"Well Riddle me this, Riddle me that," Sirius hissed sarcastically. "I never would've guessed."
Voldemort glared at Sirius and lifted his hand. Sirius was lifted off the ground as though an invisible hand was holding him up by his throat. Voldemort took a step closer.
"Don't speak," he hissed. The invisible hand let go of Sirius and he fell to the ground.
"What do you want?" James asked. He didn't dare to raise his voice but he didn't want to sound frightened at the same time.
"Two things... things that I could get from another source, but I've chosen to be direct, for now," Voldemort said. He was staring intently at James the entire time with the same, strange smile glued on his face. "First - any progress on the Potter Potion?"
James looked around at the thirty-something Death Eaters and decided not to resist. He shook his head no. Voldemort pulled out his wand and raised it to James's heart. "Is that your final answer?"
James nodded.
"Good. Now, I know that that wasn't hard for you to do, so I'd like the same amount of cooperation on my next question," Voldemort continued, and he started to pace around the circle, but he still kept his wand up and ready. "Do you understand?"
James nodded again.
"Excellent. Well, did you have a good time getting my daughter pregnant?"
James lunged at Voldemort in fury, but he was caught around the chest by two of the Death Eaters. James was red in the face and still struggling to get out of the grips of the Death Eaters' hands.
"It was a simple question, Potter!" Voldemort laughed. "Did you, or didn't you?" "You don't have a daughter," James said unsteadily, taking deep breaths.
"What did you say to me?" Voldemort shot, raising his voice. "You don't have a daughter," James repeated a little clearer. "You lost her. You can't get her back."
"Is that supposed to be a threat, Mr. Potter?" Voldemort asked, his temper rising.
"No. It's a fact."
"Well, then, I suppose we should even this out. If she doesn't have a father, she certainly won't have a husband..."
"Is that a threat?" James asked, still furious.
"No, no, no," Voldemort said, and then he paused. "It's a promise."
"I won't let you see her," James said. "I won't."
"You sound assured of this. What makes you think I won't kill you now?" said Voldemort. James could see that he was becoming angry about James's words.
"No one can be sure of that - who knows how a deranged killer's mind works?"
"CRUCIO!"
James fell to the ground with every inch of his body feeling like the skin was being ripped right off. His vision went blurry then completely black, and he was sure that if he screamed any louder his head would burst. But the pain stopped, and so did his screaming, and as if vision came back he saw the Death Eaters fleeing, Voldemort being gone. James looked to his left side and saw Sirius still lying on the ground, apparently unconscious. James looked to his other side and saw Remus, who'd just collapsed next to him. Remus was badly hurt with blood oozing from his head.
"What the hell happened?" James said, wheezing.
"I - I scared 'em off," Remus said in one breath and he closed his eyes. "He left and they fled."
"Thanks for that," James said.
"No problem... er - are you okay?" Remus asked. He noticed James was going white.
"You bet!" James said, and he rolled over and hurled. ***

James, Sirius, and Remus managed to leave after being checked by the Ministry officials. They wanted to send James to St. Mungo's; believing that he'd had some serious damage inflicted when he was under the Cruciatus curse. Sirius wouldn't hear of it and he and Remus half-carried James home.
"Shit, door's lock," Remus cursed when they arrived back at Godric's Hollow. "Do we knock?"
"Are you a wizard or a squib? You do have a wand, you know!" Sirius muttered.
"The lights are all off, you pompous git!" Remus said, shaking his head. Sirius frowned and knocked quietly on the door. To their surprise, the door opened quickly and Krystle greeted them.
"Oh my God, Remus!" Krystle shrieked, and Sirius shushed her.
"Don't worry," Remus said, and he and Sirius began to drag James through the door. James was barely conscious and his head was bobbing on Sirius and Remus's shoulders.
"What happened?" Krystle asked in a more hushed voice.
"Well, to make a long story short," said Remus, "we ran into a few old chums..."
"Where's Lily?" Sirius asked, and James started to perk up.
"She's upstairs reading," Krystle replied. "She was a little worried - she thought you guys would have stumbled home drunk by now."
James focused his eyes for a few seconds and then fainted, weighing Sirius and Remus down. They settled him down on the floor and closed the door.
"Wingardium Leviosa," Sirius whispered and he guided James's unconscious body up the stairs.
Sirius followed his floating friend into Lily's room. Lily was still awake. She was sitting in bed, reading, and she noticed at once when her husband started to float into the room. Sirius lifted the Charm too early by accident and James fell with a thud on the floor.
"Sirius!" Lily snapped.
"What?" Sirius said innocently. "He's gotten so drunk so many times he's used to us carrying him up the stairs and dropping him!"
"I think you have James mistaken with yourself!" Lily said. "It's Remus and James who have to drag you up the stairs five times a week!"

***

James woke up in extreme pain the next morning, but he felt safe. Lily was holding him in her arms, and she was only half asleep. She awoke at once when James started to move.
"Sweetheart - are you alright?" she whispered, her voice starting to break.
"What - oh, yeah, I'm good," James lied, and he sat up.
"Good," Lily said, and she frowned. "What the hell do you think you're doing risking your life like an idiot?" she said, starting to cry.
"What? What are you talking about?" asked James. He pulled Lily into his arms and hugged her.
"Remus told me what you said... H-how you had t-to tell the Ministry everything... what you s-said to him..." Lily sobbed.
"And..." James said, waiting for her to continue.
"You could have died! And for what?"
"For you!" James said honestly. "I spoke the truth, and nothing but it. I am not letting him go near you - even if I die protecting you, I won't let him!"
Lily tried to straighten up and wipe away her tears. "Don't. You don't need to go handing your life out to dark wizards. I don't want to have to worry that you're going to be doing that every time you're out after them... Wondering if you'll come home..."
"I'm not going to go around looking for trouble, Lil (although it usually finds me)... I'm just... prepared to protect you. I won't let anything happen you."
Lily hugged James again. She'd stopped crying, but she was only trying to hold it in. James rested his head on Lily's shoulder and winced. He held in his breath and shut his eyes tight. He was seeing something... A flash of green light... And he heard a scream... It was -
"James!" Lily shouted. James opened his eyes and saw Lily stand in front of him, utterly terrified. James looked around. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, hugging his knees tight to his chest.
James dropped his feet down to the floor and looked at his hands. He had fingernail marks on the inside of his palms and his knuckles were going back from white to red - obviously from squeezing his hands together so tight.
"What is it?" James asked Lily as he settled his hands down at his side, shaking.
"You... You tensed up and... You grabbed you knees and starting rocking back and forth - your skin went so white... What the hell happened?" Lily said in a squeaky voice. She was still freaked out.
"I... I don't know," James lied.
"Maybe I should take you to St. Mungo's," Lily said.
"No! I don't need to go to a hospital, Lily - stop worrying!" James shook his head.
"The curse did something to you, James. I want you to go."
James put his face in his hands. "If it gets worse, I'll go, but not until then."
Lily exhaled. "Okay," she agreed. She put her hand on James's cheek. "How about some breakfast, hmm?"
James sighed. "Breakfast sounds very good."
"All right. Pancakes for four will be ready in twenty minutes."
"For four?" James questioned. "Are Sirius and Remus here?"
"Remus and Krystle went home but Sirius had no place better to go so he stayed in the guest room."
"Then who's the fourth?"
"I'm eating for two, silly!" Lily laughed, blushing slightly. "At least that's my excuse for eating twice as much as everyone... So, I want you to clean up while I wake Sirius up, okay?"
"Sure thing," James smiled.
Lily left the room and went downstairs to wake Sirius up. James took the greater part of five minutes to stand up and change into clean robes. By then, Sirius had stumbled up the stairs and into James's room; his hair being messier than James's would be on a good day.
"You got mail from Harold," Sirius yawned.
James looked at him and laughed.
"What's so funny?" Sirius asked.
"Oh, nothing," James said. "I'd just forgotten how pathetic you usually look in the morning.
"I'm using your shower," Sirius said, ignoring James's comment.
"And what's wrong with the one downstairs?" James asked.
"I'm too lazy to go back down there," Sirius shrugged. "Why? Hiding something in there?" he added, eyeing James suspiciously.
"Not really," James said. "I just know that the fact that I've been naked in there doesn't appeal to you."
Sirius automatically shuddered, and James grinned.
"But," Sirius said, his frown turning into a wicked smile, "Lily has been too..."
"Fine, fine, fine!" James said, waving his hands to stop Sirius. "Go ahead - get your thrills!"
"The letter is in your study," Sirius said before he went into the bathroom. James went downstairs, into his study, and closed the door. Dante was sitting on the desk with a thick envelope in front of him. James opened it and pulled out a letter and another envelope. James read the letter first:
James -
I got a letter from Tamaris to Sirius. She sent it to me since the last time she's talked to him was the summer before sixth year and he was staying with us. You'd better give it to him right away.
Also, I don't think you'll want to, but you'd better read the Daily Prophet. Crouch is going to be angry.
Keep in touch,
Harold.
James was about to find a copy of the newest Daily Prophet when he heard two screams coming from upstairs.
"LILY!"

"SIRIUS?!"
"WHAT THE HELL!"
James dropped the letter and ran upstairs. Lily met James on the landing; her eyes were wide but she was smiling slightly.
"What happened?" James asked.
"I - I thought... ugh! Never mind!" Lily said. She pushed past James, giggling softly, and went downstairs to the kitchen. James waited outside the bathroom until Sirius had turned off the water. He came out with a towel wrapped around his waist and his hair still dripping wet.
"What the hell happened?" James asked. He was still alarmed.
"Where the bloody hell did she go? Sirius ignored James.
"Who - Lily?"
Sirius ignored James again, pushed past him, and ran downstairs, James following.
"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Sirius shouted at Lily.
"I..."
"What happened?" James asked for the third time, and he was ignored yet again.
"Answer!" Sirius demanded.
"Don't get so worked up about it," Lily said calmly. "It was an honest mistake!"
"WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?" James shouted.
"Well..." Lily started reluctantly. "I... I needed to - to tell you something, and I assumed you were in the shower. So... I went in there and... I mistook Sirius for you."
"And you saw -?" James said, but he didn't need to finish his sentence.
"Oh yeah, I saw..." Lily nodded slowly, eyeing Sirius seductively.
"But he didn't see -?" James asked another half-question.
"No!" Sirius answered, sounding extremely disappointed.
"I don't know what the big deal is," Lily said to Sirius. "I've seen you... before."
Sirius's eyes widened in shock, "What?"
"Oh! I meant Remus!" Lily corrected herself.
"Remus?" James and Sirius both said in unison.
"Calm down, I'm kidding!" Lily giggled.
"I'm going to get you back for this, Lil," Sirius said. He turned on his heel and left the kitchen to get dressed.
Lily giggled and went back to making pancakes.
"So what did you have to tell me?" James crossed his arms.
"It's pointless now!" Lily laughed. "I was going to ask you if you wanted company in your shower - but... Under the circumstances that you weren't having one..."
James grinned widely. "Give me eighteen seconds and the circumstances will change!" he offered.
"No, no!" Lily giggled. She put her arms around James. "Sirius will be upset he wasn't offered that as well! But... when he leaves..."
"Interesting," James whispered. "Why don't I kick him out now? We can lock him outside while he's naked and call the police!"
"James!" Lily laughed. "That won't work - he can just Disapparate!"
James stroked his chin, deep in thought. "True... But I like the idea of using his nakedness to our advantage..."
Lily laughed. "Let him stay. We can continue afterwards..."
James sighed and nodded.
Lily finished making pancakes for the "four" of them. Sirius entered the kitchen again properly clothed and dry, holding a pad of paper and a pen. He glared at Lily, sat down, and began to write.
"What are you writing?" James asked as Lily put down a plate of pancakes in front of him. "Your plans to get revenge on Lily?"
"Good idea," Sirius muttered, "but no."
"What is it, then?"
"Nothing," Sirius said. He pulled the paper closer.
"Hey - that's my notebook!" James exclaimed. He made a grab at the notebook. Sirius held it back.
"It's not anymore!" Sirius laughed.
James smacked the back of Sirius's head and grabbed the book. Sirius smacked James as well and grabbed it back. It turned ugly - James and Sirius both continued to try to hit each other whilst making to grab the notebook.
"Stop acting like children!" Lily shouted. She grabbed the book (James and Sirius both had one hand clasped tightly on it, but she yanked it out of both of their grips with ease) and she smacked both James and Sirius on the back of their necks.
Lily took a few steps back and opened the book.
"No! No! No! Nooooo!" Sirius shouted.
"Read it! Read it! Read it!" James shouted at the same time.
Lily started to read of the first page. "Dear D -"
Lily stopped suddenly on the second word and looked up at Sirius. She continued to read it, but silently.
"Aww," Lily sounded softly. She hand the notebook straight to Sirius.
Sirius grabbed it quickly, shoved it into his robes, and glared at James.
"Aww, Sirius, that's sweet!" Lily chimed.
"I'm not done, but so far..." Sirius said, shyly.
"So far, it's good. So far it's great!" said Lily.
"What is it?" James asked.
"Nothing," Lily answered.
"Ah, c'mon, Lil!" James whined.
"Ask Sirius - it's his after all."
Sirius grinned. "You're not going anywhere near it, James!"
"Fine!" James said stubbornly. "I just won't tell you who sent you a letter!"
Sirius's eyes popped open. "What? Who?"
"I'm not telling you until I hear what's written in my notebook!" James said, folding his arms and putting on a dignified look.
"Wait a minute... Why the hell would anyone send a letter for me to you?" Sirius asked suspiciously.
"What, you think I'm lying?" James said, pretending to be hurt. "I would never!"
"You make me laugh so very hard, James," Sirius said in a bored tone.
"I swear on the Marauder's Map that I got a letter from someone to you!" James said, holding his right hand over his heart and his left up in the air.
"Then give it to me!" Sirius said angrily.
"No!"
"Fine!" Sirius said. He pulled out his wand and pointed it straight out at James. James jumped and hid behind Lily.
"I'm not going to curse you, stupid prat!" Sirius grinned. "Accio letter!"
The letter from Tamaris came floating straight to Sirius's hand. Sirius read the address.
"Oh my God..." Sirius muttered. "Why the hell does she choose now to write me?"
"Who's it from?" Lily asked.
"Tamaris," James said.
"Who's that?"
"My sister," Sirius admitted.
"What?" Lily exclaimed. "You have a sister?"
Sirius stuck up his nose and nodded.
"How come I've never heard of her?" Lily asked, still surprised.
"I don't exactly like to talk much about her, it's a long story," Sirius answered.
"I'm listening!" Lily said.
"Okay, well, Tamaris is three years older than I am. She had this boyfriend before we went to sixth year. He was a total asshole - Muggle, barely ever sober. I knew he was trouble from the start. He starting hitting her, and I completely lost it. I gave him the beating of his life; let's just say, and I couldn't even use magic since he was a Muggle. I honestly thought I was just protecting my sister, but she never forgave me for what I did - which is shit because I was the one who did her a favour.
"Anyways, she ran off with him and moved to Greece. I haven't talked to her since."
"What do you think she's going to say?" James asked.
Sirius looked down at the letter in his hand. "There's only one way to find out," he said, and he began to open the letter.
'Dear Sirius -' (Sirius read to himself)
'I've been battling myself back and forth, wondering whether I should write you or not. So this is it. I'm asking to be your sister again. 'It was wrong for me to leave - wrong for me to ever be mad at you. You didn't have to do what you did that summer, Sirius, but you did, and I'm so sorry I was ever angry because of it. I want to see you again. I want to love you again. I want my brother back.
'If you find it in your heart to forgive me, please write back. 'Tammy.'
Sirius sighed deeply and ran his fingers through his hair a few times before looking up at James. "She... She apologized for everything..."
"Are you gonna write back?" James asked.
"Well... yeah," said Sirius.
"With forgiveness?" James asked.
"Yeah," Sirius said.
"Can I read what you put in the notebook?"
"Bugger off!" Sirius pushed James. He folded up the letter and shoved it into his pocket and then pulled out the notebook and sat down.
James gave up and returned to his pancakes and Lily sat down hers as well. Sirius read over what he'd written previously.
'Dear Darlene,

'I was an idiot for not coming to say goodbye to you properly - don't worry, Lily already smacked me for my mistake, and I've got the marks to prove it...

'Forgive me?

'This is just something I wrote when I was thinking about you...

'When I saw you stand in front of me,

and when the sunlight touched your face,

I knew you were my heart and soul,

And I wanted your embrace.

I hate that you can be here,

and I can't comfort you when you're sad,

I can't look into your eyes and say,

"You're here... and I'm glad."
'You can expect to see more letters coming from me...
'Sirius.'

Sirius sighed and carefully ripped the page out of the notebook. He folded it twice and then stuck it in the envelope he'd put in the notebook. Sirius whistled and called for Dante. Lily's owl soared into the room and perched himself on Sirius's knee. Sirius stroked the owl, tied the letter to its foot, and let him out the window.
"You can use our owl, Sirius," Lily said in an annoyed manner.
"You're welcome," Sirius said sarcastically.
James stared at Sirius intently for a few seconds before he burst.
"What was in the letter?"
"Let it go," Sirius said. "I need your help with what I should say to Tam."
"Fine," James huffed. "You should invite her to stay with you for like a month so you can get reacquainted."
"You don't think I should talk to her from a distance first?" James laughed. "No, you'll make it..."
"Okay... I'm going to go home to work on this so you two can get to it."
Sirius winked at Lily and Disapparated.

At Remus's house... Later that day...

Remus looked up at the storm clouds and hurried up the drive to get inside with his pile of books. He managed to open the door with one hand, went inside, then turned to close and lock the door. We turned back around and jumped - Krystle was standing inches away from him. Remus barely had a chance to say 'hi' because Krystle had put her hand on the back of his neck, pulled him forward, and kissed him passionately.
"Er - hi?" Remus said like a question when he found his tongue again.
"I've got a present for you," she whispered seductively.
"Oh?" Remus raised his eyebrows.
"No, not that," Krystle giggled. "I got something from Harold's owl after you left to get your books."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah... I just know that this will be a huge relief for you."
Krystle pulled a bottle out of her sweater pocket and handed it to Remus. Remus took the bottle and held it up to read to label:
WOLFSBANE POTION
Remus looked up at Krystle and grinned. "It's an enormous relief."
Krystle smiled wider and hugged Remus.
"So how'd it go?"
"Not so good," Remus said, and he remember he was still carrying a very heavy pile of books, so he put them down on the chair in the hall. "I no longer have to read one or two books on Defense Against the Dark Arts, but four, plus I have to study one on Arithmancy, two one Muggles, and another two on Care for Magical Creatures."
"Wow... Well, at least you'll have something besides work to keep you busy until your meeting with Dumbledore in July," Krystle said.
"I suppose, but I didn't think I'd have to read up on other stuff too; I thought it'd only be my field."
"It makes sense, though - they may need you for something other than what you've been preparing for," said Krystle. "Teaching is tough. They could even need you as a sub so you should be prepared for everything."
"I guess so," Remus sighed. "How about you help me?" he asked Krystle, grinning wickedly.
"How?"
"I could practice my skills as a professor and teach you a thing or two..."
"I finished school, already, Remus! I don't need anymore lessons."
"I disagree," Remus said matter-of-factly. "There's still plenty more to learn where I'm concerned - in the bedroom, I mean..."
Krystle giggled and kissed Remus.

{Author's Note: *sighs* Okay, my apologies for the length of this chapter and the last. I know they were devastatingly stretched, but. Hopefully you'll still forgive me. I don't think there'll ever be chapters as long as these ones.
The poem that Sirius wrote was actually not Sirius's work (ha, ha, right?), nor was it my own. Diondra wrote that one, too.
Thanks for reading!}