The summer rains had finally came to a close, but there remnants still hung from the redwood trees that surrounded the two 17 year olds and there horses. James Potter let out a booming laugh that caused the birds that lived in the woods near his house to quickly take flight for quieter grounds. The two boys rode in silence for a while after that, each one had a smile on there face, and James' companion, Sirius Black, looked like he was with holding a laugh that was trying its best to escape. Quite chuckles were passed between two of the marauders before both deemed it was safe to start up the conversation. Sirius adjusted his grip on the horse's reigns, and wiggled his feet in the stirrups trying to get his horse calmed down a little. The cold weather always made equines fidgety.
The weather and been particularly strange this year, light showers coming down on the out skirts of London, making the entire Potter estate a little damp and cold. A stray gust of wind blew through James untidy black hair, sending a cool chill down his spine. James looked over to Sirius with a mischievous smile upon his face "Get control of your horse, you going to let an animal get the best of your Padfoot?" Sirius cast James a grin, ignoring the banter.
"So, Prongs, do tell, how has it been spending your first summer away from the lovely Lilly?" Sirius knew perfectly well that James might had not been at all thrilled about the summer being the cause for Lily's absence. Even thought the two had just gotten together in the middle of last year, James had been madly in love with the one girl who it seemed was just out of his reach for seven years now.
James scowled at his evil friends idea of amusement, doing his best not to let his anguish show James was quick to spit back "Despite what you may thing, I am in fact doing quite well on my own, actually enjoying the independence"
If James had been sitting in a chair he would have had his hands behind his head and his feet propped up on something or other, with a arrogant grin on his face. Sirius couldn't resist, Lily had convinced him not to tell James, but it was to much. Sirius actually had been all too happy not to inform him that Lily had indeed arrived while James and Sirius had been tacking up the horses in the stable. The look on his face would be priceless. No matter how good that look would be it was no comparison to the one James had on after Sirius said " Then you have no problem with the fact Lily arrived at your house just before you left for this very ride, and decided not to tell you?" James looked at Sirius obviously completely shocked. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to form words, but soon just gave up and shook his head slowly. Today was turning out well. It surprisingly didn't matter that he hadn't known Lily was at home waiting for him until now. Just the fact that she was waiting for him made James grin.
Sirius nudged his horses sides with his heels, getting the animal to pick up the pace, the forest took a nice turn after this, and would soon bring them out of the darkness into a nice glen. James followed suit, and soon the boys had way passed the quick walk Sirius had intended and speed up into a racing canter. Sirius' hair was starting to look like James on a normal day and James had passed the point where his black locks ever looked to be hair. The wind beat at the two for a while longer until Sirius ended the gallop with a curious look on his face. Before the two boys was a small house, it was pleasant looking yet oddly eary. Everything was made of wood except for two dust glass window in the front of the small cottage. Plants had started to spill out of there post on the window cill and fall towards the soft grass covered earth. Without word both boys acknowledged that neither had ever seen this small house before, even thought they had wandered through these woods for years.
James was the first to speak, " We must have made a wrong turn somewhere…" His voice trailed off as he looked back over his shoulder at where the boys had entered the clearing. Sirius didn't reply, his deep eyes were locked on the house before them.
With the absence of James voice their surrounding fell into an uncomfortable silence, and Sirius just sat there, anticipating something, what he did not know. Suddenly something came. The small house in front of them began to shake and windows shattered. This entire scene should have cause a truck load of noise, but oddly enough there was only science. Then the silence broke as the house glowed green before shattering, sending large chunks of wood towards James and Sirius. There horses whirled in fright and took to the right heading into a part of the woods that was unknown. It took a few moment of the mad gallop for either of the boys to regain the control that they so easily lost. James regained his seat before Sirius did.
Sirius struggled with is larger horses, and he eyes grew twice their normal size as a figure materialized just a few feet from his horses hooves. The fear stricken animal didn't have a chance of stopping, and shouldered the girl out of the way, sending her crashing into a near by tree. Immediately after impact her head fell to her chest as she slide to the ground unconscious.
Horror was locked on both the boys faces as they starred in terror at the collapsed girl. Sirius finally gained control of his horses and jumped from the saddle, landing hard on his feet, moments before James did the same. Sirius made it to the girl first and lowered to one knee, checking her plus. He let out a sign of relief realizing that she was very much alive. James soon joined him confirming that he thought she would be fine. James' mother was a healer, so he would know. For a moment the two talked about what to do, and came to the conclusion they had to take her back to James' house. Sirius just nodded, and James' noticed that his friend wasn't looking too good, even worse then one would have expected. Artfully Sirius swung up onto his horse, barely touch the stirrup before vaulting up.
" Pass her up here" He ordered almost a little shortly. James didn't argue the fact that it might not be a good idea to put her on a horse. At this point they didn't have a load of options. James picked up her small form realizing how light she was. It shocked him for a second as he passed her up easily to Sirius, who put her in the front of his saddle, supporting her so she wouldn't topple off.
James trotted up to the wrecked house, and circled around the ruins a few times, looking for what caused the blast. He found noting expect a few old pictures of the girl and old women, both their heads back laughing. James smiled sadly then turned to re join Sirius. "It was her house man" was his comment to his friend.
Sirius nodded glumly, he had guessed that. It looked pretty demolished, and for a second, Sirius was glad that the girl in front of him couldn't see it. James finished up his inspection and the two moved on usually quite. They both though the girl would be ok, but the troubling thing was why the house was ever attacked in the first place, and even these two tricksters couldn't find something to laugh about.
The ride back home was a good two miles and was completely uneventful. It took longer then either boy expected, seeing as this time Sirius had a passenger who wasn't in the condition to gallop through pathless woods. So in by the time they got back it was getting dark and a chill was starting to nip at there exposed arms. It was about the time when they were turning to got through the giant gates that separated the house from the forest that the girl's eyes fluttered and she squirmed a little. Sirius was a little surprised at the movement, so he wiped his head down quickly.
A groggy pain came over her and she shook her head a little, trying to clear the random thoughts that ran through her head, much like the rabbits did through the tall grass. Her senses were dull, and it seemed that little of her body was under her control. It seemed that this fact was what really cleared her mind. "I cant move, why cant I move!" she thought rapidly, trying to get her arms to respond. She knew nothing was broken, the girl was all to familiar with that feeling. "What was the last thing that happened…" She felt that if she remembered that it would help, a green light was really her only memory, then…Then a binding curse! That's it, but how did I get here? She was so absorbed with her thought the fact that she was moving or someone was behind her went completely unnoticed. That is until she heard a worried and surprised voice
"Ow, Prongs she's awake!" That voice was right behind her, it was so close even…She knew she would have panicked, but something about the playfulness that hinted through the speakers voice even with all the worry stopped her. Not that she could anyway, pretty much all that was functioning were her eyes.
She felt large but gentle hand on her shoulder "You will be fine, I promise, what's your name?" The girl shook her head a little, trying to bring up that piece of information. Finally it came "Grace.." was all she could get out, before she glanced at the ground below her. She felt her head spinning " Oh shit" was her last thought before she blacked out again.
Sirius sighed. Well at least he knew what her name was. He couldn't help but notice that she was so calm. Why was that? He didn't get a chance to think about it much before Prong's whispered in an awed voice " Lilly…" He looked like a man in a trance as he kicked his indignant horse to a trot.
The barn lights were all on and the sweet smell of hay and grain was accompanied with the whinny of the horses waiting for their dinner. Lilly stood in the large door to the barn, elbow leaning against a post, with a playful grin on her face. James, crossed the moor quickly and leaped down from his horse, only nodding a quick thanks to the stable hand as he moved quickly toward Lily. He laughed as she threw her self into his arm, holding her self off the ground by his neck. James laughed and twirled her around before placing her back on the ground. At this moment James had no doubt that her smile could light up the dark world. The happy couples greeting were broken up by Sirius grumbling, still in a joking way however "Stop the snogging for a second Prongs and help me here" James pecked Lily one more time before trotting over to Sirius, allowing him to pass Grace gently down to him, before jumping down him self. As soon as his feet hit the ground, Sirius took Grace back again almost in a protective way. Her head hung limply again, and Sirius readjusted her so her head would rest against his shoulder instead of flop aimlessly and just hang there.
It didn't take long for Lily's smile to wipe away when she caught site that Sirius was carrying a girl. Despite her small size Lily thought she was just about there age. Lily couldn't help but notice how slight she was, cleanly cut features and wide eyes. She had dark hair, that Lily couldn't be sure if it was black or dark brown. The pony tail holder that had been taming it back had fallen out, and it was flopping over Sirius arms. If she had been standing up Lily would have guessed it came down to her mid back. She had tiny feet. They almost looked like they could be Elvish, or even fairy feet. She was dressed simply, it looked like her cloths could have been hand made, or maybe just well worn. She was nicely tanned, like she had spent a lot of time out doors in the mild weather. Lily came out of her shock at seeing an unconscious girl in Sirius's arms and managed to get out, "J…James…who is that? What happened?" Sirius was the one to answer "Her name is Grace, she appeared out of no where, and I hit into her, it looked like her house was blown up by someone" With that Sirius headed towards the house to talk to Mr. and Mrs. Potter.
Lily opened and closed her mouth a few times before turning to James for a better explanation. She didn't get one. "Come on Lils, let's go see what's wrong."