A/N: Alright this chapter is taking a turn to the serious now. I'm trying to keep things strictly to action so if anyone feels there should be more filler/fluff stuff don't hesitate to say something I will add it. This is just kind of writing itself at the moment; I'm just along for the ride like the rest of you! Please review! And enjoy!

THE MARAUDERS AND THE BLOOD OF GODS

CHAPTER FOUR

It was getting just chilly enough that Danielle regretted not heading to the dorms to grab a jacket and maybe a decent pair of shoes as she continued to sprint across the grounds. Still she didn't slow her pace or change direction, sprinting alongside the edge of the Black Lake. She needed to get away from the castle, clear her head and the best way she knew how to do that was to run. That only lasted until she could no longer hold back the tears in her eyes however. Sight blurred as tears fell down her cheeks she stumbled and flipped into a shoulder roll without thought, instinct and training taking over to save her from a nasty fall. No longer having the strength to fight her own pain or the tears, she pulled her knees to her chest, buried her face in her legs and hugged her legs as tightly as she could. Now that was away from the castle she could give in and cry. She couldn't remember the last time she had been unable to quell the flow of tears but it had been a very long time ago; before she'd started attending Hogwarts at the very least.

She didn't know how long she sat out by the lake, crying against her legs and shivering in the chill autumn night nor did she care. Finally the tears seemed to subside enough that she could push to her feet slowly. A sliver of the moon hung in the sky and she stared up at the stars. Finally she shook her head and ran a hand through her hair, pushing it back and out of her face before she scrubbed that same hand over her face in an effort to erase the tears from her face. It was a lost cause and she knew it as her hand came away with eye liner smeared across it. She sighed and turned to head back for the castle. She was cold, miserable and was starting to get a headache from crying. She just wanted her bed and to hide from the world until classes started Monday morning.

For the most part her gaze remained fixed on the ground before her feet, head down and face obscured by her hair. For some reason she couldn't quite name she glanced up in time to spot one of the people she really didn't want to see heading out of the castle. Sirius Black was someone she could spot a mile off but at the moment she didn't want to see him, or talk to him. Her stomach clenched painfully at the sight of him and she ducked off in another direction. She knew nearly every way into and out of the castle and she put that knowledge to good use as she dodged Sirius.

Sirius had fled the party in search of Danielle the instant Remus had finished speaking. His friend was right; he needed to make this right. He hadn't realized just how much he'd come to care for Danielle until Remus had pointed out that she was heartbroken; because of him no less. Guilt twisted his stomach and something he couldn't name squeezed at his heart. He'd assumed she'd head back to the dorms but when he pulled the Marauder's Map from his back pocket she hadn't appeared anywhere inside the castle. Rather he'd finally found her name outside by the lake. She couldn't have had time to head back and change which meant she'd been outside in just that dress. It wasn't cold but it was cool enough that one wanted a jacket.

"Damn it, where did she go now?" he muttered to himself finding that the longer it took to find her the more he worried that any chance he'd had with the girl was gone.

Lily didn't spend much longer at the party either and headed back for the dorms. She didn't know where that kind of anger had come from when she'd punched James. She'd been upset and mad at him but she'd never felt that kind of rage before. She hadn't been able to think clearly, the only thought that had registered was a need to hurt him. That wasn't like her and it bothered her more deeply the longer she thought about it. And then there was what she'd done to Danielle. She knew how much Danielle liked Sirius, how long she'd pined for the boy and then she'd gone and lost all sense of reality just because she was dared to kiss him. She felt horrible and vowed to make things right with her friend before she slept that night.

Lily was back in the dorms and ready for bed before Danielle appeared again, having managed to duck past Sirius. She knew avoiding Lily was going to be next to impossible though and was greeted by Lily's sorrowful look as soon as she stepped into the dorm. Without a word, Danielle grabbed her pajamas and disappeared to change and wash her face. The evidence of her crying wasn't so easily erased however, her eyes red and slightly swollen but she shrugged it off before walking over to her bed and collapsing into it, pulling the blankets over her head.

"Danielle? Can we talk? Please?" Lily's pleading voice made her cringe.

"I'm not mad, Lily. It was a dare, I get it but it still hurt. I just need some time to deal okay?" Danielle muttered even as she refused to emerge from her cocoon of blankets.

"I'm sorry," Lily whispered quietly.

"I know."

There was no utterance of forgiveness yet though; Danielle was still too hurt to give that. In time she'd be able to do so; she wasn't about to lose her best friend over a stupid dare. Silence fell over the dorm and the two eventually fell asleep. By the time Lily was moving the next morning, Danielle was already out of the castle. She never really slept much and she found she really couldn't sleep long considering everything from the previous night. She needed to just avoid everyone for the day and she managed to do just that, taking refuge outside the castle. James was also mysteriously absent after the fight with Lily the night before.

While Danielle had a sword and small metal shield along with leather armour hidden in a false bottom of her trunk, she didn't bother taking any of that with her the morning after the party. She needed to work out some frustration and the best way to do that was to train until she couldn't feel anything anymore; physically, mentally or emotionally. So while she may have wanted to train a bit with her sword and the armour was heavy enough to make a run more difficult, she couldn't risk anyone spotting her with any of that. Instead she headed into the edge of the Forbidden Forest armed only with her wand and herself. Being the daughter of Hermes meant she was fast and agile, it also meant a lot of unwanted attention from other demi-gods who thought she was shown favoritism by Hermes because she was his only daughter. She'd been completely truthful with Sirius, she envied that he didn't have to try to live up to someone else's expectations, but she had known nothing but expectations for as long as she could remember.

Without thought, she fell into a training pattern that she'd worked out with Chiron over the summer's since she'd started attending Hogwarts. It was designed to keep her in top shape for when she returned to the camp but also easy enough that she could work it into a quick break from friends and classes without raising too much suspicion. Today, she turned the intensity up a few notches deciding that she would spend the majority of the day outside and training. What she didn't expect was for Sirius to try to find her again.

After a quick breakfast in the Great Hall in which only Remus, Peter and Lily appeared, Sirius pulled out the Marauder's Map in the relative safety of an unused classroom. He could barely even look at Lily that morning as they ate while everyone around them was still discussing the party the night before. He felt almost physically ill with guilt when Lily told them she hadn't seen Danielle since the night before. Now he was heading out to where Danielle was on the map; just deep enough into the Forbidden Forest that if she were caught she'd be in some serious trouble. He heard her before he saw her and quickened his pace as it sounded like she was in a fight or struggling against something. He froze when he spotted her in a small clearing, using a tree as a sort of training dummy.

He watched in silence, hidden in the constant shadow of the forest, as she leapt to the side and rolled across the clearing only to regain her feet, run towards another larger tree and use it to rebound back towards the middle. The entire move took far less time that he expected and she showed far more power than he would have thought possible. When one looked at her, they didn't see that kind of strength or agility. She wasn't overly muscled but she looked to be built to run and apparently she did that quite well too as he watched her sprint from one end of the clearing to another in much less time than he would have thought possible. Light on her feet she seemed to be able to duck and dive around that clearing without a care in the world and he realized that they'd all been reading this girl completely wrong. She really was more than she appeared to be but he couldn't figure out why she'd hide this side of herself. He was impressed to say the least, frozen in place and unable to look away from her.

Finally he pulled himself away from watching her. He sighed to himself not knowing what to say and finding he didn't want to interrupt whatever it was that she was doing. There had to be a reason why she didn't want anyone to know what she was capable of. He froze again when he stepped on a branch and it snapped. Behind him the sounds of Danielle's training ceased and he momentarily panicked. He didn't want her to think he was trying to intrude or was sneaking off to start telling everyone what she was up to. Without a second thought he stepped from his human self and into his canine self. So it was a large black dog that Danielle saw trotting off through the trees when she approached the sound, wand drawn and her free hand clenched in a fist. She was tense and ready for a fight; she was even half hoping she would find one but she lowered her wand and relaxed her stance as the dog disappeared into the dense underbrush and she shook her head before turning back to her training after wiping the sweat from her face.

Classes resumed on Monday morning and for the first time since starting at Hogwarts, Danielle did not walk to breakfast with Lily. Nor did she linger in the Great Hall, instead moving immediately to the dungeons for potions after she ate, avoiding not only Lily but the Marauders as well. Still she took her regular seat in the classroom, setting up for the class and didn't say anything when Lily took her usual spot next to her. Each class worked the same for the two, not much was said but neither minded the other's presence and the party wasn't ever brought up in conversation. It continued that way for the better part of the week and Danielle continued to avoid Sirius.

The group didn't have Charms until Tuesday and as they all took their seats, Danielle sitting between Lily and Peter, Professor Flitwick paused in his lecture. For the entire class he'd been catching sight of things glittering on nearly every student in his class and finally he had to ask what it was that was going on.

"Oh, yeah. Apparently we went a little overboard to make sure the charm would work," Sirius chuckled from behind Danielle.

"And what did you charm?" the professor questioned with a mix of curiosity and suspicion.

"Well you see, we created these little glitter house animals that would do a bit of running around and flying through the air before falling onto and sticking to students of that particular house. I guess they're a little stickier than we thought they'd be," James explained from next to Sirius.

"You created this?" Flitwick questioned.

All four of the Marauders nodded but it was Remus' turn to speak, "Yes, sir. It took a bit of doing to figure out how to get it pull off right too. But it was rather brilliant."

"May I see?"

Danielle had seemed to have the hardest time getting the glittering lions to fade and so she stood and rolled up the sleeve of her robes, "At least they've stopped growling every time I roll my sleeve up now."

Flitwick examined the still glittering and very prominent lions on her forearm, one of which baring its teeth in a silent roar, and broke into a smile, "That is some excellent charm work. Twenty points to Gryffindor for creativity and proficiency in creating charms."

The Marauders grinned to one another and the class resumed as usual. The rest of the week passed mostly quiet though Danielle had noticed that Cairistonia was watching her more than she had before. Or maybe she'd just never noticed it before because she was always talking to her friends. Now though, with trying to avoid Sirius whenever possible she was more likely to notice other things going on around her. She knew sooner or later she was going to have to deal with everything but she was trying her damnedest to avoid it. She and Lily had found something of a truce for the time being but she could hardly even look at Sirius yet.

It was Remus who caught up to Danielle at the end of the week, "Hey, you got a minute?"

Danielle quirked a brow but nodded and Lily moved off ahead of them as they spoke quietly, "What's up, Remus?"

"You can't keep avoiding Sirius. I've never actually seem him like this before. Well at least not over a girl. Danielle he really does like you. I never saw it before that bloody party. I thought it was like it always was but it's not. You bring out the side of him that we've always seen. You're good for him. He tried to find you that night you know and he's been trying to catch up to you to actually talk. This is killing him inside."

Danielle sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, "I know. I've avoided him. I don't even know why this has been so hard for me to deal with. It was a dare; I know that but still..."

"It's called jealousy, Dani. I'm not saying you have to forgive him completely but at least talk to him. I don't think you want to lose him anymore than he wants to lose you. Or am I wrong?"

"You're not wrong, Remus. I just..." she trailed off as something just felt off around them and she tuned back into their surroundings a little more.

Seconds later they were both sprinting down the hall at the sound of a scream. A scream that sounded an awful lot like Lily. Sure enough they skidded to a halt to find a Ravenclaw girl in the midst of kicking Lily in the stomach, the red head already on the ground and bleeding from a deep gash across her forehead. From where they stood, Lily appeared unconscious. It took Remus a moment to take in what he was seeing and it appeared he wasn't the only one. Students stood around the one sided fight, frozen in shock. Rage was etched into the attackers face, her eyes blazing with anger. Remus couldn't help but wonder just what Lily could have done to elicit such a look; she wasn't the kind of girl to be unkind to anyone without cause and he was pretty sure the Ravenclaw and Lily had never even spoken before.

Danielle reacted without thought. While everyone else seemed frozen she launched into action but she didn't reach for her wand that was tucked into her robes. She didn't even question why this was a physical attack rather than a magical one. She simply responded to what was happening, leaping into the fray and knocking the Ravenclaw away from her friend. She was still a little hurt and annoyed with Lily over the Sirius thing but she was still her best friend. She would risk her identity to protect Lily. Danielle narrowed her eyes as the Ravenclaw turned anger filled eyes on her and Danielle nearly stepped back. She'd never seen such rage on anyone but it wasn't directed at her she realized as the girl turned her attention back to Lily. Again without thought, Danielle reacted knocking the Ravenclaw back against the wall, catching her wrists and pinning her there.

"Would someone get a damn professor?!" she snapped at the still gawking crowds of students.

"On it!" Peter, bless that boy, answered and sprinted back down the hall as Danielle struggled to hold the girl in place; which was odd, she shouldn't have to work this hard to hold the slighter girl in place.

"Lily..." she heard James' shocked voice behind her as he moved to Lily's side but there was no answer from the red head.

Risking a glance over her shoulder to her friends the Ravenclaw took advantage of it and Danielle stumbled back as she had the girl's forehead collide with her temple. She was momentarily stunned and the other student immediately moved back towards Lily. This was ridiculous; such one-minded rage wasn't normal, nor was the power that was behind the head butt. Danielle hadn't even managed to get her feet back under her before she heard the unmistakable voice of one of her favorite professors and the head of Gryffindor House.

"Stupefy," Professor McGonagall arrived on the scene, stopping the Ravenclaw girl dead in her tracks and Danielle dove to catch the falling student.

Other professors moved to assist in getting both girls up to the hospital, James immediately leaving once Lily was being moved. Danielle fell back against the stone wall her head pounding from the hit she'd taken. That would teach her for getting distracted. Before she could end up sliding down the wall she felt a hand on her shoulder and she opened her eyes to look up at Remus.

"Come on, we should get you checked out too," he muttered quietly as the crowds of students finally started to filter off again.

"I'm okay. Just a little dizzy right now. I just need to sit down for a while," she argued but Remus narrowed his eyes at her.

"You're going up to the hospital to get checked out. Please don't argue with me. That was a hell of a knock you took. I don't need to be worried about two of you because you're too damn stubborn to listen," he snapped and Danielle's eyes widened in surprise.

She'd never heard him snap at anyone like that and she found herself nodding slowly, "Okay, I'll go. You know you are rather terrifying when you get worried about people."

"I have that affect at times," he agreed helping her stand up and keeping her balanced as they slowly made their way up to the hospital.

As it turned out, Danielle had been right and she was mostly fine. A few hours of laying in a bed and she was no longer dizzy. Lily remained unconscious and when the Ravenclaw came to she had no idea what had happened. Nothing about the incident made sense; the girl didn't even know who Lily was personally. Danielle slowly made her way back to the Gryffindor commons once she was given the all clear; James was staying with Lily and it didn't make sense for her to stay there as well.

As she stepped through the portrait and into the commons she was stopped by Remus in front of her as Peter stepped in behind her as if to cut off her escape. She raised an eyebrow at Remus and crossed her arms over her chest before she noticed that Sirius was lounging on a couch in front of the fire. Narrowing her eyes at Remus she simply shook her head and moved to step around him only to deftly be cut off by him his own eyes narrowed at her in return.

"You can't keep avoiding this, Dani," he muttered before gently reaching out and nudging her towards Sirius.

"I know," she sighed and the truth of the matter was that she really wanted things back the way they had been but that was impossible and she knew that.

"Just talk to him. I'm not saying you have to settle everything right now. You both just need to start facing whatever it is that's between the two of you. You're both miserable without the other around. Let him try to make things right; or at least start to," Remus pointed out quietly.

Sighing and closing her eyes, Danielle turned to face Sirius who was studiously staring at the fire as Remus spoke to her. Finally she lifted her head and moved towards the couch, dropping onto it at the other end from where Sirius was sitting. His gaze moved from the fire to her face and she finally saw what Remus was talking about in his eyes.

"Danielle..." he started and trailed off not sure what he could say or what he should say.

"Sirius, stop. Just answer one question," at his nod she took a deep breath and met his eyes, "Do you like Lily?"

Sirius froze for a moment and Danielle nearly stood to leave before he finally spoke, "Yes. I'm not going to lie to you, Danielle. I've always had a soft spot for Evans but I would never do that to James. If I was going to make a play I would have a long time ago. In all honesty I've always been torn between you and her. I'm not good at...any of this; relationships that last for more than a couple nights."

Danielle turned her gaze to the fire as he spoke chewing on her lower lip before she shook her head, "I'm not even good at the friendship thing, Sirius. I keep people at a distance. It makes it harder to end up with a knife in my back and hurts less when I lose them."

Sirius shook his head slowly and cautiously reached out to lay his hand over hers at her side and when she didn't pull away heaved a sigh of relief, "I know that feeling. You already said you know I'm flawed but I'm not sure you know exactly how much."

"Probably not, but you don't know how deep my fears run either, Sirius. I'm not going to push you to reveal your scars because I know I couldn't reveal mine to you in return. No one said we have to do things the way everyone else does. We're both too flawed for that; both too broken in different ways. We'll have to just try to figure things out so they work for us. Deal?"

"I never meant to hurt you...and neither did Lily," he felt he needed to tell her that and she nodded slightly squeezing his hand lightly.

"I know. I should have handled things better but when it comes down to it, I'm pretty selfish."

Sirius chuckled at that, "Yeah, so am I when I let myself."

Remus heaved a sigh of relief as he watched his two friends talk and seem to get past at least part of their issues. There was still tension there but at least they were making an effort to get past it. He returned to his original seat in one of the plush chairs and took up his book again. Peter followed after him, settling in beside him in another chair and picking up his Transfiguration book to study again.

"You think they'll all be okay now, Moony?" Peter asked a few seconds later.

Remus shrugged, "I doubt that's going to be the only fight but at least now they're trying. As long as they refuse to give up I don't think there's anything that could break apart this group."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Peter muttered turning back to his book with a frown.

It wasn't until the following afternoon that Lily woke again. James hadn't left her side and was asleep with his head on the edge of her bed looking about ready to fall off his chair. It took Lily a moment to recognize where she was; the last thing she remembered was a Ravenclaw girl she'd never even met slamming her head into the stone wall. Gradually she took in the rest of her surroundings, shocked when she realized it was James at her side. She'd expected Danielle, despite their fight, or maybe even Remus but she'd never thought it would be James Potter. He still had her hand in his and she tightened her grip slightly around his fingers. Maybe she'd been reading him wrong the whole time. Slowly he seemed to start to wake up and lifted his head, fixing his glasses with his free hand.

"Lily?" he questioned groggily as he slowly came to realize she was awake.

"Who were you expecting?" she questioned a little teasingly.

Instantly he was wide awake and pulled her up and into a hug, holding onto her as if he'd thought he'd lost her, "Don't you ever scare me like that again."

She couldn't believe the fear that she heard in his voice, he really had been terrified for her. Without thinking anymore about it, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held onto him. The more awake she became the more the fear returned from her attack. What had happened? Why had she been attacked? As these thoughts filtered through her mind she started to tremble and tightened her grip around James.

"You're safe. It's fine; I won't let anything happen to you," he continued to murmur against her hair as she trembled and he simply held her.

That was the way their friends found them a few minutes later although Lily had finally stopped trembling. Remus grinned and stepped around to the opposite side of the bed, dropping into another chair. It looked like both his friends were going to get the girl they wanted after all. In the week since the party he'd watched James re-evaluate himself. It had been an eerie sight but in the end he'd watched James decide that maybe he was taking his pranks too far. He doubted James ever wanted to actually hurt anyone with what he did, but now he was starting to realize that he was probably doing just that even if the injury wasn't visible.

Peter moved to stand at the foot of the bed, leaning on the bedpost lightly. He was thrilled to see that James had maybe managed to get into Lily's good books. He wasn't thrilled with the way it had to happen though. There was still no real explanation as to what had happened. No one could find any reason for the girl to have attacked Lily. Something very odd was happening and while he was trying to figure it all out along with his friends their main priority at the moment was to make sure Lily was alright.

Sirius and Danielle slipped in last both grinning at the fact that Lily was awake again and seemed to be alright. Without a thought, Sirius draped an arm around Danielle's shoulders and pulled her in against his side in a slightly awkward one armed hug as Lily pulled away from James slowly and smiled around at all her friends. Relief washed over her expression at the way Danielle leaned against Sirius and the two shared one of their looks. Everything was alright between them all again. For the next hour the group of friends laughed and joked, refusing to think on the attack and what it could mean for the rest of the year.

Over the course of the next week, the six of them attempted to figure out what would have caused the attack on Lily. No one had a good explanation. Nothing about it made any kind of sense. Danielle was the quietest about the whole thing though. Something seemed even more off than the rest of them picked up on but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. The look in the eyes of the Ravenclaw bothered her and she couldn't even really describe what it had been like to look into those eyes. She needed to look into some things from her other life and she was praying to whichever of the gods liked her at the moment that she was all wrong. Of course none of them ever answered but she could always try.

Things had returned mostly to normal over that week; the six of them laughing in the halls as they moved between classes. James and Lily were seemingly growing closer; Danielle even caught the two holding hands a few times as they walked to another class. Sirius and Lily switched seats in a few of their classes so that James sat next to Lily and Sirius next to Danielle. For someone not watching closely it appeared as if the friendships had been repaired but not much else had changed. Of course, Cairistonia was watching more closely than most. She was furious at the way Danielle seemed to simply forgive and forget what had happened. How could she forgive that cockroach so easily? Not to mention move forward with any kind of relationship with him. She never missed any time Sirius would lean over and whisper something that made Danielle either blush or laugh; nor did she miss how often Sirius would wrap an arm around the girl possessively. Her anger simmered all week waiting for the perfect opportunity to take it out on Sirius Black. Not that she'd get her own hands dirty but he would pay dearly.

The following weekend James and Danielle headed for the Quidditch pitch for the first match of the year. Gryffindor was facing off against Hufflepuff and the two friends were in high spirits both already dressed in their team robes as they headed out of the castle. The rest of their friends were a bit behind them in leaving the castle and making their way to the stands. All thoughts of the attack were pushed from their minds in the excitement of Gryffindor's first game. The Hufflepuff team was the first on the pitch and James led the Gryffindor team out moments later to the cheers of their respective houses.

Danielle and James shared a grin to one another as they swooped around the pitch, Danielle warming up her bat wrist as she flew, the two of them joining their team as Madam Hooch stepped out onto the field. The game proceeded as everyone had expected it to. Danielle was everywhere on the pitch, knocking bludgers away from her team and towards the Hufflepuff team. James was high above it all searching for the snitch. Their attention on their jobs, they barely heard the crowd of students watching.

In the stands Lily, Remus, Sirius and Peter stood along the railing near the top of the stands. They were cheering and enjoying the afternoon game. No one really even paid attention to the other students around them. They were together and having a blast as Gryffindor seemed to fly circles around the other team. Despite that the score was closer than they thought it would be; the Hufflepuff Keeper doing a fine job of defending his end. The group didn't even realize anything was amiss until a brawny Hufflepuff boy sucker punched Sirius in the gut.

Gasping as the wind was knocked from his lungs, Sirius barely managed to block the next hit. Rage shone in his attacker's eyes and Sirius tried to place the boy. He was pretty sure it was a fifth year but he couldn't place a name or even having pulled any kind of prank on him. Hell they'd been pretty quiet since the party on pranking anyone. With the push of the other students around them trying to get out of the fight that was brewing, Remus attempted to pull the Hufflepuff off only to catch the boy's elbow square in the jaw, knocking him back into a group of students, slightly dazed.

Recovering slightly from the initial attack, Sirius suddenly found himself on the defensive attempting to block punches and kicks that seemed to come harder and faster than should be possible. Blocking a left hook that had been swung at his head he missed the right hand grabbing the front of his leather jacket and jerking him forward off his feet. With his balance gone, he swung wildly at the boy managing to knock his grip loose of his jacket but the damage was done as he tumbled forward. A hard kick to the middle of his back sent him flying towards the railing, Lily screaming and Remus getting back to his feet to slam a well placed fist into the boy's nose knocking him out cold. Sirius tried to catch hold of the railing even as the force of the kick sent him tumbling over it. Terrified gasps and screams echoed through the crowd as his hand slipped and he tumbled over the side of the seats.

James heard the commotion below him first and glanced down in time to catch the end of the fight. On the far side of the pitch he couldn't do anything but watch as his best friend fell from the top of the stands desperately trying to catch onto something to slow his descent. He knew he'd never reach his friend in time but he still pushed towards it, the game forgotten and suddenly on hold as chaos erupted.

It was Lily's scream that alerted Danielle as she knocked a bludger away from a Gryffindor Chaser and she risked a glance at the stands. Her blood ran cold as she watched Sirius fall and without thought dove after him. She was the closest to him and from what she could tell the only person on a broom that was even moving. When everything was said and done she was going to have to send a very heartfelt thank you to her mentor back home that had given her the training that simply took over in crazy, dangerous situations. As she neared Sirius, still falling, she stretched her bat out towards him and he made a desperate grab for it, his fingers closing around it.

"Don't let go!" she snapped, bracing herself as his weight yanked on her shoulder, threatening to pull her from her broom.

With her teeth clenched and with every ounce of strength and will she had she managed to pull her broom up and slow their descent. Unfortunately she didn't have the strength to do much more than that before the sheer force of Sirius' weight pulling down on her bat pulled her off her broom and they both plummeted the final ten feet to the ground.

A/N: Huzzah! Another chapter done. This one turned out longer than I expected which is why I cut it off where I did! Anyway...soon we shall get to the main plan of Cair and then all hell shall break loose. Secrets shall be revealed! Anyway, until next time!