Disclaimer: Once more loyal fans I'm not JK Rowling. I think everyone knows that, but the nasty, scary lawyer hounds from hell types make me have to waste this piece of cyber-space each chapter.

Chapter Seven:

Repercussions

After safely delivering Bertha to Madam Pomfrey's care I started back to class. I walked swiftly and purposely along the familiar corridors of our magical school. I knew everyone was in class and where I was heading, so I took very little attention to my surroundings. Apparently I wasn't the only one.

An unexpected force collided with my left arm. I stumbled with the blow and fell heavily against the corridors cool stone wall. Pain shot through my upper arm, and I crumpled into a heap on the floor. Closing my eyes to centre myself and felt someone else's presence behind me.

"Lily, are you okay?" I recognized Remus' smooth tones. "I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going."

As I looked up at him he flashed me his sweet lop-sided grin.

"It's okay, neither was I," I said as I rubbed the rapidly forming bruise on my upper arm. He crouched down next to me, his amber eyes brimming with concern.

"Are you alright? Did you knock you're head? Do you need to see Madam Pomfrey?" He asked quickly as he checked me over for any obvious signs of injury.

"Yes, no and no," I laughed, smiling at his fussing. "I'm fine Remus. Nothing worse than a bruise."

I started to pull myself up off the floor, but I felt strong arms lifting me easily, and setting me on my feet. His hand hovered behind my back as he made sure I was steady.

"Good," he said seriously. "I'm in enough trouble with Prongs, without grievously injuring the love of his life."

"I am not the love of Potter's life!" I hissed, keeping my voice down only because of the classes in progress around me. Remus however, must have seen my temper flare in my emerald green eyes as he stepped backwards from me. I took a deep breath and forced my temper down. It wasn't the first time Remus had said this to me, it was an in-joke between us, and I was uncomfortable at my over-venomous reaction to something that had always been safe between us.

"Lily, calm down. It was a joke," he was shocked at my response too. I could hear it in his voice.

I smiled, in what I hoped was a reassuring manner. "Sorry, Remus. I must be over tired.

"Anyway," I began, changing the subject quickly. "What did McGonagall say?"

The tiredness seemed to return with abundance, and the world weighed heavily on my friends shoulders, as we started together towards the Charms department.

"I have a week of detention with Filch, starting tonight, and I have to complete a five-foot essay on the responsibilities and duties of the prefect, due Friday

"You know Filch is going to keep me up past mid-night," he moaned forlornly. "Along with our other work, and this assignment I'm never going to get any sleep."

"And you have to talk to James and Peter. Not to mention writing to Sirius," I added, helpfully.

"Thanks for cheering me up Lily," he responded miserably.

I stopped dead. He carried on walking, not noticing my disappearance from his side. I trotted to catch up with him and dragged him into an empty classroom. I was breathing heavily now, anger bubbling to the surface. I closed the door and rounded on him.

"Do you really think you deserve cheering up, Remus Lupin?!" I asked rhetorically. "Do you believe you've suffered enough because I can tell you, you haven't.

"Telling me something embarrassing is nothing. Sirius was in tears! He felt so guilty and remorseful at betraying you lot. Then at the same time, he felt as if he'd been stabbed in the back, and no-one was there for him," I felt my voice rising. I was starting to yell, and I could feel my hair sparking with electricity. Remus looked terrified, unlike James, it was rare for him to be on the wrong side of me. "JAMES COULDN'T HAVE BEEN COLDER IF HE'D BEEN MADE OF ICE. YOU DON'T EVEN CARE WHY HE DID WHAT HE DID, AND PETER, WELL PETER JUST THINKS WHATEVER POTTER THINKS.

"SIRIUS IS AT ANDROMEDA'S NOW. THINKING HIS FAMILY, HIS GIRLFRIEND AND THE BOYS WHO SWORE ETERNAL BROTHERHOOD TO HIM, HAVE REJECTED HIM.

"AND YOU THINK YOU DESERVE CHEERING UP!"

"Lily, I didn't mean…." He squirmed under my glare, before shaking his head as if to clear it. "Padfoot was crying?"

"Like he'd lost his entire world," I implored, pleading him with my eyes to see this from Sirius' point of view.

He shook his head vigorously again, sandy hair flopping into his face. "It doesn't change anything!" His voice was harsh, unfeeling, and his deep amber eyes flashed dangerously. "Thanks to him I could be surrounded by Dementors right now, reliving every nightmare I've ever had.

"Only they wouldn't be my nightmares anymore, they'd be my memories. Half-recalled memories of tearing flesh, and frightened screams. Then waking the next morning to find the taste of human blood in my mouth and a mutilated body on the floor, and the slow, horrifying realization that I had dismembered it." I saw moisture pricking his eyes, and self-loathing burning from their amber centre.

"Is that what you have nightmares about?" I said, my anger dissipating.

He nodded, before letting his head hang down, eyes focused on the floor. "Sometimes it's James, sometimes Sirius, sometimes Peter, sometimes a person I don't even know," he lifted his head to meet my eyes. "Sometimes it's even you."

I closed my eye's, trying to block the tears that were forming there.

"If Sirius had been successful," he spat suddenly, causing me to throw my eye's open in surprise. "I would be in a cold, damp cell, with nobody but soul-sucking demons for company, trapped inside this same memory again and again. Knowing that death wouldn't even bring relief, because when insanity finally lead me howling to my demise, I'd just find myself thrown into eternal damnation.

"It's enough to have you begging for the Dementors kiss," he added bitterly. "So don't tell me I haven't suffered enough, because I know exactly what would have happened if Sirius Blacks idiocy hadn't been discovered."

"But it was," I soothed, shocked at this passionate outburst from one who was usually so calm. "And you're fine. You're soul is safe" - I stepped towards him and placed a hand gently on his breast bone. - "And it will never be damned, Remus. The human you are twenty-seven and a half days of the month, is much to good for that."

"It's not that simple Lily," he said, smiling sadly and gently shaking his head. "I'm a dark creature. I can be as refined and gentlemanly as I like, it doesn't change the fact that I'm a monster."

I started to protest at this description of himself, but he quietened me with another shake of his pale head, and a dismissive wave of his hand. It's what I am, Lily. What I will be for the rest of my life. The only way this darkness, this evil, will ever be rid from me is through death. That's when the wolf will finally release me, but only if the wolf has never tasted human blood.

"Sirius knows this. He's sat with me when the nightmares come, knows my deepest fear is to hurt someone. He knows my only salvation lies in death, and he tried to take that from me. My one hope."

"Remus," I whispered, as tears fell silently down my freckled cheeks. "You don't mean……You wouldn't…….?"

"Of course not Lily," he reassured me, as he pulled my quietly sobbing form into a hug. "I'm just not sure I can trust Sirius again, when he thinks so little of my immortal spirit."

"I'm sorry, Remus," I said pulling away from him and wiping my eyes with the back of my hand. "I didn't know."

"It's okay, how could you?" he said, dismissing my apology. "Come on, or they'll be no point in going to Charms at all."

I nodded and we left the classroom, once again winding our way through Hogwarts hallowed halls. A comfortable silence settled between us, and we didn't brake it until we finally arrived outside Flitwicks classroom.

"I think you're wrong about Sirius," I said simply, pausing with my hand on the classroom door-handle. "He wasn't discovered. He confessed to James as soon as he remembered. He looked horrified at the time." Remus' look told me that wasn't enough to make him exonerate Sirius. I shrugged. "It's up to you Remus, but he cares about you more than you think. You should try to forgive him, or you'll both be worse for it."

He forced a placating smile. "I'll think about it," he promised and together we entered the classroom.

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The rest of the day went smoothly enough, for me at least. My discussion with Remus had cleared the air between us and deepened our friendship. I gained a new prospective on the werewolves life, the pressures he lived with. I was also slightly unnerved by his acceptance that he was a monster, and that his freedom from his "dark" side would only come in death. I wasn't able to process that, I couldn't ever accept Remus as a monster. With his sweet, kind nature and unassuming air, he couldn't be less evil if he tried.

Where as my day was quite tranquil and calm, the same couldn't be said for the remaining Marauders. James didn't speak to anyone all day, and he didn't even look at Remus. The storm that was brewing behind his eyes had changed them from their usual hazel, to an ugly muddy brown, and a very Severus-like sneer was on his face. Everyone avoided him, knowing through experience, that when James Potter was in a bad mood he could become a little…… "hex-happy".

Remus also avoided James, not difficult seems James was ignoring him, although he did seem uncomfortable that James could look through him as if he didn't exist. I tried to encourage Remus to rectify the situation, but he was grateful for the reprieve. Breathing space, he said. Calm before the storm, I said.

As for Peter, he was in a state of nervousness I had only ever seen in small, cornered animals. He was split in two between Remus and James, and didn't want to take sides with either of them. So he spent the day sat between them, making forced conversation.

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At dinner that evening, I sat with Amy as she re-lived her date with Martin for me. Something that, with the events of the weekend, I hadn't had chance to do.

"So, when are you going out next?" I asked.

"Well," she said with a blush. "I hope you don't think I'm abandoning you, but in about ten minutes. We're going for a walk around the lake."

"Like Sirius and Florence?" I teased, raising my eyebrows.

"No!" She said in mock horror. "Lily Evans, you are the very limit!"

We both dissolved into girly giggles, oblivious to the chubby young man who joined us. When our laughter eventually died away, we noticed him staring miserably down at his plate.

"Hey Peter…..you okay?"

He nodded mutely, but didn't look up.

Amy and I shared a significant look, and she rose from the table. "Well. I'm going to meet Martin. I'll see you later."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," I said as she left the Gryffindor table. I then returned my attention to Peter. "Where's Potter and Remus?"

"No idea, and right now, I'm not even sure I care." I hit him with a disbelieving glare. "Okay, I don't mean that, but they're driving me mad."

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked.

"No, I want everything to go back to normal," he said, moodily. We sat in silence for a few minutes after that, before," I'm sorry Evans, I didn't mean to be rude. It's just……"

"Just what Peter?" I asked him, trying to get the timid Marauder to open up.

"They've never fought like this before," his downcast eyes and rounded shoulders showing his distress. "What if this is the end of the Marauders? What if those three can't sort this out?"

I could understand this fear. The group had had it's disagreements before, but never for this long. Then again, there had never been an incident like this before. Arguments had centred around Sirius saying something stupid, or whether a prank was appropriate, and even then, it was rare. To stab one of the others in the back was inconceivable, let alone two of them doing it. The Marauders had been shaken to the core.

Lowering my head, I tried to meet Peters watery blue eyes under his floppy blond hair. When I managed it I reassured him, "It will be okay Peter. It may take longer than usual, but you guys will work this out."

Peter let out a small snort of laughter, "Like I have a say in this. It's between Sirius, Remus, and James. All I can do is stay out of it and went to see what happens."

"You must have some opinion on what's happened!" I said, slightly shocked at his blasé attitude to the events.

"Of course," he said defensively. "I think they've both behaved like prats. Sirius has almost exposed us all, but at least he had some sort of reason. What's Remus' excuse?"

"Maybe you should ask him," I reasoned. "You and James. Then you can get to the bottom of this."

Peter shrugged, "Maybe."

"What else is bothering you?" I asked, sensing something deeper than just concern for his friends. Getting no reply I pushed further, "Come on Peter, it'll help to tell someone."

"It's nothing," he lied. "Just something stupid."

My concern grew. Of all sixth year boys, Peter was the hardest to get under the skin of. Sirius was an open book to everyone. He had always, and I suspected always would, wear his heart on his sleeve. Remus would always talk to me, we'd been friends since we started at Hogwarts. James was more cagey, he preferred to keep his feelings to himself so not to burden anyone else, but if you asked he'd usually tell you. Peter, however, so rarely thought something different from the other boys, or if he did, he didn't say anything. At this moment I realized I had never heard Peter voice an opinion in one of their arguments until the end, when they'd found a solution. I wondered why.

"What is it Peter?"

"What happens if they don't sort it out? It's okay for James, Sirius and Remus, they're smart, talented and popular. I'm not," he sighed. "What will I do if the Marauders are no more?"

"You'll be fine Peter, don't worry. Besides, they'll sort this out, they always do," I reassured him, but I couldn't help worrying a little myself. What Peter had said was completely true. James, Sirius and Remus were popular outside their little group. Of course Sirius had his fan club, but he wasn't the only one with admirers, James and Remus had their fair share as well. They were liked by the boys as well, held in awe because of the pranks they'd pulled, and got away with. However, Peter was different. Although liked by the other Marauders, he wasn't very popular on his own merits, and was almost the unknown Marauder.

"I hope you're right Evans," he said, interrupting my train of thought. "Because everyone knows I'm lucky to be one of the gang."

"That's not true," I reassured him as we left the Great Hall and started heading towards Gryffindor Tower. "The others don't think that. You're a Marauder, they wouldn't be the same without you. I can't think of them without Wormtail."

He smiled and we both continued silently up the enchanted staircases.

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"Wait until Lily Evans gets back. She'll know what to do."

These were the first words I heard as the Fat Lady's portrait swung slowly open to admit Peter and myself to the Gryffindor common room. Peter and I exchanged worried looks and scrambled through the portrait hole.

On the other side a circle of people had surrounded something, although due to the pure denseness of the goggling circle, I couldn't tell what. Nor could I see who was speaking, although I could hear the conversation.

"We don't even know when that'll be. She could be hours, and he has detention in thirty minutes."

"I think detention is the least of his worries at the moment."

"Isn't there anyone above forth-year here?"

"Nobody except him."

"What made Potter do it, anyway?"

"What made Potter do what?" I asked loudly.

A tense silence fell over the common room and the crowd before us parted to reveal a young girl knelt next to a very disfigured, and very unconscious Remus Lupin.

A/N: Hello All, I appologise for this late update. It was all ready but I got sick and with my head pounding I couldn't bear to look at my PC's glaring screen. So once again sincire and profuse appolgies. Thanks as always to my fantastic reviewers: The Fifth Marauder; whooop-deeee-don't ask; Goldilocks31890; Amalynne O'hara; Black Emerald Dawn; greentea; marauding-siriusly; navy-blue6, you have no idea how much it means to me so cookies for all.

Once again please tell me what you think. Like? Hate? Please let me know because I can't improve without feedback.

Take care all, Gem