A/N: As always the Harry Potter world belongs to the wonderful Rowling woman. But these words are my own.

rkom1147- thanks for your review and I'm glad you like it. As for your point on Remus and Peter not knowing where Lily, James were I always took it that they did, just as all the order of the pheonix know where their headquarters are but only the secret keeper (Dumbledore) could tell. But at the end of POA Sirius admits the reason he didn't tell Remus he'd swapped with Peter as secret keeper was because he thought Remus was the spy. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter Three

She lay in the bath; the warmth usually lulled her into a state of relaxation, making her so sleepy she could just crawl into bed and not think of him. But when she slept she dreamt about his face, his grin, his bark like laugh and the smell of his after shave.

But it wasn't working tonight. And hadn't worked the night before or the night before that. In fact it hadn't worked since she had heard of his escape.

At first she had been excited. She had sat up five night's straight, convinced he would come to her. Come sauntering in the door so she could wrap her arms around him and tell him she loved him and knew he was innocent.

But he hadn't. An empty hollow feeling had spread from her stomach. He wasn't coming to her. She wasn't his first thought. Perhaps he never thought of her. Never dreamed of her or gave her a moment's concern.

Perhaps Azkaban had eradicated all the love he felt for her from him. Perhaps he had never loved her as much as she had loved him.

Weeks, months, more. Sirius was free and he hadn't come to her. It had been nearly eleven months and she had heard nothing. Nearly a year and nothing from the man whose memory still tormented her. Nothing from him when he was the first thought in the morning and the last at night. Nothing when in that wonderful moment between sleep and awake she still thought she would wake up and he would be there beside her telling her it was just a bad dream.

Nothing at all. She supposed he might be trying to protect Harry, but Harry was in the safest place in the world. Hogwarts with Dumbledore watching over him. And from what she'd heard Harry could look after himself.

Grabbing her glass she took another gulp of wine. She still remembered the first time she had actually spent Sirius, James, Remus and Peter. It had been in her sixth year, just before Christmas, when Lily had confessed she did actually think James Potter was quite cute. An annoying, arrogant, insufferable, conceited git, but still cute.

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Sirius climbed in the portrait hole. He was exhausted, still filthy even after his long shower, but happy.

It had been a hard quiditch practice and the team captain Thorn was getting more and more hysterical about their match against Slytherin, but they had flown well and they would definitely kick Slytherin out of contention for the Quiditch cup.

"I'm starving." James groaned beside him. They collapsed in a chair opposite their friend Remus, who just looked up with a bemused look at them. Soaked, dirty but beaming with contentment. Shaking his head Remus went back to his book.

"Good thing we stopped by the kitchen then isn't it." Sirius grinned, pulling the three plates he had balanced on his arm under his robe. He slapped them down on the table.

Right on cue Peter, the forth in their gang appeared from the stairs leading to the dormitory. "Great, your back. And you're brought food!" He exclaimed trotting over and grabbing a sandwich.

"Knew this would cheer you up." James smirked. Peter had been given extra homework in Transfiguration for the fifth time running. But no matter how hard they all tried to help him, he just didn't get it. Sirius often wondered what would become of Peter when they all left Hogwarts.

Then there was flutter of ruby and silver coming from the sixth year girl's dormitory. "Oi oi!" Sirius crowed in James ear. "Evans at twelve o'clock."

James' head snapped round so fast Sirius was positive it had gone backwards.

And there she was. Slim and pretty Lily Evans, red hair falling down her back, green eyes flashing. Beside her Lucretia Malfoy. An exact opposite. If Lily was warm, Lucretia was cold. Lily the picture of wholesome goodness, Lucretia was the ice maiden who made boys blood freeze with desire.

Sirius heard them talk about her, even the Slytherin's. She was the ice maiden. She wouldn't let anybody close. Except Lily. She was made more alluring by the fact that she was a metamorphmagus; which meant she could change her appearance at will. They were extremely rare and she had been forbidden to change more than her hair and eye colour. Although there were rumours she often went about disguised as Professor McGonagal at night.

It was never truer than if you tell a boy they can't have a girl, they want her even more. Even more true of a pure blood boy.

James was out of his seat quickly. He managed to position himself in their path with a plate of delicious food. "Hungry?" He asked nonchalantly, as if he regularly stood around the common room with plates of food and had not just dashed halfway across the room to intercept them.

"No." Lily snapped; Sirius nearly choked with shock however when Lucretia reached out a hand and picked a strawberry from the plate. He was amused to see Lily looked equally shocked.

"I love strawberries. Where'd you get them in the middle of winter?" She asked her nails the same blood red of the fruit.

"Well that would be telling." James hid his surprise behind a smirk, taking a bite from a chicken leg."Why don't you come and sit, we have more."

Lily had opened her mouth to obviously refuse when Lucretia nodded and went and sat next to Remus. Lily followed dumbly, shooting James suspicious looks, as if convinced he had put a spell on her usually anti-social friend.

"Have you been harassing those house elves again Potter?" She asked waspishly walking up behind Lucretia and perching on the arm of the sofa rather than go and sit in the only other available seat next to James. "I've heard its nothing special to be able to steal food from the kitchens, they practically give it away."

James' smirk lessened a little, but he just shrugged and picked up another chicken leg. "Want one Lucy?" He asked pointedly ignoring Lily.

Lucretia shook her head. "Nothing with a face."

"Oh right." James nodded, obviously bemused by the idea of a pure blood vegetarian.

"More for us." Sirius grinned grabbing three chicken legs and tearing into them in turn. "Why are you a weirdo... sorry veggie again?" He asked; his mouth full of chicken. He loved trying to get a reaction on the cool exterior. It was rather like taunting a marble statue, waiting for it to blush.

"Because it winds my parents up. Why are you thick sorry mentally retarded again?" She shot back.

Sirius grinned broadly, knowing his mouth was full of half chewed meat.

"He was dropped on his head when he was a baby." James grinned. "It's not his fault."

"Do they call you Lucy?" Sirius goaded, it was a running joke that Lucretia hated her name. She said it was too pure blood and like her older brother Lucius' name. So, with some help from her muggle born best friend she had re-christened herself with a muggle name: Lucy. Sirius had been most amused. Her parents had not. Still, that was the whole point.

She was more like him than she would ever care to admit. She had that same streak of mischief which he let run riot with the marauders.

"Yes Sirius. They call me Lucy and fully except that I'm a born again muggle-born."

"A what?" James asked; looking confused with a mouth full of trifle half in his mouth.

"Ew James." Lily snapped. "In your mouth, food goes in your mouth."

"Really?" James asked, a mischievous look glinting in his eyes. "I always thought it was more fun if you haphazardly aimed." He picked up another spoon full of trifle. "See, oops…" He flicked it over Remus' bowed head.

Remus looked up from his book, not looking too concerned; he picked up a custard tart and threw it at James.

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When all the food had run out Lucy finally came out from behind the sofa. Sirius watched as she carefully picked her way through the remnants of their feast which was now splattered all over the floor, rugs, sofa's and chairs, fireplace and pictures who were complaining gruffly. She, however, didn't have a speck on her. He, James, Peter, Remus and Lily had been covered.

Lily had already ran up to her dormitory squealing with disgust. Trifle, custard, pumpkin juice, pie, ice cream, gravy and a few chips covered them. But they were happy.

"You have a knack for avoiding mess, don't you?" Sirius taunted, picking a cherry out of his hair.

"Runs in the family." She shot back. "Well, as much fun as this is, I'm going to go and help Lily get the gravy out of her hair." Lucretia continued in a cheerful voice, and if Sirius hadn't known better he would have thought she was smiling.

"Anytime." He grinned back as he watched her slip upstairs.