disappear.

After a while, they broke apart. Breathing heavily, Sirius rested his forehead against Tawny's. Now it was his turn to be speechless. Tawny rested her hands on his chest. Sirius was sure she would be able to feel his heart pounding. His heart was racing so fast he was sure it was about to come right out of his chest.

"I don't want to just be friends." Tawny said after catching her breath. "From what this lot have been telling me," she pointed to the compartment without shifting her gaze away from Sirius's, "neither do you."

"No, I don't." He breathed, leaning back in for another kiss. This time the couple could hear the cheers from their friends through the compartment door. Smiling into the kiss, Tawny pulled her wand out from her pocket and nonverbally casted a silencing jinx on the four of them. Sirius, following her lead, flicked his wand and drew down the blinds over the door.

A minute later, Lily had successfully used the nonverbal counter curse and the group had resumed heckling Tawny and Sirius.

"Now look who's turn it is to get a room!" James called.

"Happily!" Sirius answered, taking Tawny's hand and walking into the compartment. He took a seat between James and Lily, pulling Tawny down into his lap. She giggled and resumed kissing him.

"Mate, we've been waiting on this for so long, we honestly don't care." Remus said, smirking. James, Lily, and Peter cheered in agreement, but then proceeded to pelt the two of them with Every Flavor Beans.

"Finally," Hermione said. "It took them long enough!"

"That kick started one of our best years at Hogwarts. Now with James and Lily together, and Tawny and Sirius, the six of us spent almost all our time together. Instead of Tawny and Sirius's private lessons, we created one big study group and spent long hours in empty classrooms studying and practicing, and teaching the girls, spells we had learned doing our animagus research.

"Hogsmeade weekends involved our usual booth, and often ended with staying late and sneaking back into the castle via the Honeydukes cellar entrance, and occasionally the Shrieking Shack. Although, Filch confiscated the map at some point that year, and we had to result to coming back on time. Full moons were still just as entertaining as before. Except this time, we'd come back from our trip the next morning and tell the girls about our adventure over breakfast."

"Did they ever think about becoming animagi with you?"

"Tawny became one – legally – after we graduated.

"With Tawny officially joining the group, we had an extra prankster. We pulled pranks on one another. They were small ones to comply with Sirius and Tawny's truce. Also, we pulled them on other people. This time, if anyone asked, there was no throwing people under the bus. We still go detention that year, but not nearly as many times as we had in the past. Sirius and James really enjoyed having Tawny on board so that they could prank Snape. Tawny had never forgiven Snape for what he called your mother. She hated that she had been friends with him for so long, and gladly helped Sirius and James prank him.

"We had enough fun seventh year to distract us from what was going on outside the castle walls. The war was raging, and people were dying, kidnapped, and controlled every day. I think part of the reason we enjoyed dueling during our study sessions was so prepare us for what was coming. After hearing that Dumbledore was building an army, we all agreed that joining that Order of the Phoenix was the best decision for us after we graduated."

Harry hadn't really thought about his parents growing up in a warzone. He imagined them checking the Daily Prophet every morning like Hermione, scanning the pages for anyone they knew that had been murdered. They'd formed a group to practice spells just like he had last year. Except, this time, theirs wasn't illegal. But what impressed him, was that through all of it, they managed to be happy… really happy. He was glad. Their seventh year at Hogwarts was one of the last few years of his parents and Tawny's lives. He had only hoped they had enjoyed it.

"James and Lily got engaged on the last Hogsmeade trip of the year, and they were married right after graduation."

"What about Sirius and Tawny? Did they get married?"

"They were going to. They got engaged on Christmas Eve the year before you were born. Your parents had just told them they were pregnant with you. We had a lot to celebrate that Christmas."

"But they didn't get married. Not like my parents."

"At the time, we all thought that the Wizarding War couldn't last much longer. Tawny wanted to wait until after it had finished to get married. Sirius and Tawny had always taken things slowly, unlike your parents. Your parents were only eighteen when they got married, and nineteen when they found out you were on the way."

Harry thought about his life over the next few years, if he was even going to have one. With Voldemort trying to kill him, he couldn't be sure. He couldn't imagine being married in two years' time, or about to be a father in three. Especially not during a war.

"Besides, when they got engaged, a lot had happened in the year and a half since your parents got married. The Wizarding War was in full swing, and they were all very active in the Order of the Phoenix. Also, on top of her Order duties, Tawny had gotten a job at St. Mungo's as a healer."

"A healer? Doesn't that take a million N.E.W.T.s and O.W.L.s to qualify for?" Ron asked, sneaking another cookie into his mouth.

"Are you forgetting Tawny made all 'Outstandings' on her exams? Tawny had always wanted to be a healer. The job at St. Mungo's was her dream job. Dumbledore had even helped her get it. He recommended her for the position. She was still devoted to the Order, but she had to split her time wisely. Dumbledore tried to place her on duty with Sirius as often as possible, since he knew that she would be working long hours at the hospital, and would have very little time to see him. In the midst of everything, she felt there wasn't any time to plan a wedding."

"They could have eloped." Hermione added.

"Sirius had thought about that, but he knew Tawny wanted more. She had already bought a wedding dress."

"Here," Hermione said, hanging Harry the picture she had been holding.

Tawny had been standing with her back to a three-way mirror. Smiling and throwing a bouquet of pale blue flowers into the air. Her white dress, with lacey bell sleeves, reached the floor. A tailor was on her knees by Tawny's feet, tapping her want against the train of Tawny's dress. A crown of the same blue flowers sat on top of Tawny's head, a veil attached the bottom of the ring at the base of her head. Her hair was still blonde. In the reflection of the mirror, Harry saw his mom taking the picture. Although her eyes were covered with the camera, Harry could see her smiling. He could tell she was thrilled for her best friend.

"She knew they were going to get married one day. So, she went dress shopping with your mom, and Pandora, Xenophilius's girlfriend."

"Hey, mum wanted me to tell you all dinner is almost ready." Ginny said, entering the room. "What are we looking at? Who's the girl in the wedding dress?"

"Harry's godmother. Now, shhh! Lupin's telling a story." Hermione told her. Ginny, although confused, sat down with them to listen to Lupin.

"Maybe we should finish the story after we eat." Said Lupin.

"No!" Harry and Hermione shouted in unison. Ron's stomach was growling, even after all the cookies he had been snacking on.

"Okay," Lupin said with a laugh. "I'll continue.

"The following summer, you were born, Harry."

Remus, Peter, Sirius, and Tawny had been sitting in the waiting room on the delivery floor of St. Mungo's. Every time they hear a baby crying, the four would look up to the door, waiting for James to come out and bring them good news. Tawny, who worked on this very floor of the hospital, hated sitting in the waiting room. She was still in her healing robes. They were white, with pale blue stitching that matched her nails, and her shoes. Normally she was patient when it came to waiting on babies. She did that all day, she could handle it. But with this baby, the birth of her godchild, any patience she had disappeared about five minutes since she entered the room. Since she was an employee, she tried flashing her name badge to enter the back rooms, but they wouldn't let her. "No working on family!" They'd tell her before sending her back to the waiting room.

Sirius, Remus, and Peter seemed just as nervous as she was for the Potter baby's arrival. The moment James walked through that door everything was going to change. No longer were they going to taking spontaneous trips, and get drunk on firewhiskey on Friday nights at James and Lily's. Not that they've been able to do that as much lately. Dumbledore had been assigning them more shifts for the Order, including during their Friday night get togethers. Then there was the matter of the Order, and the Wizarding War. All of them, including James and Lily were terrified of bringing a baby into the world right now. They knew he, or she, would be in danger from the moment they were born. Tawny and Sirius couldn't help but fear for their godchild.

Sirius was in the middle of changing the color of his shoe laces repeatedly to pass the time when James came through the double doors leading to the delivery rooms. His hair was messier than usual, if that was possible, and he was rubbing his hand quite profusely. Tawny knew Lily must have been squeezing it rather hard during the labor. Almost every mum Tawny had seen when she delivered a baby had done the same thing to their husbands, usually while cursing at them for causing her all the pain she was in.

"Well?" Sirius asked, all four of them rising from their seats.

"It's a boy!" The group erupted with cheers before they enveloped James in a massive group hug. A minute later, after James wriggled his way out of their arms he brought them back to Lily's room.

Entering the room, the first thing Tawny looked to was the newborn curled up in Lily's arms. He was fast asleep, but his tiny lips curled up into a satisfied smile. He had a mop of black hair on his head that was already sticking every other direction. She knew he was going to look just like his dad.

"James… Lily… he's perfect." Tawny said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"He is, isn't he? We did good, Evans." James said, pressing a kiss to his wife's forehead.

"Do you want to hold him?" Lily gestured to Tawny. She nodded profusely, stretching out her arms.

Tawny gazed at the baby in her arms with complete awe. She had held her fair share of babies since working at the hospital, but this one – her godson – she couldn't help but smile from ear to ear. She leaned down, kissing his forehead. She stood up, walking over to Sirius. He held out his finger, and the baby boy sleepily reached out and latched his itty-bitty finger around Sirius. Sirius smile now matched Tawny's. He hadn't even held the kid yet and he already knew he'd do anything for that baby.

"Have you picked a name?" Tawny asked, passing the baby to Sirius.

"Harry." Lily said, talking James's non-injured hand in hers. "Harry James Potter."

"Harry James? I thought your ego went down when you deflated that big head of yours." Sirius said, smirking at James.

"It was my idea." Lily added, looking up at her husband.

After Sirius held Harry for a while, he handed him over to Remus who looked terrified to hold him. He tensed as Sirius laid Harry into his arms. Harry stretched, reaching his arms up over his head, and yawned. This only seemed to scare Remus more. When Harry opened his eyes, Tawny could finally see the resemblance to Lily. Just like his mother, Harry had her piercing green eyes. Remus flashed Harry a toothy grin, which made Harry laugh.

"You're not going to break him, Moony." Sirius reassured him. But, Remus quickly passed him to Peter. The moment Harry was placed in Peter arms he began to shriek. Peter, looked mortified and rushed him over to James. Once back in his father's arms, Harry calmed back down.

"I guess he doesn't like you, Wormtail." James laughed, rocking Harry back to sleep.

Watching James and Lily fawn over their newborn son, Sirius wrapped his arms around Tawny, and pressed a long kiss to her temple. She reached up to hold is hands in hers. "How perfect is out godson?" He whispered in her ear.

"I hope you say that about our kids one day." She smiled, still unable to keep her eyes off Harry.

"I don't know, Tawn. They're going to have trouble topping, Harry. I just know it."

"Yeah, they are." She agreed, giving his hands a squeeze.

"Sirius and Tawny loved you just as much as your parents, Harry. There should be some pictures from the hospital in that pile." Said Lupin. Ginny helped him search, pulling out photos with the date marked, 31/7/1980.

"Oh, Harry! Look how cute you were!" She gushed, holding up pictures of Harry as a newborn. Looking over Ginny's shoulder, Hermione agreed, awing over a picture of Harry in Lupin's arms.

While the girls were busy gaping over those pictures, Harry was focused on one of his parents and his godparents. His mum was still in the hospital bed, holding him, while his dad was standing beside her. On the left, Tawny and Sirius mirrored his parents. Both Sirius and his dad had their arms draped over the girls' shoulders. The picture moved as his mum and Tawny fawned over him, while James mouthed something to Sirius, accompanied by a wink. Harry wasn't sure, but from what he could tell, his dad had said "Just you wait."

"Tawny and Sirius were your primary babysitters. Whenever your parents needed a break, they'd send and owl and one, if not both, would do everything they could to clear their schedules to come take you. I helped occasionally, but as you can see from the picture in Ginny's hands, I'm not the best with babies."

"I bet you were great with Harry, Remus." Said Hermione.

"Not nearly as good as Tawny was. But at least I was better than Peter." Harry thought about what Lupin had said about him crying when Wormtail had held him. Even then, Harry could see Pettigrew for what he really is, a rat.

"No enough about my babysitting skills or lack thereof. This story isn't about me. It's about Tawny and Sirius."

"Tawny, you have a visitor." The witch at the reception desk told her, as she came by.

"Thanks, Melinda." Tawny said, dropping off a chart at the front desk. With the flick of her wand, the parchment filed itself away into the cabinet behind the reception desk.

When she turned the corner, awaiting her was Sirius, with a bag of take out from the Leaky Cauldron under one arm, and a blue rose in the other. Tawny felt a blush creep up on her face as she approached him.

"You didn't have to bring me dinner." She said, giving him a quick peck on the lips before hopping up onto a stretcher. "Thank you."

"It was my pleasure." Sirius responded. He clipped the end of the rose with his want, and tucked it behind her ear. "Plus, I wanted an excuse to see you. Since you are working late delivering baby wizards and I have duty for the Order tonight, I won't get to see you until the morning."

"You are so sappy." Tawny joked, taking a bite of her chip. She held it out, letting Sirius bite off the end of it. "But, I love it."

"So, whose baby are you delivering tonight? Anybody I know?"

"Molly and Arthur Weasley's."

"Are you kidding, another Weasley baby! How many does that make?" Tawny chucked as she counted the Weasley children on her fingers.

"Seven. This will be the fourth I've delivered – assuming we're right and there is just one baby in there instead of two like when she had Fred and George."

"Wait a minute… Tawny delivered Fred, George, and Ginny?" Ron asked, amazed.

"And you, Ron." Lupin said, smiling. "Her favorite part about being a healer, was getting to meet the new baby wizards. After Tawny delivered Fred and George, your parents requested that anymore children they have be delivered by Tawny as well. And the rest of you were."

"Boy or a girl?" Sirius asked, stealing another chip from the takeout bag.

"It has to be a girl. Arthur and Molly cannot be that unlucky to get another boy!"

"I'll take those odds. One galleon says it a seventh Weasley boy."

"Deal. Is that all I get if I win, a galleon?" Tawny smiled, wrapping her arms around Sirius' neck.

"What else to you want?"

"If I win, I want my one lonely galleon, plus two pumpkin pasties from Honeydukes."

"Okay, I can arrange that. What about me? What else do I get?"

"What else do you want?"

"Well," Sirius started. He stepped closer, speaking in a whisper now, "If I win, I want to get started on making a baby of our own." Sirius closed the space between them, kissing his fiancé passionately in the middle of the hallway. The portraits on the walls gave mixed reviews of the scene in front of them. Several gave cheers, others begged for the couple to, 'get a room,' and a few turned their backs or walked out of their frames to visit their neighbors.

"We talked about this." Tawny replied breathlessly, after they pulled apart several long minutes later. "Once this is all over, once Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix has stopped Voldemort, we'll make this," she held up her left hand, gesturing to the diamond ring on her finger, "official, and make as many babies as you want. I promise." She said, kissing Sirius once more. "But not as many as the Weasleys. I do not have the strength that Molly Weasley has."

"Sure, you do." Sirius joked.

"If you want to do the birthing, be my guest. Then we can have a hundred children if you want."

"No thanks. I'm okay with two or three. That's plenty of friends for Harry."

"Much better," Tawny smirked. "Who is on duty with you tonight?"

"Moony. It was supposed to be Arthur, but since it looks as if his emergency is that baby Weasley is in such a hurry to get out, I guess Remus will do."

"Oh please, you're ecstatic that you get to partner with Remus."

"Okay, I might be a little happy about it." Sirius said, doing his best to hide his smile. He couldn't. He could never hide anything from, Tawny.

"Well, you tell Remus to bring you back in one piece, got it? You do the same for him."

"I couldn't be in better hands, Tawn."

"I know. Just come home to me, okay? I'm expecting my galleon, and my pasties." Sirius rolled his eyes before giving her another kiss. Checking his watch, he saw that he had five minutes to meet Remus at the Ministry if he was going to be on time.

"I've got to get going, and you have a baby to deliver. Keep me posted on baby Weasley, okay?"

"Of course, I will." She smiled, giving him one last kiss goodbye. "I love you, Sirius."

"I love you, too. I'll see you in the morning."

"See you in the morning." Tawny replied, letting go of his hand. With a loud CRACK, he was off to the Ministry.

Lupin sighed, pausing the story. "But Sirius didn't see her the next morning. When he got home from duty, he arrived at their house to find your parents and you, Harry. Not Tawny." Harry could tell by his ominous tone what was coming next. Glancing over to Ginny and Hermione, they too had realized the story was about to take a dark turn.

"Okay, dinner is ready!" Mrs. Weasley said, joining the conversation. "Oh, who brought photos?" She said, leaning down to examine them. She clutched her chest, letting out a painful breath when she saw the photo of Tawny in her wedding dress sitting on the corner of coffee table. "Tawny Lovegood. That's who you're talking about, Remus."

"Lupin just told us she delivered over half the family. That's pretty wicked that Harry's godmother did that."

"She did more than just deliver you, dear." She turned to Harry, still clutching the photo tightly in her grip. "Harry, we owe her everything."

"What do you, mean by everything?" Harry asked, noticing Mrs. Weasley's glossing over.

"I'm knackered, Sirius. I should really be heading home." Remus said, following Sirius through the door of his and Tawny's house.

"You can sleep on the couch if you like. Tawny won't mind. Do you want any breakfast?" Sirius asked, hearing Lupin's stomach growl.

"Now that you mention it, I wouldn't mind something to eat."

"Hey, Tawny, I'm home!" Sirius called upstairs, before heading into the kitchen, Lupin on his heels. No answer. "She's probably asleep. She's been up all night waiting on Molly Weasley to pop, again."

"How many does that – James?"

Sirius looked away from Remus, seeing James, Lily, and what he thought to be, Harry, wrapped in blankets in a carrying basket on his kitchen counter. Lily was clutching James' arm tightly, and rubbing her eyes. It appeared as if she had been crying. Although James eyes, weren't red like Lily's, his face was sullen, and his harry more unkempt than ever. He must have been running his hands through it repeatedly.

While Remus, senses alarm, Sirius didn't seem to notice. He kept a cheery smile on his face, as he ran over to rub Harry's head and give Lily a quick side hug. "What are you doing here? Did Tawny let you in? Would you like any breakfast? I was just about to whip some up for Moony. I'm not as good at cooking spells as Tawny is. She's trying to teach me, but I'm nowhere near as good as she is- "

"Sirius –" Lily choked, suppressing a sob.

"Any news on the Weasley baby? Is it a boy or a girl?" Sirius asked, still moseying around the kitchen. He picked up a frying pan, and with the wave of his wand, conjured uncooked bacon from the fridge. Within moments it was sizzling.

"A girl."

"Damn, I owe Tawny a galleon. It's a good thing we went ahead and got those pasties this morning, Moony." Sirius said, pointing to the brown paper bag on the countertop with his wand. "She'll be expecting them. Out of all the things she wants when she wins a bet she goes with pumpkin pasties?" He laughed, and continued frying the bacon.

"Sirius, Tawny isn't upstairs."

"Oh, well she must still be at the hospital-"

"Sirius!" Lily shouted, eyes now brimming with tears.

Sirius looked up from the pan, noticing for the first time just how upset Lily was. There was a long pause, as silence fell in the room. Sirius, removed the pan from the hot eye without looking down it at. He just stared into Lily's glassy eyes unable to speak.

"What's happened?" Remus asked weakly.

Lily opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't form the words. Tears began streaming down her cheeks as she buried her head into James's right army. James, inhaled a shaky breath and reached up to grasp her arm in an attempt to console her.

"Prongs?" Sirius asked, barely audible.

"A group of death eaters attacked St. Mungo's last night." Sirius gulped, not taking his eyes off James. He felt a hand on his shoulder, most likely Remus's. "Since it was so late there weren't many people on her floor. Maybe a handful at most."

Lupin paused the story, inhaling a shaky breath himself. Harry could tell where this was going. He knew his father had horrible news about Tawny for Sirius, and Lupin… well Lupin was almost tearing up just telling them about it.

"Tawny was taking, Ginny – the new baby Weasley – to the nursery for the night… Sirius, the death eaters came after the newborns." Sirius felt his knees begin to weaken. He kept trying to think of the best possible scenario that James could say. Maybe Tawny was alive, but just injured during the attack… critical condition even. He didn't care what happened as long as she was still breathing. He could only hope he was right…

"Dolohov… he tried to kill the babies, but Tawny shielded them." She was always good at shield charms. She had to be. During the years that she and Sirius were feuding, she had to be on guard for random spells during Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts. She never knew when Sirius was going to 'accidentally' cast a jinx her direction.

"That's good." Sirius said, weakly. "She saved the babies."

"Yes, she did. But…" James paused, hearing another loud sob being muffled by his sleeve. "She stunned Dolohov…"

"So, she's okay!" Sirius said, a small wave of relief flowing over him. However, that disappeared when James shook his head while blinking back his own tears.

"Sirius… Dolohov cast his spell Tawny's hit him." Sirius felt Remus's hand tighten on his shoulder. Remus knew what was coming. Sirius did, too. He just didn't want to admit it.

"Prongs, please… please don't say what I think you are." Sirius begged, dropping his wand on the counter. "James…"

"I'm so sorry, Sirius… She's gone."

"No!" Sirius protested, shaking his head. He was gripping the counter top fiercely. His eyes were filling fast with tears, and his whole body shook with grief and anger. He couldn't believe it. He didn't want to. "You're… you're lying. She isn't… she can't be!"

"Sirius," Lily sniffed, "we would never lie to you about this!"

"How do you know? Who told you?"

"Arthur did. When the death eaters attacked, he went to go get Ginny. He saw, Sirius… He saw Dolohov –"

"No! No, no, no!" Remus tried to reach out to him, but Sirius shook him off. He continued, 'no,' repeatedly as he paced back and forth across the kitchen. Sirius's outburst had woken Harry who had now begun to cry. Lily, picked him up and carried him out of the room, trying to rock him back to sleep.

As she left the room, James tried to console Sirius as well. He scurried around the counter to hug his best friend, but just like Remus, Sirius pushed him away. "No I don't –"

"Sirius, we're here for you. She was our friend too, we know how you must feel –"

"No," he refused, "no you don't! Your wife is in the other room, breathing! You have no idea how I feel, James!"

"We loved her too –" Remus began, but he was cut off at the loud CRACK of Sirius apparating.

"He just up and left?" Harry asked, surprised. Lupin nodded, wiping away a tear from his eye. "Where did he go?" Everyone in the room was listening intently to Lupin's story. Even Ron had stopped trying to sneak food out from under his mum's nose. He was too focused on what was coming next.

Sirius reappeared across St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. His heart sank as he saw the Dark Mark flashing above the building. What James said was true. There had been an attack. But, maybe, just maybe he wasn't completely correct.

He crossed the abandoned street, and banged on the window of the abandoned storefront. "I'm here to see Tawny Lovegood." He repeated the phrase he'd used a thousand times before. He visited the hospital to see Tawny so regularly, half the time the mannequin in the window just nodded and let him through.

"I'm sorry, I cannot help you, sir." Rang the familiar voice.

"Tawny Lovegood! She works here! Please let me in!" His voice shook with every word he spoke.

"I'm sorry, I cannot –"

"Molly Weasley!" He shouted, giving the name of a patient he knew would be in the building. "I'm here to see Molly Weasley!"

"Welcome to St. Mungo's-" the voice began. Sirius didn't wait to hear the full speech. He was already diving through the window and racing to Tawny's floor. He followed the familiar path he took to see her the night before, doing his best to squeeze between the crowds of people on the first level.

As he ran past he heard the cries of people all around him. The waiting room was overflowing, and the exam rooms were filled. Witches and wizards moaned in pain, or wept for loved ones that had fallen. On his way to the stairwell he saw Frank Longbottom with a gash on his arm, oozing blood. A healer stood over him, wrapping a bandage around his bleeding arm. Frank spotted Sirius and tried to call out to him, but it was too late. Sirius had dismissed his call and had pushed passed the door, bolting up the stairs.

When he reached Tawny's floor, the first thing her heard was the cries of a familiar voice. "Where is my sister! Please! I need to see my sister! I know she's here! She works here!" A tall man with long blond hair and bright yellow robes was begging the receptionist for information. There were other people on the floor, crying and tending to the wounded, but his screams were high about the rest.

"Xenophilius!" Sirius yelled, gaining his attention.

"Sirius!" He cried, running towards him. He wrapped his arms around Sirius, and began sobbing uncontrollably into his shoulder. "I heard what h-happened. I-I had to see for m-myself. B-but they won't let me s-see her!"

Before Sirius could say anything to either comfort, question, or join Xenophilius in his grief, he was tapped on the shoulder. "Sirius. Xenophilius." He heard a voice day calmly. Both men looked up to see Albus Dumbledore standing behind them. "Come with me."

Sirius and Xenophilius followed Dumbledore through the crowd of people. He simply waved at the witch at the reception desk, and she allowed them to pass through to the back rooms. They walked for what Sirius believed to be an eternity before they reached the very last room at the end of the hall.

The moment Dumbledore opened the door, Xenophilius fell to his knees, and once again crumbled into a mess of screams and tears. Sirius on the other hand stood frozen in place. The second Dumbledore opened that door any hope he had left disappeared. The realization that the love of his life was lifeless on the hospital bed in front of him, caused cause him to finally break down.

He crossed the room, and took Tawny's left hand in his, and let the tears stream down his face. The diamond ring on her left hand, twinkled under the light of the numerous candles filling the room. Seeing her ring reminded him of the conversation they'd had the night before. 'Once this is all over, once Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix has stopped Voldemort, we'll make this official, and make as many babies as you want. I promise.' A promise she never got a chance to keep. The thought that the life he was going to share with Tawny had vanished with the swish of a wand.

"I'm sure the two of you had heard the stories." Dumbledore began, as calm as before. Although, there was a tone of sadness in his voice this time. "Tawny sacrificed herself to save the lives of seven newborn babies. Her loss, is felt by all of us in the Order of the Phoenix, as well as the parents of those seven children she saved. We will all be forever grateful for her-"

"She should have been safe." Sirius cut him off. "I was on duty for the Order! I was the one in danger! She was here. A hospital. The only place that is more safe is Hogwarts! She should have been safe!"

"I know that –"

"She asked me last night to come home to her… I should've been worried about her coming home to me… How did this happen? I knew Lord Voldemort was a monster, but killing children… I didn't think that he would be capable of sending his goons to murder children! And Tawny… Tawny just got in their way! In Voldemort's eyes, Tawny was nothing more than collateral damage!"

"It is my belief that Lord Voldemort send his death eaters to try and wipe out a new generation of wizards that would help the boy from the prophecy stop him one day. He didn't succeed, Sirius. Although she wasn't on duty for the Order, Tawny gave her life so that Voldemort could one day be defeated. Her sacrifice will not be forgotten."

Instead of Dumbledore's words brining Sirius comfort, they only caused him more pain. He bowed his head over Tawny's body and continued to allow the tears to fall. He knew that she would have rather died that let those children get hurt. He knew that she signed up for this. But that didn't make him feel better in the slightest.

"Dumbledore." Remus spoke, entering the room. "I'll stay with them. I'm sure you need to have a meeting with the Minister."

"Thank you, Remus." Dumbledore said, before bowing out of the room.

Remus approached Sirius, laying a hand on his shoulder. This time, instead of pushing him away, Sirius pulled his friend into a hug. As Sirius cried into his shoulder, Lupin did his best to console him, while letting a few of his own tears fill the room as well.

In that moment, when Harry looked at Lupin he saw the shell of a broken man before him. For the first time, he realized just how much he had lost. Fifteen years ago, he lost all his best friends James, Lily, Tawny, and at the time, Peter. As well as losing Sirius, by thinking he'd betrayed his friends. Three years ago, he got Sirius back, and realized he'd been hating the wrong friend for twelve years. And then just recently, he lost Sirius again. He could tell that telling Harry this story was both helping him remember the good times, and reliving the excruciating loss of the people he cared for most in the world.

"She saved my life…" Ginny said to herself, just loud enough for Harry and Mrs. Weasley to hear. She looked to her mother, who was nodding her head and blowing her nose into a handkerchief. "If she hadn't been there, and your father had tried to rescue you, he might have died too."

"Sirius was devastated after her death. He threw himself into work at the order, doing everything he could to find and kill Voldemort. And once he heard the prophecy was about you, he volunteered right away to be your parent's secret keeper. He didn't want anything to happen to them, or you. Not after he just lost Tawny."

"But he was wrong…"

"He traded the position of secret keeper only because he thought it would help you, James and Lily. If he had thought, for even a moment that Peter would have betrayed them, he would have suggested the task for someone else."

"I should've chosen you, Remus." Sirius said, going through his tin of photos.

"What are you taking about? Chosen me for what?" Remus asked, looking up from his book.

The two friends were sitting in the kitchen at number twelve Grimmuald Place. Sirius, for what Remus thought was the hundredth time, was going through his magical photographs. Remus had been keeping the photos safe for Sirius since he went to Azkaban. But, he returned them to him when he came to his house after the end of the Triwizard Tournament the previous year.

Remus had been staying at Grimmuald Place as often as possible to keep Sirius company. However, when Sirius was lonely, he'd look back through the photographs, reminiscing about the life he had before Lord Voldemort took everything from him.

"Secret keeper. When I thought that I'd be the obvious choice for secret keeper, and I made the change. I should've chosen you. Not Wormtail."

Lupin straightened up, closing his book. "Sirius, you couldn't have known."

"I thought about it, you know? Before I chose Peter. Maybe if I had chosen you, they'd still be alive. Maybe Harry would've grown up with parents. He could've lived a normal, happy life."

"Even if I was secret keeper, Voldemort still could've found them. James and Lily still would've sacrificed themselves for Harry. You know that."

"If he found them after I chose you. I could've raised Harry. We could've."

"I think Professor McGonagall would've retired the moment she realized a child raised by the two of us was going to Hogwarts." Sirius gave Lupin a quick smile before looking back at a photo of James, Lily, and Harry.

"He wouldn't have lived with those horrible muggles. Even though he didn't have James and Lily… he still would've had a family that truly loved him."

Harry's thought of Sirius at his lowest point of his life. When he was taken to Azkaban two of his best friends had been killed, because one had betrayed him. His other best friend hated him because he thought he'd been the one behind the murder of his friends. He lost the chance to be a godfather to Harry. He was branded a murder and a supporter of the one person he hated most in the world, and to top it all off, he lost the love of his life a few months before. No wonder he survived all that time in Azkaban. He had been drowning in a sea of unhappy memories. The dementors couldn't hurt him any more if they tried.

The next moment, a large tawny-colored owl flew in threw the kitchen window and landed in front of Harry on the coffee table. "Who is sending post this late?" Mrs. Weasley asked. Harry noticed a thick white envelope attached to the owl's leg. Harry recognized the writing on the envelope immediately.

"Dumbledore." He said taking the envelope from the owl. The owl didn't wait for a response and flew off the moment the letter was free.

"What does it say?"

Inside the envelope were two letters rather than one. The smallest one, Harry opened first and read:

Harry,

Shortly after you were born, Tawny Lovegood send me this letter with instructions to give it to her close friends/family if something were to happen to her. At the time of her death, I had misplaced the letter. I've recently recovered it. I thought you might like to hear from your godmother.

Albus Dumbledore

"He's given me a letter from Tawny."

"What? How did he –" Lupin began, taking Dumbledore's note from his hands.

"Read it, Harry!"

Dear Lily, Xen, Sirius, James, Remus, Peter, and Harry,

If you're reading this letter, something had happened to me. As much as I hate that, there is something I need to tell each and every one of you. So please, don't stop reading. This is important to me.

Lily, you've been my best friend since I was eleven. You've always been by my side, and had my back. I always could count on you, and you me. When Sirius told me about becoming an animagus for Remus, the first think I thought about was you and me. Was our friendship strong enough for us to become illegal animagi if it meant helping each other? It didn't take me more than a moment for me to know you would be willing to do that for me. I want you to know, I'd do it for you. Best friends go above and beyond for each other. Through the good and bad, the highs and the lows, boyfriends and breakups, we've depended on one another. You're more than just my best friend, or my future maid of honor. You're my sister. I couldn't have asked for a better person to be by my side for so long. Thank you. Love you, Lils.

Xenophilius, thank you for being the best brother I could ask for. When we were kids, we were inseparable. The memory of us jumping on the rabbits/cushions is still my happiest memory of both mum and you. After mum died we grew apart. I noticed it, so did you, especially when we went to Hogwarts. We found new friends, and relationships. That's okay. I never told you this, but I always enjoyed coming home for holidays because It meant I got to spend more time with you. I know we were in the same house and school, but both of us had lives outside of one another. At home, it was just you and me again, out I the garden jumping on cushions. I hope if you're reading this that we've grown back together. Your family is about to grow with the arrival of your son or daughter in the winter. I hope I get to know her. Family is the most important thing, Xen. Never forget that. I love you, brother.

Sirius… where to begin. Damn you and your great potions grade until sixth year! If you had just failed earlier, we would've had more time together! In all seriousness – yes, I realize what I just said – I'm glad I stayed after class that day. If I had just decided to look up my question in the library, we wouldn't be where we are now. All those years we spent hating each other, while the pranks were fun, I can't help but think what we could've been if we had just stopped fighting and gotten to know each other earlier. At the same time, I don't regret falling in love with you when I did. My sixth and seventh years at Hogwarts were the best years I had spent there. That's due in large to you. I hope you never have to read this. I hope that we get married and have a handful of kids that can be friends with Harry. I hope we get to grow old together like Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel, except maybe not as long as them. 600+ years is a long time, but maybe not too long with you. If I don't get that chance, there are a few things I want you to know. You have made me happier than I could ever imagine. The way I feel with you doesn't even compare to anyone else I've ever been with. I think that's why it took me so long to admit I was in love with you, because I'd never felt that way about someone. And lastly, if something happens and we don't get married. I just want you to know I've considered myself Tawny Lovegood Black for a long time. I don't need a ceremony to tell me that. They say you're supposed to love someone until death do you part. Not even death will stop me from loving you, Sirius.

James, Remus, and Peter. The three of you have surprised me more than you'll ever know. When I first came to Hogwarts, and loathed Sirius, I inadvertently felt the same towards you. I shouldn't have. I don't know how I managed to go all of those years without being friends with you three. Remus, we had a little bit longer together, and I'm grateful for that. You helped me figure out my feelings for Sirius, and that alone has changed my life forever. The three of you are like brothers to me. I can't imagine the rest of my life without you three in it. I know any of you would come to help me when I needed it. Your friendship means so much to me, and I can't thank you enough. Love you guys.

Harry, I'm writing this and you've only just been born. It only took one look at you for me to fall in love. Harry, I hope to get to know you. I hope to be there when your Hogwarts letter comes, and for holidays. I hope to be able to give you advice for girls, and the best ways to study around the castle. I hope to be someone you come to when you're happy or sad. You may not be my flesh and blood, but Harry you are so loved. I don't know how much time I'll have with you. You many never get the chance to know me. If that's the case, here's a few pieces of advice your godmother can share with you. One, be strong Harry. The other people in this letter are some of the bravest people I've ever known. Learn from their example. Be courageous. Stand up for what you believe in, even if someone disagrees with you. Two, be smart. Make wise decisions, don't be rash. There is nothing wrong with a plan. Just ask your dad and his friends. They made monthly plans, and no one ended up getting hurt (fingers crossed nothing has changed). Make a plan and don't complete it alone. Everyone needs people in their life they can trust with their plans. Let the people that care about you help. Three, if you love someone, let them know. You love them as a friend, let them know. You love them in a romantic way, let them know. The weight that is lifted off your chest when you tell them how you feel is more rewarding than you know. I promise, you won't regret it.

It is my hope than none of you have to read this. But if you are, I want you to know that my life may have ended, but I will not stop watching over you. Keep living your lives. You know when people say, *insert dead person's name* would have wanted you to be happy. I mean it. I want you all to find happiness, even in my absence. We'll meet again, one day. Until then, I love you all.

With all my love, Tawny

"Wow." Ron said, breaking the silence that filled the room.

Harry reread what Tawny had wrote him. She had only just met him and he knew from what she was writing that she loved him like his mother would. He found himself crying as well. Harry couldn't help but think that anyone that loved him would end up dead. His parents, Sirius, and now Tawny. Who was next? Ron, Hermione, and Ginny? The Weasley's? Tonks and Mad-Eye? Dumbledore? Lupin?

Harry turned to Lupin, who was doing his very best to wipe his eyes with a napkin. Harry could tell that hearing Tawny's last words had hit him hard. He had shed a few tears before, by now Harry could tell he was having difficulty hiding his emotions. Harry reached out and gripped Lupin's arm.

"She wouldn't want this." Harry said, gaining his attention. "She wouldn't want us crying over her. She's want us to keep living our lives, to be happy. The way we were talking about her earlier, laughing, remembering her happy memories. That is how she would want to be remembered by us. The same goes for Sirius and my parents."

"You're right." Lupin sniffed. "That's what they would want." He looked up to Mrs. Weasley, who had finally stopped crying. "Let's eat."

Mrs. Weasley nodded profusely, and rushed off to the kitchen. Everyone followed behind her except for Harry and Lupin. "Lupin, can I keep these for a while?" Harry asked him.

"I've already made copies for myself. Those are all yours." He patted Harry on the back, and walked with him out to the garden where two large tables were set up to fit everyone.

As Harry sat down at the table between Ginny and Ron, he realized lucky he was to have these people in his life. Even without his parents and godparents, he still had a room full of people that loved him. The Weasleys and the Order were his family. Standing up, he raised his glass of pumpkin juice. All eyes were on him.

"I just wanted to take Tawny's advice. I love you guys."

"Cheers!" Everyone said, raising their glasses. Before Harry sat down, he looked up to the sky, raised his glass one more time and whispered, "This one is for you, Tawny."