Chapter Nineteen: We All Fall Down

Lily lay awake in bed the night before she was to return to Hogwarts. No matter what she did, she could not get James Potter out of her mind. Around midnight she gave up trying to sleep and climbed out of bed. She padded softly over to her bookshelf. Her battered copy of Peter Pan was exactly where she had dropped it haphazardly on New Years. A piece of parchment slipped out and landed on her feet.

Lily picked it up and sat back down on her bed. Butterflies fluttered around in her belly. She had completely forgotten about this. Her hand trembled as she unfolded the letter.

Lily,

Please don't toss this note in the fire before you read it all the way through!

I want to apologize. I feel like I took advantage of you that night in the Transfiguration classroom and it has been eating at me. I know that I have given many reasons over the past five years for you to hate me, and I am so sorry for that. I wish you were here tonight. Sirius, Remus, and Marlene are playing some type of game with each other and I think you're the only one who would know how to reign them in. I hope that we can turn a new leaf this year, I would like a chance to get to know you and to give you a chance to know me. Happy New Year, Lily!

With Love Friendship,

James

"I don't hate you, James." Lily dropped the note into her lap. She didn't even try to deny it to herself. She did once but over the past few months she couldn't deny to herself that she had seen a change. He had stopped bullying people. The closest he had come to bullying was the prank on Colin and his year-mates but that seemed more out of retaliation. She was not happy about it but a tiny piece of her admitted that Colin deserved far worse for what he'd done to her. The old James would have done far worse.

Lily tucked the letter back into the book. She placed it into her trunk before turning the light out. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Marlene found Remus after dinner. He was sitting in an armchair near the windows in the Common Room. "Can we talk?"

Remus looked up at her and closed his book. "Here or?" She shook her head and motioned to the portrait hole. Remus dropped his book down on the table next to his seat and followed her out.

Marlene found a bench some ways down the corridor and sat down. She scooted over so Remus could sit down too. He chose to lean against the wall and shoved his hands into his trouser pockets. They stared at each for a few moments. "So…"

"I'm sorry." Marlene looked down at hr hands in her lap. She mustered up her courage and look back up at Remus. "I was not kind to you and I am very sorry for it. I still love you very much but I —"

She didn't know how to tell Remus she wanted to date one of his best mates. Even more so, she didn't want to admit to another person that she had developed feelings for Sirius. Marlene was so caught up in her own head and trying to find her words that she didn't realize Remus was trying to find his own.

How do I tell her that I couldn't be physical with her because of my affliction without telling her about? How do I talk around that? Remus scratched the back of his. "Mar, it's okay — we don't need to do this. I'm not mad or upset with you. I was — after we broke up but I understand that I couldn't give you what it was that you wanted."

"No, Remus. I did this." Remus shook his head and stepped away from the wall. He wish he had half the courage that Marlene did. He ahed to tell her the truth but he couldn't find the words.

"It takes two to tango." He sat down beside her. He leaned over and pecked her cheek. "Water under the bridge. I forgive you."

"Friends?" Marlene asked shyly.

Remus nodded and stood up. "Friends. Which means I get to make fun of you for falling for Sirius, right?"

Marlene looked aghast. "You most certainly cannot. Seriously Remus, don't tell Sirius."

Remus smirked and quirked his eyebrow. He opened his mouth to retort but decided better of it. He helped Marlene to her feet and they made their way back to the Common Room. He let her ahead of him through the portrait hole.

Sirius had stolen Remus's seat and was holding Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy upset down. Remus's bookmark lay discarded on the floor. He watched them come through the portrait hole and scowled at them. Marlene caught him looking and winked at him. She smirked at his scowl and made her way up to her dormitory.

"So you two are back together?" Sirius muttered when Remus asked for his seat back.

"No, Padfoot. We are not getting back together." Remus shook his head and picked up his bookmark. "You could have at least left my mark in the book."

Sirius had closed the book. "So what does it mean, that you and Marlene aren't back together."

"You'll have to ask her, won't you. Now move."

Lily had prayed that people would forget the events from the week before break. Most of the students had. The majority of the girls were sympathetic to Lily and refused to encourage their male counterparts' asinine comments. Colin and some of the other seventh-year boys were taking more of the brunt of the teasing.

The Slytherins were the exception. They took pleasure in making any of the Gryffindors squirm and the sixth-years were particularly brutal. Enough of the NEWT students had continued with Defense Against the Dark Arts that they had split the sixth-years up. Gryffindor had pulled the short straw and paired with Slytherin this term.

"At least we can practice hexing them without getting in trouble for it this semester," Sirius muttered as they made their way to class after lunch at the end of the first week.

Remus and James groaned. This was going to be a disaster. They just knew it. "Sirius, don't provoke them."

"I'm not going to provoke them. They always start it, I'm just going to finish it." Sirius slumped into his usual seat. James sat down beside him. Remus and Peter were in front of them.

Lily, Marlene, and Alice sat down a little ways away from the four boys. James ruffled up his hair and smiled when they looked over at them. Lily turned and whispered something to Alice. She had showed Alice the letter the moment they arriving to their compartment on the train.

"I don't think James will do anything foolish, it's Black we need to watch out for." Alice murmured back. All three girls were on edge, this was going to be a long term with double DADA at the end of the week. Especially once the weather starts to warm up and the heat made tempers flare.

Several Slytherins joined the Gryffindors and took seats on the opposite side of the room. They whispered amongst themselves, sending dirty looks and smirks towards the Gryffindors. Sirius muttered something about what the point of them even being here was.

The last of the students trickled in and took their seats. A very clear line of division between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Their number was odd and an open seat was left next to Alice. The lesson started and soon they were up out of their seats. The one thing that every student loved about DADA lessons was that they were are practical based. Homework focused on reading and writing about theory but when they were in the class they learned by doing.

Peter groaned when James disarmed him for the third time in a row. He struggled a little more than his friends did with the non-verbal spells. He had made much improvement from the start of the year however.

James was doing his best to keep his attention focused on Peter but kept letting his gaze travel to the three Gryffindor girls in the corner near them. Instead of taking turns partnering with each other they were having a three way duel, and having what looked like a brilliant time of it. His wand went flying towards them. Peter jumped for joy, finally having disarmed his friend without needing to whisper the spell.

"Good one, Peter!" James called over his shoulder has he trotted over to retrieve his wand from the girls. "Alright, Lily?"

The girls stopped and looked at James. Lily tried to smile at James. She was worried he could see into her thoughts. Did he know that she finally read his letter? Or did he think that she had read it months ago and that's why she had danced with him at his birthday? Before she even had a chance to reply James grabbed his wand off the floor and walked away.

"A little shy today, are we?" Marlene whispered a little loudly. Lily swatted her.

A stray spell hit the wall behind their heads. They looked across the room at the Slytherin who'd sent it. Marlene made a rude gesture with her hand. Sirius lazily flicked his wand at the boy with a rather successful Bat-Bogey hex.

Professor Cartage stepped in and forced the students back to task. As soon as he was back on the other side of the room correcting Dorcas, the Slytherins turn back to the Gryffindors in the corner.

"Hey Potter, how's the Mudblood in bed? As dirty as her blood?" Nott called out, sending a curse towards the girls.

Lily did bother to try the non-verbal spell. She had a strong shield up that deflected whatever curse had been directed at them. She sent her hex back at them.

"How are Smith's sloppy seconds, Potter?" Snape sneered.

James and Remus stepped in front of Sirius. "Sirius, no!"

Sirius growled at them. "Don't make me say, Padfoot. I will. Bad dog."

Sirius threw one more look at Snape before he moved closer to Alice, Marlene, and Lily. Forcing the Slytherins to cast spells around him and James in order to hit the girls. Everyone including Lily knew she was the primary target of their hexes.

Remus starting laughing at Sirius face. "If you behave maybe James and I will get you a treat after class." He got his shield up just in time to deflect Sirius's spell. The girls looked at them and shook their heads. Boys were weird.

During the last week of April the weather started to look up as spring started to blossom. More students took their books and assignments outside to enjoy the weather. It had been a long winter cooped up inside the castle. With the change in weather the mood around the castle lifted. The final Quidditch was coming up in a few weeks and it was sure to be a match of the century between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

April turned to May with a week of warm weather. James, Sirius, and Peter were in their usual spot by the lake. James and Sirius were watching the girls. It was one of those rear days in spring where the sun shone brightly. Lily's hair flashed like fire as she gave Alice a good shove towards the lake.

"Lily! That water is freezing!" The little brunette shrieked as she regained her balance. "I don't fancy a date with the squid just now, thanks!"

It was a splendid Sunday afternoon and even the NEWT students were taking a break from all their work. There seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel at last despite the cloud of final teams looming nearer.

Lily laid down on the grass and Marlene plopped down next to her. "James can't take his eye off you." Lily turned her head ever so slightly. Sure enough James, Sirius, and Peter were sitting underneath that damn tree again. "No Remus today, he must be afraid of sunlight."

"He's working on our Herbology paper. I offered to stay and work with him but he said he wanted some solitude." Alice said as she sat down on Lily's other side. "He's been looking a little wan the past few days. Lily, the two of you work too hard."

Lily was going to reply that it took a lot of work to make it in to the training program at St. Mungo's but didn't have a chance. The three girls spun around to the shouts behind them. The Gryffindor boys were on their feet, wands out. Not twenty feet away Snape and two other Slytherin boys sent hexes flying their way.

"Sectumsempra!"

Sirius let out a shriek that made Lily's stomach flip. The five boy stopped to look at Sirius in horror. The Slytherins took off back towards the castle at a run. The girls were on their feet, closing the gap between them and the boys.

"Sirius! Sirius, stop moving!" James was trying to stop the bleeding. He had a gash running the length of his upper arm spurting blood. James had his hands pressing on the wound.

Marlene's face was white and she tried to help James apply pressure but the blood kept seeping. Lily took charge. "Alice, fetch Madam Pomfrey, quick! James, Marlene, move! Sirius, you need to stay still."

The instruction to Sirius was unnecessary though, he was unconscious at this point. Lily summoned a bandage and wrapped it tight around Sirius's arm. She could see the blood start to seep through it. "Levicorpus." Sirius body rose from the ground.

Lily moved as quickly as she dared. James and Marlene flanked he, wands at the ready to catch Sirius if her spell broke. Peter kept on the lookout for trouble. They met Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall at the castle entrance. Both women maintained their composure. Madam Pomfrey escorted Lily and Sirius to the hospital wing.

"You four, with me." McGonagall led the way to her office. "Miss King has given me a brief synopsis of what happened. Mr. Potter?"

James explained that the three boys had been taking a break from studying by the lake when a group of Slytherin boys had set upon them. He admitted that the two groups had had words that ended with wands. "I don't know who it was, Professor. Honest. The next thing we knew Sirius was on the ground bleeding."

Lily slipped into the office and closed the door behind her. James itched to turn and look at her but instead looked down at his hands. Sirius's blood covered his hands.

Sirius was at breakfast the next morning, right arm in a sling. It was the bargaining chip he had used to get Madam Pomfrey to let him leave the hospital wing. He sneered at Snape as he sat down.

"Those dirty bastards." Sirius muttered as struggled to cut his sausage with his fork in left hand.

Remus sat on the inside of the table with his back to the Slytherins. He wanted to tell Sirius to let it go but he was far too tired with full moon tomorrow. James handed him a piece of chocolate from across the table. Remus gave him a tired smile.

Sirius watched Snape's had turn as Lily walked into the Great Hall with Alice. His stomach hurt watching the look on Snape's face. It was like he had some sick twisted obsession about Lily. The girls nodded a greeting to them before joining Dorcas and Mary further down the table.

"Sirius, promise me you won't retaliate." James begged of his brother. "McGonagall knows what they did."

James waited until Sirius acknowledged him before he returned to talking with Peter. His skin prickled with goosebumps. Something was in the air and he didn't like it.

Sirius was hurrying to class, he had left his text in the dormitory and instead of making Remus chastised him, he decided to give his friend a full moon gift and actually went to fetch it. He hissed as Snape intentionally bumped into his bad arm in the corridor on the way into Charms. "You greasy git."

Snape's lips curled back. "Careful, Black. Mummy and Daddy aren't here to carry you to the hospital wing."

Sirius let out another hiss as he reflexively moved his arm to reach for his wand. Snape tutted him. "Maybe between you and Lupin you can have one functioning wizard. Oh. I forgot, doesn't he go to visit his sick mum soon? Curious the he disappears every month isn't it? Maybe you can with him now that Potter is shagging the mudblood."

Sirius lost his temper. Despite the pain he ripped his arm from the sling and pinned Snape to the wall. "If you want to know so badly, why don't creep down the tunnel beneath the Whomping Willow tonight and find out for yourself."

Blood seeped into shirt. He let go of Snape and walked in to class. Lily took one look at both of them and buried her nose into the text she was reading. She wanted no part of that. James let out a sigh of frustration and told Sirius he should go to the hospital wing. Sirius sent Snape one more glare before informing Professor Flitwick he needed to return to the hospital wing.

James felt the heaviness around him. Both Sirius and Remus out of class. He doubted Madam Pomfrey would let Sirius out of the hospital wing tonight for the full moon which meant he and Peter would be on their own.

"How are you feeling?" Peter asked as he snacked on some of the chocolate he and James had brought Sirius.

It was late. Madam Pomfrey had told them to leave multiple times at this point and was growing more irritated. Sirius had somehow charmed her into giving them five more minutes at least five times.

"I'm fine, Pete. You two should get going, he'll see the moon without you. I'm sorry that you're going to have to manage Moony on your own tonight." Sirius gave James an apologetic look. A glimmer of darkness passed over his face and he crossed his arms. "That greasy git has what's coming for him."

James looked at Sirius skeptically. "What are you planning on doing, exactly?"

Sirius's face twisted into something ugly. "What makes you think I have anything to do with it?"

"Sirius, what did you do?" James was standing now and his voice was getting louder. He ignored Madam Pomfrey who was tutting them from her office. "Sirius."

"He was being a git so I told him where he could find Moony." James and Peter looked at Sirius and watched the colour drain from his face. "Merlin, what have I done?"

"Peter, find McGonagall." James sprinted from the room. There was still time. He could make it. He had to make it.