Disclaimer: you all know the deal

Hey! So I've moved to university and it's been a huge change but it's okay and i'm getting into the rhythm of things, so I'm back! This is a continuation of last chapter and Lily and James are back!

Read and Review

Love, Essie

Darling, hold my hand
Oh, won't you hold my hand?
Cause I don't wanna walk on my own anymore
Won't you understand? Cause I don't wanna walk alone
I'm ready for this, there's no denying
I'm ready for this, you stop me falling
I'm ready for this, I need you all in
I'm ready for this, so darling, hold my hand

~Hold My Hand, Jess Glynne

Dany woke up for the first time in two weeks, in her own bed. Her eyes opened to the light streaming in through her windows and the feel of the breeze moving through the room. She sat up rubbing her eyes. Both she and Sirius had forgotten to close the balcony doors the night before and they had been letting fresh air stream in all night. She checked the time to see that it was almost eleven. Damn, it was late and they should be getting back to the hospital. She got out of bed and left her room, heading for the kitchen. On her way down, she quietly poked her head in Sirius' room to see that he was still sleeping so deeply that he appeared to be drooling.

She closed the door before she could start laughing at the look on his face. She headed back to her own room and changed into real clothes that didn't involve sweatpants. She noticed something on her desk. She walked over and realized that it was a giant ink spill. She immediately knew what it was. She had been writing a letter to, ironically enough, Sirius when her mother had come running into her bedroom. "Danilynn, we're going to St. Mungo's now." When she had asked what was happening her mother had simply said, "It's your father." That was when she had spilled the ink. She had stood up so fast that she had knocked the well over and hadn't bothered to right it before running out the door. She examined the half-written letter and decided that it wasn't even readable. She crumpled it up and threw it in the trash. She still needed to write Lily back from when her friend had written over two weeks ago. She sat down and started a letter that was almost a bald-faced lie.

Lily,

I'm so sorry that I haven't written; time's just slipped away from me! Things have been crazy over here and I can hardly find the time to brush my teeth, never mind writing letters. I miss you like crazy and I'm so excited to see you next year. Maybe we can get together, just you and me, and go shopping for our books in Diagon Alley right before school. And you have to collect stories on the Vernon/Petunia love saga; I'm dying to hear more!

Love,

Dany

Dany read it and even to her, it seemed artificial and fake; Lily would know something was wrong but Dany didn't really see another alternative to fibbing to her friend, at least for the time being. The door opened and she looked up; it was Sirius, who had apparently had rejoined the living sometime during the time she had taken to write her letter.

"Hey." She said and he waved back, rubbing a hand over his face. "I take it you slept well?" She said and he nodded.

"The beds in this house are heavenly, just so you know. God bless this house, just God bless." He said and there was still sleep written all over his voice. That voice was really cute, Dany thought absently before she could catch herself. Stop thinking that, she told herself sternly; he doesn't like you so stop indulging your crush, it'll just make it worse.

"I'll be sure to let my mom know that she has good taste in mattresses…we should probably eat breakfast and I'm going to head back to the hospital. You're more than welcome to leave for James'; I'm not going to force you to go back to sit with someone who isn't even your family." She said softly, secretly hoping that he'd decide to come with her; it was quite selfish, really. He shook his head.

"Nah, I couldn't go screw around with James with a clear conscious knowing that you were still cooped up in that room waiting for your dad to wake up. Besides, I think you and your mom are on the verge of killing each other. You know I still can't believe that your brother has been running the Ministry for two weeks now and no one has noticed. It appears that he's at least halfway competent." He said and she agreed. Rae had done a better job than they all had expected and had risen to the occasion remarkably.

"If you're sure…" She said and he nodded.

"I'm sure, Dan. Besides there would be no point going to James' now; I have to go back home tomorrow morning." He said and she felt her stomach drop. Damn. She had wondered how long until his parents expected him back but she had been putting off thinking about it, let alone asking.

"Oh, well that sucks. Sorry I kind of stole your whole week of freedom." She said and he smiled.

"It's alright. Now let's eat breakfast and go see that dad of yours." He said and they walked out of her room together.

They Flooed back to St. Mungo's at almost noon. Dany felt better than she had in a long time and she was certain that she looked it too. They quickly passed through the security near her dad's room and she momentarily hoped he would be awake; her hopes were dashed quickly when she walked in and nothing had changed. Her mom looked up and smiled.

"Dany. You look so much better. Do you feel better?" She asked and Dany nodded.

"Yeah, I do. Thanks for making me go home, Mom. I needed it." She admitted and her mother smiled.

"Mother knows best, Dearie. Mother always knows best." She said smugly and sat back down. Dany sat too and Sirius sat next to her.

"No change?" She asked and her mother shrugged.

"He twitched a couple of times, but nothing came of it. The Healers think it's a good sign though; they think he'll be up in a few days and he'll have no lasting effects from it." She said and Dany felt hope for the first time since she had rushed here two weeks ago. "He still has a long way to go though, they think he'll need to be here for another week after he wakes up just to make sure everything's okay." And Dany nodded. She had been expecting that; no one was going to take risks with the Minister's health.

"Has Rae been by?" She asked and her mother, to her surprise, nodded.

"He stayed here last night. You just missed him." She said. Dany rolled her eyes; of course the one night she leaves, her brother stays the night. "He wasn't too happy to hear that Sirius was here." She added on. Sirius shifted uncomfortably.

"What did you tell him?" Dany asked cautiously. Her mother smiled softly.

"I told him to mind his own business and that he should be more concerned with not running the Ministry into the ground than your choice in friends." She said and Sirius relaxed.

"I told you that you were growing on her." Dany told him smugly. He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah congrats on being right." He said and Dany saw her mother smile. "Now stop talking about it…you're not going to stop talking about it, are you?" He said and she shook her head with a laugh. "This is going to be like the mandrake thing from Second Year, isn't it?" He said, looking rather unenthused.

"Oh I forgot about that! This is absolutely going to be like that. But seriously you should have seen your face right before you hit the floor. And then James had to drag you by the ankles…good stuff." She said and her mother looked amused.

"Do I want to know?" She said. Sirius said "no" at the same time Dany started telling the story.

"Okay well Sirius has this problem where he doesn't really listen to instructions, in case you didn't know that. Anyways we were in Herbology at the start of Second Year and we were repotting Mandrakes and he apparently wasn't listening when Professor Sprout said to put on earmuffs. So when everyone pulled the plants out and they started to scream, he passed out. Then James had to drag him to the hospital wing. It was a beautiful thing." She said and her mother laughed.

"He dragged you? All the way across the castle?" She said and Sirius nodded.

"Pomona Sprout is a cruel woman." He said gravely.

"She's my friend." Dany's mom said with a dead-serious expression. Sirius looked mortified before she started laughing. "I'm just kidding, I don't know her. But you're right though, dear; his face is hilarious." She said and Sirius shook his head as Dany laughed.

"Women are going to be the death of me." He said and Dany smiled.

"Kenzie might take you out once she figures out that you ditched her to go sit in a hospital all week. That might just be the death of you." She said knowingly and Sirius groaned.

"Hopefully she'll never find out; I don't want to have that conversation right when we get back to school." He said and Dany rolled her eyes.

"You know this will be your longest one yet, I mean it's just because you never see her, but still. It's an achievement; Sirius Black has finally had a relationship that lasted more than four weeks." She teased and she saw her mother raise an eyebrow. "It's a shame really, I've been making good money off your relationships. The girls are really crappy gamblers and I've been cleaning up." She said thoughtfully.

"Danilynn Charlotte, what have I told you about gambling?" Her mother said and Dany shrugged.

"Relax Mom, the bets are never more than two galleons and I hardly ever lose." She said and her mother still didn't look convinced but didn't say anything. In the moment of silence that fell between Dany trying to soothe her mom about her gambling and the next stream of conversation, another voice spoke.

"Aw, come on Rhea, what's life without a little bit of a gamble?" Everyone's heads snapped up; they were the only people in the room…except for her father. They all looked over and his eyes were open and even though he looked slightly disoriented, his eyes were the same as they always had been; he still had dancing eyes.

"Sirius, go get a Healer." Dany heard herself say as she rushed towards the bed. Her mother appeared to be in shock and Sirius left the room quickly. "Daddy?" she said quietly as she took his hand. He blinked harshly.

"Dany…my sweet child, my beautiful daughter. I'm assuming I'm in St. Mungo's?" He said and she nodded. "Yes, I do remember that someone shot me; that wasn't very considerate of them." He commented. "How long have I been sleeping?"

"Two weeks. Two weeks as of yesterday." She said and he looked sad.

"Oh, well that's quite a while. I'm sorry that you had to see this, Sweetheart." He said and she nodded.

"It's not your fault, Daddy. You didn't ask for this to happen. Me, Mom, and Rae have been awfully worried though. You'll never guess how well he's been doing at the Ministry while you've been gone." She said and he smiled weakly at her.

"I'll be sure to ask him all about it once I'm out of this damn bed."

"Dan. The Healer's here." Sirius said suddenly and Dany looked up to see her father's healer standing next to her friend. Sirius pulled her back from the bed so the Healer could get a better look at her patient.

"Ah, Sirius Black. I told you that we'd meet again. I'm always right." He said with a smile. Sirius smiled at him.

"It's good to see you awake, sir. Everyone's been really worried." He said and her father weakly waved a hand.

"You're in my hospital room and from the way that my wife isn't glaring at you, I'm going to guess you've been here for a while. Call me Daniel." He said and Dany raised an eyebrow at that observation. He really was growing on her mom. "How long have you been here? My guess is far longer than most people would expect or ask of you." He asked of her friend.

"I'm leaving tomorrow, but I've been here for a week now." He said quietly and her father raised his eyebrows as his healer examined his chest.

"Danilynn, he's a good friend. I like him. Keep him. A man that cares about you enough to sit in your father's hospital room is worth keeping." He said and she nodded.

"Yeah, I kind of like him too…besides, now that Mom likes him, I have to keep him. People that she likes don't grow on trees." She said lightly and her father laughed quietly and then almost immediately winced at the jerking movement.

"It appears that I'm not exactly at full strength. How's it looking down there Michelle?" He asked and Michelle, his healer, looked up from his wound.

"Your lungs are back in working order and your ribs are healed. The only thing left is the head trauma. Any kind of blow to the head is always risky to fix with magic so we'll be keeping you under close observation for the next week, Minister." She said and he nodded.

"Michelle, how long have you been friends with my wife? Ten years now? You delivered both of my children. I think you can use my first name as well. Everyone's so bloody formal around here." He said and Dany smiled. It was good to have him back. Dany glanced at her mom, who had been absolutely silent the entire time. She was staring at her husband intensely. Her father followed her line of sight. "Rhea…" He said softly. She smiled and walked towards the bed, putting a hand on the side of his face. She saw the tears start to come out of her mom's eyes and Dany bumped Sirius in the arm and gestured out of the room. They both left quietly and soon after, Michelle left the room too, running into them as they were standing outside of the door to give her parents some time alone.

"Your father will be just fine, Miss Masters; he'll be just fine." She said with a smile. Dany hugged her tightly.

"Thank you. Thank you for bringing him back to us." She said and Michelle hugged her back.

"Your parents love each other very much; I'd give them a little more time before going back in there. Get some coffee maybe. I know it tastes like dirt but it'll give you something to do." She said. "I need to see to some other things, but I'm sure I'll be seeing you again. And you," She said, turning to Sirius, "you're a remarkable person; don't think I don't recognize those signature grey eyes, Mr. Black. Your parents would be ashamed of this, and for that you should be very proud." She said and Sirius smiled, despite looking rather shocked that she had correctly guessed who he was. She walked away and Dany leaned up against a wall.

"Why do your parents always have these really perceptive friends? It's kind of strange." He said and she shrugged.

"I guess they like people that can see through their professional lies." She said and he smiled. It was going to be a good day.

Lily knew something was wrong. Dany's letter was surface-deep, not bothering to ask questions or tease her about James. It wasn't her at all. The redhead shook her head as she read it, worried. There was only about a month of summer left, and the last week or so didn't really count because she was always so caught up in getting ready to go back to school. Even though there was something clearly wrong with her best friend, she fully intended to take her up on going shopping.

Dany,

It's good to hear from you. I was getting a little worried to be honest. I have so much to tell you about Petunia and Vernon—still no engagement though so we might be losing that bet, unfortunately. I got a letter from Remus about a week ago and he wanted to know if I'd heard from you; Sirius was supposed to be at James' this week but he had to go somewhere else last minute and Remus wanted to know if you knew anything about it. You haven't heard from him have you? I really hope that his parents aren't treating him too badly.

I'm definitely going to take you up on that shopping offer later this summer. Just give me a date sometime in August (after our letters come of course) and I'll plan on being there. It'll be good to catch up, just us two. Please write back soon or I'll start to worry about you again!

Lots of Love,

Lily

P.S. don't think I don't know something's wrong, Danilynn. I want answers.

She reread her letter and decided that it was appropriate; it didn't sound too worried but also didn't blow off the fact that her friend had suddenly dropped off the face of the planet for almost three weeks. She gave it to her owl with instructions to go to Dany and he hooted in understanding before taking off through her window. There was nothing more she could do to soothe her worries about her best friend so she tried to put that aside for now.

"Lily! Come downstairs!" Her mother shouted for her. Lily cautiously walked down the stairs to see Sugar Lips—Vernon; she corrected herself (she had taken to calling him that in her head)—standing in the hallway, apparently just arrived. Damn, she had forgotten that he was coming over again for dinner. She hoped her mother hadn't forgotten too because she had to make double of everything for when he came over because of his eating habits that consisted of eating way too much in way too short of a time span. Petunia looked at her from where she was stationed next to Sugar—erm, Vernon and she looked like she had swallowed something foul. Petunia always looked like someone had shoved a lemon up her butt these days so Lily didn't think too much about it.

"Yeah, Mom?" She said. Mrs. Evans smiled at her and she could tell that her daughter had forgotten that they had been expecting a guest.

"Dinner's ready, dear." She said and quickly winked at her daughter. Lily had helped her prepare dinner last time Vernon had been over (Petunia had been out of the house) and the two had almost broken their ribs laughing so hard over how much extra food there had to be. Lily followed her mom into the dining room to see her father was already there, reading the newspaper. Lily suspected that the Daily Prophet was hiding behind the Muggle newspaper he appeared to be reading; her parents no longer trusted her to bring home all of the news after her little misstep about failing to mention the war so they subscribed to the magical newspaper. Sure enough, when she walked behind him she caught a glimpse of a moving picture. He quickly closed the paper, hiding it from Vernon.

"Alright everyone, let's take a seat and dig in." He said merrily and everyone took a seat around the round table.

"Looks great, Mom." Lily said and Petunia glared at her. Because heaven forbid she compliment her own mother.

"Thank you, Lily." She said and a silence overcame the table as everyone ate. Lily kept an eye on Vernon and Petunia, waiting for something noteworthy to happen. She had been compiling stories all summer, knowing that her best friend would want to hear them later. "Have you heard anything from Dany, Lily? It's been a while since she's…called." Her mother asked, quickly omitting writing letters for the much more Muggle mode of communication. She nodded.

"Yeah, I heard from her yesterday. She seemed okay, I guess. She just didn't seem…herself. She wanted to know if it would be okay if we met up right before we went back to school to go shopping for our things. That's really all she said." Lily said after swallowing her mouthful of food.

"Is everything alright over there? I'd hate to hear that something was wrong with her or her family; they're lovely people." Her father added on and Lily shrugged.

"I don't know. Normally I'd say that if something were wrong she'd tell me but this was…different. It was like she didn't want to say anything that could be found or heard." Lily said slowly, realizing that that would be just like her best friend; she was the Minister's daughter and whatever was weighing on her probably wasn't safe to travel by owl, lest it be intercepted.

"If you're sure…I'm just glad you heard from her." Lily's mom said and Lily nodded.

"I am too."

"Mom, did I forget to mention that I got a raise this week?" Petunia suddenly said and Lily fell quiet, understanding that her time to talk was over.

"You did? That's fantastic, Petunia. Congratulations! Did your boss say what warranted it?" Her mother exclaimed. Petunia nodded.

"He said it was my work ethic and how quickly I typed. I'm the quickest one in the company at typing." She added on, pointedly looking at her sister as if she expected Lily to be impressed. Lily would have been more impressed if Petunia had said she had been fired for thinking for herself for once.

"That typing class really paid off, I see." The girls' father said. Petunia nodded.

"It's helped me so much at work and of course I met Vernon there." She said, love-struck. Lily didn't miss the sappy eye contact they made and she had to fight the urge to throw up. This was just disgusting. She made eye contact with her mom who smiled a little in agreement.

"Of course you did, dear. Speaking of which, how's work going, Vernon?" Her father said.

"Business is great right now; it's a big time for construction so sales are going through the roof. They need more sales representatives so I'm thinking about applying for a position instead of waiting for a promotion in a couple of years." He said and Lily thought that his ego was proportionate to his weight. And she had thought Rhaegar had a relatively large ego. He was like a slice of humble pie compared to the giant man in front of her. At least Rhaegar had a reason to have an ego; he was someone, a very important someone at that, and much more significant than a man who worked for a drill company. And besides, it wasn't uncommon for the eldest Masters child to soften in front of his family and friends and allow other people to correct him and help; Lily had a feeling that Vernon's ego was pervasive throughout every aspect of his life and because of that would never improve or learn anything other than what he already knew.

"Oh, that's quite exciting. Petunia did you know about this?" Her father asked and Petunia nodded. "Well why didn't you tell us? That's very ambitious of you and I appreciate a man with ambition." That part was true. Thomas Evans valued ambition and intelligence more than almost anything except compassion and family.

"I didn't know you'd think it was such a big deal, Dad. I would have mentioned it if I had known. Besides, I thought Vernon would have liked to tell you himself." She said and Lily quite agreed with that statement; she had no doubt that one of Vernon Dursley's favorite pastimes was talking about himself and all of his virtues.

"Of course. Well, Vernon I wish you the best of luck in the application process." Her father said. Lily interrupted.

"Mom how was tennis today?" She asked. And her mother held up a finger as she finished chewing.

"It was good. The girls all say hi to all of you. Lily, Denise said she was driving by our house late a few nights ago and saw your light on at almost two in the morning. What were you doing up so late?" She asked and Lily felt her stomach drop.

"Oh, I was just up late finishing up my summer work for school is all. Now that I'm a Fourth Year, they're really starting to crack down on the workloads. It's taken some real work and a lot of time to finish for Professor McGonagall." She said. It was a lie. She had been up debating whether or not to write to James about Dany in a fit of insomnia. She had decided to, thinking it was better to have her peace of mind and look crazy than to actually go crazy with worry. Denise must have seen her writing the letter that James had yet to reply to.

"Oh, well I'll tell her that it's nothing to be worried about. She just thought it was unusual for you is all." Her mother said with slightly narrowed eyes. Her mom hadn't bought her lie but she wasn't going to bust her right now, at dinner, in front of a guest.

The rest of dinner went smoothly and Lily helped her mother clean dishes in the kitchen as Vernon, Petunia, and her father all moved to the sitting room.

"Lily…what were you actually doing up? Your father might have believed that but I don't." She said. Lily stopped scrubbing the plate she had in her hand and leaned against the counter.

"It's Dany. We were writing back and forth consistently all summer and she had even asked me to go to hers again sometime this summer but suddenly she sent me a letter that said that she couldn't have me over after all because she had family obligations and then she just…disappeared. And then at the same time, Remus wrote me and said that Sirius had bailed on plans he had with James and them because he claimed to have something more pressing going on…I don't know, it just seemed fishy and then I got a letter from her tonight, three weeks late mind you, but it just seemed so fake. Not to mention that I wrote Sirius earlier this summer just to make sure he was okay and he never answered. Something's wrong and I don't know what." Lily told her mom, who listened quietly. Her mother had always been a good listener.

"You think Dany's with Sirius?" Her mother asked and Lily shrugged.

"More like Sirius is with Dany. She cancelled her plans with me a week before Sirius cancelled with James. Remus said he even cancelled with his girlfriend…whatever happened, it was enough to convince Sirius that he could skip a week-long snogging session." Lily said.

"He cancelled for the entire week last minute?" Her mother asked skeptically and Lily nodded.

"That's what Remus said. He said that Sirius wrote James a few days before he was supposed to come over and said 'I have something else to do' and then never showed up."

"What does your gut tell you, Lil?" Her mother asked. Lily went with her first instinct.

"Something's wrong. Something is very, very wrong. And that's why I was up, I was writing to James; I know I don't like him much but if anyone would know what was going on with either Dany or Sirius, let alone both, it would be him." Lily said and her mother nodded.

"It does sound that way. Maybe she'll tell you what happened when you're at Diagon Alley." Her mother suggested. "Maybe she can't tell you because she isn't allowed. We just don't know the circumstances Lil. Give it some time; nothing is going to come out of you working yourself into a fit." Her mother said before picking up the sponge she was using to clean the dishes. "Now, let's get these done before Petunia and Sugar Lips—I mean Vernon, bore your father to death." She said with a wink. Lily laughed and continued to dry the dishes her mother handed her.

Sirius woke up in a very familiar position. His was sitting up, head drooped onto his shoulder and Dany's head on the other shoulder. He looked down at her and she, for once, looked peaceful. He had seen the complete change in character as soon as her father had opened his eyes. Her eyes had lit up she had smiled a true smile and she seemed to return to her usual, brilliant self. Then there had been Rhea. She had looked at her husband with such love when he had woken up. He had never seen someone so in love with another person. And when they had walked out of the room, she had been leaning over him, foreheads pressed together and smiling. It was no wonder that Dany had never lost hope in marrying for love: her parents were a walking fairytale.

He wasn't looking forward to telling Dany that it was time for him to go back to his house. He wanted to stay here; truth be told, he didn't want to stay here, he wanted to stay with her, hospital room or not. But he had to go back to his parents and he had to go soon. His one consolation was that he was sure that they would have known about the attempt on the Minister's life and they were about to have their hopes severely dashed that he wouldn't be waking up from the coma. Dany shifted in her sleep and soon her eyes opened. She looked around and smiled when she saw her dad. Sirius hoped that nothing ever happened to Daniel Masters because he wasn't sure that Dany could survive losing him for good. She looked up at him.

"Hey. Have you been up long?" She asked, yawning. She was really cute when she woke up he thought, and then stopped himself before his mind could go any further. She was so far out of his league it wasn't even funny; there was no point in encouraging his feelings to be worse than they were because there was no way that the Minister's daughter would ever feel the same way about a Black. Besides, he told himself, after he left the hospital today, he'd probably never see her wake up in the morning again. That made him quite sad for some reason.

"No, I just got up. How'd you sleep down there?" He said and she stood up. She glanced over at her mom, who was still sleeping in a chair, next to Daniel. Sirius noticed that they were holding hands in their sleep. It was simultaneously touching and nauseatingly sweet.

"I slept really well actually. I think it's the greatly reduced stress levels. It's easier to sleep when you don't feel like you might be attending a funeral when you wake up." She said and Sirius found that rather depressing yet disturbingly accurate for the situation.

"Well that's uplifting, thank you Danilynn." He said dryly and she shrugged as she sat back down next to him.

"It's the truth. I'm just glad he's awake and talking. I've never seen Mom so happy."

"Yeah…they really are still in love. That much is obvious." He said and she nodded.

"You know they're so different from each other that I kind of forget that they fell in love once. Of course they still love each other but I just forget that they were kids in love at one point and that they had the awkward first date and first kiss and all of that. It's easy just to think of them as your parents and not people with pasts." She said thoughtfully. He looked at her curiously; that was an unexpected line of conversation but he was saved from answering by Daniel waking up and as soon as he started moving, Rhea woke up too. They both looked around, still half-asleep. Daniel smiled at both of them and Dany smiled back.

"Good morning you two." Daniel said. "Sirius I don't know how I feel about my daughter sleeping on top of you." He said and Sirius was momentarily alarmed but then caught the little smile on his face.

"Oh hush Daniel, it was the only way we could get your daughter to sleep at all." Rhea reprimanded him with a smile.

"Well in that case, I apologize for having to sit with her on you all the time; people in this family have always craved human contact. It appears that my daughter inherited that from me." He said and Dany stuck her tongue out at him.

"That's real mature Dad, thank you so much." She said and he laughed.

"I'm just being honest with the boy, Danilynn." He said and she rolled her eyes. Sirius checked the time. It was almost noon.

"Dan…I really need to…" He said and made a gesture so vague that he wasn't quite sure what he had meant to do in the first place. Either way, she understood him.

"Right. I'll walk you to the lobby." She said and he nodded.

"You're leaving? So soon after I wake up? I feel insulted Sirius." The Minister said and he smiled.

"Sorry, it's nothing personal. My parents are expecting me back today. I really am glad that you're okay though." He said and Daniel smiled.

"Danilynn why don't you wait outside with your mother for a moment?" They both looked like they were going to protest but nodded and left, following his request.

The Minister turned his attention to Sirius, something he found quite unnerving.

"Thank you for staying here with my family. I know you didn't have to but you did anyways. You helped her in a time she needed someone desperately and don't think that will ever be forgotten by this family. You're a kind person, Sirius and you have more to you than anyone gives you credit for, including yourself…and I know how you feel about her, at least I can guess. I was the same age when I fell in love with her mother; she demolished me in a duel one time and that was it. The women in my wife's family are all like that; Rhea's father always said that they're game changers. Then again, I'm biased seeing that I'm married to one and am the father of another." He said with a smile. "You'll surprise yourself, believe me." Sirius nodded, rather dumbstruck by what had just come out of the Minister's mouth. "Alright, you best go get them before they start listening through the door." Sirius went to open the door and Rhea walked back in while Sirius walked out to leave.

"Sirius. Thank you." Rhea said softly and he nodded before following Dany down to the lobby.

"Now, I want you to write me all the time so I know you're alive. We don't need anymore near-death accidents this summer, you hear?" She was telling him as they walked. "And please hold your tongue with your mother; I'd rather not have to patch you up again if it's avoidable." She kept going. They reached the fireplace. "Just…come back to Hogwarts in one piece." She said before allowing him to step into the fireplace.

"Bye Dan." He said. She waved.

"Thank you. For everything." He heard her say before the emerald flames consumed him. He landed in the kitchen of his house, stumbling so badly that he dropped his bag and almost landed on his face. He blamed the uneven stone floors.

"I see you're back." Sirius heard someone say. He looked up to see that it was his mother. Fantastic.

"I am. I said the 28th didn't I?" He asked as he collected his bag off the ground.

"Yes, you did. Time has gotten away from me," Because you're demented, Sirius thought, "with all of this nonsense going around about the whole Minister tragedy." She said casually and Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?"

"You haven't heard? The Minister of Magic is in St. Mungo's. There was an assassination attempt and it looks like it will be successful after all. Thank goodness, if you ask me. Now all we need is for someone to take the brats out." She said. She was clearly baiting him but she had no idea that he had the upper hand. For once he knew more than his mother. He ignored the last part, making a conscious effort not to smack her.

"There's no way. I just saw Dany; she was at James'. Her dad's fine. I think she would have mentioned it if her dad was dying." He said and she looked surprised. The fact she knew about it at all was unsurprising. Even though it had been kept out of the papers, people in the darker parts of the Wizarding World were sure to know about the attempt to kill Daniel. Whoever had done it had either assumed that he would eventually die or his mother was just making the last part up in an attempt to torment him. Probably the latter.

"Go to your room." She said, clearly recognizing that she wasn't going to win this conversation. Sirius shrugged and walked by her. "And Sirius, I know you haven't been at the Potter's. I don't know where you went but rest assured, I will find out." She said and he paused.

"Go ahead and look. I was at James' the entire week." He said before walking up to his room. His mother didn't believe him and he had an uneasy feeling about this; it wouldn't be very hard to find something that connected him back to St. Mungo's. A picture taken of Dany at the hospital, a bribe to the security guards that had checked him in and out of the wing Daniel had been in all week, a talk to one of the people who had been in the lobby when he had walked in, even his clothes smelled like the hospital and his hair smelled like a girl's shampoo. It would be easy for her if she knew the right places to look.

As it turned out, Walburga Black did know the right places to look because a week later, three weeks before he was set to leave for Hogwarts, she opened the door to his room with a bang. He had actually been doing his summer work for once and of course that was the time she chose to yell at him. She walked in and hit him across the face. This never meant anything good.

"You lying little shit. I thought you snuck off with some girl, I thought you had just gone off with some random whore. But do you know what I found out? Do you know what my friends that monitor the Floo Network said? I asked them to look at our fireplaces, I figured you wouldn't think to stop somewhere before coming straight here. I could account for every single use of the Floo except for one. You came here from St. Mungo's. So naturally, I went to St. Mungo's to see what on Earth you would have been doing there and then I see all of the security and I realize that someone important must be here still. And the woman behind the desk told me, with the help of a few galleons, that you'd been going in and out all week, mainly going to get coffee, just passing through the lobby. Said the last time she saw you leave was the day you came back here and funnily enough, it was the Masters bitch that walked you to the Floo. You were never at Potter's house. You've been at the hospital all week with her and her bottom-feeding family, weren't you?" Fuck.

"What the hell are you—?" He started by she slapped him again.

"Don't lie to me. So what was it? Did she write you, tell you that Daddy was in the hospital, that he was dying? So you went to see her because she asked you to? Did she need a friend?" His mother snarled. She looked crazy, Sirius thought to himself in an oddly calm way. "The worst part of this all isn't that you lied to our faces, or that you went to see her, it's that you sat by the Minister's bedside for a week, didn't you? The man that our family hates, that we've denounced as leader of the Wizarding World. You sat there with his family, you probably even stayed up at night with his daughter and hoped he would get better." Sirius was so royally fucked he couldn't even begin to describe it.

"Yes, Mother that's exactly what I did. And I'll tell you why. Because you're not my family. You never have been." He snapped and he knew she was probably now livid and he was probably going to die.

"Never? What if someone decides to tell her all about what you were like before you went to Hogwarts? What if someone accidentally tells her about that little promise you made to the Dark Lord when you were a boy? She'd be just as repulsed by you as she is by us." Sirius thanked the universe that he had already told all of that to Dany. For once, being upfront with his unfortunate past had paid off. His mother officially had no leverage.

"Go ahead, she already knows. All of it. She has known for a while. You're a little late to the party." He said dryly. Not many things or people could shock his mother, but this did.

"She knows? Who told her?"

"I did. Last year. She understood, she accepted it, we all moved on. She knows about it all, how I was, what I believed, what I promised Voldemort, which is something I have no intention of ever fulfilling, everything. Has it ever occurred to that there's a reason people love her? Why she's the darling of the Wizarding World? It's probably because she's a good person, someone that power hasn't corrupted…unlike some people." He said pointedly and she looked truly thrown off balance by the fact that her son had openly admitted to his past.

"She was okay with it? Little Miss Precious forgave you for that? You've got to be joking. Lying isn't going to make this go away. Besides, it's not like all those people actually know the kind of person they love; she's not all that she's talked up to be, she can't humanly be that…good." His mother said the last word distastefully, like it burned her mouth to say. It probably did. Sirius thought about the girl he knew personally and while she certainly wasn't perfect, and she wasn't a doll, she was a lot of what the papers and the people said; she was kind and giving and charitable and forgiving. He remembered what James had said about her believing in redemption; she'd believe in someone until they gave her a reason not to.

"She's exactly that good. And that's your first mistake. You underestimate them, all of them. And by the way, I'm not lying and nothing you do is going to make what I did go away. I was at the hospital and I sat up with Dany and her mom at night and I hoped to whatever god there is that Daniel Masters would open his eyes and the day before I came back to this shithole, he did. The best part of all of that is that you can never get reverse any of it. The truth's a bitch that way. And in case you were wondering, he'll be making a full recovery." He snapped. His mother had no way to answer that except with the Cruciatus curse.

James,

I know I seriously don't ever write to you, I mean we hardly ever talk without Dany there…except when we're talking about Dany, if you know what I mean. But anyways, I haven't heard from her in a while and Remus wrote me a little while ago saying that Sirius cancelled his plans with you, the rest of the guys, and Kenzie last minute. I wrote him earlier this summer too and he didn't answer, which is highly unlike him, unless something big came up. Between his sudden cancellation and the fact Dany's essentially gone radio silent, I'm starting to get worried. I just want to know that they're okay, is all. Please write back soon, before I lose my mind.

Lily

James stared at the letter that he must have reread at least thirty times in the last hour. When the unfamiliar owl had tapped on his window, he had felt dread grip his stomach; strange owls were never good news. But then he had read the letter and he had relaxed; sure he was worried about his friends but he was just glad it wasn't a letter telling him that his parents had been killed in the line of duty.

His parents had been gone a lot over the past few weeks and when he questioned them about it, they had said it was classified by the Ministry and refused to say anymore. He thought about the week Remus, Frank, and Peter had been over and it had been great; they all played Quidditch and stayed up late nights drinking butterbeer but James couldn't stop the nagging feeling in his stomach that something was very wrong. Sirius' change in plans had set his teeth on edge. They said I could come over but I kind of have something to do instead. Would it be cool if I Flooed to your place and then Flooed again somewhere else? I don't need them knowing where I'm going. And Lily was right; Dany had vanished. As a matter of fact, the entire family had vanished suddenly, as if they had decided to leave in the dark of night. When he had asked his parents if he could drop by the Masters house one day they had both practically yelled 'no' and forced him back to his room.

So naturally he had gone on his own after receiving Lily's letter, using the Floo when they were gone. He walked into their living room and everything looked normal. Until he looked in the entryway and things started to stand out to him. Rhea's purse was still here; Daniel's house keys were still on the table. There was half-drank coffee on the kitchen table. Someone had left in a hurry.

James had cleaned that up and gone upstairs to Dany's room. Everything here looked pretty normal too until he saw something dripping onto her carpet from her desk. It was a spilled inkwell. He looked down at the parchment that she had been writing on and could only discern one word, who it was to. Sirius. The bottom of the parchment was ripped off, like she had grabbed it. She had left without bothering to right a spilled inkwell. He wiped the ink off the wood floors, knowing as well as anyone else that it would stain and she'd be in a world of hurt. He left the inkwell tipped over, wanting to prevent his presence from being too obvious. He looked around her desk some more and saw Lily's unanswered letter. He didn't read it past recognizing Lily's handwriting.

He saw something fluttering on the top of the piano. It was the torn piece of parchment that she had ripped off of her ruined letter to Sirius. He picked it up and, before he could talk himself out of it, read it. He recognized Sirius' handwriting.

James wants me over this coming Monday, the 21st, so I'll be out of the house. I'll come as soon as I can. Hang in there for a few days Dan.

James raised his eyebrows. There was clearly something going on and he guessed he was about to figure out why Sirius had so suddenly cancelled on him, not to mention his girlfriend. James flipped the parchment over and he felt his blood run cold. Sirius had apparently replied on the back of what she had written him and her owl had come back here to drop it off, not knowing where else to go. He looked over and saw the Masters family owl eyeing him from his perch on top of Dany's dresser.

Someone tried to kill Dad. He's in St. Mungo's and I'm leaving now with Mom and Rae. He hasn't woken up since it happened. If you have a chance (and I know it's almost impossible because of your family so I don't even know why I'm asking) I really could use you with me right now.

"Oh shit." James said quietly in the empty house. Daniel was in the hospital and no one had told him. Why had she written to Sirius and not him? He actually knew the man. Then he supposed that was the exact reason that she had opted to not write him. What she had written was a plea for someone who wasn't debilitated by his or her emotions. She needed someone stable and James knew that he wouldn't be able to offer her that, not with this. He was still surprised that she hadn't written Lily. Lily was widely regarded as her best friend and she would have been James' first guess as to whom Dany would write to in a panic.

That's where his parents had been. They had been caught up in the assassination attempt on Daniel. He guessed they were either at St. Mungo's protecting him or off guarding the family. He knew that Rhea and Dany wouldn't leave his side, but someone had to run the Ministry…that meant it was Rhaegar running the Ministry right now. They were protecting Rhaegar. James was surprised that the Ministry hadn't fallen to pieces yet under the seventeen-year-old's command. After that, James Flooed back home and sat down at the kitchen table to wait for his parents.

They walked in not forty minutes later and looked surprised to see him sitting there, completely silent.

"James. What are you doing?" His mother asked as his father poured himself something to drink.

"How's Daniel?" He asked them and his mother raised her eyebrows.

"Excuse me? How would we know?" She said and James almost believed her. Almost.

"I just figured you'd know how he was doing because you're Aurors and because, you know, someone tried to kill him." James said shortly. His dad dropped his drink onto the floor and it shattered as his mom's mouth flopped open.

"How did you know that?" She whispered.

"I went to their house today, while you were gone. No one was home and things looked pretty normal except for the little stuff. Rhea's purse was still there, Daniel's keys were there, there was half-drank coffee on the table, nothing big but still noticeable; someone had clearly had left quickly. So I went upstairs, into Dany's room, and there was a knocked over inkwell. And I thought that was odd, that she'd leave without bothering to pick it up and wipe up the ink, so I kept looking. And I found something, a little piece of parchment that she had sent to Sirius that he had sent back with his response on the back. She said someone tried to kill her dad and he hadn't woken up yet. That's where you've been, isn't it? That's why you're on call 24/7 these days." James said and his parents looked shocked. James felt rather victorious at this.

"She wrote Sirius?" His dad said, clearly surprised by this.

"Yeah, said she could use him with her right now…but that's kind of irrelevant right now. I can't believe you didn't tell me. He's my Godfather and now he's dying!" James yelled at them and his father yelled back.

"James Potter! He's not dying. He's going to be fine so calm down and listen to what someone else has to say for once!" He roared and James fell silent. His parents hardly ever raised their voices.

"Rhea told us under the strict condition that we told no one, not even you. He woke up not two days ago, and his healer says that he'll be fine with time. And I don't think that Dany wrote to Sirius with her mother's permission so that's a surprise to all of us." His mother said, rubbing her temples.

"I guess that's why he cancelled last minute with us a few weeks ago. I thought you would have known that, considering you've probably been in St. Mungo's protecting Daniel." James said, no longer furious, now that his fear had abated, but still slightly angry.

"First of all, we haven't been at the hospital, we've been with Rhaegar. Rhea hardly ever leaves Daniel's side and so their son had been running the Ministry. We sneak him in every morning so no one knows that it's him. Secondly, we had no right telling you what happened; the details are being held back even from his own daughter so we have no intention of telling our child what led to this." His mother responded and sat down at the table.

"He's going to be okay?" James said softly and his dad nodded.

"Yeah, he had a couple of sketchy weeks but he's awake and talking now. He'll be fine, James." He said and James nodded.

"I didn't mean to yell."

"Yes you did." His mother said and he saw the small smile on her face.

"Alright, I meant to but I think I had a justified reason to yell. I'm just glad he'll be okay." James said and his father sat down at the table and James was reminded that before he had been Daniel's Godson, his father had been Daniel's Best Man.