(A/N) Oh my god, you guys! I am so sorry it's taken this long to update! I feel so bad, I just want to hit myself over the head with my world history book! I've got fully-fledged writer's block at the moment, not to mention the typical butt-load of homework! I think I'm going crazy! And the only thing that keeps me sane is pocky! I buy pocky almost everyday, so I'm basically broke, which kinda sucks!

Thanks for the reviews everyone! They made me so happy! And just in case you were wondering, Chaosblazen, Erik's name is oficially spelled with the k, cause I think it looks cooler!

Chapter Ten – Unwelcome Letters

"Take these plastic people
Read their lips, now let it linger
is there anything that makes them sound sincere?
Tightly hold your hand
Take a deep breath; give them the finger
Are you worried
that your thoughts are not quite clear?"

Our Lady Peace – One Man Army

"I can't believe Lily did that!" Remus cried, tears of laughter leaking out his eyes.

"I know! I couldn't either, until I saw it!" Julie told him, equally hysterical. "I walked in the room and there they were; Alice was holding back a blue-haired Becca, and Lily had apparently locked herself in the bathroom, because I could here her in there screaming that Becca deserved it. Apparently Becca had said that Lily was dreaming about James."

"I'm glad you told me about these violent tendencies of Lily's. I'll keep them in mind the next time I get the urge to tease her."

Julies' laughing was dying down as she said, "Do you think they'll be back soon. I don't think they're supposed to be out past midnight, which only gives them a few minutes."

"I'm starting to believe Alli was right, and that they won't come back." Remus told her. "I think a more appropriate question would have to be 'do you think they're mortally wounded yet?'"

Julie began to laugh again. "I think you're giving Lily less credit then she deserves. She can handle herself, even when she feels like exploding."

"Unless she's around James." Remus pointed out logically.

"Actually, you're right. I think James is the only person she really looses her temper with. Usually if people piss her off, she just ignores them, or stays calm when they're around, but blows her top once they're out of her sight. James seems to be the only one who gets her temper no matter what."

"That's strange," Remus said, thinking. "Why only James?"

"It is strange." Julie agreed. "Maybe she doesn't hate him as much we think."

"Maybe," Remus echoed. "On the topic of relationships, how are things going with Lesher?'

"Rick?" Julie asked, blushing slightly. Come on Julie, she told herself. This is Remus. No reason to get whacked out. "Its fine, I suppose. I had a good time at Hogsmeade. What did you do there?"

"James, Peter, and I went with Sirius and his date." Remus told her. "I'm sure you already know about what happened there."

Julie giggled. "Yeah, I do."

"So, um… you going out with Lesher again?" Remus hadn't meant it to come out like that. Hell, he hadn't even meant to say that, but it just came out. It took a big deal of self restraint to keep from smacking himself - and hard too. He didn't need Julie thinking he was any crazier.

"Um, yeah, I guess. I saw him in Divination today, and he asked me to go with him somewhere next week. I'm sure where yet though. I think he wanted to surprise me. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was just… Hey, it's Lily and James! And they're not dead!" Remus jumped up and ran over to the door, where their friends were just entering. Julie got up too. She certainly wasn't going to get an answer out of Remus now, but she really was curious. She'd have to ask him later.

"What are you guy's still doing up?" Lily asked.

"Waiting for you two," Remus told her. "Alli and Sirius were both certain that you wouldn't come back."

"Really," Lily said, sounding affronted. "I only injured him a small bit."

James laughed dryly. "A small bit?" He turned his head to show Remus and Julie his cheek. There was a hand print left across his cheek, still quite red. "She smacked me."

"Well you and your immature self decided it would be funny to jump from behind a suit of armor and scare me half to death!" Lily exclaimed in defense.

James grinned guiltily. "It was too good an opportunity to pass up, Lil."

"Well you deserved to be smacked, so don't go complaining when I'm around." Lily told him, trying to sound angry. The huge smile on her face was a dead give-away.

"So, were Alli and Sirius getting along?" James asked, smiling at Lily's fake anger.

"Not quite." Julie informed him. "They're still avoiding each other's eyes, and not talking directly to each other. But they have started to agree with what the other says."

"That's a start," James said. He'd been really worried about Sirius for the past couple days, so in his opinion, any improvement was great.

"Well, if you'll all excuse me, I'm going up to bed." Lily said. "You coming, Jules?"

Julie nodded. "See you later James, 'night Remus." Julie smiled at the latter as she walked up the stairs, and Remus felt his face burn.

"'Night ladies," James called as they shut the door, then turned to his friend. "Looks to me like you're smitten."

What're you talking about?" Remus snapped quickly, walking up the stairs to their room.

"I'm talking about you and Julie," said James, sounding exasperated.

Remus started. "What d'you mean? There's nothing going on!"

James rolled his eyes, unaware of how much he was acting like Sirius would have if he wasn't caught up in his own problems. "Of course there is! I can see it in your eyes, dimwit!"

"Really?"

"Yep Moony; you're definitely head over heels for that girl."

"Oh come off it Prongs," Remus argued, trying to punch him. James dodged, and ran up the rest of the stairs, chanting "Moony loves Julie, Moony loves Julie." Remus glared before chasing after him.

XXXXXX

The Private Diary of Lily Evans

October 3rd

I had to patrol with Potter tonight! And on my god, he is so immature! He jumped out at me from behind a suit of armor and scared me so bad; I smacked him so hard across the cheek that I left a handprint! Actually, it was quite funny. I'm tried to be mad at him, when we got back and all, but I really couldn't. For some reason my anger just, like, left, and I don't know why.

While we were walking, he mentioned Alli and Sirius. He wants them to get together. I guess I can understand why, I just don't want them to. I'm afraid Alli will end up hurt. Sirius isn't a very reliable boyfriend. I remember when he dated Becca; he was only with her for a few days. I know Alli will want more commitment than that, and I just know that Sirius won't be able to give her that. I swear, if he hurts her, he'll wish he'd never been born a male.

Ok, I need to stop acting over-protective. Castrating Black isn't going to help anything. Sure, it'll save the world from future mini-Blacks, but that's not the issue at the moment. The issue is keeping Alli from certain heartbreak. Maybe I should try to get Julie to help.

Damn, I completely forgot about Julie and Rick. She told us all about what happened at Hogsmeade. Rick seems like a nice guy, but I've also noticed Remus has been paying more attention to Julie then he normally does. Oh, I wish Remus would go with Julie instead! They seem so good for each other, when I think about it. Why must our love lives be so freaking complicated?

Lily

XXXXXX

Lily woke up the next morning to hear Becca singing in the bathroom while she put on her makeup.

"Hey Beck?" She heard Alli call from the next bed. "We all know you're a morning person, but that doesn't mean we have to be."

Lily laughed softly and turned over, meaning to try and go back to sleep, when she saw the clock. "Oh crap!" She yelled, jumping up out of bed.

"What now?" Alli moaned from under her pillow.

"It's 8:30 on a Tuesday morning, that's what!" Lily yelled, pulling on a pair of jeans and then hopping on one foot to put a sock on. She heard a thud as Alli tumbled out of bed.

"Why didn't you say so? We only got 30 minutes to get dressed, eat breakfast, and get to class. Let's get moving people. Hut, two, three, four; hut, two, three, four!"

XXXXXX

Lily and Alli got down to the great hall to find Julie and the Marauders already there. They all moved over to make space for the two newcomers.

"So who do you think is gonna try out for the team this year?" Sirius asked James.

"I'm not sure," James answered earnestly. "I know that one kid, Jackson Farrell wants to try for chaser."

"What positions do we need to fill?" Alli asked, jumping quickly into the conversation.

James looked thoughtful for a moment. "We need a chaser and a beater, as far as I'm aware."

Lily decided to tune out as they got into a major discussion on Quidditch skills. The sport had never really been her thing anyway. Then she noticed Rick Lesher making his way over to Julie.

"Hey Jules," she hissed. Julie's head snapped in her direction. "Boyfriend alert." Julie nodded her thanks, got up, and walked over to meet Rick. They were just close to her that, if Lily strained her ears, she could hear what they were saying.

"So, do you want to come on Friday?" Rick was asking.

"Yeah, sure," Julie said. "Where do you want me to meet you?"

"Out by the front doors. Ian and Nora will be there too."

"Ok, cool. See you then." Julie said, and she came back to sit by Lily. They looked at each other for a minute before Lily spoke.

"So, what was that about?"

"We're going out somewhere on Friday. Nothing big," said Julie, looking slightly flushed.

"Who're Ian and Nora?" Lily asked.

"Oh, they're just some friends of Rick's. Nora's in our Divination class as well."

Lily looked over James, Sirius, and Alli chatting. "I'm glad to see Alli's getting some control around Sirius again."

Julie looked over too, and smiled. "That is good, isn't it? I was really worried our friendships would all be screwed from the whole recent fit of jealousy."

"Tell me about it," moaned Lily, causing Julie to laugh. "So, what were you and Alice doing before Alli and I got there and spoiled the good mood?"

"We were just talking," said Julie.

"About…?"

"Lots of stuff, I guess. About our dates, about how we were feeling at the moment, about what bothers us. I was kinda worried, after I got back, but Alice was great."

"Well now I feel even worse for ruining your girl time!" Lily laughed.

"Well don't," said Julie simply. "It was due to be ruined anyway. If you hadn't interrupted, something else would have."

"You sure?" Lily asked.

Yep," Julie told her.

"Hey, it's the owls!" Lily and Julie turned when they heard Alli cry out. "And… oh my god!" About a quarter of the owls bore letters tied with black ribbon; a sign that there had been an attack.

"This is not good," Lily whispered, watching where the owls flew. Across the room, and owl flew up to a small girl, who shrieked and collapsed on the floor.

"Oh no," Julie whimpered. "Look at Becca."

Lily looked over to see a large brown owl flying over towards Becca. When it stopped and dropped its letter in front of her, Becca gasped. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and slid her thumb under the seal to open it. Her eyes got wide, and she began to read out loud.

"Miss Woodstone," she read.

"We regret to inform you that last night, in a series of attacks in an area just south of London, your brother was lost while trying to defend another family. Try as we might, we were unable to identify any of the perpetrators. Please accept our deepest condolences. For information on funeral dates and times, please contact your family as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,"

"Then there's a list of names," said Becca, in a final kind of tone.

"Oh Becca," Alice whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"It's ok," said Becca, in a hoarse voice. "I'm going back to the rooms. I need to get some things done. You guys go ahead to class; I'll be there soon." Without waiting for a reply, she got up and left.

"Is she really going back to the rooms?" Remus asked, sounding concerned.

"Of course not," said Lily. "Becca doesn't want people around when she's upset."

"Yeah," agreed Alli. "She's not going to actually be where she tells us she's going to be. Then we could find her."

"Maybe we should just go to class then." Sirius said.

"Yeah, she just needs some space." Lily said. "She'll be in class."

"We should do something for her later." Julie suggested. "Like a sympathy gift of some kind."

"Like what?" James asked.

"I dunno; comfort food or something." Julie said.

"I like it," Remus said. "Let's go on to History of Magic and we can plan then, since no one ever listens to Binns anyway."

Everyone agreed, and they went.

XXXXXX

All through History of Magic, Becca never showed.

"I've got a copy of the Daily Prophet," said Frank Longbottom, pulling it out of his bag. "They say that this attack was done by the same people who were in charge of those last five. They wear the same clothing, and when they leave, they shoot this marking into the sky."
"I've heard about that," said James. "It's supposedly a skull, with a snake coming out of its mouth."

"Five, now six attacks in only a few months?" Remus asked, as though clarifying his addition. "That's not a good sign. These people are just plain malicious."

"I feel really bad for Becca though," said Alice. "They don't ever know why these attacks are happening. Her brother's just another auror who got called in and didn't make it out. She really doesn't deserve that. No one does!"

"Speaking of Becca, where do you guys think she could be?" Lily asked nervously.

"She said she'd be here," added Julie, her eyes shifting towards the door. "I'm really worried about her. She just found out that her brother died. What if she's having suicidal inclinations or something?"

"You make that sound so dramatic," said Alli. "I'm sure Becca wouldn't do anything like that. She's not brainless."

"People do weird things when they loose someone," Remus pointed out.

"What are we gonna do for her then?" Peter asked.

"We should make something, like a gift basket," said James.

"Yeah, with chocolate in it," cried Alli. The boys all stared at her. "What? All girls need chocolate when they're on emotional highs."

"You're copying that line directly from Lily," Julie pointed out.

"So?" Alli said indignantly. Julie laughed and shook her head.

"So, we get her a gift basket, with chocolate, and what else?" Lily said, pulling out a sheet of parchment to write down ideas.

"You're so organized," Alli sighed. Lily rolled her eyes.

"Some kind of wine!" Alice said. The boys looked at her.

"Yeah, like a French wine or something," added Lily. Then boys turned their heads to look at her.

"Did you know that they drink?" Sirius asked.

"Aside from Alli, not a clue," said James.

"Well then, we've got wine and chocolate." Julie said. "We need a few more kinds of candy, but aside from that I think it's wonderful."

"Class dismissed," came Binns' voice above the multiple side conversations in the room. They all got up, left the room, and grouped together again in the hallway.

"So, how are we gonna get this stuff?" Frank asked.

"Leave that to us," said James, pointing to Sirius and himself.

Sirius nodded enthusiastically. "We'll be back." And without another word, they were gone.

"I'll never understand them," murmured Alli, to numerous nods from the rest of the party.

XXXXXX

Lily and Alice searched for Becca, while Alli and Julie prepared a basket of some sort. Lily found her in the third floor girl's bathrooms, simply sitting. After nearly walking up to her, Lily decided against it, thinking it would be better to see her with their present already done. James and Sirius returned with all the things they had asked for. It seemed like they had been to Hogsmeade, but when the girls questioned them, they wouldn't answer. "We have our ways," Sirius or James would say, causing Remus to groan and roll his eyes.

"Ok, I think we need a delegate, someone to go take our gift to Becca." Frank said. "Lily, you said she was in one of the girl's toilets?" Lily nodded. "Why don't you take it to her then, since you already know where she is?"

There were several nods of agreement from around the room. "Yeah, Lily's always the one who's good at listening to me or calming me down if I'm having a bad day," said Alice. "You should do it Lil!"

After a few more encouraging words, Lily finally said, "Alright. I can see you guys think I'm perfect for the job. Where's the basket?" Julie handed it to her. "I'll be back later, and hopefully with Becca in tow."

XXXXXX

Lily walked in the bathroom, and looked around. Becca was still there. Good. That meant she didn't have to go look all over the school for her. Becca was sitting on a chair in front of one of the mirrors; it looked like she had conjured it. Lily put the basket behind her back and walked up to her friend.

"Hey Becca," she said.

Becca turned and looked at her. Lily noticed that her eyes were puffy, and a little red. "I see you've found me," she said, trying to sound funny as she wiped her eyes. Lily wasn't fooled. She used her own wand to conjure a chair, and sat down, holding out the gift.

"We all made this for you, Beck," she said. "We were really worried about you. Do you want to talk, maybe, about anything?"

Becca shook her head, then looked down at the basket and began to speak. "Why did he have to go? Why my brother? Jason didn't do anything to anybody; he became an auror to try and help people! I didn't even get to say goodbye! And then they send that letter. 'Please accept our deepest condolences?' Haven't they ever lost someone? 'Cause if they have, I think they know getting a letter with 'condolences' does nothing to help anything! It's like they don't even care!"

Lily decided it would be best to wait until Becca had it all out of her system before doing anything. Once Becca seemed to be done, Lily got up and hugged her.

"I know they don't care," she said. "Unfortunately, it's not their job to. It makes you wonder why they're the ones sending the letters in the first place."

"I just wish they would at least try," Becca cried.

"I know," Lily said. "I'm really sorry. About everything. I wish there was more I could do for you."

"Thanks anyway," said Becca, wiping her eyes again. "What's in the basket?"

"Maybe you should look," said Lily, pointing at it.

Becca looked inside it and smiled. "Chocolate and wine? What more could I ask for?"

"Thank Potter and Black," said Lily, smiling too. "You ready to go back? As corny as it sounds, I reckon Jason wouldn't want you to mope about like this." Becca put everything back in the bag, and looked at Lily expectantly. Lily took the hint. "Ok, let's go."

"I need to thank James and Sirius anyways," she said, grabbing the gift and leading the way out the door. "And you're right. It may sound corny, but Jason would rather have me out enjoying myself then being depressed."

As they walked out the door, Lily felt a surge of anger. It's not fair, she thought. That this has to happen to people like Becca, who's never done anything bad in her life. It's just plain wrong! I hope they find out who is it though. These attacks are starting to get sick. Whoever's ruining my friends' lives deserves to be punished.

(A/N) I've noticed that the more chapters I write, the longer they get! I'm actually very proud of myself, seeing as this chapter was 10 whole pages on a microsoft word document! That's the most I've ever done, chapter-wise!

I'm going to see Corpse Bride! I'm so excited! I will say this plainly right now, I love Johnny Depp! I'm going to be looking around for a shirt with his face on it! And I actually, honestly, would wear it! Anyone reading this who is a Johnny fan, have some pocky! You deserve a big pat on the back, for being so smart!

Anyway, please review! I'll try to get the next chapter up quickly, but as my friend would say, mylife is "hell on wheels" right now, and not to mention, the writer's block! Update with something nice, (heck, even a list of your favorite actors would make me happy), and I'll work my hardest and fastest!

Oh, and my apologies for any spelling errors. I've worked on this chapter so long that I think if I read it one more time my eyes will fall out!