Alice's POV

Two weeks have passed since the Courtney incident and Rebecca has become worse every day. She tried to act normally but we could see right through her mask. She spends more and more time in the library and she tells us she wants to study in order to win the bet. That's her usual excuse.

She doesn't want to admit that she is hurt and has not let a single tear fall. Everyone is so worried about her, except for Sirius (that pig!) who doesn't seem to notice anything. He used to be so protective of her and he was ready to tear into pieces anyone who hurt her and now he is the one hurting her.

Remus' POV

James will get sick of so much worrying. He stays with Rebecca 24/7 and never leaves her out of his sight. He barely sleeps at night. He is afraid that she might jump of a cliff with no explanation.

It is true that Becky is in an awful condition. She is like a living corpse. All her beauty has been drained. The flush of her rosy cheeks, the brightness of her smile, the twinkle in her eyes it's all gone now. She has also lost weight and she looks very fragile.

I always thought that Sirius and Rebecca were gravitating around each other and even though she doesn't want to admit anything, not seeing him anymore affects her both physically and mentally. I never saw anything like this before.

As for Sirius, he is acting weird too. He doesn't talk to us anymore. Even James can't speak with him. He spends him time with Courtney. He is gone all the time with her.

The last full moon was awful. Sirius didn't show up and James hardly managed without him…

Lily's POV

She doesn't want to talk to us. She doesn't want to talk to him. She doesn't want to admit that she is broken inside. She doesn't want to admit to herself that she loves him. I don't think she knows she loves him. Maybe I am not right but something inside tells me I am; she loves him.

James will slowly go insane. He won't tell his parents anything because every time he tries to do that Rebecca tells him: "Don't scare mom for nothing. You know how she is. I am fine. I don't know why you're worrying so much. I just lost some weight, everybody does that."

James' POV

"Wait a minute!" I yelled after her. She was headed to the library, of course. "Bex, I want to talk to you."

"I have to study, James," she said pointing to the pile of books she was carrying. I took her books and she let me carry them without complaining.

"Look, we have to talk. You are not fine, Becky." I stopped.

"I am perfectly fine, thank you," she said rolling her eyes.

"Bex, about Sirius …" she winced when I said his name.

"I don't care," she said accentuating every word, getting her books from me and walking away.

"Becky!"

-8-

Rebecca's POV

The 15th of October

Dear Diary,

Today I went to

The 18th of October

Dear Diary,

Now I'm

The 21st of October

Dear Diary,

The 23rd

There's no point in trying to find something to write. There is no significant event in my life anymore. That's it.

-8-

"We have to do something, Alice! I can't stand to see her like that," James whispered.

"I know, I know! I don't have any idea!" Alice frantically whispered back, almost pulling her hairs out.

"Guys, calm down. It's no use to …" Lily started.

"How can I calm down? She looks nothing like my sister, I hardly recognize her!" James raised his voice, crushing a pen.

"I didn't mean that," Lily apologized. "All I wanted to say was that we need to talk to Sirius first."

"Believe me, I tried," James sighed. "I don't know why but he is like a totally different person too. He hardly ever talks to us. I don't understand why would he do something like this to Bex, but I don't know why, I can't be mad at him. I don't feel like he … something's wrong with him. Sirius isn't like this. He treated Becky like she was his own sister and now…" he sighed again.

I sighed exasperated along with him. "Guys, I'm right here! I can here you."

"Sorry," they apologized, but they kept whispering, slightly quieter this time.

"We have to do something!"

I got up and went to the Gryffindor tower. I walked past the halls and the common room without noticing anyone. I grabbed my things and went to take a relaxing shower, just me and my thoughts.

I let the cold water pour on my body forgetting everything that linked me to the world outside the bathroom door. Ten minutes were too short but I decided it was time to get out of the shower. I wrapped a towel around me and combed a bit my wet hair.

The cold breeze that hit me when I opened the bathroom door seemed to want to wake me up to reality and all the worries that were washed away crawled back into my head. I went and looked out the window, wanting to keep those thoughts to the back of my mind.

Some first year boys jumped onto piles of golden leaves they magically gathered together, a group of girls were studying near the Quidditch pitch where some Ravenclaws were training. Under a tree, near the lake, a boy's glassy eyes were staring into the deepness of the water. He seemed to be the only sad person in the whole scenery, although sad didn't quite describe his expression. Lifeless, is a better description. His shaggy black hair fell elegantly, as always, into his eyes and he didn't move at all. He posed so gracefully, without even intending to.

I looked away from him, and closed the window, trying to swallow the lump that suddenly formed in my throat. After weeks of successfully avoiding Sirius, the sight of him made my stomach squirm. I shivered and changed into a comfy pair of jeans and a hoodie to keep me warm. I magically dried my wet hair and put it in a high ponytail, of out my face.

As I paced back and forth through the room forcing myself not to look at him again, knowing it was no use, I noticed a light blue covered book on Alice's bed. I knew what it was very well. Alice loved to immortalize every moment of our lives and she kept the best pictures in a scrapbook.

I sat down on her bed and looked at the blue cover. A child had written on it "Never forget…" Alice wrote that just after she learned how to write, it was her ingenious title. On the first page were photos of our parents and us when we were just a few hours old, both of us covered in pink blankets, and James in my dad's arms in a blue blanket and the title was "…when we were young and innocent" (Alice is quite poetic, has lots of creativity). I smiled at how time had flown. I turned the page and saw some photos of James, Alice and I when we were a bit older, James trying to peak through the keyhole into my room where Alice and I had a slumber party, James and I on our first brooms, the three of us having a snowball fight and the first Annual Potter Christmas Gala, the one my parents held every year, like my grandparents did.

I remember the first time I went to the gala. I was five, because until than mom would let a neighbor babysit me and James, but after we said that we were curious and we wanted to attend the even she let us come. I remember the pink dress I had on and how James would always try to get out of his tux. The title of the page was "… the day things were finally even". That's how James liked to call that day…

We rushed past each other when we heard someone apparate outside the gates. Our whole house and the domains have a spell casted over than so that one can't apparate, like Hogwarts has. We ran down the stairs each wanting to get down in the ballroom first.

"Don't run down the stairs!" mom yelled but dad just laughed at our enthusiasm.

He got to the ballroom before me and stuck out his tongue. Mom arranged my dress and James' bow-tie. The first ones to arrive were Alice's parents.

"Hi, guys!" Alice's mom greeted us.

"Hi, Jocelyn," we both said. Alice's mom insisted we'd call her by her name. "Where's Alice?" I asked, worried.

"She told me to tell you that she went to the tree house to get 'you know what'," she air quoted the words. "and that she'll be back in a minute."

"Hi kids!" Alice's dad, Edward said and shook James' hand.

I waited impatiently until she came inside panting. "Got it!" she said her camera in her hand. She wore a purple dress and had pink butterflies in her hair that was braided in a sophisticated bun.

"Come on, Becky," Alice's mom said. "Let's go upstairs and braid your hair just like Alice's." We went into mom's room and she arranged my hair into a bun and put pink flowers in it. Just as we finished we heard someone apparate again. "Don't run…" Sam started to say but we were already gone.

"Jaaaaames! Wait for meee!" I yelled as we ran down the stairs. As we got near we could hear my parents talking to someone else and James talking to a boy.

"Who's that?" the boy asked.

"My sister and her friend," James said.

"How old are they?" the boy asked again. I came down the stair running.

"We're twins." I said and looked at the people. The boy James was talking to seemed about our age. He had ink black hair that was the same length as James' but unlike my brother's messy hair, the boy's hair fell elegantly into his eyes in soft curls. The eyes! That was one of the things I first noticed. His eyes were blue but not sky blue like mine, they were … grey. That's a better description. His eyes were like a storm cloud.

"I'm Sirius," he said and bent to kiss my hand. My cheeks were flushed pink.

"I am too. We are twins but we are not fraternal twins, as you can see because James is a boy and I'm a girl." I said and James started laughing immediately.

"His name is Sirius," he explained.

"A proper young lady shouldn't run, especially in a dress and should be ready to meet her guests," a woman with a stern voice said.

"Rebecca, this is Mr. and Mrs. Black and these are their sons: Sirius and Regulus. Sirius is your age and Regulus is two years younger," mom said.

"Nice to meet you," I said simply. "Wanna go play outside?" I asked him and took his hand without waiting for an answer.

We played outside in the cold winter breeze hide and seek and some Quidditch on our little brooms and how Sirius would try to peak under our skirts when we were high in the air. We waited for more guests to come and played for about half an hour when James suddenly stopped.

"Come on, James! We were winning!" Sirius whined but James said nothing, he pointed at the sky, his mouth open.

"It's snowing!" Alice exclaimed and we all hurried to the ground. Because of a spell the snow started to fall on the ground faster and in one minute a thick layer of snow covered the whole yard.

"Snowball fight!" I yelled and James covered his head with his hands as I shot a snowball at him. Sirius turned out to be faster and hit me before my snowball got to James.

"It's even, now! James yelled. "We're two boys and two girls!" he said and started laughing, while throwing a snowball at Alice. "Revenge!"

I smiled and turned the pages and saw pictures from our first day at Hogwarts: in the train – James, Alice and I in the same compartment. Soon after that Remus, Sirius and Peter joined. The horror on our faces as we stood on the stool in front of the great hall with the magic hat on our heads. I skipped a few pages and I got to the ones taken just a few weeks ago, at the lake. I remembered how I was so carefree, we all were, and how happy we were. What I just can't bear is the fact that when my friends see me upset they can't be happy. Except for Sirius.

I winced when I thought of him, as if someone had stabbed me. I closed the scrapbook quickly and put it down. I closed my eyes remembering the good times and I gasped as a tear made its way down my cheek. I felt more and more and realized I was crying.

I laid on the bed in a fetal position and cried for the first time since it happened. Alice and Lily came rushing into the room, as if on cue.

'Shh… it's okay,' Alice told me as she and Lily hugged me. 'It's going to be okay. Shh…'

I tried to come together. As Lily would do I told myself Stop it, Rebecca. He's not worth your tears. But that only made another wave of tears and sobs come. I cried for a long time, unable to stop myself and Alice whispered to me the whole time:

'Shh… It's okay. It's okay.'


AN: So, after months of waiting – I am sooooo sorry for that – here is the next chapter. I am not totally pleased with its content but because I had a HUGE case of writer's block I couldn't come with anything better.

I got a review today and that made me realize I had to post this. So I wrote the ending as fast as I could and now it's done.

I hope you like it and I can't wait to see what you think of it!

Review please! :D