A/N: I think the last note said it all. This chapter picks up where I last left off.

Disclaimer: Somewhere over the rainbow, I own Potter, In an Alternate Universe, that's where my dreams come true... If JKR can own dear Harry, in the real world, then why oh why can't I?! Yeah, I know, it's really bad... just trying to be creative.

Warning: Mild language. Although, I know I've said it, you probably have too. However, I don't want to get a "You didn't warn me!" in a far-in-the-future review, if I e'er get one.

Chapter 10- Losses and Victories

The crowd roared with excitement as the players from Gryffindor and Ravenclaw kicked off into the air. McKinnon sped off towards the Gryffindor goal posts while James, Jacqueline, and Tira sped off towards the Quaffle. Morgana flew up above the others, carefully watching the other Seeker, a sixth year boy named Gretterns, while trying to keep Bludgers in sight. Sirius circled below her, trying to keep Bludgers far from her and James.

"First match of the season, mates! Don't you love the smell of Quidditch in the morning?" the commentator roared to the crowd. "Pat Oswald here, by the way. Just in case you were wondering my name. 5th year Gryffindor. On to business! Potter's got the Quaffle! He's a new one this year! Gryffindor had to replace three long-time members- Chaser, Beater, Seeker. Seems like McKinnon did very well with this pick! Man, that kid flies fast!" James had circled half the pitch with the Quaffle to avoid another player in record time.

"Get over there you moron!" Sirius roared as his friend zoomed past. James gave a loud whoop and flew towards the goal.

"He's almost there! I think he's gonna make it! He throws it! And... Gryffindor scores! Ten-nada, Gryffindor!" Half of the crowd below erupted into cheers. "First goal of the first match! Merlin, Potter can fly! And the Quaffle's passed to Craigson of Ravenclaw, also a new pick this year. Burly bloke, inn'e? That's the only replacement for Ravenclaw this year." Morgana continued to circle the pitch, still keeping Gretterns and the two Bludgers in sight. The sixth year was circling directly across from Morgana, watching her every move. She was trying to block out the roar of the crowd below her as goals were scored, Bludgers were hit, and Quaffles were dropped. After about twenty minutes with no sign of the Snitch, Morgana glanced down at the players, Sirius had just hit a Bludger away from James who continued to speed towards the goal, tossing the Quaffle back and forth between himself and Tira. Suddenly, Morgana saw it. A golden glint shimmering at the dead center of the pitch. She pulled into a dive, Gretterns followed, not missing a beat. She was no more than ten feet from the Snitch when a red and black streak came out of nowhere, zooming in front of her, knocking her off balance and into Gretterns, throwing him off course. There was a loud crack as Sirius hit a Bludger away from her, though it was quite unnecesary, it would have missed her by a mile. Sirius whipped around as Morgana untangled herself from the sixth year, regaining her composure.

"Proceed!" Sirius said, gesturing for her to carry on. She looked back, the Snitch was gone.

"Dammit Black! It's gone!" she roared, beginning to circle the pitch once more.

"It appears Sirius Black, new pick for Gryffindor and best friend of James Potter, just saved Morgana le Fay, and yet another new pick for Gryffindor, from being hit by a Bludger. She knocks over Gretterns and the Snitch has eluded them once more. Bad luck there!" Pat said loudly over the crowd. "Supposedly, they had a bit of a thing going on there for a while. Dunno 'bout that, people say a lotta things. Supposedly I had several hot dates with Rita Skeeter last year! Remember that, guys? Yeah, too bad Rita graduated the year before, otherwise I think we definitely had chemistry, don't you? Guys, get your facts straight before starting these loads of dung, all right? Really annoying. Anyway, Jacqueline Rorers with the Quaffle she's going towards the goal and heads over to Tira- BLOODY HELL! Yertherds comes out of nowhere and the Quaffle is now in Ravenclaw possession! Blimey! How'd that happen? Staying on topic from now on! Anyway, the Quaffle is passed over to..." Morgana tried to block out the comments by Pat Oswald, concentrating on finding the Snitch. Forty-five minutes into the match the score was 80-70, Gryffindor. Then, for the second time in the match, Morgana saw it- a small glimmer of gold, hovering close to the ground on the opposite side of the pitch. She and Gretterns looked at each other at the same time and lurched forward simultaneously. They were quickly closing the gap between Seeker and Snitch when the latter whizzed farther ahead and took a sharp right turn. Gretterns sped ahead a little, about two feet farther ahead than Morgana. Morgana pulled into a vertical dive, bearing down upon the tiny, golden ball. It flittered farther ahead still, Morgana pulled straight out, three feet from the ground. She heard a yelp and turned quickly to see Gretterns clutching his ankle, less than a foot from the ground. She flew as fast as she could, turning her attention back to the Snitch, which was whizzing forward still. Fifteen feet away... ten feet... eight... five... three...

"LE FAY CLOSES IN ON THE SNITCH AS GRETTERNS FALLS BACK! I THINK HE'S BROKE HIS ANKLE! SHE'S ALMOST THERE! AND MORGANA LE FAY CATCHES HER FIRST SNITCH DURING HER FIRST GAME! THE FIRST GAME OF THE YEAR! GRYFFINDOR WINS!" Morgana flew upward, clutching the Snitch in her right hand as Gryffindor supporters roared and applauded, Oswald still cheering loudly over the crowd. Next thing she knew, there were several sets of strong hands gripping her arms and leading her to fly over the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff stands. James and Sirius let go as she touched down on the ground. McKinnon jumped off of his broom.

"What did I tell you?! No need to be nervous!" he yelled at her, beaming. Suddenly, they all rose in the air- the Gryffindor spectators had lifted the Team above their heads and were carrying them back to the castle. The entire Team was set on the same table that James and Sirius had conducted the rest of the house from when they had made the Team. Butterbeers were passed to the front. Morgana took hers and hopped off the table, making her way over to where Chris, Ally, and Lily were waiting by the couch, grinning broadly at their friend.

"You did it!" Lily said in an I-told-you-do type of tone.

"I did it," Morgana agreed, smiling, the Snitch still clutched tightly in her hand. They all flopped down on the couch.

"To Morgana!" Chris said, raising her Butterbeer bottle.

"To the Team," Morgana said, clinking hers with the other three bottles. She looked at the clock- about 1:00. "So, McGonagall's essay-"

"Morgana, you just won a Quidditch game, your first game. Now is not the time for essays, homework, and the like. Now is the time for Butterbeer, friends, and merry-making," Lily shook her head. "Tonight, your priorities are completely opposite of normal."

"Oh, well if you insist..." Morgana replied, giving the impression that she really had no desire to work on the essay anyway.

"Star of the hour!" someone said behind them, Morgana hung her head back to see McKinnon grinning down at her, looking like an older brother who was very proud of his young sister's accomplishment.

"Hey, Matt!" the girls said in unison.

"Just stopped by to say nice job."

"You mad some great saves. I saw a few of them," Morgana said, as he walked around the couch to face them directly.

"Thanks. Managed to block all but seven of them. However, this isn't about me. First match, first win. We haven't won in eight years, we might be able to do it this year."

"One can only hope."

"Well, good job. We have the last match before holidays- November 1st."

"My birthday, won't forget."

"Imagine that. Well, I'm off," he got up and clapped his hand to Morgana's cheek briefly as he walked off.

"I like him... I like him a lot..." Chris said, dreamily watching the Keeper disappear.

"Hmm, nice guy," Morgana replied absentmindedly. She had taken to Matt McKinnon quite nicely, and he to her. He was very easy to get along with.

"Nice looking, nice acting, nice Quidditch playing... the man's got it all."

"Yeah, and two years on you."

"He's born August 31st- no I'm not stalking him, I just remember birthdays well-" Chris added when she saw the other three's looks of distress."I'm February 31st- he's a year and a half older." Morgana rolled her eyes while the other two shook their heads sadly.

"Lily, I love you! Lily I do! When we're apart my heart beats only for yooooouuuuu!" another voice sang obnoxiously from behind Lily.

"Silencio!" Morgana said aiming her wand at James Potter who stopped singing, though his mouth still moved as he made animated motions towards Lily. Morgana felt a slight weight on her head and looked up- Sirius Black.

"Morgana! How charming to see you! May I say that you look particularly lovely on this fine and joyous day!"

"Coming from you, that doesn't mean much."

"You played marvelously today," he turned to look at James who was still singing silently to Lily. Sirius undid the silencing charm.

"-and I still love you!" James finished, kneeling at the last few words. Lily rolled her eyes. "So, what say you, Evans? Will you go out with me?"

"Stop hexing Severus Snape."

"If I did that, would you go out with me?"

"No, but it wouldn't hurt!"

"I don't know what you see in him, Evans! He's a Dark Arts obsessed, greasy, vile piece of scum! A piece of dung!" Lily didn't say anything, but crossed her arms indignantly.

"Get out of here," Morgana growled at Sirius and James. "Go find some Marauder fans to snog senseless."

"It wasn't long ago that you were a Marauder fan... a Sirius Marauder fan..." Morgana's eyes flashed with heartbreaking emotion for a moment, remembering the heaven that had been her first few years at Hogwarts. But it was quickly replaced with a look of pure loathing that shocked Sirius as much as the first.

"Get- the- hell- out- of- here- before- I- hex- you!" she snarled, putting severe emphasis on each word and standing up to full height. The boys put their hands up innocently and walked off. She flopped back down, looking slightly more weary than before.

"Er... Ally, could I talk to you?" Chris said to her best friend. The two walked up to the girls' dormitories.

"What was that ab-"

"Here, Professor," McKinnon said behind them, cutting Lily off. They turned around, McGonagall stood next to the Quidditch captain.

"Thank you, Mr. McKinnon. Miss Evans, I would like to talk to you," she said immediatly to Lily.

"Oh, well... Would it be all right if Morgana came along, too?"

"I- well- she- oh all right! It's probably for the best!" The two girls got up and hurried after to the older witch. Morgana exchanged a glance with Lily. What was going on? They had to jog to keep up with the teacher's long strides, Morgana's scarlet robes billowing out behind her.

"Professor, may I ask what's going on?" Lily said, as they caught up with McGonagall.

"Professor Dumbledore shall inform you when we get to his office. May I say, excellent playing on your part in the match this morning, Miss le Fay."

"Thank you, ma'am," Morgana said quietly, exchanging a nervous glance with Lily. They walked the rest of the way in silence.

"Fizzing Whizbee," McGonagall said, as they came to the stone gargoyle. She motioned for the girls to proceed up the staircase while she followed behind, gesturing for Morgana to knock on the door.

"Come in," someone said from the other side of the large, heavy door as it swung open. Lily stepped into the room, Morgana followed her friend while McGonagall brought up the rear. "Ah, Miss Evans, I see you brought Miss le Fay, lovely, lovely. Minerva-" Morgana looked around the office briefly- it looked exactly the same as it had the previous year, when she and Sirius and come to find out that Morgana would not be able to return home for the Christmas holidays as previously planned. There were an assortment of odd, fragile looking, silver instruments sitting on a table, a phoenix sat majestically on an elaborate perch behind the large desk where a man with a silver beard with hair to match sat, wearing dark, midnight blue robes with a hat of the same color, his blue eyes bearing into the girl's over half-moon spectacles. However, his eyes did not harbor the same mischievous twinkle as they usually did.

"Did you receive word yet?" McGonagall said anxiously.

"Alas, not yet, but I expect an update within the next few minutes. Sit, sit," he addressed the girls, flicking his wand, making the chairs in front of his desk slid out. Morgana and Lily took a seat. "Professor McGonagall?" he said, conjuring another chair.

"That's quite all right, Albus."

"Very well," he said. He put the tips of his fingers together and continued to survey the girls, something clouding his eyes. They sat for several minutes in deafening silence. "You played well today during the match, Miss le Fay."

"Thank you, sir," Morgana said, dipping her head slightly in respect. He nodded, a small smile playing on his lips. They continued to sit in silence until-

Crack.

A small flame burst into the air, leaving a single piece of parchment floating down above the Headmaster's head. He caught it and nodded slowly, showing no emotion. "Alas, it is... as I thought."

"Albus?" McGonagall said from behind the girls. He continued on.

"Ladies, you are most likely wondering why you are here. This will start out, as most conversations of this manner tend to: Miss Evans, I have the most unfortunate task of telling you that a tragic event has occurred." Lily's eyes widened. "Last night, your parents fell asleep and a candle was still burning in the living room after they went to bed. By some form of unfortunate luck, the cat knocked the candle over, setting the plant next to it on fire, which in turn, caught to the table- within minutes the downstairs was engulfed in flames."

"How are they? Where are they? Is everyone all right?" There was a dull sadness in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry. Your father perished." Lily stood up, her voice cracking as well as getting significantly louder.

"What about Tuney? Where's Mum? What happened to them?"

"Petunia was, fortunately, at a friend's house for a birthday party. And your mother is currently living." That didn't sound good- "currently", for now. Morgana looked over at Lily. Her friend was shaking and her hands were clenched in fists at her side.

"Where are they? I need to talk to them!"

"Your sister is at the friend's residence whilst your mother is being cared for at St. Mungo's."

"When can I see them?"

"We are expecting another message, as soon as it arrives, you may use the Floo Network to reach St. Mungo's."

"When!?"

"I- I don't know." Lily stood there for a moment, opening and closing her mouth. She suddenly fell back into her chair and sobbed weakly. Morgana, not missing a beat, walked over behind her friend and crouched beside her, putting her arms around the younger girl who began to sob into her friend's shoulder.

"Shhh, shhh..." Morgana said, rubbing her hand up and down her friend's back, rocking back and forth. After a few minutes, Morgana switched positions so that she was kneeling next to Lily, because she was losing feeling in her feet. McGonagall put a hand on Lily's shoulder and looked as though she didn't quite know what to do. Dumbledore sat there, looking down at his hands like a child who had done wrong. After another several minutes, there was a crack and a burst of flame for the second time that day. Dumbledore caught the parchment once again as he stood up.

"Miss Evans, Miss le Fay, Professor McGonagall is going to escort you to the room in which Mrs. Evans is staying."

"Is Petunia there?" Lily said, looking up from her friend's shoulder and sounding as though she had a very bad head cold.

"I'm afraid not. She refused to come when we sent word saying that she felt- ah- less than welcome in our world. Even so, it is advised that your mother stay at St. Mungo's, she could be provided no better care possible." Lily nodded.

"All right, ladies, come on," McGonagall said in what must have been her version of a matronly voice. She escorted them to the large fireplace and ducked in, beckoning for the other two to follow. She put a hand on their shoulders, Morgana grasped Lily's hand as she was offered a small jar of emerald green powder. She took a handful and said quite firmly,

"St. Mungo's Hospital Lobby!" she threw down the powder and was soon spinning around, the office disappearing and being replaced with a large white room, bustling with people. McGonagall made her way to the front desk, pulling the two girls with her through the dense crowd.

"How may I help you?" a witch behind the counter said.

"Yes, which room is Mrs. Melaney Evans being treated in?"

"Fire victim? Yes, she was hard to place. She's in a private room on the first floor- 142."

"Thank you." The girls followed McGonagall to the staircase, down a long hallway. "136... 138... 140... Here-" she pointed to a white door, just as the rest of them were, with gold numbering in the middle. The older witch led them through the door where there was a single bed, next to a single window, with a single mass of white bandages laying on it.

"Can I help you?" a Healer in lime-green robes said as they entered.

"This is Mrs. Evans daughter, Lily, and Lily's friend, Morgana. How is she doing?"

"Well, we've done all we can do, magic can only help so much-" Morgana turned as she noticed Lily's absence from her side. The red-headed girl was walking slowly over to the bed at the end of the room, her mouth covered with her hands in horror. She reached the bed and sat down in one of the chairs next to it, staring at the mass of bandages which was her mother. Morgana heard her friend sniff loudly and she quietly walked up behind her.

"Mummy... mum... come on, mum..." she whispered, gently grasping her mother's bandaged hand. Her face was slightly burned and blackened still in some areas, her neck was exposed and raw looking. It appeared as though her eyebrows and eyelashes had been burned away and that her hair had caught fire during the blaze, for most of it was gone on one side of her head. She must have been very pretty before the fire. She had a slender face, with almond-shaped eyes, a small, gentle mouth, and the same small nose as Lily- in fact she looked quite a bit like Lily, but with bonde hair that was now charred. Morgana put a hand on each of Lily's shoulders. "I've lost my dad, my sister hates me... Ana, I can't lose Mum! She's my only family left!" her voice cracked with restrained sobs. Morgana squeezed her friend's shoulders reassuringly.

"Don't forget Lils, we may not be blood relatives, but you'll never be alone..." Morgana said quietly, staring at Mrs. Evans. "There's Ally and Chris, Remus is a good guy, Severus is your friend, Peter's odd enough, but he's not so bad and even Potter and Black could probably straighten up a bit for a moment and be there for you. And hey! I'm here too. You know we're here, right?" Lily nodded through her tears, her green eyes now puffy and pink. "I know that we can't take the place of a mum or dad or something, but we won't let you down, Lils." Lily nodded again.

"Miss le Fay? A word, if you don't mind?"

"Coming Professor! Be right back..." she added to Lily who continued to sit and hold her mother's bandaged hand.

"Morgana," McGonagall said quietly, steering her student out of the room. It was the first time Morgana could remember the teacher ever using just her first name. "We need to get Lily out of here by 4:00, all right? She has just under an hour."

"That's all? It was 1:30 when we got to Professor Dumbledore's office."

"Do not forget the change in time, Morgana. We spent over a half hour in the office as well. Now listen, her mother is getting another bout of treatment at 4:00. I'd rather she not witness it. I would appreciate it if you were able to persuade her to leave at that time. She'll probably resist me, but she might not resist you... as much."

"Yes, Professsor." McGonagall nodded and nudged Morgana back into the room where her friend was now hugging her knees in her chair. "Hey, Lils, wanna go get some tea or something?" Morgana hoped that if she could get her friend away for several minutes, she might see that it was okay to leave her mum for the rest of the day.

"I'm okay. You can if you want."

"I'm only going if you go." Lily sighed.

"All right, but just for a minute. I suppose I am a bit hungry." They walked up to the tea room. When they finished, it was 3:27- they killed twenty minutes of time.

"Morgana?"

"Yeah?"

"What did McGonagall say to you before?"

"Well... see Lils, we're supposed to be back by 4:00."

"Why?"

"Don't right know," Morgana lied as they made their way back to room 142.

"Do you think she'll make it?"

"Frankly, Lils? I..."

"Well, I don't think she will. I want her to, but I... I-I don't want her to. She's suffering too much. Imagine if she makes it?! All the pan she'll still have to go through! Plus, I suspect Dad's lonely..." her voice trailed off. Morgana put her hand on Lily's arm. "Why me? Why my family? Ya know? That's just kinda how I feel!" her voice began to crack and became higher as she tried to keep her words as casual as possible.

"Nobody wants it to be their family. And I suppose, anyone that has something happen to them says that. If it came true, it would just be a vicious cycle wouldn't it." Lily nodded, but looked as though she didn't quite understand. Truthfully, Morgana really didn't know what she just said either. She tried again. "It would be like a... life and death game of hot potato..." Lily looked over at her friend who was deep in thought, her brow furrowed. "Yeah... life and death hot potato... What?"

"Hot potato?" Lily said, smiling a bit.

"Yes. Death by potatoes," Morgana said simply.

"All right then. Deadly Hot Potato... Sounds like something Potter and Black would play-"

"I hope your not taking tips from them, I expect far better from you," McGonagall said, making the girls jump about a foot.

"Deadly Hot Potato? Oh, Merlin, no!" Morgana exclaimed, her eyes wide. Something seemed to click with McGonagall.

"Well, if I see or hear anything about this... Fatal Potato, I'll be coming to Gryffindor Tower first!"

"Of course, Professor." The girls walked into the room, Morgana could've sworn McGonagall gave her the smallest wink.

OxO

"Hey, Sirius! You see Morgana or Lily lately?" Chris said, walking up to Sirius as the Quidditch party died down. Ally walked up behind her.

"Evans and le Fay? Haven't see them since... well, since the party started. I saw them leave with McGonagall, aren't they back yet?" he sounded a little concerned.

"If they were would I be here?" Chris said, looking annoyed. She could see he was slightly drunk.

"Library? Classrooms? Great Hall? Outside?"

"Check. Check. Check. And double check."

"How long have they been gone?"

"Last anyone else saw of them was at about 1:20." Sirius looked at the clock- 4:12.

"Where d'you think..."

"Well, Ally and I are going to wait outside in the corridor. Come out and tell us if you hear anything, okay?"

"Wha- oh, yeah. Sure." The two girls headed out of the Common Room. Times were getting darker. It was unlike Morgana or Lily to not tell someone where they'd be for hours on end. Sirius chewed on his bottom lip for a moment and turned to head up to the boys' dormitories to tell the others what was going on.

OxO

"Lils? Lily? It's time to go," Morgana said softly to her friend. The red-head looked up at the clock- 4:02. She sniffed.

"Right. Bye mum. See you later," she bent over and kissed her mother's burnt cheek and straightened up, but didn't move.

"Come on Lils."

"I don't want to go." Morgana barely heard what she said, but knew he wasn't mistaking a word.

"I know, Lils, but you can come back again. No one's gonna stop you. By God, if they try to I'll take care of the matter personally myself." The corners of Lily's mouth twitched slightly.

"I believe you. I guess we'd better go." They went out into the hall where Professor McGonagall was standing by the way, reading a note and shaking her head.

"Why? What is the... Merlin, no! Unbelievable! Tactless! The bastards..." McGonagall muttered, clearly outraged.

"Professor?" Morgana said, hesitant. "Um, we're ready to go back whenever you are."

"As appealing as that sounds, dear, I'm afraid we'll have to make... a side trip," there was a clear note of disgust in her voice as she looked back at the parchment. The girls raised an eyebrow.

"Miss Evans, this will be extremely hard for you, I'm sure... but... they need you to... to... identify your father."

"But it's him?" Lily said, a slight note of hope in her voice. Maybe her father was still alive.

"I'm afraid it's a technicality. Strictly for legal purposes." Morgana saw tears stream from her friend's eyes. It must have been like losing her father all over again.

"Well, I'll have to do it, won't I?"

"I'm afraid so," McGonagall sounded dull with pity, she held out her hands. Morgana and Lily stood in front of her as she firmly gripped their shoulders. "Hold on." They did as they were told and suddenly felt as though all the air was stripped from the room. Morgana was dying, being smothered. There was no air. The room faded from sight. She couldn't move. And suddenly, it lifted. She breathed in mouthfuls of air, and heard Lily doing the same next to her. Morgana's eyes adjusted to the dim light. They were standing in a dingy alleyway, it smelled of urine and stale drink. McGonagall scrunched her nose and walked out towards the street. "Filthy!" she muttered. Morgana and Lily followed. The professor led them to a gray, one-level building on the other side of the street. McGonagall opened the door and began to speak in a low whisper to the woman behind the counter who eyed the group- must have been the clothes.

It smelled like a hospital and had the same atmosphere, everything was either metal or painted grey or white. McGonagall began to walk away, beckoning for the other two to follow. They walked down a cold, dimly lit hall, their shoes thudding on the marble floor. Lily pressed herself close to Morgana, who didn't mind, it was so bloody cold! They walked until they met a man standing in front of a large, metal door.

"Evans?" McGonagall nodded, nudging Lily forward, apparently McGonagall was staying behind. Morgana was about to take a step back, but Lily gave her a small tug and she went in after her.

The cold in the hallway was nothing compared to the cold in the room. Morgana had never been in a morgue before, and she didn't know what to expect. There were several lumpy shapes covered in white sheets, the feet of the bodies sticking out with a tag on the big toe.

"Are you afraid?" the man said. He was tall, and somewhat handsome with wavy, black hair and hazel eyes. He must have had a constant five-o'-clock shadow. Morgana could imagine Chris swooning on the spot.

"There's nothing to fear from a body, or from death itself," Morgana said, still staring at the body closest to her- a blonde-haired woman. She must have been fairly young, Morgana couldn't really tell because of the sheet covering her face, but she did have long nails painted bright pink. She looked away for a moment at the man, who continued to stare at the girls, mostly at Morgana, there was slight interest in his eyes.

"Lily Evans?" Morgana shook her head, Lily stepped forward. The man smiled. "Lily, I want you to picture your father very clearly. His eyes, his nose, mouth.. cheeks... skin... his hair. Do you see him?" Lily closed her eyes and took a deep breath, nodding. The man pulled back the sheet, Morgana covered her mouth with her hand. She might have found it less disturbing if he was burned as his wife was. Mr. Evans auburn hair was not charred, his skin still the natural color, he still had eyebrows and eyelashes, in fact, he looked as he always did. He could have been asleep.

"That's him," Lily said softly, before rushing to the wastebasket and vomiting. The coroner replaced the sheet and walked over to Lily, Morgana at his heels.

"You are-?" he asked Morgana, both bent down to help Lily.

"Morgana, I'm her friend."

"Why couldn't Petunia do this?" Lily sobbed, looking very pale.

"Lily, if you don't mind me saying, your sister's rather useless and isn't very fond of... your school and the people you hang around with," Morgana said, rubbing Lily's back up and down. The coroner raised an eyebrow. "Her sister isn't fond of... the Catholics..." Morgana said, thinking up a quick lie. The man made and "o" with his mouth. Lily gave a hiccup, which, at this point, was probably her version of a laugh. After some persistant persuasion, the coroner and Morgana managed to get Lily into the hallway where McGonagall rushed forward.

"Is there a back door we could use Doctor-?"

"Yes, there is. Take this door-" he pointed to a door several feet down the hall. "-use the door on the right and go down the stairs. We're built on a hill. That'll take you to the basement parking lot."

"Thank you," the teacher said, turning to leave.

"Ma'am. Ma'am! You still have paperwork to fill out!" the girl at the desk said, waving a folder in the air. McGonagall rushed forward, snatched the papers and filled them out at a rapid pace. Thirty minutes later, there were eleven piece of paper sitting in front of the girl. "Thank you, I'm sorry for your loss." McGonagall went back to the girls and walked them out to the back lot.

"Are you all right, Lily?" she said once they reached fresh air. She gave a odd motion between a nod and a head shake. "Hold on." The three prepared once more for Side-Along Apparition. Soon, they were outside the Hogwarts gates, gasping for air. McGonagall shot something silvery out of her wand and it whizzed up to the castle.

"Was that a Patronus?"

"Yes, Miss le Fay." Someone came out to the rounds of the castle. It was a short, plump man.

"Ah! Miss le Fay, Miss Evans! Minerva!" Slughorn said, bouncing up and down. "Albus told me to fetch you- Is something wrong m'dear?" he added, seeing Lily's blotchy, tear-stained face.

"I'll explain later, Horace. Right now, I think Miss Evans needs to go to the Hospital Wing."

"No, I'm going to the Common Room," Lily said, sounding surprisingly strong.

"My dear, you are-"

"Crying? Grieving? In a fragile state? I need to go to the Common Room."

"All right, but I would wish you to visit Madam Pomfrey tomorrow morning, and you are excused from classes on Monday through Wednesday."

"Very well."

"Miss le Fay? If I could have another word?" Morgana hung back with McGonagall a moment. "I'm excusing you from classes tomorrow and Tuesday as well. You did know Mr. and Mrs. Evans, correct?"

"Not well, but they were good people."

"Wednesday, I would like Miss Evans to spend by herself. She may need the time to straighten things out."

"Yes, Professor."

"Also, I will have Miss Etherson take care of your homework for you, if you wish."

"Yes, Professor."

"Very good. Now, you'd best catch up with her, she's almost to the castle." Indeed, Lily was far ahead of them, Morgana ran to catch up. She walked with her friend in silence, slowly trudging up the steps to Gryffindor Tower. The Quidditch match seemed so long ago, even though Morgana was still wearing her robes. She knew it was late and that they had spent well over an hour in the morgue. She just wanted to sink into her bed. She knew that neither her or her friend could fully comprehend what had happened. Morgana knew it would hit them tomorrow though. Full force.

'Life's a bitch,' Morgana thought bitterly. Finally, the headed up the last staircase, heads down, weary with exhaustion. One, two, skip the trick step... five more steps... There was suddenly a clatter of feet hitting the floor at a run and Morgana felt a strong pair of arms around her.

"Bloody been gone for six hours and twenty-one minutes! Couldn't tell us what was going on?" the person said. Suddenly, Morgana's grief and exhaustion got the better of her and she collapsed, sobbing in the boy's arms. She felt them go rigid for a moment, and then he sat down on the landing, cradling her by rocking back and forth. After several minutes the boys spoke. "Shhh, shhh... Hey, I hate to tell you this, and you'll probably cry more, but you're sobbing into Sirius Black's robes right now."

"I don't c-care!" Morgana exclaimed, he pulled her tighter and she put her arms around him, hugging him. She could hear the others crowding around Lily, as she wailed with grief.

"Shhh... shhh... it's all right... I've gotcha... I've gotcha... you're all right... Morgana... Morgana, whenever you can, just tell me, if you can, what happened." She controlled her breathing a bit, and talked into Sirius' chest.

"There was a fire... Mr. and Mrs. Evans... Mrs. Evans is in St. Mungo's... Mr. Evans... he's... he's... gone... and Petunia's safe... but they don't know if Mrs. Evans is going to wake up, let alone live..." she broke off, enjoying the comfort of being curled in Sirius' lap as he rocked her left and right very gently.

"It's all right... you're safe now... I've got you... I'm not leaving you, love," he ran his fingers through her hair, eventually, her sobs died down and she shook, weak, her energy spent. His tone was so gentle, as was his touch, Morgana almost forgot she was supposed to be mad at him. Right now, she didn't really care. She wiped her eyes and lifted her face to look at him. His chin was resting on her head as he hummed tunelessly. "Better now?" he looked down at her, a tender expression on his face.

"A bit. Sirius, it was so horrible... Mrs. Evans-"

"Shhh, shhh, shhh! Don't think about it, love. Just relax, I'm here as long as you need. I won't even tease you or mention going out with me... well, except what I said there." She hiccupped and hugged him tighter and turned a bit to look at Lily, but couldn't see her. "James and Remus and Peter and Ally and Chris have her, she's fine. You just worry about you now." Morgana didn't complain. She buried her face in his robes once more, they were damp with tears, but soft against his hard, warm chest. The rhythm of his beating heart and rocking back and forth soothed her. She breathed in his warm, comforting scent. She still shook a bit and her neck ached. Both her and Sirius slowly fell into a doze, Sirius softly talking to her, not really saying anything meaningful, just making noise. The others were crowded around Lily, talking to her.

"Maybe you should go see her," Morgana said.

"I'll talk to her later, she's got plenty of company. Besides, if I leave, who's gonna look after you?" he flashed her his trademark smile, which she had built up an immunity to long ago. She forced a smile back and rested her head on the chest of his robes.

OxO

Morgana woke up the next morning, rays from the sunrise pouring in through one of the windows of the dormitory. She lifted her head only to find that she was not alone, or in her dormitory. She was wrapped in the blankets of the bed, still curled in Sirius' arms while he slept, leaning against a few pillows propped up against the head board. In the bed next to her was Lily, sprawled out, her hand extended and pointing towards a boy with messy black hair, quietly snoring in an armchair that had been dragged next to the bed. Morgana turned her head towards the back of the dorm- there was Remus, arms crossed and sitting up against his head board like Sirius. Next to him was a large lump in the sheets in the next bed- Peter. She turned back and looked at the boy who was holding her, just as he had last night. His head was lolling off to the side, probably fell asleep resting his head on Morgana's. Maybe he had been talking to her or humming again. His dark, shaggy hair fell into his closed eyes. Morgana pressed herself a little closer, still very tired. She felt a hand come up to her face, a thumb stroke her cheek softly. Sirius sighed heavily and fidgeted a bit as Morgana fell back to sleep in a moment.

OxO

"Morning," Sirius said, looking down at Morgana.

"Your breath is horrible," she moaned, rubbing her eyes.

"If you weren't in a fragile state at the moment, I would hex you for that."

"Sirius Orion Black, I am not in a fragile state!" she growled, looking up at him with as much defiance as she could muster. He grinned.

"Much better. See, was that so hard?"

"Please, just... don't be yourself for one more day, I'm not really in the mood," she groaned.

"'Kay, I'll try. Just because you said the magic word."

"Much better. See, was that so hard?"

"Please, I invented that line!"

"Wait, aren't you supposed to be in classes?"

"I'm skipping today, at least the morning classes. I don't know if I'll take off all day. Remus is with Lily, James and Peter went with Chris and Ally to classes. We figured, as long as the responsible one is with you two against me, nothing bad should happen. And Chris and Ally'll take care of James and Peter for today."

"Where are Lily and Remus?"

"Common Room."

"You could have woken me up, you know."

"Oh, but your so peaceful and not cursing my existence when you sleep!"

"I curse your existence, you just don't hear me."

"Ah." There was a long pause. "Rather cuddly last night, weren't you?" he said slyly.

"If you say anything-"

"Relax, I understand. Sometimes you have to rely on a complete git for comfort. Look at Lily, you could've been worse. She got James trying to calm her down."

"How is she?"

"Well, I can't really say I've seen her worse, but I suppose it could've been. She's not crying anymore, I think that's the worst part."

"When did she go down?"

"A few minutes ago. Remus said to give him some time to talk to her, so you're stuck up here with me for a while." She nodded and rested her head on his chest again.

"You carried me up here?"

"Damn right I did! Wasn't going to wake you up or let you sleep in the Common Room."

"That was very... chivalrous... of you. Thank you." He went rigid for a moment, at a loss for words.

"Oh, er... no problem. James did it for Lily. Git has the biggest crush in the world on her."

"So I've noticed."

"It's not like it was hard to carry you up here. You're rather light." She looked at the calendar on the wall, it was unchanged from yesterday, reading "Sun. September 18th." Today however was Monday.

"Happy Birthday," she said, he beamed down at her.

"You're the first one to say that!" She looked down at the end of his bed, there was a decent pile of presents.

"Gonna open them?" His eyes lit up, following her gaze to the foot of the bed. Quite unnecessarily, he picked her up and carried her to the end of the bed, setting her on the quilt while he jumped on the other side. He grabbed the first present and tore it open.

"Well, who's it from?"

"Oh, right... er... Peter- nice," he gazed at a small box which was apparently full of prank items. "There tiny though."

"Don't you remember anything? Engorgio! Duh!"

"Oh, right! That's actually really clever. This one's from Remus-" Sirius tore into his presents, hardly spending a minute on any one of them. Finally, he reached the last one which was wrapped in in red and gold.

"From me," Morgana said, he gave her a wide grin and tore off the paper. There was a small Gryffindor banner ("You should use Engorgio on it, make it five times bigger!") and a book entitled "Pranks, Jinxes, & Counterjinxes."

"Just had to get me a book!" he said, laughing slightly.

"Well, I checked all of them, it's not like the counter for Levicorpus in that one book of James', they're all accounted for."

"Thanks a load, Morgana."

"You're welcome."

"I... er... actually didn't think you'd give me a present this year."

"You git. I may not be overly fond of you, but I'm not overlooking birthdays or something."

"Good thing, too. I haven't got a present from my parents since I was eight." She gave him a sympathetic look. "I don't want your pity!" he said, he noticed there was a hard note in his voice that he didn't intend to be there. Morgana looked down at her hands. "Come on, come on! Enough dawdling! Best go see Lily!" he picked her up once again and carried her to the door and she fought against him.

"Put me down!" she yelled while she laughed, as he swung her over his shoulder, she pounded on his lower back, her legs flailing madly in the air.

"Punch over to the left if you're gonna do that! I slept weird." She complied and began beating more towards the center of his back. "Much better..." he groaned, stretching his back slightly. "Bloody knot...mmm... thanks!" He set her down and then did something very unexpected: He wrapped Morgana in a tight, warm embrace. "Bloody love you, mate," he ruffled her hair and held her for a moment longer, pressing his mouth to the top of her head. He broke away and nudged her towards the door. "Lily'll be waiting." Morgana put her hand on his chest for a moment, her brow furrowed, and then walked out the door. He stood there, trying to comprehend what he had just done and then followed her out.

A/N: In the words of Professor Severus Snape "I may vomit." Okay, I won't but I just loved that line. Great movie. In my head, that line is just being repeated over and over again. Loved that scene.

All right, I owe PadfootStripQuidditch another huge THANK YOU and also another to Darling-Angel-Puff, who both bothered review. I would also like to say thank you to those who read my story, I now have 402 hits! Whoop Whoop! So, my stats are as follows:

402 Hits

5 Reviews

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Bless you all!

I would also like you to know that the scenes with the coroner... I watch CSI and everything but I had to wing it there. I hope I did all right.

Also, I am happy to say that this chapter is exactly 1,000 words shorter than the last chapter. Slightly easier on you and me.

So now, I leave you anxiously awaiting Chapter 11. At present, I have hardly anything planned out for that chapter, that's the first time in this series. Off to brainstorm and write!

Cheers,

Dot