As It Was Meant to Be

A/N: So I've recently joined Fiction Alley, since I really like their format. I was going to move this story over there and decided that it would be wise to make sure it fit all of the requirements, including that it completely matched up with the canon. So I checked against their wonderful Harry Potter Lexicon and discovered that, surprise, James and Lily were Head Boy and Head Girl. Reading that made me feel mildly stupid as I believe it's one of the more major plot points of the original series.

But I digress.

To make a long explanation short, this fiction is now AU, albeit mildly so.

Everything you recognize belongs to J.K. Rowling. Everything else belongs to me. Happy reading!

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Chapter Six: Can't Fight the Moonlight

Dinner had been lovely, or at least so Sirius assumed. To be completely honest, however, he'd been too busy watching every move that Anaral made to taste a bite of it. When they had talked about this date weeks before, he had been the one to recommend the Italian restaurant on a side street in Hogsmeade. He'd never been before, but the prices seemed expensive enough to suggest that it was a fine restaurant. He had even gone so far to reserve a private table in the back during the last Hogsmeade visit. And while Anaral kept raving about the food, he couldn't taste it, so preoccupied was he with how. . .well, good she looked.

"Are you ready to go, Sirius?" Anaral asked, bringing him back to earth. He simply smiled at her, resting his chin on his hands.

"You're beautiful," he commented, and Anaral blushed. "I'll get the check. Let's walk back to school."

They paid and Sirius led Anaral walking down the road, his arm around her waist. She was feeling excessively snuggly and put her head on his shoulder. They walked like that for about five minutes before he stopped, gently turned her around to face him and kissed her soundly on the mouth. She returned the kiss, locking her arms around his neck and pulling him closer. Sirius wasn't sure how long it lasted, only that he wanted it to never end. They finally parted with a sigh. For a moment, Anaral was gazing into his eyes, but suddenly her gaze focused elsewhere. "Sirius! Look out!" she exclaimed. He looked behind him and ducked just in time to avoid being hit with an arrow, pulling Anaral with him. He dragged her with him behind a few barrels of mead and from there, looked to see who their attackers were.

They were dressed all in black, except for a slit at eye-level. The one with the bow and arrow motioned to the others who drew their wands and pointed them at the barrel. Sirius gasped and ducked, not a moment too soon. No fewer than a dozen stunning curses flew their way. A voice yelled for the people firing curses to be careful not to attract a lot of attention their way.

"Sirius, what are we going to do?" Anaral asked in a whisper. He shook his head.

"I don't know. We should try to distract them and then you can get away," he told her. "I'll get out there and start firing hexes. You just run."

"No!" Anaral cried as another round of stunners hit the barrel and wall around them. "I will not leave you here."

There was no time to argue, and it suddenly hit Sirius that she was wearing his charmed necklace. No matter what curses were flung at them, she was safe. "Alright," he answered. "Send as many hexes in as many directions as you can. Now!"

They both jumped out from behind the barrel and began firing hexes left and right at the people in black. But there were just too many of them to be attacked simply with hexes. One of the figures in black approached Sirius with wand drawn, preparing to exclaim a curse. In desperation, Sirius drew his sword and waved it wildly. It caught the figure's arm, splashing blood on the ground.

Fortunately for Sirius and Anaral, some of the patrons of the nearby pub heard the commotion and started to come running outside, wands drawn. Most of the figures in black disapparated, and Sirius rushed to Anaral's side. She wasn't hurt, but her lower lip was trembling and she soon began to cry softly onto Sirius' shoulder.

A few of the Hogsmeade law enforcement officials questioned them, and they had an escort back to Hogwarts.



"My God, Annie!" Shannon jumped up and gave Anaral a protective hug. Everyone else just stared in shock and horror.

"Who the hell would have wanted to attack you?" James asked loudly. It was clear that he was as angry about the events that had transpired as Sirius.

"Probably someone related to my 'blessed' mother," Sirius quipped, staring at the sword in his hands. "I should probably clean this, shouldn't I?"

"Might be wise," Remus agreed. "Are you two going to be alright?"

Anaral took a shaky breath, but nodded. "I think. . .I think I just need a good night's sleep."

"We could all use that," James stated in a final manner, and everyone stood. Remus and Peter walked with Sirius to the boys' room, and Shannon turned to Lily.

"You coming?" she asked, her arm still around Anaral protectively.

"Yeah. . .yeah, I'll be up in a bit," Lily answered, seeing that James was still lingering. "Just give me a few minutes."

Shannon smiled at her conspiratorially and helped Anaral up to their room, and Lily slowly made her way over to where James was standing. "Potter?" she asked, then more softly, "James?" He turned to look at her. "I just wanted to say goodnight."

James looked at her seriously, but she could tell that he was distracted by the evening's events. "Goodnight, Evans," he told her, gently, and she hurried up to her room.



"Look at this!"

Lily jumped a little as Anaral slammed down a stack of parchment in front of her the following Thursday. Classes were over and the girls were in the library, studying for a Potions exam. Anaral had gone to find a book on Middle Eastern Herbs and had just returned with what appeared to be the world's longest list.

"What is it?" Lily finally asked. Shannon was eying the list with curiosity.

"It's a family tree of all known dark wizards and witches since 2000 B.C. The top piece is the most recent. Look at this," Anaral breathed, her fingers flying down the page to the name "Zabini".

"Antonio's family are dark wizards. That doesn't surprise me," Shannon quipped. Anaral was not yet through.

"But look at this!" She traced a gold line tying his mother to the name "Beata".

"Beata!" Lily exclaimed and flipped a page back. "It looks like Antonio's mother is—was—Professor Beata's sister."

"No way!" Now Shannon was looking at the parchment with amazement. "Wow. What do you suppose that means?"

"I'll bet you anything that the Zabini's were involved somehow in Professor Beata's death," Anaral explained her reasoning, playing absently with the charm around her neck. "And I'll bet you that the reason why is that they are somehow connected with a new and very powerful Dark Wizard."

The girls were silent for a moment, letting the idea sink in. "Do you really think that's what this is all about?" Shannon finally asked, her eyes wide.

"I can't think of anything else it could possibly be. And Dumbledore must know; that's why he assigned us those projects in Defense Against the Dark Arts," Anaral stated, turning to Lily.

"He wants us to see the signs just as he has," Lily agreed. "The question, then, however, is whether or not he wants our help."

"This is Professor Dumbledore that we're talking about," Shannon smirked. "Of course he wants our help. . .once we're through here, that is."

"And the question that would follow, therefore, is whether or not we are willing to give it," Anaral finally stated, absently flipping through a moon chart. "Hey, Shannon. . .did you know that tonight's the full moon?"

"What?" Now Shannon was on her feet and staring at the moon chart. She sank back to her seat in dismay. "My boyfriend is going to be severely incapacitated tonight. It's a shame, too. I was hoping he could. . .ah. . .help me with my Potions homework."

"Well, you're not the only one going to be lonely tonight," Lily stated, giving Shannon a friendly embrace. "Sirius always goes with them, so you've got Annie to mope with."

"Ahem," Anaral cleared her throat, looking pointedly at Lily. "And you won't be moping about not getting to spend time with James?"

Lily blushed a deep red and listened to her friends giggle.

They stayed in the library for several hours, finally leaving as the sun began to sink behind the hills near Hogwarts. Shannon wanted to have a chance to see Remus before he was sneaked away, as Anaral did Sirius. Lily was trying to pretend that she didn't care to see James at all before he left, but Anaral and Shannon made it quite clear many times that it wasn't going to work. They were walking back quickly to the Gryffindor Common Room when Anaral spotted Professor McGonagall walking Remus across the grounds. She pointed this out to Shannon who immediately broke from the group and ran as fast as she could to the grounds. Lily felt as relieved as Shannon must have been when she saw her friend catch up to the small coup.

"This means we'll have to hurry if we want to see Sirius and James," Anaral pointed out and Lily shushed her.

"Must you say it so loudly?" she hissed as they hurried to the tower. Sure enough, Sirius, James and (to Lily's annoyance) Peter were on their way out of the portrait when Lily and Anaral arrived.

"We wanted to see you off," Anaral stated with her face buried in Sirius' neck. "It's going to be a long night of moping for us girls."

"Really?" James asked, his eyes wide with surprise. A smirk appeared on his face. "Didn't realize you three had such a thing for Wormtail here."

"Ha-ha," Lily stated dryly. "You just keep safe, alright, Potter?"

"As you wish," James answered, bowing deeply like a knight doing a service to his lady fair. Anaral planted a quick kiss on Sirius and the boys were off to have another adventure. Lily and Anaral, meanwhile, went right into the common room to wait for Shannon to return, which she did presently, tearstains on her cheeks.

"I know he does it every month," she stated in a choked voice, sitting on the couch beside Lily and tucking her legs under her. "But it's still so. . .scary."

"They'll be alright," Anaral stated with no small amount of assurance. "They always are. And Sirius tells me that those are some of the best times they have."

"It would be a relief if Remus would eat Peter, though," Shannon commented in a muffled voice and Lily and Anaral snickered at her. "He's just too damn clingy for our boys."

"Well said," Anaral agreed, lifting an imaginary glass to Shannon's statement. "Shall we spend the night down here and wait for the gents to return?"

"Might as well," Lily answered quietly, hugging a pillow to her. "Annie, did Sirius ever tell you what kinds of animals they all turn into? I've forgotten."

"It's in their nicknames for each other," Anaral answered, staring into the fire thoughtfully. "Remus is Moony because he is a werewolf and transforms in the full moon. Peter is Wormtail because he is a rat and his tail looks like that of a worm. Sirius is Padfoot because he is a dog and dogs have padded feet. And James is Prongs because he is a stag and because of the prongs of the antlers." She tucked her feet underneath herself. "Did you notice how their Patronum each took the form of their animal when we were doing that unit in Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"I noticed," Lily answered quietly. "I wasn't entirely sure why they had those animals, but it makes more sense now."

Shannon lifted her face from the pillow she'd buried it in. "If you were an animagus, what would you be?" she asked. Lily gave her a look.

"That bored already, Shannon?" she asked.

"Just play along, or I'll go up to my room and spend the rest of the night in tears."

"A lion," Anaral answered suddenly. Lily and Shannon looked at her, but she was still staring into the fire. "Granted, cats and dogs don't usually mix, but I think I'd end up being a lion."

"End up?" Shannon asked.

"Yeah; remember in Transfiguration last year? Professor McGonagall was explaining that the animagus chooses the wizard. And you can always tell because the animal has similar markings and traits to the person," Lily remembered. "I think. . .I think I'd be an eagle."

"And I'd be a horse," Shannon stated with an air of finality. "Maybe we should try and become animagi and go with the guys on their trips. What do you think?"

Anaral shook her head, finally looking away from the fire. "No, it's their male bonding time. How many guys want their girlfriends showing up on male bonding time?" she asked, smiling at Shannon sweetly. "It's hard being away from them, but we have to give them time with each other. It makes them better people in the long run, if you ask me."

Shannon pouted. "We'll see."



Hours later, just past the break of dawn, the Marauders sneaked back into the Gryffindor Common Room to find Anaral, Lily and Shannon sleeping soundly on the overstuffed couches. Anaral was curled up in the corner of the couch nearest the fire, her head resting on her hand and her blonde hair falling around her shoulders like a cape. Shannon was sprawled out on her stomach opposite Anaral, and Lily was lying on her back, one arm across her middle. Before anyone else could do anything, James swooped forward and gently brushed his lips against hers. He hurried back to the other Marauders as she began to stir.

"Nice one, Prongs," Sirius murmured as Lily woke up. She gave the boys a sleepy smile as she did.

"What time is it?" she asked in a groggy voice.

"Nearly seven. And it's Friday—you girls will probably want to shower before classes," James commented. Lily nodded and stretched.

"Are you two," she began, gesturing to Sirius and Remus, "going to wake those two," she pointed to Anaral and Shannon, "or shall I?"

"We'll do it," Sirius answered quickly and hurried over to Anaral. Remus, looking like he'd been through hell, made his way more slowly over to Shannon, and Lily stood and walked towards James.

"Well. . .was it a good night?" she asked, running a hand through her hair.

"Could have been better; could have been worse," James answered. He seemed nervous. "At any rate—well, best go get ready for classes, right Evans?"

"Right."

They went their separate ways.

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Author's Notes: Humblest apologies for the delays in posting this! I've recently moved to England for the term, and the internet is buggy over here. It's only been working properly for about two weeks, if that. So there will probably be significant delays in chapter postings.

At any rate, next chapter brings us to Quidditch practices with a new Keeper and some visits from some old friends who have lots of things to say about certain situations. . .

Keep reading!