Chapter Sixteen

Gwen and Lily sat in their dorm room trying to get back at Sirius for what he did to their friend. The task was one that simply couldn't fail. He caused Elise so much pain and suffering. It wasn't fair.

The girls were happy for Lily. Something was finally going right. Their goal for this year was finally completed. Now they had a new goal. That was to seek revenge on that handsome bastard.

"I've got it! We trap him in the Forbidden Forest. Then we cover him in sugar sweet goop. After we leave him tied to a tree, the animals from the Forest will-"

"Gwen, we aren't leaving him to be mauled by dangerous animals. We'll leave him to be mauled by Slytherins. He hates them more anyway," Lily said causing her and Gwen to laugh hard. It only made Elise cry harder.

"Elise, what's wrong?"

"Guys, I know that you are trying to make me feel better and get back at Sirius. Thank you so much. ("Aww, you're welcome," Lily said. "Anytime," Gwen stated.) I don't want you to hurt him though. ("WHAT?!") Seriously, I just want my Sirius back. I miss him so much. It hurts what he did but I need him. I feel so empty without him. I don't want to live without him. If you want to help me, then try to get Sirius and me back together." Elise smiled weakly at her friends.

Lily and Gwen couldn't believe that this was what their friend wanted. He had slandered her and humiliated her in front of the whole school. She wants to be back together with him now? They would try though. Elise could forgive him easily because she loved him. For her friends though, he would need to prove himself worthy once more.

"If this is really what you want, then we will do it." Elise hugged her two friends. Things would be okay.

(

After two days of thinking, Lily had finally come up with a plan. It was genius. It was a plan that could do two things at once. Make Sirius feel guilty for what he had done and make him want Elise back.

Lily took her friends up to their room after an interesting Transfiguration class. It was the end of the day and a perfect time to put their plan into action.

"Okay guys, I have the most perfect plan. If it works, Elise, Sirius will feel so guilty for what he has done. He will want you back in no time."

"What is it?" Gwen and Elise both asked. They wanted to know for Lily had been going on about it all day. It was all they could do to not strangle her for keeping it a secret.

"We tell everyone that Elise has gone away for good back to where she moved from. She didn't like it here and she suffered too much heartache here to continue on. We have the next two weeks off due to Christmas break so we don't need to worry about the professors. Sirius and Remus will feel so guilty when they find out that they were the cause of us losing our best friend. He will immediately feel regret and will be wishing you back. We he realizes this and announced it to everyone, then you will miraculously come back and welcome him with open arms. What do you think?" Lily asked her friends.

They just stared at her. How could someone come up with a plan like that? Lily clearly was bored during the last day of classes today if this was the elaborate scheme she came up with.

"If we can pull it off, it would be a miracle in its self. It will be hard. Elise, you're going home for the holiday's right?" Gwen asked her. Elise nodded.

"We're going home to visit family. I'll actually be where I used to live. Guys, this might work." Elise smiled her first rue smile since the fiasco. Lily was proud of herself.

Now the only problem was to carry the plan out.

(

James was still brooding over what to do. He loved Lily. He wanted to be with her all of the time. He loved Sirius like a brother though. They had always been there for each other. Any time Sirius was upset over Lily or anything else, Sirius always made him feel better. He felt like he had betrayed him by acting like this. He needed to talk to Lily about this. She needed to understand.

(

Lily walked downstairs into the common room, feeling much better about herself. She loved how she had cheered up her friend before she had to leave. It made her feel like she had done something meaningful for someone.

Lily spotted James sitting on the couch, staring into the fire. Standing there unnoticed, Lily decided that she should talk to James about the duel he was supposed to have with Sirius. She didn't want to ruin their friendship. She didn't want them to have a big fall out and have all of the Marauders to hate her. She enjoyed their company way too much for that to happen. Maybe James would understand.

James looked up when Lily sat down next to him. She gave him a kiss on the cheek as a sign for 'hello'. He smiled at her. Well, it's now or never, he thought.

"Lily, I-"

"James, there's-"

The two started speaking at the same time. They laughed lightly before James encouraged Lily to go first.

"James, there's something I need to talk to you about. You remember when I asked you to fight Sirius as revenge for hurting Elise, right? Okay well, I have been talking to Elise. She doesn't want him hurt. She just wants to go back out with him. If fought him and hurt him, she'd hurt you and me. I can't have that.

Plus, I realized what good friends you all are to each other. I don't want you to have a big fall out because of me. I don't think I could handle being the person who single handedly broke up the most rambunctious group of troublemakers Hogwarts has ever seen. I like you too much to see you go through that. Even though I'm mad at Sirius, I can't have you two be broken up. Do you understand?"

James just looked at her. How did she know how to put everything he was thinking into words? It was like she was thinking on the same wavelength as him. It was a bit unnerving.

"Lily, you do realize that you just said everything that I was just thinking about?" Lily blushed slightly and looked away. "I was just thinking about how much of a brother Sirius is to me and no matter how much he screws up, I should be there for him. He's like family to me Lily. I couldn't go through with the duel."

"Well, it's a good thing my moment of selfishness if over then huh?" Lily giggled slightly. She leaned over and gave James a kiss. She left and headed towards her dorm.

"Lily?" She turned around. "Thanks for understanding." She smiled at him and then went back upstairs.

Sirius approached James. James didn't know it, but Sirius had heard the conversation between him and Lily. Right now, he didn't know a time when he had appreciated Lily or James more. He was happy with Lily because she backed down from this whole thing. He was relieved that James wouldn't have gone through with the duel even if Lily had to break up with him. For that, Sirius was grateful. He didn't know whether or not he would have gone through with it.

"James? I heard what you said mate. Thanks." James stood up and looked at Sirius in the eye.

"I couldn't fight you Padfoot. You mean too much to me to lose." The two smiled at each other.

"Padfoot, I am going to tell you though. If you ever come between me and Lily again, I won't hesitate, I'll go for Lily." Sirius laughed.

"Prongs, if you ever try to give up a good looking girl like that again, whether I'm in the middle or not, I'll hurt you." The two laughed again. It felt good to be back together.

A/N: Will the plan work? Dun Dun Dun. Dramatic music everywhere Review loves.

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