Sirius sat at breakfast with only Peter next to him. James and Remus had decided to wait for the girls, but Sirius was tired of always waiting. Just once he wanted things to go back to the way they were. He wanted a peaceful breakfast where he and James would play a prank on the Slytherins and Remus would chastise them for being so childish. Instead he was stuck with Peter who chewed his food with his mouth open.

"Pass me the bread," Peter said in between mouthfuls.

"You are disgusting Wormtail," Sirius said in an irritated tone.

He returned to reading the Daily Prophet. Every day the news got worse. Yesterday three well respected Aurors had been killed and many families were going in to hiding. What disgusted Sirius the most was the idea that his family supported the madness that had engulfed the wizarding world. He thought of his brother Regulus, the death eater in training, and his blood started to boil. His reverie was broken when a large black owl dropped an envelope in front of him. Sirius stared at it and knew who the letter was from. The owl pecked at him for a scrap of food and Sirius gingerly obliged. Afterwards he opened the envelope and braced himself for its contents.

Sirius,

I am writing to inform you that you have been stricken from the Black family will and burned off the family tree. You are no longer entitled to any of the rights or privileges that go along with baring the Black name and please do not attempt to contact us. You have disgraced this family and pure blood wizards every where.

- M. Black

Sirius took the letter and crumpled it up into a ball and threw it away. His mother certainly had a way with words. He was surprised she hadn't called him a blood traitor and threaten to mount his head on a wall like a house elf. James, Lily, Remus, and Chloe walked in just in time to see Sirius get up from the table. James saw the anger in Sirius' eyes and reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder.

"What's the rush mate?" James asked.

Sirius said nothing, but just pushed past James and left the hall.

"What was that about?" Remus asked Peter.

"I don't know, he's been like that all morning," Peter said still stuffing his face with food.

"Take a breath Wormtail," James said with a disgusted look on his face.

Lily dropped a piece of parchment and as she bent down to pick it up she found a crumpled piece of paper. She opened it up and scanned the contents. Her expression turned to shock as she handed James the letter. He looked it over and quickly gave Lily a kiss on the cheek and left the table. Remus and Peter followed suit so Lily and Chloe were left to eat breakfast alone.

"So how are things going with Remus?" Lily asked as she put jam on her toast.

"Fine," Chloe said, but refused to look Lily in the eye.

Lily knew Chloe was hiding something. The girls hadn't had much time to talk lately, but Lily could tell something was bothering Chloe. She had been quiet and distant since term had started.

"I have known you for seven years, I know when something is bothering you," Lily said determinedly.

Chloe didn't want to believe that her relationship with Remus was in trouble. He was the kindest man she had ever met, but she felt like he was keeping her at arm's length. Every time she tried to get close to him, he would push her away and close up. For instance, the other night while they were studying, she asked Remus how his mother was doing since she seemed to be sick a lot. Instead of talking to her, Remus simply got up and walked away saying that he wasn't feeling well. Every time she tried to get underneath the cool exterior he put on for everyone around him, he pushed her away.

"He's hiding something from me," Chloe finally said.

"Are you sure?" Lily said in surprise.

Everything she knew about Remus Lupin led her to believe that he was good and honest and she refused to accept the idea that he was keeping something from Chloe. He was the voice of reason for the Marauders; the responsible one. She was sure Chloe was incorrect.

"He's secretive and he won't let me in. He never wants to talk and when I try to ask him something personal he changes the subject or leaves," Chloe said honestly.

"I think you should talk to him. Tell him how you feel and I'm sure he will say it's just a misunderstanding. Remus would never keep something from you," Lily offered.

"I've tried, it's useless. I don't know what to do anymore Lily," Chloe said as she desperately tried to fend off tears.

"I'll have James talk to him. I'm sure it's nothing," Lily said sympathetically.

"No please don't do that. I don't want Remus to think I'm not strong enough to confront him myself," Chloe said firmly.

"Alright, but talk to him Chloe," Lily said while she gathered her books and got ready to leave for class.

"Thanks Lil it feels a lot better to just get it out in the open," Chloe laughed hesitantly.

The girls got up and walked arm in arm to class as Lily told Chloe about being caught by Filch while she was snogging James in the trophy room during detention.

"Two detentions in one year. Who would have thought Lily Evans could be such a troublemaker," Chloe giggled.

After leaving the great hall, Sirius, in all of his rage, had lost track of time and spent most of the day in the astronomy tower practicing curses with which to hex his mother.

"How dare she?" Sirius fumed as he paced back and forth across the room.

To test his reflexes, he spun around and shot a spell at an unsuspecting text book that someone had left. The book exploded and the sound gave Sirius a certain amount of satisfaction.

"Nice aim, but I'd say blowing up text books is a bit uneducated even for someone like you," a cool voice said.

Startled, Sirius turned around, but saw no one there.

"What do you want?" Sirius yelled. "I'm not to be trifled with."

Sirius held his wand out and was ready to curse the next thing that moved. Instead a slender girl with long black hair and startling blue eyes came out from the shadows. She stared daggers at him.

"You certainly have a high opinion of yourself," the girl scoffed.

"You don't even know me," Sirius replied with venom.

He was in no mood to share heated words with some girl who thought she knew him.

"I know what you are capable of Sirius Black," the girl said mysteriously.

Despite her annoying presence, Sirius couldn't help, but notice how startlingly beautiful she was. She had cream colored skin that was marked with crimson lips and cat-like eyes. Her dark hair made her looks mysterious. Sirius made a point to know all of the beautiful girls in the school and it shocked him that he had never come across this one.

"Leave me alone!" Sirius spat. "I am in no mood to deal with some hurt member of my fan club. I'm sorry I never invited you to a ball or asked you to Hogsmede. Now run along I have a great deal on my mind."

The girl stared at him in disbelief. He was everything that she had ever heard people say about him. She knew he was irrational and, although quite talented, to blinded by his own self importance to live up to his potential. Her friends warned her of him and now she knew why. She could see the intensity in his eyes and knew that she should leave him alone, but her ego got the better of her.

"Please don't insult my intelligence by suggesting I am one of those twittering idiots who is blind enough to fancy you. I know too much about you to be that stupid," the girl replied tartly.

In a flash of anger Sirius pointed his wand straight at the girl. She looked at him and seemed unaffected by his act of aggression. Sirius growled low in his throat, but the girl wasn't backing down. She looked straight into his eyes and he felt almost naked for a moment.

"Why are you still here? I though I told you to leave" he snarled.

"Forgive me, but I didn't know that they had renamed the school after you. I have the right to be wherever I please," the girl said coolly. "Or do you think that just because you are a Black that the name gives you the right to do whatever you want?"

At this point she had her hand on her wand and was ready to use it if necessary. From what she had heard, Sirius Black was a victim of his emotions so she couldn't trust him to keep his cool.

"Take that back or I will force you to," Sirius said heatedly.

"Why? Does it hurt to hear the truth?" the girl said with a smile starting to tug at the corners of her mouth.

"Take it back," Sirius shouted again.

"No!" she vehemently replied.

Sirius lost control. Before he could stop himself, he sent a blasting spell towards the girl. She saw the curse hurdling towards her and quickly shouted "Protego." The spell was easily deflected, but the girl didn't stop there.

"Expelliarmus," she shouted.

Sirius' wand went flying into her outstretched hand.

"Incarcerous," she yelled as she pointed her wand straight at Sirius.

After he was pacified with ropes binding his body, Sirius realized that his day couldn't possibly get any worse. His family had disowned him, he had attacked a girl and the worst part was she had gotten the better of him. He lay on the floor staring up at the ceiling and couldn't help, but laugh. At first it was just a chuckle, but then he started laughing manically. The girl just looked at him with bewilderment.

"What's so funny about being bound with ropes?" she asked somewhat angrily.

She wasn't expecting laughter as a response to her actions. Sirius tried to respond, but only let out unintelligible grunts between fits of laughter.

"I'm sorry, but this is really just the cherry on top of an already wonderful day," Sirius said sarcastically.

"Are you mocking me?" the girl replied.

Sirius looked at the girl as she stood above him with her hands on her hips. Her eyes were full of passion and if he weren't so embarrassed, he would have asked her to go for a snog.

"I'm simply laughing at my ridiculous behavior," Sirius said as he tried to control his laughter.

"Perhaps you are just embarrassed that you got beaten by a girl," she replied somewhat victoriously.

"I have been beaten by many girls and I thoroughly enjoy each and every encounter and this is no different," Sirius replied with a grin.

She looked at him with utter loathing. He was under the deluded impression that she was enjoying this little encounter. She had simply come up to the astronomy tower to find some solitude from the members of her house who were constantly watching her. She had spent most of her time at Hogwarts avoiding boys like Sirius Black because she thought they were juvenile and not worth her time. Yet, when she heard Sirius pacing back and forth, she couldn't help herself, but to get involved. After everything she had heard about him, her interest was piqued. But she had never imagined that she would have him tied in ropes while exchanging sexual innuendos.

"Is everything a joke to you?" she said finally.

"I find that a sense of humor is useful. Now why don't you loosen up these ropes a bit," Sirius pleaded.

The girl grudgingly obliged and let Sirius loose from the ropes. He stood up and stretched his sore muscles. At his full height of 6'2 he was at least a head taller than the girl who stood in front of him.

"That's much better. Now why don't I know your name?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Because you are too busy marveling at your own cleverness to notice the people around you," she replied.

"Now what did I ever do to you to incite such anger. Let's try this again. What's your name?" Sirius said with a chuckle.

He was beginning to enjoy the girl's feisty temper. He loved challenges. The girls at Hogwarts were too easy, he enjoyed a chase. Perhaps when he calmed her down, this one would prove to be very entertaining. He was in definite need of something to quell his boredom.

"We have gone to school together for six years and if you don't know it by now, I'm not sure you deserve to know me," the girl replied testily.

She was growing tired of their games and she wanted desperately to return to the solitude of her house. Yet, despite herself, she was drawn to Sirius Black.

"Which is a great oversight on my part I assure you. If you give me the chance I would happily make it up to you," Sirius grinned as he moved closer to the lovely creature standing before him.

"As lovely as that offer sounds, covering myself with warts sounds much more appealing at the moment," she said.

"But why ruin such a beautiful face?" Sirius replied.

The girl couldn't help, but smile at the compliment, than scolded herself for buying such a cheap line. She was too strong for Sirius Black. If he thought she would melt after one cocky grin, he was mistaken.

"As much fun as this is, I have an impending date with detention, and that is actually starting to sound enticing after this little encounter," the girl said.

She flipped her long black hair around and started to leave the room. Sirius watched her saunter away and was mesmerized by the way her body moved. She turned around and flashed Sirius a dazzling smile.

"Like what you see?" she said coyly.

Sirius turned bright red from the embarrassment of being caught staring at her. He smiled sheepishly and attempted to clear his throat to respond.

"I'm a great appreciator of the female form," Sirius said arrogantly.

"Take a good look now because if I catch you staring again I will make it very hard for you to have children someday," she said as she disappeared out of sight. "Oh and by the way, my name is Alana."

Sirius was left with his mouth open. He tried to process everything that had happened in the last few minutes, but all he could think about was Alana. No woman had ever impressed him so much. She was beautiful, talented, intelligent and interesting. To him she was the perfect woman; it was too bad that she hated him for no apparent reason. He made it a priority to find out more about the mysterious Alana. His thoughts were interrupted when James, Remus, and Peter came up the stairs.

"Bloody hell mate we have been looking for you everywhere," James said in exasperation.

He approached Sirius and put an arm on his shoulder.

"You ok? Lily found the note your lovely mum wrote you," James asked sympathetically.

Sirius looked at his friends and started to grin.

"This is a great day," Sirius replied as he slapped James on the shoulder and started to walk out of the tower.

"He's gone mental that one," Remus said in awe of his friend's strange behavior.

Later that night Remus sat all alone in the bedroom staring at a transfiguration book. He was trying to escape Chloe and her constant questions. He was afraid that if she pestered him enough, he would slip and tell her something that would ruin their relationship. He heard footsteps coming up the stairs and James appeared in the doorway.

"Why are you hiding up here? Chloe won't leave me and Lily alone because you aren't down there," James said as he went over and sat on Remus' bed.

Remus put his head in his hands and started to moan. James put his arm around his friend in support.

"Trouble in paradise?" James asked with concern in his voice.

"She deserves better and I can't give it to her," Remus lamented.

He had been deliberating day and night over whether or not to tell Chloe he was a werewolf. In the end he was scared that telling her the truth would mean losing her. So for selfish reasons he was hiding from her, the trouble was he didn't know how long he could keep it up. Chloe knew something was amiss and it was getting very difficult to lie to her. He wanted nothing more than to protect here from the truth and from the hurt that would come with it.

"Remus you are one of the best people I know. Chloe will understand if she cares about you enough. You can't write her off and assume she will be like all of the others. She is different mate," James said intelligently.

"I just can't. You won't have to look her in the eyes and see the terror on her face and utter hatred of me when I tell her," Remus groaned.

"Remus you can't hide from people for the rest of your life. Chloe cares for you; just give her the chance to understand. Give yourself the chance to be happy," James replied. "Just think about it."

"I will. Thanks mate," Remus said somewhat reluctantly.

James got up and walked back downstairs so Remus was left alone. He stared up at the ceiling and contemplated what to do. He knew that if he wanted a future with Chloe he was going to have to tell her the truth. He just didn't want to lose her. Yet, James was right, he needed to embrace life and stop living in the shadows. The full moon was coming up and afterwards he would tell Chloe the truth, for better or worse.

Lily sat downstairs reading a book while she waited for James to come back. However, she underestimated how exhausted she was. The patrols, studying for NEWTS, and classes were starting to take their toll. She closed her eyes to rest for a bit, but was soon fast asleep.

"Get up mudblood," a cold raspy voice shouted.

The rain poured down on Lily's crumpled form as she lay, unmoving, on the ground. She could feel the cold in her bones as she tried to move her body, but the pain was too much. Her vision was blurred and she could feel that taste of blood in her mouth. She clutched her stomach as she felt a searing pain run throughout her entire body.

"Filth! You and your unborn child will suffer" another voice cackled as Lily was hit with the Crucio curse.

Lily let out a blood curdling scream of pain. She had to get up and fight to protect herself for her baby's sake. With all of her might she summoned the strength to stand up. She gripped her wand tightly as she pointed it in the direction of her attackers.

"It will take more than that to bring me down," she said forcefully as her body shook with cold and throbbed in pain.

"I've waited for a long time to do this," a sinister voice said.

Lily turned around, but before she could see who the voice belonged to, a flash of green light went off and all she could see with darkness.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Lily screamed.

"Lily wake up it's just a dream," James pleaded as he shook her stiff body.

He had left her for only a few minutes and now she was shaking violently and screaming as if she were in pain.

Lily opened her eyes and met James' concerned face. She took a deep breath as she tried to forget the dream. Lately, she had been having them more frequently and was almost afraid to sleep. Every time it was the same – Voldemort or one of his death eaters was attacking her and inevitably at the end there would be a flashing green light as she died, or sometimes James would. She always woke up with a racing heart and her body would be covered in sweat.

"What happened this time?" James asked as he tried to put his arms around her for comfort.

"The same thing that always happens, I get attacked by Death Eaters," Lily said shakily.

"I think you should tell Dumbledore about the dreams Lil. They might mean something," James said as he planted a kiss on her forehead.

She snuggled into his chest and let out a sigh of contentment. She always felt safe when James held her.

"I don't want to bother him. With all of the attacks lately and so many students losing family members I think he has better things to do with his time," Lily said as she closed her eyes.

James looked down at her pale yet beautiful face and stroked her hair as she relaxed against him. He wanted nothing more than to protect her from whatever was haunting her, but she wouldn't let him in. He could tell that she was scared to tell him about the dreams because she always gave him vague descriptions and was quick to change the subject.

"Maybe I could help if you told me about them," James said as he continued to rub Lily's back.

"It's nothing really James I promise," Lily said sleepily.

"It's not nothing Lily, you've had one every night for two weeks now and I don't understand why you refuse to talk about it," James pressed.

"Because I want to forget about them," Lily replied as she tried to distract James with a kiss.

As her hands reached for his face, James quickly pinned them at her sides as he pulled away and stared at her intently.

"Why can't you trust me?" James asked.

She couldn't tell him that she dreamt of their deaths or for that matter having a child with him. He had enough to worry about without her causing any problems.

"Drop it Potter," Lily said evenly.

She got up and started to retreat to her dorm room when James grabbed her from behind. He started to kiss her neck and she quickly turned around to look at him.

"I'm sorry Lil, I didn't mean to upset you. I'm just worried that's all," James said apologetically.

Lily answered him with a kiss on the lips. They stood there and embraced, completely oblivious to anyone around them. They were completely happy for the time being.

Author's Note: This chapter is all over the place, but it sets the stage for a lot of important stuff that is comming up. I thought I'd give Sirius someone to play with, but I have great plans for her now. I hope everyone likes the direction I am taking this story. Oh and to answer one review, I think I'm going to keep up with this story until Lily and James die (tear tear). On a happier note I just found out I'm going to have the chance to study abroad in London next semester so yippee. Perhaps I will finally be able to write british dialogue after my trip. That does mean that I probably won't be able to update often, if at all, but I will work tirelessly to get stuff done before I leave. Your reviews were amazing and thanks for the encouragement. I love you all.