Delia leaned against James's door as she thought of her best friend Lily. She felt so bad that Lily was stuck with her family, and only her family, for the entire summer. I have to find a way to save her. Delia thought to herself as she continued to lean on James's door.

Sirius walked towards her and asked, "Finding a way to get Lily out of her house?"

Delia shook her head, bringing her back to the real world before saying, "Yeah, just fruitless ideas though…"

Sirius ran his hand through his long hair before offering, "I could help, if you needed me too."

Delia shrugged, "Thanks, but I don't know, maybe she does need to spend more time with her family, well not her FAMILY, family, like not like Petunia, but I mean her mom and dad, who she never sees, and it seems like she doesn't have a very close relationship with them, and I mean they are her parents, and one should get to know their parents before they, you know, leave the house." Delia took a deep breath, done with her rambling for the moment, she looked up at Sirius, who was deep in thought.

Sirius cleared his throat before saying; "I have an idea."

Delia waited eagerly for his plan when suddenly the doorbell rang.

Both teens glanced at each other for a second before they both raced down to the front door, and the awaiting stranger.

Delia got there first and skidded to a halt on the wood floor, right in front of the door. Without catching her breath Delia grabbed the brass handle and swung the door open.

Delia stared wide eyed for a moment at the stranger as Sirius ran into her. Ignoring him she screamed, "REMUS!" and hugged the pale boy until there was no tomorrow. After a second she let the young werewolf go so she could get a good look at him.

Remus smiled, "Cordelia, I didn't know you would be residing here as well, it's good to see you again, haven't changed one bit in the last few months I see."

Delia smiled a bit wider then before, "Not residing, not technically anyway. I moved in next door. Today actually. And I see you haven't changed a bit either Remus Lupin."

"Coincidence?"

Delia tilted her head to the right slightly, almost listening to something that the two boys couldn't hear and responded, "No coincidence, you know I don't believe in coincidences. Karma. Definitely karma."

Sirius coughed loudly, announcing to everyone that he was, in fact, still there.

Remus smiled again and laughed as he said, "Long time no see, my brother."

The two boys hugged quickly and then looked around to see if anyone noticed. Delia rolled her eyes as she lead Remus into the house asking, "So how long are you staying?"

"As long as I'm wanted."

"Good god, mate, you're moving in too?" Sirius asked incredulously.

Remus just laughed, his grey eyes shining, feeling happier than he'd been in days. The last full moon had been a particularly rough one and he felt instantly better knowing he was with all of his friends, all of his loved ones.

"James is uh, asleep." Delia said and Remus shut the door and put his belongings beside it.

Remus laughed as he turned to Sirius and asked, "Usual rooms then, mate?"

Sirius nodded.

Delia looked shocked, "Do I get a room, too?"

Sirius turned to her, "D, you live next door."

"So?"

Sirius grinned at the look of disappointment on her face, and then he said quickly, "I'll wake James." And bounded up the stairs. As soon as he was out of sight, Delia walked quickly towards Remus, concern written all over her face as she hugged him again, only this time, tighter. "I was so worried about you, Remus, you haven't owled me in weeks!"

"I know, I know, Cordelia, I'm sorry," Remus murmured as he rubbed her back, "but, you know how it is in my house."

Delia let go of the hug and smiled a little, "It's ok, I just, you know, worry that's all."

Remus blushed slightly as he stammered, "I-I like that you wo-worry about me."

Delia smiled again, her eyes shining, then she let out a little sigh and looked at his chest.

"Last one was bad wasn't it?"

After a moment, her golden eyes me with grey ones, her smile gone from her face, now all that was left was sadness.

Remus knew he didn't have to answer but nodded briefly, his mouse brown hair falling into his eyes.

Delia smiled a sad sort of smile and hugged the pale boy again, but this time, comforting him. Letting go once more, Delia pushed the lock of hair away that fell into his eyes moments before and giggled as the piece just fell back.

Remus who was extremely pale and thin always looked slightly out of place in the sunlight, in the day time. Standing at around 5' 11" in his worn clothing, he looked like he needed someone to love him, to care about him.

Delia was the one to do just that.

Ever since second year, when Delia first found out about Remus' werewolf problem she told him that she'd always look out for him until "he finds a girlfriend that he can actually trust enough to tell." But, since that's never happened. Delia made it her job to visit the boy's dorm every month around 6 o'clock when the sun started to go up and make sure she bandaged all Remus' wounds and all the other Marauders. Even though Remus had insisted numerous times that it wasn't necessary, Delia always showed up, wand and potions in hand, ready to help. Delia always felt she had to do something, since her older brother, Michael, who became a werewolf before she was born, died one night, unexplainably, without anyone to help.

Grabbing his arm, Delia steered him gently to the cough.

"Are you hurt?" She asked worriedly as they sat down on the leather sofa.

Remus shook his head, "Just a little worn is all."

Sirius walked down the hall quickly, eager to have all his friends together. When he reached the third room on the left, he stopped and slowly opened the door to James' room, and walked towards his bed. But before Sirius could pull any prank James said, eyes still closed, "I'm awake, I'm awake." James opened his eyes and said, "Moony's downstairs, I'm assuming."

Sirius smiled, "You heard Delia shouting huh?"

James smiled back, "Go back downstairs, I'll be there in half a mo."

Sirius nodded and left the room.

James sighed and rolled over onto his back, closing his eyes for a second then opening them again; glancing around his room filled with posters of his favourite Quidditch team, the Thunder Barons and sighed once again. This was the third time in a week that he woke up from a dream disappointed to be in his room, alone. James rubbed his head thoughtfully, trying to think about the details of the dream, but he could never remember much when he woke. Trying to recall the dream all James saw was him running, running away from something and it was pouring rain outside. Then someone called his name, James turned around and looked at-

"Bloody hell, why can't I remember?" James asked himself angrily, hitting the bed with his fist in frustration. All James could remember after that was an extremely passionate kiss, then another, and another…

"I'm never going to find out who that girl is." James uttered to himself sadly, running fingers through disheveled hair, he got up, shoved his glasses on and walked downstairs, back to reality.

James arrived downstairs to find Delia asking a rather interesting question that only she could come up with;

"If a half-blood witch and a half-blood wizard procreate, will their children be fourth-blooded?"

Sirius just shrugged as Remus said, "I suppose so, considering that's how it's done with heritage and such, take half from each parent."

James sat down next to Sirius, across from Delia and Remus, and asked, "Where did you come up with that anyway?"

"No reason really, It was just bothering me the other day, and also, another question, if a half-blood and a full…blood, pure blood, what have you, had kids?"

"A third-blood?" James guessed.

The other boys just shrugged.

"I never really thought about it Delia, I honestly have no idea." Sirius said.

Then, someone knocked on the door. Delia looked at James who just shrugged and got up.

James opened the door to find Tom, Delia's little brother looking like he just got a ticket to a Quidditch game.

"Delia, Tom's here." James said looking behind his shoulder.

Delia got up and walked over. Leaning on the doorway she asked what was up.

"Mum wanted to know if you were spending the night." Tom's blue eyes looked past her and smiled. Looking back at Delia he asked, "Can I come in?"

"Sure, you can come in." James said from the couch.

Tom followed Delia in, eager to see all of these guys again.

"Hey, guys! Sirius, Remus, James!"

Delia smiled at his nervousness as he shifted from foot to foot.

Each Marauder waved at Tom and invited him to have a seat.

While he did that Delia looked at James and asked, "Am I spending the night?"

"I don't see why not." James said looking at the other people sleeping at his house who didn't seem to oppose.

"Ok, great. Tom, tell mom I'll be home sometime tomorrow alright?"

Tom nodded as James asked him, "Have you grown, mate? You look taller."

"He has the little bugger! He's taller than me now." Delia exclaimed as Tom blushed.

"Do you like Hogwarts so far?" Remus asked.

Tom just shrugged, "It's school, you know, how much can you like it? But, I suppose its fine."

"And how's being a Beater treating you?" James inquired.

"It's not bad, but we still always manage to lose to you guys." Tom said, still smiling.

James smirked, the Hufflepuff team always did managed to lose to them.

Tom then looked at his watch and widened his eyes, "Oh, I have to go. Bye everyone!"

They all said their goodbyes as he let himself out.

"He's so nervous around you guys." Delia said as she heard the door slam.

"Well, it's because we're just such fascinating people." Remus said sarcastically.

"Obviously." Delia answered smiling at him. Then her eyes widened as she said, "Oh, I forgot, I have to go back home and grab something to wear for tomorrow, and well, tonight. Be back in a few." Delia got up from the couch and started walking towards the door before she stopped and turned around and asked, "Hey, Sirius, want to come?"

"Sure"

The two walked out, leaving James and Remus to finally get a chance to talk alone.

"Moony, sorry I didn't say hello before, mate, but Delia kind of took my attention away with that question."

"Don't worry about it Prongs, how's everything going?"

"You mean with Lily? Things are going, as they usually are, nowhere."

Remus gave him a sympathetic smile. "It'll happen."

James let out a frustrated sigh. "I mean, I have tried everything, from asking her out twenty times a day to just acting like she's not there, or at least, trying to.

"As I've said before, I suggest you talk about this with Cordelia, she can help more than I can, that's for sure."

"Still haven't told her?"

"Hmm? Oh no, defiantly not." Remus said, looking past James, "Besides, you and I both know that relationship just wouldn't work out."

James raised one eyebrow. "Moony, I think you're the one that needs to talk to Delia; you are in some serious denial."

"Denial? It seems like everyone is in denial." Remus mused, ignoring James's last comment.

"No, not everyone, just a few people." James said smiling.

"So, Prongs, done any pranks of late?"

"Moony, you know, that's like asking you if you've read any books lately."

"True."

"Want to hear about the time Sirius and I almost got caught sneaking 25 chickens into Mr. Baughman's house?"

"Well, obviously."

Sirius and Delia walked slowly down James's drive way, Delia listening intently to Sirius's plan to get Lily out of her house. As soon as he was done Delia looked at him and said,

"But it-it's so simple, how come I didn't even think of that!"

"Shrug." Sirius said.

Delia raised her eyebrows in question.

"I didn't feel like shrugging because I've done that at least twenty times today, so I'd thought instead to just say 'shrug'."

"Sounds exactly like something I would do."

"Shrug."

Delia laughed, "Well, I don't see why we couldn't try it."

"Shrugging?"

"No, the plan silly."

"Oh, right."

Delia and Sirius continued to walk to Delia's house when she said, "It is fantastic though."

"The plan?"

"No, the shrugging."

"I knew you were going to say that."

Delia stopped dead in her tracks, "Shit!"

"Again with the language, Cordelia! You're mother would be ashamed."

"Remind me to send the letter to Calia ok? No, wait, actually remind me to write a different letter to her."

"Ok…why?"

"Because, I want to tell her that Remus is here, and that she is invited to come and stay at my house all summer."

"Clever."

"Shrug."

Reaching the end of James's driveway both friends turned right and spotted Tom, Delia's brother a few feet away. Immediately after seeing her brother, Delia cupped her mouth with her hands and shouted, "OH MYSTICAL UNICORN, TELL ME YOUR MYSTICAL SECRET!"

Tom quickly turned around, and shouted, "BOATS!"

"You're weird." Sirius said with a smile on his face.

Both siblings doubled over in laughter and continued to walk back to their house.

"Thank you," Delia said turning her head, her golden eyes shinning, "Mr. States-The-Obvious."

"He's not going to join us?" Sirius asked as he watched Tom turn back around and continue walking.

"Nah, he probably wants to get inside as quickly as possible, he likes his snack foods."

"You two seem to get along fabulously well, since most siblings don't get along, at all." Sirius finished his sentence more quietly than he started.

"Sirius-"

"It's ok, don't worry about it, I'm fine." Sirius said smiling a fake smile, his family wasn't exactly what Sirius thought of when he thought of all the people that loved him.

"No, you're not. But, I'm going to let it pass anyway. You know you have so many people that care about you, don't you?"

"Oh, yes, I know."

"People that are like family, people that love you."

"Yeah, I guess I am rather lucky, now that I think about it."

"Brightest star my ass." Delia said for the second time this day, but now, she was just kidding.

"Shrug."

Arriving at Delia's house a moment later, Delia was surprised to see that all the boxes in the front yard were gone.

"Hmm, dad must've come home." Delia's was talking about her father being a wizard, since without magic, the unpacking business would've taken hours.

Delia walked through the front door, followed closely by Sirius. Delia stopped abruptly before she got too far into the living room and started to take her shoes off. Sirius, who was too busy looking around the place to notice that Delia stopped walking, ran into her.

"Oh, sorry, D. Wh-"

"Mum's anal, we have to take our shoes off before we get into the house. See?" Delia pointed to three pairs of shoes next to the door that Sirius hadn't noticed when he first walked in.

"Aha." Sirius mumbled and quickly slipped off his shoes and carefully placed them next to the other pairs, making sure they were all in a neat row.

Delia just raised her eyebrows at him as she leaned down to put her shoes next to the others, not caring whether they were all in a straight line.

"I just wanted to give a good first impression." Sirius said then stopping himself from actually doing it he said, "Shrug."

"I believe we, Sirius Black, have our first inside joke."

"Wow, this is both an honor and a privilege to have an inside joke with you, Cordelia."

"I know. Oh, and also, don't worry about making a good first impression; they know enough about you already."

"They do?"

"Well, yeah. You are my friend, and besides, Tom practically worships you guys."

"Oh god," Sirius said, his eyes suddenly big. "what do they know about me?"

"Nervous?"

"Now, yes."

Delia laughed, "Come on, follow me."

Sirius followed Delia obediently through a living room and hallway that was set up exactly how James' was, into the kitchen where they found Delia's parents.

"Hey guys, this is Sirius Black."

"Nice seeing you again, Sirius." Delia's mum said, her golden eyes flashing with curiosity.

"Black," Her father mumbled, "nothing like your mother I hope?"

Sirius let out a relieved sigh, "Oh no, nothing at all, you uh, you needn't worry."

Delia's father chuckled, shaking Sirius' hand.

Delia's mother smirked and for a moment they looked like twins, "Michael, I'm sure they've had enough of the stuffy old people."

"Nice meeting you Sirius."

"You too, s-sir."

"Cordelia," Delia's mum said, turning towards her, "take care of yourself alright?"

"Will do." Delia said bowing and walking out of the kitchen with Sirius following quickly behind.

"You are quiet the character, D."

Delia just looked at him, then tilted her head and asked him, "What's with you just then? All weirdo on the parentals."

"Do you often make up words?"

"Uh, how long have you known me? But, you're changing the subject."

"I was never good at "meeting the parents"."

"Sirius, it's not like we're going out, you needn't worry." Delia said as she led him towards what he assumed to be her room.

"I know, I know."

Delia opened her bedroom door as Sirius exclaimed, "Damn, D, have enough shit on your walls?"

Delia just laughed as she walked to her dresser and started taking out clothes, ignoring the fact that Sirius was staring dumbfounded at all the posters and pictures she had on her walls.

"I like a lot of things."

"I've noticed, Delia, I've noticed." Sirius said shaking his head in amazement as he sat on her bed, waiting for her to finish when he spotted a photo album by the bed. Grabbing it and starting to flip through he couldn't help but smile, the first few pages just had Delia, Calia, Zee, and Lily making funny faces into the camera and making ridiculous poses, they looked really young though, like first year. Sirius continued to flip through, moving over a bit on the bed to let Delia have a look too. Sirius laughed out loud as he found one of him and James in first year, running away from their very first prank, dying Snape's hair pink. When he started to turn the page, Delia gently took it from him and put it under her arm,

"Let's bring it back with us, shall we?"

"Ok, you ready?"

"Yeah," Delia reached for a tote bag next to her and started walking out of the room, "You never said if you liked my room, or not."

Delia shut the light off as Sirius said, "Well I haven't seen all of it."

"You'll get the tour later, come on, who knows what Remus and James are up to, as we speak."

Sirius barked a laugh as he followed her to the front door.

"I'M LEAVING." Delia shouted in the direction of the kitchen as she put her shoes on and went outside, Sirius walking next to her.

When they arrived back at James's house they found both guys talking animatedly about Quidditch,

"Now, see, if you go to the right a bit-"

"But, the snitch is on the left."

"Yes, yes! Exactly. So as I was saying; you go to the right a bit, to confuse the other Seeker you see, and then, and then you go quickly and abruptly towards the left and chase after it!" Remus said excitedly, on the edge of his seat.

"Hmm, it would buy the Seeker a few extra seconds."

"Precious seconds."

"Doesn't sound all that bad, Moony."

"Thanks." Remus said, after calming down a bit. He then reached towards the table and grabbed a cup of tea and took a long sip.

"Heylo, we're back." Delia said as she and Sirius went to sit on the couch as well.

James nodded in their direction.

Delia then turned to Remus, who she was sitting next to and said, "You know, you should start wearing tweed."

"Tweed? But, whatever for?"

"No reason…ever heard of the name Giles?"

"What?"

"Nothing," Delia said smiling secretively then said more to herself then anyone, "Cup of tea, cup of tea, almost got shagged, cup of tea." Then she doubled over with laughter, "Sorry," Delia said after a moment, "inside joke with Calia."

"Alright then," James said, "want to add anything else completely random, Delia?"

"Sure…uh…how about; needle in the hay, that random enough for you?" Delia asked smirking in James's direction, her golden eyes sparkling.

"So," Remus said, clearing his throat, "what should we do now?"

A/N: It'd be really nice if you'd review.