Sirius stayed up all that night reading Heather's journal, and it turned his world upside down.

Heather Mallory was Mulciber's second cousin, on her mother's side but her father had been a muggle. Because of this both her mother hand father had been brutally murdered by Voldemort himself in front of an audience of other wizards, to warn them that "un-pure" marriages had consequences. Heather had been five years old.

Then she had been taken in by the Mulciber family, but not out of the goodness of their hearts: she had become a second house elf to them, and the only reason why they didn't chuck her onto the streets was because of an unbreakable vow Mulciber's father had made to Heather's mother at her wedding.

So, little Heather had lived like a slave, ordered about, fed only enough to sustain her and beaten when she failed to do what she was told. But the worst part, according to her diary, was the verbal abuse. The called her ugly, stupid, disgusting and untouchable in her lowliness. It pierced Sirius's heart to read about all of the things which had happened to the girl he loved, but he could not stop reading… and as he read, little pieces began to fall into place in his head.

He understood why Heather had never believed him when he called her beautiful: no one else ever had. He realized why she had been so timid around him when they first met: he was a pureblood and she had been expecting the same sort of abuse she received at home. From reading her journal he also learned that she had been really brave to stay at Hogwarts over the break as she had been supposed to board the train with Mulciber. Instead, she had snuck away from the train before it left the station and hid at Hogwarts, hoping to enjoy just one holiday away from her tormentors.

After that came the pages she wrote about Sirius. He realized that she had loved him ever since their first breakfast together, and that her love for him ran even deeper than his for her. For Heather, being with Sirius was the only happiness she had ever known. He was everything for her, the only thing she lived for and it broke his heart to learn it. She had deserved so much goddamn better….

Finally, Sirius learned why Mulciber had decided to finish her off. He had wanted to become a death eater, and the easiest way to be inducted was to kill a muggleborn or blood traitor. Also, Mulciber had learned from Snape (who had, in fact, learned from Peter) that Heather was secretly seeing Sirius. Taking another stab at the dream team was just frosting on the cake for the Death Eater wanna-be's.

On the very last page, Heather had scrawled a goodbye. She had known that Mulciber was going to kill her that night, and written the following:

This is it. I know that they're going to finish me tonight, I can hear them talking about it right outside my dorm and it's too late to get help. But it's alright: after all, it's only me they are going to hurt tonight, everyone else will be OK.

If they think that they're not going to get caught, though, they've got another thing coming to them. Because I, Heather Mallory, am a witness to everything they've done. I've heard them plotting and discussing their plans to join Voldemort, and I put those memories in a pensieve under my bed. That's right, Mulciber, and Avery, you two will be caught and you will be convicted.

And Sirius, if you ever read this – and I hope that someday you do – I want you to know that if I want to live today, if I want to keep on going and not have today be the end, it's because of you. You made my last few months beautiful and for that I can never be grateful enough. But please… don't spend too long missing me. I loved you because even though you're family was as awful to you as mine, you fought back and stayed the lighthearted and fun loving person you are. Now, I know you think that you're just a normal, happy-go-lucky teenage boy, but every time you decided not to dwell on the sorrows you had faced and cheered me up instead, you were proving how truly strong and brave you were. You gave me hope that I could one day stand up too.

Also… I want you to know that I truly love you with all of my heart. I mean, I know that you've probably had loads of girls say that they loved you, stud as you are, but when I say it… know that I really mean it. I love you, Sirius. I love you, I love you, I love you.

Forever yours,

Heather Mallory.

*""*

One Week Later

Sirius was alone, lying splayed across his bed with the journal in his hands when the other Marauders walked into the Boy's Dormitory. Tentatively, they all sat down on their beds and waited as Sirius sat up.

He was a mess: his normally perfect hair was unwashed, his eyes were bloodshot with bags underneath, and he still wore the sweat stained and scorched shirt from the night of the battle. Despite this though, he looked almost calm.

This gave James the courage to form the shape of a deer with his hand, by placing his middle and ring fingers on the tip of his thumb and pointing his pointer and pinkie fingers into the air. Remus responded by howling as softly as he possibly could and Peter twitched his nose like a mouse.

Any onlooker would have thought that the boys had gone completely insane, but the Sirius the gestures were only too familiar: they were initiating a Marauder meeting. To complete the ritual, he formed a barking dog with his own right hand, a ghost of a smile touching his face. It felt as though it had been years since their last Marauder meeting, which had taken place just before Lily and James got together. Being with his best friends finally felt right again.

It was Remus who first broke the silence, saying, "I feel sort of ridiculous saying this now, but according to our rules, someone's got to: I call this Marauder meeting into order."

He was met with general silence, so he went on, "The reason why we're here is to… aw, diddle it all. We just don't want you to be alone, Padfoot."

Sirius's voice was hoarse from sobbing and lack of use when he spoke: "Thank you, Moon-pie."

Unable to help themselves, James and Peter sniggered. Even Remus almost smiled as he said, "If I wasn't here to comfort you, I'd pummel you for calling me that."

"I know, that's why I did it." Sirius said, the corner of his mouth turning up for just a moment. Then he let out a little sigh and looked down at the journal in his hands. The other Marauders waited for him, knowing that he would come around at his own pace and that trying to rush him would make things worse. Finally, he spoke, "They're burying her tonight. At seven."

"We'll be there… we'll be there with you, Pads." James said quietly. His voice quavered just a little as he tried to sound stronger than he was for his friend.

Sirius was quiet again, for what seemed like an agonizingly long period of time, and then he said, "I finally get you, Prongs. You and Lily, I mean…. "

"I know."

Sirius looked up now, meeting James's eyes with his own tearful ones, "I… I really loved her, you know. I did. I just never told her because of my stupid pride… always having to protect my bloody player image. But I would have died for her, if I could have…"

James moved to sit beside Sirius on his bed, putting an arm around him, "I know, mate. I know."

The other Marauders also moved to sit beside Sirius, and Remus put another arm around his dark haired friend.

"I've think I've grown up." Sirius said suddenly, looking at James, who couldn't help almost smiling at this, "What?"

"I've grown up." Sirius repeated, still speaking primarily to James, "Everything's just… different now, somehow. You've grown up too you know: you grew up for Lily and I couldn't take being left behind. I didn't understand what you felt for her… Oh, Merlin if I'd only known I would never have given you such a hard time! I've been an idiot, Prongs, and I ruined everything... I've got nothing, man. Nothing."

And then the barely controlled emotions which Sirius had been desperately concealing flooded out in tears, his body shaking with sobs and his handsome features contorted with grief. Unable to watch, James threw his arms around Sirius and engulfed him in a big bear hug. Remus, who usually hated hugs, also joined in. Peter alone held back from the hug, afraid that by his moment of weakness and failure to stop the Slytherins he was no longer welcome to join his friends. But for once, Sirius noticed that Peter was not joining in, and pulled him into the hug as well.

For Sirius, it was a small, insignificant action, but the lesser Marauder felt so happy that he started crying as well. In fact, when they broke apart Sirius saw that all of their cheeks were damp with tears, and smiled. Then, without warning, he pulled his best friends close to him again and started to laugh.

It was at that moment when they all realized that it was going to be alright. They knew then, that they still had each other, and that their friendship would help them get through it all, no matter what crossed them.

*""*

"Move over, Lily, I can't see!"

"Quiet, Geeta, they'll hear us!"

"Guys… do you really think that we should be spying on the boys?"

"Quiet, Alice!"

The three girls were huddled around the door to the boy's dorm, watching them attempt to reconcile. It had been Geeta's idea really: when she had seen James, Remus and Peter head up to the boy's dorm to talk to Sirius, she had been unable to resist grabbing her friends and watching the show.

"What are they doing now?" Alice asked from behind the other two girls, "Are they still mad at each other?"

"No, they're hugging!" Lily said joyfully as she watched her boyfriend hold his best friends close to him.

"Really, I want to see!" Alice exclaimed, "Move over!" and she pushed Lily aside a little so that she could stand beside Geeta and peek through the only slightly ajar doorway.

Lily, who loved watching James express his soft side, let out a little grumble of protest, "Hey!" and she moved to get a better look by pushing Geeta aside a little. Then Geeta pushed Alice. Soon they were too busy making room for themselves to notice what was going on with the boys at all... that was when they heard the sounds of sobbing and sweet proclaims of friendship coming from inside the boy's dorm change into a very different sound.

The girls froze, exchanged bewildered glances, and Lily realized that her mouth was hanging open, "Are they… laughing?"

All three of them leaned into the doorway to check, and were met with the singular sight of all four Marauders cackling like hyenas who had been fed copious amounts of chocolate. In fact, Remus was biting his fist to try and control his guffaws, Peter had tears streaming down his face as he snorted and James and Sirius were literally rolling on the floor and clutching at their stomachs.

And they just didn't seem to be able to stop: every time they tried to regain their breath, one of them would get going again, or two of them would make eye contact and burst into fresh snickers. It was quite the silliest thing Lily had seen in all her life.

The three girls simply stared at them for almost five entire minutes, unable to believe their eyes. Finally, Lily turned to face her friends, half amused and half just plain confused, "What the diddle?"

*""*

It took a few months, but Sirius eventually started acting like his old self again. Of course he still missed Heather, feeling her absence with every step he took like a nail driven into his foot, but he didn't allow the pain to detract from the many joys he also had. The only discernable change in him was that he didn't date anymore; he couldn't bring himself to do it. He knew, somewhere in the depths of his heart, that he would never again love anyone as he had loved Heather… but he was alright with that, because the love he had shared with her was more beautiful than he had ever imagined anything could be.

The Marauders stayed strong and together for the rest of that year, and their antics ensured that it was a year no one (especially not the graduating Slytherins) would ever forget. Tragedy had brought them even closer, if possible, and they cared for one another even more than most blood brothers did. That is, except for Peter. The truth was that he never truly felt like one of the gang, despite their best efforts to include him. He continued going to Slytherin meetings with Snape, but never betrayed his friends again during his final year at Hogwarts.

Remus and Geeta also stayed together for the rest of that year, despite her parents warning her against him (both because he wasn't an Indian and because of his furry little problem). Still, they were just about the happiest couple who had ever lived at the castle.

Except for Lily and James, of course. True, they continued to drive each other crazy almost every day, but they would have gone even more insane if kept apart.

As for Dumbledore, he wasn't sure why, but for quite some time now he had had a rather ominous and dark nursery rhyme playing over and over in his mind like a mantra. Even more disquieting was the fact that the rhyme was rank with premonition…. But the old wizard decided not to let it bother him. After all, no matter how bad or hopeless things seemed at the moment, he knew that evil could never win and that somehow the world always found a way to make things right again.

*""*

Ring a ring o' roses

A pocketful of posies

Ashes Ashes

We all fall down

*""*

Well, there it is! And yes, I know that it was quite a bit darker than the first, but hey, I did warn you all! Besides, Lily and James lived during one of the darkest periods of wizard history, as Voldemort reached his prime and grew even stronger. It wouldn't have been realistic if they remained untouched until after they left Hogwarts.

Still, I hope you enjoyed it, and thanks for reading =]

P.S. James made a wreath of roses for Lily's hair during the Holiday Ball, Heather gave Sirius a posy for his pocket when he went to greet his friends at Hogsmeade Station, ashes were produced during the fire, and I'll just assume that the last one is obvious...