Disclaimer: Nothing's mine. I wish it were, but Merlin knows I'm not JKR. And as always, innumerable thanks to my Beta, Lady Panthea. Couldn't do it without your help!

.o.O.o.

Book One

- TWENTY-FIVE -

.

In Memorandum

The following is a list of magical persons who are either missing or deceased:

— Megan Tegwen Belvins, 32 from Harlech, Wales – Muggle – Deceased

— Howell Bryn Rice, 34 from Harlech, Wales – Half-Blood – Deceased

— Morwenna Bethan Belvins-Rice, 5 from Harlech, Wales – Half-Blood – Deceased

— Matthieu Lucien Chevalier, 65 from Arbios, France – Muggle-Born – Missing

~ Excerpt from the Daily Prophet

.

JAMES

Thank Merlin for the Marauder's Map.

Our plans for Sirius's birthday tomorrow are elaborate, so Peter and I take the map and sneak out of Gryffindor Tower to collect the supplies we'd brought in the week before. With them in hand, we go to the Charms classroom where Remus meets us once he'd slipped away from patrols.

We divvy up the workload, spreading out to cover more ground as we lay out the various traps and tricks for the day to come. Peter and I stick together, using the map to look out for the professors. We keep Remus updated on their locations through the twin mirrors that Sirius and I use during detentions.

It's Peter, really, who sees it first – Tighe and Evans alone in a classroom, without even a ghost nearby. And as he gets closer to her, she gets closer to the wall, edging away from him. I want to run to her rescue, but Peter insists it be Remus instead. After all, Remus is the only one with a viable reason to be out of bed – Peter and I will just get in trouble.

And besides, there isn't time to argue. We tell Remus what's happening, and he takes off running. Thankfully, he isn't too far away.

.

REMUS

I take Lily back to Gryffindor Tower and she tells me quietly what happened.

When she finishes, all I want to do is find James and the others and start planning something violent. I don't say a word, but she still puts a hand on my arm. "Promise me you won't do anything," she says, as though she can read my mind.

I hesitate. "That depends."

"On what?" she asks, frowning.

"On what you're planning to do."

Lily's expression clouds with confusion. "What I'm planning— Why would I do something?"

I stare at her incredulously. "Lily. He threatened you. You can't just let that slide. You should talk to McGonagall."

Her mouth twists into cynical smile. "He's Head Boy, Remus. And well respected. The professors will probably believe him over me if I try to report him. And what would I say, anyhow? That he frightened me? He didn't technically do anything."

"He took your wand away."

"I drew it on him. You could argue disarming me was self-defence."

"Lily— "

But she's already shaking her head. "You don't get it, Remus. I'm a girl, and he's my boyfriend. No one is going to believe me over him."

"McGonagall would," I insist. "And I'll back you up. I'll even say I saw it all happen, if you want."

"And Lachlan would insist you hadn't. And I'm sure there are ways to prove you weren't there. Veritaserum, for example."

"Lily, you can't just do nothing," I say sternly. "If you don't report him, he'll just keep threatening everyone else he dates. And who knows? Maybe he'll even take it further."

Lily glowers at the implication. "You don't understand, Remus. It's not like this is a habit of his. It's not like he's always domineering and controlling. This was a one off. If he'd made a habit of this, I would report him. But he's not abusive. The conversation just went in a bad direction. So, leave it alone. And remember, you promised. Don't tell anyone about what happened."

Lily walks away.

I stare after her, incredulous of the fact that she really plans on letting Tighe get away with this. But she's right – I have given her my word not to tell James and the others.

I glower, and kick the wall next to me in frustration. Pain shoots up my foot, and I swear viciously, cradling my toes in my hand. I sit and take off my shoe, just make sure I didn't actually do any damage. My toes hurt, but nothing seems injured.

Footsteps sound down the hallway, and I look up to see James and Peter coming towards me. I swear again, under my breath this time, and put my shoe back on.

"What happened?" James demands. The Marauder's Map is in his hand.

I shake my head and stand. "Nothing happened. Absolutely nothing. There was nothing suspicious going on in the least. No one was threatened. No one was terrified. Absolutely nothing of consequence occurred."

"What?" Both James and Peter are staring at me like I've grown two heads. I want to growl and kick the wall again.

"Nothing. Let's just forget about it, all right? Lily is fine, Tighe did nothing, and we have a birthday to prepare for." I walk off before either of them say anything else.

I know James doesn't believe me – hell, I don't believe me – but he won't say anything in front of Peter, I'm sure. He'll wait until we have a moment alone to badger the truth out of me. And I have until then to come up with a reliable excuse for my foul mood.

If I'm sure of anything, it's that Tighe is abusive. Lily may claim he's never frightened her before, but I've heard the rumours about him. No one with that many control issues is harmless. And it frustrates me to no end that she won't report him.

All I can do is hope she'll at least have the sense to leave him.

.

JAMES

Remus was right, of course. We four have always treated birthdays as sacred occasions that are not to be overlooked, and it wouldn't really be fair to Sirius for us to lose focus after we spent so much time and effort getting this day ready. And it is his coming-of-age as well. Since there's likely to be no acknowledgement of it from his parents, we have to do everything we can to make it perfect.

November the third dawns bright and sunny, and Peter, Remus, and I drag Sirius out of bed bright and early to make sure we're some of the first down for breakfast.

"Just trust me," I say when he complains. "We have a surprise for you. You won't want to miss this."

Grudgingly, Sirius gets dressed. I can tell that he's only pretending to be annoyed by it all. There's an excitement to his movements, and I know that he loves the attention we're giving him.

Sirius loves his birthday, and he lives for the fuss we make over him every November. He always likes to be the centre of attention, and a day all about him is a dream come true.

The Great Hall starts to fill up, and Remus produces a canister of pumpkin juice from his bag. Sirius raises an eyebrow when Remus fills our goblets from it, rather than using the drinks provided on the table, but he doesn't comment, just reaches for the eggs and fills up his plate.

We're just digging in when I see Evans enter the Great Hall with Mary MacDonald, Alice Payne, and Frank Longbottom, a Gryffindor in the year above us. Evans's eyes catch on something further down the table, and she stiffens. I turn my head to see what might have caught her attention, and notice that Tighe is sitting further down the table. I wonder…

Evans turns around and says something to her group. Payne frowns, and exchanges a worried glance with McDonald, before nodding. Instead of moving further down the hall to take the seats available next to Tighe, Evans slides onto the bench in the only other available block of seats – seats which just so happen to be an arm's length away from us.

I blink. "What are you doing?" I ask her.

"Having breakfast," she replies curtly.

"Yes, but why are you sitting next to us?"

"I'm wondering the same thing," Payne mutters.

Evans gives her a stern look. "We're on a truce, Potter, aren't we?"

"Well, yes, but—"

"Then I don't see why it's a problem."

I glance over at Sirius, at a loss for words, but he just shrugs, stuffing a whole piece of toast into his mouth in one go.

"It's not a problem, it's just—"

"Good," she says, cutting me off again. "Then I don't see why we're still discussing it."

Next to me, Remus ducks his head to hide a smile.

Evans reaches for the pumpkin juice, and I quickly grab her hand. "You don't want to do that," I say.

She yanks her fingers away as though my touch were acid, and I try not to scowl. "Why not?" she asks suspiciously.

"We're on a truce, aren't we?" I say pleasantly, throwing her words back at her. "Just trust me. Drink this instead." I reach for the juice we brought with us, and fill her goblet from it before passing the canister to Payne to fill up the others.

Evans narrows her eyes at me, and looks distrustfully at the liquid. "Why exactly am I drinking this pumpkin juice instead of the pumpkin juice supplied by the school?" She sniffs it suspiciously. "You didn't spike this, did you?"

"I did not spike that, no," I say, and give her an innocent smile when she narrows her eyes at me. Sirius snorts.

"Just trust me, all right? Not drinking anything on this table will significantly improve the quality of your day."

"And why is that?" she asks dubiously. And that's when the screaming starts.

All heads turn towards the Slytherin table, to see that Evan Rosier's hair has transformed into a thicket of very short, writhing snakes which are making as much noise as they can. Further down the table, a third-year's hair is half-way through transforming, and a seventh-year's is just starting.

Sirius takes one look at Rosier, and spews his pumpkin juice over the table as he starts to laugh. "You didn't," he gasps, his eyes still fixed delightedly on the Slytherin table.

Peter and Remus are both starting to grin too. "Oh, we did." I point at a Ravenclaw who's just noticed her hair transforming into a mess of feathers. A few of our fellow Gryffindors have rapidly growing hair that very quickly resembles the mane of a lion, and the hair of the Hufflepuffs is turning black and white, closely resembling the stripes of a badger.

Sirius lets out a whoop, standing up to get a better look around the hall, and I can't help but laugh at his enthusiasm.

"It's in the drinks," Evans says quietly, staring at the pumpkin juice I poured for her.

"All the drinks," I agree, "except for what comes out of that flask." I point at the bottle still in Payne's hand.

"Prongs!" Sirius sighs. "You really are best mate a boy could ask for."

"Anything for you, Pads," I say, as Sirius flops happily back onto the bench. I pick up my goblet. "Happy seventeenth."

Remus and Peter also pick up their goblets, toasting Sirius before drinking down the contents.

.

REMUS

There's a chance Lily will dock us marks for doing this, but I hope she won't. Sirius is grinning like a lunatic, and James seems genuinely happy for once, surrounded by pandemonium with Lily sitting beside him. He keeps glancing at her out of the corner of his eye when she isn't looking.

Gradually, Lily and her friends start to relax, taking delight in the chaos sweeping the hall. I'm glad that Lily seems to have temporarily forgotten about Tighe. Last night was so very awful, and it would be nice for her to have good day after all that. She catches sight of Snape with a nest of particularly slimy black snakes curling around his head, and grins, even though it's clear he isn't happy with his new look. She even laughs when one of them pokes its head up his left nostril and yells into his nasal cavity.

There's the rare student who seems upset by their involuntary transformation, but for the most part, everyone takes it all as good fun. Even the Professors seem to be only amused by the sight in front of them, though of course none of them have transformed.

Lily notices this and leans into James, asking the reason why. He looks surprised that she spoke.

"They're more likely to try to figure out who did this if they're effected by it," he says. "The snakes will stop screaming soon, so they won't be disruptive during class. And all these potions will wear off by day's end, with no harm done."

"But they'll know it was you four," Lily points out. "If we're the only ones not transformed…"

I shake my head. "But we're not. Look," I say, pointing across James to a few clusters of students. "We didn't spike everything. Just enough to create a good effect."

"And besides," Sirius says happily, leaning across the table to join the conversation, "Who says we won't transform?" Before anyone can stop him, he refills his goblet from a jug on the table and downs the contents. Within a minute, his hair, which was already long enough to brush his jaw, grows down to his shoulders, past his elbows, and finally stops growing around his waist.

Sirius flicks his very long hair over his shoulder, and James laughs delightedly.

"I think you might be able to finally get a boy into bed, with hair like that," he teases, and Sirius pretends to be offended.

"I will have you know that I could get a boy into bed any day of the week, if I so chose. There just aren't any attractive boys here!"

"You're one to talk," I say. "You're a complete dog." Which makes the other boys burst into laughter, and leaves Lily, Alice, Mary, and Frank with faintly mystified expressions.

Then Sirius reaches for the pitcher again.

"Go on," he dares, pouring some pumpkin juice in our goblets. James grabs his immediately, and Peter quickly imitates him, but I hesitate. Since the full moon is on Saturday, I know that drinking the potion will induce nausea, but it is Sirius's birthday… And his seventeenth at that...

Before I can second guess myself, I down the goblet's contents. My scalp tingles as the potion starts to take effect, my hair growing quickly. Across from me, Peter's hair is almost fluttering it's so thin. The long hair does not suite him in the least.

Sirius takes one look at James and bursts out laughing. James raises a hand experimentally and pats the voluminous mass surrounding his head, his eyes widening in surprise when he feels what its turned into.

James's hair has expanded exponentially.

Already thick, wavy, and unruly when short, it has grown into a cacophony of curls that expands around his head and down to his shoulders.

James grins, and shakes his head, making the curls bounce wildly.

"You look like a poodle," I say dryly, and Sirius, who was starting to get his giggle-fit under control, dissolves into laughter once more.

Next to us, Evans's band is staring with undisguised wonder at our antics. I see a smile start to tug at the corners of Evans's mouth, and she starts to giggle too.

It's like a dam breaking. Once Evans succumbs to her laughter, everyone else starts to chuckle too. James rakes his fingers through the mass, making it even bigger and more uncontrollable, amd very nearly getting his hand stuck in the process.

It takes a minute, but everyone calms down into an easy comradery. Payne and McDonald start up a conversation about the Gryffindor-Slytherin opening Quidditch match, and our normal breakfast routine resumes, albeit with a lot more hair.

.

LILY

The scene at breakfast wasn't the only thing the boys had planned.

As we all walk to Charms together, a group of circular, pale-yellow creatures comes bouncing down the hallway towards us, yipping happily as they swirl around our ankles before disappearing around a corner.

"A poffle of puffskeins," Black says happily, watching the creatures disappear.

"And they're not even the start of it," Potter says, slinging an arm around Black's shoulders, and leaning into him so heavily that the two boys nearly crash into a wall. Black laughs and shoves Potter away, causing the other boy's ridiculous cloud of curls to bounce around his shoulders.

I can't help but marvel at the ease of their friendship. They're clearly closer than siblings.

Pettigrew disappears at one point, presumably to release more animals, because a moment later, a cluster of five jarveys comes scampering out of a classroom, swearing viscously at the very hairy rat nipping at their heels. Black laughs delightedly, his long, black hair swirling hypnotically around him with every move he makes. When Pettigrew re-join us a moment later, Black slings an arm around his neck, rubbing his knuckles against the smaller boy's head. Pettigrew ducks away, rubbing his scalp and grinning.

Everywhere I go in the castle, there are animals running two and fro, and no matter how many of them the teachers gather up, there are always more.

The castle is by no means overrun, but there are small groups of animals where ever I look. I'll be walking down a hallway and a clabbert will swing by on a chandelier, or I'll find a grumbumble buzzing away in a classroom. A stag even prances proudly through the Great Hall during lunch, and as I leave Alchemy, I see a black dog nearly as big as a bear rolling on the ground with the poffle of puffskeins climbing all over it, the dog's tongue lolling out the side of its mouth. I swear the dog grins when it sees me standing there, and it comes over to lick my hand before scampering off down the hall.

Smiling, I just shake my head and make my way towards the Gryffindor Common room to meet Potter for our study session. Leave it to the Marauders to create utter chaos throughout the school without putting anyone in danger. They've even managed to spread happiness with their wide-spread antics.

Peeves swoops through the castle, scooping up animals from one area, and depositing them somewhere else, often rescuing them when they get cornered by a teacher. Students stop in the hallways to pet the dodo-like diricrawls, or to have swearing competitions with the jarveys. I see one or two even smuggling puffskeins into their bags to keep as pets.

I'm lost in a happy daze as I walk down the hallway, which is so incredibly stupid, after what happened last night.

A hand closes over my wrist, and I'm yanked into a classroom. Lachlan releases me to close the door, and I scramble away from him, my hand closing over my wand. I notice with some satisfaction that he did not escape this morning's dose of potions unscathed, and his usually perfect hair looks rather the worse for wear. Rather than simply waiting for the potion to lose effect, Lachlan cut it all off. What's hangs around his face in uneven and unflattering chunks.

When he sees that my wand is out, he glowers. "Put that away," he says irritably.

There is noise in the hallway outside, and I'm reminded that this is not the same as last night. There are people around now, and if he scares me, all I have to do is yell. And he hasn't locked the door.

But I keep my wand out.

"We need to talk," I say.

"I said put. It. Away."

"No."

He narrows his eyes. "Lily," he says warningly.

I raise my wand. "I'm keeping it out. Now, we need to talk. Do you have a problem with that?"

"No. We should talk," he agrees, stepping towards me.

I raise my wand. "No. You stay there."

He narrows his eyes. "What are you doing?" he asks in a bored tone.

"Stay there," I say again, and Lachlan sighs. He leans back against a desk, lounging with his arms crossed over his chest. He raises an eyebrow as if to say, happy now?

"We need to talk," I say again.

"About what, Lily?" His reasonable tone sets my teeth on edge.

"I don't like how you've been acting, recently."

"And how have I been acting?" Lachlan has this patient look on his face, and it reminds me of the expression worn by condescending parents talking to an unruly child.

"You're jealous, and you've been possessive, and you've been lying to me."

"Is this all over Potter?" he asks, raising a dubious eyebrow. "'Cause that's what it sounds like."

I don't say anything, and he sighs wearily.

"Look, Lily, I told you, that situation got blown totally out of proportion. I was just trying to get Potter to back off a little. I thought you'd appreciate it. After all, Potter stalked you all last year. He's dangerously obsessive. I just wanted to make sure you were going to be okay. I was only worried for your safety."

"You lied and told him we'd had sex. Even if we had, what the hell would that information have to do with my safety?" I say angrily, and Lachlan has the nerve to roll his eyes.

"Yes, all right. We haven't had sex yet, and I'm a horrible person for saying that we have," he says sarcastically. "Honestly, Lily, it's not that big of a deal. I wanted to make him back off. I thought that if he realised that we were serious about each other, maybe he'd be less possessive about you. He'd finally get that you aren't interested in him."

"If that's true, then there were other ways you could have done it," I reply shortly.

He gives me this look, and its somewhere between pity and condescension. "I don't know if you realize this, but it's very unusual for us not to have had sex. We've been dating over two months, now. Most people have sex after the third date."

"So, this is about me holding out on you?"

Lachlan gives a long-suffering sigh. "Have I ever pressured you for sex?" he asks patiently.

"No, you haven't," I admit grudgingly. "But—"

"Because I know you're not ready yet. It's your first time, and you want it to be perfect. I know that, and I respect you for it. I just didn't think Potter would understand if I tried to explain that to him. You know what he's like," Lachlan says, his lip curling in derision. "He and Jones were having sex all last year, despite not being in a relationship. And Black's even worse. Sex is all that Potter's kind think about. Everyone knows the only reason that he and Jones are dating now is because she wouldn't give it up if he didn't commit. He didn't want to give up the easy access, so…" He spreads his hands demonstrably. "Relationship."

"You had no right to interfere with him. You know perfectly well that Potter and I only spend time together because I have to tutor him."

"Now you're the one who's lying," Lachlan says. "You ate breakfast with him just this morning."

"They were the only readily available seats," I say. "It had nothing to do with Potter."

"I asked you to eat breakfast with me," he says, annoyance creeping into his voice.

"No, you told me to eat breakfast with you. There's a world of difference."

"Well I'm sorry if that's how you interpreted it," Lachlan says smoothly, pushing off the desk and taking a step towards me. I stand my ground, my fingers tightening around my wand. "But it was a request. And if I'm not mistaken, I believe we agreed last night not to fight anymore."

"You dictated," I say, and Lachlan sighs, shaking his head.

"You make me sound like a monster. I just want to get along. Why don't you want us to be happy?" He takes another step towards me.

"I do want to be happy, but—"

"Then why are you arguing with me? You're looking for problems here. If you'd just relax a little, you'd realize that I was right to do everything I did."

He's a little too close for comfort, and my eyes flick to the door behind him. It's still closed.

"So, you think it's alright that, beyond lying to Potter, you also told me a completely false version of events?" Lachlan stops walking and narrows his eyes. "What, no sliver-tonged excuses this time? Because I would really love to hear why thought it was okay to tell me that Potter called me a mudblood."

Lachlan's lip curls a little, but he still doesn't say anything.

"Do you know what's funny? Your 'concern' through all of this has been my safety, and you've maintained that the reason I'm not safe is because of that one little word that it turns out nobody actually said. Well, nobody except for you. So, by your own reasoning, the only person who's actually threatening my safety is you."

"And how exactly do you figure that?"

"Well, you're the only one calling me a mudblood. Potter, Black, Lupin… They never said it. I'm 'safer' eating breakfast with them than you."

"Now you're just being naïve," he says.

"Naïve?" I scoff. "Please, explain that to me."

"You think you're safe from purebloods just because they don't voice their thoughts? Potter and Black may not go around calling people mudblood the way the Slytherins do, but I can promise you they think that way. It's how they were raised."

"Not all purebloods are bad," I snap. Lachlan rolls his eyes. "Just like not all halfbloods and muggleborns are good. I know halfbloods that use the m word, and muggleborns that have their own prejudices."

"You really think any muggleborns could possibly be Death Eaters?"

"Maybe not Death Eaters, but there are other things they could be that are just as bad."

"Like what? What could possibly be as bad as being a Death Eater?

"How about what you're doing right now, saying that all purebloods are evil? That is just as bad as what the Death Eaters are saying."

"Oh, please," he scoffs.

I stare at him incredulously. "As soon as you start lumping people together because of their blood or their upbringing, the whole world goes to hell in a handbasket. People are raised differently and believe different things. You cannot make dangerous assumptions like, 'all Slytherins are evil,' and 'all purebloods are Death Eaters.'"

But Lachlan just shakes his head contemptuously, not seeming in the least convinced. "Its thoughts like that one that that prove just how naïve you are."

I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall. "You know, it doesn't really matter in the long run, because there's really only one thing I wanted to say to you, and it's this: We're done."

Lachlan narrows his eyes at me, and I'm surprised by the venom in his voice when he says, "You don't get to make that decision."

"Actually, I do. You can't make me stay in a relationship with you, and if you try, I will bring McGonagall and Dumbledore into this. So. We. Are. Done," I say, very slowly and clearly. He takes a step forwards, closing the distance between us, and I whip my wand up quickly, jabbing it into his sternum.

"Make another move," I say quietly.

Lachlan narrows his eyes, and his upper lip curls into a snarl. I didn't realize just how ugly he was until now.

"Back up," I say, and he clenches his jaw. He stays where he is for a moment, but I dig my wand tip further into his chest and he moves backwards.

I keep my eyes fixed on him, and I move to the door of the room, opening it and walking into the hall without once turning my back on our illustrious Head Boy. I close the door as soon as I'm in the hall, and sag against the opposite wall, feeling immediately better having even that small amount of wood between the two of us.

"Lily."

I jump at the voice, and turn my head to see Remus standing beside me, his sandy hair still long enough to brush his elbows.

"Are you okay?" he asks. "Tighe didn't hurt you, did he?"

"How did you…" I shake my head. "Never mind. I'm fine. I told him we're done, and hopefully he got the message. Where are the others?" I ask, noticing that he's alone.

Remus quirks an eyebrow. "Currently? In McGonagall's office I think. And then they'll be in detention for a week or so."

"Did they really think they'd get away with it?"

Remus smiles. "Sometimes, it seems like McGonagall doesn't want to give us detention, not when we do something like this. Everything we did today took months of planning and research and testing and… wWell, studying, I suppose. It does seem a shame to punish all that hard work. I only got out of trouble today by pointing out I had rounds last night. You're my alibi."

I narrow my eyes. "You weren't with me last night."

Remus shakes his head. "But you don't have to tell anyone that." He's quiet for a second, then asks, "Can I walk you to Gryffindor Tower?"

I glance over at the classroom door, which Lachlan has yet to emerge through. "I think that would be a good idea. Don't want Lachlan chasing me down, after all."

Remus smiles, and leads the way down the hall. I'm suddenly grateful to have him as a friend. He doesn't ask questions, and doesn't judge me. Even last night when I was in such a mess, he made sure that I was alright and did everything he could to help me, even though we've never spent time together aside from patrols.

"Thanks," I say quietly as we walk.

Remus looks over at me in surprise. "For what?"

"Being a friend."

He smiles. "Hey, it's nothing. Besides, James would kill me if he knew I left you in distress."

And somehow, that thought is the most comforting of all.

.o.O.o.

A/N: I am so sorry for that unintentional hiatus. I lost track of time and didn't realize just how long it had been since I updated. If you have a second to type an adjective (such as cute, awful, decent, entertaining, etc.) into the review box and then click the Post Review button, I would be eternally grateful!

Timmins

Magical Creatures Released in the School

Clabbert: A tree-dweller; a cross between a monkey and a frog. A large pustule on their forhead pulses red when they sense danger.

Diricrawl: A plump, fluffy-feathered and flightless bird. Ability to apparate when it senses danger. Mistaken by muggles for a dodo-bird.

Glumbumble: A grey, furry, flying insect that produces a treacle substance. When eaten, the substance gives the eater a melancholy feeling.

Jarvey: resembles an overgrown ferret. Capable of human speech, although a Jarvey will stick to short, rude statements and phrases, speaking them in a constant stream.

Puffskein: A spherical animal covered in soft, custard-coloured fur. Related to Pygmy Puffs. A good, low-maintenance pet.