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"Friends are God's way of apologizing for our families."
-Anonymous

Chapter 26: The Christmas Eve Massacre

That morning held the most uneventful yet eventful breakfast the Evans house had seen in years. Although the number of people dining that morning had been upped to six, the table was unusually quiet. Yet, the silence did not mean neither party was communicating, for actions can speak louder than words. To begin with, the eldest, Mr. Evans kept an ever-vigilant eye on James, only looking away if James looked his way. Mrs. Evans, although she had tried to start a conversation between the crowd she was entertaining at her home, soon gave up and let the silence take over. Soon, she found the act of moving her food from one side of her plate to the other quite interesting. Mr. Dursley, Lily's brother-in-law, his face filled with a confidence and arrogance paralleled only by James at the end of his sixth year, seemed to be glad that Mr. Evans was no longer on his back for dating the Evans' eldest daughter. He was glad to be already part of this family, and ecstatic that there was no longer the need to impress when he stepped foot in his wife's home. Yet he felt no pity for this new comer to the Evans' household, he was not a man to show remorse for another, especially not a younger and less qualified man than he.

The former eldest Ms. Evans, who was now Mrs. Dursley, kept her eye mostly on her sister, although her curious mannerisms kept her from keeping her eye on one person for a long period of time. She had always been known to be the person most likely to hear conversations she was not meant to hear, for she made prying into other people's business part of her everyday life. So, with her eyes wide and her ears perked, she kept her mouth shut, hoping to hear even the slightest whisper from any party at the table.

James, the outsider of the group, felt as if he was causing this awkward silence among, what otherwise seemed to be, a talkative family. Although something inside of him urged him to speak, he dared not; he did not wish to endure any more questions from Lily's father. He knew he was going to have to answer more this morning, and this meant he had to live in a world that was far from reality. It was world where his parents were still living and he simply locked out of his home. He looked around the table, giving each of its occupants the same amount of eye contact as the next, except for Lily, he expected her to signal him as to what to do next, especially about her father, whose stare he could feel piercing into the back of his head every time he looked away.

Then there was the youngest of the motley crew, Lily Evans. She hated this silence more than anything. She despised the fact that she could no longer control what went on inside the minds of the mute souls in the room around her. She often would help her mother in her efforts, in the beginning, to start a conversation amongst the group, but all efforts ended in failure. Lily longed for something to interrupt the stillness, but all that came was the song of the morning bird that lived in the tree in her backyard. Although it was winter, that one bird was always present and could be heard every morning singing its beautiful song. But today, its song was not welcome in Evans home. They only longed for silence, and silence was what they got.

Once breakfast was over, the three women helped clear the table, but still no words were spoken, except James' 'thank you' to Mrs. Evans for the wonderful meal and her reply of 'you're welcome.' After the dishes had been the cleared, Mr. and Mrs. Evans moved into the living room to have their morning tea and to watch the news. The newly married couple decided to go for a walk around the block to stretch their legs and get out of the house, as it was a rare warm December day, while the youngest two felt obligated to head outside across the street to the park where Lily had spend most of her youth. Lily claimed a spot on the swings for the two of them and there they sat, until Lily broke the silence that had plagued the atmosphere since breakfast.

"I'm sorry about the silence. We usually are a talkative bunch, I don't know why my father is so quiet, it's probably another one of his tests."

"What is he testing this time," James said, using his feet to dig a little hole in the dirt at the bottom of the swing.

"Patience, seeing how long it takes you to crack under pressure," Lily said, following James' lead with the hole digging.

"I guess I have more patience than I thought," James said, a slight smile crossing his face.

"That's good," Lily said, unsure of what else to say.

A few moments passed. James dug his hole a little deeper and Lily watched as her sister and brother-in-law bypassed the street on which the Evans' house was located. She was glad they had passed it; it meant Lily did not have to enter the house for a while yet. Lily did not feel it was right to stay outside while the rest of the family sat together inside, and it was against her nature to be isolated from her family and friends for too long.

"I have to leave soon," James said, looking up from his hole and gazing at Lily.

"When do you have to leave?" Lily asked.

"Around lunch time. I have to be back by tomorrow morning and I would rather travel in daylight then by moonlight," James said.

"What is tomorrow?" Lily asked, her mind slipping from reality for a few moments as they talked.

James laughed, "Christmas."

"Right," Lily said laughing at herself for forgetting the holiday, "Sorry, I'm a bit out of it this morning."

"I can see that," James said, getting off of this swing, "you all right?"

Lily just looked at James standing in front of her. How could she tell him all that was on her mind? Half the thoughts running through her mind were about him, the other half were spilt between her father and Cora. It was obvious to James as to why the first two things on her mind would bother her, but he mostly likely would not guess the last. She hoped that Cora had gotten home all right; although she trusted Remus to make sure that her brother picked her up safely. What bothered her most, though, was the question of why her friend had been so quiet since Halloween. Of course, part of it was because of Sirius and Kyra, but that could not be all. There had to be more to this girl then she was letting the world know. Remus was on to her, she could tell from the amount of questioning about Cora he had recently subjected her to. Maybe he secretly liked her, something Lily thought would be the best thing for him and her. They seemed to be so alike, they would easily get along and it would take Cora's mind off of Sirius, something she desperately needed.

"You okay?" James asked again, more concerned this time because she did not answer him the first time.

"I'm fine, I just have a lot on my mind," Lily said.

"I could have guessed that from the way you've been acting all morning," James said, trying to lighten the mood.

"I know I'm not being any fun, but for some reason this year has been filled with more teen angst then I can handle."

"I understand," James said, putting out his hand for Lily to take in order to help her off the swing.

Lily took his hand and upon standing up she let go saying, "My father is probably watching and if we told him we aren't a couple he will do anything to prove we are, and in turn prove you to be a liar."

"I can't win with him can I," James sighed, as the two walked slowly toward her house.

"If we do become a couple and we stay together for a long time, I'm sure he will grow to love you as he loves my sister's husband Vernon," Lily said, and then quickly spoke up again saying, "I think it would be better if you left now rather than after lunch. I don't know if I can deal with another silent meal with my family. I almost cracked during this last one, and I would hate to see you go through another one of those meals."

"I can handle silence, but I'll leave if you want me to, whatever makes you more comfortable," James said, as they stopped across the street from her house.

Lily simply smiled at him, "I think after this experience, we've both grown up a bit, don't you think?"

"I think we were always grown up inside Lily, we just never let it out until it was needed," James said, as they reached her house.

"You two have fun?" Mrs. Evans called from the living room.

"Yeah, but James has to go now, his parents should be home by now and they'll get worried if he gets home too late," Lily said as she entered the room.

"Oh, pity, are you sure you can't stay for lunch deary?" Mrs. Evans asked, truly seeming like she did not want to see him go.

"I'm sorry, but I don't want my parents to worry and seeing that they don't have a phone I can't call them to tell them I am here," James said, as sincerely as he could.

"Oh, all right dear, but you make sure you come over one day for lunch," Mrs. Evans said, coming up to James and hugging him.

Mr. Evans just gave James a slight nod, which James responded back to in the same way.

James did not know if this nod was a good remark or a negative one, but he figured that little acknowledgement was better than none, and the reaction that Lily gave him seemed as if she thought the same thing.

"Well, I'll go and get James' stuff and then I'll be back," Lily said, walking James out of the room and up the stairs.

Lily and James quickly packed his things in a small bag, which he could wear on his back for easy traveling purposes.

"Well, you be careful on the ride back. Don't do anything foolish or else I will make sure you hear it from me when I get back to school," Lily said, with a hint of fear in her voice. She did not want anything to happen to him on his way back. With Voldemort and Death Eaters crawling all over the place, the last thing she needed was another tragedy during this all ready stressful time in her life.

"I'll be fine. But in return for my safe trip, you have to think of your decision, don't forget about that," James said, with a smile.

"I won't," Lily said, as she hugged him before he put on his invisibility cloak and soared into the sky; she could tell because the window had flown open in front of her and she could heard his feet push off from her floor. She continued to stare out the window, as if scanning the skies for him, although she knew she could not see him under the cloak. She then closed the window and went back downstairs to greet her sister and brother-in-law, as they had just entered the house from their walk. The tension was still in the household, as it always was when Petunia came back for a visit, but at least now, James did not add to it nor did he have to deal with it.

Later that night, Cora and her brother Alex were sitting at the table in silence. Cora had made dinner since her brother had worked hard all day and would not have been home in time to make anything. It was not a big dinner, but neither felt like eating much, for it was the first Christmas they would have alone. Normally, their mother would spend the day making the best food, for she always pulled out all her tricks on Christmas and their dad would be getting a tree with the youngest son Trent. Although Cora's parents were magical, they preferred doing many things the muggle way. Maybe that was why they were killed, they were too interested in the other way of life, a way of life the Dark side greatly shunned and thought as a cursed lifestyle.

A lone owl flew into the kitchen and landed on Cora's plate.

"What's that?" Alex said, pointing his fork in her direction.

"Dunno," she said, taking the letter from the owl as it flew away into the night.

Cora looked at her brother, he nodded, meaning for her to open it, and so she followed suit. She had thought this letter would bring good tidings, but it would only bring more suffering to her heart. It read:

Join us or he dies.

"What's it-" Alex said but he was but off as their door was blasted from its hinges.

Both shot up from their chairs and made their way into the living room, which lead to the door.

Cora made to get in front of her brother, she hoped that they would not kill him if she was in front of him, but her brother quickly moved ahead of her saying, "No, you stay behind me, I don't need you getting hurt."

Although her brother was trying to be brave, she knew there was a sense of panic in his voice.

"Alex, please don't go over there. Let's just runaway before they get inside," Cora said, trying to hold on to her brother's arm to pull him away.

"Let go Cora," he said, as he pulled her into view of the five black-cloaked demons in their home.

It was late and Sirius would have gotten in trouble for being out of his common room had it not been winter break. Of course, if it was not break, he would have been more stealthy in this late night walks. The truth was, he was walking to the top of the astronomy tower because James would be arriving soon. It had been Sirius joking idea that James should go and surprise Lily at her house, but he did not actually think James would go through with it. Not that he could blame him, he would gladly go out on that adventure and he even asked James if he could tag along at first, but James said no each time he asked. But, even if he could not have been there as James surprised Lily, he would hear all about it from the horses mouth just the same. Yet the pitter-pattering of footsteps walking toward him soon shattered Sirius' happiness. Since he was near the Headmaster's office at the time, he figured these people were heading in that direction, so he hid in a corner out of the straight path to the office.

"Another attack? Where?" Sirius heard McGonagall say.

"Not sure on the exact location, but it was near one of the Aurors home, it has been attacked before," Dumbledore said.

"Loss of life?"

"Many."

"Oh Albus," McGonagall said, as the two walked into Dumbledore's office.

An attack on the night before Christmas? Now Sirius knew these Death Eaters truly had no hearts. Killing the night before a holiday was beyond the workings of a normal person's mind. Then a thought came into his mind, what is James was attacked during his fly by? He knew James was planning on flying over mainly wizard populations so that, in case someone saw him, he would not have to explain why there was a boy with a broom in the air. Sirius hoped that James had been smart enough to get out of the way of any danger while he was illegally out of school, though if it had been himself he would have jumped to the opportunity to get into a fight. Maybe that was why James had told him to stay at Hogwarts instead of going with him, or it could have just been the fact that if both were MIA, it would have been more suspicious.

Shaking off the idea that he might have to leave the school to make sure James was all right, Sirius speed walked the rest of the way to the astronomy tower. Luckily, he found James there taking off his invisibility cloak. He just smiled at his best friend before he opened his mouth.

"You look like you've just seen a ghost, Padfoot," James said, laughing.

"It's nothing, its just that there was another attack," Sirius said, as the two left the tower.

"Where?" James asked worriedly.

"Not sure, but somewhere near an Aurors house, so I am guessing a wizarding neighborhood. A lot of people were killed I believe," Sirius said, ditching his goofball behavior for one of the rare times in his life.

"This is going to be a quiet Christmas," James said.

"I don't think we should go ahead with the prank we planned until everyone gets back to the school," Sirius said.

"Padfoot, you're actually disagreeing with a prank?" James asked, a slight smile on his face.

"No," Sirius said getting back to his normal self, "I just think everyone will need a good laugh."

"I agree Padfoot, I fully agree."

A/N: If you are reading this, you are truly a dedicated fan. I know this was a boring chapter, but I do have the next one all ready written, so give it about a week or so (so my beta can read through it) and it should be ready to be updated. Kudos for my beta for sticking with me all this time! And thanks for anyone who is reading this and who reviewed last time! And don't forget that James and Lily no longer have a separate dorm, but a Heads common room (I believe I changed it in all my chapters because I gave up on fully editing it because it would have taken too long especially if I have to change some things after the 6th book comes out, but I'll try to fit everything in from the 6th book and what not).

Synthiacat

Alicelongbottom: I'll try to put more.

melody-dance

sapphire039: yeah I am trying to be more descriptive and I like my newer chapters rather than older ones

firefur1

lilypad007