Thanks for the reviews, as always!

There was no sign of any marauder in the Evans house until about a month later.

During that time, Lily had gone and visited James by traveling through the fireplace. Petunia

had no idea how this worked, nor did she want to.

The first actual visit came from Sirius and was nothing positive to speak of, for Lily,

at least. It began one morning at 6:00 a.m. when the phone rang throughout their house.

Lily was the quick to pick up the extension by her bedside before it woke up anyone

else.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Padfoot here- I'm coming for a visit today, if there isn't any problem with that."

Lily was both surprised and shocked, despite the early time. She didn't even know

Sirius could use a phone. It would be nice to have a guest over, so she consented.

"That's fine. Are you coming alone?"

"Unfortunately," he said. "Last night was a full moon and Remus won't be in any

condition to visit anybody. James is going to a quidditch match today without me, the

ungrateful excuse for a best friend. Oh, and Peter has an ear infection. Really nasty, too.

Lot's of green-"

Lily cut him off."Ew, I DON'T want to know! Anyway, I'll see you later today."

She hung up the phone and went back to her bedroom, unable to fall asleep again.

Why, in the name of Merlin, had Sirius called right at dawn?!

She stumbled into the bathroom and halfway shut the door before leaning over the sink.

A mirror hung on the wall behind it. Ugh. One of her eyes was matted shut with some gunk and

the other was red and crusty. Her nose was runny, and her hair looked like a bird's nest.

She turned on the cold water and splashed it over her face, then shut it off. As Lily blew

her nose, she froze. There had been an odd noise nearby, some sort of clicking sound.

She turned slowly to face the half-open door, wondering if it had been imagined, when

she heard it again. In the hall...

Lily took her time in opening the door fully and looked out. The hall was too dim to see

well.It was really getting scary. She made the decision to go back in the bathroom and lock

the door when a third click sounded behind her. There had been a light that time.

When Lily turned around, she faced the most infamous of the marauders.

"Ha!" yelled Sirius. He held a muggle camera. "Don't even think about it, Lily. I

put a charm on the camera and it's indestructable.

Lily glanced at the nearby bedroom where her parents were asleep and shoved him

downstairs silently. Then she admonished him.

"I thought you would give me decent notice before breaking into my house while it's

still DARK OUT and scaring me half to death! ARE YOU INSANE?!"

"I did give you notice," he pointed out. "I called from your neighbors house. They're

really nice people, too."

Lily looked up and sighed,"There's nothing to stop me from murdering you right now."

"Listen, I'm sorry," he answered tensely, "but I have to leave in 20 minutes for

Diagon Alley and my mum doesn't know I took this trip here. Remus acted like this was

really urgent, though, so I had to deliver it."

"What?" she asked impatiently.

Sirius ran outside and came back in with a cage.

"He wanted me to have an owl?" She was confused.

"No," he said ,"it's for your sister. Don't ask me."

An envelope sealed with green wax hung from one bar of the cage.

"I, uh, have to go right now," Sirius attempted to say,"I'll see you back at Hogwarts,

I suppose. Hoggy, warty Hogwarts..."

He disapparated, and Lily shut the front door. There was something she was trying to

remember, something important, but her mind wasn't working to its full capacity so early in

the morning. It was a few minutes after Sirius was gone that she remembered. The camera!

Those blackmail photos! It was too late. She could only hope nobody else saw them.

The owl hooted softly and she looked back at it. Lily kneeled on the floor and they

stared at each other. The owl was snow-colored with a few dark feathers here and there.

Along with the letter, a box of owl treats was tied to the cage with brown string. Of all

people, Petunia! She was dying of curiosity to read the letter, but wisely chose not to

disturb her sister's privacy.

Lily knocked softly at one of the doors in the upstairs hallway and Petunia opened it

slowly.

She stood there looking impatient in an ankle length robe over a frilly purple

nightgown.

"What's wrong with you?" she whispered,"It's dark outside!"

"You just got a personal delivery," Lily replied, holding out the cage. "Present from

Remus. As far as I know, it was supposed to be really urgent. At least that's what Sirius

told me. After he took blackmail pho- nevermind."

Petunia accepted it and lifted it up to view at eye level.

"Is it alive?"

"Brilliant, Petunia! It's moving around on its own, so I guess it must be."

"There's a letter," Petunia observed. She pulled it away from the bar and the twine

snapped. She then closed the door on Lily, letting her know how personal the letter would

be considered.

Inside her bedroom, she carried the cage to a desk under her window and set it down.

Petunia opened the curtains to read the letter by whatever light there was this early.

"Dear Petunia,

I'm sorry I never gto the chance to visit. If Sirius brings this gift on

time, you'll be reading my letter as while I'm recovering from a transformation.

I'll be going to Hogwarts in a couple of weeks and that is why I gave you an owl.

They are the only postal system accepted in the wizard world. All you have to do

is write a letter and tie it to her leg, then let her out the window. Just be sure

to tell her who it's for and where to find them, literally. Give her water and

owl treats after each trip she takes.

Sincerely,

Remus Lupin

P.S. Her name is Cleo."