James had fallen asleep again. His injuries might have healed but he was still in pain and he had still banged his head pretty badly during the accident. A combination of pain and concussion made him drift in and out of consciousness as Lily drove to her destination. He was woken by the sound of Lily's angry voice.

"No! Just tell me where we're going…well maybe if you told me I wouldn't get us lost…you're the one giving me directions, if you told me I might know the way…" She let out a low growling sound. "Fine!"

"Who are you talking to?" James asked sleepily.

"Talking? No one. I haven't been talking." Lily sounded slightly panicked, James frowned.

"I just heard you."

"No, you didn't," Lily said certainly. "Go back to sleep, I think you're imagining things from the concussion."

James nodded and wriggled in his chair to get comfy again. Before he closed his eyes they wandered to the dashboard where they saw a glass ball, for a moment he was sure he saw a face in it but he was asleep before he could go to check again.

- - - -

"I still don't get what we're doing here," Remus complained as he, Sirius and Peter made their way up the path to the house before them.

"I told you already. We get in there, we get information, we clear James' name, and he can come home." Sirius answered in an annoyed tone. He'd had to explain this so many times already, granted every other time had been to Peter, who finally seemed to have got it, but that really wasn't the point.

Sirius knocked on the door persistently.

"Yes?" Asked the woman who answered. She was tall and thin, her greying hair fastened in a bun tightly at the back of her head. She had small beady eyes that looked out at them critically. "What do you want?"

"We want to speak to Heather." Peter was the one who spoke and he spoke boldly, surprisingly.

"My daughter isn't well enough for company."

"She was well enough to have interviews with the Prophet," Remus pointed out.

"That was necessary, talking to you is not." She began to close the door; Sirius put his foot in, blocking it from closing.

"Please, it will only take a minute."

"No."

"Mum, it's ok, let them in," a voice shouted from the darkness within the house.

"But Heather –"

"It's okay," it answered again.

The old woman sighed heavily and opened the door, allowing entry for the three men stood outside.

"She's just through there," she pointed to a slightly open door to their right. "You have ten minutes."

"Thank you ma'am," Sirius said, marching to the door.

The room they came out in was dark; it's walls a deep crimson and the curtains closed. A lit fire was set along one wall. Heather was sat on a comfy chair wearing a too-big jumper and sweat pants despite the sweltering heat of the room. Her face was littered with cuts and scratches. The three men shared a look before squashing onto the two-seater couch.

"What do you want?" Heather asked, not coldly but hardly warmly either.

"We want to talk to you about –" Sirius began.

"The night of your attack," Remus finished, shooting Sirius a look to be quiet. "What do you remember?"

"I don't understand, are you reporters, too?"

"No," Peter answered.

At the same time both Remus and Sirius answered, "Yes."

Heather looked at them confused. "We are, he's not, he's just tagging along."

"Oh, ok."

So Heather told them what she remembered. She and James had gone to a hotel where he claimed to be staying but he wanted more than just a conversation. When she tried, that's when he turned on her and attacked. Next thing she knew she was waking up in St. Mungo's.

Remus frowned, Sirius paled, Peter nodded. "Alright, thank you."

Sirius whipped his head to look at Remus, who was the one who had spoken, questioning him with his eyes. Remus shook his head in response and stood up, motioning for the others to do the same. "Thank you for your time, you've been very patient."

"Oh," she stood up and walked with them to the door of the room. "You can see yourselves out, can't you?"

"Of course. Goodbye, and I hope you're better soon."

"Thank you, goodbye," she said, closing the door behind them.

Heather's mother saw them to the door, her beady eyes watching them closely. Remus lagged behind. The old woman opened the door and Sirius and Peter stepped through.

"Oh, I forgot my jacket," Remus said suddenly and turned back before the woman could stop him.

He opened the door of the room he had just come out of and stepped through in one sudden fluid movement. The sight before him was a complete contrast to the one a minute before. The dark red room was now a pale yellow, the curtains open to make the room bright and cheerful. The fire was not only out but the fireplace had vanished. The biggest transformation, however, was that of Heather. Her face was as clear as it had been the night of the "incident"; there were no cuts, scratches bruises or blemishes of any kind, not even a pimple. Her jumper had been removed to reveal a vest top and her long, too-big jeans was a skirt. There was no sign she had been through any trauma in the last five minutes let alone a horrific ordeal a few weeks ago. Remus smirked at her but said nothing; he just took his jacket and left the house.

"Thanks again for your patience," he told Heather's mother before she slammed the door on him.

The bright smile that lit Remus' face was somewhat out of place for the depressed air that hung around his two friends.

"Cheer up guys!" He cried at them, throwing an arm around each of their shoulders. "Don't you see? We got her! James can come home."

"What are you talking about? You just heard what she said."

"And she was lying," Remus pointed out. "And I have just the thing to prove it."

- - - -

"…I'm just asking you to bring her in, ask her about this!" Remus waved a small piece of card at the Ministry official across from him.

"And what is that, Mister Lupin?" The official sneered at him with distaste. "All I can see is a swirl of colour."

"That's the point!" Remus cried. "Look at the colour, look closely. Does that look like a 'serious condition' girl to you?" He slammed the picture onto the table and shoved it under the officials nose.

"This could have been done at any time, it could even be faked for all I know."

Remus let out an exasperated groan. "That's why you need to get your specialists to take a look at it."

"Don't tell me how to command my staff, Lupin!"

"I'm not," Remus shot back defensively. He took a calming breath. "Please, just have them take a look, they'll see it's not fake."

"Why are you pushing this? You're the only one who thinks he's innocent."

"Because I know James and he's a lot of things but he's not what you're accusing him of."

"That's not what his character references are saying."

Remus' jaw tensed, his fists balled and unballed into tight fists. A slow growl formed in his throat. "Just look at the damn card! If I haven't heard from you in twenty-four hours I'll be taking this up with the Minister, himself."

"Oh, yeah?" The official sneered. "And how do you hope to even get an audience with the Minister?"

"Oh, we go way back," Remus answered cryptically before leaving the room, shooting the official one last warning glance before he did.

- - - -

"We're nearly there," Lee told Lily. "Just a few more miles. We can be there within fifteen minutes."

"Really?" Lily asked aloud, these conversations seeming so normal now that it didn't occur to her she looked to be having a one-sided conversation with herself. Still, she was grateful James was asleep. "Well since we've made good time we're going to stop off for some lunch somewhere."

"No," Lee answered. "You must continue."

If this had been a normal conversation, Lily would have glared at Lee but as it was there was no body that came with the voice so she had to suffice with imagining it instead.

"You've been bothering me for over six weeks, you made me drop everything so that I could deal your problems, you made me run over, and look after, a wanted criminal and I've pandered to your every need. Now I am tired, I am hungry, I'm stressed and I'm annoyed and I will be stopping to get some lunch. Do you have a problem with that?"

No answer came from Lee for a long time and when it did it was a very quiet, "No."

Lily gave a self-satisfied smile as she continued drive, turning at a sign for the town of Thurso.

"Thurso?" Lily muttered aloud. "Where the hell is Thurso?"

James stirred and his eyes fluttered open slowly. "I think it's in Scotland. Are we in Scotland?"

"Hey," Lily smiled at the sleepy man. "You feeling better?"

James stretched as best he could in the confines of the small car. "I've felt better but I'll live," he returned her smile. "Are we in Scotland?" He asked again.

"I'd guess so. I'm not actually sure. You hungry? We both need to stretch our legs and I could do with a long break. You're welcome to stay here if you'd prefer…"

James yawned, "A walk sounds good."

Lily nodded but said nothing as she pulled into a half-used car park. "Any preference on food?"

James shook his head as he began to open the car door. "I can't handle much more than soup at the minute so I don't mind."

"Alright," Lily got up, closed her door and scanned the part of the town she saw. She pointed. "Over there."

James looked over. "Sounds good to me."

They walked over to the local pub with a view of coast from the outside benches. James ordered soup, Lily a sandwich. They ate and talked about everything but the things they were keeping from each other, everything but the things that were creating a barrier between the two of them. It was a fun hour or so. They went for a walk around the town after they ate, returning to the car to travel for another fifteen minutes.

"We're here," Lee announced.

Lily frowned. "Please tell me you're kidding," she muttered.

"What?" James asked with a frown.

"Nothing. What do you see?"

James looked out of the window. "Grass. Lots of grass. And hills. Grass, hills and a few flowers."

Lily nodded. "We're in the middle of nowhere!" She shouted several decibels louder than should be allowed in such a cramped space.