A/N: Chapter three! I couldn't update yesterday-my class celebrated the first day of summer vacation with a mandatory field trip. But my last exam is tomorrow so after that I'm really free!

Thanks to Liv, my marvellous beta, and Kristina and Linds for creating the Jily trope fest which you can find on jilyfest on Tumblr. If you like tropes and Jily, you should definitely check out the other creations!

Sirius was sure that if James had heard the old man's whimpers that night, he would have immediately offered him the best room in the Castle and begged his forgiveness. But James had barricaded himself in the North Tower and refused to speak to anyone after sending the man to his fate.

Remus thought they ought to do something about James. That was how he always said it-do something. Quite a useless thing to say, in Sirius' opinion. They were always doing something. Whether it was gauging his temper or calming him down or helping him forget what happened or helping him remember who he was, it was always something.

James wasn't really a beast. Surely he could not be the only one in the Castle who remembered what a kind soul he had been. A little immature, okay, but they all were back then, weren't they? They were children. They were older now. They understood more.

And James was so much more mature now, too. Sure, most would see sending people to a dungeon for asking a question as decidedly less mature, but they forgot what poor James had to deal with. The temper wasn't his. It was the curse's. It was hers.

Sirius growled just at the thought of the old Sorceress. May she rot in hell, Sirius thought, knowing it was impossible.

He also knew the guilt James would feel when he regained control of himself and so arranged the man-Monsieur Evans-a nice bed in his dungeon. He lit fires. He brought in soup. But there was little he could do about the opening in the wall (for their dungeons were on the upper floors of the Castle, not the lower), which was letting in the Gryffindor district's bitter cold, long forgotten by the land's other citizens, who regarded the Autumn Snowfall Fest as a tall tale and were all entirely convinced the weather only froze come winter.

This was not why Monsieur Evans was crying to himself. He had a daughter, apparently. He was worried sick about her. She had been left alone in Slytherin, he had told Sirius, and was at the mercy of their fellow citizens now. Sirius knew what it was like to be at the mercy of Slytherins and pitied the girl, but there was nothing he could do for her. He could not leave Gryffindor, after all.

Sirius was hopping (one of his least favourite parts of the curse; only one leg) downstairs, and had just reached the ground floor, when he first heard it. The sound he knew to be his saving grace.

"Is this a joke?" came her voice, a mocking sort of disbelief. "Gargoyles outside and an interior that was designed a century ago? Gatt, is this a joke? Who lives here?"

Sirius gasped in delight. He raced towards the girl he could not see, eager to introduce himself, introduce her to James!

"Mademoi-" he started to say, and then he was knocked to the ground forcefully.

"Hello?" said the girl, the very barest trace of fear in her voice. "Is someone there?"

"What do you think you're doing?" Remus hissed in his ear.

"A girl just walked in the Castle!" he said, struggling under Remus' grip. "I had to go introduce myself. And her to James!"

"Are you out of your mind?"

"Are you out of your mind? Don't you want to break the curse? James needs a new soul to love him, one he'll love in return, and I think there's no use bothering with the old man anymore because I don't know about you, Remus, but I wouldn't love anyone who'd lock me up, even if it wasn't his own fault."

"Exactly!" said Remus. "He's still not in control, not after more than a century, and it's far too dangerous to let him near another person."

"You know perfectly well he can be in control if we prepare him ahead of time. Don't you want the curse to be broken?"

"Of course I do," said Remus impatiently, "but not at the expense of people's lives, Sirius."

"James would never kill anyone!"

"I won't risk this girl! The old man would have frozen to death if not for the fire you started-"

"But I did start that fire! And James knew very well I would!"

"I am going to make sure that girl leaves the Castle right now," Remus said, picking himself up.

"What girl?" said Peter from behind them. "The pretty one? With the red hair?"

"Well, I don't know I haven't seen her yet-wait. How have you seen her?" he asked.

"You only just came downstairs," Sirius said, realising the same thing as Remus.

"Oh, she's upstairs."

"What?"

"Wow, what a fast young lady," Sirius said, grinning. "Excellent. That's a good sign, you know. And she's pretty. This is going to be so easy."

"What is going to be easy?" Remus asked, hurrying down the hall and up the stairs.

"Making them love each other!" Sirius said, bounding behind him.

"Oh, do you really think so?" Peter said, slightly dreamily.

"Of course! They'll be best friends very soon! Well, no, obviously not, because I am James' best friend, but they'll be good friends. Good enough, anyway."

"Where is she?" said Remus frantically, poking his head into a room on the second floor. "James could see her, he might get upset!"

"Maybe he'll see her soon!" said Peter, struggling to keep up with the two of them, but sounding thrilled nonetheless. "Maybe they'll be friends by nightfall. You can love someone after a day, right?"

"Of course you can," said Sirius.

"No one is finding anyone new to love today," said Remus, as he started climbing up the stairs to the third floor. "It's much too dangerous, clearly."

"It is not!"

"Honestly, Remus, you know all he needs is to be prepared!" Sirius said. "Monsieur Evans startled him, that's all, he was scared!"

"That man could have died! Are you really so selfish you do not care if innocents are sacrificed so long as you get your full head of hair back?"

"I'll have you know, there is nothing wrong with my flame-"

"Hello?" came a voice from above them.

Sirius turned to Peter. The girl! they mouthed at each other.

"Is anyone there?" the girl said, and the three of them crept quietly up the stairs to get a good look.

The girl looked to be around the age they were when the wretched curse was cast, seventeen or eighteen. She had dark red hair, which glowed like embers in the light of the flickering torches on the walls. She was short, the top of her head not reaching the bottom of the portraits which hung on the Castle's walls, and which had all gone very quiet in the midst of their new visitor.

She turned to call again, and Sirius saw her face for the first time. He leaned forward eagerly.

She was pretty, he thought. Her eyes were an emerald green, vibrant and searching in the firelight for what, he did not know. Her face was a sort of rounded oval, no sharp angles at all. She was a bit plump and she had soft pink lips and a rosy hue in her cheeks, and she seemed to give off an aura of gentleness, but her voice was quite sharp and annoyed when she said, "I'm looking for my father."

Remus jumped. Sirius and Peter opened their mouths to say something, but Remus snapped, "Be quiet! Think for a moment, will you? The girl will not want to be his friend, not if that's her father up there!"

"Please, is anyone there?" the girl said again. The pictures on the wall behind her exchanged a look, but said nothing.

The girl turned around, searching for the next flight of stairs which Sirius knew would lead her to her father, in the dungeons on the fourth floor.

"How are we going to get her out?" Remus said, struggling to keep his voice low. "We can't let her see him, obviously, and we certainly can't let her see James!"

"I have a question, Remus," said Peter. "Why?"

"Keep up, Peter!"

"I'm sorry, have you ever been a teapot before? It's not as easy as I make it look, you know."

"With the conversation, Peter!" Remus said.

"Ignore Remus, Peter," Sirius said. "He's just being himself, you know."

"Hurry up!" Remus said, running now to the fourth floor. "We can at least warn her, we can at least... no!"

When they entered the fourth-floor dungeons-Remus first, on his two legs, then Sirius, on his stick, and Peter last, for his method of moving was a mix between hopping and a shimmying-sort of dance-the girl was already there, kneeling before the bars her father was locked behind.

"Lilit," he was urging her, "Lilit, please go. It isn't safe here. I want you to go, please, take Farbison and go."

"Who did this to you?" said the girl, and she didn't sound weak, though she had fallen to the ground; she sounded angry. "Abba, who put you in here?"

"It doesn't matter, just go, I don't want you here for one second longer!"

"James will be coming soon," Remus whispered to Sirius and Peter, the three of them hidden in the shadows. "Sirius, go and warn him, so he doesn't hurt the girl."

Sirius nodded. He knew it was the right thing to do.

His spirits were dampened as he left the dungeons and hurried off to find James. So the man really was the girl's father... this would make it harder for them to start a friendship, he guessed. Perhaps Remus was right. Although, Sirius thought he probably would have married any person who had locked up his father... but perhaps the girl and the old man were closer.

"Sirius?" said James, stepping out of the darkness of a corridor. He was relieved to see he looked much calmer than he last saw him. "I heard that there's another person in the Castle," he said, sounding nervous. "A girl."

"It's true," Sirius said. "I saw her."

"She should leave," James said, his voice quiet. "It's not safe for her here."

"She won't leave." Sirius hesitated for a moment. "The man is her father."

James' eyes widened.

"Hear me out," Sirius said, raising a branch. "Invite her to stay for a while. I spoke to the man. He's an inventor. He was on his way to the IA in the Greylands. Invite the girl to stay here while he travels, and you two can... get to know each other."

"Get to know each other," James repeated dully. "You think the girl will love me? I was given two chances in the past twelve hours to break the curse and I destroyed both of them. I'm sorry, Sirius. We'll be like this forever. I'm sorry."

"Perhaps the girl will be understanding," Sirius said hopefully. "You must at least give it a chance. Come meet her."

"She doesn't want that. Help them both out of the Castle."

"James," Sirius said. "You can't run forever."

James turned. "Just help them out," he said miserably.

"You owe this to us," he called after him.

James froze. He turned around slowly. For a moment, Sirius worried he had made him angry, but he faced him with drooping shoulders. "You're right," he said. "I'll try. For you."

Sirius walked James back to the dungeon. He was silent. He knew James was struggling to keep himself calm, because that was what that wretched woman's curse did, it took away his ability to control himself. She stole his body and she destroyed his mind. He was trapped.

As they climbed the steps to the dungeons where the man and his daughter were, Sirius could hear the girl saying. "I think someone's coming, Abba. I hear them now."

"Go, Lily-leib," he moaned.

"Please don't," said James softly.

The girl-Lily-whipped around, startled. "I-who's there?"

"Beast," said her father, struggling to say the word. "Lily, Lily, why didn't you run?"

"I..." James said, looking at Sirius, Remus, and Peter for support. They nodded vigorously, even Remus. "I mean you no harm." He stepped a little closer to the girl, though still obscured by the shadows.

"Who are you?" Lily said, her eyes searching the dark, trying to make out his outline.

"The master of this castle," James said. "I can let your father out."

Lily's face broke out into a smile. "He'll let you out!" she said to her father excitedly. "Did you hear that, he'll let you out!"

"I understand you need to leave to the Greylands," James said carefully, and Sirius was so proud of him, he was bounding up and down with excitement.

"Abb-my father does, yes."

"He should go," James said. "But... you... should stay here."

The old man groaned, like he was in physical pain. Lily faltered. "What?"

"You've come at a terrible time," James said. "It starts to snow here early. Not like in the other districts. It's dangerous to leave."

Lily paled. "Other districts? Where are we now?"

"Gryffindor," said James, and Lily took a step back.

Ah. So she had heard the stories. She was probably making the connection in her mind right now.

But James, to his credit, did not let her see if it deterred him. "Will you stay? As a guest?"

And Sirius watched the girl glance at her father, glance at the beast she could not see, and say, "Yes, I'll stay for as long as you like, if you get him to the Greylands safely."

"No!" sobbed the old man.

"It was not an ultimatum," James mumbled to Sirius.

"Go with it," he encouraged.

"No!" Remus whispered angrily. "Do not!"

"You are free to go with him," James said slowly. "But... I can't help you both leave. The carriage that can withstand this snow will only fit one. I'm sorry."

"Then let him out," Lily said, without missing a beat. "And I will stay."

James crept forward slowly, so she could look at him.

The colour drained out of her face when she saw him, but she took a step forward, held out her arm, and said in a clear voice, "I'm Lily."

James, who had not been invited by a human to come closer since the curse was cast, reached out a massive paw and took her hand gingerly. "James," he said.

They stared into each other's eyes for a long moment, still holding on to each other, while Lily's father cried in behind them, mourning for the loss of his daughter, and Sirius' heart soared, rejoicing at the gain of his freedom.

It was coming. He could feel it.

A/N: I don't think I've ever written from Sirius' POV before. It was fun. How do you think I did? I'd love to hear any thoughts you have on the chapter, if you've got the time.

I'd better go study, since, you know. The exam is in like seventeen hours and I haven't started yet.