So not long after last chapter, my laptop's charger died. I kept writing...not long after that...my laptop's battery died! Not long after THAT, I was unemployed...boy i had my streak of bad luck. But NOW...I haz new charger & battery & job! Things are lookin up, and I now PROMISE to update sooner...waaaaay sooner. Sorry for the looong wait. Hope you enjoy!

It was the day of the Hogsmeade visit, and Zoe had not uttered a word of that night's happenings to anyone but Lily. No one wanted to pry, but Sirius insisted on pestering her for answers.

"Where are you going?" Sirius walked at a fast pace trying to catch up with Zoe.

"I already told you I was going to Hogsmeade!" Zoe was now looking very agitated.

The past few days she wasn't as playful with him as she used to be. He seemed to anger her too easily with the smallest of things. She had even thrown a book at him when he had simply asked for a bit of ink.

She stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face him, causing him to lose his balance a little, "Listen, I am going to Hogsmeade with Daniel. I do not wish to see you poking your hairy little head around every corner or else I will be forced to shove my wand so far up your nose, you'll be sneezing out splinters for the rest of your life. Understand?"

Sirius didn't know if it was the comment about his head or the splinter sneezes that caused him to do it, but once let out the first laugh, he regretted it.

He slowly opened his eyes and was surprised to see James and Lupin staring down at him.

"What the bloody hell happened?" James said as he helped Sirius up to his feet.

Sirius tried to explain but there was a tingling sensation lingering on the center of his face, "I have absolutely no idea, mate."

Lupin was covering his mouth with his hand, surely trying to do what Sirius hadn't been able to finish earlier.

"How long was I out for?" Sirius lightly touched his nose and felt a small jolt of pain.

Remus started chuckling a little bit, "All we saw was a small fist go towards your face. You must've angered Zoe pretty good to have received such a hit."

"Let's get a move on. Lily's probably already waiting for us at Honeyduke's," James stood in front of Sirius, making sure he wouldn't fall forwards.

"I'm fine," Sirius shook his head, "Who keeps moving the floor?"

At that, Remus couldn't contain his laughter anymore. As they made their way to Hogsmeade, Remus would look at him every once in a while and have a small fit of laughter.

Just as James had said, Lily was already waiting for them at the entrance of Honeyduke's.

"What happened to you?" Lily looked at Sirius' already bruising nose.

"Your friend gave me an early Christmas present," Sirius mumbled.

Lily looked at James and back at Sirius, "She's been having a bad week, Sirius. You should give her some space."

Sirius nodded and they walked into the shop.

A couple of hours of shopping and they were done for the day. As they strode back into the school, they spotted a screaming Narcissa running up the stairs , holding her head tight.

"What's got into her?" Sirius asked.

As they were about to enter the Great Hall, Zoe made her presence known with a new head of hair in a bright red shade.

Lily looked from Zoe to the stairs they had seen Narcissa run up, "Zoe?"

Zoe cleared her throat and grinned, "Hey there guys."

"ZOE HITZIG!" Professor McGonagall swooped from her office down to where they all stood.

"Yes, professor?" Zoe's grin disappeared quickly.

McGonagall motioned for the group to leave and they did, but they hid behind the Great Hall's doors and listened in.

"Narcissa has mentioned that someone dropped some Drooble's Best Blowing Gum onto her head. Do you know anything about this?"

They heard Zoe clear her throat again, "No, ma'am. I was talking to my friend David right outside when I heard Narcissa scream about something. Didn't realize she had gum stuck in her hair. Happens to the best of us, don't it?"

Professor McGonagall fell silent for a moment, "If I find out you had something to do with this, Hitzig, I'll be taking 50 points from your house."

They heard her footsteps disappear onto the outside grounds.

Lily walked up to where Zoe stood, "DID you have something to do with the gum debacle?"

Zoe smiled and shrugged, "Not going to say. Well, I have an important meeting to get to. See you all later."

As she walked away, Lupin, James, and Sirius burst out laughing.

"It's about bloody time someone did something to that hag," James laughed.

Lily shook her head, "She's going to get Zoe back. I can feel it."

"At least she looks happier. David sure cheered her up," Lupin added.

They gathered at the Gryffindor table and looked over their purchases when David came into the dining hall. He looked over at their table and waved at them.

Lily waved back, "He seems happy too. Wonder what happened at Hogsmeade."

After an hour of chattering, Lily and James departed to the library and Lupin went to see where Peter was, leaving Sirius alone to wander the halls. He was surprised to see Zoe come out of Dumbledore's office.

"They catch you?" Sirius asked her as she walked away from the door leading into the office.

She walked past him in a daze. He lightly grabbed her by the shoulder, "You all right? You seem a little...off?"

She shook her head, "Oh, hey Sirius. Um, I'm all right. Listen, do you by any chance know how to contact...oh...you know what? Forget I mentioned anything..."

She smiled and walked down the stairs. As soon as she was out of sight, Dumbledore also came out of his office, humming a catchy tune.

"Professor? Is Zoe okay?" Sirius approached him.

Dumbledore smiled and took off his glasses to clean them, "She will be in due time. Such pressure should never be bestowed upon someone as young as her. But alas, nothing can be done."

Sirius furrowed his brow, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Dumbledore put his glasses back on and chuckled, "Oh my, seems to me like I've said too much already. You may want to inquire more with her, Sirius. She seems to be in need of a friend at the moment. And it seems to be as if you got here in the nick of time."

He continued his humming again as he walked away.

"Why is everything a riddle with him..." Sirius said under his breath and went to find Zoe.

It didn't take him long to find her, she had sat down on one of the stairwells.

"You all right? We're all pretty worried about you," Sirius sat down one stair above hers.

Zoe seemed to ignore him, she was concentrating very hard on a piece of lint on her shoe, "Hmm? Oh, yeah I'm fine...actually...can we go to the Room of Requirement?"

They walked through the halls in complete silence. As soon as they entered the Room of Requirement, Zoe let out a scream of frustration, causing Sirius to reach for his wand.

She took a deep breath and sighed, "What I'm about to tell you, you are to never repeat it to anyone else. Promise?"

She stuck her pinky out at him and he linked his own to it, "Promise."

"For the next couple of weeks, I...I..." Zoe took another deep breath, "I will not be myself. There is something I have to do that requires me to be at my worst. I apologize in advance for anything I might say or do to any of you. I've told Lily this already, but not the whole truth."

Sirius frowned at her, "Why in bloody hell are you doing this?"

"My family is planning something big with the rest of the Death Eaters. I've been advised to follow along in hopes of becoming one...one of...them," she finished the sentence with a look of dread.

Sirius unhooked his pinky from hers, "What? You're joining the damned Death Eaters?"

"It's not my choice!" She choked up, "Well it is...but I'm doing what's best for everyone!"

"How is having another Death Eater around best for ANYONE? You've lost your damn mind, Zoe! Who told you to do this?" Sirius shouted at her.

"Dumbledore," she said in almost a whisper, "He...he..he said that it's the only way at the moment to be able to infiltrate them. It might be the only chance we've got to end them. I've got to do this."

Sirius slumped down the wall behind them, "What if that's their plan? What if they already know that someone really isn't a part of them?"

Zoe nodded and slumped down next to him, "We went over that too. It's a risk we're willing to take. I'm not really going to be put in real danger. My parents are going to be watching over me, or so they say. I'm not really too sure about anything right now. All I know is that in order for me to have any chance of joining them, I have to cut ties with everyone near and dear to me."

Sirius was in a state of shock and didn't know how to respond.

"I shouldn't have burdened you with all this," Zoe looked as if she was holding back tears.

"It's fine," Sirius took her hand in his, "Is this why you gummed Narcissa's head?"

Zoe chuckled, "No, that was just for fun."

They each looked down at their interlocking hands but didn't say anything for a long while.

"You should know that no matter what, the Marauders and Lily will always be here for you," Sirius said softly.

"I know," Zoe chuckled, "Promise me one more thing..."

"What?"

"If it comes to a point where we have to fight, don't hold back," Zoe cleared her throat.

Sirius nodded, "What should I say to the rest of the group?"

"Tell them I've lost my mind, because it sure feels that way," Zoe laughed nervously.

Sirius looked at her and then back at their hands, he was about to say something when there was a loud bang behind them.

Zoe quickly let go and stood up, "What is that?"

A peephole appeared on the wall.

Sirius looked through it and saw Peeves throwing trophies at it. Someone was screaming at him to stop, surely they were right below the peephole trying to run away.

Peeves cackled and flew after them. Sirius took out the Marauder's map and checked to see if Peeves had left. It seemed to be Filch who had been trying to get away from him, he was still running away.

Zoe laughed, "It's time to go back. Oh before I forget, the punch earlier was also just for fun."

"It didn't feel very funny to my face," Sirius playfully shoved her out the door.