Oh crap, sorry guys for this taking so long. I really shouldn't make promises should I? I can never keep them.. I guess it's because life has been pretty shit atm that I just haven't been inspired to write much. Plus I've had some serious laptop issues so that's really put me off. But, I'm here now, with an update for you all.
I just want to say a massive thank you to all of you who have reviewed. It's got to 100! So happy! When I first put this story up, I never even imagined this many people would be interested! So, thank you.
Right, on with the story! Enjoy!

There's no sleep on the journey
away from time
A bag of songs and a heavy heart
won't make me down - Rockferry, Duffy

Chapter 21

"Mr Black. I wouldn't want to upset your, ah, date now would I?" Tabbi managed to snap out of her stupid trance and gave the girl, who had just attached herself to Sirius' arm, a scathing look. To be honest, it was one of those looks that makes you want to crawl under a rock. The girl shrunk slightly and looked anywhere but at Tabbi.

"Ah, always the charmer aren't you Thorne." Tabbi matched Sirius' smirk.

"One of us has to be don't they Black?"

"Ouch, that hurt. So you wanna dance?" Tabbi rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry but I was actually in the middle of a dance before you so rudely interrupted us." Sirius glanced over Tabbi's shoulder and saw Remus standing there slightly awkwardly.

"I'm sure Remus doesn't mind, he can even dance with Francesca here." Sirius indicated to the girl.

"It's Jessica." She said and Sirius shrugged. Tabbi thought about it then turned to Remus.

"You don't mind do you?" She asked and he nodded with a smile.

"Sure." He then turned to the girl. "Would you like to dance Jessica?" She shrugged and took his hand. He then lead her off and left Sirius and Tabbi alone.

"Can you actually dance Black, because I don't want to be embarrassed to be seen with you." Sirius snorted and placed his hands on her waist. She put her on his shoulder and they swayed to the music.

"You know, I would never have believed this would be happening at the beginning of the year." Sirius pointed out as he twirled Tabbi around. Tabbi smirked.

"No, who would have thought I could spend more than two minutes with you without tearing your head off." Sirius laughed.

"It's weird how much can change in just a few months." They looked into each other's eyes and Tabbi forgot about everything that was happening around her.

"I think that's enough for you brother." Regulus' voice brought Tabbi back and she pulled away from Sirius. He glared at his brother but let go of Tabbi.

"What's wrong brother, jealous?" Tabbi sighed. No way were they starting this again. Before Regulus could answer Tabbi grabbed his hand and stood in front of him.

"Don't start Reg. C'mon, let's go dance." Regulus sighed and took Tabbi's other hand and started to lead her away.

"That's right Reg, always doing what other people tell you. You always were good at following orders." Regulus spun round and had his wand out in seconds. Tabbi growled in frustration and stepped around Regulus.

"Shut up Sirius. Please, for once, don't ruin this for me." It was probably the first time she'd not just blown up at him. Sirius glared but lowered his wand and turned away from the pair. Tabbi then yanked Regulus through the crowd and they started to dance.

"Can't we ever just have a normal evening?" She sighed and Regulus chuckled.

"Gryffindor's Glory Girl is dating the Slytherin Prince. Nothing is ever going to be normal." Tabbi smirked and rested her head on Regulus' shoulder.

-/-HP-/-

Tabbi lay in bed later that evening, still not able to fall asleep. Her head wouldn't clear and she couldn't stop thinking about that night. Of coarse, she had enjoyed spending that time with Regulus. He was her boyfriend after all. But she felt bad to have enjoyed the dance with Sirius so much. She just had to keep convincing herself that it was because they were now finally friends. You're allowed to enjoy spending time with friends right? Maybe if she said it enough times she would actually believe it. Alice must have knocked something in her sleep as there was a thunk as something hit the floor. It made Tabbi jump and exclaim. Luckily she had already cast her usual silencing charms so she didn't wake anyone up. Tabbi took deep breaths and tried to calm her hammering heart. It was always like this, the day before she went home. It was like her body was already preparing it's self for what was to come. That was probably part of the reason she couldn't sleep.

The next morning Tabbi crawled out of bed early, already knowing she wouldn't get any more sleep. She shuffled to the bathroom and took a shower to try and calm her nerves, but even the hot water wouldn't do anything for her. Eventually she gave up and went back to the room to get changed. "Whut you doin up so early?" Lily mumbled and Tabbi half smiled.

"Sorry for waking you Lily." She mumbled again then sat up and pushed the hair out of her face.

"What time is it?" She yawned and glanced at her bedside clock. "Urg, you know what. I'm just going to get up now. Anyone in the bathroom?" Tabbi shook her head and watched Lily as she stumbled into the bathroom to take a shower. The funny thing with Lily was, everyone expected her to be a real morning person so she tried to live up to that, but actually she was just as unwilling to get up in the morning as everyone else.

-/-HP-/-

Breakfast that morning was a quiet affair. The Marauders seemed to realise Tabbi was starting to worry, so they tried to let her think without getting distracted. This was completely the opposite of what Tabbi wanted though. A nice distraction would have been helpful. In the end she couldn't take it anymore. Tabbi looked up from her uneaten plate of food and sighed. "You guys don't need to act like I'm about to have an emotional breakdown." They all sheepish, except for Sirius who just smirked.

"Actually, we're more afraid you'll snap our heads off to be honest." Instead of having a go at him for saying it, Tabbi was grateful someone was honest with her. She rolled her eyes.

"Don't worry, if I have a go at anyone, it'll be you Black." He grinned and ruffled Tabbi's hair.

"That's the spirit!" She whacked his hand away and glared at him playfully. The rest of the group watched the encounter with raised eye brows.

"What?" Tabbi asked and they shrugged.

"C'mon Tabbi, I've got to finish packing that, erm, thing." Tabbi frowned.

"What? Lily you finished packing ages ago." Lily glared at her friend and yanked her up out of her seat.

"No I didn't! I still have that thing to pack." Lily then pulled Tabbi out of the hall without a backwards glance at the boys.

"Lily, what in the name of Merlin's pants was that about?" Tabbi finally got the chance to ask Lily who had just let her go in their dormitory. Lily sighed.

"Sorry, but I couldn't think of another excuse to get away."

"Yes, I could tell. We really need to work on your lying." Lily rolled her eyes then pushed Tabbi to sit on her bed. She bounced down next to her and grinned evilly.

"Right. Why were you, Tabitha Thorne, being so flirty with Sirius?" Tabbi's eyes widened in shock and her mouth dropped.

"What? Me, flirting with Sirius? What are you on Lily?" Lily shook her head.

"Don't give me that Thorne. We all saw you."

"I wasn't flirting! We said a few things to each other and I smacked his hand away from messing up my hair." Lily raised an eye brow and smirked. "Lily. If that's your idea of flirting I don't know how on earth you get so many boys asking you out." Lily huffed.

"Don't change the subject Thorne. Now, do you fancy him?" Lily asked simply and Tabbi blanched.

"Lily!" Lily waited for a response and Tabbi sighed in frustration. "I'm dating his brother!" Lily shrugged.

"So? You didn't answer the question."

"Lils, it would be like me asking you if you fancied James." Lily's eyes narrowed.

"I do not fancy James!"

"Exactly! And I don't fancy Sirius." Lily sighed and stood up.

"Fine, I'll let it drop for now cos we're going to miss the train. But don't think I will forget this Tabitha Thorne." Tabbi sighed and shook her head. No, Lily definitely won't forget this.

-/-HP-/-

"So, Lily, did you pack that thing you were talking about?" Remus asked and Tabbi snorted at Lily's blush.

"Oh sod off." She said and took her seat next to him. Tabbi threw herself into the seat at the end and put her legs on James' lap. The train set off and the compartment hummed with conversation. Tabbi said a few things here and there, but for the most part she wasn't paying attention to what was being said. Would she actually be able to do anything this holiday? Last time her father had banned her from contacting any of her friends. What if he did that this time? Tabbi didn't know how she was going to last this long without talking to them, specially with them finally knowing the truth. She was pulled out of her thoughts when suddenly James pushed her feet off his lap. Tabbi looked up and saw him and Sirius both with their wands pointing towards the greasy haired boy standing in the doorway to their compartment.

"What do you want, Snivillus?" Sirius smirked and Snape glared at them.

"I'm not here out of choice, trust me." Snape then looked over their shoulders at Tabbi. "I have a note for you from Regulus." Snape then stepped forward and held out the parchment. Tabbi eyed it wearily then got out her wand and levitated out of his hand incase it was jinxed. "I don't know why Regulus would choose you. You must be pretty good in the sack for him to want to keep you around." Surprisingly, before anyone could hex Snape for his comment, Lily had jumped up and had her wand drawn, pointing straight at his face.

"Don't ever say something like that to one of my friends again." She said dangerously quiet. Snape opened his mouth to say something, now looking slightly apologetic but Lily cut him off. "Leave Snape." He seemed so hurt by her use of his last name that Snape actually left without another word. James watched Lily as she put her wand away and sat back down in her seat with a look of awe evident in his eyes. She had just become even more amazing than before. Standing up to Snape! How could any girl get more perfect than Lily Evans? He thought with a smile.

Aware of James' eyes on her, Lily tried to hide her blush by burying her nose in her book again. Although she looked like she was concentrating on her book, Lily was actually listening to the conversation that had just started between James and Tabbi. Well, more like argument. "I don't care what you think James. I know what I'm doing!"

"Tabbi, please. Just come stay with me." Oh, he was finally bringing this up. They had all talked about what they were going to do about Tabbi and hadn't really come up with much apart from begging her not to go back there.

"James! I am going back. It won't be that bad. You probably think it's worse than it is ok?"

"What, so that broken wrist and ribs were an accident or something?" Sirius said, surprisingly bitterly. Yes, Lily thought, he most definitely felt something for Tabbi. Lily saw Tabbi glare at the boy who didn't even blink. He was pretty used to those glared by now.

"No. But I can handle it alright? Will you just drop it?" James sighed and subtly shook his head at Sirius who looked like he was going to continue arguing. Lily sighed silently and shook her head. There was no point arguing with Tabbi when she was like this. They would never win.

Lily saw Tabbi needed a distraction so she put her book down and smiled at her. "So, what did the note say?" Tabbi shrugged.

"Haven't opened it yet."

"Well go on." Lily encouraged and Tabbi rolled her eyes at her before picking up the scroll and unravelling it. Her eyes scanned down the parchment, covered in Regulus' neat handwriting.

"It's just basically saying he won't see me before the holidays start so just saying goodbye." Lily nodded and ignored the scowls coming from James and Sirius. Remus wasn't even paying attention, too engrossed in his book and Peter was off doing something. Actually, what was Peter doing?

"Where's Peter?" Lily asked the compartment in general and everyone shook their heads.

"Dunno, I haven't seen him since Hogsmead station." Sirius said and they all frowned. Where could he have gotten to? It's not like he was with his girlfriend, after all that drama with the prank and stuff they had obviously broken up. Lily had noticed Peter hadn't been the same since then. He had been more quiet than his usual self and he didn't crack any jokes now where as before he used to manage to get in a few. Tabbi seemed to realise that his changes were her doing and she didn't say anything on the subject. She kept her head down and a look of deep thought on her face. Maybe she hadn't even heard what Lily had said and was in fact mentally preparing herself for what was going to happen.

"I didn't mean for that to happen." Lily looked up at Tabbi's voice in shock. There was no need to clarify what she was talking about, everyone knew. The boys seemed to be as surprised at Tabbi's quiet comment as Lily. Tabbi was never one to feel guilty, let alone show it.

"Pete knows it wasn't your fault. I mean, I'm to blame as well if you are talking about the prank. I planned half of it with you." It was Sirius who was first to console her. Tabbi looked up and half smiled at him. Lily watched their interaction with wide eyes, and she caught eyes with James who was wearing the same expression. What on earth was going on between those two?

-/-HP-/-

When the group got onto Platform 9¾ they met with the Potters and quickly made their way through the barrier to Kings Cross. On the other side Lily's parents were waiting for her with smiles on their faces. Lily did the introductions, as her parents had never met any of them before. Lily left soon, hugging Tabbi and making her promise to write as soon as possible. Tabbi sighed and nodded, waving with the rest as Lily left. Mrs Potter then turned to her and smiled kindly. "Tabbi dear, who's picking you up?" Tabbi looked around and spotted the chauffeur driven car surrounded by paparazzi. Well, they seemed to have finally worked out where she got picked up. It was a shame they finally found out, she would have liked a few more terms without them around. Tabbi pointed at them and smiled weakly.

"That's my ride." She said and Mrs Potter's eyes widened as she took in all the people.

"Why are there all those people with camera's there?" She asked and Tabbi sighed.

"Paparazzi. James will explain. I've got to go." She turned to James, Remus and Sirius. "Erm, yeh, I'll see you guys after the holidays." She said and Remus pulled her into a hug first.

"Write, please." He begged and she could only nod. James was next and his hug was bone crushing.

"If anything happens Tab we'll be round in minutes. I promise we'll get you out of there, by force if needs be." Tabbi smiled at his protectiveness. James was that brother she never had. Finally she turned to Sirius who surprisingly pulled her into a hug too.

"Be strong Tabbi. And get out when you can. Trust me, it feels good to be free of it, even for a few hours." They pulled apart and she started to walk away. As soon as the people saw her the flashes started. Tabbi ignored them and got in the car, all the while pondering Sirius' words.

Well that was sweet wasn't it? Let me know what you think.

I have up to chapter 24 written, but I need to get into again so I can keep updating.. Maybe one of you will be able to inspire me with a nice review? ;}

Until next time fanfiction pals,

-ellie xox