Lily had dragged Marlene to her favourite desk up the back of the library to study for their upcoming exams. Though Marlene had tried to protest ("We're in sixth year Lils, no one cares about your results if it's not O. or N.E. !") Lily had insisted on it. She'd had a hard time concentrating in their lessons as of late, and a little extra study never hurt anyone. They'd been holed up in the back of the library since just after breakfast, and it was now past two in the afternoon. Lily was exhausted, but she definitely felt like she had gotten somewhere. They had revised all of their charms notes (first up because it was the easiest class for them both). They had practiced non-verbal spells on each other, and gotten a stern look from Madam Pince (Marlene had sent a tickling jinx at Lily, what else was she supposed to do aside from scream?).

They then moved onto Transfiguration, which was where they had been stuck for the last hour. The theory behind Transfiguration had always been hard to wrap her head around (it was more a science-y thing and Lily had been bollocks at science in grade school before Hogwarts). She thought a change of reading material might help them out, so she picked up the pile of books sprawled on their desk and left Marlene for the Transfiguration section of the library.

The stack was taller than her head (not hard to muster when she was 5'2), and relied on her peripheral vision and memory to guide her through the library. Unfortunately, that didn't take into account outliers like other students and she almost ran into James. The only reason she didn't run into him was his arms reaching out to stop her, and she was embarrassed that she even knew they were his without seeing his head.

"Alright, Evans?"

She could see his stupid hand messing up his stupid hair. She struggled to find a shelf to rest the stack of books on.

"Ever the gentleman, Potter," she teased.

James snorted. "The last time I tried to help you with something you sent a bat-bogey hex at me, I'm not as stupid as I look."

"That was because you tried to help me relax by inviting me to the nearest broom cupboard, it was well deserved."

"I still stand by that offer."

"Do you want me to hex you again?" Lily said, but she was laughing.

"I could think of much better things we could do together," James said rather suggestively, and his hand was on his chin as if he was thinking of them right now.

Lily felt her cheeks warm, because she couldn't deny that she hadn't thought of such things as well. Except that she would deny it for all eternity, and she hadn't even shared that with Marlene yet. Lily was suddenly hyper-aware of how close her and James had become, and he had a look in his eye that felt like he could read her mind. She was leaning on the shelf she had left the long-forgotten Transfiguration books and James was standing in front of her, tall and lean. She couldn't remember when he had started to transition from gangly to toned but he had and she was struggling to think of anything else aside from him the way his lips would feel against her skin.

She felt him lean in infinitesimally; her knee was now touching his thigh from where she sat on the shelf, and his hand brushed against hers. Her heart was beating in her throat and her mouth was dry. Slowly he leaned closer to her, agonisingly slow. He was standing properly between her legs now, and if she had rational thought she might have been embarrassed about how high her skirt had hitched up because of it. She wrapped her legs around him and gave away her eagerness. The gleeful smirk had not left his face, and it grew wider with her impatience.

"Why do you always have to be so infuriating, James?" she whispered her complaint.

He took her by surprise then, leaning in to close the gap and and making contact with her lips. They were warm and soft, exactly how she had pictured them but so, so much better than she could have ever imagined. Her arms reached up to circle his neck and she felt his own circle around her waist. Strong. Warm. Her body was on fire at every point he made contact.

"Lils! Lily, where are you?" Marlene called, a couple of shelves away.

It was like someone had dropped a bucket of cold water on her head. She pushed James away and stood up to flatten her uniform. Marlene walked around the corner of the shelf and cackled at the sight of them. Lily felt like a deer in the headlights. She turned to James and the smirk from before has been wiped away, replaced with confusion.

"Is there something on my face?"

Marlene's cackle grew, and Lily seriously considered sending her aforementioned Bat-Bogey hex at her friend. To calm herself she turned to James instead, giving him a once over to make sure there wasn't actually something on his face.

"Marlene is just feeling particularly wicked today," Lily assured him.

Marlene's cackled softened as she walked back to the desk Lily was sharing with her. Lily turned to follow, but James caught her wrist. She stared at where his hand touched her arm burning her skin, then followed the line of his arm up until she was looking at his into his eyes again. Warm and sweet, like honey.

"Lily," he started, then stopped. He seemed to be putting together what he wanted to say in his head. "What does this - I mean…"

Lily reached up on the tips of her toes to kiss him on the cheek. "Let's just take it slow, yeah? I liked kissing you and I'd like to do it again."

James smiled that. "You fancy me, Evans."

It wasn't a question. So she didn't give him an answer.

Lily had just finished her rounds with Emmeline and was walking through the portrait hole back into the warmth of Gryffindor common room. Majority of her house mates were already in bed, save for a few of the older students with upcoming exams. There was an outlier on one of the lounges in the corner of the room, who was neither in bed asleep, nor in the common room and studying; rather, he was in the common room attempting to sleep. Lily recognised the figure as Sirius Black.

She wasn't sure what possessed her to join him - she was exhausted and she had a Potions exam the next morning - but she walked across the room and plopped down next to him. The look on his face said he was just as surprised as she was to find her next to him.

"Er, hello?" he said.

"Why are you sleeping down here and not in your dorm?" Lily blurted out.

Sirius became defensive then, she could tell that the shock of her arrival had worn off and he was closing her off.

"What's it to you? Go stick your nose in someone else's business," Sirius grumbled.

He pulled up the blanket he had brought down from his bed and tried to cover himself with it. Lily was persistent though, and changed tacts to see if she could get a better result. She still wasn't sure what she was trying to accomplish but she'd been doing a lot of things on a whim lately and they seemed to working out alright.

"Is there anything… I mean I'm just worried about you I guess," Lily admitted.

And it was true, she realised. Yes, at first she was just being nosy and curious, wondering why The Famous Marauders were barely talking to each other. But the more separation she had noticed, she grew sad. She had tried to talk to James about it, but whenever she even so much as mentioned Sirius's name around him he froze and refused to speak about it. Surely whatever had happened wasn't worth losing a friendship over.

Sirius turned to face her with suspicion. " You're worried about me ? But you hate me."

"I don't hate you, Sirius. I may not have liked you much over the years but…" Lily trailed off.

Sirius snorted. "Thanks."

Lily looked down at where her hands were bunched up in her lap. "Look whatever happened, I know you're all good people and you shouldn't throw away a friendship over it."

"It's not me you need to convince of that, Evans," Sirius explained.

Lily raised an eyebrow, pressing him to go on. Sirius huffed, but didn't turn her away again.

"I fucked up - really bad. You know it's bad because they won't even talk to me. I know it's bad but I don't know how to fix it. I can't even get a word in around them; all James has said to me for weeks is 'fuck off'. Remus can't even stomach looking at me. Pete only talks to me because he can't reach the potatoes at meal times."

Lily pulled her legs up underneath her to get more comfortable. It was clear she was going to be here for a while.

"What happened, exactly?" Lily tried again.

Sirius sighed. "It's complicated."

"Does it have anything to do with-" Lily checked to make sure no one was listening, and whispered "- Remus being a werewolf?"

The look of surprise on Sirius's face was almost comical.

"How did you…?"

"I can put two and two together. And Severus was… eager to share his theories with me as well."

Sirius snarled at the mention of her old friend. "I don't know how or why you were friends with him for so long when he was such a slimy git."

"It's complicated." Lily used Sirius's own words against him, and while the topic of Severus was still painful for her she was smiling.

Sirius rolled his eyes and Lily giggled. She actually giggled in the presence of Sirius Black. Wonders would never cease to amaze her. He had a smile on his face now too, and she felt a little better about having come and sat with him. She was glad her legs had a mind of their own and brought her over here.

"Yes - it had to do with that. And Snape. I nearly got him killed. And James - well he had to save Snape's life from Remus. And so they all hate me because I was going to let Remus - to - he would have - I'm not very good with this shit Evans," Sirius conceded.

Lily pondered that for a moment. She could fill in the blanks, but it didn't help her solve the puzzle of their friendship.

"Well don't just sit there, say something woman," Sirius pleaded.

Lily gave him an annoyed look for pushing her. "You fucked up."

"You are so wise, I don't know how I didn't think of that myself," Sirius was sarcastic, rolling his eyes.

Lily whacked him with a cushion from the lounge.

"Is your plan to knock me unconscious? I have to admit Evans, I thought you were a bit brighter than that."

"Are you teasing me Black? I'm you're only friend right now."

"Are we friends now then? Excellent now I'll never get detention again." Sirius was gleeful.

"Don't you have detention every night already?" Lily asked.

"Well, obviously I meant after this year."

"Goodnight, Sirius." Lily said with an eyeroll.

She hadn't realised how late it had gotten until she stood to leave, and realised they were the only two left in the common room. She was at the bottom of the stairs leading up to her dorm before Sirius spoke up.

"Wait - did we come up with a plan?" he whispered it, but with the lack of bodies the question carried across the room and she heard it clearly.

"Sort of," Lily answered.

"I knew I liked you, Evans," he grinned at her from across the room.

She waved goodnight and walked up the stairs to her dorm. She was exhausted, but she didn't regret staying up (even if she did have that Potions exam in the morning). If someone had told Lily a year ago that she'd be losing sleep to stay up with Sirius Black, she would have laughed in their face. But after the evening's events, she was sure a friendship with Sirius could only mean good things.

Sirius had sweat on his brow as he walked out of the Great Hall. He had just finished the practical aspect of his Defence Against the Dark Arts exam, and wasn't expecting it to be so strenuous. He walked through the other sixth years milling about in the Entrance Hall; some were waiting for their turn, others were waiting for their friends to finish. Since he was neither, he made his way outside to cool off by the Black Lake. He loosened his tie as he walked out, and discarded that and his robes when he reached the edge, using them both to cushion his head. He closed his eyes as a breeze rustled past him.

A shadow appeared over his body. Sirius opened his eyes again to find the shadow caster was his current only friend - Lily.

"Hungry?" She asked him.

Without waiting for an answer, she sat down next to him and pulled a pair of ham and cucumber sandwiches from inside her robes. He hadn't realised it, but he was famished and so when she offered one to him he accepted. James was accurate all those months ago when he had criticised Sirius's table manners, because when he eventually spoke his mouth was full.

"'Ow did you 'o?" Sirius asked.

Lily made a point to swallow what she was chewing before responding, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Why does everyone insist on chatting about exams once they're finished? Let's move on," Lily complained.

Sirius snorted but dropped the topic. He didn't care for small talk like that anyway, and his friendship with Lily wasn't superficial like that anyway.

In the few weeks since Lily had sat next to him that evening in the common room, they had become somewhat close. She was one of the only people talking to him at the moment, and it turned they had a bit more in common than he originally thought. He found it easier to talk to her about certain things, like his relationship with Regulus. Lily had shared with him the troubles she had with her own relationship with her sister. He didn't feel guilty talking to her about it, and she seemed to understand more of where he was coming from than James, Remus nor Peter ever could.

He had opened up to her as much as he could (without giving too much away) about The Incident. And though Lily seemed to sense there was more he was hiding, she didn't push him and for that he was grateful. She had been furious with him as well after she told him, which he hadn't expected but in hindsight he really should have. He had learnt though, that her fury was usually short lived. Evidently, she had seen more good in him than evil.

Lily had started to charm the wildflowers around them to grow, snaking up her arms and legs. Sirius was transfixed watching them curl around, and neither of them noticed a third person walking in their direction.

"Lily, what are you -?"

It was James. Sirius instantly tensed up. Lily gave him a look that he read as don't panic and he wasn't, but that didn't mean he was stupid enough to think that he wasn't about to get a right hook in his jaw. Lily got up to meet him halfway. There was a whispered conversation, and Lily seemed to win an invisible argument because James sulked behind her back to where Sirius was seated.

"You boys are going to talk," Lily instructed. "You're going to work this out because you're both miserable without each other - no complaining! Work this out. You need each other."

Lily stalked off back to the castle, but Sirius got the impression that she would be watching them from somewhere inside. He sat in silent protest, stubborn even though he desperately wanted his best friend back. His brother back. He could sense James was doing the same beside him. Sirius looked out over the Black Lake and watched the giant squid lifting it's tentacles and flopping them back into the water in the middle of it. James shifted beside him. Sirius cleared his throat with a cough.

"Prongs you have to - you have to know that I'd never - you know I couldn't," Sirius tried.

"I know," James said solemnly.

"I'm a massive git, yeah, I know that. What I did - I really have no explanation,"

James sighed loudly beside him, and Sirius grew increasingly nervous. Sure, James was talking to him now but he didn't feel like he was any closer. There was a long pause; Sirius grew restless and started fidgeting, pulling out the grass from underneath him. He almost wished for James to start yelling at him again. Sirius saw in his peripheral James open and close his mouth twice, clearly thinking of how to put what he wanted to say. Finally, Sirius was put out of his misery.

"Sirius, it's… More than that. You know as well as I do, probably more, the shit that's going on outside of Hogwarts. It's dangerous, and we need to be able to trust each other," James explained.

"You can trust me, James. I'd never risk your lives," Sirius pleaded.

"But you did, Padfoot. I know, I know I'm dramatic and it wasn't as dire as life or death - but. Do you get what I'm trying to say?" James was at a loss for words.

Sirius's stomach was in his throat. He wasn't really sure what James was trying to say, but it sounded like he didn't want to be friends anymore. It sounded like he had gone so far over the line that he couldn't even see it, that his friends couldn't be his friends anymore. He was absolutely gutted.

"I think I get it, yeah. I won't bother you anymore," Sirius said and he made to get up from where he was seated.

James pulled him back down. "Are you daft, mate? I'm not telling you to fuck off, I'm trying to fix this."

Sirius had thought his Defence Against the Dark Arts exam was hard, but this conversation was hurting his head more than anything education related ever had.

"What?" Sirius asked, cocking his head to the side. It helped, okay.

"We need you mate, but we need you to - to be better. It's the four of us against the world. You're our brother. We aren't the Marauders without you."

"But -" Sirius was still confused.

"You really are a stupid bint. I'm saying I forgive you for being a stupid bint but don't be a stupid bint again or I'll look like a stupid bint," James said, exasperated.

"If you're trying to make me second guessing if stupid bint is a word it's working," Sirius joked.

James snorted, and thwacked Sirius on the back for good measure.

"Oi!"

"You deserved that, don't even think of getting me back," James replied.

"How long are you going to use that excuse?" Sirius grumbled, and rolled his eyes.

"I'll use it for as long as I please, and if Moony decides to forgive you he'll use it even longer," James teased him.

Sirius's throat closed up. "If?"

"Mate, I'm sure he will but you still need to talk to him about it, yeah? In fact," James paused and rustled around in his robe.

He pulled the map out and whispered the secret incantation to reveal it's secrets. He scanned the map, and Sirius had a feeling who he was looking for.

"There, he's up in the dorm," James said as he pointed to a tiny black dot with Remus Lupin scrawled next to it.

Sirius felt ill, but he knew James was right.

"You'll be with me?" Sirius asked him.

"Until the very end," James grinned.

Remus had been easier to talk to than Sirius had expected. It was still hard, but after talking with James and the ups and downs that conversation had taken him through (it felt like he was riding through that storm to James's house over the summer - only he was stuck in turbulence), talking to Remus had been a breeze.

It had been stilted between them all for a moment, but they had gotten back into the groove of their friendship before they had finished the first bottle of firewhiskey in their stash. That and a few rounds of Irish Pirate's Chess (a complicated game they had come up with themselves in first year; it had been adapted as they had grown older to include alcohol which only made the game more fun) had been the key to the lock on the chest of their friendship.

Sirius started off the last week of their sixth year in better spirits than he had been for the last three months. He was sat across from Peter in the Great Hall, Remus to his left as he scooped a heaped pile of beans onto his plate for breakfast. He topped off his plate with bacon and toast, and poured himself a pint of pumpkin juice. He had finished his exams for the year, and even though they were some of the last to arrive at the table it was still aplenty with food.

Sirius rarely received mail; an occasional letter from Mrs. Potter, or one of the only few members of the Black family that he actually liked. Which is why, when the owls descended into the hall that morning for the post, he was not paying much attention at all. He was chewing on a rasher of bacon when a tawny barn owl landed beside his plate and began to peck at his toast.

"Sod off," Sirius dismissed the bird.

But it kept nipping at his toast. Sirius huffed and put down his half eaten bacon in order to free up his hands.

"What do you want?" he grumbled.

"Obviously it's delivering you a letter Padfoot," Remus said without looking up from his copy of the Daily Prophet .

James snorted and hash brown splattered across the table and onto Peter's plate.

"For fuck sake Prongs, that's the third time this week," Peter complained.

Sirius had untied the letter from the owl in front of him during the exchange. The writing on the front of the envelope was not in a handwriting he recognised, which immediately gave him a sickly feeling. He tore it open, impatient to find out the contents.

Mr. Black,

We regret to inform you of the passing of your uncle, Mister Alphard Black, and offer our sincerest condolences. As we are sure you're aware, your uncle had taken quite ill over the last year, and so his passing was of little surprise. Attached to this letter you will find a copy of his last will and testament. Due to a lack of his own heirs, a majority of his fortune will be inherited by yourself. To you, he has bequest a property in the centre of London, as well as a large sum of what was left in his account at Gringotts. The sum has been transferred to a new account in your name at Gringotts. You will find details in the attached document.

Regards,

Agatha Bond

Office of Wizarding Affairs and Estates

Sirius felt his throat close up. He couldn't bring himself to look at the second page; he didn't care about the details. Vaguely he registered someone was calling his name, but everything was foggy and it sounded far away. He felt Remus lean in closer to read the letter over his shoulder, an act that ordinarily would have made his heart race. Instead, he just tilted the letter so Remus was able to see it better, and stared at the pile of food on his plate.

"Moony, what is it?" James asked, hushed and serious.

"His uncle," Sirius heard Remus reply.

There was some sort of wordless conversation between the the other, and then Remus was guiding Sirius away from the table and out of the Great Hall.

As Sirius followed Remus through the castle, he was lost in his thoughts. He'd only met his uncle a handful of times, but in those moments he had known he was not like the rest of his family, and not just because he was the only Black without children of his own. Sirius had actually enjoyed his company in the sparse amount of time they had spent together. He was one of the only members of his family who he'd spoken to since he had been disowned over the summer, and the only one who hadn't been blasted off the family tapestry (his cousin Andromeda had been blasted off when he was younger for running off with a muggle-born she'd met at Hogwarts). Alphard had given Sirius hope that being born a Black didn't mean inheriting the twisted purist views of his parents.

Sirius was pulled out of his thought as Remus came to a halt in an empty corridor. Sirius watched as he paced back and forth in front of the wall, and realised they must have been on the seventh floor of the castle. Sure enough, an ornately carved door appeared in the stone wall. Remus opened it and led Sirius into the room that had appeared. They walked into an exact replica of how James's room had been modified over the summer for when they had all stayed. The only difference, was the table of booze on the opposite wall.

Sirius plopped himself down in the pile of cushions the exact same way as he had over the summer.

Remus walked over the the table of booze, and Sirius stared up at the ceiling. Remus's footsteps grew louder as he approached and disappeared when Remus sat down next to him. A goblet was pushed into his hand, and Sirius took a large swig of it without even asking what it was. The familiar warmth of firewhiskey burned down his throat. They were both silent for a long time.

The quiet was broken some time later by James and Peter bursting through the door. Sirius's head was still staring up at the ceiling, so he only knew it was them because it could only be them. He heard their bodies thud onto the floor nearby, and the silence returned. No one was saying anything, and it started to make him angry. He didn't know what exactly he wanted anyone to say, because small talk was utter bullshit but the thought of talking about his uncle made his stomach lurch. He was angry, and it bubbled up inside him, until it overflowed in a way he hadn't ever conceived would happen: tears.

A single tear rolled down his cheek, fat and wet and he felt like a blithering idiot. He wiped it away quickly, though he knew they had all seen. But his body betrayed him, and more fat tears tumbled out and splattered onto his shirt. A heaving sob wracked through his body and it felt like it echoed throughout the whole room, bouncing off the walls and mocking him. There was a hand on his shoulder then, soft and warm. Somehow Remus had moved to sit right next to him without him even noticing, so close that Sirius's heart would ordinarily be beating at lightning speed but all he could feel was jagged pieces of glass where it used to be. Remus's hand on his shoulder reminded him he wasn't alone.

And then he remembered: he wasn't alone .

He curled into Remus and sobbed, staining his shirt with his tears. Remus seemed unsure of what to do with him, and so just placed a hand on Sirius's back but it was more than enough to console him. The crying lasted a long time, but all three of his friends stayed with him. His throat and eyes were sore and he knew that if he tried to speak his voice would be hoarse. His breathing started to even out, and from his position the smell of Remus's cardigan was potent in his nostrils. The smell was calming to him, like it had been in during the Potion's lesson on Amortentia.

The worst of it was over then for Sirius. He lifted his head from where he had leaned on Remus and found it covered in wetness from his own tears. In the back of his mind he was slightly embarrassed, but he didn't have enough energy at that point to care. Remus pulled him into a tight hug and Sirius felt warmth flooding back into his body. James and Peter joined them so that Sirius was covered by his friends from all angles.

Something tickled the back of his neck and as he wiggled around trying to find the culprit the four of them toppled over. James was first to start laughing and the rest of them quickly followed suit.

"Whose wispy fucking chin hairs were tickling my neck?" Sirius asked the room.

"Oi! They're not wispy," Peter defended.

James snorted from Sirius's right and Remus was wheezing to his left. Sirius picked up one of the pillows littered about the floor and threw it at Peter in retaliation.

"Alright, they're a bit wispy," Peter conceded.

A/N: Come find me on tumblr under the same handle, wotcherpotter :)