Disclaimer: They are not mine.

Finally the third part. I'm sorry it took so long to post but work happened. This instalment deals with a few more characters than the last two. Its still set in the last week before they go back to Hogwarts. I hope you enjoy.

Please R & R.

~

Chapter 3: Sitting in an English garden waiting for the Sun.

~

(If the sun don't come you get a tan from standing in the English rain. The Beatles 'I Am the Walrus)

"Plague in Newcastle and Durham. Alright I'm crowning Richard and... that it."

"Ooh."

"Revolt in Wales, Talbot to Ludlow."

"Hang on I don't think I took a card."

"250"

"No 50"

"It's Pole isn't it."

"If you think your going to get Pole."

"Declaring Clifford."

"Plague Shrewsbury, Plymouth."

"No!"

Lilly began to laugh. "No just kidding."

"That's not funny." Petunia was not pleased.

"It's just a joke Petunia anyway I'm attacking Dad. What do I need?"

"You can have anything except 4 -1"

"Right, Douglass and Grey die, I win...uh I'll not actually do anything. Your turn."

"Right where should I run to?"

"How about Hereford there's just been a plague they'll be good property prices."

"Daddy!"

"Just a joke my lovely."

Lily rolled her eyes momentarily irritated, her sister had no sense of humour... But there was no point in dwelling on it. Relaxing back into the cushioning of her chair she surveyed the table. There was a fire in the grate and the cramped (she preferred to describe it as cosy) sitting room was boiling.

It was more than that though, Lily felt as if there was a warm glow that began deep inside her and radiated outwards in a determined effort to make her clothes turn the same colour as her hair. Looking at her family joking, arguing, laughing over the board she felt very happy. She felt like the cat who after eating the cream managed to steal the best spot in front of the fire on a cold winters day and on top of that had been tickled under the chin consistently for a good few hours. She felt completely content.

She turned her attention back to the board. At the moment she was winning... she thought. She wondered if she would be able to make it back to London before someone attacked her. Petunia was positioned between her and where she wanted to go but, Petunia rarely attacked anyone. Her preferred strategy was to sit somewhere safe and gather more troops, a tactic which meant she usually lost the game because she waited too long but still, she did have her moments... That was really Petunia all over, most of the time she was a pain in the neck but sometimes she could suddenly morph into a decent sister, no that was mean, sometimes she could be a really good sister. The good Petunia hadn't shown herself to Lily for a long time, in fact it'd been a while since Petunia had even talked to her, for something other than 'could you pass the butter please'

The atmosphere on this whole family holiday had been decidedly cool and not just from the wet welsh weather. Which was why tonight was such a lovely change, they were getting along and Petunia had even offered to make Lily a cup of tea, needless to say it had been a very nice cup of tea.

Lily looked up at her sister who was frowning down at the board. She did that too much. Lily thought she might be developing premature frown lines. Her hair was wrong too, the style in which she wore it when down was too harsh for her face it emphasised its length, something Petunia just didn't need and really her hair was far too thin for it to look good scraped back like that either.

Lily had always been enormously grateful that she had inherited her maternal grandmother's thick head of hair and not the spare offering of her mother's. She would've been happy with another colour though, blond for instance like Petunia and mum's, that would have been nice. Although everyone always told her, her hair was a gorgeous colour, there was something about the taunts of ginger and gange that struck too close to home. It wasn't just her either, she'd never met, and was sure she would never meet another red-head who was one hundred percent secure in their about their appearance.

Sharing a dorm with Amelia didn't help, Lily loved her dearly but she was very fashion conscious and so particular about her appearance and stunning with it all... Lily stopped herself. This was not the right time. It wasn't the right time to be criticising her sister's fashion sense either even if it was only in the privacy of her own mind and at least she could take comfort in the fact that Amelia was always late, very, very late.

The game was continuing without her. Her mother had done what she always did with all her turns which was to run around the board from safe castle to safe castle. Really it was only ever her dad she needed to watch out for in these family games, currently he was manoeuvring around York. Yes she could make it down to London, declare a few armies and the game would be practically over.

"Your turn Darling"

"Right. I'm moving on down south. There we go."

"Anything else?"

"No just pass me a card." Lily looked at the card she'd been given thirty Flemish crossbowmen. Good they were going to be useful. Putting the card at the bottom of her pile she leaned back and caught Petunia staring in her direction.

Lily was surprised, her sister's gaze was unreadable. She didn't look angry but she wasn't looking exactly friendly either. Lily raised an eyebrow in query and Petunia looked back at the board the moment over.

Just then her dad leaned over "It's been great to have had you back with us Lily. We've missed you."

Lily opened her mouth to point out that there was one person who obviously hadn't but her dad cut her off. "We've all missed you whether you believe me or not. Don't give your sister too hard a time she's had a difficult year. She..."

"Petunia dear its your turn." Elizabeth Evans reminded her daughter as she took her final card.

"What? Oh, yes... I'm declaring." Both Lily and her father turned their attention back to the board in shock as Petunia began to lay her cards down on the table.

"I'm declaring Percy, and making him Chancellor. I'm declaring Grey and making him Warden of the Northern Marches and I'm attacking Lily."

"What? Now Petunia you really don't want to do that..."

"Yes I do. Pass the card Mum. 2-1 victory to me, I win. Now I'm attacking Daddy..."

Lily was shocked, she'd just been wiped off the board, by her sister. To say it was unheard of would be an understatement. It just... it just wasn't right.

~

Mai wasn't listening to the tales of deeply scandalous family gossip flying about her ears. She'd heard most of it before after all, some of stories were centenaries old. She was instead staring at the water in the pond and trying not to sigh, or to look too miserable, or indeed to attract any attention at all. It just wasn't a good idea in the company of relations.

Having tuned out the voices of her aunts and assorted elderly female relatives she was listening to instead to the voices of her cousins of they played in the gardens and was half guiltily wishing she could join them. There was no chance of that however, she was a young woman now, as she was consistently told and her mother wanted her around to prove that living in Britain and going to school at Hogwarts wasn't having a corrupting influence.

She felt herself under scrutiny and not wanting to be bombarded with questions concentrated on sitting still and pretending not to be there. She felt as far away from Britain and Hogwarts as it was possible to be. That wasn't entirely a bad thing what with her and Remus falling apart, it was a bit of a relief to get away.

She wondered what he was doing right now. It was almost time to go back to school, would he be spending today buying school supplies? No of course not. It was only six o'clock in the morning there, he'd probably be feeding the animals, she almost smiled at the image. She still found it a bit odd that his parents were farmers.

She felt rebellious and slightly superior, just imagine what her aunts would say if they knew what she was thinking, if they knew how much "that school" had indeed corrupted her and how much she had been willingly corrupted. Imagine what her mum would say for that matter... Or not, she would never, ever tell her mother anything about it. Her cheeks coloured with her thoughts and she bent her head slightly in an attempt to hide it.

Was she really right to break up with him though? That thought had been tormenting her all summer... She was. Yes she was right to leave him. She wasn't stupid, she knew there was something he wasn't telling her. If he'd just been honest with her there would have been no need for all this. Well it didn't matter anymore anyway, they were over and that was all there was to it. She would go back to school and concentrate on her studies and... ignore anything and everything that connected with her ex.

~

January was sitting cross legged in the back of the caravan. He was alone. This was unusual, highly unusual the tiny interior was almost always filled with the untidy horde of January's siblings and the big looming shapes of his mother and father. He was enjoying himself however, sitting in the best cushioned seat by the window the sun streaming in.

It had been his choice not to go with the family on the almost annual shopping trip. There just wasn't anything he needed at least not anything he needed from a muggle shop, he'd buy his school supplies later. He didn't feel left behind, in fact he wasn't thinking about his family at all or school or indeed all the homework he'd been set to do over the holidays. He was thinking instead about what it must be like to live forever, or at least for a very long time. To watch the people that he knew grow old and die and yet to continue to live after them.

January was a puzzle to most of the people who met him. The oldest child in his family his appearance was different, strikingly different, from the rest of his siblings. Where their hair was thick and straight with a colouring that ranged from dark brown to black his was a brown to dirty blond kind of colour complete with curls. His skin colour too was different, his brothers and sisters all shared a darkish olive skin tone. January's on the other hand was much lighter and he freckled easily.

In fact he looked nothing like anyone in his family not his siblings, not his parents, not his cousins and nothing like his grandparents. There was a simple explanation for this: January was adopted. His parents had never made a secret of the fact. It was slightly more unusual than the average adoption however, and everyone knew the story of how January had been found wrapped in only a tweed jacket on the side of a small winding country road just south of the M25.

Still this wasn't what made him so puzzling. What was more intriguing was his seemingly utter lack of connection or indeed interest in the events that went on around him. It was as if there were two vaguely similar worlds with vaguely similar events happening simultaneously and January just lived in the other one from everyone else. For years they'd thought he was simple, that was until they got his first report card.

He seemed to effortlessly pick up things the other children found difficult and yet he never seemed to be concentrating on the task in hand. He was an enigmatic child, obviously gifted but he never seemed to learn in any meaningful way. People tried with him, they tried hard, but he frustrated them all eventually. He was a common subject of staff room conversation, conversation that was usually ended by the bell and contained the phrase 'head in the clouds', and in a half exasperated half despairing sigh.

Occasionally people would come and see his parents to try to talk about his needs. His mother would defend him from all comers. She had a deep distrust of social services. She thought he was lucky baby. His grandmother believed he was half fairy. January had never bothered to explain that this would be anatomically impossible. In fact it had never occurred to him.

~

Sirius sat down on his trunk and stretched his legs out in front of him, his back resting against the wall. The early morning sun trickled in in an apologetic sort of way through his, oh he liked the sound of that, windows.

Sirius yawned, he was still caught in the throes of that late-night/early-morning lazy sort of tiredness. It really was far too early for him to be awake, it was the holidays for heavens sake.

He glanced around. Apart from his school trunk, all packed and ready to go an amazing three days early no less, the room was empty, bare floorboards and haphazardly painted walls. Sirius thought it looked fucking beautiful.

He stretched feeling the movement in every single part of his body. His arms reached up the wall behind him and there was a sudden shower of plaster. Oh bloody brilliant Sirius thought sarcastically as he shook white flakes out of his hair and yet the sarcasm had no feeling behind it, the crumbling walls somehow didn't spoil his mood. He leant back against the wall. Things were good today.

Suddenly he leapt forward like a scalded cat, The Jacket! His pride and joy, (well one of them) his leather jacket, if it was hurt or... or damaged. Sirius wasn't quite sure what he was going to do to the wall in the event of harm to the jacket, but whatever it was it was going to be bad. He twisted attempting to see the back, then his brain caught up. He took off the jacket and held it up to the light, studying it in minute detail. It did seem to be intact, he brushed off the last lingering traces of plaster dust and put it down on top of his trunk.

Strolling as best he could the three strides over to the window, Sirius gazed out on his charming view. It really was a very handsome red brick wall. Behind him there was a muffled thwack and the sound of dislodged soot.

"Morning Misure Prongs." Sirius said still staring out the window, "and how are you this fine day?"

There was an indecipherable mumble from the fireplace and Sirius turned. Standing in the centre of the flames was the dishevelled form of his best friend James Potter. James was a sight, his clothes were twisted about his body and although one hand still held tight to the handle of an upended trunk his glasses were covered in a think layer of soot, more of which showered down in a mini avalanche every time he turned his head.

What was now apparent however, was the reason for his lack of articulation. James' mouth had been plugged by three slices of butter soaked toast, it said a lot for his strength of character that he hadn't bitten down.

"Brilliant. Breakfast." Sirius said as he strode over. "You better not have slobbered all over them Prongs." He removed the toast from his friends mouth.

"Oh great help you are Sirius. Yeah thanks a lot. You know I bet that chimney hasn't been cleaned at all in the last twenty years its bloody filthy!" As he spoke James was righting the trunk and haling it out of the fireplace.

"Sirius." James had just noticed he wasn't helping. Sirius reluctantly put down the toast he'd been munching away on.

"But I'm hungry. You took so bloody long to get here."

"Oh that was mum. She was fussing, I was ready to go ages ago but she kept loading me up with more and more stuff. You know." James glanced up at Sirius. "I think she'd really going to miss having you about the place, she's acting almost like she's losing a son."

Sirius stayed quiet but James caught the shyly embarrassed, pleased smile that flashed across his face, not many people got to see that smile. He looked down and continued, "Yeah so she was loading me up, you've gained a coat stand and two lampshades by the way and then at the last minute." James gestured at the half eaten toast, "And of course I had nowhere to hold it. Oh and she said you were welcome at home for meals anytime."

Having removed the luggage from the fireplace James straightened up and surveyed the room. His eyes fell on Sirius. "Hey how come you're not covered?"

" I didn't come by chimney. I walked."

"You walked? Where did you spend the night then? 'Cos you sure as hell didn't walk from my house all the way here."

"Eric's."

"Eric's?" James was well, disappointed but he hid it. He never wanted to show his disapproval of Eric because if he did ever say anything, he just knew it would sound like he had a problem with the whole... gay thing. Which really wasn't the case he just had a problem with Eric.

There were many reasons for his dislike of Eric but... Sirius could do what he wanted.

"Nothing went on." Sirius supplied quickly.

"You don't have to explain." James began worried that Sirius had sensed his disapproval.

"No but that's the point, I said nothings going to happen again."

"Oh" James was surprised. "Why?"

"Because I'm sorting everything out."

He caught Sirius' stare.

"All my shit, I'm going to sort it."

James didn't know how to respond. "Oh" he said again, there was a short pause. "Good."

It was bazaar, he felt disorientated as though Sirius had ripped the carpet out from under his feet. All yesterday he'd spent trying to come up with ways of starting this conversation, ways of convincing Sirius that he couldn't continue the way he was and suddenly here was Sirius taking the words right out of his mouth. At least that's what he thought Sirius was telling him.

"What do you mean exactly?" James ventured slowly. Sirius sighed a small sigh and sat down once more on his school trunk.

"I mean I fucked up badly last year and I need to stop that. I... screwed up. All that shit with Eric, Amelia and... Remus and even my fucking marks."

"Your marks? Since when have you ever cared about your marks?" Sirius grimaced at the surprise in James' voice.

"Even you have to admit they were bad. I shouldn't be just scraping passes in my subjects. I'm far too clever for that." James did not fail to notice the faint mockery present in Sirius' voice as he imitated the favourite phrases and intonation of Macgonagall probably the teacher who was most disappointed in his abysmal performance last year.

"But I mean I've made a decision... well come to a realisation. I want to get back with Amelia."

'Oh Shit' thought James. "Sirius" he interrupted. "You didn't just cheat on the girl once you cheated twice"

"Wait."

"No. You cheated on her twice. With a guy and before you start I know that shouldn't be any different to you cheating on her with another girl but it will be. She's just not going to come running back the moment you decide you want her again."

"Oh for fucks sake I know that! It's going to be bloody difficult but... I think its worth it."

'Bloody impossible you mean.' James thought rebelliously "So your not going to see Eric ever again?"

"Well I can't promise that he's still a mate."

"Well that's arguable." James knew he was being too direct, this wasn't how he'd planned it but something had snapped inside him. Sirius looked like he was about to say something but James continued

"That's what she's going to want you know. Among a great many other things. She going to want you never to see him again and she's going to want you to commit to her. Are you prepared to not look at another person while your with her or are you just going to fuck about again?" Sirius was looking at him, surprise written all over his face. He looked as though he couldn't deicide whether to be concerned for his friend or very, very angry.

"No mate." He said slowly. "That's what I've been trying to tell you."

"And your not going to even look at another person."

"No I won't."

"Yeah right."

"I won't" Sirius sound aggrieved.

"Really? Well I don't believe you..."

"Fuck you James..."

"...and what about?" James left it hanging, he'd finally regained control of his mouth and now he didn't have the courage to finish that sentence.

"Remus" Sirius supplied for him, his face twisted into an inscrutable half smile. "Well. Considering he's not gay I'm pretty much fucked on that front as it is."

"Just because you can't get with Remus that's not a good reason to get back with..."

"Oh shut the fuck up for once and let me finish. I..." James waited but Sirius seemed to have become stuck. He opened his mouth to say something but Sirius held up his hand to stop him.

"I still, I still have feelings for Remus, but it's pointless James I mean shit. He's not fucking gay no matter how much I want him to be, he's just not..."

"but..."

"But that's completely different from my feelings for Amelia." James had his doubts but he kept them to himself.

"I love her James..."

'Oh God someone save me'

"...and I want to get back together with her."

"Sirius have you really thought about this really. She hates your guts." James felt defeated, Sirius was setting himself up to fail again. "You know what your problem is you only ever want what you can't have."

"But I can, she will get back with me." James just stared at him. Sirius must have picked up on some of what he was feeling because he smiled

"She will. It'll be alright you'll see. Don't worry I know it won't be easy."

'Sirius the optimist, that's the last thing I thought I'd see today,' James thought bemusedly. It was alright he supposed, Sirius didn't have a icicle's chance in hell of getting back together with Amelia but... What was the point in James pointing that out and well, it would be quite amusing to see him try.

"You're really going to have your work cut out for you."

"I know."

"She's going to make you beg."

"Yes I know."

"Hands and knees and everything."

"Yes. I know... There's a few other people I need to apologise to too." James raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Well I haven't exactly been a saint."

"Really, you haven't?" Sarcasm dripped from James voice.

"And now I don't think we should talk about this ever again." James started to laugh.

"No really, never." James laughed harder and Sirius couldn't help joining in. It was a beautiful day, he owned a shitty little flat but he owned it and he was going to sort his life out.

A while later they were putting up shelves. "James do you know something I've just noticed."

"What?"

"When you get really angry you sound just like a girl."

I would like to thank my sister and those who have helped me especially those people who took the time to review the last two chapters. Thank you.

Thank you for reading and Please take the time to review.

Its what we scribblers live for.

xxx