Lily was extremely worried throughout the night and into the next morning. She and the other girls had left Demi alone to go get breakfast after she asked for some time to herself. She understood why, of course. Demi and Sirius weren't supposed to break up. Just like they could count on the fact that Alice and Frank would never fight, Marlene and Kiaria would always be found together, Lily had begun to see Demi and Sirius's relationship as something solid in her life. Something stable in this messed up, war-torn world that she was part of. So for them to break up- it felt as though part of her support system had failed her. Of course Lily hadn't been that close with Sirius (or the rest of the Marauders) until the beginning of the school year, and she'd began to enjoy their company.

"Do you think she'll be alright for the winter?" Marlene asked as they sat down away from the boys at the Gryffindor table.

Alice poured her coffee, "I dunno. I mean, remember when she broke up with Jeremiah? She was crying all through the day and even before that- but we thought it was exams."

Kiaria nodded, "This isn't just anyone. This is Sirius. I mean, they're meant for each other. We've all said it throughout the years."

"I never thought he'd do something like that to her," Lily groaned, as she took a sip of tea.

"I did," said a voice from behind her. Lily looked up and saw James staring down at her, "mind if I join you?" he asked.

"Of course not James," Lily said softly, as she moved down the bench a little. She knew that this was completely out of the ordinary of her to do, but she doubted that James would want to sit with Sirius, especially after last night. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder, "are you alright?" she asked, tentatively, not knowing whether she was going to be getting a nice yell at or a mere nod.

James covered his face with his hands, but not before Lily noticed how agitated he was. "I warned Dems, I told her this was going to happen," he said, before moving his hands away. "Lily realized that James's eyes were very strained and bloodshot, and his voice sounded hoarse and raspy as though he'd been yelling all night. "She never listens. She's too goddamn stubborn. She wanted to date him, and now look where she is." He paused for a moment, "part of me says that I should have put a stop to it the moment I found out."

"James," Kiaria said lightly, "this isn't your fault. She made her own decision. She's almost an adult. She has to figure these things out herself."

"She's been hurt because I let my best friend hurt her. Would you be able to deal with that?" James glowered.

Kiaria merely sighed before nodding to Marlene, "If someone told me not to be with Marlene, I'd disregard them completely. You've chased Lily since first year, and even when others told you to stop, you didn't. It's not just Sirius. Everyone would do that."

"Yeah, but I don't think you'd be jumping for joy if you fucked it all up in the end. After all that fighting. And you just fuck it all up because you can't . . . FUCK!" James yelled, slamming his fist on the table before getting up and barging out of the Great Hall in anger.

The girls watched him in silent horror as he left, before turning back to their food. The rest of the Hall had gone silent after James's sudden outburst and looked at the Gryffindor table. "They're always fighting over things there," said one Ravenclaw girl as she went back to her conversation with her friend.

Marlene gave a low whistle before saying, "going to be quite the interesting return journey, isn't it?"

For once, everyone agreed wholeheartedly with Marlene. Tensions filled the air the moment Sirius and Demi had entered the same compartment as the others. All of them had shared a single compartment when they were on the Hogwarts Express, and none of them were sure what was going to happen as they waited with bated breath.

Then Demi spoke, "Guys, we just broke up. No one's dead."

No one spoke except for James, who merely looked at Sirius darkly before saying, "I'm not staying in a compartment with him."

Demi rolled her eyes, attempting to maintain her relaxed demeanor. "Oh shut up James, I may have lived with you since our second year, but Sirius has been like a brother to you since the first year. And there is no way in Hell that I am letting you throw that away because of something completely unrelated." James turned slightly to the left so that his eyes rested on Demi's face. Immediately his expression softened. "So you're going to man up, and sit with your best goddamn friend. Alright?" she commanded.

James smirked slightly before shifting in his seat and nodding to Sirius, "You heard her…. Padfoot."

Sirius's face, which had been in a permanent frown/scowl the entire day, lit up, and practically jumped over the rest of the occupants of the compartment and took the seat James offered him. "Thanks Prongs."

James smiled, "You're not off the hook yet, so don't get too chummy, you hear?"

Sirius mock saluted him, "Sir, yes Sir."

Demi smiled, but inside she was still somewhat annoyed with Sirius. She pushed those emotions aside, as she would have plenty of time alone this Christmas to deal with such things. For now, she just wanted to be with her friends.

Alice was the first to break the silence, "anyone up for a round of exploding snap?" she asked.

Lily raised an eyebrow, "you know exploding snap cards are banned right?"

Alice rolled her eyes and dealt the cards, mouthing, "Just go along with it."

"Going to the Ministry's Yule Ball this year?" Remus asked James and Demi, who shook their heads yes.

"I'm surprised that they're even letting us back in there," said James as he placed his card face up eagerly.

"Yeah, they weren't so keen on us repeating the performance from last year," Demi laughed, "but I guess Mr and Mrs Potter managed to drag us into this once more.

"I've always wanted to go to a Yule Ball," Lily stated aloud.

"Really?" said Demi and James simultaneously. Demi had an appalled look on her face, while James looked as though Christmas had come early.

Lily shrugged, blushing. "I've never had a chance to dress up so elaborately. I mean, besides from the Slug Club things."

James nodded, "If you decide you want to go…. Just come over. My folks won't mind." He avoided looking at Lily, who had turned an even darker shade of red.

"Uh- thanks James," she said lightly.

There was a pregnant pause before the deck exploded. "Mother****er!" Marlene yelled, as Peter attempted to brush the sparks out of his singed eyebrows.

Sirius grinned, things were finally back to normal. He gazed across the small compartment to where Demi was shuffling the deck of cards (which looked like a blur in her hands). Her face lit up as she laughed at one of Frank's jokes.

"-SIRIUS!" said a voice loudly, causing him to jump. James pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose slightly, "you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah, what were you saying?" Sirius said, pretending to have zoned out.

"I was saying that you're welcome to come over anytime you want. Just in case things don't work out at your place."

Sirius shook his head and grinned. "Andromeda's nothing like the rest of my family. She's got a kid as well, a girl named Nymphadora."

"Nymphadora?" asked Peter, "weird name for a kid, don't you think?"

Sirius shrugged, "Her kid. She can name it whatever the hell she wants."

"So you're telling me you'd be alright if she named her kid something crazy like 'Cauldron'?" Remus asked, bracing himself as he placed a card atop the pile.

"Yep," Sirius replied.

"Quite an original family, the Blacks," Demi said sarcastically as she placed her card atop Remus's. "I thought they would have stuck with more star names."

"If I ever have kids, I'm not naming them after anything in the sky. You can be damn sure of that," Sirius muttered under his breath. He threw another card atop the pile, which promptly exploded.

"Isn't that a coincidence?" Marlene whispered to Kiaria, who laughed behind her hair. She turned back to the others, "If I have a kid, I'm going to name them 'Jade.'"

Remus raised an eyebrow, "even if they're a boy?"

"Especially if it's a boy."

"How do you plan on-uh- having kids….if you're…" Sirius trailed off, as Marlene and Kiaria gave him a piercing stare.

"Are you really asking me that question?" Marlene replied, staring him down.

Sirius raised both hands. "You know what? Your business, not mine."

Marlene smirked as she dealt the cards, "exactly."

This is just a small piece to tide everyone over. I'm slightly burnt out in terms of writing so hopefully if i update POTC, I'll get back in the mood.