A/N: The end of 6th year! We'll be getting in to Lily and James's romance soon, and of course some more Addie/Sirius! This chapter is a bit all over the place, with some scenes that needed to take place to fit into the story but I hope you enjoy it! Thank you again to everyone has favorited/followed/reviewed. It means the world to me to know someone is reading this!
April 22nd, 1977
Sirius stayed with us for a couple of days after the trial, to make sure that I was really okay. I loved him for his concern, but his hovering became overwhelming after three days of him running to get me water any time my cup emptied. Easter morning, I pushed him through the floo back to the Potters, stating that he needed to be with his family on this very important holiday. Once he was gone, I collapsed on the couch to relax, just in time for Aunt Thea, Uncle Leo, Lydia and Ralph to waltz in. Aunt Thea pulled me into her consoling arms, while Uncle Leo looked uncomfortable but patted my back and offered me a congratulatory smile. I wasn't sure if Lydia and Ralph knew about the trial or if they did and were just too self-absorbed to mention anything to me. Once Lydia expressed her disbelief that my "sexy boyfriend would leave me after something so traumatic," I knew it was the latter. I spent the rest of the holiday getting drunk off of the punch that Lewis had made; Lewis joined me not long after, shooting Ralph and Lydia disgusted looks. We'd always known that they were selfish, but this was low even for them.
I spent the rest of break relaxing, taking my broom out for rides in my backyard and shooting a quaffle back and forth with Dad and Lewis. Dad was in good shape for his age, given that he was a healer, but the games ended quickly when he huffed back in to the house for a butterbeer when he missed shots. He had been a chaser at Hogwarts too, and got upset when he was reminded that he had lost his touch, while his kids had picked it up.
We got back to Hogwarts a week after Easter. People had realized that Jase hadn't returned, and given by the fact that whispers followed me everywhere I went, most people had heard about the trial. There had been a small story printed in the Daily Prophet – "Hogwarts Seventh Year sent to Azkaban on Rape Charges" – and my classmates had put two and two together that the girl must have been me. My birthday was the first weekend we were back and I told Sirius that I didn't want anything special, that I didn't want any more attention. I was sick of people looking at me everywhere I went. I was happy I had done the trial and that Jase was locked up, but the accusing stares I was getting from people who didn't know the whole story were getting old quickly.
That night, Sirius convinced me to leave my position warmly curled up against him on the common room couch and to take a walk with him. He led us down to the quidditch field in the pitch black. Once we entered the field I saw all of my friends waiting in the middle with a huge "Happy Birthday Addie!" banner, and a red velvet cake in the shape of a quaffle. We spent the night playing a game of pick up quidditch – Sirius, Mary, Remus, and I against James, Marlene, Alice and Frank. Lily and Peter sat on the sidelines cheering us on – Lily was deathly afraid of flying, and Peter was so clumsy he would inevitably have fallen off his broom. Sirius ended the night with a framed photo of the two of us that Lily had taken of us cuddling in the common room, and a key to his apartment.
"So that you can come over, whenever you want. My place is your place," He had said with a hopeful smile on his lips, offering me the key on a beautiful silver chain. I turned, allowing him to clip the necklace around my neck. The weight of the key was reassuring against my chest; a reminder of the promises Sirius had made me. The promise of a future together. He ended the night by giving me the same present I had given him for his birthday – a mind-blowing night in the middle of the Quidditch field, underneath all of the stars.
May 12th, 1977
James had been right that, besides the one night we celebrated my birthday, we spent the rest of our time studying for exams. The reports in the Daily Prophet had turned darker and darker, with muggle-borns going missing and muggles ending up brutally murdered. Remus scoured every paper top to bottom each morning, looking to make sure none of our relatives were mentioned. Everyone had decided that this year we had to work hard, so that we could learn all we could to help us make a difference when we graduated. James had joined Sirius in his aspirations to be an Auror, and Alice and Frank were leaning that way as well. The four of them spent many nights practicing dueling techniques outside by the lake – James and Sirius in particular showed great talent, and took their duels to an advanced level. Lily had decided that she could do the most good as a healer, and had been obsessively revising for potions, arguably the most important subject in that field, but also her best subject. Remus needed top grades in every subject so that he would have the hope of getting a job in any field – werewolf prejudice was still prevalent in the working world, and getting any job was going to be a challenge. Peter had no idea what he wanted to do, but anything the Marauders did, he did too so he studied hard as well.
I was starting to panic about the future. All of my friends had an idea of what they wanted to do, or what they were fighting for… but I was lost. For the longest time I had pictured myself playing professional quidditch, but not making the team until my 6th year had probably blown my chances. It also seemed like such a frivolous thing to want to do – my friends all wanted to do something to help fight the war against Voldemort, but I wanted to play a game for a living? I wasn't really passionate about anything else – not potions, like Lily or Transfiguration like James. Even Sirius had been talking passionately for weeks about the new spells we were learning in Defense against the Dark Arts.
"Addie, you're being way too hard on yourself," Lily said exasperatedly, looking up from the three books that she was cross-referencing for her Charms review. Her hair was a mess, frizzy and thrown up in a haphazard bun, showing how frazzled she was. We had just over two weeks until exams, and Lily was feeling the pressure more than anyone. She always stressed over exams and grades, trying to prove something as a muggle-born, but she was taking it way too far this year. Now that she had decided she wanted to be a healer, she was convinced that she had to focus more on certain subjects that she had been "ignoring". It was ridiculous, as she was always top of the class, but no one could ever talk any sense into her.
"Oh, I'm being too hard on myself?" I raised my eyebrows at her in disbelief. Lily slapped my arm slightly, her eyes not leaving the book in front of her.
"Yes. It's fine not to know what you want to do. Most people don't at our age," She continued, ignoring my comment completely. I looked to James, who was looking at Lily with concern in his eyes.
"She's right, Addie. You've wanted to play quidditch for as long as I've known you. It's fine if you still want to do that! I saw a couple of recruiters at the match between Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw, I'll bet you they show up to the final match," James looked away from Lily to address me, deciding that trying to talk any sense in to her was a moot point.
"It just seems so superficial. You all want to save the world, and I want to throw balls through a hoop?" I asked dejectedly, slamming the transfiguration book closed in front of me. I leaned forward onto my elbows, resting my head for a minute, trying to decide what I needed to revise more – charms or potions?
"Addie, you don't have to be an Auror or a healer to change the world. Giving people something else to focus on, something to cheer for, goes a long way too," Sirius rubbed my back consolingly, but he too kept his eyes on the book in front of him. "Besides, you can do things behind the scenes too."
"What do you mean behind the scenes?" I demanded, picking my head up to glare at Sirius. Despite his offhand tone, that was a pointed comment. "What do you know?"
He looked up with a look of disbelief on his face, regretting that he had spoken without thinking. He glanced at James before responding. He leaned forward, catching the attention of Lily at last. She leaned forward too, finally looking up from her book, to better hear Sirius who spoke in a hushed voice, "James and I were out late a couple of weeks ago, under the invisibility cloak–"
"You guys are breaking curfew still?!" Lily snapped, an outraged look on her face. I rolled my eyes at her aversion to rule-breaking. Since dating Sirius, he had taught me that it could be fun to sneak around, sometimes. Lily was too much of a prefect for her own good.
"– and we overheard Dumbledore and McGonagall talking about some secret order that they've put together!" Sirius continued pointedly as if Lily hadn't interrupted him. "We think there's a group of undercover Ministry officials that have grouped together to fight You-Know-Who under the ministry's radar."
"And you want to join?" It felt like my heart had dropped into my stomach. I knew Sirius; I knew that he would stop at nothing to fight for what he felt was right. I knew that he wanted to prove his family wrong, and that he would do whatever it took to do so. I had even known that when he became an Auror, he would be putting himself in danger every day. But knowing that there was a secret order, fighting under Dumbledore's command? That was a different kind of fear. That fear was rooted in knowing that Dumbledore would have them right in the thick of things – and knowing that Sirius would volunteer for those dangerous missions because of who he is as a person. That selflessness was one of the things I love most about him, but it definitely was going to trigger my anxiety.
"We both do," James spoke up finally, a look of determination evident in his eyes. Lily gasped and looked at her. I knew that look to be the same thing I was feeling – fear. I grasped her hand carefully in my own, and she shot me a grateful look. She looked like she was going to say something, but snapped her mouth shut and looked down towards the table. When she brought her head up, there was a fire in her eyes and she nodded once.
"Well, then I do too. I want to do my part," she said, matching James's level of determination. I saw right then what I had been trying to put in to words for years – the thing that made Lily and James destined for each other was their intense determination to do the right thing and their unwavering devotion to the people they loved. James smiled proudly at her and nodded back, taking her other hand in his own. Lily didn't pull away, and I knew then that she would take him back. James's greatest asset to their relationship was that he knew he needed to protect Lily, but also that he needed to let her do what she decided she needed to do. He would protect her, but he would never hold her back from something she felt passionate about. And that freedom would be what drew Lily to him, I just knew it.
"Alright, Evans!" Sirius grinned. "We could definitely use that nasty wand of yours. Some truly frightening hexes have come out of it,"
"I want to help too. I don't know how, but I know I need to do something," I said quietly, looking down at the table. I was nervous to say so; nervous to declare publically the side I was taking in this war. It would be so much easier to bury my head in the sand, and let the truly heroic people fight the war while I pretended life was normal. To let Lily, James, Sirius and Dumbledore fight for equality and safety. But this last year had taught me that I was stronger than I had ever been before. I was able to tell the people that I love about Jase, I was able to sit in front of a court and watch him be sentenced to torture in Azkaban, I was able to endure the whispers that had followed me around for the last two months. If I was able to do those things…I knew I was just as brave as Sirius, James and Lily. If they were going to fight, I was going to fight. I had to.
"There's my girl," Sirius pulled me to his side and kissed my temple. The conversation died out now that we had all declared our loyalties to each other – not that any of our declarations had really come as a surprise – but it seemed like a momentous occasion not to be marred by further idle chatter.
June 8th, 1977
We all sat our exams during the first week of June. Sirius came back late on the last night of exams, after his Astronomy exam, in a dreadful mood. He had only continued to take Astronomy as homage to his family, who had a tradition of naming newborns after different stars and constellations. It was a full moon, which I thought would make the exam easier, but he sat down and sulked after coming back. He wouldn't tell me why he was sulking, and James and Peter were both MIA so I couldn't ask them. Remus, of course, was under the Whomping Willow, so I couldn't exactly ask him either. I let him brood in his bad mood, figuring he would tell me eventually or he would move on.
Sirius insisted on waiting up for James and Peter, who he said were "running an errand," when I asked him where they were. I had been snoozing against his shoulder, an open novel in my lap, when I heard a commotion coming from the portrait hole. I opened my eyes groggily, adjusting to the sudden light. Sirius, who had been sitting up next to me staring into the fire, jumped up immediately, and I fell sideways into the couch. I looked over the back to see James, supporting a heavily bleeding Peter. I jumped up immediately too, and rushed over to the group of boys.
"What happened?" Sirius demanded, taking Peter's other arm. The two boys helped him to the couch and set him down gently.
"What happened?! Who cares! We have to get him to Madame Pomfrey," I shouted, as Peter seemed to pass out from apparent blood loss.
"No." Sirius snapped back, not even sparing me a glance. "We need Lily. Go get her." I was taken back by the acid in his tone, but I knew it wasn't directed at me but the situation. If he refused to let Peter see Madame Pomfrey, I knew it must be serious. It wouldn't be because they were afraid of getting in trouble – they got in trouble all the time, so it must be something else. I turned and rushed up to my dorm. Lily was fast asleep in her bed, and I rushed to her. I grabbed her shoulder and in my urgency, roughly shook her. She sat up, gasping in shock, but saw the look on my face and immediately slipped her feet into her slippers. She grabbed her wand from her bedside table and threw her robe over her white pajama set. Without a word, I ushered her downstairs and she followed blindly.
She gasped again when she saw the state Peter was in. Sirius and James had ripped his shirt away, revealing a gaping hole in the center of his chest, which was bleeding profusely. Lily didn't even hesitate, but immediately rushed over and pushed Sirius out of the way. She waved her wand over Peter's wound in an intricate pattern, muttering a spell under her breath. I walked over to Sirius and tried to take his hand, but he flinched away from me. He was staring at Peter with a look of intense concern. I could tell he was barely breathing in his worry, so I rubbed his back to try to ground him. James was pacing in front of the fire, his hands in his hair.
"This is all my fault," He cried in obvious grief. "I took my eye off of him for one second and Rem–" He cut off, noting his mistake and glaring at me and Lily in horror.
"Oh, don't be a prat, Potter. Addie and I have known about Remus since the third year," Lily snapped, jabbing her wand towards our dorm and summoning the first aid kit that she kept in her trunk. James's mouth dropped open, and he stopped pacing. Sirius nodded at him, since he had known already.
"Are you trying to say that Remus bit Peter?" I asked, my stomach turning violently.
"Yes…but not…really. But…yes? It's hard to explain. Padfoot?" James looked to Sirius hopefully, and Sirius looked at him with clear distaste at being given the unpleasant task of explaining.
"He's going to be fine, by the way," Lily sighed, wrapping the wound with clean gauze. She poured a sleeping potion down his throat. "He should sleep through the night and wake up a little sore tomorrow. Though if Remus did bite him, he should probably talk to someone about turning in to a werewolf and what that process is like. I'm certainly not qualified to discuss that…perhaps Professor Dumbledore."
"He's not going to turn into a werewolf," Sirius barked, looking at James and shaking his head. He sighed, "It's time to tell them, Prongs."
"Tell us what? Where you all go the nights of the full moon?" I asked, the pieces starting to fall together. The Marauders all went missing the night of the full moon, and Sirius was upset today because he couldn't go due to the exam. It just wasn't clicking where they went. Did they wait in the hospital wing for Remus to come back? "You help Remus somehow."
"I knew you'd put it together," Sirius confirmed, looking at me with an unsure look.
"We go with Remus and keep him company when he turns," James added, sitting down in an armchair.
"You WHAT?" Lily shrieked, standing up from her spot on the floor in front of Peter, and turning to glare at the other two boys. "Do you realize how completely idiotic that is? How you put yourself in danger every month? What it would do to Remus if he hurt one of you?"
I knew the boys wouldn't be that stupid. They were reckless, but no one could accuse them of being stupid. "What's the catch?" I asked. I narrowed my eyes at Sirius and he and James exchanged a look. James shrugged and Sirius shrugged back – they were communicating without words, for a moment later a dog and a stag stood in front of me. I looked at Sirius, a beautiful black dog with shiny fur and large paws. He was huge, standing as tall as my shoulders, but he sat down and sniffed my hand sweetly. I pet the top of his head on instinct, and then turned to look at the stag. His antlers alone were bigger than my entire torso, and he sat on his hind legs to look less intimidating than he did standing. Lily was starting at both of them with her mouth wide open, and her arms hanging loosely at her sides.
James's turned back first, walking towards Lily with his hands up high. "Lily? Are you okay?" Sirius licked my arm once before turning back to a human. I wiped my slimy arm on his robes, and he laughed. I was taking this better than Lily, who had sat down in the edge of the couch, her face completely white. She looked like she was about to pass out.
"You two are…animagus?" She sputtered, her eyes darting back and forth between James and Sirius, as if expecting their animal forms to suddenly reappear.
"Peter is too. He turns into a uhh…he turns into a rat," Sirius said sheephishly, knowing Peter may not have wanted us to know that.
"Illegal animagus…" She asked. James nodded to confirm. "But…why?"
"Well obviously, Lils, Remus can't hurt them while they're in animagus form. It's bloody brilliant, honestly!" I was impressed. I have known the boys were smart, but now I knew they were geniuses. To become illegal animagi at…probably 14 or 15? Unheard of. I looked at Sirius in awe.
"You're not at all freaked out to realize that your boyfriend is a dog?" She looked at me with wide eyes, shock still evident on her face.
"Honestly no. It kind of explains some of the things he does with his tong–" Lily cut me off by covering her ears.
"Okay, definitely don't need to know that. I'm traumatized enough for tonight. I need some time to process this, so if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to bed. I'll check on Peter in the morning," She got up and stalked upstairs, muttering under her breath about "bloody stupid Gryffindors."
June 17th, 1977
As expected, Lily and Remus were top of the class in every subject except Defense and Transfiguration, where Sirius and James respectively beat them. Lily had tied scores with Severus Snape in Potions, something that she took as a personal offense. I did relatively well in all of my classes, even surprising myself by receiving an Outstanding on my Defense exam – it seemed like all that time watching Sirius's arse while he dueled had paid off in my grade.
Gryffindor had absolutely smashed Slytherin in the final match, winning the Quidditch Cup. Lily had thrown her arms around me when we landed, squealing, and let me know that she had been sitting next to a recruiter for the Holyhead Harpies, and that they had been talking about me the entire match. Sirius told me he thought he had seen a couple other recruiters scattered throughout the crowd, and my heart soared at the thought that maybe…my dream could actually come true.
My parents picked me up at Kings Cross. Mom greeted Sirius with a kiss on the cheek, and Dad with a friendly slap on the back. Although he was officially of age and was going to spend the summer at his new apartment, Mrs. Potter still insisted on coming to see him…and to pick up James, who had been told in no uncertain terms that he was not moving in with Sirius. Lily allowed James to say goodbye with a kiss on the cheek, and James looked like he was going to pass out as soon as she walked away towards her kind looking parents.
"Esme…such a pleasure to see you again," she said, kissing my mother on the cheek. "Harold, I haven't seen you since you graduated – I hear you've become a healer?"
"Yes, I did. I hear you married rich?" My father joked. Sirius snorted a laugh, and even James looked like he wanted to laugh, but he quickly turned it into a cough at his mother's steely look.
"Charming, just as I remember," Mrs. Potter snipped, snapping her purse shut, although it had already been shut. She turned her attention to me, and scanned down to Sirius and my hands, which were clasped together. She surprised me by smiling gently and chuckling. "Who would have thought that Esme Weasley and Harold Jones's daughter would be the one to make my son so happy? I need to thank you both for that – I've never seen Sirius…smile as much as he has in the last year."
My mom looked shocked, which matched my look, and my father's and Sirius's and James's. Euphemia Potter was not one to shower anyone in compliments, except her own sons. Dad recovered more quickly, shaking himself out of his daze. "Well, thank you. We think she is pretty incredible too. And Sirius is a fine young man."
"We know you had more to do with that than Walburga Black did, so we thank you for that," Mom interjected, smiling fondly at Sirius.
"Yes, well. He made it easy," She said, clearing her throat and pulling Sirius into an impromptu hug. "You floo me…every night. Do you hear me, young man? Just because you are moving out doesn't mean you can ignore your dear mum."
"Yes Mum, I promise. I love you," Sirius blushed in embarrassment, but kissed her on the cheek nonetheless. James and Sirius said their goodbyes, and James pulled me into a tight hug before following his mother into the floo. Sirius kissed me chastely on the lips, looping his hands around my waist.
"I'll see you soon, yeah?" He said, grey eyes meeting brown.
I smiled up at him and said, "You couldn't keep me away." I watched him walk towards the floo, on his way towards his own place. Our place, although I had yet to tell my parents that… Maybe I would keep that a secret a little longer. For Sirius's safety.
