"Poor dear." Lily whispered into James' jacket as the Hogwarts Express rolled along the tracks. Sirius sat alone on the other side of the compartment, resting his head against the windows, playing with the edge of his leather jacket. It had been almost three weeks since they had left Rhia's home and she had been sent to Eton. Since then, not a word had come from her.

"Will nothing ever be like it was?" Sirius muttered, looking over at them with such a melancholy look that James felt bad about having Lily.

"Sirius, don't take it to heart, old man." James tried to comfort him.

"I'm sorry, I just..." Sirius sighed. "I'm going outside." He stood, zipped up his jacket, and walked out of the compartment.

"Perhaps you should follow him." Lily advised, looking out behind him.

"Perhaps." James replied.

"Go on." She encouraged. He leaned over and kissed her forehead before going out onto the back balcony of the train where Sirius was lighting up a cigarette.

"I didn't know you smoked." James said, sitting next to him and letting his legs dangle off the edge.

"Just took it up." He replied as he let out a long puff of smoke.

"Bit depressed, hmm?" he asked.

"Nope." Sirius shook his head and held out the cigarette. "Want to try it?"

"Nah." James wrinkled his nose.

"Chicken." Sirius smiled a bit.

"Am not." James grabbed the small roll and inhaled, gagging slightly. Sirius laughed merrily, a sound rarely heard the past months.

"Doesn't suit you." Sirius grinned.

"Come back inside, ok?" James offered. "I know you feel bad.but everything'll turn out alright in the end. You'll see. And...quit it with the cigarettes. They make you smell awful."

"Fine, fine." Sirius retorted, tossing his cigarette over the edge of the train and following James back inside.

"Are you feeling well?" Lily asked Sirius as they walked in.

"Fine, thanks." He replied, sitting down.

"What's that smell?" She wrinkled her nose, looking around for the perpetrator. "Smells like tobacco."

"It's cigarettes, not tobacco." Sirius told her, taking great relish in the look that came over her face.

~*~

The next two weeks at Hogwarts were extremely quiet, sullen ones. At one end of the Gryffindor table sat Lily, James, and Sirius, while at the other end sat Remus, Peter, and Annie. After a week of incredible tension in class and in their bedroom, Remus slowly made a mutual peace with Sirius, though their conversations never touched the subjects of what had happened with Annie. He and Peter moved to their side of the table while Annie sat with Isis and her boyfriends. All was incredibly different from normal until one night.

"Check." Remus said as one of his red pieces moved towards Sirius's white.

"Damn!" Sirius swore.

"Sirius!" Lily cried.

"You're both nutters." Said James, rolling his eyes as he polished his Libra. "Remind me next time we go to Hogsmede, I need some more oil for my broom."

"Of course, I'm checking it off my list right now." Sirius said sarcastically. "Bishop to E 9."

"Checkmate." Remus murmured as his pieces danced across the board.

"Bloody hell!" Sirius cried. "I never win."

"Practice makes perfect." James grinned.

"Shut up, James." Sirius retorted. "Just because you're Prefect and Quidditch captain doesn't mean you know everything."

"But it puts me pretty high on the list, doesn't it?" He said cheekily. Silence settled about them and only the crackling of the fire made a noise until someone came through the Fat Lady's portal. Some familiar and cold and wet and-

"Rhia!" Sirius shouted.

Everyone's heads turned in the direction of the portrait hole to see a sopping wet Rhia grinning from ear to ear, her Comet 200 slung over her shoulder.

"Rhia!" Lily shouted, catapulting herself across the room and throwing her arms around her friend. Sirius wasn't far behind, and soon, everyone was surrounding her. Rhia broke free and turned to see Remus.

"Remus..." she started, not sure of what to do. She hadn't seen him since the day in the garden, and now Rhia was unsure of how to act.

"Rhia... we've missed you." Remus pulled her into a warm, yet oddly formal, hug. Rhia sighed inwardly.

"But Rhia... what are you doing here?" Sirius asked, pulling her by the arm over to her favorite chair and practically sitting on top of her. He didn't appear to want to leave her side.

"I got sick of Eton... I wanted to get out, so I magicked my broom and flew to Hogsmeade. Then I took the secret passage from Honeydukes, and here I am."

"Won't your mother be angry?" Peter spoke up.

"I don't care, Peter."

Lily jumped up. "Don't worry her now, Peter! Let's just enjoy the fact that she's here." She turned to Rhia. "But I think maybe we should go see Dumbledore... he should know you're here."

Rhia smiled. "Oh, I already went to see him. I knew that would be the first thing out of your mouth, and I wanted to make sure it would be okay for me to stay here. He said I should have no trouble catching up in classes. And my parents are in America, something with Daddy's job, so they can't send me off to Eton again."

Sirius' eyes lit up. "So you're here to stay?"

"Definitely." She grinned widely. "So, how is everyone?"

"We're civil, at least." Lily said jokingly.

"It's really great to have you back, Rhia." Remus said with a smile, trying with all his might not to grab and kiss her.

"It's splendid to be back." She replied then turned to Lily, whispering quietly, "And how is Annie?"

"Not sure." Lily whispered back. "She hasn't sat with us, didn't ride here with us, and stays away from Sirius at all costs. But she's looking very well. Isis taught her some beauty charms and she's attracting quite a lot of fellows."

"Really?" Rhia raised her brow.

"Sir's especially jealous." Lily added with a giggle.

Meanwhile, outside in the hall....

"Lucius! Lucius Malfoy!" Annie shouted as the Slytherin passed the Gryffindor portal. He stopped at the sound of her voice, turning to see her. She really had changed, he thought, from the skinny little imp to a stunning young vixen. Perhaps if he charmed her a bit...

"May I help you, Miss Lupin?" He asked, giving a curt bow.

"Yes." She replied, clearing her throat. "I have an offer to make you."

"An offer?" He raised his pale eyebrows. She nodded.

"What would you say if I gave you the chance to boost your...popularity by dating a girl younger than you, thus showing that you can charm all?"

Lucius leaned back, thinking about this for a moment.

"And what would be in it for me?" he asked in a cocksure tone of voice as he folded his arms.

"You would get the better of one of the infamous Marauders and you'd up your reputation." She offered. Lucius's set mouth twisted into a grin as he thought of a plan....

~*~

"So I flew it up the flagpole, got caught stealing the bust of King George, and did a bit of midnight streaking." Rhia admitted with a blush and a laugh. "That's when they decided to kick me out and I decided to come back here."

"Never knew you had it in you!" James cried, clapping her on the back.

"Good enough to join our ranks." Peter added.

"And this is the common room."

Everyone's heads turned to the portal, where Annie was leading in Lucius Malfoy.

"What are you doing here?" asked James, standing up indignantly.

"You're not allowed." Lily told him.

"I was just giving Lucius a tour." Annie said, her eyes flitting every other moment to Sirius to see his reaction.

"I was curious to see how my Annie lived." Lucius gave a sick sort of smile before putting an arm around her waist and leaning down to kiss her neck.

Rhia immediately moved to Sirius, because he had started advancing on Lucius.

"What - the - bloody - hell - are - you - doing?!?" Sirius growled, straining against Rhia, now pulling his arm back with all her might to stop him from murdering Malfoy.

"Just admiring how my Annie goes about her life. I daresay she'd have it better in Slytherin though, with me."

"Annie's a Gryffindor, and my sister. She belongs nowhere near scum like you." Remus whispered fiercely. Annie shot a glance at Remus.

"I'm a big girl, Brother. I can handle myself."

"Speaking of handling, darling, how would you like a walk around the lake before supper?" Lucius crowed, smiling slyly at Annie. She smiled and nodded. It took Rhia, James, and even Remus to hold Sirius back.

"Handling?!" Remus repeated after they left.

"Handling?!?!" Sirius cried. "That little-"

"Sirius." James interrupted him, nodding to a group of first years huddled in the corner.

"Someone had to keep an eye on her." Remus said, starting for the door.

"No." Lily objected. "Annie will murder you if she thinks you're following her."

"Then what do you propose we do?" James asked.

"Perhaps you could use your talents." Rhia advised.

"And the Invisibility cloak." Peter added.

"I was thinking more along the lines of an enchanted map." Lily said, pointing to the book on her lap.

"An enchanted map?" James repeated.

"All you have to do is take a quill and piece of parchment around the castle and you'll be able to see whoever's in Hogwarts." She explained.

"Can we borrow that, Lil?" Sirius asked excitedly.

"Sure." She handed him the thick book. He grinned and rushed upstairs with James, Remus, and Peter in tow.

"Are you sure that was a good idea?" Rhia asked.

"No, I'm not." Lily laughed. "But we'll find out tomorrow."

"Annie sure has changed." She noticed.

"I don't think so." She objected. "I think she's making it up."

"I'm sorry?" Lily was confused.

"She's trying to make Sirius jealous." She explained.

"She's doing a great job." Rhia agreed.