Chapter Two

A Curious Thing

The Saturday of September first brought with it the first day of sunshine that Britain had seen in weeks. While this made the journey to the station easy and enjoyable, it also meant that Platform Nine and Three Quarters was more crowded than usual, as families bidding their children farewell were more inclined to stay out in the sunshine nearby the train until it finally took off at eleven o'clock. Lily could barely see the train at all as she pushed her cart through the busy platform, her only indication of where she was going being the steady stream of white smoke already chugging out of the engine in the distance.

Severus had ridden to the station with Lily and her parents that morning. Normally, Mr. and Mrs. Evans would have protested to welcoming Severus into their car, but Lily was correct in suspecting that their guilt over what had occurred at the dinner table earlier that week would be enough to bend their wills in Lily's favor. Severus hadn't seemed too keen on the idea at first, but Lily, afraid that he suspected her parents' less than genial feelings towards Severus, had assured him that they were glad to have him for the ride.

"These are mine," Severus said, gesturing towards the row of luggage compartments lining the train for Slytherin students.

"Don't bother trying to find me out here," Lily said, scanning the packed platform. "Meet me in car five. We can find a seat from there."

"See you in a bit," said Severus, who was already beginning to take the trunk off of his cart.

Seconds later, Lily was swallowed up by the crowd in search of a luggage compartment of her own. She had only just reached her own luggage compartment when she thought she spotted a flash of dirty blonde hair and heard the familiar tinkling laughter of Denise Adlard farther up the platform. Craning her neck over the crowd, Lily tugged on her cart to speed up in pursuit of her friend. She hadn't gone more than five paces when a jarring CRASH! erupted to her right as a trunk collided with cement, where it burst open, sending books, papers and an assortment of quills spilling out onto the platform. Someone nearby let lose a colorful curse, and Lily yelped in surprise as she leapt backwards, her backside colliding with her cart. She flapped her arms out by her sides, and just when she though she was about to topple over an arm swept behind her back to steady her.

"Bloody hell!" shouted the boy who was holding her up. "You alright?"

"What on earth, Potter?" was Lily's reply, having just barely seen who it was that had collided with her out of the corner of her eye.

"Sorry. You all right?" he repeated.

"Yes, I'm fine, so you can let go of me, now," she said, as James still had his left arm wrapped around her back. Lily looked around herself to see if she had dropped anything in the collision. She was quickly satisfied and lifted her gaze to finally give James a nice stern look.

But she faltered, finding herself momentarily distracted when her bright emerald eyes met his dark hazel ones. He was taller – that was what Lily noticed first, because she was struck by the few extra inches by which she needed to lift her gaze to see his face. His hair was even more disheveled than usual, as if he'd just been running his hands through it in frustration.

James momentarily lost himself in the sight of Lily before he could answer – how her deep red hair was now sun bleached a few shades lighter, and a bit shorter, so that the ends feathered over her shoulders and around her face–

He was quickly jolted out of his reverie when he noticed the perplexed look on Lily's face and realized that he still had his arm around her.

"Oh, right, sure," stammered James. He released her.

"Are you all right?" she asked, changing her tone now that she had had a good look at him. She had never before seen this normally savvy boy quite so flustered. For reasons she couldn't explain, this made her insides swell up with something like affection.

"Fine," he heaved exasperatedly, looking around rather hopelessly at all his scattered things before turning back to Lily. "Just bloody brilliant. Sorry about that–"

"Merlin, Potter, are you blind?" someone called.

Tony Marsden, a Gryffindor third year who had an annoying habit of showing up at the worst of times, had arrived to put in his two cents.

"Sod off, Tony," said James, rolling his eyes.

"What's with your arm?" Tony said, ignoring James's comment.

"None of your business," James replied. He took out his wand and waved it so that all the scattered papers and books flew up into the air and stacked themselves neatly into his trunk once more.

"You're not supposed to use magic until we're back at Hogwarts," reprimanded Tony.

James's only response was a look of annoyance as he proceeded to magically float his trunk into the luggage compartment.

"Now why didn't I just do that in the first place?" he asked, more to himself than to anyone else.

"Can you fly with it like that?" Tony asked, returning his attention back to James's bandaged arm. "I just saw Martha. She told me she's holding tryouts early this year. If you're not careful you'll be downgraded to an alternate."

"Sod off, Tony," repeated James.

"Just saying," said Tony. "See you, Evans," he added, nodding at Lily before climbing up into the nearest car.

"Bye," Lily said with a little wave. "I thought you two were friends," she said to James once Marsden was out of earshot.

"Where'd you get that?" asked James with a look of mild disgust.

"You two are on the same Quidditch team," she said.

"Doesn't mean I have to like him," said James. "Little git. Anyway, are you sure you're alright?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine," Lily assured him. "Um, listen, I'm actually glad we bumped into each other. Not literally, I mean – er – it occurred to me after term ended that," Lily faltered, but quickly decided to just come right out with it. "That it might have seemed like I was avoiding you."

"Really? How's that?" asked James, furrowing his brow slightly as he cocked his head to the side.

"Oh, I don't know," said Lily, taken aback. "I mean I wasn't." She was. "It's no big deal." It was – she could feel herself growing a bit warm under the collar. "It's just that I never got a chance to ask you how things worked out after Slughorn's party, and I didn't want you to think I was – I don't know–"

"Avoiding me?" echoed James. "No. I didn't notice, actually. And I wouldn't have given you any details anyway. You know that." He ended with a kind of teasing half-smirk.

"Sure," said Lily. "Right, good. I'm glad there wasn't any confusion. So," she said a bit loudly, wanting to change the subject. "Um, I'd avoid heavy lifting in the future, if I were you."

"It's nice to know you care, Evans," James teased. He stepped up onto one of the steps leading into the train. "And that you think about me doing heavy lifting."

"Oh, it's not you I'm worried about, Potter," she replied coolly, not meeting his gaze as she lifted her trunk easily into the storage bin. "It's all the innocent bystanders whom you might accidently crush."

"What was that, Evans?" he called down at her. He took another step inside the train, probably to get out of firing range due to what he was about to say next. "All I heard was something about you, me, and a crush!"

Lily opened her mouth to snap out a retort, her lips curling slightly upwards in a small smirk, but before she could get a word out James had ascended the final step into the corridor of the train and disappeared from sight.

After closing the hatch to the luggage bin, Lily climbed up into the car after him. Though she was only a second or two behind him, Potter was nowhere in sight when she entered the car.

"How does he do that?" Lily asked aloud. Potter had an irritating habit of performing disappearing acts out of the blue; if Lily didn't know any better she'd have thought he had learned how to apparate.

She closed the door behind her, and the train's thick walls of wood and steel instantly muffled the sound of the bustling crowd out on the platform.

"Lily!" someone shouted jovially just before tackling Lily with a bear hug from behind. Locks of dirty blond hair splashed into Lily's face.

"Pfffft. Hi, Denny," Lily said, her face scrunched up as she blew away strands of her friend's hair. "I'm surprised you didn't stop to talk to Potter."

"What do you mean?" asked Denise, turning Lily around to face her. Her blue eyes were bright with excitement. "I didn't see him. Did you, Mary?"

"Nope," said Mary.

"How does he do that?" Lily repeated. Mary shrugged, and Lily decided to let it rest. "How was the rest of your summer, Mary?" she asked.

"Not as eventful since you left," she replied.

Mary already looked a bit fatigued, and Lily suspected that this was because she had been Denny's sole company until Lily had arrived. Though they couldn't have been together for more than half an hour before now, Lily knew from experience that being alone with Denise was an exceptionally tiresome occupation. Mary was a quiet girl with long, dark hair, a tall figure, and a pale, freckled complexion that made her stand out in crowds far more than she was comfortable with. She had a tendency to keep her feelings to herself, with the exception of Lily and her special confidant, and Denise tended to take advantage of Mary's quit nature by talking nonstop about herself. In fact, the only time that Lily could remember Denise being silent for more than five minutes at a time was two years ago, when a frustrated Lily, bombarded by Denise in the middle of studying for final exams, had compared Denise's ramblings to an overflowing bathroom faucet. This had earned Lily a week of silence, though Lily had been careful never to let on that this was more of a blessing than punishment.

"Were you just with James?" asked Denise, still on the original subject. "Maybe that's why you look so frazzled. What were you two doing?"

"Ha," Lily said dryly. "Nothing. He dropped all his stuff outside and nearly trampled me to death."

"You mean you fell head over heals?" Denise teased.

"Ok, I'm going to say 'ha!' again, but this time I really want you to note the sarcasm," said Lily.

"You're the one who was with him at Slughorn's party last year," Denise reminded her.

"It's not what it looks like–"

"Sure it isn't," Denise interrupted her. "So, how'd he drop his stuff?"

Lily sighed, silently wondering if Denise's none-too-subtle obsession with Hogwarts's premier jocks would ever end.

"Didn't you notice his arm?" she asked.

"Oh, that must have been what Tony was talking about when I saw him earlier," said Denise. "He said that James had some kind of flying accident a few weeks ago, and that he was worried about it affecting Quidditch. Apparently he had to get a new broom. It must have been pretty bad."

"How would Tony know about it?" asked Mary.

"Because he's a gossip monger–" Denise began.

"And the two of you co-head the secret club for gossip mongers, right, I forgot," added Lily.

"Ok, my turn – ha, ha, and ha," said Denise. "No, Tony overheard Remus talking to Sirius about how James had to order a new broom because he had some kind of flying accident over the summer."

"When was this?" asked Lily, wondering what Tony was playing at by asking James all those questions if he already knew what had happened.

"Like, ten minutes ago," said Denise. "Tony bumped into me after talking to Martha, and he said that if Martha has any brains she'll keep anyone who doesn't know how to ride a broom properly off the team and promote him – Tony, I mean – to center Chaser."

"Well that explains why he was so interested in talking to him just now – no, wait, what am I getting into this?" said Lily. "Please, can we find something to talk about other than Quidditch and James Potter? Why are you so interested in knowing if he's all right? You'd think that if he stopped playing Quidditch the world would stop turning."

"Oh, that's not why I was asking about him," said Denise. "I heard he was at Ellie's dad's – Oh, my god!" she said, gasping and grabbing onto Mary and Lily's arms with each of her hands. "But you didn't hear, did you? Oh my god–"

"Did we hear what?" asked Lily.

"Ellie's dad died," whispered Denise. "Just a few weeks ago."

"Died?" Lily gasped, bringing a hand to her mouth. "Oh, poor Ellie! I can't even imagine how she's handling this."

"Do you think we should write her?" asked Mary. "I mean, I don't know her that well, but–"

"I'm sure Robin would send her our best. You know Robin Barclay, right? She's in Ravenclaw with Ellie."

"Not well," said Lily.

"Well, if your not comfortable asking her, James might be keeping in touch with Ellie. You could ask him."

"Why's that?" asked Mary.

"Robin told me he was at the funeral," Denise explained. "Apparently their parents go way back. That's why I was asking about him."

"Sure," said Mary after a pause. "Um – not that I'm not upset for Ellie, but can we find something else to talk about that doesn't involve death?"

"No death, no Potter, and no Quidditch – you guys take the excitement out of everything."

"That's a bit crass, Denny," said Lily.

"Just saying," said Denise with a shrug.

"Shall we find a compartment before all the good ones are taken?" asked Mary, hoping to avoid a developing tiff between Lily and Denise.

"Oh, you two can," said Lily as the three girls made their way down the length of the train. "But I told Severus I'd–"

"Ugh! Him?" scoffed Denise. "What is with you, Lily? I thought you ended that whole weird thing last year!"

"We made up," Lily explained, affronted. "Look, I can understand why you might have a problem with him, Den, but that's only because you don't know him."

"Why would I want to get to know him?" asked Denise. "He's so–"

But exactly what Denise thought of Severus, Lily was never to know, because at that moment a loud BANG erupted from down the car as a compartment door slammed open and five figures toppled out into the hall amidst a thick blanket of greenish smog. They were coughing and cursing and covering their faces in their hands, and so it was a minute before Lily recognized Severus among the crowd.

"What happened?" Lily asked as she approached him. It wasn't until she was nearer that she realized Macnair and Crabbe were among the crowd. "Oh," she said, stopping in her tracks. Though she knew that Severus would obviously still be in contact with these people (they were his housemates, after all), she hadn't expected to find them sharing a compartment together when he had supposedly agreed to meet her in another car.

"Someone let off a dungbomb in our compartment is what happened," said Severus in a snappish tone that took Lily aback. Had Denise not been standing right there and had Severus not still been coughing miserably from the smoke, she might not have forgiven him for it so easily.

"Oh, yeah, he's a real charmer," muttered Denise under her breath. "It's a wonder I'm not more drawn to him."

"I thought you were going to meet me in a different compartment, Sev," she asked him once he had stopped coughing.

"I was – I'm – I just – they sort of pulled me in, and I've been trying to leave, but–"

"It's all right, Sev, they are your housemates," said Lily. "I don't expect you not to talk to them."

"Come on, Severus, we're going to find another compartment," called Macnair from down the corridor.

"You go on ahead," said Severus, not bothering to look over her shoulder at the expression Macnair and his gang shot at him on their way through the next compartment. Lily saw, though, as did Denise and Mary.

"Well…" said Dense slowly, rocking back and forth on her trainers. It was just the three girls and Severus in the corridor now, and Denise was clearly trying to think of a good excuse not to sit in the same compartment as Severus, whom she knew Lily would insist upon sitting with.

"So, we're going to go find a compartment," said Lily, tactfully allowing Denise to avoid coming up with what would no doubt be a terrible and utterly transparent excuse not to join them. "See you guys at the feast?"

"Yeah, sure," said Mary, relieved that things hadn't taken a turn for the worse where Severus and Denise were concerned. "C'mon, Denise," she said, tugging her lightly by the sleeve. The two held their breath as they passed through the smog still issuing slowly from the dungbombed compartment, and soon Severus and Lily were alone in the corridor together.

"So, shall we find a different car?" Severus asked, jerking his head towards the smog.

"Nonsense, it's just a quick clean up," said Lily, whipping out her wand. "People are always making a bigger deal out of dungbombs than they really are. It's all flash and no damage. Scourgify!"

Instantly the smog issuing from the compartment disappeared as if it had dissolved into thin air.

"Who would throw a dungbomb into a train compartment?" asked Lily, settling into her seat. She took a cucumber sandwich out of the small bag she had brought with her onto the train, unwrapped it and offered half to Severus.

"I have a pretty good idea who," muttered Severus bitterly. He started on his sandwich, indicating to Lily that he wasn't going to elaborate. He didn't need to. In fact, Lily was glad he didn't, as the last thing that she wanted to do now was get into yet another heated discussion about James Potter.

In fact, James had dropped the dungbombs in the compartment. He had pulled on his invisibility cloak just after he was out of Lily's line of sight and had slipped the bombs into the compartment just as Crabbe was pulling the door closed.

Truthfully, James was relieved that the cloak allowed him to slip away from Evans. He had lied when he said that he didn't notice her avoidance of him at the end of last year, but he had hoped, even made himself believe, that it was all in his head. But she had just confirmed his original feeling, and the last thing he wanted to do was let on that he was upset by it. Now he had to face the question that he had avoided asking himself all summer: what had he done wrong at Slughorn's party to warrant her deliberate avoidance of him for the remaining days of the school year?

He readily forced these unsavory thoughts out of his mind, however, when he found Sirius and Remus in the corridor a few cars down.

"So anyway, that's why I had to stop owling her, because if she can't take the hint that - Merlin's freaking bollocks!" shouted Sirius, jumping into the air, for James had just whipped off his invisibility cloak directly in front of him. "Give us a warning, mate!"

"Sorry," said James, suppressing a laugh. "I keep forgetting how easy it is to scare people in this thing."

"What could you possibly be getting up to this early in the year?" asked Remus.

"Dropping dungbombs in the Slytherin compartment," he said nonchalantly, bundling up the cloak and tossing it back into his duffle. "Is Peter here yet?" he asked, peeking into the compartment that they were standing in front of.

"Yes – er, but try not to say anything too mean about–" started Remus, but James was already poking his head through the door.

Peter had already taken a seat and was busily going through an impressive assortment of chocolate frog cards. He looked up when the compartment door opened, saw James, and flashed him a wide grin.

"Hey James!" he called.

James had to do a double take, as he almost didn't recognize Peter, who had grown his hair out of the pudding-bowl cut that he had had since first year into what could now be best described as a mullet-in-progress.

"Wow, Pete," James said. "You look… taller," he finished, which was technically true, as the sheer volume his hair actually added a good two inches to his height. Behind James, Sirius snorted. Shooting a glance at Sirius once Peter had turned his attention back to his cards, James whispered, "He actually got it? But Peter hates change! He's had the same book bag since first year! He'd still be wearing the same trainers if his feet hadn't grown!"

"We're as surprised as you are, mate," Sirius said in a half-amused, half-disapproving tone.

"Come off it, you two. It's not that bad," Remus said quietly, although secretly he agreed that their friend could have come up with a more successful and, frankly, stylish way of making an impression on their first day back at school. James and Sirius threw Remus a look that was clearly meant to ask if he was all right in the head. To this, Remus responded, "Well, I'm sure it'll be better once it grows out." And with that he entered the compartment so as to avoid the topic altogether.

James made to follow Remus in, but Sirius stopped him. To James's surprise, he looked a bit miffed.

"What?" asked James.

"How come I only just found out through Remus that you, apparently, had to order a new broom because your old one got smashed into a billion pieces when you fell off it? And how come you never wrote me about getting the stuff for – you know – the animagus thing," he mouthed the last bit. "Hell, I didn't get one letter from you since I saw you in August."

"What are you talking about?" asked James, thoroughly confused. "I wrote you three times since then. I was wondering why you hadn't written me back."

"What?"

"Yeah," said James. "Wow, things mustn't have been good this summer. You normally don't just snap like that." He crossed his arms, still feeling a bit defensive.

"Sorry," Sirius said a bit sheepishly. He heaved a great sigh and ran his hand through his hair. "Ugh, I knew something else must have happened. I don't know what, but – ugh, sorry, mate."

"Forget it. Just stop looking so sad, it's weird," said James. "Come one, I'll tell you what you missed." He slid open the compartment door.

"How'd it happen then?" asked Sirius once they were all settled in the compartment. "Remus couldn't explain."

"That's because he didn't explain it in his letter," said Remus. "Your idea of a cliffhanger, I suppose."

"Hardy," said James. "I won't be able to do much better than what I originally wrote. I don't really remember how it happened."

"What do you mean, you don't really remember how it happened?" asked Sirius.

"I mean I… don't remember it at all," said James, and now it was his turn to look sheepish.

The silence was not comforting to James.

"The healers said that the fall – or the shock of it, or something – made me black out, so when I woke up I couldn't remember falling."

"But you must remember what caused it, even if you can't remember the actual fall," prompted Remus.

"No, that's the thing," said James, growing a bit frustrated. This wasn't the first time he had been asked to recount what he didn't remember. "I don't even remember being on my broom. It's like an entire half-day is just gone from my memory. One minute I was walking outside, close to home, and the next – I don't know. I was in the hospital. My Mum told me they'd found me out on the grass with my Commit all around me, in pieces."

"That's either the most fascinating or the most disappointing story I've ever heard," said Sirius after a sizable pause.

"That's not the worst part," said James, and Remus, Sirius, and Peter leaned in. "Mum wrote a letter to Dumbledore about making Quidditch a safer sport. It was the only way I could convince her to order me a replacement broom. Merlin, it was mortifying."

Peter laughed, and Sirius sank back into his seat, shaking his head.

"So how's the arm?" asked Remus. "The only thing you really said in your letter was that you hoped it would heal by the start of the Quidditch season."

"Nothing but trouble," answered James. "Helped me make a fool out of myself on the platform, trying to shove my trunk into the luggage bin with one arm."

"Oh, it wasn't that bad," said Sirius. "On the plus side, the drop entertained us all. Your face was priceless."

"Wait a minute, you were watching?" asked James incredulously. "And you didn't think I might want some help?"

"Well, Moony and I were going to come out an help, but then we saw you were getting on with Evans," Sirius explained, looking nonplussed as he examined his fingernails. "Albeit, after you nearly trampled her to death – and we didn't want to interrupt."

"Me and Evans?" scoffed James. "Are you mental? She's – she's – weird. Always hanging out with Snivellus. Please."

"I'm surprised you guys don't get along with her better," said Remus. "She's been known to break quite a few school rules in the name of fun. And I think she's nice."

"I never said she wasn't nice," said James, suddenly sounding defensive.

"So what are you saying?" asked Peter.

"I don't – whatever," said James, trying and failing to look less agitated. "Doesn't matter. Just saying."

"You're awfully jittery this morning, mate," noted Sirius.

"Yeah, what happened to the cool, calm, collected James Potter who's usually telling us what a great year it's going to be?" added Remus.

"You're not really worried about Quidditch tryouts, are you?" asked Sirius. "Because I know you'll have to break in the new broom, but–"

"Please," James interrupted with yet another scoff. "Like Martha even has to see me fly before recruiting me again. She'd be crazy to let me go."

"Oh, my mistake," said Remus. "James must be here. I just found his ego."

"Oy, speaking of Quidditch, though," Sirius said, suddenly sounding much more cheerful. "You're gonna love this one, mate. Supposedly, Slughorn's got an in with one of the Hollyhead Harpies. Least that's what I heard my brother saying."

"In that case, I think we may need to reconsider our position on joining the Slug Club," said James.

"Oh, no no no no," Sirius said, waving his hands in the air. "You might be easily swayed by the prospects of a few Quidditch league leads, but I have more integrity than that."

"For shame, Sirius," said James.

"So, you have too much integrity to attend one of Slughorn's parties," said Remus, tapping a finger on his chin and looking up at the ceiling as though he were trying to figure out something very complicated. "But blowing up his classroom is fine?"

"Oh, like you had nothing to do with that," Sirius shot back, closing his eyes and leaning back in his seat. "I can't believe you're still harping on about it. Not today, Remus. It's too early and too cold."

"It has been getting unusually cold, hasn't it?" commented Peter. "Down another seven degrees today, I think it was."

His only response was a collective shrug from each of the boys.

"Did you guys hear what they're saying's the cause of the cold snap?" Peter continued. "My mum was reading the Marvel last Saturday. There was a column saying the cold might be being caused–" he took a deep breath for dramatic effect. "By dementors."

"Wait a minute, what column are you talking about?" James interjected. "Not that one Bertha's dad writes?"

Starkie Jorkins was the writer of a weekly column in Marvel Magazine called "Stark Talk," a piece that most of the wizarding community considered to be about ninety-nine percent gossip. Starkie's daughter, Bertha Jorkins, a third year Ravenclaw girl, lived up to the family name, as she was quickly earning a reputation for herself as Hogwarts' premier purveyor of gossip.

"You mum reads Starkie Jorkins's column?" Sirius scoffed, his eyes snapping open as he leaned forward.

"Yeah, a lot of people do," said Peter defensively, sensing Sirius's condescending tone.

"Peter, have you actually read any of his other columns?' asked James.

"Well, I heard my mum talk about that one last Sunday-"

"Yeah, let me show you something," interrupted James, taking a folded up magazine out of his robes.

"Wait, why do you have an issue?" asked Sirius incredulously, clearly baffled that James didn't have more sense.

"I saw Starkie's headline in a stand at Diagon Alley last week. It's about Saint Mungo's, and my dad was mentioned in it. And, honestly, it was too crazy not to show you guys. Listen to this - Bloodsuckers at Saint Mungo's: How our health care practitioners are being replaced by vampires."

"What?" said Sirius, Remus, and Peter simultaneously.

"Listen, 'cuz some of it's actually true," said James, "Not the vampire stuff, I mean, but pretty much everything else. I only know 'cuz Saint Mungo's is all dad talks about now. Just listen. 'Directing Healer Anastas Nostrum turned heads last month when she announced that Saint Mungo's Hospital of Magical Maladies and Injuries would be temporarily closing its doors to volunteers and re-organizing its staffing. Several members of the hospital's board, including Mr. Henry Cheswick, Sir Harold Potter, and former director Sebastian Vance, were given early leave from their positions without explanation. None of the above were available for questioning, but several members of the staff and various patients had much to say about the changes in hospital policy. The most shocking of these testimonies came from a family in Penstock who wish to remain anonymous. According to them, the hospital refused to release the body of their nineteen-year-old daughter after she died from an illness in the hospital last Tuesday. The body was released almost a week after it was scheduled to return home for the wake. The girl's distraught mother told Marvel reporters that every time she went to ask about her daughter's body, she was given a different reason as to why it couldn't be released. Based on what was said, one reporter believes that the hospital misplaced the body.

'Many of the hospital's long-term patients are also unhappy with the changes taking place since the re-assignation of the board. Edwina Lafayette, a twelve-year resident of the hospital, told reporters that she was looking into home-care options due to a growing dissatisfaction with new staffing and policies, such as a drastic change in temperament in the healers assigned to care for her.'"

"Well, that actually sounds alright," Remus interjected. "Not nearly as extreme as some of the stuff he says whenever he gets a spot on the WWN."

"That's because everything I just read is true, according to dad," said James. "He doesn't go off his rocker 'till paragraph four. That's how he reels you in."

"Wait, so the stuff about that family and that missing body…" Peter began, though he didn't seem to want to finish.

"Does your dad know who that family from Penstock was?" asked Remus.

James looked around at them all for a moment or two before answering. "He won't tell me."

"So that actually happened?" asked Remus, his eyes bugging out of his head.

"Skip down to where it gets interesting," Sirius interrupted, leaning over James's shoulder to get a better look at the article. "When does he start talking about vampires?"

"Uhm… ok, here we go – 'Despite numerous laws preventing vampires from working in the public health care industry, there is a compelling amount of evidence suggesting that current hospital director Anastas Nostrum is a member of the night-walking creed. Could it be that Nostrum, a recent convert to the clan of the walking dead, is turning her staff into fellow bloodsuckers, and is in fact using the hospital as a blood bank to feed the children of the night? We went to well-known vampire and proponent of beast-being cohabitation rights, Ulric the Pasty, to find out more."

"Why would they interview Ulric the Pasty?" asked Remus, who avidly followed Ulric's pro-beast lobbying. "He's a chamber music composer, for Merlin's sake."

"And a well-known and controversial activist. I suppose they thought he'd be in the loop," James said before continuing. "'Said Ulric to Marvel reporters: "These are exactly the kinds of fear-driven sentiments that breed widespread ignorance about the vampire creed. So-called sanguivoriphobia is nothing but a ploy to alienate those of us who wish to integrate into society peacefully, and reporters play into it with gusto." Ulric later added that as a continuous donator to the hospital (last year he gave ten thousand galleons to the Department of Magical Diseases alone), he knows for a fact that no vampires are currently staffed there, as current laws make it illegal. Ulric refused to discuss that matter further, but in revealing his ties to the hospital and noting that he disapproves of the current laws against hiring the bloodless for public health positions, he may have actually said too much.'"

"Leave it to Jorkins to take anything someone says and turn it around until it's exactly the opposite of what they meant," said Remus bitterly, crossing his arms with a huff.

"These rumors won't get any better with Bertha around, I'll tell you that much," said Sirius, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head. "Who wants to bet we hear at least five people mention it before the end of the welcome feast tonight?"

"No one here is going to take that bet, Sirius," Remus said, taking a book out of his bag and opening it to a folded page. "Hogwarts runs on gossip. I wouldn't be surprised if this rumor spreads faster than the one about you snogging Anita Alcott at Slughorn's Christmas party."

"Another Jorkins lie!" Sirius cried. "As if I would ever be caught dead at one of Slug's uppity parties."

"I went to one. They're actually not that bad," said Remus over his book.

"And you never went to another one," Sirius reminded him. "You only went to that one because Evans invited you."

James, who still had a picture of Lily as she had appeared on the platform in the back of his mind, with her adorable pink nose and sweet smile, shifted in his seat at Sirius's words. Though it hadn't bothered him before when Lily had asked Remus to Slughorn's Christmas party last year – in fact, he had made fun of Remus for it several times – it was now beginning to bother him. He would have consoled himself with the fact that he had ended up going with Evans to another of Slug's parties later in the year, but that had been part of a deal that they had struck as opposed to a genuine interest in going together.

"Why don't you just accept his next invitation and see for yourself, instead of turning him down like you normally do?" Remus suggested, putting his book down to look Sirius, at the same time hoping not to draw attention to the fact that Peter was the only one among them who had never received an invitation. "James went to his last one. What did you think?"

"If you're asking me to recommend it, you're barking up the wrong tree," replied James. "Besides, I told you I only did it to get into Slug's stash."

"I still can't believe that Evans went with it," Sirius added.

"Do you think you'll go to another of Slug's parties with her?" asked Peter.

"Doubt it," James scoffed, though his hopes were exactly the opposite. "I got what I needed."

"Charming, James," said Remus as he flipped another page in his book.

Sirius, growing tired of the conversation, took out a pack of Exploding Snap cards and began to shuffle the deck.

"Alright, I've been practicing," he said. "What's say looser buys the winners whatever they want from the trolley?"

"You're on," said James, whose superb dexterity gave him a great advantage in the game, and the boys began to play.

While the warmth and comfort of the Hogwarts Express distracted the students inside, the sky was beginning to break out once again into icy sheets of rain. Beyond the rolling hills and forests, hiding from human eyes in the darkest recesses of space, hoards of dark creatures in black, tattered capes lay in wait. The cold and misery that they brought with them may not have meant much to most of the wizarding community; but scattered throughout Britain were those who recognized the dementor's signal, those who had known to look for it. The guards of Azkaban were accepting the offer that had been made to them many months ago. They were willing to fight for the Dark Lord.