Sirius, James, and Lily tumbled apart in the living room, catching their balance. Sirius caught sight of the large portrait of the Lovells over the mantle and let out a barking laugh.

"Aha! See I told you, third time's a charm!"

James shushed him and Sirius covered his mouth with both hands as the Lovells in the portrait scowled down at them, whispering to each other within their frame.

"If you think you might have been here before, Sirius, why couldn't you have Apparated us here in the first place?" hissed James.

"When you've been to as many Pureblood shenanigans as I have over the years, all of the summer homes and winter mansions start to blend together," said Sirius.

"So how are we doing this?" asked Lily. James pulled the Invisibility Cloak from his pocket, shaking it so that the silvery material unfolded.

"Lily, you come with me under the Cloak and we'll cover the ground floor. Padfoot-"

Sirius sighed, rolling his eyes and grumbling, "Jettison the third wheel, I know."

"You're number one in my heart, Sirius," said James, reaching out his hand.

"Yeah, I know," said Sirius, taking it.

Lily swatted their hands apart, frowning at the both of them, irritated. "Not the time! Come on!"

With a last glance at Sirius, James threw the Cloak around himself and Lily and they disappeared. Sirius turned and headed up the stairway to the second floor.

He drew his wand as he climbed, measuring each step against the carpet so as not to make a sound. He looked around as he reached the top, spotting Aldrik Lovell's study down the hall with the door partially open.

But just as Sirius turned to walk down the hall, a pair of hands grabbed him from behind, dragging him backwards into a room. Sirius twisted sharply, aiming his wand over his shoulder at his assailant.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

He felt the hands holding him freeze solid, and the figure fell backward, carrying Sirius with them, crashing to the ground. Sirius wrenched himself free of the figure's grip, rolling over and brandishing his wand in their glassy face. He let out a sigh of relief as he recognized them.

"Oh - Jesus Christ, Mariah, you scared the shit out of me."

Mariah said nothing, but continued to stare at him with glassy eyes.

"Shit, right, one second…" It took Sirius a moment to recall the counterspell before he waved his wand and Mariah's body relaxed, sending her into a coughing fit. "Are you okay?"

"What the fuck..." she moaned.

"Sorry, I thought you were a Death Eater," shrugged Sirius. The smell of whiskey reached his nose and it suddenly struck him how close her face was to his. "Have you been drinking? It's not even 2pm."

"Shut up," groaned Mariah. She tried to sit up, but winced.

Sirius frowned, reaching around the back of her head to feel for an injury. "Let me see," he said, and as his fingers gingerly touched the brown hair on the back of her head, it occurred to him that he was still lying on top of her, knees braced against the floor on either side of her thighs. He stiffened.

"Close the door," said Mariah groggily.

Sirius felt himself sweating. "What?"

"Close the door before he comes back," said Mariah, waving her hand at the door.

Sirius remembered where he was. He scrambled to his feet and swung the door closed, shutting it as quietly as possible. "Before who comes back?" he asked.

"Kurt," said Mariah.

"Oh, great. We've gotta get you out of here," said Sirius, pulling her to her feet. "What the hell were you thinking, coming here in the first place?"

"I wanted to trash his house," she answered. She stumbled a bit and Sirius caught her, holding her up with his arm around her waist.

"This is going to mean absolutely nothing coming from me, but that was stupid and reckless, and if your boyfriend didn't belong to a murderous Pureblood cult I would commend you for the effort and be a little jealous I wasn't asked to come along."

"Ex-boyfriend," Mariah corrected, looking at him.

"Ex-boyfriend," repeated Sirius, looking at her.

A beat passed.

"I didn't sleep with Emilie," said Sirius after a moment.

"I believe you," said Mariah.

"Do you still hate me for all eternity?"

"It varies from moment to moment," said Mariah. Sirius tightened his hold around her waist.

A loud crash from downstairs pulled them out of the moment and Sirius remembered why he was there with a terrible pang.

"Mariah, we've got to go."

"What was that?" asked Mariah. "Go where?"

"Lily and James - they probably found the other two," said Sirius.

"The other two what - what are you doing here anyway?" asked Mariah.

Sirius hesitated. He didn't know what to say. "Never mind that now, we have to get you out of here," he said.

And it was at that moment that the door swung open.

Kurt Lovell stared at them from the hallway. Mariah and Sirius stood locked in a cockeyed embrace, staring back at him.

"Fuck me. Just when I thought this day couldn't get any better," Kurt rolled his eyes as he drew his wand.

Sirius maneuvered Mariah behind him, holding his wand at the ready outstretched towards Kurt. "Just stay back, Lovell."

"You're really too much," said Kurt, shaking his head. "Is this your idea of some kind of revenge, Black? Breaking into my house? Seducing my girlfriend? Were you going to bang her on my bed, too?"

"You know damn well what this is about," said Sirius derisively.

"I'm warning you, Black, you do not want to fuck with me today," said Kurt, raising his wand. Sirius prepared to counter.

"Kurt, no!" shouted Mariah, shoving past Sirius to stand between them.

"Get out of the way, Mariah!" said Kurt. Mariah didn't move. Kurt rolled his eyes. "You're seriously defending him? What are any of you doing here, anyway, can't you just leave well enough alone?"

"Just let us go, Kurt," said Mariah. "I'm not your girlfriend anymore."

Kurt laughed, breathless. "Then you've just signed your own death sentence," he said, shaking his head.

"What did you say?" said Sirius in a low growl.

Kurt's eyes moved to look at him. "I said she's dead."

"You're the one who's dead!" said Sirius, brandishing his wand. Kurt's wand was out within seconds.

"Stop it!" cried Mariah.

There was shouting from downstairs and another crashing sound. Kurt whirled around, brandishing his wand at the stairway. He looked back at Sirius, wand at the ready. He started to regroup his battle stance, but another crash from downstairs made him groan. He looked at Mariah, then shook his head.

"Get out," he said, not looking at them. Sirius didn't lower his wand. "Just get out! Go!" Kurt glanced once at Mariah before pulling on his mask and tearing out of the room, taking off down the stairs.

Mariah stared after him, but the next thing she knew Sirius had grabbed her, and the world warped sharply. Kurt's bedroom disappeared, and Mariah felt the floor pull away as she was pulled sharply after Sirius.

Downstairs, Geoff had flung open the door to the powder room, knocking Rosier out of the way just as the Slytherin had been preparing a hex to send flying in Remus's direction, sending the spell crashing into the ceiling instead, where it left a large scorch mark. Staggering into the living room, Geoff barely raised his own wand in time to deflect a curse from a masked Death Eater who came swinging around the corner of the stairs in a fury.

Remus shot a spell in the Death Eater's direction, emerging from the hallway behind Geoff as Rosier regained his feet and tried to curse Geoff, multicolor jets of light sailing in every direction as the pairs dueled. Emilie flung the bathroom door open, wand drawn, knocking Rosier out of the way once more, but hesitated, looking between the two pairs of duelists, unsure what to do. Remus, startled at her sudden appearance, turned his attention away from the Death Eater for a fraction of a second too long, and found himself hit with a Knee-Reversal Jinx, struggling to keep his feet as he tried to dodge out of the way of another curse flying his way.

There was a sudden bellowing from the opposite end of the living room, and James Potter materialized from thin air, brandishing his wand as he launched himself into the fray.

The masked Death Eater deflected a jet of red light with a wave of his wand and spun on his heel to shoot a curse in James's direction, which James deflected with a Shield Charm. The Death Eater was quick with his wand, and soon he was shooting so many curses that James was having trouble keeping up with his own, leaping behind furniture to catch a break between jets of green light.

Rosier and Geoff were back to duelling in the hallway by the bathroom. Rosier was slower than the masked Death Eater, and they were in closer quarters. Geoff ducked a shower of sparks from Rosier's wand and punched him in the gut. Rosier doubled over, and Geoff quickly punched him in the face with his wand hand, sending him sprawling.

"A little fucking help, Delacroix!?" shouted Rosier, his hand over his suddenly crooked and bleeding nose. Geoff shot a spell at him and he gasped, clawing at his throat. His voice was gone.

Emilie stepped out of the bathroom, stumbling as she ducked under a wayward curse, catching herself on the sleeve of Geoff's robes. "You have to go," she said, looking up at Geoff as he helped her right herself.

Before he could answer, a jet of red light struck the wall over their heads, sending plaster flying. They separated, leaping in opposite directions as yet another jet of light hit the wall between them, sending a painting flying off the wall to land near where Remus was curled up on the floor, moving slowly, his knees still reversed.

"James, watch your aim!" Geoff bellowed at where James and the masked Death Eater were duelling in the living room.

"With what, shields!?" he heard James yell over the sound of more blasting rubble. Geoff jumped as the moulding of the wall near him exploded, tripping over his legs and falling back onto the ground.

The next jet of light met flesh, hitting Remus square in the chest so that the air rushed from his lungs. He clutched at a stitch in his chest, pain radiating from the place the spell had hit and down the length of his arms. Lily's head appeared, floating in midair as the Invisibility Cloak slipped to her shoulders as she dashed to Remus's side.

"James, we have to go! Remus is hurt!" she called back to the living room.

"Go, Lily!" James shouted over the sound of another blast. "Take Remus and get out of here!"

"But where-?"

"It doesn't matter - just go!"

Lily grabbed hold of their fallen friend, still gasping for air on the ground, and Disapparated.

"You have to get out of here," said Emilie again.

"But-"

There was another blast and Geoff heard James coughing from the opposite side of the room.

"Mansfield!"

Geoff brandished his wand and shot off a disarming spell at the masked Death Eater. His wand flew out of his hand, but landed on the floor by the stairs. As the masked Death Eater lunged for it, James vaulted over the back of the couch.

"Petrificus totalus!" he cried, and the Death Eater went flat to the floor.

Geoff saw James turn, grinning, to share his triumph, but the dark haired Gryffindor's broad smile quickly vanished and he opened his mouth almost a moment too late. Rosier was clambering to his feet, one hand pressed over a bleeding eye, his wand raised in his fist.

From somewhere to his right, Geoff heard Emilie cry out as a jet of red light flew in his direction, and the next thing he knew he felt the Slytherin girl colliding with him, shoving him out of the way, directly into another force colliding with him from the other side - and in the blink of an eye, James Potter and Geoffrey Mansfield Disapparated.