This universe belongs to JK Rowling and I am not her.

Beta Reader: KaramelleTashiPops and fiction over reality

"Let us eat, drink, and love for tomorrow we die, would be, in fact, the language of reason, the morality of life, and who but a fool would part with a reality for feeling shadow?"

-Mary Wollstonecraft

1979

"Lily, what are you doing?" James asked as he came into the kitchen to see his wife using her wand to direct a hot sponge across the counter.

"Cleaning, what does it look like?" Lily answered.

"We have two house elves coming today, you really don't need to do that," James pointed out.

"I don't want them to think we're poor housekeepers," Lily said in a rush.

"We go through this every morning, Lily: they're house elves, it's their job." James said. He was a little apprehensive that Lily might inadvertently offend them. Mainly this was because April had practically raised him and was often the authority in his parents' absence during his boyhood years. April's daughter, March, on the other hand was the exact opposite to the point where she ran out crying when Lily had tried to hand her laundry.

"I still feel uncomfortable with them thinking your wife is a slob," Lily said, putting away the dishes.

"They get more irritated when you do their work for them," James said.

"I'm sorry, I didn't grow up being waited on, therefore I don't know the proper procedures," Lily argued back as she wiped down the sink.

"The rules are simple, let them do everything for you and never hand them clothes," James said. "That is the same as firing them."

"Damn, when you said you have two elves I was all looking forward to never having to do laundry."

"Ask them to get the clothes; there are loopholes for everything," James explained. "Think of the benefits. After You-Know-Who is defeated, and whenever we finally decide to have a family, they can watch the kids while we are at work."

"I am a career woman, it would be simpler," Lily sighed then shook her head as Remus came out to the kitchen with a plate of waffles.

"Happy Friday, Moony," Lily commented.

"Morning," Remus called.

"Hey, you need to get more syrup," Remus asked, despite the fact that his were already soaked.

"Good grief," Lily said, picking up empty plates and empty cups that were in front of Remus and James.

"April and March coming today?" Remus asked. James nodded.

"You should see her before we have real company," James commented

"She doesn't act like that when I'm around," Remus remarked.

"Remus, you eat dinner here three or four times a week, you practically live here," James pointed out.

"True," Remus said, and then continued eating. "Anyway, I was in Hogsmeade with Loraine last weekend, and saw Lily's cousin, Ivan. I have to say, that kid has gotten weird."

"How so?" Lily asked, anxious.

"He just looked at me like I ruined his life or something and walked away... what was that about?" Remus asked a bit annoyed.

"True," Remus said, and then continued eating. "Anyway, I was in Hogsmeade with Loraine last weekend, and saw Lily's cousin, Ivan. I have to say, that kid has gotten weird."

"How so?" Lily asked, anxious.

"He just looked at me like I ruined his life or something and walked away... what was that about?" Remus asked a bit annoyed.

"He's thirteen, who knows?" Lily quickly lied. Both she and James had agreed not to reveal to Remus that he had infected someone. Ivan was partly to blame for following him. "Anyway, how did your date with Loraine go? Bet she's missing you since you graduated."

"She dumped me," Remus answered bitterly. "Apparently, she found a new man and wanted to give it a try. I would have f***** married her, the b****."

"That's strange, you two were together a long time." Lily said, with her eyes narrowed with sympathies going towards him.

"I know, and now I have to tell my parents."

"How are your parents?" James asked. Like Sirius, he believed that Remus got the coolest parents by a stroke of luck.

"Good. I have dinner with them this weekend. They have something to tell me. I just know I'll get into an argument with my dad and then will have to listen to him complain about my hair being too long for hours straight," Remus said slicking his long hair back. "I think I look sexy, he thinks I look like a hippie."

"Master James, what is the point of April coming here if you're going to clean everything?" April said, coming down the stairs with her daughter, March, following behind her, proud to be wearing her pillowcase. "Get your feet off the coffee table, it's not a doormat."

"Yes, April," James said. "March, what are you doing?"

"Getting tums for Mistress Lily, she told March she feels queasy," March answered, her voice exhilarating with excitement. "March is always proud to serve the House of Potter. Could March interest you in an alcoholic beverage?"

"Sure," James said, trying not to laugh at the strange obedient elf. She surely took after her father more than her mother.

"It's eight in the morning," Remus interrupted.

"Never mind, just get us tea." James shook his head.

"Yes, Master," March said before she followed her mother into the kitchen.

"Anyway, did Sirius move in with Marigold yet?" Remus asked.

"Yesterday," James answered. "She made them get a phone."

"What exactly happened that she couldn't live with her roommate anymore?" Remus asked.

"I don't know. Lily," James called as his wife came down with the laundry. "What happened with Marigold's roommate?"

"The night before Marigold's graduate admissions interview, her roommate brought home two men for a threesome and one of them tried to get in Marigold's bed, so she called the building security. To get revenge, this girl stole Marigold's insulin out of the refrigerator and let it spoil," Lily explained.

"Was that why she was in the hospital for four days?" James asked.

"Yes. If my aunt asks, Marigold is living alone now," Lily answered. "From talking with my cousin, she still doesn't know Sirius is a wizard but suspects something, which does not surprise me. Anyway, James, I expect you to do the folding." Lily said as she handed the laundry over to him.

"Does Sirius even know how to use a phone?" Remus asked as he got up to help James fold the towels.

James shrugged as he started to fold socks. "Do you?"

"My Mum taught me when I was young, made me call her sisters," Remus said. "Thanks to Dad screwing up she isn't able to keep many friends… You know what would be funny?"

"What?" James asked.

"We could call them, and she could see Sirius answer the phone and become all confused." Remus said going to phone that Lily had installed so that she would be able to keep in contact with her father.

"Lily wrote their number on the wall next to it," James said, a bit anxious.

"Her and Lily are cousins, right?" Remus asked.

"Yes," James answered.

"You know, Marigold is kind of hot. When Lily comes down again ask if she has another," Remus said as he moved the dial with his fingers.

"She was going to set her up with Peter but Sirius asked her out first," James commented.

"Oh, I remember that," Remus recalled. "Peter was very upset about it and I had to say that she was way too hot for him to begin with… I'm in the mood to make Sirius out to be an idiot."

"So am I but I got laundry," James said as he continued to fold.

~X~

Sirius Black woke up feeling smooth legs sliding against him. He turned to see his lover's face in the mid-morning, both of them hung over from the night before. He turned to kiss her, tasting her chocolaty morning breath, gazing into her cornflower eyes. He stroked her long honey hair and pulled her closer to him. She then put her small hands around his neck and stretched up to kiss him, feeling the stubble of his unshaven face.

Marigold couldn't help but feel an energetic delight as Sirius wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her close to him. She got an exciting sensation as his large hands went up her U2 shirt, sliding it off.

Marigold let out a sexy chortle as she pulled herself up, putting her arms around Sirius as he laid back on the mattress as Marigold crawled on top of him. The two began to kiss again. Sirius sat up wrapping her legs around him as the two continued to kiss, enjoying these morning moments filled with heat and liveliness.

"Do you want to?" He asked.

"Nothing like starting the morning by casting aside outdated expectations of my gender," Marigold answered. Sirius smiled. He had enjoyed sex with several women, both muggles and witches, but with her it was making love. The fact that she knew more about the male body than he did only turned him on more.

Then suddenly the phone rang. Marigold rolled her eyes as she reached into the night stand for a condom. "It's my mother. We'll just tell her that I was studying for my anatomy class."

~X~

The Order of the Phoenix gathered at the library, knowing full well that the Death Eaters planned to demolish it.

Lily was on the roof, put on the team in charge of defense. Here she was, a veteran's daughter ready to fight her own war. She was under the command of Frank Longbottom, a trusted Auror in his early thirties who was much more experienced than Lily and held a lot more patents than his wife. She stood there, fearfully looking up at the night sky, with one of the Prewett brothers by her side, knowing they would be attacked any minute.

Below, in the nonfiction section, were James and Sirius. They were under the authority of Alice Longbottom. Below them were Peter and Remus along with the other Prewett brother under Marlene McKinnon, quickly emptying the shelves of the Children's floor to be sent to Hogwarts. The librarians had taken the manuscripts and rare books to the Order vault earlier and the adult fiction section along with auto books and periodicals were removed by the Bones family the night before in anticipation of the upcoming battle.

Death Eaters had targeted magical libraries and considered them a threat to pure-blood society mainly due to the number of muggle authors' works held within their walls. Books that had given the magical population insight to the worlds beyond them. Ideas were the one thing that couldn't be controlled but the Death Eaters were sure going to try.

"That Alice Longbottom is some b****," Peter commented in a whiny voice.

"What did she do this time?" Remus asked, annoyed as he finally emptied an entire shelf into a box.

"Apparently, she and Marlene are now in charge."

Well, they are Aurors and have ten years more experience than we do," Remus pointed out. "Frank taught me how to do a Patronus charm and he made it seem so simple."

"I really like how Alice told us not to look at the books but I caught her glancing at a few books on fertility potions before hiding them in a bag," Peter fumed.

"Shush!" Marlene caught the last few words as she came in to check on the younger Order members. Marlene was the mother of two toddlers and was more attuned than the others. She was an Auror, with high security information to the Order and knew crucial information about it, but above all Marlene felt her greatest strength came from being a mother. Her maternal instincts were strong and she transferred that strength to her career. Her husband was a healer and at home taking care of the children. The two never went on a mission at the same time.

"Wingardium leviosa!" A charm came through as the rest of the books fluttered away.

"They're here," Sirius said, being able to transfer his canine abilities into human form and pick up their scent. The black shadows started to circulate the monumental building of knowledge.

"Wands out!" Alice ordered quickly.

James, remembering that his wife was on the roof, turned to one of the two house elves. "April, go check on Lily."

James had debated on whether or not to use his elves for the services of the Order, but considering he owned two faithful warriors that could operate anywhere, they did so gladly.

April disappeared instantly as a loud, shrieking laughter filled the air.

Lily was on the roof, seeing masked wizards circulate around the building.

"Are you scared, March?" Lily asked, seeing the small elf shaking.

"March not scared at all, March ready to fight," The young, teenage house elf said hopefully.

"Remember, if something happens, you are to go to my father and whatever you do, keep clear of your father and sister," Lily said, feeling guilty for separating family members, but since they were owned by Death Eaters, the Potters had no choice.

"Yes, my Mistress," March said, excited to help her masters escape when necessary.

She and James had a huge fight about using their elves to serve the Order which wasn't resolved until March intervened, wanting to fight.

Suddenly, the Death Eaters jumped off their brooms and charged. Lily started flinging spell after spell, letting her antique crystal wand glow with magic, ready to combat Voldemort if he dared showed his face.

Lily knew what Voldemort looked like; he had approached her alone not long after her sister's wedding. Voldemort had cornered Lily, with none of his followers. It took her a while to figure out who he was or why he was trying to recruit a muggle-born.

He wanted her to steal for him, or keep others distracted so Death Eaters could go about their duties. Lily didn't know why Voldemort thought she would be good at these things, but he kept calling her Evans repeatedly.

Then the very same man who had given Lily her wand had come to her rescue. Lily still didn't know who this man nor the wizards that were with him were. The Death Eaters got into a duel with this group before Voldemort told him that this was his territory, and then the other group of dark wizards disappeared before the Order came. The next morning, Lily got an early morning call and was informed that her grandfather, the great Russian count Konstantin, was dead.

Lily put all that aside as they began their descent to the library with the plot to burn it and take the intellectualism and culture enlightened in the wizarding community. One aimed a wand at her, "Expelliarmus!" Lily shouted as the wand flung in the air. She couldn't help but feel a twinge of panic as they chased after her.

"March, go check on James!" Lily ordered as she fended one off, but noticed he wasn't fighting too hard.

"I got it here," He said. Lily suddenly recognized his voice.

"Are you coming to get me, Cousin?" Bellatrix asked with her familiar sadistic holler. Sirius flung his wand at his cousin as she continued to roar with laugher. She disappeared quickly as a black light was flung in the air. Sirius kept flinging his wand at any random black figure, not knowing or caring which Death Eater he aimed at it, hoping it would be her.

The two then fought each other head on. Sirius kept constantly scanning around him gazing for the Death Eater he was both afraid and unafraid that he would show up.

"Looking for someone, Cousin? Looks like two brothers are now Blood Traitors," Bellatrix said, approaching him darkly.

"What the f*** are you talking about?" Sirius asked, pointing both of their wands pointing at one another.

Bellatrix smiled, "Notice one is not within our ranks anymore." She then cackled as James tried to hex her, causing him to grab her wand. In an instant, Bellatrix grabbed March by the neck, holding the elf hostage. She held her with a knife to the tiny elf's neck.

"Lily," A Death Eater unveiled his face to Lily, shocking her.

"Severus?" Lily asked stunned.

"What are you doing?"

"I could ask the same." Lily said in an almost stutter.

"You know this one?" Frank asked with his wand raised, confused as to why the man was talking to Lily with his mask off. "What brings you here, scum, what's your mission?"

"None of your business, Jeeves, give it a rest," Severus snarled to Frank Longbottom.

"What is your mission here?" Lily asked, remembering the days her and Severus would spend the summer afternoon at the Cokeworth Public Library, surprised he would come to destroy a place that once gave him sanctuary.

'I'm here for the valuables,' Severus thought to himself but couldn't reveal the Dark Lord's love for money to them.

"I'm your distraction, Lily. He's coming, you have to get out of here."

"I'm not leaving my post," Lily said as she raised her wand at him. "Answer my questions. What are you doing here? Why did you join? You want to be my enemy? I will treat you like one without a second thought."

"Give me my wand Potter, or watch your servant die!"

"April go up and get my wife," James ordered.

"Please, save April's daughter, she is to serve your children master James," April pleaded desperately before following orders.

James put Bellatrix's wand to the wooden floor. "Give me back my elf," He implored as Bellatrix let out a laugh.

"Your wand too." James obeyed as March let out terrified gasps.

Suddenly, Peter and Remus came flying through the book shelves, Peter seeing James in danger instantly called the two wands on the floor to him causing Bellatrix to finally slit the elf's throat, pushing her to the ground. Horrified, Alice and Marlene flung their wands at the bookshelves, causing them to fall on Bellatrix. She escaped as Marlene quickly grabbed an injured March before the shelves fell on her. Marlene held the elf in a similar manner to how she held her child as March then gave her last breath.

"They got March," April wailed coming to the roof, wanting to follow James's orders and take Mistress Lily to safety.

"Go." Severus said and suddenly he stopped pleading with her as the Dark Lord came.

~X~

"What happened?" Sirius demanded, storming into 12 Grimmauld Place.

"What are you doing here?" Walburga snarled in the same angry tone. "I got rid of you a long time ago! You weren't even at your Father's funeral!"

"Sorry, I didn't want to waste another second on that man," Sirius answered, staring at the woman he'd once do anything for, in return for an ounce of affection.

"He was a good man," Walburga yelled. "He was a good Father. You were nothing but an ungrateful brat!"

"Sure, he was a great Father," Sirius retaliated. "The kind who would make his son kneel on rice for five hours straight or beat him bloody with a tree branch." Sirius said, feeling a tingle at his back as he remembered the times his Father would whip him with his belt, the buckle scraping the skin off his back. "That's beside the point, Mother. Where is Regulus? What did they do to him?"

"You will have to ask Bellatrix," Walburga shouted back, emotionlessly, not even wanting to look at him.

"WHERE IS REGULUS?" Sirius shouted, even louder this time with the air coming out of his throat.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Walburga roared back so loud the room shook. "He wanted to leave them, found out something bad and tried to quit."

"He's dead then," Sirius sighed in disbelief. "That idiot."

"How do you know? They haven't found his body."

"Once you leave, you're dead, that's it. It's a mob and a cult with no backing out," Sirius said, trying to sound calm. "And you're the one to blame."

"How?" Walburga asked, her eyes remaining unblinking, staring at the wall.

"You pushed him," Sirius answered simply. "You abused us, brainwashed him and pushed him to his death. He wanted nothing more in this world but to please you."

"I'd rather have a dead son who betrayed wizards than a living one that f***s muggles, that's for sure." Walburga commented.

"How do you know about Marigold?" Sirius asked.

"I have my sources," Walburga said. "Animals they are. From what I hear, yours went off with a group of women, they held signs demanding the right to take a child out of the womb, free access to birth control, and not wanting to respond to the authority of a man. She clapped when two girls kissed and stood on the streets with a group of women cat-calling men as they passed. Then she burned her bra with the others… disgusting."

"It's called a protest, Mother," Sirius said. "For equality and to get rid of double standards."

"And yet, she spreads her legs for a pureblood wizard from the most noble house," Walburga sneered. "Disgusting."

"Damn it, Mother, you're only happy when everyone else is miserable," Sirius said, shaking his head. "I can't believe my brother is dead."

"Quite acting like you care, your very existence brings shame," Walburga said. "My beloved son is gone; he was my light and joy."

"Regulus," Sirius sighed. "My Brother, so sweet and innocent with wanting nothing more than to please everyone," Sirius continued as he dared to examine the house. His life flashed before him, memories of him and Regulus hiding from their parents, their Father's beating or their Mother's rage. Sirius offering to take the first beating and them forcing Regulus to watch and count each stroke.

"You stupid, stupid child," Sirius heard his mother chant as she held his arm tight. 'I should have aborted you. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be stuck here." She would scream in his face. 'You won't eat tonight… no… you're going to stand on one foot and watch the rest of us," Sirius remembered, seeing those recollections haunt before him like dark apparitions waiting to strike a deep part of him. He'd once heard from his uncle that his father had forced himself on his mother and that caused him to come into this world and was why the cousins had to marry. This was the night before he helped Andromeda get a needed abortion for her first pregnancy for the same reason.

"Will they even give us his body?" Sirius asked, putting it all aside.

"I don't know, it's not like you're going to contribute anything to help." Walburga said with tears in her eyes. "My baby, my poor baby."

"This will be the last time you'll see me, Mother," Sirius said getting up, then noticing there was no reaction causing an unexpected sting. "You hear that?"

"It better be a promise," She said her eyes staring at the wall. Sirius got up and left, leaving everything behind with no intention of ever setting foot into that house again. His brother was gone, Sirius needed to grieve for that and he knew it. It was there, Sirius vowed that when he had children, they would be loved.

Walburga stared at the window, feeling her heart being stomped on, with more pain than she ever felt before. This massive grief came over her, she wanted to scream, cry and rip the walls out for her son's death. She thought of the moments she once held and cradled Regulus, protecting him from the world. She mourned with a mother's heavy burden.

Walburga raced upstairs to find Kreacher and May scrubbing floors. "You better not be fussing over that Potter elf."

"She was May's sister," May bawled.

"Quite crying, she was on the wrong side," She yelled, dumping the pine-water on May. When she heard James had married that mudblood, Walburga ordered Kreacher and May to cut ties with the Potter elves, despite their relations. The fact was those two elves were on different sides, making them enemies.

May got up and curtsied in her pillowcase, still soaked. "May wants to speak with her mother," May said letting out loud moans of despair.

"I don't care how the Potters' elf died, she belonged to blood traitors and deserved what she got," Walburga sneered "Kreacher! What happened, tell me! Where is my Son?"

"Regulus forbid Master from telling Mistress," Kreacher answered.

"You won't tell me what happened to my Son, fine! I will take your other Daughter!" She hissed grabbing May by the arm.

"Please don't take May away from her Father, her Father is all May has," May cried.

"You are my property, you're mine to dispose of," the mistress said, ignoring them. "May, you're going to be a gift; I'm giving you to Sirius for his twentieth birthday." Walburga said as Kreacher and May looked at each other. Taking May was Kreacher's punishment for keeping her Son's death a secret. Kreacher accepted it, knowing he couldn't tell anyone.

May nodded obediently. In truth, she was terrified. She was a young elf of fourteen and had no one to talk to since her best friend; Dobby was made part of a dowry for his master's youngest daughter. Thanks to this bloody war, May couldn't talk to her ,mother and lost her sister. Now she was forced to leave her father to serve a man who hated her along with a Muggle, creatures she heard about and feared from being seen by one. "You will do everything Sirius says like a dutiful elf and tell me what you find out about that jezebel Muggle he is shagging."

"Yes, Mistress, May will do so gladly."

~X~

"Good morning, Happy Birthday!" Marigold said as she surprised Sirius with a box of twenty donuts. Sirius was always delighted to see her in the morning, before she put on makeup or even combed her hair, being sexy as hell just as she was. However, Marigold was still the first girl whom he could talk to for hours straight and not even think about it. She was sharp minded and not scared to show others her weird side.

"Good morning," He smiled removing her long blonde hair from the side of her cheek to kiss her. "You didn't have to do this."

"Not every day my man turns twenty," Marigold said, happy to be able to use the phrase 'my man.' Sirius was hot with long, thick black hair and tan skin. He adored her; he wasn't threatened by her futuristic ideals or her ambitions. She was first attracted to his long hair, one earring and how he drove a motorcycle. She felt a bit bad the way her Grandmother bossed him around at Lily's wedding but liked that he was sarcastic about it all and showed that he was a faithful friend.

Neither of them spoke it, but both had visions of spending the rest of their lives together.

"So what are we doing today?" Marigold asked as Sirius poured orange juice for the two of them, and they started eating, still in their night clothes.

Sirius thought about it: he had to do Order business. He needed to find the Death Eater involved with the Ministry. He suspected Malfoy but couldn't confirm it. He also vowed to find Bellatrix Lestrange and torture his cousin to find out what had happened to his brother. She, after all, deserved a taste of her own medicine.

"I am going to hang out with my friends, male-bonding thing," Sirius said quickly.

"Alright, I see," Marigold nodded, only eating half her donut, then looked at the time. She went to the kitchen counter, washed her hands then opened the diabetes drawer. She first grabbed a newly sterilized needle and then went into the ice box, grabbed her insulin and removed the plastic cap of her needle. She wiped off the top with an alcohol wipe. After she rolled the vial between her fingers she sat the insulin bottle on a flat surface and removed the cap. She then placed the needle in the insulin and pulled the needle back so it would fill. She pulled it out and went over to the table for better lighting. She checked for bubbles and to make sure she had the exact amount. She then placed the cap on the insulin as the smell of dirty Band-Aids filled the air.

She lifted her shirt and pulled down part of her pants, feeling so off-putting having to do this in front of Sirius, she grabbed a fold of her skin near the end of her stomach and just above her thigh. She injected it, watching the clear liquid flow in her. Once the needle was empty she pulled it out and then grabbed another swatch of rubbing alcohol over the injection, massaged that part before putting the needle in an empty laundry detergent container so she could sterilize it later.

"Does it hurt when you do that?" Sirius asked, becoming more and more used to it since they had moved in together.'

"When I was first diagnosed at twelve it did. For a nurse, Mum wasn't very good at giving shots, and Dad was worse, so I learned to do it myself fast. As the years wore on, I've gotten used to it. Diabetes is a lifestyle as chosen by genetics," Marigold explained as she sat down. "Annoying, I tell you, having to constantly watch what I eat and checking my sugar level when something doesn't feel right, the trips to the hospital, special treatment from professors and everyone jumping at even a little cough. I'm not letting it limit my freedom."

Sirius nodded, not quite sure how to approach the subject. Sometimes Sirius wondered when he should tell Marigold his secret now that she was open about hers. "What are you four doing?" Marigold asked as she continued to eat a donut.

"Chump stuff," Sirius said, still trying to be vague.

"Alright, well, you have fun. I'm going to the lab. My partner and I have some research that absolutely has to be done by Monday. We can do something this evening?"

"I'll think of something," Sirius said, going through the mail as Marigold read 'The Feminist Review'.

"Who is this Margaret Thatcher?" Sirius asked glancing at the newspaper.

"The Prime minister," Marigold said, giving him a squinty eye look.

"Oh, do you and your friends like her?"

"Not really. My parents do, though. How could you not know who our prime-minister is?" Marigold asked, a bit awed. "She is only the first woman to take office."

"How is your Sister?" Sirius changed the subject.

"She is doing great; she's secretly working for unions, photographing strikes. Speaking of the Iron Lady, Thatcher is planning on visiting Liverpool. Wish I would have known you in February. You saw the pictures Zinnia shot during the gravediggers' strike. Things are tight for them, with the milk carriers union in negations and the power shortages. Anyway, I doubt it will go well, considering the cuts." Marigold nodded, Sirius not knowing much about Muggle politics, he often just agreed with her. She had a way of making everything sound enthralling from her feminist rants to the pride in her Sister's photography. She always spoke her mind not afraid to show off her intelligence but provided a shoulder to cry on with the loss of his brother.

The two were silent for a long minute.

"You are missing him," Marigold assumed. "Your brother."

Sirius nodded, "He will never be twenty. He had only been out of school for a year. Why did his life have to end before it begun?"

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," Sirius answered. "Tell me about your research?"

"Well, as you know, my lab partner, Martin, is also studying the INS gene by comparing it with ours to that of non-diabetics. I also have a few other lab reports for other classes and quite a bit of reading to do."

"Is it that one large book by Gray?"

"Well, no, I read Gray's Anatomy for pleasure mainly," Marigold answered. "But I have noticed my book collection is disappearing."

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked going over to the shelf that sat next to the radiator. "What about this one?"

"Gray's Anatomy," Marigold said, eyeing it. "I remember seeing that book in St. Alban's school library, read it cover to cover, wanting to know the human body inside and out." Marigold added knowing Sirius founded it sort of sexy that she knew more about his body than he did. He loved the passion that sparked her when she talked about cells, tissues and organs and how she could give a complex name to the tiniest part of his hands. "But what I mean is some of my books have disappeared, you know how protective I am of them. Remember when I was in the hospital. Well, now my philosophy collection went missing, mainly: Wollstonecraft, Marx, and Locke. I had a lot of notes in Della's 'Oration on the Dignity of Man' and Thomas Moore's 'Utopia'. I swear a few nights ago I got up and saw this thing."

"What thing?" Sirius asked, suspiciously.

"I can't quite describe her; she was short, with pointed ears and huge eyes, the size of tennis balls. She was wearing what appeared to be a pillowcase and reading Voltaire or Rousseau. I saw caught a glimpse of her this one other time, you were at work, I came home after class to get an insulin refill and she was crying while reading 'Manifesto Emancipating the Serfs'. She saw me and disappeared quickly. Edmund Morel's "A Black Man's Burden' is also gone. So is Havel's 'Power or the Powerless' which I was really looking forward reading. These books which I love disappear for a couple days, come back, then disappear again. Then I keep getting glimpses of this creature reading them. Except this one time I came in the kitchen to get my glucose tablet after sex and she was there again, with a lamp, reading and completely ignoring the world around her."

"We should do something crazy tonight, ten years from now we'll be married with kids," Sirius interrupted before she was allowed to go on wondering.

"Alright," Marigold said, still staring at her bookshelf. "Well, I'm going to get dressed and head to the lab to get that work done."

"I'll give you a lift," Sirius said. "I'll think of a plan."

"Thank you," Marigold said. She then went up to kiss him, putting her arms up, around him and getting a snit of his hair. She kept it in the palm of her hand as they kissed, enjoying each other's touch.

"You have a bit of custard on your cheek." Marigold commented. Sirius let out a bit of laughter as Marigold wiped it with her thumb and the couple kissed again.

"I need to go and get my stuff," Marigold reminded as Sirius nodded and they went to get ready for the day. They left their tiny flat, ready to go their separate ways.

As soon as the couple left, May appeared. The young teenage elf rarely ever saw books; her mother had taught her to read before sending her to live with the Blacks and she took the act as a rebellion to defy the mistress. She then taught Dobby how to read.

"Why is May bringing Dobby here?" Dobby asked.

"May don't know, Mistress sent May to spy on future Master. May wanted to show best friend something."

"Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," Dobby said taking a book off the shelf. He opened it, also not used to being allowed to roam freely to gain whatever knowledge that would give him ideas, despite the fact that his new family took pride in being well-read, well the mistress at least. This made him yearn for it even more.

Dobby read it: "This State of mind, however, very soon subsided; and I was again seized with a feeling of great insecurity and loneliness. I was yet liable to be taken back, and subjected to all the tortures of slavery. This in itself was enough to damp the ardor of my enthusiasm."

"Let May look at it," May said, taking the book from his hands. "I was afraid to speak to any one for fear of speaking to the wrong one . . . it was a most painful situation; and, to understand it, one must needs experience it, or imagine himself in similar circumstances."

"Can Dobby see more?" Dobby said, taking the book back. "While in slavery, that few of the comforts, and scarcely any of the luxuries . . . I worked that day with a pleasure I had never before experienced. I was at work for myself and newly-married wife . . . that sounds nice to Dobby."

"Can May read some?" May took it, skimmed it. "My soul was set all on fire. Its sympathy for my brethren in bonds. Its scathing denunciations of slaveholders, its faithful exposures of slavery, and its powerful attacks upon the upholders of the institution, through my soul sent such a thrill of joy, such as I had never felt before! . . . May wonders what freedom may be like."

"Give book to Dobby when done," Dobby said. "Any others?"

"May was going to give this one back to the Muggle today, but Dobby should read it." May then handed her friend 'The Dignity of Man'. Dobby then saw a book called 'The Prince' by Niccolo Machiavelli, he decided to take it as well.

"May thinks she's going to start calling herself I."

"Why?" Dobby asked. "May is an elf; elves don't talk like that."

"That was so humans could keep us oppressed, but we are individuals with our own thoughts and our own free will. We matter." May said. "I matter."

~X~

"So that is all we have for today," Martin said as he and Marigold put away their cell collection.

"Looks like it," Marigold said as she reviewed the final footnotes of their paper, making sure they had every detail.

"I'm going to go pick up Caroline for lunch," Martin continued, "Before that I probably should check my blood sugar… you know how exhausting that can be."

"At least it's an excuse to get your girlfriend to randomly buy you sweets," Marigold joked.

"Love how you see the good side," Martin shook his head. "See you Monday."

"Bright and early," Marigold said as she waited for Martin to leave.

She sat there with her white lab coat and goggles still on, then went to her bag and grabbed the hair sample she had stolen from Sirius. She knew something was something peculiar about Sirius. She was at first a bit agitated that he didn't know much about the issues of women's rights which she has been passionately involved in, nor workers' rights which her sister and brother-in-law advocated tirelessly for. But since Sirius wasn't close to the issues at heart it was understandable that he wasn't as knowledgeable but not knowing who the Prime Minister was made Marigold question if he was from a different world.

She also kept in mind that gender roles were still very much part of everyday life, perhaps his horrid parents found it unnecessary for a male to cook… or even learn how to work a toaster. Sirius only noted that his father was dead and Lily told her his mother is in the mental ward, so she didn't question it but when Marigold asked her cousin if Sirius grew up alone why couldn't take care of himself in doing things such as using a washing machine or even making ice, there was no conceivable answer.

Marigold questioned a lot of things. Yet, still, her Uncle Harry basically raised himself and knew how to fix anything as well as work it.

Still trying hard to remain an open-minded skeptic, part of Marigold wondered if she was just letting her imagination get to her. Nevertheless, she put the hair strands on a tiny strip of glass, covered it in iodine, put a slip over it and placed the hair under the best university microscope to magnify it.

"Strange," Marigold said, observing that her lover's DNA. It was different from the majority of the DNAs she has seen. It was similar to her cousin, Lily and their old friend Severus when the two let Marigold look at their cells, she noticed something different and it appeared that Sirius had whatever they did.

She took out her notebook and started to draw Sirius's cells with each line sorting out the details. Marigold than labelled the parts and wrote down how the cells of certain people are different from those of others but being a professional scientist, she didn't write his name. Sirius's cells produced more protein than her cells, like Lily and Severus as well as her younger cousin, Ivan. This simply meant a capability of being able to harvest more energy than most ordinary people.

Marigold hypothesized that the high ribosome produced more protein which allowed those like Lily and Sirius to channel more energy than most people. Marigold wrote this down in her notebook, not knowing the importance of her discovery would one day be given credit to her daughter.

Afterwards, Marigold put her notes in a bag and continued with her school work so she was able to enjoy her love's birthday. Marigold tried to remain focused until she decided to focus in on Sirius's genetic code.

~X~

"When were you going to tell me that you are a wizard?" Marigold demanded instantly as Sirius walked in the door.

"What?" Sirius stuttered, stunned. "How did you…how?"

"To assume intellectual superiority is to leave yourself vulnerable." Marigold said. "Lily left hints, and like always I did my own investigation. Your cells, I looked at your cells without permission wondering if it could explain how you are able to make things move without touching them or say words and cause things to happen. I'm a scientist, Sirius, it's my nature to observe things when I don't mean to. I noticed your cells create more ribosomes than mine, allowing you to produce more energy and therefore reach into untapped parts of the mind that allow for supernatural powers to occur. I then used the university microscopes to magnify your DNA; I notice there were more adenine as well as ATP molecules. This would cause your cells to produce more protein causing you to channel more energy. As a result you would be capable of supernatural powers in traditional folklore those people were called wizard. I didn't believe it until I started making connections. I can also tell that this is an inherited trait, which makes sense. You never wanted to me to meet your family because I'm not… like you." Marigold explained. "This whole time I thought that you respected my desire for equality only to find this."

"It's hard to explain," Sirius started.

"What? You think I'm too stupid or something?" Marigold demanded. "Because I can't perform magic I'm below you or something?

"No, you're actually bloody brilliant, one of the smartest people I have ever met." Sirius answered while moving closer to her, wanting to kiss her or hold her. He didn't know whether to be scared or relieved that she had figured it out.

"Then tell me what is going on? You can trust me."

"Why didn't you tell me you're diabetic?" Sirius changed the subject.

"That is not the point, like I said before; I didn't want you to be constantly checking in on my health." Marigold said with an angry tone. "That is not at all the same… well, I did try to hide it. But I trusted you because you were Lily's friend. I loved you as I grew to know you. But I want equality, Sirius. I want us to rely on each other even as we remain independent. I'm done with secrets. Sirius, are you a wizard?"

"You seriously figured this out on your own?" Sirius asked, shaking his head, both surprised and not surprised at the same time. "I couldn't tell you because of a security code, I could end up in jail. Seeing that I didn't actually tell you should make it alright."

"I don't mind that you are able to perform magic and I am not, but promise me that we are still equal. Keep in mind that I was able to figure this out on my own and could match your fingerprints if I wanted too. My cousin Petunia had to shout my secret to you for her twisted revenge. You can make things happen through supernatural force."

"And you can come up with a scientific explanation as to why it worked," Sirius said slowly. "Do you want to go for a motorcycle ride?"

"Yes, of course," she said. "This matter is closed."

"You don't mind me being a wizard?"

"No, I truly don't," She answered.

"Come with me," Sirius said excitedly, taking her by the hand., "I said we will do something crazy tonight."

Sirius led her out to his motorcycle. He handed her a helmet, she wrapped her blonde hair in a bun and put the helmet on. She got on behind him, wrapping her hands around his waist. He started it up and within a few seconds the couple were up in the air.