a/n: Thanks to those who reviewed the prologue.

MarauderFan4ever – Thanks! I think I'm obsessed with Sirius. I still haven't gotten over his death in book five. The quote came from the chapter in OOTP titled "St Mungo's Hospital", when Mr. Weasley gets bitten by the snake. Fred and George want to go to St. Mungo's to make sure he's okay, but Sirius tells them not to, because it would look suspicious for the Order. They argue that their dad is more important than the Order, but Sirius says Mr. Weasley knew what he was getting into and that there were things worth dying for. They don't get it though, and I wouldn't either if my dad was fighting for his life. When I say "AU" I mean I've ignored the scene by the lake in OOTP, because it screws up my plot. James is slightly OOC, but the rest is pretty much canon, except for when Sirius is supposed to run away. In this he doesn't run away as such, but he doesn't come back next summer. You find out a bit about Lily and James' relationship in this chapter. Hope you enjoy it!

J.E.A.R.K.Potter – Hey! It's great to hear from the people who reviewed ALSTW again. Sorry this chapter isn't out as soon as I hoped, but hope you enjoy it anyway!

Pdlegirl – thank you! I hope it stays as original as it started out!

Misakichi1 – Hope I spelt your s/n right! Thanks for reviewing!

Starborn – Heya! His name wasn't Michel, it was Mark. Get it right! But he was useless anyway, lol. Dunno where your notebook is, but I packed it when we left Coffs, so check your backpack. Thanks – I was hoping the prologue would be melodramatic! You can have a chocolate anytime you review ;).Thanks "starbiddy". Your faith in my writing means a lot to me. huggles

Chapter One

You and me got to be
Living life, dignity, integrity, sincerity
'Cause honestly that's how it's got to be
And when you come to that fork in the road
Which way will you go?

- Fork in the Road, by 1200 Techniques

Dear Sirius,

You might find this a bit odd, since we haven't talked for a while, but this is an emergency on my part and I have no-one else to turn to.

To cut a long story short, I got kicked out of my house with no money and nowhere to stay for the rest of the holidays. I'm writing to ask you to lend me some money – enough to stay at the Leaky Cauldron or something until September 1. I'll pay you back as soon as I can.

Thank you very much,

Lily Evans.

I was in shock. I hadn't spoken to, or even so much as looked at Lily Evans since first year, yet there I stood, on a cloudy Tuesday morning with a letter from her in my hand, begging me for help. I was utterly perplexed. Why on Earth, after all these years, would she want me, Sirius Black, to help her? Conceited but true. I studied the parchment in more detail. I struggled to remember everything I could about Lily Evans from first year.

She had been friendly, cheerful and organized, and even at age eleven wrote in perfect cursive. However, her letter had obviously been written in a hurry; there were ink stains everywhere and her formerly neat handwriting had been reduced to a scrawl.

She had been perfect, as far as I could tell, before I got to know the boys. She would have been the last person I would have expected to have family troubles, much less kicked out of her own home, something even I hadn't managed yet (but, knowing my family, couldn't be too far off).

Judging from the letter, she was obviously very distressed, as we had not spoken for almost five years, and it puzzled me that she would write to me, instead of one of her friends.

Then, casting my mind back to first year, I remembered.

She didn't have any friends.

It had just been her and me. And I, in a search for popularity and acceptance, had left her alone with no friends, to fend for herself in a world entirely new to her while I went of and joined secret clubs. She was a muggleborn, with no siblings or relatives at the school to fall back on. She had done nothing but befriend me and draw me out of my shell, and how did I repay her? By being an arse and forgetting all about her. Now, she was in an awful mess with no-one else to turn to.

God, I wanted to kick myself. In fact, that seemed like a good idea.

I sat down on my bed and tried to think rationally. God, I was so stupid. I breathed deeply and tried to work through the problem. Okay. Someone you have been really nasty to for NO GOOD REASON AT ALL is in a desperate situation and needs your help. She needs money and some serious therapy, or at least someone to be there for her.

Then it struck me. Helping Lily through this situation seemed like a good way to redeem myself for being so cruel to her back in first year. I could go to her and help her sort out whatever was going on with her family. I grabbed a spare scrap of parchment and began to write, my quill scratching loudly.

Lily -

Here's the key to my account at Gringotts – number 1021. Take as much as you need – don't worry about paying me back. Then make your way – safely – to the Leaky Cauldron. I'll be there as soon as I can.

-Sirius.

I figured I would apologize in person. I really wasn't that good at writing down my feelings, especially to someone who I hadn't spoken to for ages.

I hoped she would be fine until I met up with her. There was more money in my account than she would ever be able to spend – my parents, no matter how much they hated my guts, made sure that I would always be well-off. Besides, there were only two weeks left of the holidays before we began our 6th year at Hogwarts.

After sending the letter, I quickly put on some clothes and headed towards the living room where I would be able to floo to Diagon Alley, hopefully without my parents seeing me. I didn't stop to get some breakfast or write to James or Remus like I usually did in the morning – it was the only way I could survive two months in the Black household. For once, waking up had a purpose and I intend to fulfill it.

I strode to the large jar sitting on the antique coffee table and took a healthy pinch of floo powder. I threw it into the flames, watching them flare up and turn green.

"Where are you going?" a voice behind me asked curiously. I could tell without even turning around that it was the voice of my younger brother, Regulus. He was only ten and due to start Hogwarts at the beginning for that year. He used to be my closest brother, but after my sorting our parents and worked tirelessly on turning him against me. So far, they had succeeded – he doted on them, but he had a highly inquisitive nature, and I knew I intrigued him.

"Out," I said curtly, before stepping into the flames. "Diagon Alley!" I enunciated loudly and clearly.

Five minutes later I was standing anxiously at the bar of the Leaky Cauldron, waiting for Lily to arrive.

It was turning out to be an ugly day; there were dark, heavy clouds blocking out the sun, yet it was uncomfortably hot. It reminded me of the night I first met her, when she had mentioned to me how much she loved summer rain.

I felt her presence before I saw her; she was a tiny figure standing in the huge doorway, with tears running down her cheeks. She looked so small and tired and sad.

In my shocked state I only had one thought running through my mind – this was not the Lily Evans I remembered.

It took her a while to find me, but it took me even longer to move. I strode over to her and gave her what I hoped was a comforting hug. She began sobbing helplessly into my chest.

"I'm s-sorry, I'm so sorry for doing this to you…" she whispered over and over again.

I had absolutely no clue what to do. No-one in my house had cried since they got past the baby stage, and here I was, standing with a girl I thought I knew but really didn't in the middle of a pub. And, to make the situation worse, she was sobbing her heart out. People were beginning to stare, so I went over to the inn-keeper and said

"Can I have a room please?"

"Of course, sir," the man said looking at me with a mixture of pity, and curiosity. "Here's the key. Upstairs, second on the right. Number six."

"Thanks," I said, grabbing the key.

"Good luck," he mouthed. I could do nothing but grimace.

What on Earth was I going to do?

"Relax, Lily, it'll be okay. We can fix this," I muttered into her hair. I put my free arm around her tiny waist and led her upstairs, her bag floating along behind her. Once we were inside and the door was safely shut I sat her down on the too-small bed. She simply cried on my shoulder for ten minutes before I thought I had better say something.

"It'll be alright. Tell me what's wrong and we can fix this."

God I hoped I was doing this right.

I handed her a tissue and she blew her nose loudly. I took the time to study her. She looked horrible. Not ugly, even though her nose was red and her face was screwed up from crying so much, but worn, tired and very, very thin. She looked like she hadn't eaten in days. She was wearing muggle clothes – a large overcoat and jeans and a jumper underneath – far too warm for the middle of summer. God, she looked so fragile. So … breakable. I wondered what could have reduced a normally bright, happy girl to such a broken shadow.

She took a deep, shaky breath and in a quiet, tired voice began her story.

"I-I … When I was seven, my parents got divorced. I haven't seen my father for ages, but last year my mother married a man much younger than her. He was young enough to be my older brother. For God's sake he's only 23…"

Please don't let this be an abusive stepfather story, I remember thinking.

"Anyway, I didn't know much about him, but he seemed nice, and when my mum asked what I thought I told her they seemed like a good match. She seemed really happy. But then she had this party. A dinner party. She invited mostly people I didn't know but one Wizarding family was there. Their son is in our grade at Hogwarts. God, this is so humiliating …" she trailed off, burying her head in her hands. Her long red hair was spilling onto my neck and shoulder, and it was tickling me, making it hard to concentrate.  I figured I should say something.

"It's okay. I won't tell anyone unless I think I need to …"

That didn't seem to comfort her much. She turned away from me trying to hide. Eventually, she began to speak again.

"He asked me out, okay? And I said no, because I knew he had made fun of me behind my back and I didn't really like him that much."

"Right …" I said, really confused.

God, please don't let this be a family-friend-turned-rapist story, I thought.

"So then, the next day – that's today, when we were cleaning up, my mum started yelling at me for no good reason. I eventually found out what this guy had told her. I said no to him, and he went to my mother and said … oh, God, it was so awful … he told my mum that he'd seen me flirting with my stepfather. Coming on to him were his words. So then – then she chucked me out and told me never to come back again,"

My mouth was hanging open. "So … what, she believed him over you? Her daughter?"

She nodded, and started to cry again. I was beginning to think that this was worse than the rapist/abusive stepfather scenario.

"Tell me who he is so I can kill the sick bastard," I growled, furious. How could someone do something so horrible – how could someone bear to deliberately hurt this girl?

Then I remembered. I already had.

"I-I can't tell you…" she muttered.

I put my hand on her shoulder and she shrugged it off.

"You have to tell me," I said. "Is it someone we both know?"

"Y-yes…"

"In Slytherin?"

"No…"

"Ravenclaw? Hufflepuff?"

She just shook her head.

"So what, he was in Gryffindor?"

Unwillingly, she nodded.

Oh, God, please don't let it be …

"It's not … it's not … it can't be … one of us?"

She nodded again, sobbing even harder.

"Who is it? I almost yelled, turning her around to face me. "Who is it?"

For the first time she looked me directly in the eyes. God, they were so green …

"James Potter," she whispered.

I could barely believe it. My best friend, the most popular guy in our year, the guy who could get any girl he wanted …

"THAT'S A LIE!" I yelled, standing up and stalking over to the wall. But inside, I knew it was true. James was a jealous person; he didn't like sharing his friends with anyone else and he certainly didn't like being rejected. He was my best friend, and he did this …

I started beating the wall with my fist.

"Hey? Do you mind?" I heard someone yell next door.

"Go to hell!" I yelled back, before turning to face Lily. She looked so pitiful, rocking back and forward and drowning in her tears.

"Come on," I said firmly, gently dragging her to her feet. You can't stay here by yourself for two weeks. I'll take you back to my house,"

She nodded and wiped her eyes.

"Okay," she whispered softly.

I tried to calm down. There was no way my parents would let muggle-borns in the house. The thought of them inviting Lily over for dinner would have been laughable if the situation wasn't so serious.

I flooed ahead of her to make sure no-one was around, then went back and brought her with me. I smuggled her to my room using the house-elf passages, and miraculously, we didn't get caught.

I left her in my room with the door shut, locked and sealed in search of food. The morning's events were beginning to sink in. I had been unbelievably cruel to a nice, beautiful girl whose trust and home had been shattered by my best friend, and here I was with the same hysterical muggle-born girl who I had to hide in my room for the next two weeks.

I was in deep shit, but Lily was a hell of a lot worse off then I was.

I went and got snacks from the house elves, and planned to go back to Lily, make her eat, eat myself and talk the situation through rationally. I tried to be calm. I was doing the best I could for her, trying to make things up to her.

But even as I told myself that, I could feel a heavy weight, the hand of God pressing down on me, saying you were not there for your friend when she needed you.

a/n: Sirius is not religious, he uses words like "God" out of habit. After all I put him through in this story he might need some guidance, though …