i literally have no excuse for how long it took me to update this story, so here, have this insanely long chapter to make up for it?

bless all of you guys that have stuck with this fic after all this time, you're the best! and thank you to all who understood and gave encouragement as i tried to get over the terrible block i had to get this out – you know who you are, and you are all amazing! this chapter wouldn't be possible without you guys!

and important note, just because i couldn't update this fic until now, doesn't mean i forgot about it the whole year or so, but i'll talk more about that at the end. right now, enjoy!

—Summer Schemes—

The twins tossed a book in front of Sirius and waited.

Sitting at the top end of James' bed, legs crossed, feet tucked tidily beneath his thighs, and deeply engrossed in the quidditch magazine in his hands, it was safe to say that Sirius didn't expect the heavy, muffled thump just shy of a foot of him or the shockwave that rippled from under the weight of the book, especially with the spectacular way he lurched in his spot. Eyes went wide and arms went flailing, hands thrown out and magazine sent fluttering in the air and all.

When he looked up to find Kagome and James watching him with undisguised delight, surprise was swiftly traded in favor for irritation and the twins gifted him with the most saccharine of smiles to meet his glare.

It had been a month since they'd last seen their friend, his absence made up by the constant slew of correspondence sent back and forth between the three – poor Avenius, and Artemis for that matter. Spending nearly the whole of July up to the first week of August in France with his family, his and James' owls were the only way they could keep in contact.

The majority of Sirius' letters had consisted of his bemoaning the painfully boring events he was forced to attend with his parents—dinner parties, soirees, museum visits, even an auction at one point, and more dinner parties, all filled with stuffy, old adults that could give "'ole Dumbledore a run from his money, some were that old, honestly mate," and their obnoxiously stuck up kids. His only saving grace were the rare decent few that turned out more like him, impervious—if only somewhat—to their families' influence.

It hurt to read, honestly. One paragraph in on the first post from France and James had instantly forgiven Sirius for the stunt he pulled with one of his letters just before leaving when he failed to warn him about the sample of prank powder he mailed over with it. Hours on end of hiccupping vibrant, multi-coloured bubbles was nothing compared to the ongoing torture their friend was being forced to endure, no matter how annoying it was.

A care package was quickly made up and sent over, consisting of a detailed how-to list of pranks to spice things up when it became too boring that were one hundred percent guaranteed to leave him in the clear, as many joke quills and wands they could stuff in without it looking suspicious, and promises to smuggle more stuff to him via owl.

But despite all the feet of parchment Sirius had written about his time in France, not once did he actually talk about his family itself outside of complaints.

More specifically, not once did he mention his younger brother.

Rarely did Sirius ever mention his parents, but Kagome couldn't help but find his radio silence about Regulus to be unusual, especially since his younger brother was the one thing he was looking forward to coming home to.

It didn't take long after that realization to have another, more concerning one: Sirius had not once brought up his brother since the start of the summer. Even earlier in the day, when Sirius came through their Floo with a wide, relieved grin on his face and a skip to his step, all he had to say when they asked how was France was, "Done and over with, thank Merlin."

Looking at Sirius now, as he regarded the thick, worn tome they'd thrown in front him with a long, wary look before dragging his eyes to fix them with stare as if to say, "What the bloody hell did you just give me – or better yet, why?", there didn't seem to anything bothering him.

And Kagome would have believed it too if she didn't already know that when it came to his family, Sirius didn't like to air out his problems. He was phenomenal at keeping his feelings sealed under a tight lid until he couldn't any longer and he was fit to burst.

She just didn't know how to go about asking him, when she was ninety-nine percent sure that any inquiry she'd make would be met with a joke and a change of subject.

James stepped forward, back straight, hands clasped behind his back, and a neutral expression on his face. Sirius cocked an eyebrow at the display, a smile beginning to appear in anticipation for what was to come. "Our friend has a furry little problem," James announced, sounding too casual for it to be genuine.

Kagome was having trouble hiding her smile herself. Stepping beside her brother, she mimicked his posture and serious expression, but it fell short with the mischievous glint clear in her eyes. "Here's a little something that will… make it less of one."

A look of realization was beginning to dawn on the other boy's face as he looked back down at the book and re-read the title. Picking it up, he cracked the text open and flipped through the pages. The twins watched with glee as his eyes skimmed the passing pages with growing interest, and by the time Sirius looked back up at them, he was brimming with undisguised excitement and nearly bouncing in his seat. "You two honestly think we can pull this off?" he asked, a touch of wonder to his voice.

"Eh, why not?" James threw back, "Worth a shot, 'innit?" Grinning widely, he leaned in closer and gave his eyebrows a wag. "What d'you think?"

Sirius returned the grin full force and gave an honest to Merlin cackle. "Oh, he's gonna be so pissed."

That didn't seem to deter any of them a single bit.

Kagome snickered. "Hey now, he's the one who said only animals are safe," she began.

James nodded eagerly. "It's totally his fault. He should've known better—"

Kagome glanced at her twin, wry as she interjected, "Known us better."

Chortling, James went on as if she hadn't interrupted him, "—than to tell us that. As if we never find a way around these things."

Sirius' grin only grew. "He's gonna tear us a new one," he laughed, giddy, "Stupid he'll call us. It's irresponsible."

James bit his lip, trying to appear serious. "And dangerous," he mused with mock-severity.

Kagome nodded, solemn as she stressed, "And illegal." Her lips were twitching.

They shared a collective, wicked look and exclaimed, "Exactly something we'd try!"

.

.

Peter, on the other hand, was not so enthusiastic and as such, a little more difficult to convince.

He was nervous as all hell too. Every time his gaze caught sight the book they'd presented to him, he'd grimace, like it would up and try to bite him if he stared too long. "Guys, we could get in serious trouble if we get caught." He sat in front of them much like Sirius did a few days ago, but the similarities ended there as he fiddled with his fingers and looked between them with an urgent expression, as if willing them to see reason for once in their life. When it became clear that they wouldn't, he added just for good measure, "Like, tossed into Azkaban kind of trouble," on the vain hope the threat of time in the infamous wizarding prison would do the trick.

It didn't.

In fact, Sirius merely shrugged. "Now honestly mate, when has that ever stopped us before?" he tossed back with a smirk, kicking back in James' bed.

"Besides, I'm pretty sure it's just a fine or something," James mused from beside him, giving an airy wave of his hand.

"Maybe, but I'm pretty sure my mum would have no problem tossing my arse into Azkaban herself and throwing away the key," Peter muttered, and the others snorted. Silence followed as the blond lapsed into deep thought, reconsidering the plan. After a moment though, he appeared no more convinced, biting his lip and shaking his head instead. "We're not even second years," he pressed on, this time completely serious. "Professor McGonagall said this was really dangerous, and only adults had ever managed it."

"That we know of," James argued, not about to back down just yet. "And so what? Maybe that's cause only adults have ever tried to attempt it. Maybe us being this young will help us!"

But Kagome could see what was wrong. It wasn't only the risk of getting in trouble, or getting hurt. James was a budding prodigy in transfiguration, and Sirius' natural skill in the subject was nothing to scoff about either. Peter looked unsure, unconfident that he'd be able to pull such a stunt off when he could barely manage an Acceptable in the class on his own.

Shuffling over, Kagome sidled up against Peter and tossed an arm around his shoulders, hugging him close. "Don't worry so much about it, Pete," she soothed, "That's why we're gonna do this together. We'll have each other to help and make sure we get this through this in one whole piece. And," she added, fixing Sirius and James with a stern look, "We'll do this right. Do all the necessary research, go slow, and only attempt the transformation when we're one hundred percent sure we're ready. No risks, no shortcuts."

Immediately, the pair held up their hands in surrender. "For sure," her brother agreed readily. "I doubt any of us want a permanent tail to deal with for the rest of our lives."

Sirius snorted. "I think we'd be lucky if that's all we get if we screw up."

With a not-so-gentle punch to his shoulder, James mouthed, 'Not helping.'

Kagome rolled her eyes. Turning to Peter, she tried for a grin and gave him a playful nudge. "Besides, you can't say you're not the least bit curious as to what your form might be!"

That had his mouth twitching into a flustered half-smile, his eyes lighting up as well. "Well y-yeah… I am sorta curious…"

Sirius and James let out a collective whoop and high-fived each other.

"Right, now all we need to do is research!" Immediately Sirius paused, exchanging an odd look with James before muttering under his breath, "Never thought I'd every say it like that."

Laughing, Kagome pulled away from Peter and crossed her arms over her chest as she thought. "And find a place to study and practice."

They all nodded.

"I don't think we'll have to worry about practicing transforming for a while yet," James surmised. "Researching and studying here when we're together should be fine up until school starts again in about a month. We don't have much to study though, just this," he said, gesturing to the book on the bed. "And from what we've skimmed through so far, it only touches on the first couple of steps."

Kagome hummed. "I'll look through the grimoire, see if I can find anything. But we should definitely try to find some more material to help us."

"Any books in the school would probably be in the restricted section, right?" Peter guessed.

"If it has the steps in it, probably," Sirius agreed with a frown. "We should check anyway when we get there, maybe one slipped through the cracks. There're all kinds of random books around there, yeah? Didn't Remus say he once found a knitting book stuffed behind some others in the history section?"

Snorting, Kagome laughed. "Yeah. Knitting Kneazle Kozies, I think it was. We should grab even the ones without the steps too, see what they say too."

"I can sneak in the family library for something?" Sirius offered, looking uncertainly between the three. "It's full of lots of dark rubbish, but you never know?"

Kagome bit her lip, hesitating at the suggestion. "Well, be careful then," she eventually said, "I don't want you to get in trouble." His relationship with his parents was sour enough as it was.

But Sirius only shrugged. "Not like I try to go in there anyway – I doubt my parents would suspect anything."

"Well, you should probably switch it out for another book if you do find anything, so they won't realize something's missing," Peter nervously suggested.

"Good idea, Pete!" chirped James. Rolling to the edge of his bed, he swooped down to rummage through the bottom drawer of his nightstand, popping back up seconds later with a fistful of shimmery fabric. He grinned, giving his bounty a shake. "You can borrow the cloak too, just in case!"

"You sure?" Sirius asked, blinking, and when the other boy only rolled his eyes and chucked the invisibility cloak over, he caught it out of reflex. The fabric spilled over his hands invisible side up, cloaking him up to mid-forearm. His head tilted in thought as he stared, a grimace soon after marring his face. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea," he muttered with a sardonic sounding huff, and begun to right the cloak and fold it back up. "I'm not worried about my parents catching me, but Kreacher could pop in at any moment."

"And if worst comes to worst, we can buy a guide ourselves?" Kagome said with a wince. "No one ever asks questions with an owl order."

"That'll cost us a pretty knut," Sirius muttered in reply.

James blew a raspberry. "A pretty galleon, more like. We can all pitch in what we can, I guess, but hopefully it won't come to that."

Flopping back at the other end of James' bed, Kagome tucked her arms beneath her head and gazed up at the ceiling with a long sigh. "We spend everything on treats and joke materials anyway," she murmured. "But what about when we do start practicing?"

At that question, the group fell silent.

"The shrieking shack?" Sirius suggested half-heartedly after a long while.

James' face screwed up at the thought. "Long way to go just to practice, don't you think?" He gave his head a shake. "Especially if we have to go there a lot; if anyone sees us sneaking down there, they'd start get suspicious." A gusty sigh left his mouth. "We'll leave that as a last resort."

Peter bit his lip, worrying it between his teeth. "What about our dorm?" he suggested.

They shared a look.

"That depends," Sirius murmured, looking between the other three. "When are we telling Remus?" He paused, zeroing in on the twins, clearly remembering the previous year that it was them that couldn't agree whether to tell the werewolf about finding out his secret. A moment later he amended, "…Are we telling Remus?"

Expectantly, Kagome turned to James. After the way it backfired on her last year, she wasn't taking the lead this time.

Her brother gave a nervous chuckle. "Well…I was actually hoping not to say anything until we're reasonably sure we can pull it off?" he said, looking unsure himself. Scratching the back of his head, he gave a forlorn shrug at his sister's look of surprise. "Don't really wanna get his hopes up for nothing, y'know?"

Kagome snorted. "This could take years. You really think we could hide it for that long?"

Peter groaned. "It only took Remus a couple weeks to know something was off when we found out about…" he trailed off, giving an anxious look about. "You know. His furry problem."

Kagome giggled. "Our parents don't keep an ear to the doors, Pete, you can say it."

James grinned. "No, no, best get used to calling it that. Don't wanna out his furry problem accidentally."

Sirius made an odd face. "It makes it sound like he has an excessive hair problem somewhere unsightly, y'know that, right?"

James only continued to grin, so it was safe to say he most definitely knew, and that it was probably the main reason why he wanted continue calling it so in the first place.

"Back to the subject at hand," Kagome drawled, refraining from the urge to palm her face. "Remus will know we're up to something, probably sooner rather than later." She sighed, weary and resigned. "When he does, we'll just tell him then."

Sirius raised an eyebrow at her. "No sense in having him yell at us now when you can just put it off, yeah?"

James and Kagome both gave a nervous chuckle. "Maybe he'll take it easy on us when he sees this isn't just a random, crazy idea we had," James said.

Peter's eyebrows furrowed. "…Isn't this a random, crazy idea you guys had?" he slowly asked.

The twins shot him a joint miffed look. "Well, yes," Kagome admitted reluctantly, still chagrined.

"But it's one we're very serious about," insisted James.

"Anyway!" Kagome exclaimed, with a clap of her hands. "Your dorm is all well and good to do some of the work and research, since it's just you guys," she mused, "But whenever we get to it, practicing might be a bad idea—anyone could come in, and if something happens and loudly, there'd be questions." She made a face of distaste. "And detentions, most likely."

Sirius grimaced. "We get enough of those as it is," he muttered, and appeared to lapse into deep thought. Moments later, his furrowed eyebrows suddenly shot up, his eyes bright. "Then what if we make it a habit to be noisy?" he exclaimed.

The other three peered over at him curiously. "What d'you mean?" the twins asked.

"We're pranksters!" he explained with a mischievous grin, "We'll make some weird noises and say we're testing or inventing some pranks or something whenever anyone comes 'round asking."

"And then by the time we do try transforming and we get noisy, who's gonna notice the difference?" Kagome grinned. "That's perfect!"

"Plus, we can try and scare people from going in too," James murmured, an evil grin spreading across his face. "They won't even want to try going in by the time we're done."

Peter began to shift uneasily, casting a wary glance at James. "We, uh, we're still gonna need to sleep in the dorms though," he reminded, unsure whether the other boy forgotten or not.

But James only waved him off. "Dungbombs don't last forever," he confidently said, "I'm sure we'd get used to the smell eventually."

Kagome grimaced, snorting. "With the socks you guys leave everywhere, I'm sure it won't be that big of a difference anyway…" she muttered under her breath.

The boys shared a look and shrugged, unable to deny that.

.

.

"Are you sure this is alright?" Kagome hesitated to ask once her parents had apparated out from Lily's backyard as she carried Kirara into her home.

In front of her, Lily's long red hair flicked in the air as she tossed a glance over her shoulder, nose scrunched. "Why wouldn't it be? Kirara's house-trained."

For a moment, Kagome wondered who the muggle here actually was, before she gave a very pointed glance down at the feline's tail – or rather, tails.

Belatedly, she realized she ought to have asked her parents for a concealment spell just in case before they left.

Lily blinked owlishly. "Oh!" With a small giggle at herself, the girl waved Kagome's concern away. "Yes, it's fine! I mean, my parents already know. And it's not like we've got a lot of people on our block or close enough to see if she stays near the house.

Right.

Looking down, Kagome muttered, "Might wanna keep a low profile anyway."

At that, Kirara's tails twined together.

"So I was wondering," she begun as she followed up a set of stairs, hesitant once more, and felt right to be when Lily tensed slightly after she asked, "Severus' mum is a witch, isn't she? Your parents haven't talked to her about magic?"

Upon learning that, apart from the handful of meetings with Professor McGonagall to explain Lily's magic and introduce the family into the wizarding world last year, the two had not gotten a chance to really talk to another adult witch or wizard since and were admittedly still bemused at some aspects of the magical society, the Potters wasted no time in offering to rectify it.

Lunch was insisted and set up for the following week so they could discuss the issue further, anything to help the family further adjust and grasp a further understanding of the world their daughter was so suddenly thrust into.

It left Kagome curious, seeing as Severus' mum had stood with them at the train station to pick their children up, so they clearly were familiar with one another.

Lily didn't answer Kagome at first as she led them to a door three down a short hall and into a room painted a soft lilac. Entering, Kagome peered around as Lily closed the door behind them.

A small desk was pushed against one wall next to the window, a tidy stack of books she recognized to be from their first year in the back corner, with rolls of parchment and an inkpot with the quill still dipped inside set beside them.

Lily's bed was a small four-post tucked into the corner opposite of her desk, with a comforter to match her walls and white sheets thrown to the side, unmade. At the bed end, a large worn stuffed monkey monopolized the space.

A large bookcase stood to one side, so tall it almost brushed against the ceiling, though it was only filled three-quarters of the way with books, a mix of new and old, muggle and magic. Two shelves in the middle were reserved for other things to display: knickknacks, a few old dolls, partially withered flowers slipped between here and there, and a collection of photo frames of Lily growing up. There was one with her parents when she looked to be a few years younger, another together with her sister when she was much younger, both smiling—Lily with an adorable, toothy grin and Petunia with a smaller one, though no less happy. The rest were of her friends with and without Lily herself.

These were more recent, and most of them were actually magical pictures taken at Hogwarts, with other students laughing and hugging and popping in and out of view. Kagome grinned as she recognized herself in one of them: the two of them were posed beside one another at first, Kirara perched on Kagome's shoulder as they grinned when a few seconds later Kagome stepped back and attacked Lily from behind with a bear hug, throwing her arms over the redhead's shoulders and hugging her fiercely while Kirara leapt over to settle atop Lily's head.

The witch herself went from grinning one second to her eyes popping wide and her mouth dropping open in a silent yelp before the two girls both burst out laughing, the redhead hugging Kagome's arms just as tightly.

With a quiet chuckle, Kagome shook her head and glanced at the others: of Lily and Mary McDonald sitting together at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, toast in hand at breakfast; of her together with Raina Fawcett, another dorm mate of theirs, outside underneath a tree and laughing together; of her and Severus sitting together in the library, the photo apparently catching the pair by surprise as both their heads snapped around before Lily broke out into a shy smile, hiding a giggle behind her hand as Severus scowled and turned away in what looked like embarrassment.

The rest weren't moving pictures, and were of Severus and Lily together when they were much younger as they grew up. Severus looked as uncomfortable at having his picture taken as he did in the magical one, standing stiffly at Lily's side in most unless Lily had linked an arm through his. In those, Severus' cheeks seemed darker than usual, but it was hard to tell in black and white.

Once finished, Kagome turned to find Lily waiting for her, a tiny smile gracing her face. "Nice room," she complimented, setting Kirara and her bag down.

Lily murmured her thanks, eyes following Kirara conducting her own investigation of her room in amusement. The amusement faded, however, when Lily turned her attention back to Kagome. "Sev's mum…" she said, trailing off, and Kagome was about to offer and say to forget it when the other girl shrugged. "She and my parents are friendly enough with each other when they do meet, but… they don't meet often."

Kagome tilted her head, but waited for her to continue.

Lily rocked on her heels, shoulders slumping as she bit her lip. "I've only met her a handful of times myself. She's very nice, quiet…" The girl gave a heavy sigh. "But she doesn't come out much; because of her health, Sev says. She's a little delicate."

"You… don't think that's true?"

The redhead shook her head. "No, I do," Lily murmured, "But…" she paused and then shook her head once again, this time more firmly, and offered Kagome an apologetic look. "It's not my place to say."

Kagome understood and let it go, reaching for another subject to talk about.

It wasn't until later in the day, just an hour shy before dinnertime when Lily and Kagome were upstairs in Lily's room, that they heard it: a scream. Thin, long, and so shrill that it had them freezing in their spots, the magazines they had been browsing went slack in their fingers as they snapped around to stare at the door. Alarmed shouts followed shortly after, along with light, hurried footsteps that carried up the stairs.

In those few seconds Kirara, who had left the room hours earlier to wander around the house, had slipped through the narrow gap of Lily's open door and skidded to a stop just inside. Her orange stare flickered between the girls before she primly sat down and gave a long lick to smooth a strip of raised fur down her back. Her two tails curled around her forelegs in a lazy sweep.

Slowly, Kagome steered her gaze towards Lily.

The redhead in question wore an expression that was mostly blank, if not for the slow twitch of her mouth. "I believe my sister's home"

Kagome bit her lip. Petunia was the only member of the Evans' family missing when she arrived earlier; she had, apparently, plans to hang out with a friend herself, and had left shortly after breakfast. "She knew I was coming, yeah?"

Lily nodded readily. "Yes, of course!"

The Potter tried not to grin, because really, her friend's eyes were practically glittering. "But not Kirara, huh?"

"Huh." Lily echoed her, and after a moment, lifted a single, thin shoulder in a languid shrug. Her green gaze was bright and impish as it flickered to the side up at the ceiling in a thoughtful gesture, her chin tipping to one side. "Now that I think of it, it must've slipped my mind."

.

.

It took only five minutes upon settling on James' bed before Sirius' head had snapped up upon realizing the culprit behind the sense of disquiet settling uncomfortably in his belly. "Hey, where's Kagome?"

From the other end of his bed where he was picking through his stash of chocolate frog cards, James let out a startlingly loud snort. "Didn't take you long," he grumbled under his breath. His ministrations continued without pause, fingers steadily flicking through card after card, only stopping to put a card aside every once in a while.

With furrowed eyebrows, Sirius lowered the Gambol and Japes Joke shop catalogue in his hand. "Well, it is unusually quiet," the boy said in a slow drawl, and frowned when all he got in return was a surly grunt. Setting the catalogue down, he leaned back to give his friend a lengthy look. "What's got you all cheerful today?" he asked, sarcastic.

With a great sigh, James let the cards fall out of his hands in favor of throwing them up into the air in a dramatic show of frustration. "She's spending the whole weekend at Evans'."

Sirius leaned back even further and waited. When James remained unforthcoming, he rolled his eyes. "And?" Sure, Sirius was disappointed that he wouldn't be seeing Kagome this week, but the problem with her spending a couple nights with a friend eluded him.

James' gaze slid away, guilty and embarrassed and Sirius felt his eyes widen when it finally hit him. "Bloody hell, you're jealous!" he gasped.

His accusation was immediately met with a pillow to the face that sent him windmilling off the bed. Sirius couldn't even get mad, he was too busy scrambling up as soon as he caught his breath and crawling over the edge of James' bed. "Why ever by Merlin's hat would you be jealous?! Are you really that mad over her?" Sirius ducked another oncoming pillow, the cushion smacking into the wall behind him as he popped back up and fixed James with an incredulous stare. "You're twelve."

"I'm not—I'm not jealous," James sputtered, glaring furiously now. "That's not—that's not," he repeated with an air of finality and a single finger levelled at the other boy in warning, refusing to speak any more on the matter.

Sirius could not stop laughing. "James."

"It's not!" he protested, "It's just—" His eyes skittered away, shoulders suddenly slumping. He looked defeated. "She won't be back until Monday! That's three days!"

That caused Sirius to pause, amusement leaching from his face. "It's not about Lily," he realized, a deep sense of understanding taking root. No, this wasn't much to laugh at after all. "It's about Kagome; you've never been away from her that long," he quietly said.

It wasn't a question.

James curled his hands into fists, a gusty sigh puffing from his chest. "Hogwarts was different," he muttered, eyes and head both rolling to the side where he then glared blankly at the wall. "I mean, we're in the same House, we have the same classes; I got to see her every day at least. We got really lucky, I knew that."

Another explosive sigh expelled from his mouth, and when he spoke again, his voice was quieter, smaller even. "But it was still—hard. Not that—we're twins, but it's not like we're bloody attached to the hip or anything," he was quick to amend, turning to steer wide, insisting eyes toward the other boy. "We don't have to spend every second together, okay? It was just knowing that we couldn't go to each other whenever we wanted that got me. It takes just a mo' to get to her bedroom from here—but at Hogwarts, there's a stupid staircase cutting us off." A noise of disgust worked out from his throat as he added, "And rules. I hate that."

"You're used to being in each other's reach," Sirius finished, a small, gap-toothed grin and wide, pale grey eyes flashing in his mind, and he felt his own heart become heavy. Hastily, he shoved both that feeling and the image back into the recesses of his mind and focused back onto his best friend.

James exhaled, slow and weighty as quietly replied, "I'm used to her being here."

Sirius swallowed thickly, an ache in his chest as he came to his feet. Climbing onto the bed, he settled beside James, tossing an arm around his neck and saying the only thing he could think, but that also summed up his thoughts as best it could.

"Growing up sucks."

.

.

Kagome jolted, breath catching and body hovering halfway above her cot, hand clutching her chest and fuck.

She clenched her eyes, fingers furtively grasping at where her heart raced beneath her breast, teeth gnashing desperately against her lip trying to contain the tortured noise lodged in her throat, threatening to escape from her mouth.

Fuck.

She bided her time, dragging in air one slow, unsteady breath at a time, waiting for the trembling in her limbs to ebb, shoving the memories of her dream, her nightmare—scarlet eyes burning into her soul, the gasping screams, "Harry/Kagome—help!/why?!—don'tfailcan'tsavethemsaveme!"—shoving them all back, packing and packing in and locking them away and gods.

Something warm and small burrowed into her belly, and just when Kagome was about to swing her legs over the edge of her bed and go to James she realized—

Not home.

Lily.

She froze, jaw tightening to the point that it gave a sharp twinge of pain even as a tremble ran through it because James—she just wanted to see James, she just wanted to walk down the hall and climb in beside him, she had to know he was there, that he was alive.

But she couldn't.

I'm at Lily's.

Kagome shuddered and hugged Kirara closer and tried not to cry and also tried not to scream when a small, groggy voice called out to her just feet away.

"Kagome?"

"Lily," she gasped, shakily swiping at her face with the back of her hand in haste. "I, uhm, sorry," she coughed, hastily trying to compose herself. "Did I—I didn't mean to wake you." She swallowed, throat thick. "I'm sorry."

I should have brought a dreamless sleep draught, damn it.

"It's fine," Lily whispered. There was a small pause as silence drifted between them, broken only by the sound of a distant car passing in the street below and crickets echoing somewhere outside her window. It wasn't awkward, but hesitant, which was only marginally better—as if Lily was about to say something, or wanted to, but didn't know how.

Not wanting to talk about it—her nightmares, though she rarely remembered more than bits and pieces, weren't something she could talk about anyways—Kagome remained silent.

Lily, on the other hand, had other ideas. Instead of asking what they were about or if she wanted to talk about it, though, she asked, "You have them often, don't you?" Startled, Kagome jerked and glanced over at her friend, finding her gaze instantly, eyes gleaming in the moonlight that peeked through the curtains. "That's why you use silencing spells, right?"

Kagome went still, caught off guard. She knew?

The first thing Kagome did last year, when they got their letters and went shopping for supplies and most importantly, their wands, was look for a way to help with her nightmares.

They didn't come often, at least they didn't at first, but there was a pattern to them. Generally, she could expect them to come at certain times of the year; namely, on the anniversaries of her first trip to the Feudal Era and that of the deaths of her friends. She had them for so long as she grew up that they were just something she became used to.

However, they also came to haunt her sleep after having a particularly violent or disturbing flashback.

At home it wasn't a problem. She was sure her parents' room was too far away to hear any noise she might make and once he was out, James slept like the dead anyway. But since coming to Hogwarts, her nightmares had begun to debut with increasing frequency like she suspected they would – it was how severe they had become that she didn't expect.

Learning the charm, she knew, would be the easiest fix in the long run—no need for ingredients or brewing potions, nor for her parents to worry and wonder about her constant need for dreamless sleeping draughts. It was her preference anyways; she'd rather just have the nightmares and work through them herself, because using draughts meant letting them build up, making them worse in the long run. It didn't fix the problem—it only put it off and made them even stronger, even more vivid.

"Kinda?" Kagome muttered, shifting under her covers. In the dark, Kirara's orange eyes gleamed as they peeked at her with concern, and she smoothed a thumb along the bridge of the feline's nose, feeling something settle in her chest as Kirara pressed against her touch. "They come and go—I never really remember them, just the… the feeling of it."

The first time she tried using a silencing spell instead of the draught, was one of the worst nights of her life—she had a horrible time of explaining why her voice was so hoarse the morning after, or why she looked about to drop at the faintest of breezes. She'd spent the night thrashing, and more than one did she wake up screaming her throat raw until she decided going back to sleep wasn't worth the trouble.

But she'd become so reliant on the charm since she learned it that it wasn't until she was ready to go to sleep earlier that she realized, at Lily's house, there wasn't even the ambient magic of her home to cover the use of a little spell.

Kagome wondered how long Lily knew. It had taken months to get the charm down after gleaning the incantation and wand movement from Dorcas' Charms textbook when she borrowed it—up until February, so it had been a while.

"Well…" Lily trailed off, sounding unsure, and Kagome squinted in the low light to find the redhead twisting a corner of her comforter between her fingers, shoulders held tense as she waited for what her friend had to say. Her eyes flickered up to meet Kagome's briefly before flitting away. Softly, she said, "I'm here, if you ever need someone to talk about it. If you're comfortable with it, that is."

The honesty, the lack of expectation, the lightness in her offer, all had left Kagome feeling bereft from the rush of gratitude that surged within her. "Thank you," she whispered hoarsely, her lips curling despite the whispers of terror that still lingered. That Lily didn't push—didn't ask, despite her obvious concern and curiosity, after Merlin knew how long she'd been sitting on it…

Kagome shut her eyes and exhaled softly, hugging Kirara close, finally feeling at peace. "I really appreciate that."

.

.

Duck. Hop. Swerve to the left. Duck again.

"Exactly where are we going again?" Sirius complained aloud, stepping over a thick root protruding from the ground just before he tripped over it. A touch of pride and relief swelled within him that he was getting used to this.

The first time, just five minutes into the forest surrounding Potter Manor, he did trip. He'd nearly revolted and marched back to the safety of his friend's home when James burst out laughing, if not for the fact that he had helped him up.

And here he was trying to cheer James up by suggesting they go out and do something fun. If he knew it had meant trudging, or rather tripping, through his bloody jungle of a backyard then he would have thought twice about his offer.

In front of him, Sirius watched James' shoulders shift in a shrug, his head turning left then right as he look around. "Dunno. That's kinda the point of 'exploring'." At the sound of his responding grumble, James cast a look over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. "You weren't this grumpy when you were pushing to sneak into the Forbidden Forest a while back for a look see," he teased.

Sirius rolled his eyes, and grudgingly took back his earlier thought. At least James looked to be enjoying himself, even if it was at his expense. "It's the Forbidden Forest. The name alone calls out to my inquisitive nature, mate." Reaching over, he grasped a nearby branch for balance as he had to climb up a raised level of terrain. "Besides, unless you've been holding out on me and there're unicorns in your backyard, it's not nearly as interesting."

He heard James snort from up ahead. "You never know," he loftily threw back, "And even if there were unicorns, you really think they'd come near us?"

Sirius gave a bright laugh. "Oi! Speak for yourself – I consider myself the picture of pure."

"Pure idiot more like," James fired back with a mocking snicker. "Anyway, I wouldn't say it's boring around here per say. Me and Kagome have plenty of stories of exploring growing up."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, like the time Kagome nearly got eaten by a fox when we were like, six. Or the time we gave a couple of kidnappers the slip a couple years ago and only lost them because of a booby trap we set and Kirara."

As he listened to James give a small chuckle, Sirius felt a confusingly mixed jolt of delight and alarm and even a bit of affection though he'd never admit it, because booby traps. Who else but them set booby traps around their home for kicks? Then he wondered if they had any lying around, still loaded. And then he really hoped they didn't accidentally come across one he'd forgotten about.

"Pretty sure one of them broke a leg because of it," James went on to say, casual as ever, which reminded him of kidnapping and also Kagome almost being eaten and that he was in the very same forest that both had taken place.

Sirius stopped and stared open-mouthed. A strangled noise of horror sounded from his throat. "Mate, that's kinda terrifying."

When James stopped and glanced back around, however, there was a budding look of intrigue clear on Sirius' face. "Just how many times have guys almost died in here?" he asked, looking about with newfound interest.

James' head tilted to the side as he thought back, mentally adding up. He wore a face of pure concentration and had brought up a hand to tick off each instance he recalled. Up went one, then another, and then another—he was about to put up a fourth finger before he seemed to think better of it with an absent shake of his head, and on he went until there were no fingers remaining, not noticing how Sirius' eyebrows rose with each tick. "Eh, no more than five," James finally concluded, "Our Mum banned us from going in here for years after the fox thing. But ever since we found out Kirara could basically turn into a fire-spitting griffin, she relented a bit."

Sirius had been slowly shaking his head in wonder before he registered that last bit and paused. "But Kirara's with Kagome right now," he said, sounding confused. "Why'd she let us go today?"

James grinned widely and started to walk again. "Well, technically, we're going to the village—we're just taking the long way getting there."

With a laugh and another shake of his head, Sirius continued to follow James further into the woods. "Well, here's to hoping we don't run into a bear or something on our way there."

.

.

When they met up the following day after lunch, Severus had taken one look at the feline in Kagome's arms before he turned to Lily and asked, with a touch of a drawl and a faintly quirk of the lips, "How's dear Petunia today, Lily?"

Lily flashed him her teeth in a cheeky grin, a noticeable skip in her step as they walked down the worn, cobbled street together. "She was looking a tad peaky on the way out, but I'm sure she'll bounce back in a jiff."

Kagome snorted. Petunia didn't so much as give her a glance after offering her strained greeting in the morning, and she was pretty sure she only did as much because it would've been impolite otherwise. The minute she was finished with her breakfast, she'd even excused herself to make a hasty escape.

She was pretty sure she'd even caught Petunia giving her the stink eye out of the corner of her eye as she passed by, thinking she wasn't looking.

So much for making nice.

"If only because we're gone," Kagome murmured, "I don't know who was shocked more—your sister or Kirara." Lifting the cat up to her face, she laughed lightly at the almost deadpan stare that Kirara fixed her with.

Lily bounded over, an apologetic look on her face. "I'm sorry, Kirara," she said, walking backwards now. Her voice still bubbled with hints of mirth. "It was just too good of an opportunity to pass up."

When the redhead reach over to give the cat a pat Kirara turned her nose away with a haughty sounding sniff, not in the mood to forgive just yet. Kagome laughed even louder as Lily stopped and stared, her mouth having dropped open.

"Next time maybe run it past Kirara first?" the dark-haired witch suggested, biting her lip to tamper down her grin. "Give a little warning. A treat or two wouldn't be unappreciated either."

Pouting, Lily nodded and drew her hand away. More sincerely, she offered another apology. "I'm very sorry Kirara, I really should've been more considerate. I hope you'll forgive me." Kirara had yet to turn her head to acknowledge Lily, but the swivel of her ears was a sure sign that she was listening. Lily bit her lip and glanced up at Kagome, the two sharing an amused look. "And I'm pretty sure Mum's making something with fish for dinner tonight." Kirara's ears twitched. "I'm sure I can sneak you a few bites without anyone noticing, if that helps."

Kirara finally turned her head back around, purring out a satisfied trill and stretching out in Kagome's hold; Lily laughed out a short squeal when the cat gave a small lick on the tip of her nose.

It took a moment for the two to realize that Severus had been silent for the whole exchange, and they both turned to find him staring blankly at the three of them.

"Severus?" Kagome asked, confused and a bit concerned.

His dark eyes flickered to meet Kagome's. "Potter, your cat," he begun, looking a bit dazed, "Is very odd."

At that, Kirara steered her orange gaze towards him, and Severus stiffened beneath her steady stare. Kagome on the other hand gave a sniff this time, indignant on her small, furry friend's behalf. "I like to call her unique, thank you very much."

"I only meant—" he paused and sighed, exasperated, and tried again. "I've wondered for a while now," he said, "She really does understand everything you're saying." The sheer idea seemed to boggle his mind.

"Of course," Kagome answered immediately, "Kirara's very smart. Stubborn too." Her lips twitched. "Occasionally a pain in my arse, what with how many laces of mine she chews up."

Kirara held her head high and gave a proud purr.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Kinda like a kneazle, but much nicer."

"Cuter too," Lily piped up as they started walking once more.

Eventually, Kagome and Kirara were led to the bank of a river nearby. The river itself wasn't much to look at, a dark tint tinging the rushing water and litter strewn through the overgrowth among the bank. But further up was a very large willow tree and underneath it, some rather comfortable grass where the four settled down on.

Kagome hummed pleasantly as she gazed up at the overcast sky, eyes shuttering as the wind picked up and brushed against her. "This is nice," she murmured with a blissful sigh.

Beside her, Severus gave a grunt of agreement and Lily, a lengthy, "Mhmm."

The four of them were laid out on the grass in a circle beneath the thick, far-reaching branches of the old tree and enjoying the shade it offered; Kirara, after a few minutes of batting at the branches that were long enough to hover just a couple feet shy of the ground, had chosen Severus to use as her pillow. Currently, the cat was curled up on his chest and dozing.

The wizard gave Kirara an absent scritch underneath her chin as he tipped his own back to look at the two girls. "Have you finished your summer assignments?"

"Almost," Kagome replied, Lily humming the same. "Still need to wrap up my Transfiguration essay—I've got about a few inches left to do."

Lily groaned. "I've got six."

Kagome reached out to give the girl a sympathetic pat on her shoulder in solidarity. The subject had always been one of their most troublesome ones.

It was unfair, really, when her brother could basically do it in his sleep.

"You finished yours?" Kagome asked in return.

"Yes." Severus' tone was unmistakably smug when he answered. "Two weeks ago."

Her eye twitched. Without missing a beat, Kagome said, "Kirara, bite him, please?"

She heard him snort, could practically picture him rolling his eyes, not taking her seriously. It made it all the more sweeter when Severus let out a loud yelp a few seconds later.

"She nipped me!"

The pure incredulity in his affronted voice was the delicious icing on the cake.

Kagome grinned up at the sky. Beside her, Lily snickered into her hand. "Thank you, Kirara!" she chirped.

.

.

"You're trying out for quidditch next year, right?"

James nearly bounced with the amount of excitement the question roused. "You know it! Why?" He whirled around suddenly, eyes wide, and almost tripped over a thick root because of it. It hadn't even fazed him the slightest bit as he asked, "Are you going try outs too?!" before even steadying himself.

Sirius laughed and with a helpless nod he reached out to help straighten him up. "Thinking about it, yeah."

This time, James really did bounce on his heels. "What position?"

"Haven't decided yet," Sirius admitted. Stepping towards the nearest tree, he took a break and leaned against it, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's a toss between beater and keeper."

James hummed in thought as he appraised the other wizard, taking a seat on a nearby boulder. "You'd make a good beater," he murmured after a moment, agreeing wholeheartedly.

Sirius laughed suddenly, a wide grin splitting his face. "You know who else would make a good beater?" At James' raised eyebrow, his grin grew wider. "Kagome."

James made a face of mock-terror, an exaggerated shudder running through his body. "Now that's a scary image," he snickered, shaking his head. "A bat in her hand and that grin of hers on her face, knocking bludgers this way and that?" James fixed his face into an imitation of it, doing his best to mimic the truly frightening grin Kagome wore when coming up with an epic prank. Bringing up his arms as if wielding a beater's bat, James mimed a swing and clicked his tongue before dissolving into peals of laughter. "She'd frighten the pants and knickers off everyone on the field, our team included!"

Sirius crowed at the thought, arms clutching at his stomach as he shook with mirth. "She would kill you if she were here to see that."

But he didn't deny it.

James grinned, watching Sirius wipe tears from under his eyes. More seriously, he said, "But nah, she'd make a killer seeker. You should see some of the dives she pulls — I think she gets her kicks off the adrenaline."

Sirius let out a thoughtful hum. "I can see that," he murmured with a small smile, "So she's trying out too?"

Confident in his answer, James replied immediately. "Oh, for sure."

.

.

"I don't think I'm going to go for quidditch tryouts next year," Kagome confessed to Lily on their way back to the latter's house.

Lily made a noise of interest from beside her. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah…" Kagome sighed, the sound forlorn. "I mean, I love being on a broom, I love flying. I just don't see the point when Gryffindor already has a great seeker and I'll just end up on the bench for the whole season for reserve even if I do manage to make it."

"I mean, I still don't get the hype of riding on a broom hundreds of feet in the air for sport, but the rest sounds reasonable," Lily commented as they came across a trail of flat rocks. She leapt onto one and began to skip to the next from there.

Kagome held back her snort; even at the end of their flying lessons last year, after a new, proper and adequate professor had taken over, Lily could not get comfortable on her broom. She held it with a death-grip and almost had her whole body pressed flush against it. Kagome's incident with had rogue broom probably hadn't help with her… trepidation, either.

"So what's the problem?"

Kagome grimaced and hugged Kirara tighter to her chest. "I just don't know how to break it to James yet."

Still skipping, Lily let out a long 'ah'. "Yeah… I remember him talking about you guys playing on the team together last year," she mused, tapping her chin as she tried to recall. "He was really looking forward to it. The "Potter twins being a force to be reckon with!" or something like that."

She'd mimicked James excited voice almost perfectly, and a beat of silence passed in which Kagome winced at Lily's blunt words, the sounds of the redhead's trainers slapping against the rock seeming louder than they should be, like echoes of doom.

Or maybe that was just Kagome being a little overdramatic.

"He doesn't have any idea, does he?" There was a small ounce of pity coating Lily's words.

Kagome winced once again, this time a deeper one. The 'echoes of doom' seemed more plausible now. "Not a clue," she whispered with dread.

Lily grunted as she reached the end of the rock trail and jumped onto solid ground, walking beside Kagome now. Dusting off her hands, she turned to offer the other witch a sympathetic look. "Best thing to do is just tell him, then. Like ripping off a plaster."

Kagome made a strangled, disbelieving noise and turned to stare at Lily.

"What?" The redhead blinked back at her innocently. "It's not like breaking it to him easily is going to make his quidditch-obsessed little heart any less crushed."

Kagome just shook her head and buried her face into the soft fur of Kirara's side. The feline gave a comforting lick across her cheek.

And this was from the girl her brother would come to marry in about eight years, too.

.

.

"Oi, James, look over here! Is that a snake? It's huge."

"Huh?" Turning at Sirius urgent hiss, James found him to be ten paces away over by a mound of rocks. Jogging over, he peered over his friend's shoulder to see a long, thick stretch of patterned scales across the flat surface of the topmost rock.

James barely caught the brief way the reptile's nostrils faintly flared before he froze—one bronze, black-slitted eye had been cracked open and James could've sworn it was trained solely at him.

There, bathing in the warm light of the sun, James was pretty sure, was Siki.

Sirius' hushed whisper recaptured James' attention. "Uh, is it me or is that snake glaring at us?" James started, glancing at his friend's face. "Can snakes even glare?" he asked more quietly to himself. Sirius eyes widened after a second and he went completely still, gaze flicking towards James as his voice dropped to a strained whisper. "D'you think it's poisonous?"

James didn't think it was actually physically possible, but unless his eyes were failing him even more than they already were, he was also pretty sure that the snake before them did the equivalent of rolling its eye, an odd shuttering movement of its eyelid, before shutting it completely and effectively ignoring the two humans ogling before them.

Definitely Siki. James had no doubts about it now.

Gently grasping Sirius' sleeve, he gingerly tugged the boy back. "As long as we don't bug her, we should be alright," he advised, a faint touch of nerves to his words.

"Her?" came Sirius' curious query as he followed James' retreat without hesitation.

James blinked, nearly blanching, and stuttered out his answer. "I mean—there's a snake that visits Mum's garden sometimes. Looks just like that one. She's a her." He cleared his throat in a vain attempt to steady his voice. "Kagome called her an adder, I think."

Sirius' eyebrows furrowed, and he turned to give James a questioning look. "How'd you know that one was a she?"

James shrugged, eager to set the matter aside. "Kagome just said. She must've checked—it's friendly enough to her," he muttered, which, that was an understatement.

With him, though… Well, he didn't know if snakes held grudges, and he wasn't exactly looking to find out.

"Weird," Sirius mumbled as he let James drag him away.

James stopped short, his heart tripping. Was he sweating all of a sudden? James felt like he was sweating. "What's weird?" he asked, and hoped to Merlin his voice didn't sound as high as he thought it did.

If Sirius noticed anything off, though, he didn't show it. He only blinked. "Huh? Oh, just that I didn't peg Kagome as the type to like snakes." He tapped his bottom lip in deliberation before confessing, "Honestly, I always thought she was a dog type."

James sidled him with a flat look. "She owns a cat, Sirius."

The boy only shrugged. "I never said it made any sense."

.

.

The Leaky Cauldron was bustling the early morning that the Potter family Flooed in: tables were all but filled with people eating breakfast, or rather at this hour, brunch, and the same went for the bar; people filtered in and out through the front into muggle London and the back into Diagon Alley; plates and glasses and cups of tea floated above them all to and fro their designated place of order and the kitchen.

Arm hooked with her brother's, Kagome coughed and cleared her throat from the combination of residual Floo powder and dust, James doing the same beside her. Leading them out of the fireplace so that their parents could Floo in behind them, Kagome blinked watery eyes and cast a look around. Seconds later, she threw a hand out. "Sirius! Mister Black!" she called out, pushing through the crowd and bounding for the bar where their friend and his Uncle sat together, nursing what looked to be pumpkin juice and tea respectively.

They'd been waiting for this day for months—ever since Peter started writing his aunt earlier in the year.

She'd finally written back the third week of June, just before Hogwarts had let out. Good thing too, because the last thing either of them wanted was for Peter's mum to discover they were in touch with each other.

Peter's watery eyes and the trembling but no less beaming smile he wore not even a minute into reading the multiple-page letter meant only good news.

It also meant that his aunt, Sarah, would "very much like to see you, kid, if we can swing it," as she wrote to him.

It was easy, roping Sirius' uncle Alphard into agreeing to take all five kids for an afternoon around Diagon Alley and ice cream.

What wasn't exactly so easy was getting everyone else's parents to agree with him doing so—Remus' father and Peter's mother were both still leery of the reputation surrounding the Black name, and were hesitant to trust their children with him. Sirius was one thing, since he was only a child; an adult was another.

The two Blacks turned in their seats, offering greetings of their own, and they talked to fill in the wait for the others to arrive as well. By the time Remus and Peter had both joined them, Alphard had left the children to themselves for a brief chat with the other adults before they departed.

It had taken a while for them to warm up with one another, but what with constantly running into each other whilst dropping off their kids for playdates and sleepovers and Alphard being his usual, amiable and charming self, as well as the Potters having nothing but good things to say when one of the parents made a discreet inquiry about the man, it eventually happened.

Once Remus' father caved into letting his son go, Peter's mother saw no reason to resist either.

Peter's mother, Teresa, was the first to take her leave first with a hasty kiss to her son's cheek and a quaint smile towards Alphard just minutes after arriving, citing plans with her sister for lunch and Lyall, Remus' father, following soon after with a gentle ruffle of his son's hair. As her parents lingered to talk to Alphard longer, Kagome couldn't help but notice the way Sirius had seemed to be rather… withdrawn the whole morning. His greeting upon seeing them was warm as always, but lacked a certain… carefree exuberance she'd always attributed to Sirius.

Wondering why, she left James to talk with Peter and Remus and weaved through the traffic rushing through the inn to skip up behind Sirius, tossing an arm around his shoulders to bring him closer.

"What's going on?" she asked quietly, so only he could hear. "It's not like you to look so… serious," she commented, her word choice deliberate.

Sirius' lips twitched, but it wasn't the grin she was aiming for. Usually, he'd be eager to jump at an opening to pun his name. "But Kagome, I'm always Sirius," he easily replied, the attempt coming off as half-hearted. "To look any less than myself—t'would be a crime to deprive the public of this handsome visage."

Feet away, Alphard let out a cough that sounded suspiciously like a laugh, clearly overhearing his nephew. Immediately, Sirius ducked his head and looked away, shifting on his feet as he crossed his arms over his chest. When her mother voiced her concern, Alphard waved it off with a small grin.

Covering her mouth, Kagome feigned rubbing her nose to hide her own twitching mouth. "I love you and all, Sirius, but you're twelve," she reminded him with a droll roll of her eyes. "I doubt you'd be depriving the public of much."

Sirius brought a hand to his chest, casting a wounded look in Kagome's direction. "You mean to tell me that this," he gestured to the entirety of his face with a flourished wave of his hand, "Doesn't leave your heart tripping at the sight of it?"

Kagome did not blink as she leaned in so close that the tips of their noses brushed against one another. Sirius' eyes went wide and crossed at her sudden close proximity, going utterly still beneath her arm. It took all Kagome had not to laugh at the deer-in-the-headlights look he was giving her. "Sirius, you may be cute," she said in a lowered voice, without even a shred of hesitation. "But I've seen you sleep. I've also tripped over your drawers once, and had a too close encounter with a pile of dirty socks so rank they could knock out Peeves. I try not to think about it, to be honest." Leaning back, she felt a bit of satisfaction at the pink tinge to his pale cheeks. "Suffice to say, I won't be swooning anytime soon."

Sirius cleared his throat and averted his eyes.

She gave him a nudge, not about to let him change the subject so easily. "Sirius?" she murmured, allowing concern to slip into her tone.

"It's nothing, really," Sirius tried dismissing with a mutter, which if she was being honest to herself, just made it all the more clearer that it was anything but nothing. At the sight of her raised eyebrow indicating he wasn't fooling her Sirius sighed, though still faintly amused. "I don't really feel like talking about it right now."

"Alright," Kagome let it drop. As much as she wanted him to tell her what was wrong, the Leaky Cauldron probably wasn't the best place for it.

"A lot of responsibility, taking these five on your own," she heard her father comment, drawing her attention away to the three adults still conversing.

Alphard's laugh came easy and soft and edged with a wry rasp as he scanned the five twelve year-olds gathered around him. "Oh, I'm sure they're not all bad," he waved off. His silvery gaze slid to where Kagome and Sirius stood, still embraced, and he shot a small grin in the girl's direction. "I can't see you being too much of a troublemaker, that's for sure. You're always so polite."

There was a beat of pure, disbelieving silence broken only moments later by the sound of James choking. It was followed by Sirius bursting out with laughter next to her, long and hard and almost getting a stich for his efforts, any sign of his previous despondency gone without a trace. Remus had trouble muffling his own snickers with a cough, and Peter had turned away with an obvious, too-innocent whistle.

Kagome's cheek flushed hot, and she struggled to maintain her composure. She also struggled not to give Sirius, who was still laughing, a forceful little nudge.

Every time. They did this every. Bloody. Time.

Alphard was beginning to look faintly alarmed, now; behind him, her mother's gaze went skyward and her father ducked his head to hide his budding grin.

Her friends were absolute prats – the whole lot of them.

Rolling her eyes, she cuffed Sirius over the head. "We'll be on our best behaviour, I swear." She turned a sharp stare to her brother and Sirius, the "or else," following as a silent promise.

The pair gave nods so eager that they had Charles snorting softly under his breath.

"Well then," Alphard said with a loud clap and only a little worry, "Shall we head out?"

After saying their goodbyes, Alphard lead them through the Leaky Cauldron to the back, slipping out his wand – black and sleek with a trail of raised oval ridges from base to tapered tip – and tapping the stone wall to open up the doorway.

It shouldn't have been a surprise that the first place they hit was the joke shop. The five children spent nearly an hour exploring, marveling over the various joke items, and, well, if someone snuck some fireworks into their order, Alphard politely averted his eyes and said nary a word.

From there the group went from one shop to the next—to the quidditch store where they checked out, and in James and Sirius' cases, drooled over the new Nimbus set up in the window display; to the Apothecary where Kagome wanted to pick up some ingredients; to the bookshop, much to the dismay of Sirius and James, but Remus and Kagome's twin glares quickly put their whining to rest; up until Alphard took them to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour for a treat before it was time to take their leave.

The group filed into the lively shop to find a line waiting up front and tables filled with other children and their guardians.

Back in the corner, however, sat a woman alone and keeping to herself. Rail thin, her shoulders were slouched as she picked at the cup of rocky road ice cream held loosely between her hands. Silver was threaded liberally through her straw-coloured hair plaited into a loose French braid, strands of stray hair curling around her face and partially hiding the faint, silver scar that curled around left eye. Scars were also littered across her knuckles and peeked out from under the cuff of her worn jumper sleeves.

The moment Peter saw her, he stumbled to a stop—Remus caught onto his intense stare quick enough, nose twitching and his eyes going wide.

Even from the back, they could see the woman tensing as if feeling their stares.

"I would have thought by saying, "let's go for ice cream," you five would be crowding the bar by now, piling on the scoops," inquired Alphard's curious voice from behind them, who had not a clue of the significance the women held. While Sirius was sure his uncle wouldn't mind helping Peter reconnect with his aunt, they all had agreed it wasn't their place to spill Sarah's secret as a werewolf, especially if it meant the possibility of revealing Remus' as well. "I know it's hot outside, but Fortescue's is not known for running out even on the most scorching of days."

"True that!" Kagome followed up, and stepped forward to link arms with Peter and Remus. "A double-scoop is calling my name!" She steered the pair towards the bar, pausing behind the line that lead to the front and murmuring under her breath to say, "Ice cream first, questions later?"

The two nodded dumbly and allowed themselves to be led – Peter was first to get his ice cream, but it wasn't until Remus had gotten his that Kagome gave them another nudge, this time a touch more exasperated. "Go!" she whispered in encouragement. "Quick! While you still can chat alone!"

That was enough to get them moving. With a nervous glance back at their chaperone, whose attention was fixed on James and Sirius, the two boys skittered towards the back.

The woman slowly sat her small cup of half eaten ice cream down onto her table as they approached, watching them with a curious glint in her gaze.

Shyly, the pair paused to hover by the opposite edge of the table, Peter fiddling with his cone and Remus casting anxious looks left and right. The woman said nothing, only tipping her head to the side, pale blue eyes the same hue as Peter's observing them in silence, waiting.

Peter was the same, taking in his aunt that he hadn't seen in years, not since… it happened. Not since she was bitten. With a quick, light swallow, Peter stepped closer to the table and finally spoke up, offering a smile so nervous it came off with a slight grimace. "Aunt Sarah. Hi."

Sarah's lips curled wryly, peering at Remus as if his presence beside her nephew amused her. "Hey, little Petey. You've sure grown." Though her voice was quiet and fond and a little rough around the edges, as if from disuse, it wasn't by any means meek. There was a subtle strength that underplayed her words.

Peter ducked his head at the old nickname, nerves fading and his smile coming easier now.

Leaning forward, Sarah shifted closer to the table to lay an arm across the metal-wrought surface and proper her chin in the lithe, scarred hand of the other as she peered at the two. "I was curious to why I received a letter, despite my dear sister-in-law's best efforts to sever contact and not acknowledge my existence," she commented, murmuring, and gave a wink in Remus' direction. Lifting her chin, she gestured to the chairs around the table for them to sit.

Once they did, her gaze slid to rest on Peter where it softened. "So who's your friend, kid?" she asked, tipping her head in Remus' direction.

With a glance over at him, Peter gave an introduction. "This is Remus. We go to Hogwarts together – we're also dorm mates. He's one of my best friends!"

The unashamed, eager declaration seemed to touch Remus, the boy's eyes blinking fast and looking suspiciously wet. Trying to hide his reaction, Remus quickly busied himself with his ice cream.

With a knowing look, Sarah smiled softly at Remus. "Nice to meet you, Remus."

Remus dropped his chocolate ice cream cone, smiling bashfully. "It's really nice to meet you too, Miss Pettigrew."

Sarah's face twisted at the title. "Eugh, you can just call me Sarah, kiddo – I might look old, but I've only just turned thirty-two this year."

"Still old in my books," Peter muttered, taking a swipe at his strawberry cone when his aunt gave him an unamused look.

"Still a cheeky little tit, huh?" Sarah muttered back, rolling her eyes when Peter grinned. "How've you been doing, kid?"

Peter's grin softened to a shy, small smile now. "Well," he answered, and the quietly added, "I've really missed you, Auntie."

The corner of Sarah's mouth curled softly, and she reached out to fondly ruffle the boy's sandy hair. "Yeah, me too."

.

.

Wanting to give them as much time alone as possible, the remaining three kids took their time choosing their own treats.

They worked in tandem; while one went up to choose their ice cream, the others made sure Alphard remained distracted so they wouldn't rouse any suspicion. It wasn't until impatient huffs begun to come from the line behind them when Kagome kept asking questions and was listening to Fortescue explain the process of how he made his ice cream that she decided it was best to cut her losses right then and there and asked for a double of mint chocolate chip.

Once Alphard made his own selection and their ice creams were all paid for, the four of them made their way across the store where Remus and Peter sat.

"Made a friend, I see?" Alphard commented with a curious look and a kind smile as they took the table next to them.

Peter gave a nervous titter. "Actually, this is my aunt, Sarah." He turned to the woman then. "Auntie Sarah, this is Mister Alphard, my friend Sirius' uncle."

Alphard's eyes skittered over the fine silver lines along Sarah's hands and face; the woman stiffened at his close study, but didn't hesitate to catch his eyes when they finally met hers and boldly hold his gaze, a challenge waiting in her own as if to dare him to say something.

Alphard made no such move. He didn't even give any indication that he was aware it ever happened at all as a wide smile spread across his face. "A pleasure to meet you," he greeted, with such warmth enthused into his words that it couldn't be anything but genuine. He held out his free hand fir the younger woman to take.

She regarded it warily, blinking slow and a wrinkle between her brows. After only a short moment of hesitation, Sarah held out her own to take it; when Alphard bowed down to press his lips against her knuckles, her eyes went noticeably wide.

An amused huff escaped the woman as she stared up at him in a different light, a wry twist to her mouth. "Likewise," she finally replied.

.

.

It happened on a bright, sunny day in mid-August. The sky was a beautiful blue, with white fluffy clouds drifting lazily across the great expanse, and the sun a pleasant warmth against her skin.

Kagome knew it was coming—she could only delay it so much. It was unavoidable. It was inevitable. She couldn't put off any longer; faced with it, she had to come clean.

And when the words left her lips, as she watched her brother's back freeze into an unnatural stillness mid-step, she felt a chill trickle down the length of her spine.

There was a beat of horrified silence. Sirius, Remus, and Peter, whose eyes had widened at her quiet declaration, all took a large step back in preparation of the oncoming explosion.

They were not disappointed.

"What do you mean you're not going for try outs?!"

.

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i really hope you all enjoyed this 12k monster of a chapter. this has got to be the most difficult chapter i've ever worked through, and it probably shows, but looking at it, it's the most satisfied i'd been in a while.

i mentioned that though i haven't updated in so long, i haven't forgotten about this fic. well, neither have a handful of some really incredible, not to mention kind, readers! tbh, this chapter wouldn't have happened bc of them!

over the year i've gotten so many headcanons and questions! and sweetlessly, who has created some beautiful art for de before (and is also known as ephemeren on tumblr!), not only created some more, but she also wrote a few amazing scenes! AND she also played a bit of… i guess you could call it, fic/art tennis with me, so definitely check all of those out!

there's also a cut scene i posted a couple weeks ago that takes place between this chapter and the last, as well as a bunch of other extra little thing, so a lot has been added to the de/de headcanon tags on my tumblr.

AND! an aaaaamazing person actually wrote this really incredible, sweet, and ahem, steamy future scene between Sirius and Kagome, but i can't find it anymore! dear friend, i'm not sure if you deleted your blog or not but if you're reading this, i just wanted to thank you again for writing that amazing scene! if you still have it, i would really love to read it again if you wouldn't mind – it was really such beautiful work of writing.

since links will just get wiped out from ffn, you can find my blog on tumblr under zefyre now. i haven't been very good at updating the links on my directory page, so to make sure you catch everything, go to these two:

/tagged/domino-effect

/tagged/de-headcanons

any questions, just ask! thanks again everyone for sticking through the long ass wait, and for all the reviews (literally 101 reviews for last chapter alone holy shit), and follows, and favs! especially all of those who actually came back, re-read, and kept reviewing. that you guys didn't forget about this fic, didn't let me forget about this fic, means so much. i've done some serious outlining for this fic, and have already started the next chapter, so here's to hoping the next chapter won't take as nearly as long!

till next time!

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reviews bc some had questions i'd like to address:

guest- thank you! ^^ kagome's animagus won't be anything special i'm afraid lol, it'll be a normal animals just like the others!

Death the kid- thanks! and no worries, i can at least confirm kagome's animagus won't be another deer/stag haha

Jayne- mhm, kagome will not be joining the quidditch team. not this year, at least ;)

unknown- sesshomaru is, in fact, still alive! using tenseiga, however, is something that would've only worked to revive the others if he had gotten to them in time to do it. :( as for a way for the rest of the marauders to see what kagome's life in the feudal era and her friends were like, the idea going around is using a pensieve! someone on tumblr actually suggested it! (and i agree, the boys seeing kagome bring a demon p much six ft into the ground with a word – their faces would be epic)