Disclaimer: No, I don't own any of JK Rowling's characters or her marvelous world, I just made up the plot and the extra characters that pop in this story from time to time.

Note—Because this story is more vignettes, and expositions are a pain to write, I'm just going to mention the timing of all this stuff at the beginning of each mini story arc when it jumps around.

Time: Autumn, 1978 (first autumn that these people had been out of Hogwarts)

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Adrienne hadn't been out with just the three guys in forever. Probably not since they'd been out of school. It just so happened that they felt like getting out, even to the point of just hanging out at a playground. Lily had come down with the flu in this unseasonably cold September weather, and Peter...well Peter hadn't been too clear on why he couldn't come, which was weird considering the great interest he had taken in planning it. Not that there was much to plan; they were just at a playground goofing off in a predominantly Muggle area. They had picked the place because it was probably the safest way to be these days. Even though night was falling, she felt perfectly safe, probably helped along by the fact that she was surrounded by Sirius, James, and Remus.

Out of nowhere five masked and robed figures Apparated not ten feet from where Adrienne was swinging on a swing. She drew her wand while leaping from the swing set. The boys drew theirs as well and quickly came up next to her, Sirius on her right and James to her left with Remus on his other side. Sirius was hovering quite protectively over her, slightly in front of her as though he would leap in front of any spell aimed at her. The Deatheaters were also in a line, staring at them mutely with wands out, though not raised.

"What do you want?" Remus challenged in a rather calm voice, although Adrienne thought it sounded like it came out a bit louder than he had intended. It was met with continued silence from the masked faces.

"Guys," Adrienne whispered, barely moving her lips, "maybe we should just leave. It probably doesn't have anything to do with us..."

"And just let them have their 'fun' killing innocent Muggles?" James whispered back sardonically. Adrienne thought about replying, but held her tongue. She didn't want to let a group of Voldemort's minions wandering this neighborhood either, but they were outnumbered and the silence was unnerving her.

Without much warning, the five Deatheaters raised their wands in unison and shouted "EXPELLIARMUS" in one terrible voice. Maybe they had been aiming to frighten the friends with the unison, but it was a foolish move really; the four had already had their wands poised for whatever was coming and easily shielded against the attack. One of the Deatheaters didn't countershield fast enough to block the rebound and as his wand was lost James quickly stunned him, evening out the numbers.

From there they all split and began dueling. As Adrienne squared off against her Deatheater, she tried to keep an eye on everyone else. They always yelled at her for it afterwards, but the fact remained that she cared much more about what happened to them than to herself. The dueling was going on in silence; there weren't even any taunts. These Deatheaters obviously wanted to maintain the secret of their identities, even if they could tell the voices.

Oddly, it seemed to Adrienne that James was having the most trouble out of all of them. His opponent didn't really seem faster than him, but more like for some reason he knew his fighting style and could anticipate what was coming next. What was more, the masked man's attacks seemed to become more and more frenzied. Finally, he actually said a curse out loud: "Sectumsempra!"

Adrienne might as well have been Stunned. She knew that voice. She knew that curse. It was as though her brain had shut down except for the single realization she just could not register. "Adrienne, what are you doing?" she heard Sirius exclaim as though from far away.

Still unable to unglue her eyes from James' adversary, she heard yet another voice she knew yell "Crucio!"

Pain. Agony. Ripping, stabbing, twisting knives. Everywhere.

It stopped. As that one terrible thought once again hijacked her mind, she wished for that pain to come back. She looked around, trying to figure out why Lucius Malfoy's unwitting present to her had been so rudely stolen from her.

Apparently, Ministry wizards had arrived. They must have noticed the massive amount of magic being used in a Muggle area. Adrienne forced these thoughts one by one through her mind, trying to close off the terrible realization threatening to overtake her. Making herself look at James, she realized the word that caused her so much agony hadn't left a mark on him. She envisioned in her mind what the attack should have done, and immediately regretted it. Remus was ok too, standing next to James, talking to the Ministry officials. She saw the stunned Deatheater had been abandoned in the flight of the rest of them. Only then did the fact that the sprawled figure was at her eye level make her realize she was on the ground too.

Sirius rushed over to her and gathered her into his arms, limp as a rag doll. He caressed her face, asking her if she was okay. She couldn't bring herself to answer him and instead began to cry, each sob wracking her body as she clung to him. "It'll be ok," he whispered softly into her ear, gripping her close to him and stroking her hair gently. "I'll make everything ok, I promise." She knew he couldn't this time, but knew letting him say that would comfort him at least. "Prongs," Sirius called over. James turned away from the Ministry official and looked at his best friend over his shoulder, concern spreading over his face when he saw the state Adrienne was in. "I'm taking her home, meet us there when you're done here." James nodded his acquiescence, and while one of the officials tried to protest, Sirius Disapparated, taking Adrienne with him.

He transported them directly to their bed. Adrienne still didn't want to say anything. How could she even begin to accept the fact that her childhood friend was a—she couldn't even bear to think it. She gave herself over to the hysteria that engulfed her, sobbing uncontrollably into Sirius' chest. The boy, not knowing why she was so upset or how to fix it, just held her, whispering what he hoped were soothing words into her ear and gently rocking her until she fell asleep from sheer exhaustion.