We'll Hold Hands and Fly Away.

September the first proved to be a gloomy occasion. Not a drop fell from the sky but heaviness overwhelmed it and a strange darkness pushed through. Naturally, none of this reflected the on the Potter residence.

James was running about after the house elves telling them not to clean his room while he was away. The elves accepted his request as punishment for polishing his Quidditch balls without his permission the week before. Sirius was doing his summer homework in a mad flurry, periodically calling such things as, "Balderdash!" and, "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

Leo was helping Mrs. Potter pack away the trunks which the three of them had neglected to do before. James' trunk kept making popping noises when they shut it and upon opening it up to see what the noise was they found all the neat stacks they'd made to be a complete mess. Sirius' trunk kept running away and it took all of an hour to catch it and pin it down.

Trying to get out of the house was rather insane. Mrs. Potter kept hugging each friend in turn and then once she'd finished she started crying and hugging them all over again. Finally Mr. Potter pried her away from the door and escorted the troop to the ministry car.

"I'm terribly sorry we can't take you to the train this time, kids. I have work to finish up and your mum would make a scene." Mr. Potter added gruffly as he shook hands with the two boys. "You take care of them now; I don't want to hear about anymore pranks in Vetra's class, no matter how wretched she is. If you want to graduate you'd better hope she doesn't fail you on the N.E.W.T.S." He winked and kissed Leo's hand, and then he helped her into the car. "Take care now!"

Mr. Potter came inside the house and collapsed onto a chair at the kitchen table. Mrs. Potter brought him his coffee and set it down with refinement and poise. It was easy, however, to tell that she was heartbroken.

"Those poor dears, John. They're so young, how can they take all this heartbreak and stay so cheerful?"

"It's because they're young that they can remain in good spirits. I worry what will happen when they're older."

---

The ministry car pulled into Kings Cross with five minutes to spare. James and Sirius busied themselves with extracting their trunks from the car as Leo held tight to their pets. The platform 9 ¾ was active with parents and children of all ages. Ickle first years bumbled about in search of friendly faces. Their young innocent gazes sizing up their peers, making judgments and enemies. Other classes milled about, mostly avoiding the redundant routine of their fast approaching journey.

Leo didn't see any of her friends out on the platform. She held fast to James as he pushed their carts along, raging when ickle newbies got in his way. Sirius trudged along a tad in front avoiding looking at anyone. He was almost to the train when the inevitable happened. The Black family pointedly meandered into his path and stood as stubbornly as asses, turning a blind eye on their eldest son. James jumped to Sirius' side before his friend could make as much as a noise.

"It's not worth it, mate, let it go." But Sirius stood waiting just as stubbornly as though expecting that they'd turn and notice him. It was Leona who finally got Sirius' attention. She took his hand, calmly, as though he'd been waiting for her to do so all along. Her perpetual tugging and pulling at his arm convinced him to start moving. He walked in a haze around his parents and little brother, and allowed himself to be led up the steps to the train and to an empty compartment. There he sat down in a silent gloom and slumped over in surrender.

"Stay here, I'm going back to help James with the trunks, just don't go anywhere, I won't be able to find this compartment without you, got it?" Leo rattled nervously, and Sirius nodded dully in response. When Leo and James returned Sirius was sitting just as Leo had left him, he didn't appear to have blinked in the time. James tried talking to him, but nothing would shake him from the monotony.

"I'm going to go look for the others. I'll be back later." James finally announced as the train started moving. "You stay with him, I don't know what's wrong... he didn't have this reaction last year..."

"I'll see what I can do; you go ahead, oh...if you see Lily, try not to hit on her." Leo playfully added and hugged James. Once he'd gone, Leo turned back to Sirius. "Come on Black...talk to me." She sat down by his side and took his hand again. "What happened...why'd you react like that?"

"You have no idea..."

"Yes I do, I ran away too, Sirius, I know perfectly well what it's like!"

"No you don't!" Sirius stood up as he spoke and started to wander around the cabin. "You have no idea what it's like to have them ignore you. You have no idea what it's like when someone you love sees right through you as though you don't exi-"

"Yes I do." Leona interrupted, "I may not know what it's like when your parents see right through you, but I know quite well what it's like to have someone you love dearly see right past you and not know how it hurts."

There was an unimaginable hurt it Leo's eyes. It was obvious that Sirius had hit a raw nerve with his last comment.

"Leo...I'm sorry...I know you understand...I do...I sometimes just think you might be the only one." Sirius' head drooped down in a defeated slump as he spoke. Leo gazed up at him from where she was sitting; he seemed so young at that moment, but the youth didn't reach his eyes. There was sadness in the deep black orbs, as though they emulated everything that he'd gone through in his life... "They burned me off the tree, Leo...Tonks told me in a letter...they just burned me off...sixteen years and all I mean to them is a petty name on a wall. I just thought...maybe with my graduating and all...maybe they'd..." Leo couldn't help herself, she stood and reached her arms around him in a long emotional hug.

They would have stayed that way for a long time, but the door started to slide open. Leo pulled away before anyone could see and quickly turned to the window to hide her blush. James came up from behind and wrapped her in a hug all his own.

"You're a miracle worker, I don't know how you do it...but after talking to you, he's like a different person." James inhaled the sweet scent of Leo's hair. "Thank you."

"LEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOO!" There was another strong grasp on Leo's neck, when she managed to grapple free Leo found her best friend, Lily Evans glaring at her. "Leona Blake, I can't believe you're dating this...this...this ROUGE!"

"I beg your pardon Miss Evans, but I was completely respectful to you all morning. I'm standing right here and there's nothing wrong with my hearing whatsoever!"

"Oh? You! How could you seduce Leo like that! You know how innocent she is!" Lily added as she clutched to Leo protectively. Her last comment caused Sirius and James to both exchange looks and start laughing aloud.

"Innocent?! LEO?!" The boys cried in unison.

"Hey! I resent that!" Leo interjected.

"You have to admit we have a point." James shot back foolishly. Leo skillfully arched one of her eyebrows and crossed her arms on her chest.

"James Potter, you're a downright fool. He does have a point though, Lils I'm not the essence of innocence. No reason to rub my nose in it, though." Leo reached and squeezed James' hand again. Just then the train shook slightly and Leo fell over onto Sirius who was once more sitting on the bench. He wrapped his hands around her on instinct, in a desperate attempt not to drop her. There was a moment of silence after the train stopped shaking as the dust cleared. Leo felt flustered by the two boys and their constant companionship over the past month. James reached over to Leo and helped her up off Sirius.

"Are you alright?" James asked as he traced Leo with his eyes searching for any problems.

"No, I'm fine...Black are you ok? I didn't break you did I?"

"You? Break me? You'd have to try harder then that!" Sirius added and patted his stomach.

Leona paused and looked at the two boys and then at Lily. There was an awkward moment coming, if it hadn't already come and she needed to prevent it.

"I think I want to go for a walk, Lily you're coming." Leo added as an after thought, grabbed her best friend, and charged off out of the compartment. Lily ran along beside her, but Leo seemed to slow the pace once they were out of earshot of the compartment. "Those two are going to drive me insane this year, going to school with them is one thing, but living there...different story." Leo paused realizing she hadn't told Lily about the summer yet.

"LIVE WITH THEM!? Oh I'm going to kill Potter!"

"Down Cat Woman, it's not what it sounds like. I kinda...needed a place to stay and since you were in Ireland, I owled James instead."

"Why do I feel like there's something you're forgetting to mention...?" Lily peered at Leo with a slight sideways glance. But Leo just shrugged and turned to look out of a window in an empty compartment. The empty space inspired Lily, who pushed Leona inside, locked the door, and closed the curtains. "Spill. Now."

"It's a long story, and you'll be worried for no reason."

"I never worry for 'no' reason."

"You've been studying for the N.E.W.T.S. since first year." Leo interjected skeptically.

"I'm studious, not worried, now spill." Lily stated as she sat Leo down on a bench, "There's no getting out of this compartment until you do."

"I started when I got back from school at the beginning of the summer." Leo started with a deep sigh, "My parents don't usually talk to me about things, and they haven't really cared about what I do ever since I was sorted into Gryffindor. Some could argue I started before that, when the Blake's and the Black's had been one family, actually. You see, I knew Sirius before we had started attending Hogwarts. But you know that already. My point is that our families go way back, back to the founders of Hogwarts, almost. Our old fogey ancestor had been one of Salazar Slytherin's first pupils. About a century ago, the family took separate branches. The Blacks support Voldermort, as he's the heir of Slytherin, and the Blake's just prefer staying to their own kind, in other words purebloods. For the most part there have never been any problems between the two clans, and we're quite friendly. But then Sirius and I met James. See, as far as I care to follow, the two clans have banded together against muggle supporters. , the Blake's just want to have nothing to do with muggles and muggle borns, and the Black's want to be rid of them altogether. Anyway when I was sorted into Gryffindor I was sent specific instructions not to mingle with the Potter boy. That just made curious, and as I'd met him on the train here I didn't have much reason to 'not mingle.' My parents and I have had quite a time quarreling about the topic ever since.

When I got back from Hogwarts my mother picked me up and my father was nowhere to be seen. When he got home he looked furious, and he was drunk. He hit me a few times, and I never found out why, but I never bothered to. I stayed out of my parents way altogether for the first few weeks of the summer. The only time all three of us ever met was at dinner. About a month ago, at dinner, my father informed me that I was no longer allowed to use my owl to send letters, and that if I wanted to correspond with my friends I'd have to use the family owl. He told me that it was instructed not to carry messages to any of my muggle friends. That included James, naturally. To make sure I didn't use Eros anymore, he sent the bird as a donation to the owl post.

I was furious, and the next day when they were gone from the house I sent the family owl to Tonks, with a message asking if I could borrow her owl, of if not, if she could send along a message to you and James telling them what's happened." Leo took a small break here and a few tears swelled in her eyes.

"Hon, what happened?"

"My dad came home that night and called me into the front hall. When I came out he started to hit me, he wouldn't stop. He punched, and hit, and clobbered. He ripped at my clothes and scratched me, and jabbed me with his wand. He pulled me by my hair into his office and pulled out the note that I'd sent Tonks. He took out a bottle of wine and drank it to the last drop, then he started to beat me again. It went until I couldn't see anymore it hurt so much...when he collapsed my mom came in and brought me a coat. She told me that if I was such and ungrateful bitch that I should get out and never come back. When I tried to ask her why, she just slapped me across the face.

I didn't wait around, I ran out of the house just in what I was wearing, and all I remember after that is waking up on the night bus with James and Sirius by my side. I meant to send you a letter, or go find a job and live somewhere else. But James wouldn't have it, and Sirius said he'd lose what was left of his self respect if he let me leave. Apparently Eros found me in an abandoned shack and flew off to find help, I guess since you weren't home yet, he went to James. But I'm fine now, the Potters are letting me stay with them, they bought me new clothes, and call me honey. And it's only until I find a job after I graduate. Anyway...that's why I'm staying with them...nothing serious or anything." Leo shrugged. She'd spent a lot of time talking to the guys about her future, which in her opinion was much more pleasant then discussing her past. The boys had convinced her that everything would be alright, and she hadn't even considered what she'd gone through in the past month and a half until just now. Lily had a sad, awestruck expression of her face.

"Oh, darling...I'm so sorry..."

"It's not your fault you know. It's not like you told my parents to act the way they did. I do have a good idea who did though..." And unspoken understanding hung in the air. Lily accepted that Leo's choices in her situation had been remarkably clearheaded for someone so young. It was time that her friend moved on, and what could help more then everyone being there for her.

"So tell me about you and James then." Lily asked rather coyly, as she'd been dying to know ever since James had admitted to her, that the plain simple truth was that he was no longer allowed to hit on her, seeing as how the stag was no longer true to his name.

"I don't know, really. I was still rather woozy from the whole experience of running away, and James was there for me in his odd sort of way. I guess it's still a rather unspoken bond that developed. I have to admit though, living in the same house as him has been driving me insane. There's no wonder why he's so unattached! On the days I want to spend time with him he's off on an absurd adventure with Sirius, and I'm mad at him the whole day for abandoning me and at the end of the day he comes back with flowers. He does these things and it makes it impossible for me to hate him.

And then the days I just need to spend time with myself, maybe cook something...you know those days. He just won't leave me alone! I'm thinking of school as a salvation for my mental health. Seriously, the boy's completely insane sometimes!"

"Now you believe me." Lily added with a smug self assurance.

"I'm not saying he's and idiot like you do. I'm just saying I enjoy the awkward rouge in him."

"Leona Blake! You're completely shameless!"

And so the chatter went on for hours as the scarlet train rolled on it's way, taking the Marauders, their friends, their enemies, and the ickle newbies they were bound to corrupt, to the place the called home, to the place they loved. Their seventh year was about to begin.