AN: Here you go. I really like many parts of this chapter and I hope you do to. It was one of those pathetic instances where I laughed at my own writing and in a good way- Though in my defense, I wrote much of this chapter months ago. I don't know if that makes it better or not, but it makes me feel better about it.

Anyway, as always, I ask you to review

"She is free in her wildness, she is a wanderess, a drop of free water. She knows nothing of borders and cares nothing for rules or customs. 'Time' for her isn't something to fight against. Her life flows clean, with passion, like fresh water."
―Roman Payne

or

"You can keep as quiet as you like, but one of these days somebody is going to find you."

―Haruki Murakami,1Q84

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Hidden Princess and the Pauper

Remus was seated beside Sirius in the Tavern as people gathered around the table they sat at to watch Sirius play cards with strangers who were here for the tourney. The local men were having a good old time watching other people get duped out of their money for a change. Remus had a book out and was trying to ignore the growing noise while he studied the rules of jousting matches, archery contests and other games that would be played during the tourney.

He wasn't quite sure what his main role would be, but the first day of the tournament started tomorrow, opening with a royal ceremony where all attending kings and their families would ride through town, people would follow them out to the stands. It was a parade of sorts and Remus couldn't help but be a little nervous about the whole thing. Servants and knights didn't ride in the parade, it was only the royal families, and James- well he was it for the Potters. That had to be lonely, especially now when it hadn't been that long since he lost his family.

Sirius nudged him and leaned in closer. "I love this bloody tourney." He grinned, dropping his winnings into a leather satchel he had tied to his waist. He had been winning a lot more than usual, since there were a lot of new men around, eager to engage in some sort of competition and still unaware that it was near impossible to beat Sirius.

"Maybe you can buy yourself a bed and stop sleeping on my floor." Remus said, turning the page of his book.

"Nah, I'm saving it." He said, as he always did when Remus suggested he spend his money on something useful.

"I'm not saying you should get your own place, I'm only suggesting that you get a bed. You can put it where you currently sleep, just-"

"I'm saving it." He interrupted.

"Right, but you won't tell me what for."

"It's going to be a surprise." He grinned, and then turned to the crowd. "Anyone else want to have a go? I'm about four drinks in and working on my fifth so your chances of winning are only going up." Remus shook his head and looked up at Sirius, he'd never seen him lose at anything. He'd almost beaten him once at the terrible card game that Sirius had taught him with the picture cards and the strange rules, but no matter how many times they played, or how well he thought he understood it, he just couldn't win. The knights couldn't best him at sword play, the men couldn't best him at cards or dice. He was unbeatable and Remus, despite being very annoyed by this, was also rather proud.

"I'll have a go," The surrounding area got a bit quieter, as the voice that said this belonged to a woman, and there weren't many woman who frequented this pub. At least not young woman, and this voice sounded fairly young.

She stepped forward and Remus and Sirius both looked at one another with raised brows when they saw who it was. Nymphadora Tonks, still dressed in her expensive gown and her hair clean and neatly set in an elaborate up do, looked wildly out of place in this dirty, old pub where men came to drink and gamble.

"Cousin," Sirius said, slightly weary. "What are you doing here?" There was a sound of agreement from the surrounding crowd. Women were allowed here of course, but noble women?

"I was exploring town," She said and then nodded towards the window, "I saw you through there and I thought I'd pop in and say hi. We've never officially met one another."

"No we haven't." Sirius said, gesturing to the seat across from him. Dora nodded and sat down. "Your mum ran away before she had you, and then I was disowned and I suppose our paths never crossed until now. Though, your mum always was my favorite cousin."

"Didn't you only have the three?" Nyphadora asked, her brows raised. "And Bella was one of them so it wasn't really a tough contest, was it?"

"Cissy was pretty great too." Sirius shrugged. "But Andromeda used to sneak me biscuits after my mum put me to bed. Of course I was four the last time I saw her."

"I feel like that would make you friends today as well." Remus chuckled. "Someone bringing you biscuits."

"It would, Remus, why don't you bring me biscuits in bed?"

"You don't have a bed." Remus smirked.

"Right." Sirius said. "I'm saving my money." He explained to his cousin.

"Where do you sleep?" She asked, narrowing her brow.

"My floor." Remus said and Nymphadora laughed.

"Well, are we doing this?" She said, motioning to the cards. "I should warn you that I'm rather good."

"Well," Sirius said, picking them up and shuffling the deck. "I should warn you that I've never lost."

"Never?" She asked skeptically.

"Not since I worked out how to play." He shrugged.

"I don't believe you."

"It's true." Remus said, finally closing his book and setting it aside. "I mean, I've only known him a year, but I've never seen him lose at anything."

"I still think I can win." She pulled out a gold coin and placed it on the table. Sirius studied it for a moment, wondering if he should gamble with his younger, female cousin. Maybe, Remus wasn't sure. He could have been thinking about how much closer he would be to his savings goal once he won the gold piece.

"Alright," He said finally, reaching into his satchel and pulling out a gold piece. Remus hadn't seen him win that. None of the men that he gambled had that kind of money, so he was surprised to see that Sirius had it. He dealt the cards and put the deck in the middle of the table before flipping over three more cards face up. "You know how to play, yes?"

"Of course I do. I'm arrogant, but I'm not going to pretend to know how to play a game that I've never played before." She laughed and then twirled a piece of hair out of her bun and wrapped it around her finger as she inspected her cards. "I'll take two." She said, taking two cards out of her hand and sliding them across the table. Sirius nodded and slid two new cards back towards her.

"I only want one." He said, discarding one and drawing a new card. Remus leaned over to see what he had, but he hid his cards from him. He reached out and flipped over the last two cards and almost at the same time, they smirked. Remus laughed at how much they looked like family just then, near identical faces they wore. "What do you look so smug for?" Sirius asked, tapping his fingers on the table.

"I'm going to beat you." She said, tilting her head to the side. "And in front of all these men here," She motioned to the small crowd that was still standing around watching the game.

"You think you're going to beat me, and that's cute." Sirius said. "Though if you do beat me, I will be nothing but impressed, because I couldn't have bought cards this good." Dora's look of confidence wavered for only a moment, but enough for Sirius to get even more smug.

"Well," She said. "We'll see about that," Then she laid out her cards. It was a good hand. Two high pairs. But Sirius just chuckled. "Royal flush." He said, laying down a hand that was better.

"How did you do that?" She asked, laughing good-naturedly despite the fact that she had just lost.

"Luck of the draw." He smirked, reaching out and swiping up the two gold coins. "Now, why don't we get you back to a more respectable part of town." He stood up and addressed the room, "Not that I don't appreciate your company lads, but a woman of my cousins stature is too good for any of you." Remus shook his head, but the rest of the men took his jibe as well as he meant it, playfully shoving his shoulders as he walked to the door. For all his talk about not liking people, and not needing a family or friends, people sure did seem to like him.

When the three of them were on the street, Remus turned towards Nymphadora, holding his book in both hands behind his back. "So, what really brought you all the way out here? We're a good thirty minutes from the castle."

She shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest. "I suppose I just wanted to get as far from the castles as I could manage without leaving the city." She said. "The royal families arrived today, and they all seem a bit skeptical of my family. As if at any moment my mother is going to slit their throats and pour their blood into our goblets." Remus flinched and Sirius let out a bark of laughter. "I'm sorry, that was terribly violent, I'm just so frustrated. I mean, I've never hurt anyone on purpose. I have accidentally tripped into, over or on a bunch of people, but I've never intentionally caused anyone harm and I feel like they should get to know me before deciding that I'm bad news." She rambled a bit, more so than Lily and that made Remus smile because Lily was quite good at rambling.

"It's not up to you to decide how people are going to perceive you." Sirius said, looking up at the stars. "You've just got to prove them wrong."

"Didn't you only just start taking that advice?" She asked, pressing her lips together in a small smile. "Because I heard stories about you before, when you roamed from tavern to tavern, gorging yourself in boos and sleeping with all the women you could find and-"

"Woah, woah, woah," Sirius laughed. "All the women I could find? Don't you think that's a bit of an exaggeration?"

She shrugged and then nodded. "I suppose, but still. You weren't exactly the hero type, and now," She motioned around to the city, "Everyone loves you. How did you manage that?"

"I just told you," Sirius said, "I proved them wrong."

"He showed them that he cares about stuff, he didn't stop drinking or anything." Remus corrected. "I'm sure you'll find a way to get the royal families to see you for who you really are."

"You're Remus, right? King James' servant?"

"He's more than that," Sirius said, though Remus didn't mind his title. He was James' servant. "He's one of James' best mates."

"Yes, I've heard that as well." She narrowed her brow. "People can be awfully rude to the young king."

"What are you talking about?" Remus asked.

Nymphadora shrugged. "They just- They say things about how James doesn't know the difference between a peasant and a princess. That he's losing touch, that he's falling down to the people's level, that he's- well, they're saying a lot of things, but that's just because they're upset. King James isn't exactly who we all thought he was going to be two or three years ago. But you can bet your salt that people like my mum and dad are happy about that. That's really why we're here. To let him know that even though there are nobles turning their nose up at him, that we have money and we're more than willing to let him have it if it makes things a bit easier for him. He doesn't need those snobs."

"He doesn't know the difference between a peasant and a princess?" Remus laughed.

"We can't really counter that one," Sirius smirked. "I mean, the way he looks at her-"

"At who?" Nymphadora asked, grinning back and forth at both of them. "Is he really in love with a peasant girl- er, with a non-royal? Which of those sounds better?"

Sirius grinned, "Her name is Lily, and she's a nurse at the town hospital."

"Lily? Is that the same girl who was-"

"Your aunt's maid." Remus finished. "Yes."

"That must have been terrifying for her."

"Lily isn't frightened easily." Remus said, though he supposed that wasn't true. She was very easily frightened by the thought of her friends and family in danger, but when it was her life on the line she was as brave as they came. "Though, they were friends before Bella went mad, and so, it's a sore subject for her."

"But the king fancies her?" She laughed. "That's fantastic. Can you imagine the look on all those stupid noble girls' faces when he marries her instead of one of them? Oh, what will the kings think? Well, actually I suppose Queen Bones was a peasant before she married the King, so maybe they'll understand. But my mum doesn't have many nice things to say about the head of the McKinnon family. Harsh man, she says. Holds his children to ridiculous standards, especially his daughters. That's why the oldest one ran away. Well, probably why, no one really knows for sure because no one's been able to find her."

"McKinnon, did you say?" Remus asked. He knew a McKinnon. "Her name wouldn't happen to be Marlene, would it?"

"Yes, actually." Nymphadora narrowed her eyes at him. "You wouldn't happen to know where the lost princess is, would you?"

"You don't think?" Sirius asked, looking at Remus, but Remus wasn't paying attention, his mind was reeling. Marlene McKinnon, the one that he knew, was a woman pretending to be a man so that she could be a knight, so that she could be Lancelot, the legendary man who's main goal is to serve and protect the people. She couldn't be a princess as well, could she? Surely she would have told him that. And if she was the lost princess, wouldn't she have used a different name? Wouldn't she have at the very least, changed her last name?

"Remus?" Nymphadora waved her hand in front of his face. "You do know where she is, don't you?"

"Yes," He said. "But you can't tell anyone." He quickly changed course and headed towards Hagrid's hut.

oOoOo

Marlene was seated at Hagrid's table with her feet kicked up on the edge and a large cup of tea in hand. "I know we've been saying it for a while now, but we really are going to move out eventually." She told Hagrid as he took a seat in the chair across from her. Mary and Dorcas had gone to bed about an hour ago, and she could hear Mary snoring in the other room. "You'll get your house back soon."

"I like having ya'll here." Hagrid said gruffly. "I've never had much, that is ter say that I- I mean I've just enjoyed your company is all." Marlene smiled at him.

"Of course you have, we're quite enjoyable," She winked, "But you can't tell me that you don't miss having the place to yourself just a little bit."

"I can say that." He said. "It's been just me and Fang since I was a boy- Well, actually Fang came about later I suppose, but it get's lonesome out here on the edge of the city."

"You've got Molly to keep you company." She said with a smirk. Molly Weasley was Hagrid's closest neighbor and they always found something to argue about. All in good spirits of course, except when Hagrid's animals get loose or his dog chased one of her children.

Hagrid scoffed. "Just promise that you won't go too far. And that you'll visit."

"Of course we will." She said, finding that to be one of the easier promises she'd made in her life.

"Are you excited for the tourney?" He asked, taking a sip of his tea. Hagrid didn't seem to mind that almost everything he cooked was burnt to some degree, the tea was no exception.

Marlene sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I mean, I'm excited to compete." She said. "But I'd much rather it be an event that didn't reach across borders."

"What do you mean?"

"The neighboring kings and queens are here." She said. "And, well-" She'd entrusted Hagrid with so much, there was no real reason she shouldn't tell him the truth about this as well, but she hadn't told anyone, not even Mary and Dorcas. "I'm not originally from this kingdom." She said instead. It was painful to think about the life she left behind. Her brothers and sister, her mother and she even missed her father. Time and distance had made her forgive most of his perceived wrongdoings, and being homesick made her forget the rest. She knew why she left, she knew that she would never have been happy being stuffed into a gown and married off to a prince, though she did find it slightly ironic that if she had stayed, there was a good chance of her ending up in Camelot anyway.

"I didn't know that." Hagrid said, and then there was a knock on the door. Hagrid raised a brow at her and she let her feet drop to the table and then pushed herself up.

"It's awfully late," She said as she opened the door, finding Remus, Sirius and some girl standing on the other side. "What are you two doing here? And who are you?"

"Tonks," The girl said, sticking her hand out. Marlene inspected the girl's dress and hair and clean skin and then wondered what in the hell she was doing all the way out here with Remus and Sirius.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Marlene." She said, grabbing the girl's hand.

"Are you sure it's wise to introduce yourself like that?" Tonks asked, giving her a peculiar look. Marlene looked back and forth from Sirius to Remus until Remus finally spoke.

"You introduced yourself as Marlene McKinnon." He said. "It was only once, but that's what you called yourself." Marlene's face went pale and she stepped outside to join them.

"You're not going to tell anyone, are you?" She asked, trying her best to look intimidating, but she wasn't wearing her armor, and she didn't have her sword, so she doubted that she was doing a very convincing job.

"So it's true?" Sirius laughed. "You are the lost princess?"

"Keep your voice down!" She said, looking about unnecessarily.

"If you want to keep it a secret, why didn't you change your name? Why did you use your real last name?" Remus asked.

"Have you ever heard of hiding in plain sight? It works for me pretty well." She stuck him with a look. He knew that she was Lancelot.

"Yes, but you kept your real name." He said, and he had her there. "What are you going to do when someone mentions you and then your family starts asking questions?"

"Why would anyone mention me? No one except for you two and Lily knows me. I've never even met King James," She said. "I just stay here with Hagrid all day. I kept my name because when I left my family, I missed them. And I know that it's- it's idiotic, but keeping my name made me feel connected to them. And none of the peasants know the names of the princesses of other kingdoms anyway so it was never a big deal. I had no way of knowing that James would-" She had almost slipped up in front of Sirius and this stranger. She had almost said that hadn't expected James to make her a knight. "I didn't know that James would invite my father over for a tourney." She said after a moment of hesitation. "I didn't know that I'd ever be this near my family again."

The boys were quiet and Marlene allowed herself to take a few deep breaths. She had to calm down. She was getting emotional, and that was never good. When she got emotional she slipped up and said something that she didn't mean to say, she needed to keep her cool. But it was her family…

"Why did you leave?" Tonks asked, tilting her head to the side.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" She asked again.

"I told you-"

"Tonks isn't an answer."

She pursed her lips and nodded. "Alright, my name is Nymphadora Tonks, but don't call me Nymphadora, I hate it. My mother and father are Theodore and Andromeda Tonks." When Marlene still looked confused, "My mum is Bellatrix's sister." Then she grinned a bit. "And this one here's my cousin." She said, linking arms with Sirius. "Which I think is much more interesting than the first bit. Now, enough about me, what about you? Why did you leave your family if you miss them all? And if you do miss them, why don't you just borrow one of my dresses, take a nice long bath- maybe two- and then go and see them? I'm sure they would be happy to see you after all this time- actually I have no idea how long it's been since you've last seen them-"

"Does she always talk this much?" Marlene interrupted, looking at Remus.

"I don't know," He shrugged, clearing his throat. "We just met her today."

"Well, listen here Nymphadora, it's none of your business. I left because I wanted to. I can't put on a dress and go and say hullo, because my father would make sure I never left his sight for the rest of my miserable life." She was ready to turn on her heel and march back into the house when Tonks opened her mouth again.

"I asked you not to call me that." She said. "And I don't understand why you're being so nasty when I'm simply trying to help you."

"Things are a bit more complicated than they appear." Remus said quietly to the girl.

"Look, that may be," She said. "But the real reason she's-" She looked up at Marlene, "I think that the real reason that you're snapping at me is because you're upset. You're upset that your family is as close as they are and you think that you can't go to them. But if I were in your shoes and I missed my family as much as I think you might, than nothing would stop me from going to see them. Even if I had to create some elaborate plan to avoid my father imprisoning me." She grinned, and then frowned. "You don't really think he'd imprison you, do you?"

"I never said he would imprison me." She rolled her eyes, trying not to let her mind start working on a plan. "I said he would never take his eyes off of me- Which I suppose does imply some sort of imprisonment…" She trailed off and looked at the ground. With everything that had been going on, with becoming a knight and the fight against Bella and then this new threat on the rise, she hadn't let herself dwell on her family. She hoped that they were doing well, but she'd never been close enough to actually check in on them.

"Well, all I'm saying is that I'm staying in the castle with your family. And if you want to come up with a plan, I can be quite a good sidekick. Or note deliverer. Whichever you think you need." She then turned to Sirius and Remus. "Though maybe not right now as it is getting very late and I don't like worrying my mum too much. Maybe we should head back up to the castle."

"Yes, that's probably best." Remus said. Sirius and Tonks nodded at Marlene and then started walking away, but Remus held back.

"I'm really sorry," He said once they were out of earshot. "I didn't know that she was going to come on so strong. Or that she- I guess I just acted without thinking and that wasn't fair, especially because this was your secret to keep or tell and I just-"

"Remus, it's alright." She said, reaching out and touching his shoulder. "You were worried about me and you over reacted, it's completely understandable."

Remus smirked and looked up at her. "Next time I promise to over react when other people aren't around." He said. "Though, what Tonks says goes for me as well. If you do want help contacting your family, I'm almost always in the castle and have access to your family's suite."

"I'll think about it." Marlene said. "But I should probably tell the girls and Hagrid who I am first."

"They don't know?" He asked, surprised.

"I left that life behind." She said with a shrug. "It didn't seem right to tell them about it. I'm not Princess Marlene anymore, I gave up that title when I ran off. And I don't regret leaving, I don't regret giving up that life, I am doing so much more good here than I ever could have as someone's wife, but-"

"That doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt." Remus said with a sad smile. "I know what you mean. Not on such a large scale, but I also left my family to come here, even if it was just my mum and we were poor and not royal at all but-" She pushed his shoulder.

"Thank you."

"Thanks for not getting upset with me." He said and then turned around to leave.

'Oh and, Remus," She added.

"Yeah?"

"Keep an eye on that girl, yes? She's kinda… different."

oOoOo

Severus wasn't exactly sure if this plan was going to work, after all, the king had seen him in the Hollows and he had stood with Dolohov and the others, but the king had also witnessed how Dolohov treated him, so he believed that he could talk his way out of that. After all, Voldemort needed this plan to work. He needed someone on the inside. He had an informant already, but apparently he was a spineless man.

He was on his way to the stables now to meet this informant and see if he had anything useful to offer him. His purse thumped against his leg with every step and he wasn't used to that, to having money. It wasn't his money, it was for the informant and supplied by Voldemort, but it still made him feel powerful to have it there. He walked with his head held a bit higher, his shoulders back and people got out of his way. They could hear the jingling too, or maybe his newfound confident had made him look more intimidating. Either option was appealing to him.

"Peter?" He called as he entered the back of the stables. There was a resounding answer from about a dozen horses, and then a smaller man with a mop of dirty, blond hair stepped out from one of the stalls, swinging the door closed behind him.

"I'm over here, sir. If you could wait one moment," He disappeared for a moment and Severus wondered what on earth a stable boy would have to offer the Dark Lord. The man returned and walked up to Severus, holding out his hand. "I'm Peter, it's nice to meet you. Will you be needing a horse?"

"No." Severus said. "I'm here on business."

"Well, are you lost then?" Peter asked, her childlike features scrunching up in confusion. "I can give you directions-"

"I'm exactly where I need to be." Severus interrupted, reaching down and untying the purse from his belt. He held it up for Peter to see. "I think this belongs to you."

The man's demeanor instantly changed. He pressed his lips together and eyed the bag of gold as though it was the most wonderful thing on earth. Which, it very well could be. But Severus didn't understand why he was still working as the stable boy if he had received similar bribes from the Dark Lord before. His shoes even had holes in them, what was he doing with the money? Maybe he was a gambler, he thought. It didn't matter what he did with the money after all, as long as he gave the information they needed.

"I can't do this again." He muttered, crossing his arms and looking down at his feet. "I've done enough, I've helped you all enough and the k-king is d-d-dead. I can't do this again."

"But you will." Severus said, reaching out and grabbing one of Peter's hands and shoving the money in it. "Because you're a greedy little rat. You don't care about the royal family. All you care about is this." He said, patting the bag in his Peter's hand.

"That's not true, King James has been nothing but kind to me and Lily said that she was-"

"Enough of this." Severus sighed. He remembered Lily from the hospital in town. And while his leg was still bothering him a great deal, he had enjoyed meeting her. "What does that have to do with anything?" He asked. "Do you want the money or don't you?"

"I mean-" He looked back at the money and sighed. He looked like he was really struggling.

"That's thirty gold pieces, Peter." He said. "That's a very substantial sum."

"And you're very generous to offer it but-" He took a deep breath and shook his head, pushing the money back at Severus. "I can't take it. I c-can't betray the King. Not this one." He said, trying to sound confidant, but failing miserably. Severus sighed. If he had to do this the hard way, he would. It'd been a while since he got to use magic out in public.

"Oi! Peter!" A voice called and Severus swore under his breath.

"Lily!" Peter sounded beyond relieved. "I'm over here."

The redhead popped out from behind the stable door and smiled at Peter, before catching sight of Severus. Her frown made Severus frown. "What are you doing here?" She asked, looking between him and Peter.

"He's just h-here on business." Peter said. Lily's eyes flickered to the bag of money in Severus's hand. "Came to rent a h-horse."

That seemed to be enough explanation for Lily and that made Severus think that Peter might be a better informant than he originally thought. People trusted him.

"Is this man harassing you, Peter?" Lily asked, walking closer. "He was giving me a hard time in the hospital earlier and I wouldn't mind passing his name along if he is going around causing trouble for other people as well."

"Pass my name along?" Severus asked, raising a brow. "And just who would you give my name to?"

"Lily's friends with everyone." Peter interjected. "She's very n-nice. What did you need, Lily?" He asked, trying to change the subject.

"Well, I remembered you telling me that that mare was due any day now so I came to see if there was a baby yet." She looked excited and Peter laughed.

"Yes, there is." He nodded. "A baby girl. Bigger than normal, the delivery took hours." Severus was getting bored, but he was still interested in this redhead and her friends.

"A foul is a wonderful thing." Severus droned. "But-"

"Right, you were renting a horse." Lily said, giving him a look that made him wonder if perhaps she didn't believe Peter's story all that much. "I'll wait here. I know it's not a lengthy process."

"Right," Peter said, looking between Lily and Severus. "Do you have any requests?"

"Of course not." He said with a grin. "Whichever is the easiest for you."

"Alright, I'll fetch a horse and the paperwork than." When Peter was gone, Lily crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes.

"You're here on business?" Lily asked. Severus nodded. "You told me that you were moving here. To make a better life for yourself."

"I don't know what's got you so distrusting of me, but did you ever think that maybe I don't want to share my life with complete strangers? That perhaps I fancy my privacy?"

"I'd say you're a liar." She said. "I don't know why you're here, but I don't trust you. Peter is my friend and if you're rude to him you'll have me to answer to, do you understand?" Severus knew that he had magic and that this small, slender woman probably couldn't hurt him if she had a long sword on her, but in that moment he felt threatened. He didn't show it of course, he just shrugged and smirked at her.

"You going to tell your friends about me?" He teased.

"I think I might." She said.

"And who might they be?" He took a step closer to her, raising a brow. "The town black smith? Or maybe some of the men down by the river?"

"Are you calling me a whore for a second time?" She asked incredulously.

"No," He shook his head and backtracked. "I wasn't- I was just trying to imply that you didn't have very powerful friends. I didn't mean to-" She laughed and he felt his face heat up. He wasn't used to talking to women, let alone poor women who didn't know when they should hold their tongues.

"Maybe you shouldn't presume to know so much." She suggested. And before he could ask her what she meant by that, Peter was back with a horse and some paperwork.

"It's two gold for the week, seven for the month." He said.

"I'll just have her for the week thanks." Severus said, pulling out two gold pieces from the bag and handing them over. Peter handed him a writing utensil and then turned around so he could use his back to sign the paperwork.

"Her names, Wendy and she's one of the friendlier one's we got here." He assured Severus.

"She's a horse." He rebutted. "She's a method from getting from point a, to point b." He took her reigns and then looked over at Lily. "Are you going to tell me who your friends are?"

"I think I want you to be surprised." She said with a smile that made him more curious than he'd like to admit.

"Have it your way then." He said. He re-tied the purse to his belt and then stepped into the stirrup, threw his other leg over the saddle and rode off. He didn't know what in the hell he was going to do with a horse, but now he had one for the week and he hadn't managed to get information. He'd also potentially made an enemy of the poor nurse girl. Lily. He'd have to find out more about her. She was acting far too smug for someone who hung out with the sick and injured all day.

oOoOo

It was officially the first day of the tourney and Lily could not have been more excited. The sooner this thing started, the sooner it would be over, and the sooner her hospital would go back to being filled only by sick old people and children who had tripped while racing one another. As it stood now, they had almost a dozen men who had been in some sort of pub fit, another five who had fallen off their horses practicing for the jousting tournament while drunk and two who had managed to impale themselves with their own sword. Lily was almost impressed with the first gentleman who had walked in, his sword clean through his shoulder and still there. The second man came in with it in his leg and she just rolled her eyes.

Most people seemed to be having a lot of fun thanks to the tourney. James had made sure to order more beer than Lily thought existed in their kingdom, and venders were lining the streets, handing it out to nearly everyone for almost no money at all to celebrate opening day. And everyone was taking advantage of all the strangers who had come from all over by lowering their prices and quality. The bakers sold bread that had been stale for almost a week and no one noticed because they were drunk on ale, children were making signs out of old shipment crates and homemade paint and selling them to people so they could bribe the venders into giving them ale as well. She hoped at least some of the children were saving the money for something useful. Though she was happy to see that most of the signs that they made about James were very nice and supportive, even though as king, James wasn't going to be competing in the tourney.

Lily had finished up at the hospital nearly an hour ago and rushed back to her house, almost tempted to climb onto the roof of a nearby building to escape the crowds, but she managed to keep her feet on the ground and when she got back to her house she rushed inside to change out of her nurse's dress. She was going to run a comb through her hair, but she couldn't find her comb so her fingers sufficed for a moment before she decided that it was a lost cause and tied it up instead. She knew that she wasn't the cleanest, and she still smelled like stale alcohol, but it was as good as it was going to get for now.

"Lily?" Remus knocked on her door. She pulled it open and stepped out into the street. "I can't wait until this is over." He said. Lily laughed and nodded.

"You have to admit that it brings a certain… stench to our city."

"The whole city smells like piss." Remus scowled. "And I've heard about twenty men say that we don't have enough brothels in the city."

"I've been called a whore twice." Lily countered. "By the same man, but still."

"Who the hell called you a whore?" She was glad that he looked as offended as he did.

"Doesn't matter." Lily shrugged. "Though he was an awfully strange bloke. Are we supposed to be heading to the arena to support James?"

"Yes, the parade is going on right now and he's riding alone. I know that he's been acting tough, and pretending that it doesn't bother him, but it's tradition to ride through-"

"With your family, yes I know. And He's just lost his father and sister three months ago."

"Yes, so we'll be meeting him in the king's box." Remus said. "It'll be nice up there, but we'll both be there as servants."

"I'm not-"

"Nobody cares, Lily." Remus said, grabbing her forearm and pulling her out of her house. "And no one will notice anyway. You could go and put your nurses uniform back on and be a medical aid,"

"No, it's got all kinds of… well, it needs to be burned." She said, frowning.

"Alright, then let's go." She looked up the street and saw the crowd.

"This is going to be miserable, isn't it?"

"For almost everyone." Remus nodded. "Stay close and don't let go." He said, and then they were dodging through the crowd. Remus was pretty good and weaving in and around groups of people, knowing when to push through and when to step to the side, but it was still taking forever and the close proximity with all these people and the heat baring down on her made Lily extremely hot. The river was starting to sound like the better option here, even if thousands of men had been using it as a public toilet for the last couple of weeks.

But soon they had made it to the arena, just beating the parade of royals. "Where have you been?" Sirius asked, approaching them both in his knight's armor. Lily smirked at him and reached over and pinched his cheek.

"Don't you look all mature and grown up."

Sirius made a face and shook his head. "Would you behave yourself woman? I'd rather not arrest you. I've already arrested four people today. I'm not a guard, and that's not my job." He seemed distressed about this but Lily only found it amusing.

"Then why did you arrest them?" Lily asked.

"Because they were being drunken idiots," He muttered. "And James told us to help keep everyone in line."

"The crowds are impossible." Remus said, by way of explanation. "But I had to pick up Lily. She didn't even know that we wanted her here today."

"Why wouldn't we want her here?" Sirius asked, looking at Lily as though she had offended him. Remus just shrugged, his face looking eerily similar to Sirius's. "We're James' family." Sirius said. "And it's not technical or anything so we couldn't ride in the parade with him but we should definitely be with him today. It's an important day for him."

"I know," Lily said. "But I didn't think it would be appropriate."

"Why wouldn't it be appropriate?" Remus asked. "You're a close personal friend-"

"We're his family." Sirius corrected.

"Right, and you should be here."

Lily huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Princess Amelia and Princess Charlotte are here to meet him. As in they are waiting for him to choose one of them for his bride. People in Camelot don't know how to mind their own business so I assume word has gotten around that James and I spend a lot of time together and-"

"And you don't want to insult the royal families." Remus nodded. "That makes perfect sense except James wants you here and he doesn't care what other people think. It's both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. As a king it's really not good at all, but still, you have to be here." Lily huffed, but allowed herself to be pushed into the king's box. "Wait here." Remus said.

Lily looked around and could see why they weren't so concerned about the other royal families being offended by her presence. Unless she walked up and looked over the edge of the railing, no one would know that she was in here. The box was much higher than the stands across from them, which were more along the lines of benches for the peasants. She could barely make out the faces of anyone down there, they were really just little blurs from up here.

It didn't take long before the crowds that were gathered around the arena began to cheer and then Remus and Sirius returned with James, who looked annoyed by their concern. At least that's what Lily assumed he was annoyed with. "I'm fine." He said, confirming her theory. "I'm- Lily?" She saw Remus and Sirius exchange satisfied nods and then had to refrain from rolling her eyes.

"Hullo," She smiled at him. "Are you ready to start the games?"

"I'm really glad you're here." He said, walking over and taking her hand. He turned around and looked back at Remus and Sirius. "You two, not so much."

"We're a family," Sirius sighed.

"I'm the one that brought Lily," Remus said, speaking over Sirius.

James shook his head and then turned back to Lily. "I'm very ready to start the games. The sooner they start the sooner everyone will leave. And the sooner everything will go back to normal." He shot another look at the lads.

"You realize that this entire thing was orchestrated by you, right?" Lily reminded him, very aware that they were still holding hands and in front of Sirius and Remus. She had to work very hard to keep her cheeks from heating up.

"Yes, but I regret that decision very much and you should never let me throw a tourney again." He said as though she had a say in what he did, which caused her to laugh and him to smile. "I saw three drunken brawls on the ride out here. It's not even noon yet." He sighed. "I guess I should go and address the people."

"That's probably best." She nodded. He let go of her hand and walked over to the railing. When he raised a hand the crowd went quiet, but Lily couldn't focus on what he was saying to them because Sirius was waggling his eyebrows at her and Remus was sticking her with a knowing look. She took advantage of James' back being turned to her to roll her eyes dramatically at the both of them.

"Grow up," She muttered.

"Or what?" Sirius shot back.

"Or I'll tell James you're being mean to me and he'll kick you out of this nice box." She said smugly. Sirius opened his mouth and then closed it.

"That's exactly what he would do."

"I know." Still smug. He spit his tongue out at her and then walked over to the row of chairs that were in front of the railing. He took a seat on what would be James's right when he took a seat and Remus walked over and took a seat next to Sirius. That left only a chair on James' left. Lily bit the inside of her cheek and decided to not make any decisions and to just stand at the back of the box where no one could see her. That seemed like a very good idea. She couldn't sit by the king's side, not in front of the entire kingdom. That was a bit much.

James finished his address and the games began. James turned back around and started towards his chair but then his eye caught Lily standing in the back of the box. He narrowed his brow at her and then walked over to her instead. "Why aren't you sitting?" He asked her.

"I can't sit next to you." She said as though it were obvious.

"And why not?" She knew he wasn't really clueless, just- determined.

"We're not going through this again. And it's not just the people on my street who will be throwing rocks in my window- the entire kingdom is out there, plus your royal guests. What would they think if they saw someone like me sitting next to you?"

James pressed his lips together. "Alright, then we'll stand back here."

"James, you're the king, the people are going to want to see you."

"Then I'll walk up to the edge every now and then."

"You can't see anything from back here."

"I can see everything that's important." He said firmly. Lily's eyes darted up to his and she bit down on the tip of her tongue. She didn't have a response for that. She swallowed hard and then started fidgeting with the sleeves of her gown. She wanted to make a joke now. Ask him if he was looking at the lads, but she couldn't, not anymore. They were past jokes and she knew that. He was risking quite a bit having her here in his box and while she wasn't sure if she wanted him to be making these risks, if she wanted to deal with the consequences of these risks, she couldn't find it in her to even consider walking away. She fancied James. She wasn't sure when it had happened, or when she had realized it, but it was true.

It wasn't like when she told Remus that she fancied him. That had been simple and misguided. Remus had been right when he said that it wasn't real, that she should want to wait for the real thing because it would make her stupid and breathless. She'd scoffed at him then, told him that that was stupid and all she wanted was friendship. She wasn't scoffing now.

"Are you alright?" James asked, placing a hand on her arm. Lily looked up at him but still didn't know what to say.

She glanced over to see Remus and Sirius either actually engaged in conversation or doing a very good job pretending and it bothered her that she couldn't tell which it was.

"I'm alright," She said quietly, still fiddling with her sleeves. James reached over and took one of her hands in his own. He didn't say anything this time, he just smiled at her and held her hand, and Lily couldn't help but smile back.