DISCLAIMER: These characters do not belong to me, they are the inventions of J.K. Rowling. Although I have added my own ideas, the story is hers.

Chapter 2

James

"I love you, James." She smiles, her eyes shining. I kiss her again, and she melts into my arms. She's kissing me back, passionate and fervent, wrapping her arms around my neck. Holding her in my arms, I cling to this moment, this single, perfect moment. Love burns strong and quickly in times of war, and these are terrible times. But I push those dark thoughts from my mind so that there is only Lilly. Forever and always, Lilly.

"I love you too. I promise that I will love you, no matter what happens, until I can love no more. I swear-"

"Don't swear. Don't promise anything. Life is filled with decisions and choices, who knows where it will take us? But I love you now, and that's what matters, not empty promises that we can't be sure to keep." Her hair is spread out on the pillow like an orange flame, burning bright and strong. I kiss her forehead, caressing her cheek with my hand. Yes, now is good. I love her now, so much that it hurts, as if my heart is about to explode. Who cares what tomorrow brings? Today is amazing. Right now, is perfect.

The days pass in a blur, with no school to mark the time. The rise of Lord Voldemort isn't our problem, and I barely think about it. Because life is pretty much complete, and I have no reason to worry about people that I don't know. I am young, and immortal.

Sirius

The Wonky Broomstick is a dark, dingy bar filled with the lowest of the low. Wizards sit in its shadows all day long, drinking fire whisky until they lose their senses, washing away their sorrows with endless drinks. Occasionally a fight breaks out, but the duellers are usually too drunk to do any serious harm to the other. I'm pretty sure that many use this bar to trade in illegal merchandise; I think that I saw someone with a dragon egg once, but I keep my mouth shut. At The Wonky Broomstick people keep the secrets of others in the hope that they'll return the favour. For such foul people, they are extremely trustworthy.

Well, I have to earn money somehow. I won't be here long, just until I've got enough to buy my own place. Every so often, I hear something that I shouldn't hear, but I ignore it. It's not my business, why should I get involved. "He doesn't have a clue what he's doing… Midnight, you say? I wouldn't believe everything that you hear… Order of the what? It's a load of rubbish… The Dark Lord will soon take the ministry… Times are going to improve for you and me, I think…" Most of its incomprehensible, but I get the gist of what isn't being written in the newspapers, spies inside the Ministry, the recruitment of giants, or the regular exclamation of "Nowhere is safe." No one knows what's true and what's a lie anymore.

What I do know is that times are hard for many. And it's only going to get worse before it gets better. It's time to choose sides. My family have chosen. Dumbledore has chosen. Severus and Bella have chosen. The Ministry decided long ago. I should have made my choice; there's only one logical, moral option. But if I side with the Ministry, then I'm fighting against my family. No matter how much I hate them, no matter what they do, I'm not yet certain whether I can do that. Family is something I can't deny, even though I've been running from it my whole life.

I cast a quick confundus charm at a middle aged wizard that looks like he might kill someone soon, and get back to making drinks. The boss grunts at me in appreciation; I'm pretty sure that he's a Squib. I turn to face the bar and see a familiar face.

"Alright Peter?" He makes a half-hearted attempt to smile, but it doesn't look quite right.

"Yeah," he says, "And yourself?"

"Alright. Could be better, but I can't complain." He orders a butterbeer and I hand it to him in a grimy tankard.

"So what brings you to the area?" He doesn't reply straight away, looking uncomfortable. I wait patiently, knowing that he'll tell me eventually, he's never been very good at keeping secrets.

"Look, Sirius, hear me out. I know that you don't value you my opinion," I don't disagree with him, "But just, listen to what I have to say."

"I'm listening."

"I've been reading the papers and-"

"Don't believe everything you read." He looks mildly irritated at my interruption, but continues nonetheless, in a whisper so quiet that only I can hear.

"You don't think Remus has joined the Deatheaters, do you?"

Remus

"I'm going out for a bit," I call out to the quiet, but not empty, house. No answer. "See you later then," I whisper as I shut the door. Who knows how long I'll be? A few days, a week? I just have to get away from the unnaturally quiet house, and the forest beckons. James' house is never quiet, but I can't go there anymore. I got the feeling from Mr. Potter that I'm no longer welcome in his home, and I don't want to cause a fight. I thought that I did the good thing, telling him, seeing as I was spending so much time at their house, now I'm not so sure.

My life right now seems to be self pity and loathing. I hate it and I'm sick of it. I wish something would happen, anything, to fill the monotonous boredom that fills each one of my endless days. I absent mindedly use a basic hover charm to play with the broken twigs beneath my feet. Bored, bored, bored.

Tomorrow night the moon will be full, I'll have to be well away by then. I've only ever gone through a handful of changes away from Hogwarts since I was eleven, and I'm not used to finding somewhere safe. Nothing that I can do about it though.

Peter

"Don't be so stupid, Peter." Sirius turns away, and I instantly regret bringing it up. But as soon as I read it, I couldn't just ignore it. I mean, it was a perfectly reasonable suggestion, almost every werewolf has joined You Know Who, why not Remus? The Daily Prophet is always warning people about how dangerous werewolves are, even the civilised ones like Remus, and we can't be too careful. I don't know why Sirius felt that he needed to call me stupid.

"Look, Sirius, if you would just-"

"No Peter. Remus is our friend, how dare you say that? I trust him, why don't you?" Sirius isn't often angry, but now his entire posture has changed. His fists are clenched, resting on the the bar and his expression has turned cold. He looks like his brother.

"Because Remus isn't, well, it's not like he's..." Sirius grabs my collar, his face a painting of pure fury.

"Well, spit it out Wormtail." I tremble in my seat, trying to struggle away from his grasp; I've never been very good at standing up for myself, unless Sirius and James are on my side.

"Nothing. It was nothing."

"That's what I thought," he shoves me off the barstool and I fall to the ground, "Weren't you just about to leave, Wormtail?" I scramble out of the door, apperating as soon as I'm outside.

Remus

"Damn it, Mooney, have you any idea how long I've been looking for you?"

"I didn't ask you to come looking for me."

"But I did. So you're just gonna have to put up with me." I glance hesitantly at the sky, still a few more hours until night fall. At some point I'm going to have to do this by myself, but not yet. I feel still so much like a child, as though the world is still to big for me, and I have no intention of facing it alone.

"Thanks, Sirius."

"Whatever. I've got nothing else to do." He looks awkward, as though he's trying too hard to mask his emotions. So he's not telling me something, nevermind. He'll tell me in his own time if he wants to, if he doesn't then he'll have his reasons. In the shadow of the trees I see something, a whisper of movement, but it's nothing, the woods never sleep and the leaves are filled with life.

"So what've you been up to? Other than wallowing in your own pool of self pity?" I've known Sirius too long to be offended by his words, and know him too well to be fooled into thinking he cares.

"Are you asking, or trying to avoid something you don't want to talk about?"

"You can't answer a question with a question."

"I just did." I sigh, sitting down and resting my back against the rough bark of a tree. Sirius sits down next to me, closing his eyes for a moment.

"Believe me when I tell you that you really don't need to know. You don't want to know. I know that that's a stupid thing to say, and it doesn't exactly make you less curious or intensely intrigued, but it doesn't matter."

"You don't want to offend me?"

"I have no problem with offending you, but we'll let this one pass."

"Sure, but you'd tell me if the Deatheaters were on my tail?"

"Of course, what are friends for?" Not long now, the sun has almost set. God, I hate full moons.

James

I hear muffled voices; Sirius and Remus. I'll be quieter on four legs. They don't even notice me as I approach, even though the leaves whisper of my presense. Strange, Remus is usually quite observant. I like walking through the forest in my animaegus form, it's nice to be accepted as part of the wildlife instead of a roudy intruder.

"You joining us, Prongs?" Damn. I emerge from the leaves, transforming back into my human shape. I haven't seen either of them in weeks, and Sirius looks tired, his dark hair hangs greasy and limp at the side of his face, which is a stoney mask.

"I spoke to Wormtail today. What's wrong with you?"

"James-"

"Are you going to start explaing?" Sirius glowers at me, his usual grin chased from his features. He flicks his eyes towards Remus, but I don't understand what he's trying to tell me.

"What exactly did Peter tell you? Because I can guarantee that it was a lie." I clench my teeth, glancing anxiously towards the sky.

"Ok, whatever. Now's not the time." Yeah, just a few minutes until the full moon isn't a good time to be bickering. Fear flashes across Remus' eyes and he scrambles to his feet.

"Peter's not coming?" Remus asks, a trace of a smile on his lips.

"Not tonight. We had a disagreement."