a/n: hi...sorry, this is about a week late. However, this time, I have a legitimate excuse...sort of. About two weeks ago, my brother and I crashed into a telephone pole on the way to school (the roads were crappy...we should have had a snowday). We were both fine, and the car had minimale damage, but it seemed that the crash temporarily knocked my muse back into place! I got a good three pages written during the days afterwards...and then my muse fell outta place again...grrrr. However, after reading a really good lotr fic, i finally got an idea on how to tie up the end of the chap. And here we are.
Legolasfanxoxo: i hate him too...thanks for brainstorming w/ me...it helped
Brittney: don't worry...Actaeon's going to get what's coming to him eventually...or at least, I'm pretty sure he will
me...: thanks for your review...I'm glad you like the story. and trust me, you're not the only one who is at a loss for words at what to call Actaeon. Friends of mine have called him some rather unappropriate words, claiming that nothing else suits him :)
bluerain627: haha...your review made me laugh. I think you easily have the best death threat. it made my day! and I'm glad that my story was able to take your mind off your sucky grade...isn't it wonderful when things do that?
Emuerz: thanks for your review

anyway, enough of my incessant rambling
Enjoi

It had been at least two hours since Sirius had arrived, and there was still no sign of James. Neither Lily or Sirius was taking this particularly well. Lily had spent the last hour pacing around the kitchen over and over again, randomly venting her frustration at household appliances. Sirius was sitting at the kitchen table, letting his over-active imagination come up with horrible things that could have happened to James. Sirius looked up at Lily sadly, knowing that as hard as this was for him, it must be ten times harder for her. He sighed. He might as well get over his own worries, seeing as how that wouldn't do anyone any good, and try to console Lily.

"He's going to be fine, Lily," Sirius said, trying very hard to sound reassuring, but not doing to well at it. "James can handle anything that they throw at him."

Lily stopped pacing and slumped down in a chair across from Sirius. "I keep trying to tell myself, Sirius, but– urgh! I just keep remembering the last time this happened. James was arrested by Actaeon and sent to Azkaban for, I can't remember, I think it was a week or something, not very long. But still, when he came home he was pale and shaking. He kept having nightmares for ages. He got really depressed, and you know what he's like when he get's depressed," she said, trying to keep her composure. She couldn't stand think of James being sent back to Azkaban; and even more, though she felt guilty for admitting this, being under the impression that she should not be worrying about herself at a time like this, she couldn't stand the thought of being left alone again. She shuddered as she remembered what had happened last time. Now is not the time to bring this up, she told herself.

Sirius, in fact, did know very well what James was like when he got depressed, which wasn't very often. In their fifth year, shortly after James's older brother had been killed, James had gotten rather depressed; eventually, it hit the point where James stopped eating, mush to the distress of his friends. Sirius also knew that it always took James longer than most people to snap out of his depression, although he never knew why. Azkaban was most definitely not the place for people who had tendencies to succumb to depression like that; Sirius knew that from his own experience in Azkaban.

"He'll be fine, Lily," Sirius said again. "I've been in Azkaban, and, well, it does suck beyond all reason, but strong people like James can pull out of it. The dementors can't effect him the same if he doesn't let them, and you know as well as I do that James is not one to lay down and take punishment passively. He'll fight them in any way he can. Besides, us sitting here worrying about him doesn't do him any good."

Lily sighed. Sirius was right, which didn't really surprise her. "You're right," she said simply as she stood up again. "James is going to have to face this on his own for right now, but we'll both be here for him when he gets back. Anyway," she added, trying to sound optimistic, " the time before the last time he was arrested, they didn't send him to Azkaban, just put him under house arrest. Granted that wasn't the best of situations, seeing as how he got very bored very quickly, but it was better than any other option. The only way that Actaeon will be able to send James to Azkaban is if he found James by himself or if he was attacked by James." Lily quickly pushed the idea out of her head that James might have done both. Even he wasn't that mad.

Sirius nodded, taking a cookie off the plate Lily had set down on the table. "I don't think James had any intentional plans on being sent to Azkaban," he said lightly, trying to lighten the mood in the room. "I mean, I've known James was a bit off his rocker since that whole 'Pork Day' incident, but actually trying to get to sent to Azkaban is nothing short of absolute clinical insanity."

Lily chuckled softly just as the doorbell rang. With a puzzled look on her face, she said, "I'll get it, Sirius. You stay here."

Sirius nodded and Lily headed towards the front door. She pulled open the door, and to be honest she was not expecting who was standing there.

"Hey, Lils," he said.

Lily blinked several times, just to make sure she was looking at who she really was, "Er, hi, Gid," she said.

"I expect that you probably know why I'm here," he said. Lily did. Gideon Prewett, who had been a good friend of Lily's and James's when they all were alive, joined the Ministry shortly after his death about sixteen years ago. He had always claimed it was for a lack of anything better to do with his time. But ever since they started noticing that Actaeon had his eyes on James, Gid became very useful to them. On more than one occasion, he had accompanied Actaeon when he thought James might be involved, consequently saving James's arse several times.

"James?" she said.

"Yup," Gid said grimly. "Actaeon found him down in the Department of Mysteries again. From what I can make out, there was some kind of duel down there; James was stunned, but I can assure you that Actaeon didn't look to hot either."

Lily laughed bitterly, "That sounds enough like James."

"Actaeon claims that James attacked first, and since no one was down there with them at the time, we have to listen to the bloody git. Although, I have a shrewd suspicion that he attacked first, and is just blaming it on James out of spite."

"It wouldn't surprise me," Lily said. "So what's the verdict for James?"

"Two to four in Azkaban," Gid said darkly.

Lily took in nervous breath. "Two to four days, right?" she asked hopefully.

Gideon shook his head. "Weeks. Actaeon wanted to come and tell you himself, but well, after what happened last time, I don't trust him near you alone."

Gideon had walked in on Actaeon while he had been trying to hit on Lily about a year and a half ago. It was remarkable timing, too. Had he shown up ten minutes later things would have been slightly out of hand. Lily was about ready to wring Actaeon's neck when Gid had walked in."Thanks," Lily murmured. "Is there anything you can do to get James out sooner? I mean, you know as well as I do that James isn't guilty of half the stuff Actaeon claims he is."

"Not this time," Gid said somewhat apologetically. "It's our word against his, and while all our words might be biased, Actaeon has more influence than either of us, so James is pretty much stuck. I tried though," he added. "I really did."

"I know you did," Lily said kindly. "Thanks for coming to tell me about James; I was getting pretty worried. I hadn't expected him to be gone this long."

"Don't worry about it, Lils," he said, smiling slightly. "And just a heads up, Actaeon might try and swing by later. I suggest that you find someone to go visit for awhile."

Lily nodded. "James's older brother just got back into to town," she lied. "I'll go stay at his place till things blow over some."

Gid glanced at his watch. "I gotta go, Lily. Take care of yourself."

"You too. Maybe next time we see each other circumstances might be a bit lighter," she said.

Gid nodded and left. As soon as he was gone, Lily shut the front door and turned to lean her back against it. Slowly, she slid to the floor, thinking over and over to herself: Tow to four weeks. Two to four weeks. James is going to be in Azkaban for two to four weeks. Sirius, who had been listening to the entire conversation from the kitchen, walked over and sat on the stairs across from the door. They sat in silence for awhile, each of them replaying the conversation in their mind. Finally, Sirius spoke.

"Would you mind explaining that to me?" he said quietly.

"Explain what?"

"Explain that 'after-what-happened-last-time-I-don't-trust-him-alone-with-you' crap," he said. "What exactly happened last time?"

Lily took a deep, calming breath and looked up at Sirius. She had been staring at her knees for awhile, and had forgotten that she and Gid had mentioned her previous encounter with Actaeon. "Oh," she said. "About that. Before I tell you, you must know that I've never really told James about this. I've been afraid that he'd go out and do something incredibly stupid if I did."

"Stupid like what?"

"Stupid like try and kill Actaeon, even though he's already dead," Lily said. "So you have to promise not to tell him, alright?"

"Fine. Now explain."

"Okay, the last time James was arrested, Actaeon came and gave me the news himself. I never really figured out why, but I'm pretty sure it has to deal with the fact the he is a sleezly low-life. Anyway, he comes here to tell me and he starts coming on to me like the complete creep that he is. So he's hitting on me, and I was getting really mad; I mean, for crying out loud– he was coming on to me in my own home. You can't get much lower than that. So I was getting pissed and he was getting, I don't know, lust-full or something, and things started getting kind of heavy."

"How heavy?" Sirius questioned.

"Well, if Gid hadn't walked in when he had– he came to see if there was anything I needed, you know, being the good neighborly type– then Actaeon's gross creepiness would have evolved into attempted rape."

"What!" Sirius said, almost shouting.

"Shh. Sirius, it's okay. It never would have gotten that far if I had anything to say about it," Lily said. "I can assure you, he won't be eager to try anything like that again."

"Lily, this is the type of thing your supposed to tell James," Sirius said slowly.

"I know, but...timing has always been really crappy," Lily explained. "And besides, nothing happened, so I'm just as content as forgetting about it. Although," she added as an after thought, "if he ever tries to touch me again, I'm afraid that he'll be in a lot of pain for a very, very long time."

Sirius allowed himself to laugh. He knew what Lily could do when she was pushed to it, and didn't envy anyone who offended her enough to take such drastic measures.

Lily sighed and looked at her watch. "I'm going to go fix dinner... or lunch. Whichever meal we're at," she said absently, and Sirius got the distinct impression that she wished to be left alone with her thoughts.

Sirius, in the mean time, retreated to the living room at the back of the house and he let himself fall into his own thoughts. The room itself brought back many memories, most of them pleasant. As he scanned the room, he felt a sense of familiarity sweep over him. He had practically lived in this room after James and Lily bought the house. He had fond memories of sitting in front of the fireplace with baby Harry in his lap, playing with his godson. He let his thoughts wander to what was happening to Harry right now as he moved to sit down on the couch in front of the fireplace. If time worked the same way, then Harry would be starting his sixth year of school in a few weeks. Sirius smiled as thoughts of his own sixth year overcame him. For the most part, it was a great year. It was that year that he had finally managed to get a date with Athena Bryce, the woman who he, though he wouldn't admit it, was still in love with. He and James had played some of their most memorable pranks that year, most of which went smoothly, while some of them had backfired in a very chaotic manner.

Sirius sighed, letting the realization that that had really been his last year as a kid. In his seventh year, the seriousness of the threat that Voldemort posed had began to sink in. In his seventh year he had begun to hear tales of peoples relatives disappearing and tales of his relatives, even though he didn't claim them as such, joining Voldemort's cause. But still, it had been a good year. Things weren't as bad as they were once they got out of school. After they left Hogwarts, Sirius often thought that their lives had peeked for a few years, until they made a drastic downward spiral that left him in Azkaban and Lily and James dead.

Sirius involuntarily shivered as he thought about Azkaban. He spent twelve years of Hell there, and he dearly wished that he could forget it all, even though he knew he would never be able to. He had barely managed to keep his sanity during those years; he clung to the fact that he was innocent and had found that it was the only way to even keep his misery and despair at bay. The first years there were easily the worst. It had taken him awhile to realize that, try as he might, he couldn't completely escape the eerie despair that seemed to hang in the air there. For years, he had tried to recall good memories, only to not be able to find them. Even worse, when there had been times where he did stumble upon a memory that did contain traces of good times and happiness, he found that they were brutally twisted before his eyes and turned into dark and terrible memories. That was enough to drive anyone mad.

He hated to admit it, but there was a part of him that was glad Wormtail had foolishly let himself be found in the picture of the Weasley's. As far as he was concerned, it should have been Wormtail in Azkaban all those years, and not him. The fact that he had never had to spend time there infuriated Sirius. But, it was because of Wormtail being in that picture that Sirius finally managed to get a hold of the spark of resolve to escape. Had it not been for that picture, he would most likely still be sitting Azkaban while all those he cared about still thought him a traitor and a murderer.

Sirius stretched out on the couch and let his thoughts turn to James, who was now suffering the same Hell that he once had. James, Sirius was quite convinced, was the last person on Earth who should be sent to Azkaban. He had done some stupid stuff when he was younger, but as he got older and matured, he had grown out of his stupid habits and turned into one of the most noble people Sirius had ever met. James was one of those people who you could always count on to do the right thing without hesitating. He had always had a sort of charm and charisma that seemed to embody his personality. Sirius knew that James hated to see people he cared about suffering, whether it was emotionally of physically. No one, in Sirius's mind, who had that capacity for caring about others, to the point of self-sacrifice and beyond, deserved to be forced into Azkaban.

Guilt overcame Sirius as he realized that it was partly his fault that this had happened to James in the first place. If James had not been so worried about what might happen to him, he would have, more than likely, been able to keep himself from being caught by Actaeon.

"Stop that," he muttered to himself. Blaming himself was not going to do anyone any good in this situation. He sighed again as he drove the guilty feeling out of him. He stared at the ceiling and silently tried to organize his mind. It was not his fault that Actaeon had arrested James, it was Actaeon's, he told himself. A wave of hatred momentarily swept over him. His best friend had suffered enough during his short life, and he most certainly did not need a mad man like Actaeon make him suffer more. As he lay on the couch, Sirius made a decision that he did not consciously realize he had made. Actaeon was going to pay for what he had done and was doing. he was going to pay, and Sirius was going to make sure of that.

final note: thank you all for reviewing, its really nice to chack my mail and get all those nice reviews. I'm not exactly sure what I have planned for the next chap, so it might take me awhile to get it posted. In the meantime, you guys get a pole to help me to decide what to write next: a chap through Harry, Lupin, and Athena's perspective, or a chap through James's? who knows...maybe a chap from both? anways, you are now done reading chapter 8, and you can now press the little purplish-blue button that says reveiw

Delano