Author Note: Sorryabout the slow updating. I'm lazy, and am also getting ready for college.

Also, my deepest apologies to momiji'sunusedhalo, but I have forced my heart to be stone cold and thus they cannot all survive. I'm trying to be historically realistic, and when the Titanic sank about three quarters of the men died. And I have four guys here, so...yeah. To paraphrase JKR, writers must be merciless killers. Sorry about that, and about this chapter being so short. The next ones will be longer, I swear.

Summary: It's 1912 and there's a new ship sailing on the ocean: the R.M.S. Titanic. Lily Evans boards the ship as a first-class passenger, as does her betrothed James Potter and his best friend Sirius Black. Meanwhile, Remus Lupin and Severus Snape languish in third class. When the two groups meet and befriend each other, societal subcultures clash, internal battles are wrought, and numerous pranks are played on unsuspecting and unprepared first-class passengers. But no one is prepared for the iceberg that looms ahead... Currently, things are not boding well for our beloved boys.

...oo0oo...

Chapter 7:

The Reunion

"How the hell does this thing work?!"

"Push the button and pull the lever, you idiot!"

"Right. Sorry."

James and Sirius stood nervously in the lift. They had unceremoniously kicked out the lift operator, who, although still waiting dutifully beside his lift, had stoically refused to take the two boys down to steerage.

The lift shuddered and began its rickety descent as James and Sirius waited tensely for it to reach its destination. The current plan was for them to grab Remus (and Snivellus, if they must), take them up to the Boat Deck, and get on a lifeboat. Surely it wouldn't take too long for the women and children to board. Through the grating, James caught a glimpse of grey water; his heart seemed to stop for a second.

"Sirius," he breathed, clutching his friend's coat sleeve. The water began to seep through the gate and into the lift. James, horrified, took an involuntary step back. The frigid water was rising now, swirling thickly around his ankles. "Up! Go back up!" James screeched, his hands making a desperate bid for the lift buttons. "No, not yet!" Sirius grabbed his arm as the lift shuddered to a stop, with the freezing water eddying around just below their knees. Sirius threw the gate open and treaded out into the flooded corridor.

"Blimey, this is cold."

"Thanks, Captain Obvious," James snapped sourly, while staying close to the wall. His legs were already going numb. Sirius glared.

"Go back up!" he mimicked in a high-pitched voice.

"Shut up," replied James, before pointing up the corridor. "Everyone's probably up there."

"I wonder why there weren't any steerage passengers on the Boat Deck?" mused Sirius as they treaded through the water, the level of which was steadily lowering until it reached their calves. James shrugged. "Who knows."

Voices up ahead were clear now. Screaming, crying, panicking, voices. Exchanging glances, the two boys bounded forward as fast as their sodden trousers would allow them.

The crowd of steerage passengers was thick, so there was soon no room for James or Sirius to move, they were so pressed together. "I think I'm suffocating," wheezed James as he and Sirius slowly pushed through the crowd while simultaneously searching for Remus. Sirius was ahead; James could see his aristocratic face clearly through the throng. Suddenly, Sirius stopped. His grey eyes widened perceptibly as he stared up a thickly populated staircase.

"What?" James elbowed up to him. Does he see Rem? He better have...I hate this...I think I'm claustrophobic...Sirius continued to gaze up the stairs. He didn't look at James. "We're locked in."

"Huh?" James followed Sirius' gaze to see that, sure enough, the exit was blocked by a black metal gate. The crowd was pulsating roughly against it. James shuddered, tearing his eyes from the gate to look for Remus. He pulled a still-stunned Sirius with him. "C'mon, let's find Remy and get him to the lift," he encouraged, trying to keep his voice steady. Several heads swivelled in their direction upon hearing the word lift, but James ignored them, favoring to continue pushing through the suffocating, deafening, thickly packed corridor.

...oo0oo...

Odd, he thought– he was cold and hot at the same time. Actually, it was just his legs and arse that were cold. Cold enough that they were beginning to feel numb. Incoherent yelling assaulted his eardrums; swarms of legs and feet fizzled into view. He yawned.

"Oh, you're awake." Severus' coldly monotone voice drawled from beside him. That's when Remus noticed the water. It was clear and cold and was up to the ankles of those standing around him. Fever buzzed in his head, and through the fog he had a moment of clarity during which he wondered aloud why they were simply sitting in the corridor (and when had they gone to the corridor anyway?) and letting themselves get soaked in icy water (and why was there water on the ship?).

Severus' response was drowned out by a sudden series of shrieks– a great wave of water was bearing down on them; to Remus' fevered eyes it looked like a massive metal wall coming to crush them. Some distant part of his mind screamed for him to move, and he instinctively grabbed Sev's arm and hauled him up and leapt back as the silver wall crumbled to pieces in front of them. The force of it knocked them back farther; Remus felt his feet slip and he accidentally gulped some water; it stabbed at his mouth and throat with icicles, then Severus was pulling him up and away, through the whirlpool of desperate bodies in a flood of suddenly waist-deep water.

The two gripped each others' jacket sleeves, staying connected even as the throng almost pushed them apart. Faces swam in Remus' vision, and something was pulling at his ankle. Unthinkingly he pulled away, only to realize a second later that it had probably been some poor soul who had been pushed under and was getting tramples. Crap. Too late, they were near the stairs now and the gate was getting crushed and steward guarding it looked scared out of his mind. Scared enough that he grabbed his pistol and pulled the trigger.

Shots rang out over the din, echoing in Remus' brain. The effect was immediate; the crowd fell to its knees and covered its ears, a large entity of fear and panic that seemed as one. The shots died away, and Remus, who was now in sudden possession of a rather spectacular headache, glanced up and slowly uncovered his ears. His brown eyes swept through those surrounding him. There was Severus, scowling as usual, and there!– there were Sirius and James (What on earth are they doing down here?), huddled against a wall, looking positively terrified and staring in wide-eyed horror at the now-calmed steward. Remus gently tugged Severus' sleeve and pointed out the two ruffled-looking black-haired boys. Sev's scowl deepened, but Remus took hold of his arm and they threaded their way up the stairs toward them.

Upon seeing Remus, James' and Sirius' expressions both brightened. "Excellent!" cried Sirius, evidently having already forgotten his previous anxiety.

"We were looking for you," said James.

"We used the lift to get down here," added Sirius.

"Fat lot of good that'll do us now," snarled Severus in reply.

Remus peered down the flooded corridor. "He's right," he said, affirming Severus' observation about the present uselessness of going to the lifts. There was no way they could make it down the lifts, which probably wouldn't work now anyway.

The lights overhead gave a couple of unsteady flickers, then gave out completely, shrouding the passageway in black. More screams. The four boys stared soberly down the hall (at least, Remus thought they were– he could hardly see), and Remus felt water lapping at his thighs.

Sirius said, "We're doomed."

...oo0oo...

She gripped the side of the boat, staring at the sinking ship and mentally smacking herself. I should have stayed on. I should have stayed with my friends and my fiancé. Her knuckles whitened. If they die...her breath quickened painfully and she couldn't bring herself to finish the thought.

The atmosphere in the half empty lifeboat was tense and breathless; all the woman (and the one man who had shamelessly sneaked aboard) were staring in mixed horror and awe at the Titanic. The stern was slowly but steadily rising into the night air. God help them, prayed Lily, unable to tear her eyes off the dreadful sight.