Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. All characters belong to a woman with a great imagination and determination, capable of creating this world that is the center of so many stories.

Sins of Angels: Okay, first off, I apologize for the length of this. I am fully aware of how short it is. However, I am going on vacation for a week so I will not be able to update during that time. So I figured that something is better than nothing. I'll be back on the second, and will hopefully have updated by the fourth, at least. Thank you to all my reviewers, and I hope your holidays are going as great as mine. Enjoy.

Chapter 18 – Truth Be Told

Remus stood up, staring at the scene at the top of the stairs. Sirius slowly raised his hands to his side as if surrendering.

"Look, I'm not looking for a fight, okay?" Sirius said quietly. James's hand began to shake slightly. "I just want to help, James."

"Yeah? Well, you can't!" James yelled. His wand, while still raised, pointed at the floor. Remus came to the foot of the stairs, afraid to move closer. "Look, it was my fault! It was my entire fault! She was nothing more to them than the thing that would hurt me the most! She was nothing more to any of them! I doubt Snivellus even enjoyed it!"

Sirius took a step closer. When James made no movement with his wand, he came closer still. He carefully took the wand away from James's hand. "I can see how you must feel, mate," Sirius whispered. "It wasn't your fault. I saw how they had you. You couldn't do anything."

"That's just it, Sirius," James said quietly, looking at the floor. "I couldn't do anything."

He turned around and, grabbing his wand from Sirius's hand, went in his room and slammed the door. Sirius made to go to it but he heard the loud locking enchantment and stopped.

"And thanks a lot for making me sober!" James yelled. He sat crossly on his bed. Well, the beginning wasn't that bad. That is, until Lily asked about…it. He glanced at his dresser, where the bottle stood, only a quarter of the way done. He got up, but his foot bumped into a glass on the floor. He looked down and saw the glass Lily had spilled on herself. He slowly bent down, picked it up and frowned at it, remembering it had started the sleep, haunted by the dreams. He set it down next to the bottle of firewhiskey. For a moment he surveyed the two objects as if daring them to speak. He picked up the bottle and opened his trunk. He dropped it in where it landed on his robes. He frowned as he shut the trunk with a loud snap.

Lily wiped her face with the towel. Her hands were freezing from the cold water. She walked out the door and sat down on the chair, picking up her paper and acting as if nothing had happened. The only indication that the last hour had in fact happened was her frequent stops in writing, followed by her closing her eyes and mumbling. When she heard James's door open, the only thing that changed was the increase in the speed of her writing.

"Hello Evans!" James yelled, cursing himself for not checking if the coast was clear or not. He smoothly shuffled his invisibility cloak behind his back. "Nearly done with your essay?"

"No, Potter," Lily snapped. "I am done. I'm just revising it right now."

"Well, that's great. I just wanted to check," James said and went back in his room. He hurriedly slung his cloak over him and carefully went out again, closing the door after him. Lily looked up straight at him, shrugged, and went back to mumbling the words on her essay.

James carefully and quietly descended the stairs. He got to the bottom and turned around. Instead of finding Lily reading her essay, as he had hoped she would be, he saw her with her hands over her face, rubbing her eyes. "What was that about?" she muttered so quietly James had to move closer to hear. "He just made that whole thing up. I would have remembered if I did something as awful as nearly screwing Severus Snape. I would have remembered."

Lily glanced at her essay. James carefully moved even closer, trying not to give himself away.

"But it says you can have amnesia. It says you may not remember. What if I did? What if I screwed him under the curse and I don't remember?" She said quietly. Her eyes widened and she put a hand to her mouth. "What if I did?" she whispered. Her eyes welled up with tears. James couldn't take it anymore.

"Lily," he said, rolling the invisibility cloak off of him. He dropped the Marauder's map next to it on the floor. No matter how much he could ignore it himself, it was tearing her apart. The one girl he cared for is just about to be hurt again, and this time it really was his entire fault. "You didn't. I'll tell you what happened. I'll tell you everything."