Disclaimer: Not mine...

Hey guys! So we're back at Hogwarts and I'm excited and I hope y'all are excited too! (Things start to go crazy here)

Anyways, enjoy!

Essie

Baby, we were born with
Fire & gold in our eyes, eyes
With fire & gold in our eyes, eyes
Got lightning in a bottle
Hands on the throttle
Even in the dust we shine
With fire & gold in our eyes

~Fire N Gold, Bea Miller

"James, I seriously think eight is way too many for one carriage." Remus protested. Dany thought that Remus was making a very good point but said nothing.

"Aw, come on Remus! It would be so fun!"

"No, I think Remus is right, besides we want to have an all girls ride up." Lily said and Dany suspected that the beginning of her inquisition was going to start. The boys all looked at her when she spontaneously spoke up and shrugged.

"What ever floats your boat, Evans." Sirius said and the guys got in a carriage, leaving the girls to wait for another one. They were alone and as soon as the carriage with the boys in it disappeared, Lily turned on Dany. Damn, she knew it; Lily was so predictable.

"Danilynn Masters, I want to know why it is you were crying. You never cry. Ever." Lily said, crossing her arms.

"What?" Marlene and Alice said in unison. Lily looked at them with a look that said 'I know right?'

"So we go back into the compartment to change and Sirius is still sitting there shirtless and Dany has one of my broken quills in her blood-smeared hands and is bloody bawling." Lily informed them.

"I wasn't bawling, Lillian. Sorry for being human and having emotions." Dany told them. Just then a carriage appeared and they all climbed into it to continue their conversation.

"What the hell happened, Dan?" Alice asked gently. Dany looked at her and could almost hear Sirius saying 'forget I told you that'.

"I—it was just a very…we talked. Well he talked and I listened mainly." Dany told them in the vaguest way possible.

"Talked about what?" Marlene asked, her eyes curious. Dany hesitated. Surely she could tell them what they had talked about without betraying his trust as long as she kept it broad.

"Mainly his family." The other three girls exchanged looks; it was widely known that Sirius Black hardly ever mentioned his family, let alone actually spoke of them. "It was awful. No one deserves the life he's lived." Dany said softly. Even she could hear the sympathy in her own voice.

"What did he say?" Marlene asked. Dany froze; she wasn't going into this any further. She might talk to Lily later but truthfully she didn't know for sure that Marles and Alice wouldn't tell someone else and then the rest of the school.

"That has nothing to do with you, Marlene." Dany said quietly and everyone else got the point. Conversation over. An awkward silence fell over the carriage and moments later they, mercifully, arrived at Hogwarts. All four of the girls got out and walked into the Entrance Hall. They ran into the guys (all five of them seeing that Peter had apparently made it back in one piece) halfway to the Common Room. Dany caught the way that Lily hesitantly smiled at James. She grinned to herself; she was always right. She smiled at Peter.

"Hey, Pete. Good holiday?" She asked him kindly. She had never particularly cared for how the guys treated him but she still tolerated it. Barely.

"Yeah, it was good. Cold though, even colder than here. What about yours?" he asked her in his typical mousey way. He appeared even pudgier than he had been when they had left for break.

"Alright except for the fact that my brother's taken to waking me up with a nice blast of water to the face every morning." She laughed, "That's something I won't be missing from home. If I wake up with my hair soaking and stuck to my face shivering, I'm going to bloody lose it…Lily, shit stop!" She suddenly yelled as Lily tried to jinx James in the middle of the staircase. Dany ran forward and wrestled her friend's wand from her hand and tried to restrain her. "Are you mad? You're going to kill him on these stairs. I know you Lily Evans, you'll never forgive yourself if he falls off and breaks something or worse." She told the angry redhead. Lily stopped trying to struggle and Dany hesitantly loosened her grip. Lily made no attempt to throttle James so she let her go; Dany did however, hold onto her wand. Without another word, Lily stomped off in the direction of Gryffindor Tower, not bothering to ask for her wand back. Sirius waved his wand at James and the bat-bogey hex stopped. He too walked off and everyone exchanged looks.

"Did anyone see what happened?" Alice asked. Remus raised a hand.

"I saw. It was the usual; he asked her out. Except he seemed super confident this time and was even more of an ass than usual." He said, sounding rather bored. Everyone made some sort of motion or sound of frustration.

"When is he going to learn that that's no way to get a girl to go out with you?" Sirius asked no one in particular. Frank shrugged.

"I don't know man, he apparently missed the memo on that one. He just can't help thinking that he's the best thing ever." He told his friend. They all walked on, finally reaching the Common Room. Dany, Marles, and Al all wished the boys a good night and everyone exchanged hugs before going to bed. As Dany climbed the stairs behind her friends, she thought about the three words that Sirius had breathed into her ear before going to bed, "Thanks for listening". They opened the door and saw Lily lying in bed, reading.

"Hello, you lot. Dan, you have my wand?" She said. Dany nodded and threw it to her.

"On the condition you don't jinx my Godbrother any time soon." She responded.

"Yeah, yeah he had it coming." Lily said with a hand wave, "I need some food. I'm heading to the Kitchens; want to come, Masters?" She added on. Dany nodded. She knew what her best friend was doing; she was giving her a perfect opportunity to talk if she wanted.

"We'll be back soon. Any requests?" Dany told the room. There were two negative answers and Lily and Dany left the room and then the tower. Once they reached the Kitchens, Lily sat down on the ground and patted the ground next to her. It was cold stone and Dany had a sudden flash of what Sirius had said about being in a basement in January.

"Dan, what aren't you saying? Something's different; don't think I can't tell, girlfriend." Lily said in her no-nonsense way.

"I didn't want to say anything in front of Marles or Al…I love them to death but I just don't…believe their vows of secrecy." Lily nodded. They had talked about this before. Someone had forgotten to tell those two that loose lips sink ships.

"So what's up?" Lily asked kindly.

"I said that he talked about his family, and he did quite a bit. But I was okay with that; I was pissed don't get me wrong, but I was okay. Eventually it kind of evolved into how he felt 'dark' and 'dirty' because of his family and then it changed into how hard it had been for him to come to Hogwarts and then it was how we met. That's where I lost it."

"And? That sounds pretty mundane." Lily said.

"Lils, it wasn't like 'oh yeah we met one day sometime during First Year' it was really, really personal." Dany said. Lily looked mildly concerned for her friend's sanity.

"How personal could that be? You met in a public place. I was there."

"It just—God, it was crazy. I mean Lils, he remembered the day of the week we met. I'm not joking. And it was so detailed and it was really nice. It was something I've never heard from any guy, or anyone, ever say anything like." Dany said and watched her best friend's reaction. She looked cautiously hopeful.

"Dany…what exactly did he say? Like word for word. I'm having a really hard time piecing this together." Lily asked slowly like she was expecting to get a 'no' as a response.

"He said something like 'I met a girl who I was supposed to hate because of her last name, and I did hate her. But one Tuesday I tripped and was really scared about what everyone else thought of me and this girl helped me up and she asked me who I was and she told me to watch out for my cousins and then we walked to potions together and I wasn't scared anymore'. Okay when someone says a much longer, more heartfelt version of that to you, you'll know why I cried." Dany told her friend. Dany wasn't shocked to find that she was choking up again. This time Lily was tearing up too.

"Oh my god…that's actually really touching. That's really sweet; I'm not going to lie. And just after you healed him, it's like a movie." Lily said, clearly starting to cry a little. Dany smiled at her friend thinking 'I told you so, Lily Evans'.

"I just feel so bad for him…he's a really good person; he doesn't deserve this, any of it. The worst part is that he thinks he does."

"What?" Lily asked, like she had heard wrong. Dany quite agreed with that assessment.

"Yeah, you heard me. He thinks he deserves all of this because he bought the 'Muggleborns suck' line his parents sold him when he was like five. I tried to tell him that it wasn't really his fault and that he had no way of knowing better, but I don't think he really heard me." Dany sighed. It really was heartbreaking. She could feel her heart give an uncomfortable squeeze just thinking about it.

"That's ridiculous. How could he have known any better? Besides, he definitely made an effort, I mean we're friends now and I'm the biggest Muggleborn there is…speaking of ridiculous, I think it's really ridiculous how bad you've got it for him." Lily said with a sudden grin. Dany felt her stomach give a jerk.

"What are you talking about?" Dany replied, knowing that she was so busted.

"You know what I'm talking about, Dany Masters. I've never seen you so upset over something before. And I've definitely never seen you cry. His pain brought you to tears, Sweetie. That's nothing to laugh at. So how long have you liked him?" Lily asked. Dany hesitated before telling her the truth.

"Since the end of last school year. Seriously Lily, don't tell anyone. No one knows. Well my brother does but he doesn't count." She pleaded with the redhead. Lily smiled.

"Hey, I'm not telling anyone. Cross my heart and hope to die. You know what? God strike me down if I'm lying." Lily responded and paused, as if waiting for lightning to strike her. Nothing happened. "See? I'm not going to tell anyone. Even God believes me." She said and Dany giggled.

"Come on, Marlene and Alice are probably waiting for us to get back. This must have been a pretty extensive food trip that we never got food on." Dany told her friend as she checked her watch. They had been there for half an hour, plus walking time added up to about an hour. They walked up to the tower and when they entered the Common Room, it was empty. Lily put an arm around her friend's shoulders.

"It'll be okay, Sweetie…we'll take good care of him. We always do. Come on, you need sleep; you've had one hell of a day." Lily said softly. Dany nodded.

"Ugh please, you have no idea…I'm taking what I heard today to the grave, Lils. To the bloody grave I tell you." Dany groaned and together the girls walked up the stairs to their room and Dany counted her lucky stars, not for the first time, that Lily Evans would always be there for her.

Lily was sitting in bed watching her friends get ready for bed. Marlene was brushing her teeth, Alice was putting her dirty clothes in the hamper, and Dany was changing. She was concerned for Dany; she was too close to Sirius' problems. Not that she didn't endorse a future Dany/Sirius relationship, because she totally did, but she had never seen her best friend so devastated. And honestly, she had never been so afraid as when she had walked into that compartment and saw the tears on her face and the blood on her hands. And the way he had looked at her…it wouldn't have shocked Lily to hear that many of Sirius' problems at home were caused by the fact his mother had noticed that he looked at Dany like a starving man looked at food. Not that she'd ever share that theory with Dany, who suddenly inspected her hands.

"Marles, you done with the sink?" She called out. Marlene stuck her hand out the door and gave her a thumbs-up.

"Dan, you just finished in the bathroom. Or did you forget?" Lily asked her with a laugh. Dany didn't laugh back.

"No, I didn't forget. I just…have something under my nails is all." She said shortly. Lily felt her gaze sharpen.

"Danilynn Masters, let me see your hands." She said, leaving no room for questions. Lily grabbed her hands and looked under her nails; standing out against her light skin was a flaking, rust colored powder under all of her fingernails. "What the hell is that?" Lily asked her softly. Dany didn't answer that; she just pulled her hand back and went to wash them off. Lily followed her and as soon as she started to scrub, she realized what it was. Under the water, the powder turned back into its original color. It was dried blood that was now being flushed down their sink.

"That's blood. Holy shit that's blood. There's blood under your nails." Marlene said faintly. "What the hell Dan? Please tell me that it's at least yours."

"Sure Marlene, it's mine." Dany said absently as the water started to run clear again, the crimson stains on her hands wearing away under the water pressure. "Now can we all go to bed? Please?" She said as she turned the water off. Everyone exchanged looks behind her back that said 'what the hell'. Even so, they all got in bed and the lights turned off. Lily gave into sleep soon after thinking that there was no way that was Dany's blood; it was Sirius'.

The next morning, Lily woke up three minutes before her alarm was set to go off, as she always did. She rolled out of bed and pulled on Alice's foot on her way to the bathroom and threw a shoe at Marlene as she walked back out. Both girls moaned but got up. Then Lily turned her attention to her best friend; her best friend that slept like the living dead. She usually started out relatively gentle by shaking her shoulder rather roughly. Lily leaned over her to wake her up but suddenly Dany gasped. And to her shock, her eyes opened. Lily could have sworn that her irises had been a different color for a moment. Dany got out of bed and ran to her desk. She immediately started writing something. Lily moved towards her to see that she wasn't writing; she was drawing. It was a rough sketch that was quickly becoming more detailed. Lily felt her blood run cold. Dany couldn't draw and what was appearing on the paper was far beyond the skill of a talented fourteen-year-old, let alone her inartistic best friend.

"Dan? Are you okay?" She asked her hesitantly.

Dany ignored her and never stopped drawing. Lily nodded and started to get dressed for the school day. A few minutes later, Dany put down the quill and stared at what she had just done.

"What the fuck is this?" She said suddenly. Lily looked up at her. "Lily? Can you come here?" She said and there was fear all over her voice. Lily walked over to her. "How long have I been up?"

"About fifteen minutes…why? Are you okay?" Lily asked.

"I don't remember getting out of bed. I don't remember doing this…did I do this?" She said. Lily looked down at the picture. It was dark. It was a small room carved into stone. There were symbols next to the drawing, as if it was a side note, written in a language that Lily didn't recognize. The most disturbing part was the man in the cell. He was all skin and bones and had a head of long, nasty hair; he was looking away, curled into a ball in the corner. It looked like something straight out of a nightmare.

"Yeah Dan, I watched you do it…are you sure you're okay?"

"I can't draw like this. I can't. I have no talent like this. I did this in fifteen minutes?" Lily nodded.

"Dany…where have you seen this?" She asked cautiously. Marlene and Alice were starting to notice that something was wrong but continued with their routine as usual. They probably just assumed that it was some drama with Potter or something.

"I—I had a dream about it but I don't remember waking up. I fell asleep and I saw this. Next thing I know, I'm standing here with the most twisted drawing ever in my hands." Lily stroked her hair, trying to calm her shaking friend down.

"I'm sure it's nothing, alright? Let's get on with the day…it's probably stress or something. I wouldn't get worried unless it happens again. Now let's put this somewhere safe and hidden, okay? We don't need that horror floating around here." Lily told her gently. Dany nodded. "I'll put it somewhere; go get ready." Dany left to go put her clothes on and Lily looked at the drawing again before shoving it in her own copy of Hogwarts, A History. She was hitting the library during lunch today.

The girls all walked down to breakfast together and Dany seemed pretty normal. As time passed, she had seemed to calm down and return to her normal self. By the time they reached the Great Hall, she was back to normal, laughing and making jokes. They sat down next to the guys and Lily purposefully took a seat next to Remus, as far away from Potter as she could get. Bloody arrogant prick she thought to herself. Forget being tolerable on the train. He had thrown that out the window faster than she imagined he had been capable of.

"Remus how was your break? I never got to ask you." She said to her werewolf friend. He smiled kindly at her; everything he did was kind, really. Lily often thought that no one deserved his condition less than he did.

"It was alright. It was good to see Mom and Dad again. I swear every time I see my dad he looks another five years older. I think living with my mother is finally taking its toll." He said with a grin. Lily laughed. Remus' mother was a nice-enough woman but she enjoyed barking orders at her husband and, when he was home, her son.

"Hey, be nice. I like your mom! But I definitely see the point…sometimes I think that my parents would live much longer, less conflict-ridden lives if they were single." She said and he smiled.

"I know the feeling, believe me." He said and Lily hesitated before changing the subject. Dany seemed to be engrossed in a conversation with Alice and was paying no attention to her.

"Yeah…I was just wondering if you've ever read anything on something that happened this morning." She said, dropping her voice.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I went to go wake Dany up, you know how she sleeps."

"Like the bloody dead."

"Yeah, like the bloody dead. So I go to wake her up and am literally leaning over her to shake her shoulder when she wakes up on her own."

"I hardly think the fact she woke up is cause for alarm; if she hadn't woken up, that would be more concerning, Lils."

"Let me finish. So she gasps and opens her eyes and I swear to whoever or whatever her eyes were gold for a second. And then she bolts out of bed and starts drawing the world's creepiest drawing ever. I ask her if she's alright and she ignores me, just keeps drawing. And the weird part is that it was detailed and it was good, really good. Dany can't draw. Suddenly she looks up and has no idea how she got there or what happened." Lily said quickly and very hushed. Remus raised his eyebrows.

"She doesn't remember anything?" He questioned and Lily shook her head.

"Said she remembers falling asleep, having a dream about what she drew and next thing she knows, she's standing there with the drawing. She doesn't remember getting out of bed and she doesn't remember drawing the bloody thing. Which only took her fifteen minutes by the way." Lily said and Remus shook his head.

"I've never heard of anything like that…what did she draw?"

"It was a scene, I have no idea where it was though. It was this guy and he was skinny and dirty and I couldn't see his face. He was in this place made of stone, almost like a cave, but there were these weird symbols next to him, like it was something that she had dreamt and wrote down before she forgot. It was disturbing and she was frantic this morning. Took a while to calm her down."

"Does she recognize anything in it?" Remus asked. Lily shook her head again.

"She said she didn't, just that she'd seen it in a dream." Lily said and suddenly all of their friends started to stand up. It must be time for class. Remus glanced at her again.

"I don't know what any of that is, but I don't like the sound of it. Keep an eye on her." He said before he left with his friends. Marlene asked Lily if she had done the homework for DADA over break and she laughed.

"I did and you better have too, Marlene McKinnon." She said and Dany grinned at her. Marlene hardly ever did homework. Even as she ribbed her friend over her laziness, she couldn't help but think that something was truly wrong with her best friend.

Sirius was sitting next to James during History of Magic and he could tell by the look on his best mate's face that he wasn't the only one bored out of his bloody mind. He looked around and everyone had the same vacant expression on his or her face. He felt eyes boring into his back and he turned around to see that Tasha Norton was staring at him. He caught her eye and she looked away, probably embarrassed to be caught staring. He turned back around and James passed him a note.

She was totally checking you out. Sirius raised his eyebrows. I seriously doubt it James. He slipped it back to his friend and James read it and shook his head. She's been doing this for the last month or so. I'm telling you that she likes you. Sirius rolled his eyes and wrote back. Honestly who wouldn't like me? James read it and snickered as he wrote something down in reply. Girls who don't like guys with big egos, that's who. Sirius chuckled and passed the paper back with his answer. Do those even exist? His friend smirked and pointed in front of him subtly.

"Well for starters, the one sitting in front of you." He whispered and Sirius looked up at to be met with the sight of Dany's long white hair, which had been pulled into a French braid at some point.

"And? Her taste in guys isn't really any of my concern." Sirius whispered back, so quiet that Binns' voice overshadowed his, even to the people next to them. James raised an eyebrow.

"Sure it isn't." He said and scribbled something on a fresh piece of parchment. When are you going to own up? You like her. Sirius felt his stomach lurch. Damn. James was a lot of things and a perceptive bastard was one of them. How the hell did you figure that? He asked. James grinned and took only a second to respond; Sirius had expected a more complex answer than what he got. I see how you are with her. It was short and simple. Sirius looked at James like he wasn't sure what to make of that. What are you talking about man? I don't like your Godsister as more than a friend. James sighed and put his head in one of his hands as he wrote. Bullshit. When you're with her it's…different. You don't treat her like you treat everyone else. The day has finally come where Sirius Black takes care to be gentle with something. My Godsister's a beautiful girl; you'd be an idiot not to like her. Sirius read this with a sigh. He was so busted. Fine, fine you win, Potter. But seriously don't tell anyone, no one knows. He wrote back and James grinned. He was in for it now.

"You've got it, mate. Sworn to secrecy." James whispered to him. "But do me a favor and don't rip her heart out; she's got enough shit in her life without the extra heartbreak." Sirius looked at him curiously but suddenly the period ended and James shoved the paper deep into his bag as people started to pack up the textbooks they never bothered to open. Dany was leaned up against her chair, waiting for Lily to put her things away (because she actually took notes in this horrible class) and Lily was talking to her about something that was making her laugh. He caught a few words before someone distracted him. He discerned that Lily's sister had a horrible boyfriend and they were a very bland couple. What distracted him was Tasha Norton. She smiled at him and James and they both smiled back. She was a relatively cute Hufflepuff girl; she was all dirty blonde hair and lipstick. Kind of fake-looking but whatever.

"Hey, Tasha. What's up?" James said easily. She seemed rather nervous.

"Oh, I was just wondering if one of you guys could help me out with charms, I'm awful at it and I know you're both pretty good. It's totally fine if you can't or don't want to it's just that my parents asked me to ask around before they start paying for a tutor." The boys exchanged looks. James shrugged.

"Sure, I mean I could help you maybe on Wednesdays? I have something else every other night of the week." He said and she shook her head.

"That's too bad, I have gobstones club on Wednesday. But thank you for the offer." She said and she glanced at Sirius to see if he'd offer to help and before he could think too much about it, he did, even knowing that James was fully setting him up for a date. He might have known that Sirius was into Dany, but that wasn't going to stop him from pushing him into dates with other girls.

"I could help you maybe one day a week…some of us aren't involved with every club in the castle." She perked up.

"How about Tuesday?" She asked. He nodded.

"Sure, I don't have a problem with that." He said and she suddenly looked rather annoyed but it vanished quickly.

"I better go, see you boys later." She said and left the classroom, brushing by Dany and Lily, both of whom were watching on, highly amused. James looked at them both blandly. Sirius could have sworn he saw her throw daggers at Dany with her eyes.

"What?" He said and Lily giggled while Dany talked with a grin on her face.

"Oh, Sirius please help me with charms, a subject I'm totally passable at! I'll just die if you don't." She said in a shrill voice as she batted her eyelashes before bursting out into laughter. "Ah, I've always wondered what stupid looks like when it flirts and now I know." She laughed and Lily snorted into her hand. Even James looked amused. Sirius rolled his eyes as they left Binns' room for their next class.

"Oh yeah, yeah yuck it up you two. I felt bad! Sorry for being human." He said and they all laughed.

"You do know that she's actually pretty good at charms, right?" Lily informed him and Sirius suddenly felt very played. Dany and James both watched his expression.

"No, I didn't know that she was lying. But I'll keep it in mind." He said and Dany grinned.

"Please it's not like she's actually going to be real focused on her charms grade. She's going to be too busy trying to take your clothes off. However, she is going to have to work on her other type of charm, you know, the one that involves her personality." The white haired girl laughed as she ribbed him further.

"Aw come on, Dan; she's not that bad. She's actually pretty nice from what I've seen of her." Sirius reprimanded her quietly. She got out of control sometimes and when Lily didn't stop her, it was time for him or James to step in. She rolled her eyes and tugged on her braid.

"Whatever you say, man. Just let me know how long it takes before she kisses you." She said as she made a kissy face as she walked away with Lily for Muggle Studies and the boys went to the common room for a break period. Sirius and James caught up with Remus, Frank, and Peter near the tower and James eagerly filled them in on Sirius' recent development with Tasha Norton. No one seemed particularly surprised but nevertheless they listened with identical grins on their faces. He was never going to hear the end of this.

Sure enough, next Wednesday Sirius was sitting on the desk in an empty classroom watching Tasha screw up her charms. He could tell she was doing it purposely because she would start to do everything right, perfect even, and then suddenly she would do something incredibly wrong. So wrong that there was no way it was simple error or just a weakness in the area of magic.

"Tasha…there's no way you're actually this bad at charms. If you were this bad, Flitwick would have said something earlier than Third Year." Sirius said after dodging a spell that was most definitely not the Cheering Charm it was supposed to be for the third time. "What's your deal if it's not actual tutoring?" He asked her dryly. She looked like she had been caught under a spotlight or in the middle of a crime.

"Um, I don't know what you're talking about, really…what do you think it is?" She said and it was all over her face that she was lying to him.

"Sure you don't…James thinks that you're just trying to ask me out or something." He told her blandly. She looked rather alarmed and Sirius supposed that his friend had guessed right. Well, props to James for being more perceptive than he was.

"Well James is right. Oh my god, this is embarrassing. And so awkward. I'm so sorry, I'm going to leave now." She said and shifted around. Sirius sighed. She was cute and pretty nice. Damn.

"Hey, it's cool. Tasha, chill out; it's okay. How about next Hogsmeade trip we go together? Seriously. It'd be fun." He said and immediately wanted to kick himself. He barely knew her. She smiled and nodded.

"That sounds like a lot of fun. Are you sure?" She asked and he nodded. She smiled again and before he could say anything else, she ran out of the room. Fuck.

He reached the common room around ten and walked in to see it was empty except for Dany sitting in one of the armchairs in her pajamas and clearly ready for bed. She was sitting cross-legged and had some thick book balanced between her knees. It looked incredibly boring and she obviously hadn't noticed him walk in. He leaned over the back of the chair.

"What'cha reading?" He asked and she jumped.

"Shit! Don't do that to me, Sirius. And it's a book my dad sent me…it's riveting let me tell you. It's all about my family and how great or horrible leaders they all were and its essentially my dad's way of saying 'here's how we got here, don't fuck it up when it's your turn'. Ugh if only it wasn't 1200 pages." She groaned and slammed it shut. He sat down in the armchair next to her.

"Eh, it doesn't look too bad. I mean I'd definitely claw my eyes out, but I don't think it warrants death. Unless he sends you another one." He said and she shoved him.

"Don't even say that. If you do, I'm going to get to the end and realize that it only goes to 1800 and there's another 200 years of Ministers and Aurors to go through. You are literally dooming me by saying that." She said and threw the book on the ground. He laughed at the face she gave the book. "How was 'tutoring' by the way?" She asked. He shrugged, hesitant to admit to her that she had been right.

"Fine. You all were totally right about her being horrible on purpose, by the way. I called her out and she just got embarrassed and said she wanted to ask me out. And now we're going to Hogsmeade together next weekend." He said and Dany raised an eyebrow.

"She asked you out?" She said.

"Well I actually kind of called her on being bad at charms and she admitted that she had been planning on it. She was really embarrassed…"

"Really? She's actually nice?" She said, clearly surprised, and he rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Dan she's actually nice. And speaking of that, you're definitely going to be around her next weekend so just in advance: be nice. She's a Hufflepuff; she scares easy. Please, I'm begging you, play nice." He said and she grinned as she picked up her book.

"Because you asked so nicely, I promise not to terrify or torment her. I better get to bed before Momma Bear Lily comes down here and hauls me up to bed. Goodnight. Enjoy dreaming of your new girlfriend." She got up to leave and before he could sop himself, he called out to her.

"Hey Dan, why'd you ask if she asked me out? You'd never ask a guy out yourself?" He asked and she shook her head.

"Nah, my family's old fashioned. Besides, Dad always told me that any guy worth being with would have the guts to ask me out; said that if he was too scared to do that, there was no way that he would be able to keep me challenged for any amount of time." She said with a laugh.

"Challenged?"

"Yeah…it's what people in my family have always really wanted; someone that will challenge them, make them think. My dad asked my mom out because she was the only woman he knew that he'd lose an argument to. He liked that she wasn't afraid to destroy him just because of who he was and who his father was. They're rare people you know…people that don't care about my last name or the color of my hair." She said and she looked sad as she tugged on her waist length hair, almost self-consciously. It struck Sirius how much like a child she still was, they all were; she was still built like a little girl for the most part and not all of her limbs were proportional yet, like she was growing. He was the same way; still skinny except for the relatively small amount of muscle he had built from Quidditch and he was pretty sure his neck was way too long for his body.

"Damn, your dad doesn't seem like one to take a lost argument lying down…she must have really been something else when they were kids." He said and Dany laughed.

"Yeah, she really was from what I hear. Dad still talks about the time he hit a reporter and she dragged him through the streets of London by his ear to shame him. He didn't even wait until she settled down to propose." She said and Sirius laughed at the image of the Minister being dragged around by his ear.

"How old were they? When they got married I mean." He asked suddenly, for reasons he couldn't even begin to fathom. He seriously had no clue why he had just asked her that.

"They were nineteen. Well, Dad was nineteen. Mom was still eighteen. He asked her to marry him in a park in London, by the water." She said softly, with a smile that seemed to be more for herself than anyone else.

"That's young, but I guess if you know what and who you want you go for it. Not like any of us would know what that's like." He said and she laughed.

"You're telling me. I still have a hard time picking what to eat for breakfast…alright, now I'm really going to bed; Lily's going to kill me for being up so late. You're taking the blame by the way." She said with a laugh before vanishing up the stairs to her room. Sirius watched her leave and then went up to his own room. When he walked in, everyone was sleeping; he suspected that Remus had made everyone go to bed early in preparation for Astronomy tomorrow night. He got into bed and thought about the fact that he had somehow just started dating his first girlfriend and that Dany's parents had only been five years older than them when they had married.

The next morning, James shoved him out of bed and onto the ground with the terse statement of "get up". Sirius rolled onto his back on the ground and sat up, wishing that he had another hour to sleep in. Slowly, everyone in the room started to shuffle around and get ready for the day. They were mostly ready (and everyone had already harassed Sirius enough about Tasha for the day) when Lily burst into their room, not bothering to knock.

"Evans?" Sirius asked blankly, not really registering that she had just barged into their room. She ignored him and walked over to Remus, who seemed rather concerned at this turn of events. Lily said something to him and she seemed almost frantic. She was shaking her head and moving her hands. Sirius caught the words "I don't know what to do". James, for his part, didn't look particularly thrilled that she had burst into his room to talk to anyone but him. Remus looked disturbed but also appeared to be trying to calm Lily down. He heard the werewolf say, "I don't know though Lils…are you sure she's not just pulling your leg?" Lily didn't like that question and shook her head and Sirius could have sworn she was next to tears. "Okay, okay I'm just making sure." He soothed her and she seemed to calm down and after a moment she left. Everyone exchanged looks.

"What in the bloody hell was that?" Frank asked him slowly. Remus looked uncomfortable, like he wanted to say what had just happened but couldn't.

"It…I don't know. Honestly, she just wants me to look into something is all. I'm going to hit the Library tonight after class." Remus said absently and everyone nodded and didn't ask any more questions. They were down in the Great Hall when Marlene and Alice walked in. They sat down away from the guys; they all exchanged looks. Even without Lily and Dany there, they were still friends for the most part. The two girls had a reason to avoid them, Sirius was sure. Sirius stood up and went over to the concerned-looking girls.

"Hey guys…did we do something to offend you? Because last time I checked, we're all friendly." He said slowly. Alice looked at him like she just realized he was there.

"Oh, no you guys didn't do anything wrong. We didn't even see you down there, honestly." She said. Sirius nodded, only half-believing them.

"Where are Dan and Lily?" He asked them and they both automatically tensed. There was something wrong. Something wrong with Dany or Lily.

"Lily is writing a letter and Dany woke up sick this morning; fever, throwing up, the whole nine. She's staying in bed today." Marlene said and Sirius could see her lie clear as day. Lily probably was writing a letter but there was no way Dany was that sick; he had just seen her last night. As soon as he said this, he noticed that Rhaegar was also absent from the Great Hall.

"That's nice McKinnon, now what's really wrong with Dany? That might be the worst lie I've ever seen and Frank's a pretty awful liar." Sirius told her shortly. Marlene narrowed her eyes at him.

"Be as that may, Black; we're not telling you anything. You may be her friend, but don't think we're overly fond of you. We tolerate you and we tolerate James for her sake. Besides, this is beyond any of us." Marlene said and Sirius glared at her. Then what she had said caught up with him. 'This is beyond any of us'. There was something much more wrong than a head cold. Suddenly Lily walked into the Great Hall and she walked over to her friends. She looked at Sirius.

"Sirius…we need to talk."

"Lils, are you sure he—"

"Dan trusts him and I think that means we should too, especially with this. Besides, he'll find out on his own anyways; Daniel likes him too much to keep his mouth shut." Lily said to her friends. "Sirius, we need to talk. And we should probably do it down there." He looked at her questioningly. Her voice lowered. "Where there are fewer ears." He nodded and followed her to the very end of the Gryffindor table.

"Lily what the hell is going on?" He asked and she sat down. He sat down next to her.

"I don't know…it started the morning after we came back from break. I went to go wake up Dany but she woke up on her own, gasping. When she opened her eyes I could have sworn they were gold for a second, which is insane, right? But then she gets up and starts drawing this…this thing and it was so beyond her in skill and she did it in like fifteen minutes and then all of a sudden she looks at me and she has no idea what just happened. She didn't even remember getting out of bed. I looked into it in the Library and I didn't find anything, and I even checked the restricted section so I asked Remus to check and he didn't see anything either. We let it go because it didn't happen again, but…"

"It happened again last night." Sirius said and Lily nodded. She was freaked, that much was obvious.

"It happened again and this time she was hysterical, screaming and crying, saying things that were crazy, she didn't make any sense. She was saying that you were hurt over and over again and she kept writing the same sentence again and again. It was so scary. Eventually she stopped and she didn't remember any of it. I just flooed her dad but I got his secretary, he'll probably be here in the hour." Lily said and she started to cry. Sirius hugged her awkwardly and to his surprise she started sobbing into his shoulder.

"Evans, we don't need to crying right now, alright? She stopped and her dad's on his way. She's going to be okay. I noticed Rhaegar wasn't at breakfast."

"He's with her right now in his room. I'm just waiting for her dad to get here." Lily said and the doors to the Great Hall banged open; it was Professor McGonagall, who came rushing into the Great Hall. She made it only halfway to Professor Dumbledore before the room went completely silent. Everyone turned towards the door. Lily was done waiting; the Minister was here and he looked unhappy, very unhappy. People slowly started to stand up as a sign of respect. He looked like he didn't really care but stopped to shake a couple of hands and responded occasionally when someone said "Minister Daniel". His eyes flitted down the tables, searching, and he saw Lily. He walked over to where she was with Sirius.

"Lily. Thank you for calling me. Where is she?" Daniel said tersely. Sirius had only seen the look in the Minister's eyes once in his life. Dany had worn that same look when someone had told her that her brother had just been moved from the Hospital Wing to St. Mungo's after being attacked by a group of Slytherins.

"She's with Rhaegar in his room. He couldn't get to us because of the stairs so we brought her to him. Please let me know if there's anything we can do, any of us." She said and Daniel's eyes flickered to Sirius.

"Sirius Black. I wish I were seeing you again under better circumstances. Both of you, if you don't mind accompanying me to Gryffindor Tower?" He said and they both shook their heads. "Ah, yes I should probably tell James what is happening…excuse me for one moment." He said and walked down the table to speak to his Godson. James stood and gave him a brief hug and they spoke for a moment. James nodded and soon Professor Dumbledore approached them.

Daniel said something to the Headmaster and the older man nodded. Remus, Frank, and Peter all stood up and all four of them accompanied the Minister down the table. They collected Marlene and Alice on their way by. The entire hall was still staring.

"Lily, James, Sirius you're exempt from classes all day, the rest of you get your first class off. Now I ask that we all go before I lose my bleeding mind." He said and all nine of them left the Great Hall and walked silently up to Gryffindor Tower. "I suggest you all set up camp in the boys' room. Marlene and Alice, if you don't mind filling these boys in on why they're not in class. Sirius, Lily, you'll come with me." He said and everyone nodded. This was hardly the same man that he had seen on New Years; there was no laughing or jokes, he wasn't becoming more human by the second like he had been over dinner. This man was a machine; it was like he wasn't really feeling anything right now. He was on automatic.

They all walked upstairs and they passed the Third Year room and walked into the Sixth Year room. It looked very much like their own, Sirius thought, messier maybe but still the same. There were more pictures on the wall and there were no distinct lines between whose space was whose; these boys were practically brothers by now. In one of the beds farthest from the door was Dany. Her brother was sitting at the foot of it looking tense and concerned. As soon as the door opened, Rhaegar looked up and sagged over with relief.

"Dad, you're here. Lily, you're amazing." He said to the redhead. "Black. Is there a reason you're here?" He asked not so kindly.

"Enough Rhaegar. He's your sister's friend and I don't want to hear this nonsense about blood being thicker than water right now. Your mother berates me enough as it is for allowing him near her. I've ignored her so far and I fully intend to do the same to you on this topic." Daniel snapped at his son, who looked like he really wanted to say something but he held his tongue. Sirius raised his eyebrows and then looked at the ground. Had he known he was a point of contention in their house? No. Did he now? Hell yes. Rhaegar sat on the bed closest to the door silently watching. Dany looked up and scowled.

"Will you all shut up? I'm not a bloody invalid you know. Sirius stays, Lily stays, Rhaegar you're welcome to stay but I can't force you like I can these two." She said sharply, very much like her father. Rhaegar didn't move. "Good. Now would someone like to tell me what the hell is happening to me?" She asked quieter. Her father sat down next to her. Lily and Sirius exchanged a look and sat down on the bed adjacent to them.

"They're night visions." Her father said quietly. Dany looked at him like he was mad.

"Those are a myth, they're not real. Mom always said that you told us about them as a bedtime story." Rhaegar said. Dany nodded.

"I'm with him on this, Daddy. Are you sure?" She said. Sirius saw Lily smile a little at the fact she still called her father 'Daddy'. It was pretty cute he had to admit.

"Let me guess; you go to sleep, everything's normal, right? Until you start dreaming, when you dream there are people you recognize, people you know. Except they're older. They're older by a little or maybe by a lot. Either way, it never takes place in the past. And it's like a loop, the same thing again and again over and over. Then next thing you know, you're not in bed and there's a picture of your dream that you drew but don't remember drawing. How close am I?" Her father said. Dany nodded.

"Very. Except for one thing…I don't always know the people." She said quietly.

"What do you mean? You have to know the people. You don't see them until you meet them." Her father countered. Dany handed him a sheet of folded paper and he opened it and looked at it. "This is Azkaban Prison. Dan, who is this?" He asked, putting the paper face down.

"I—I don't know. In my dream I just sit by the bars. I just sit and I cry and try to reach through the bars. I never see his face though. He never turns around." She said quietly. Her father looked at her piercingly.

"I hate to be there bearer of bad news but someone you know is probably going to Azkaban eventually." He said softly.

"What is that?" She said and pointed at part of the paper. Her father inspected it.

"When someone is processed into Azkaban, they're given a number. This here means that it's a high security prisoner but this part, there's no prisoner in Azkaban with this number. We haven't reached it yet." He said and Sirius found it rather disturbing that Dany knew a future high security prisoner.

"Daniel?" Lily said quietly from next to Sirius.

"Yes, Lily?"

"I don't know if this is important but when I woke her up, or tired to, during one of these—these episodes her eyes seemed to be gold for a second." She said. The Minister seemed unsurprised but still not thrilled.

"It's a sign of seer blood. It's nothing additional to worry about." Dany crawled into her father's side.

"Would someone mind telling me what is exactly causing this?" Sirius said suddenly. Daniel and Rhaegar both looked over at him. Lily seemed thankful; he knew she had no idea what was happening either.

"Rhaegar, why don't you explain?" The Minister said before turning his attention back to his daughter who was whispering to him. Rhaegar cleared his throat.

"In the very first generations of our family, the first Minister's son actually, was born a seer. There was no known blood in the family but soon he started to have visions, make prophecies, the whole package. He was exceptionally powerful and some of the prophecies he predicted have yet to come true, they were seen so far in advance. However, generations passed and there wasn't another seer; the next one that had any trace of the sight in her was a woman. Except so much time had passed since the last person in the family with the sight, it was not nearly as powerful as it was in her ancestor. There were no prophecies and no grand predictions. But at night, she would see things, things that started coming true. But she slept alone in her own room and so everyone just regarded her as a weak seer. But then her grandson was born with the same sight, he too would have visions at night except this time, there was someone to witness it: his wife. She claimed that he would get up and start writing and drawing and all the while his eyes would glow gold. The only time the trance could completely consume him was when his conscious mind was asleep. That is what night visions are; it's weak seer blood manifesting. My sister is seeing the future." Rhaegar told them. Lily and Sirius exchanged a look.

"For now, she is." Daniel spoke up. "The visions have never lasted past 25, for some people the span is even shorter. They usually start around puberty and last anywhere from five to fifteen years…it won't be forever, Dan. I promise." He said to his daughter.

"When was the last one?" Lily asked curiously.

"Well it's not terribly common and the gift is known to skip a few generations…I do believe that the last person to have night visions in our family was, believe it or not, your great-grandmother, the first Danilynn Charlotte." He said thoughtfully. "It's a shame it skipped so many generations, it would have been good for you to have someone to go to who has personal experience. Besides, you would have liked my grandmother; you remind me of her sometimes. That's why we named you after her, you know. The healer gave you to me and you had this look on your face like you were going to tell me off for having dessert first." He said with a smile. Dany smiled but the look soon faded.

"I've had two." Dany told her father.

"Two? This is the only one that I've heard about." He said, holding up the paper that apparently had a picture of Azkaban on it.

"That was over a week ago. The one from last night is here." She said quietly and handed her father a crumpled up piece of paper with writing all over the back. He smoothed it out and examined both sides quickly. He raised his eyebrows.

"Do you know who this is?" Her father asked quietly. Dany nodded silently. Her father looked down at her and followed her gaze, directly towards Sirius. Shit, he thought to himself.

"Um, what is it you see in my future? I have the distinct feeling I'm not going to like it." He asked the room at large. Dany handed him the paper wordlessly. He looked at the front and he fought the urge to vomit. The worst part was that it was a true to life so he couldn't even blame her bad drawing for his banged up face. He didn't recognize himself at first he looked so hurt and damaged. He did recognize James near the foot of the hospital bed though. He looked not much older than he was now, five years at most, and James had his head in his hands, almost like he was praying. He flipped it over and read the back. I'd take away your pain was written over and over on the back, filling up the entire sheet. It was disturbing to say the least. "Well that's cheery. I'm looking forward to it." He said hollowly and handed her the paper. Dany had "I'm sorry" written all over her face. It wasn't her fault at all, but she probably felt bad for showing him a picture of his beat up face that hadn't happened yet. Just something to look forward to. He idly wondered who was trying to take away (presumably) his pain.

"I brought you something, it's a sketchpad. You can keep it by your bed and anything that comes out will go here so you don't start drawing on the windows or something more noticeable than parchment." Her father handed his daughter a leather-bound book but when she opened it, all the pages were blank. "And please use a pencil, you'll be dumping ink all over yourself if you don't; it's a miracle you haven't spilled anything already." He told her and she smiled at him.

"Oh I have, Lily is just really good at cleaning up after me." She said with a smile at her best friend.

"Lily does seem to be a good one to have around in a pinch, doesn't she?" Her father asked. Dany nodded. "You have to remember that what you see is not only a gift, it's also powerful. Nothing is more powerful than premonition. Never forget that, Sweetheart." She nodded and the Minister stood up. Dany got up with her father and Lily looked concerned. Dany waved her off and walked towards her brother.

"Hey Rae?" She asked her brother.

"Yeah?" He asked warily and out of nowhere she hugged her brother tightly.

"Thank you for sitting with me even though I'm just your shithead little sister. I still love you even though you hate my friend." She said into his chest and he hugged her back.

"Ah, I don't hate him. I just think that a friendship like this is…unique. It will be interesting to see it play out. Which we apparently will be doing to some extent." He told his sister softly. She let go of him and they both looked at their dad, who cleared his throat.

"I have to be going soon…I wasn't aware I'd be making this detour today and I've already had to cancel a meeting with Cornelius Fudge; he'll be livid I imagine." Daniel said airily.

"Serves him right, bloody arrogant prick. Thinks that he knows better than you do, the bloke's like eighteen and a nobody." Rhaegar muttered and Dany laughed in agreement.

"He really is an unfortunate human being, but I can't have him hating me any more than he does already. He may be a nobody now, but I doubt he'll stay that way." He turned towards Lily. "Lily, you're a sweet girl and I want to see you at my home this summer, you hear?" She nodded and he hugged her quickly. "Sirius, it appears that no matter how hard my wife and son try, you'll still be around so I'd like to congratulate my daughter and I in advance for being so persistent and stubborn. I'm sure we'll see each other again soon." He said and they shook hands. The Minister hugged his son and then his daughter who clung onto him like she was drowning. He kissed her forehead and whispered something to her. Then Dany's father vanished out the door, leaving them all standing there. Even though nothing had really changed since yesterday, it felt like everything had changed.

When Daniel had walked into the Great Hall, James had felt his heart fall to his feet. Then he had spoken to Lily and Sirius. Then he had come over to his Godson. He looked worried. But James hugged him nonetheless.

"Daniel…what ar—"

"What am I doing here? Lily floo called my office; left a note with my secretary saying that Dany's sick. Except from what she told my office, she doesn't sound sick. I think she inherited night visions." He said quietly. James raised his eyebrows. He had heard stories of night visions in his childhood from Daniel, the same ones that he told his children.

"They're real?" He hissed. Daniel nodded.

"Very much so…ah, Albus, good to see you." He said to Dumbledore, who had just approached them.

"Daniel, a pleasure as always. However, I must ask what it is you're doing in the castle so unexpectedly?" The headmaster said politely.

"I'm sorry for the lack of notice but I received a notice from one of my daughter's friends this morning that she was sick, but from her description it appears to be something…genetic, if you understand my meaning." Daniel said delicately. The nighttime visions were a highly guarded secret, only known to those close to the Masters family. Albus nodded.

"Of course, I know how you are regarding your daughter. You must want to see her immediately…I'm assuming she is with your son?" Daniel nodded in affirmation. "Yes, well you are more than welcome to anything we have to offer here at Hogwarts. Mr. Potter, I'm assuming that you'll be joining them. I remember the last time someone in this castle developed…that particular habit; she was in desperate need of her friends. They should all take their first class off to be with her. Miss Evans and Mr. Black should have the whole day, as well as young Mr. Potter here. This is a rare phenomenon that can be quite a burden from what I hear." Professor Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye. "I assure you Daniel, I'll keep an eye on her in this…exciting time in her life." Daniel nodded again and thanked his old headmaster.

Now, they were all sitting in the boys' room, waiting for Lily and Sirius to come back with news of what exactly happened. None of them knew why the Minister of Magic pulled them from the Great Hall; all they knew was that something was wrong with Dany and he seemed to be the only one that knew what it was. James was trying to give them the gist of the condition.

"They're called night visions. It's a kind of…well it's what it sounds like. They're visions that only happen when she's asleep."

"Like prophetic visions? Like a seer?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, they're prophetic but she's not a seer. She had a seer in her family very, very long ago but the blood is so diluted by now that she can only remotely see anything when she's asleep and the rational mind is turned off." James elaborated.

"What about the drawing? And the writing?" Marlene asked. Apparently she had been unfortunate enough to actually witness one.

"It's…kind of like a traditional prophecy but that's the only way it can manifest itself because of the weakness of the blood."

"And the eyes? I know I saw her eyes go gold James Potter."

"It's a sign of seer's blood. Guys, she's fine. Besides, night visions kick in at puberty, if they kick in at all, and stop by 25 at the latest. It's not forever and it's not dangerous. Just relax. Someone will be back in here soon with news." James said. He was getting a migraine at this rate. He'd need the whole day off because he'd be sitting in a dark room trying to get his head to stop throbbing. Suddenly the door opened but it wasn't Dany, Lily, or Sirius. It was Daniel. Everyone stood up and he waved a hand tiredly.

"Don't bother, please. I'm bloody sick of everyone always standing up when I walk in a damn room. I just came in to tell you all that she's fine. She'll be down with Lily and Sirius in a bit. James, I'm leaving back to work so if there's anything you want me to tell your folks…" He trailed off. James shrugged.

"Tell Dad that I'm getting lots of detention and tell Mom I'll mail her dungbombs if she ever makes me wear another suit again. And tell them both that I love them and to stay safe." He said. Daniel nodded with a smile.

"I'll pass that along but you're responsible for any bodily harm that befalls me when I tell your mother that." He laughed.

"You're my Godfather, you're supposed to take the fall for all the stupid shit I do. That's what Godfathers and brothers are for." James retorted and Daniel had no answer for that.

"Alright, I'm out of here. See you all probably over summer. You stay safe James Potter, you hear me?" He said and James hugged him quickly.

"Yeah, yeah you're worried about me? The whole damn world is worried about you. Try not to get yourself blown up or something. Dan would be real disappointed." Daniel smiled and with a final goodbye, left the room.

"You never said that Dany's dad was your Godfather." Remus said absently as he stared at the ceiling, bored.

"Yeah…Rhea's my Godmother too. We kind of just switched. My parents are her Godparents and vice versa. I think they cut a deal when we were born or something, to be honest. They're good people, they really are." James said and everyone went back to silently sitting around until the door opened again and this time it was Sirius, Lily, and Dany. Everyone looked up and grinned.

"Masters! We thought you were down for the count!" Frank cheered and Dany laughed.

"Nah, you guys aren't getting rid of me that easily. My family's hard to kill. I'm just temporarily psychic now is all." She said and then glanced at James. "Did you explain…?" He nodded and she relaxed. "Really you all, I'm good. I'm the same person I was yesterday; I promise I don't know anything about anyone's untimely demise or anything like that. What why aren't all of you in class?" She asked suddenly. Marlene checked the time.

"Well Dumbledore gave all of us Potions off and then these three, lucky them, get the whole day off to watch you. It's okay we all know that you four are closer than we are. Speaking of class, Potions just ended and I do believe we have Defense next. We've gotta go." The other Marlene, Alice, Frank, Peter, and Remus all stood and left with parting words all along the lines of "feel better Dany" and "I'm glad you're not dying after all".

Once all five of them left. The four of them were left sitting on the ground of the room. Dany looked at all of them.

"What the fuck is happening to our lives, you guys?" She quietly said. James quite agreed.

What the fuck, indeed.