A/N: Chapter 17 is here. I'm sorry it took a bit long, and I really dreaded writing this chapter, you guys. I wanted it to turn out right, and I'm not sure it did. Either way, I really hope you guys will like it, and I'm super thankful to everyone who has been reading, reviewing, following and favoriting. It means the world to me, and I can't believe I've already come so far with this story!

By mid-October, things had turned around for Aurelia. It had been bound to happen sooner or later, and all she could do was curse herself for not realizing that sooner. It had all started that night in Hogsmeade, with their argument about Lucius. Sure, that had been far from their first ever argument, but nevertheless, it was the one that set the motion of change going.

If September had been nothing but blissful, October seemed to be the opposite. Sure, there were some blissful moments here and there, but useless bickering seemed to fill up most of the time she had together with James. Either he was upset over her family, or over her 'taking their side'. Or it was Aurelia who was upset about the fact that Lily Evans was coming on to him, because she clearly was, even if James himself was oblivious to it.

It was ironic, really. James had been dying to get Evans' attention for years, and the redhead hadn't showed the slightest interest in him before. Not until now, that his attention was elsewhere. And even though Aurelia did have his attention, it bothered her that he wouldn't even acknowledge the fact that Lily was clearly interested in him. It made her question the secrecy around their relationship, which had never really been optional.

If she and James went public, her family would know in no time, and Merlin knew what kind of disasters that would bring. But now, well, now Aurelia was beginning to wonder if James had his own secrets for keeping their relationship secret.

The jealously was getting to her, she was well aware of that. It wasn't only the big things, like the fact that James had been as well as obsessed with the Head Girl for years. No, it was the small things as well. Like the fact that Lily was colourful where Aurelia was grey, that she was an innocent muggleborn, where Aurelia seemed to be guilty by association with her family. It was the fact that Lily was a bold Gryffindor who stood up for herself and for others, whereas Aurelia was a quiet Hufflepuff who spent most her time trying to be invisible.

Gryffindor was going to play their first quidditch match of the year, against Slytherin, which was a huge deal to anyone even vaguely interested in quidditch, and even more so to the Gryffindor chaser. Aurelia had been arguing with James the day before, and so she had slept alone, in her Hufflepuff dorm for the first time in what felt like weeks.

She hadn't planned on going to the match, because quite frankly, seeing him play was both exhilarating and worrying, and she wasn't quite ready to forgive him for their most recent row just jet. She had, however, during one of their study sessions in the library, been convinced by Remus to come.

He was quite sensible, that boy, and how he had ever ended up being best friends with James, Sirius and Peter, was beyond her. But then again, Aurelia was friends with them, too, and she wouldn't consider herself reckless.

"He might not have told you himself, but I know it would mean a lot to him if you were there."

"Did he tell you that?"

"No, but…"

"Well, does it always have to be me who comes crawling for forgiveness?"

"That's not what I said, Lia. Now, I don't know what's been going on between you two, but I'm sure you won't work anything out as long as you're not even willing to face each other."

"Must you always be so sensible, Remus?"

"I'm sure James and Sirius would be locked up in Azkaban by now if I weren't."

"Or dead," the girl remarked, shaking her head in disbelief as she closed the book in front of her.

"Or stuck in an alternate dimension," the boy grinned, him too closing his book.

"Promise me you'll think about it," he added, with a much more serious look, earning a small nod from the Hufflepuff before she retreated from the library.

As always, Remus had been right. Aurelia went to the match, and the couple had kissed and made up under the stalls after James had scored the winning goal. As expected, seeing him up there had vanished any irritation she had with him, and replaced it with concern that he would fall, and plain adoration at his determination and skill. Lily Evans might have been sitting in the Gryffindor stall with Aurelia's friends, wishing that James was hers. But whether people knew about it or not, that brilliant Gryffindor chaser was hers, and for the moment, that was good enough for the blonde witch.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he chanted, as they finally pulled away from each other and the intense snogging session that had followed them meeting under the stalls.

"No, I'm sorry. I overreacted. I hate arguing with you. You were brilliant today," she smiled, running her hands through his already messy hair. Looking at him now, she could barely remember why she had been arguing with him in the first place. Merlin, did he look good in those Gryffindor red quidditch robes. He was kind, brilliant, and not to mention, insanely handsome. And arguing over the fact that Lily fancied him hadn't been fair to him at all, because it was out of his control.

"I won us the bloody game, didn't I?" he grinned smugly, before placing another kiss on her lips.

"I really have to go now before the team misses me too much, but you'll come tonight, won't you? I'm throwing a celebration party in the head common room."

"Of course, I'll be there, love."

Several hours later, Aurelia Fawley was one of the many Hogwarts students in the head common room who had had one too many drinks. She blamed Sirius Black and his strange capacity for always carrying a full bottle of firewhiskey, and she blamed Peter Pettigrew for his unhealthy fondness for whiskey-gobstones. Hell, she even blamed James Potter for winning that match in the first place.

Aurelia, Peter and Sirius had been playing that silly drinking game for what felt like an hour, and when Peter finally had enough and went running for the bathroom, they had all probably had a good six shots each.

"Where's Prongs?" Sirius blurted out after scanning the lively room a few times, finally settling on the blonde in front of him.

The Hufflepuff realized she hadn't seen her boyfriend since before they started playing the drinking game, and all the sudden she found herself worried again. What if the Slytherins had gotten to him? The Slytherins he usually went after, picking fights with, and the ones he had literally just beaten in the Quidditch match hours ago.

"I… I don't know."

"I promise you he's passed out somewhere, he was completely off the trolley when I saw him."

"What if… Do you think he's okay?"

"Relax, Fawley, he's probably just gone to bed. Let's check his dorm."

But James wasn't in his dorm either, and Lia's suspicions only became more likely. For all she knew, he could be hanging by his feet somewhere, hexed from top to toe. She was just about ready to run out of there to start looking for him, when Sirius grabbed her wrist.

"Calm down, Fawley. I know how to find him. We'll just use the map."

"The map? What map?"

"He never told you? The Marauders' Map."

"Is this your creepy way of keeping track of each other? I swear, you boys never fail to surprise me. So, what? You made a map that shows the Marauders, real time? Is it connected to your wands?"

Sirius chuckled and shook his head before tapping his wand to a piece of parchment he had pulled out of James' bedside table.

"I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good," he mumbled, before looking up at her with a smug grin.

"Try everyone."

"What do you mean, everyone?" she asked, eyes wandering down to the map, which revealed dozens of footprints and names in the head common room. It showed everyone. But that couldn't be possible. She didn't even know where to begin in figuring out how it worked, and… they had made it themselves? It was ridiculous. But then again, she was a quite drunk, and Sirius could simply be pulling her leg.

"So that's how he always manages to escape Filch… Give me that," she demanded, as she reached out to snatch the parchment out of his hands, but Sirius was quicker. He started intently at one spot, before hiding the map behind his back, and the serious look on his face morphed back into a slight grin, one that ironically suited him much better than any seriousness.

"It's for Marauders' eyes only," he teased, backing away from her.

"Ugh! Then why would you show it to me in the first place? You're a right git, Sirius Black! Now give me that map!"

The blonde followed the backing boy around the room, trying to reach her short arms around him to get hold of that map and get out of there, but she was rather unsuccessful.

She wasn't quite sure how it had happened, but she suspected the bloody firewhiskey was the reason behind the boy backing straight into the bedside, falling onto his back and dragging her with him. Either way, that was the position she found herself in, still reaching for the bloody map, which he currently held behind his head, off the other side of the bed. It was impossible for her to reach, and while she did her best to try, her attempts reached an abrupt stop as soft lips were suddenly pressed against hers. Lips that tasted like firewhiskey and cigarettes, determined lips. Lips that were warmer and softer, yet slightly thinner than James'. Shit. Lips that weren't James'.

She was lying on James Potter's bed, on top of Sirius Black, who was kissing her. But she hadn't kissed him back, had she? Of course, she hadn't. She couldn't possibly have. She wouldn't.

"What the hell, Sirius! How bloody pissed are you?" She exclaimed as she pulled away from him, grabbing the map in the process, and stood back up.

"Don't look at that, Fawley," he warned, getting up from the bed to follow her across the room. Only, this time it was her who had the map, and she wasn't letting him have it until she had had a look at it. She determinedly walked away from him, her back placed between him and the map, as her eyes hurriedly scanned the map for his name. And there it was. James Potter. In a small room, just down the hallway from the party, his footsteps dangerously close, and counter to those of Lily Evans. It was a nightmare come true. She had already lost so much, she'd lost large part of her family to the death eaters, she had lost her parents to the damn blood elitism that made them desperate to marry her off, she had possibly lost her friendship with Sirius thanks to that stupid, fucking kiss. And now, she had lost James, the light of her life, to Lily sodding Evans.

It shouldn't surprise her, it really shouldn't. But it broke her heart, nevertheless. James was her everything, he was all she had left, all that mattered anyway. And the first chance he got, he had gone running back to the muggleborn redhead.

Aurelia hadn't realized the tears in her eyes until one dropped, and landed on the map in her hands.

The boy was moving slowly, taking the map out of her hands and wrapping his arms around her.

"We don't know," he begun, but was immediately interrupted.

"Really? And what do you tend to do when you're alone in a broom closet with a girl?"

"Alright, alright. He's a twat, Fawley, and you deserve better."

"Are you being serious right now?"

"I'm always Siri…"

"Yes, yes, I know, you're always Sirius. Very funny. Now let go of me, and leave me alone. I can't believe you would try to take advantage of this situation… of me. I thought we were friends."

"But we are friends, Fawley. I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to… It's just… I'm in lo," once again, the raven-haired boy was interrupted by the much shorter and thinner figure in front of him. He had let go of her by now, but was still standing dangerously close, eyes pleading as he began speaking the words she had dreaded hearing since the summer holidays. And he was just about to find out why you should never piss off a Hufflepuff.

"Don't. Don't you dare speak those words, Sirius Black. I am so fucking over your bullshit. Yours and his. You're no better than him, so don't try to fool yourself."

In true pureblood fashion, the pale girl kept her posture and remained calm up until the point when she had left, and walked away from both the boy and the party. It wasn't until then, when she was alone out in one of the dark castle corridors, that she realized what had really happened that night, and allowed herself to fall apart.

She didn't see James until several days later, when she had purposely avoided him in the corridors and in the Great Hall for as long as she could. Well, she hadn't seen any of them to be honest, and while she hated being alone, she wasn't up for meeting any of them. She didn't want to face James or Sirius, for obvious reasons, and she wouldn't bare having to explain anything to Remus or Peter. So, she kept her nose down. Thankfully, she had been practicing the invisible girl act for nearly six years now, so it wasn't difficult per se, only different.

However, Aurelia had seemed to forget about something. The Gryffindor chaser was brilliant at just that; chasing. And so, he had figured her out, knowing that she always headed to breakfast horribly early in the morning to avoid him.

The tall boy looked tired, more so than usual, as he pulled her into the window alcove with him, as he had so many times before. He was sporting an ugly black-eye, and yet, the bags under his eyes were obvious. He looked broken, she thought, almost like her. But he had no right to take that feeling away from her. It was her right to be sad, not his. And so, she was overrun with anger instead, because it seemed like he was trying to steal everything away from her; even her emotions.

"You're avoiding me," he stated, as she pulled her wrist free from his grip and took a step back, because standing that close to him was too much. His bloody cologne was too much.

"I am."

"Do you really think that's going to solve anything?"

"Wow, James. You're one to talk. I'm not the one who shagged Lily Evans in a broom closet last week. Now, am I?"

"I didn't shag her," he defended weakly.

"Well then, please, do tell. What were you doing in there? Playing gobstones? I reckon it's a tad tight in there for that, wouldn't you say?"

"Would you please stop that?"

"What happened to your eye?" she demanded, ignoring his request.

"Sirius happened."

"Good."

"Lia, would you please…"

"You said you were over her."

"I know, but I…"

"Did you think you could have the both of us? Is that it? I nearly left my family for you. I told Lucius I loved you, do you have any idea what I risked doing that?"

"I'm sorry. I love you, Lia. I do. But…"

"But you love her more."

His silence was the only confirmation she needed. He did love Lily more, and he always had. There had been too many signs. Signs she had missed, perhaps even ignored. James Potter had never truly been hers, and she wished she hadn't been stupid enough to believe he had.

"I should've known," she mumbled, attempting to control her breathing so that she wouldn't break apart in front of him. She didn't want him to know that he had broken her, she wouldn't let him have that.

"No. I should've known. I'm sorry, Lia. I love you so much, and I never meant to hurt you. Can you forgive me?"

"You want me to forgive you? Really? I can't even look at you right now. Please just leave me alone. Pretend that I don't exist, it shouldn't be too hard seeing that you did it so well at the party."

With that, the short blonde stormed off into the great hall, loosening the yellow and black tie around her neck as she struggled for air and furiously attempted to calm herself down. She sat down at the empty end of the Hufflepuff table, settling for a glass of pumpkin juice as she realized she was far too nauseous to eat anything.

Bloody Gryffindor boys. She had thought they were the greatest blessing of her life, yet there they were, making an even bigger mess of it than it had been to start with. Sure, Aurelia had been lonely and downcast before, but this was worse. Now, she was broken into so many pieces she didn't even know if it was possible to put them back together. Now, being lonely was a whole different ordeal, because she had seen what it was like to have true friends; true love. Now, she knew exactly what she was missing, and that hurt even more.

A/N: Aaaah, I'm sorry you guys, I hope you don't hate me too much for this! It was bound to happen and I just wanted to make it as good as possible, please let me know that it wasn't terrible so I can bring up the courage to write the next chapter! Were you guys shocked or did you expect this to happen? What do you think is going to happen next? Do you hate me now? Please let me know in a review, because I'm dying to hear your thoughts! Also, as always, if you like this story, please favorite & follow!