A/N: First, a major apology! One of my friends is in town this week, and I seriously see her once a year, so I've been hanging out with her a lot. However, as her visit is winding down, I'll hopefully be able to get the next chapter out sooner. I'm making Monday my personal deadline, so we'll see what happens! Enjoy this chapter!

I don't own the Harry Potter universe, "Jesus Christ Superstar", or any other Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.

Unforgivable

"Are you ready for the meeting, Potter?"

James nodded, and picked up his bag. "Yes, sir. Which room are we in today?"

"Board room A," Fudge replied. "Let's go now."

James nodded, and followed his boss out of the office. They wound their way though the Ministry offices to the long hallway of conference rooms. They had a meeting scheduled with their counterparts at the Bulgarian Ministry of Magic. Many such meetings had taken place over the last month as Voldemort's power spread throughout Europe. Fudge did not make it to every meeting, but James did. It was part of his work for the Order. If Fudge was suspicious of James' willingness to volunteer to attend all the meetings, he never said anything. He seemed to be glad that James was so eager to be present at the meetings, as someone from the department had to be there.

They sat down in the conference room, and Fudge glanced at his watch.

"We still have about five minutes," he said. "Do you have parchment and a quill?"

"Yes," James replied, pulling the articles in question out of his bag. He rather resented Fudge's implication that he would arrive unprepared for a meeting.

James gripped his quill, and wrote down his name, the date, and the meeting topic on the top of the parchment he had taken from his bag. Fudge glanced at him in mild amusement.

"You do take detailed notes, don't you?"

"Ah, well, I'm a recent graduate," James replied with an almost-forced grin. "I'm used to taking detailed notes."

Fudge smiled, and began digging through his own bag for a quill. James breathed a sigh of relief when the man did not pursue the topic.

The quill and parchment that James used had both been gifts from Dumbledore. They had been charmed to record everything James wrote down on the parchment in Dumbledore's office. If he was reading the account during the time of the meeting, Dumbledore could make notes on his own parchment that would appear on James'. He had done this on occasion, prompting James to ask specific questions. James always worried that Fudge would notice such messages, but he was quite oblivious.

James loved his parchment and quill. His mischievous side often pondered all the possibilities for the fascinating items. His only sorrow was that he and Sirius hadn't had such a device while they were still at Hogwarts. It probably would have helped them though many a detention and History of Magic class.

Fudge was about to ask James a question when he was cut off by a bright light that permeated the room. As the light's initial brightness faded to a pleasant glow, the faces of the Bulgarian Ministry workers appeared on the closest wall. The four men looked in at James and Fudge with expressions of mild curiosity.

"Fudge," a tall man with a dark goatee man said in heavily accented tones, "you decided to join us today."

"Of course, Dimitri" Fudge smiled.

The Bulgarian men exchanged a glance. James could tell they were barely hiding their smiles. As they rarely saw Fudge at their meetings, the "of course" was a bit out of place. They also knew exactly what James thought of Fudge. Under Dumbledore's advice and guidance, James had developed a very close relationship with these men over the past month, even to the point of sharing his opinions of his coworkers. The headmaster was sure that close ties between the magical communities in different countries would be instrumental in conquering Voldemort, and James was very willing to agree with him.

"Let's begin," Dimitri said. He glanced at the man to his right, who generally recorded the proceedings. "Meeting with British Ministry of Magic, Department of International Cooperation, third November. Bulgarians in attendance . . ."

James stopped listening, and rapidly wrote down the names of the Bulgarian men. Naturally, he knew them all by now, and knew that Dumbledore was also familiar with their names. The headmaster always insisted that he record everyone who was present at the meetings. Thinking that it wouldn't really make a difference, James wrote down Fudge's name as well.

"Very well," Dimitri said. "First, we must discuss the Death Eater situation."

"How is that progressing?" James asked as he scribbled Death Eaters on his parchment. "What happened with that situation we discussed last time?"

"We've determined that that was, indeed, a Death Eater attack," another man, Ivan, replied. "We've also uncovered that meetings are indeed taking place. We believe that the Death Eaters are forming a strong presence in Bulgaria. However, we are having problems discovering their plans before they strike. There was another attack just this morning. Fifteen wizards were killed."

James flinched as he recorded that information. "What does your Department of Magical Law Enforcement say about it?"

"They're completely overwhelmed," Dimitri replied, obvious annoyance crossing his face. "This is more than they are equipped to handle. Part of the problem is Durmstrang, of course."

"Your school?" Fudge replied blankly.

"Yes," Dimitri said. "It has long been Durmstrang's procedure to teach the Dark Arts to its students. This means that every Bulgarian witch and wizard has great experience with dark magic. Our Aurors are having problems deciding who is a Death Eater and who is merely practicing what they learned in school."

James exhaled, and ran his hand through his hair. As he wrote down the information, a message appeared.

"Our Aurors or Order members?"

"Would it be helpful if we sent in some Aurors to assist you?" James asked.

"We couldn't ask that," Dimitri said, holding up his hands.

"No, no, I think it might help," James said.

Fudge looked at him as though he had lost his mind. "James, we have to go through the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to do that," he said slowly, as though talking to a four-year-old with a mental disability. "We can't just promise them Aurors."

"I know that," James said, his frustration surfacing as it crept into his voice. "But I think I have some connections in that department that could help us." He looked back at the Bulgarians, and felt his frustration beginning to ebb. "Would you like for me to look into it? The worst that can happen is that we won't have anyone to send. At best, you'll have the help of some of the most experienced Aurors in the world when it comes to fighting Voldemort."

"Don't say the name!" Ivan exclaimed.

James smiled apologetically. "Sorry. So, should I get on that?"

"If it's not too much trouble . . ." Dimitri said uncertainly.

"Not at all," James replied cheerfully. "I'm sure you'll be able to help us in a similar situation someday."

Once the meeting had ended, and James had made his final notes, he took the lift up to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The receptionist looked at him with a smile.

"Hi, James," she greeted. "Are you here to see your dad?"

"Yes. Is he in the office today?" James asked.

She nodded. "He was in Frank's office the last time I saw him."

"Thanks," James replied. He made his way down the hall toward Frank Longbottom's office.

The door was closed. James knocked tentatively, hoping that he wasn't interrupting anything extremely important.

"James!" Frank exclaimed as he opened the door. "What brings you to our department?"

"I actually wanted to talk to my dad," James replied, looking past Frank to his father.

"Hi, James," Mr. Potter smiled, sitting up straighter in his chair. "What's on your mind?"

"Would you like some privacy?" Longbottom asked.

"No, it's just as well that you're here," James replied. "I was just in a meeting with the Bulgarian Ministry of Magic, and they said that the Death Eater activity is increasing over there. Worse yet, because Durmstrang teaches the Dark Arts, they're having problems deciding who's a Death Eater, and who's just using the magic they were taught at school."

Mr. Potter nodded. "Does Dumbledore know?"

"Yes," James replied. "He also told me to ask them if they'd like the help of our Aurors."

"And?"

"They said if we can spare someone, they'd appreciate it."

"Can we do that?" Mr. Potter asked, looking past James to Longbottom.

"Barty should be all right with it," he replied. "I'll go myself."

"I'll go with you."

"No, you stay here." Longbottom looked thoughtful for a moment. "You can take my place teaching at the Academy. Moody needs someone who's very familiar with the laws, what with everything that's going on."

"You're starting the students on that already?"

"Yes, we start tomorrow."

"Could you two stop talking in riddles?" James exclaimed.

His father smiled. "Sorry, James, but this is confidential. I can't tell you what we're talking about. I'm sure that Sirius and Olivia will once they find out, though."

"I'm sure," James replied. "But what about the Aurors?"

"All right, James, we'll send someone to Bulgaria," Mr. Potter said. "Frank, who do you want to take with you?"

"Well, you and Moody are out because of the Academy work . . . I want to take Alice, of course . . . I'd like to take Gideon and Fabian . . . or at least one of them . . . and maybe . . ." He trailed off with a grin. "Maybe I should ask Barty about this before I get carried away. He's the one who has to approve the mission."

"Just tell him you want to go break up a Death Eater ring," Mr. Potter replied with a weary smile. "That's all he'll need to know before he approves it."

"True, true," Longbottom grinned. "Well, James, thanks for the information. I'll be off to Bulgaria tonight."

"So, do you want to come over for dinner tonight?" Olivia asked as she and Sirius walked to their first class.

"Sure," Sirius replied with a grin. "Are Lily and Dana going out, then?"

"No," Olivia giggled. "What gave you that idea?"

"What? I can't hope for an evening alone with my girlfriend?"

Olivia grinned. "We can plan one for later. This time we'll have company."

"All right," Sirius sighed, resigning himself to sharing Olivia for the night. "Who else will be there?"

"Actually, the girls and I wanted to get a whole party together," Olivia explained. "Lily's going to ask James, who should let Laura know at work, and Dana's asking Remus in class today. Do you know the best way to reach Peter?"

"We can send him an owl during lunch," Sirius said. He held the classroom door open for Olivia, then followed her into the room. "What's the occasion?"

"That we haven't all gotten together since Adam and Minnie's wedding a month ago," Olivia replied. "That's the occasion. Do you realize how sad that is? I mean, we used to see each other every day!"

"Yeah, and we used to all be Gryffindors together," Sirius laughed. He stopped abruptly as he noticed the man standing in the front of the room.

"What's wrong?" Olivia asked.

"That's Mr. Potter," Sirius said blankly.

"James' dad?" Olivia asked as she slid into her seat. She looked critically at the man she had barely noticed a moment before. "James looks a little like him, don't you think? They have the same eyes, and the shape of their faces is very similar."

"I guess so," Sirius replied. "What's he doing here?"

"Isn't he an Auror?"

"Yes, but he's never taught us before. What happened to Moody and Longbottom?"

"They're probably off fighting the forces of evil," Olivia grinned.

"Oh, funny." Sirius put his books down on his desk, but didn't sit. "I'm going to ask him what he's doing here."

Olivia raised her eyebrows. "Are you allowed to do that?"

"I lived in his house for several years of my life. I don't think he's going to mind saying hello to me."

"Yeah, but doesn't that seem nosy? I mean, asking him what he's doing here – that's sort of prying into –"

"Olivia, stop," Sirius cut her off. "I have more tact than that. I'll phrase it appropriately."

With that, Sirius marched up to the front of the room. Mr. Potter looked up, his face lighting with recognition as he realized who was coming toward him.

"Sirius!" he exclaimed. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Sirius grinned. "You?"

"Oh, fine," Mr. Potter replied.

As he looked at the older man, Sirius wondered if that comment was entirely true. He hadn't seen much of Mr. Potter since the beginning of the summer, and was surprised to observe the change in him. He looked even older than he had during the time Sirius had stayed with the Potters months ago. His face was pale and drawn, and his eyes lacked their usual sparkle. James had mentioned that his mother had said that Mr. Potter was overly stressed from his work with both the Aurors and the Order. Was his work really taking such a toll on him?

"I'll be teaching your class today," Mr. Potter offered, shaking Sirius from his thoughts.

"Just for today?" Sirius asked.

"Well, it depends on how today goes," Mr. Potter replied. "And I'm just here today as Moody's assistant. He should be here in a moment."

"What about --?"

"Longbottom?" Mr. Potter asked. "He's out on assignment today. If he completes his work today, he'll be in to teach you tomorrow. If not, you're stuck with me again."

Sirius grinned. "Well, in that case, please tell him that I was your best student."

Mr. Potter laughed. "I'll be sure to do that for you, Sirius." A bell rang, signaling the start of class. "Go ahead and take your seat."

Sirius nodded, flashed Mr. Potter another grin, and slid into his seat next to Olivia. Moody walked into the classroom, and gave Sirius a suspicious look.

"Late to class today, Black?"

"No, I was here on time. I was talking to Mr. Potter."

Moody nodded, remembering Sirius' ties to the Potter family. Without another word, he proceeded to the front of the room.

"Well," he growled. "We have an interesting assignment for you this week. The laws surrounding Aurors are changing, and our classes will change along with them. As you can see, Longbottom couldn't be with us today. He's abroad for a mission. This is Harold Potter, who will be his substitute. That's just as well, as Potter is well-connected with the law division of the department. He's going to explain the new laws to you before we begin working with today's curses."

Olivia glanced at Sirius, who shrugged. He didn't have a clue what laws or curses Moody was talking about.

Mr. Potter stepped to the center of the room, and cleared his throat. "Right. I'm sure you've all met the head of the Auror department, Barty Crouch, at this point. Well, the announcement was made last week that Barty has been promoted to Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. With that promotion, he's already made some changes. The most important change for us is that of the laws regarding the capture of dark wizards."

Olivia glanced at Sirius again. They both knew what Mr. Potter was getting at, and they were both more than a little concerned.

"Mr. Crouch has long been a supporter of the idea that Aurors should be allowed to use Unforgivable curses against Death Eaters. At this point in your training, you should all be familiar with the curses, although I hope that I can safely say that none of you have used them. I hope even more than I can say that none of you have experienced them firsthand."

An expression crossed Mr. Potter's face that made Sirius wonder if he had ever experienced an Unforgivable. As Sirius tried to shake off the thought of Mr. Potter being subjected to an Unforgivable Curse, a picture of Lily floated across his mind. She was only too familiar with the Cruciatus curse.

"As of eight o'clock this morning, Aurors are officially allowed to use Unforgivable curses against Death Eaters," Mr. Potter continued, his expression quite unreadable. "What that means is that Crouch wants the Death Eaters brought in, regardless of the degree of force necessary. With this new authorization, there is no curse that should be outside your ability, be it mental, physical, or emotional." He paused, and looked around the room full of students. His eyes lingered on Sirius and Olivia. "Remember, Aurors are not allowed to be emotional beings while on the job. Distaste for what you are doing, or for the curses you are using cannot enter into the decisions that you make. You are dedicated to your work, and must perform your missions to the best of your ability."

He glanced at Moody, who nodded. The older man stepped up next to him again.

"Right," he said. "Today we're going to practice casting the curses. We'll work on that until you are all able to pass a test on them. Once you're ready to move on, we'll begin learning defenses against them."

Olivia raised her hand. Sirius looked at her in surprise. She didn't normally ask questions during class.

"Yes, Miss Alexander?"

"Sir, is there a defense against the Killing Curse?" she asked timidly.

"Yes," Moody growled, fixing her with a hard stare, "avoid being hit with it."

Olivia's eyes widened slightly, and she nodded.

"Now, if there are no further questions, we'll continue," Moody said. When the students remained silent, he nodded. "Right. You'll each need one of these."

He began levitating jars toward each of them. Several students barely managed to fight back gasps as the jars landed on their desks. They were full of spiders. Sirius eyed his apprehensively. What was Moody going to make them do?

"Now," Moody said, taking the lid off his own jar, "today we practice casting Unforgivable curses. You're going to hit these spiders the curses."

A sigh of relief rippled through the room. Moody looked at them as though he was trying not to laugh.

"What? Did you think I'd let you curse one another? Now, take one spider out of your jar, and enlarge it."

Sirius extracted one spider from his jar, and placed it on his desk. He cast an Engorgement Charm on it, making it grow to the size of a kitten.

"The first curse we're going to practice is the Cruciatus," Moody said. "The point of this curse is to cause as much pain as possible. The incantation is crucio, as I'm sure most of you know. But, before you begin your practice, you need to understand something. The Unforgivable curses, including this one, are not easy to cast. I don't necessarily expect you to succeed the first time you try to use the spells. All three curses require an enormous amount of magical power, as well as force of mind.

"Listen, children, this part is important. You have to actually want to cast these spells. You have to want to cause pain, to force your victim to act against his or her will, or to kill your victim. This isn't something you can go into without really wanting to do it.

"I know that we've stressed that Aurors can't be emotionally involved. This is one time that that isn't necessarily true. As Potter said, you have to avoid any displeasure you might feel when casting these spells, but you can't completely detach yourself emotionally. You do need to feel the curse. You have to pack powerful magic and emotion behind it, or it isn't going to work. My best suggestion is to imagine the spiders to be someone or something you feel strong hatred toward." He glanced at his students. "Begin when you are ready."

Sirius nodded, the faces of his family members dancing before his eyes. But, somehow, he knew that was wrong. As much as he hated his family, he couldn't bring himself to hurl an Unforgivable Curse at them, even if it was just as the thought of them. He cast his mind around, trying to think of someone that he truly hated enough to cause such horrible pain.

Lily's face appeared before him again. This time, it was Lily begging him to modify her memory, to make her forget that her parents had died and her sister had written her off. Seconds later, her face became Olivia's, stricken as she read the news that her neighbors had been killed. Olivia's face morphed into James', listening to his father telling him that his aunt, uncle, and cousins had died.

Sirius gripped his wand tightly. He knew who to concentrate on. Voldemort.

He pointed his wand at the spider, who was trying to run off his desk. He closed his eyes, and thought of all the death and pain Voldemort had caused. Anger filled his being. He concentrated on that anger, and gave it an outlet.

"Crucio."

Sirius opened his eyes, and looked at the spider on his desk. It had collapsed, and was shaking in pain. Shocked by what he had done, Sirius lifted the curse at once. He looked at Olivia, who was still trying to cast the spell. She glanced at him.

"Did you get it to work?" she asked, her frustration evident in her eyes.

"Yeah," Sirius said uncomfortably. "Couldn't you?"

"No," she replied. "How did you do it?"

"I don't know," Sirius admitted. "I just thought of every awful thing I've seen, and let the anger take over, I guess."

Moody came over to stand between them. "Is there a reason I hear words other than 'crucio' coming out of your mouths?"

"Olivia asked for help casting the spell," Sirius said quietly.

"Does that mean you've done it?" Moody asked, a bit surprised in spite of himself.

"Yes, sir," Sirius admitted.

"Let me see, then."

Sirius nodded, and carefully aimed his wand at the spider again. He closed his eyes, and let his emotions take over.

"Crucio," he whispered.

When he opened his eyes, the spider was again shaking in pain. Sirius watched for a few seconds in morbid fascination, then lifted the curse. Moody nodded.

"I didn't expect anyone to do it so quickly," he said quietly. "Well done, Black."

"Is it?" Sirius asked, feeling a bit ashamed that he had been able to cast the curse so easily.

Understanding his question, Moody looked him straight in the eye. "I don't necessarily agree that Aurors should be using Unforgivables. I don't think it makes us any better than those we're been sent to fight. But, Black, you're one of the most talented Auror trainees I've seen in years. You have a brilliant career ahead of you. With Barty Crouch in charge, being able to use that curse is, indeed, well done."

They spend the rest of the day working on the Cruciatus curse. It was causing many people difficulties. As Moody had pointed out to them before they began, casting an Unforgivable curse wasn't the easiest task. Even those who, like Sirius, could cast it, had to learn to refine it. At the end of the day, they were released with the promise that they could cast the Imperious curse the next day.

"Such a reward," Olivia muttered. "Honestly, that man is mental."

"His methods are a bit bizarre," Sirius agreed. "I'm a little surprised he didn't have us using the curses against one another."

"No, that's next week," Olivia grinned.

"Oh, ha ha," Sirius replied. "Hey, what's up with that owl?"

Olivia jumped as the bird in question landed on her shoulder. "I guess it's looking for me."

"So it would appear," Sirius grinned. "Need help?"

"Can you just hold my bag?"

She passed her bag to Sirius, and took the letter from the owl. It took off again, and she broke the seal on the letter. She quickly scanned the parchment, then smiled at Sirius.

"It's from Peter. He'll be there for dinner."

"Excellent!"

"Are you ready for dinner?" James asked as he walked into Laura's office.

"Yes, just let me clear these papers away," she replied, waving her wand at her desk. She glanced at her watch. "We're late, aren't we?"

"Yeah," James smiled. "Fudge wouldn't let me out on time. He was pretty much awful to me all day. I think he's still bitter because I got the Aurors to go to Bulgaria yesterday."

Laura grinned. "You love to one-up him, don't you?"

"I do," James replied. "I really, really don't like him. Thank goodness I'm taking part of my orders from Dumbledore."

Laura nodded. "Well, I'm not exactly sure how much fun I'm going to have working for Mr. Crouch, if it makes you feel better."

"A bit," James grinned. "Is he as crazy as Sirius and Olivia say he is?"

"More," Laura said empathetically. "The man is a maniac! Incidentally, I think he could give Fudge a run for his money in the showdown to become Minister of Magic."

"Never!" James laughed. "On the plus side, it might just be a battle to the death . . ."

Laura laughed. "Come on, we're just getting later. Let's get to the girls' place."

James nodded, and they both Apparated to the girls' flat.

"I am so sorry!" he exclaimed as soon as he arrived.

"So am I," Laura added.

"A likely story," Sirius said comfortably from his position sprawled across the sofa.

James looked at him and laughed. "Were you planning to let anyone else sit down?"

"If you want to lie down with me, I'm ready for you," Sirius teased, opening his arms as if to embrace James.

"I think I'll pass this time," James laughed. He glanced around, and saw Lily sitting on the floor next to Peter. "I'll sit with this lovely lady . . . and Peter."

"Oh, thanks," Peter said sarcastically.

James grinned. "You know I love you, Wormtail."

"Sure, sure."

Lily smiled as he sat down, and touched his cheek. "Where have you been?"

"At work," James replied, making a face. "Where else would I be? Fudge is a maniac!"

"So you've told us," Sirius grinned.

"Yeah, well, apparently it bears repeating. Although Laura seems to think she can beat me in terms of having an insane boss."

"Oh, you're reporting to Crouch now, aren't you?" Sirius said, looking at her with wide eyes.

"That's right," Laura said grimly as she sat down next to Remus on the loveseat.

"Laura wins, mate," Sirius said. "Crouch is completely mental."

"That's true," Olivia said as she came into the room. "He's authorized Aurors to use Unforgivable Curses." She crossed to lie down with Sirius on the sofa.

"Are you serious?" James asked.

"Yeah," Sirius replied, shifting his position so that he and Olivia could fit comfortably together on the small surface. "We spent today learning how to cast the Cruciatus."

Lily jerked in her seat. James put his arm around her, pulling her close.

"I'm sorry, Little Flower," Sirius said quietly.

"It's all right," Lily replied quickly. "It's not your fault that I had to go through that." She shook her head as though to rid herself of the memories. "I don't want to talk about those curses anymore. I have good news that we can focus on," she smiled. "I wanted to wait until everyone was here to share it."

"What is it?" Dana asked.

"I've been promoted!"

"Really?"

"Congratulations!"

"What are you doing now?"

Lily beamed as she looked around at her friends. "I'm going to write for the local news section. I already told Minnie. She said it's going to be extremely helpful for our investigations, since I'll be one of the first on the scene for any major events in the area."

"Lily, that's brilliant!" James exclaimed, pulling her into a kiss.

"Wait," Olivia said with a slight frown as Lily broke the kiss. "Does this mean you won't interview Ludo Bagman anymore?"

Lily laughed. "I knew you'd have a fit. But I am still going to interview him. That was the one condition of my promotion."

A bright light flashed through the room, cutting off any further conversation. Once it had faded, a letter and a golden feather were lying on the table. Dana crossed to pick them up.

"It's for all of us," she said, opening the parchment. "We have one minute to touch this. It's a Portkey to Headquarters."

"Excellent," Moody growled as the six newest Order members slammed into the training room. "We have a lot of work to do tonight."

Lily looked at James apprehensively. He shrugged. He had no idea what Moody was talking about.

"As I'm sure you've heard by now, the Ministry has recently authorized the use of Unforgivable Curses by Aurors. We're training all the Aurors in the use of the curses, as well as defenses against them. Now, I'm not very concerned about your use of the curses. I'd rather not use them myself, and I refuse to teach them to you. However, you will need to be able to defend yourselves against them. That's what we're going to work on tonight."

Sirius and Olivia exchanged a glance. Moody caught their slight movement, and looked in their direction.

"You two will be ahead of your class at the Academy," he stated. "Try not to act like it."

Sirius tried to fight back a grin. Moody was very harsh, but there was something about him that always made Sirius want to laugh.

"Now," Moody said, finally breaking eye contact with Sirius, "there is no defense against the Killing Curse. We'll work on the Cruciatus another time; that one you can help defend one another against if the need arises before we work with it. The one I'm most concerned about right now is the Imperious. We're seeing more and more cases of the Death Eaters forcing innocent people to do awful things against their will."

Peter glanced around the room uneasily. Mind control always made him a bit nervous.

"I'm going to put each of you under the Imperious," Moody said. "I want to see how strong your minds are – how able you are to fight it." He glanced around the room. "Black, come here. You're our first contestant tonight."

If Sirius was nervous, he didn't show it. He stepped up to the front of the room, and looked Moody straight in the eye. Moody nodded, and raised his wand.

"Imperio!"

Sirius' eyes became unfocused. A dreamy look came over his face, and his limbs seemed to relax.

"Black, do a back flip," Moody said almost lazily.

Sirius' relaxed limbs tensed again, and he obediently performed a back flip. James' eyebrows shot up.

"I didn't know he had it in him," he grinned.

Olivia glanced at him, and giggled. Moody frowned at them.

"One of you two can go next," he said as he lifted the curse from Sirius.

"I'll do it," James volunteered, standing to take Sirius' place in the center of the room. He patted Sirius' back as he walked past him. "Good show, mate. I expect you'll be on the next Olympic gymnastic team."

Sirius buried his face in his hands. He took his seat next to Olivia, and looked up at her. "Did I really just do a back flip?"

"Yup," she grinned.

Sirius buried his face in his hands again. He didn't look up until James started skipping around the room, singing "Ring around the Rosy." He grinned at James as he took his seat.

"Ready for musical theater, Potter?"

"Sod off," James grinned. "At least I won't have to wear a leotard."

Moody pointed his wand at them. "Are you two quite done, or do I need to test the Cruciatus sooner than I thought?"

James and Sirius instantly fell silent. They weren't entirely sure that Moody would refrain from cursing them if they kept talking.

"That's what I thought," Moody growled. "Alexander, let's go."

Olivia sang a medley from "Jesus Christ Superstar." James and Sirius glanced at one another, trying desperately to keep from laughing. They were both sure that Moody had used that particular action just to test their resolve.

Laura followed Olivia. Under the influence of Moody's curse, she declared her undying love for Remus. When it was over, she and Remus were both extremely red-faced. Peter went next, practically shaking in fear. He spent over a minute hopping on one foot until Moody stopped him. Dana was forced to speak Italian, a language she had never been proficient in. Lily was the last to go. She stepped into the center of the room, and glanced around at her friends.

"You guys won't make fun of me, will you?" she asked.

"Never," James grinned.

She gave him a look that said she didn't believe him, then looked over at Moody. He raised his wand.

"Imperio!"

At once, Lily realized why everyone had looked so relaxed under the curse. Every muscle in her body seemed to unwind simultaneously. She wished she could always feel like this.

"Kiss James."

Lily was about to step toward James, but stopped herself. She didn't want to kiss him in front of all these people.

"Kiss him!"

Why bother? She could kiss him anytime she wanted.

"Kiss James!"

Lily started forward again, and stopped herself. She really didn't like public displays of affection. She stumbled as her feet tried to move in opposite directions, but managed to stay standing.

Suddenly, the curse was lifted. The feeling of relaxation was gone. She looked at her friends, who were staring at her in shock. She turned to look back at Moody.

"Well," he growled, a fierce pride lighting his eyes, "at least one of you can't be controlled."

"How on earth did you do that?" James exclaimed.

"I don't know," Lily replied. She still looked incredibly unsettled by the experience, despite the fact that they all had been returned to the girls' flat by Portkey. "I just didn't want to do it, so I didn't."

"It's not that easy," Sirius replied.

"But it was," Lily argued.

"Didn't you see the rest of us?" Peter asked. "I've never been able to hop for that long before."

"And how exactly would you know that?" Sirius laughed.

"My neighbors and I used to have contests to see who could do all sorts of ridiculous things longer when we were little," Peter replied dismissively. "And hopping was the one I consistently lost. I don't have any balance at all. If you told me to do that right now, there's no way I'd even try! I didn't want to do it – but I couldn't stop myself."

"I don't know how I did it," Lily repeated. "I'm telling you the truth! I just kept thinking that I could kiss James on my own time, and that I didn't want to kiss him in front of everyone, so I didn't!"

"I believe you," Remus said.

"Thank you!" Lily laughed. "Why don't the rest of you believe me?"

"No, I mean, I can understand why it was so easy for you," Remus said. He looked at Dana. "Don't you remember the sleeping potions?"

Dana's eyes opened wide. "Oh, my . . . Remus, you're right!"

"Could you two please stop with the riddles?" James asked.

"Don't you remember when we kept giving Lily those sleeping potions, and she still wouldn't sleep?" Remus asked.

"Yes," James said, knowing there was no way he'd ever forget. "But what does that have to do with the Imperious?"

"Quite a bit, actually," Dana said. "Every night, Remus and I would find a stronger potion for her, because she kept fighting them off. It takes the same mental power to fight a sleeping potion as it does to fight the Imperious. If she was able to focus her power to fight off the potions when she was so distraught, I'm sure she could fight the Imperious pretty easily when she's at full strength."

"You know, she has a name," Lily said, her annoyance obvious.

"Sorry, Lils," Remus grinned. "But what Dana just described is my point exactly. You're a powerful witch, Lily, and you just demonstrated that tonight."

"Great," Lily said with a titch of sarcasm. "So, when the Death Eaters take over all your minds with the Imperious, I'll be the one to bring you back."

"I'll be there to help you," Sirius said, his eyes glinting with determination. "I'm going to be able to fight off that curse if it's the last thing I do."

"So am I," James said.

"And me," Peter said. He shuddered. "Mind control is a scary thing."

"Me, too," Dana and Laura said together.

"We all will," Olivia said.

Remus glanced at the guys, then around at everyone. "We've stuck together this far. Nothing's going to tear us apart now."