Hey! So, things are simultaneously escalating and deteriorating so let's just see how this goes! We're getting to a turning point, slowly but surely and i just want to let you all know now that you're going to be in for the long haul as this fic is going to run up until probably Lily and James' deaths and we're only about ready to embark on Fifth Year. I

'll say that I moved Lily and James' deaths up a little to when they were nineteen to accommodate some of the things going on in Feel Again, so we've got about another five or so years with this group!

Read and Review!

Love, Essie

Up at night I'm awake cause it haunts me
That I never got to say what I wanted
Oh my God, oh my God
I'm not the same as I was with you
I would jump out my skin just to get you
Oh my God, oh my God

How could you have ever known
If I never let it show, now I just wanna know are you?

~Capsize, Frenship

"I think that's enough." Dany said quietly and Brady looked annoyed. He had been putting his hands a little too far up her skirt for her liking and she had stopped him. She had told him not even a week ago the same thing and he apparently hadn't taken it to heart.

"Dan, we've been dating for like six months; this is verging on ridiculous and you know it. You're going to have to give it up eventually." She shook her head.

"I know; I'm just not ready yet, is all." She said and she knew that she really wasn't. She wasn't just using that as an excuse; she really didn't feel like she'd enjoy having Brady see her naked.

"Okay, okay. Well, let's go do something else, yeah?" He said and she nodded. "I, for one, am feeling pretty good about finishing up exams." He added on and she smiled a little. That would be an understatement.

"Big relief having OWLs almost done?" She asked and he nodded wholeheartedly as they left the empty classroom and rejoined the rest of the Hogwarts populous, holding hands.

"You have no idea. Wait until you're done with them next year. It's like having the biggest weight in the world lifted off your shoulders." He said and suddenly Lily appeared. She looked frantic. She ran right up to her.

"Dan. You need to come with me now." She gasped, out of breath.

"Lils? Wha—?"

"Come on. Bring him if you have to but we need you more than he does right now." She said and Dany started to follow her friend. Brady trailed behind them.

"Now that we're on our way, what the hell?" She asked. Lily continued to speed walk.

"It's…well, it's Andromeda Black." She said and this surprised Dany; she hadn't expected to hear the name of Sirius' only sane cousin.

"Sirius' cousin Andy? Is she okay? What's going on, Lily?" She asked as Lily started to actually jog. Dany realized that they were going to Dumbledore's office. Lily practically shouted the password at the statue and it allowed both girls and Brady—who had been following them—in. Dumbledore, McGonagall, Sirius, and James were all standing there. There was someone in a chair that she didn't know. But she recognized her hair. Andy Black had been beaten to hell and back. Her face was beaten into a pulp and she obviously wasn't letting anyone near her. Dany was very familiar with this situation. 'Scared pureblood that desperately needs medical attention' was a flavor of person she knew well.

"Miss Danilynn." Professor Dumbledore said quietly. "Miss Evans, Mr. Harris." He added on and Dany still had no idea what she was doing here.

"Professor. What exactly am I doing here?" She asked and glanced at Sirius and James. Sirius immediately pulled her aside.

"What the hell?" She hissed and Sirius exchanged a guilty look with James, who hadn't moved.

"Sorry to piss on your day, but she isn't letting anyone near her. She freaked when we even mentioned getting Madam Pomfrey. James thought that maybe she'd let you near her…" Sirius said with a shrug. "It worked on me and he thought maybe it would work on a cousin too." He added on and Dany looked at Sirius closely. He looked rather like someone had knocked him in the teeth.

"What happened to her?" She asked and he shrugged.

"I haven't got a clue; she graduated last year but she just showed up like this, asking for me and no one else. Cygnus and Dreulla aren't like my parents—they're more erratic. Not to mention that the poor girl lives with Bellatrix. My guess is that they found out about Ted. It could have been anything though. Anything can set those people off." He said and she nodded. She had a hard time coming up with people more erratic then Orion and Walburga Black, but apparently they existed.

"I can try to help her; I don't know if it'll work but I can try." She said and Sirius looked at her gratefully and hugged her quickly. Dany slowly walked over and everyone cleared off to the edges of the room. Andy eyed her reproachfully. Dany sat down on the floor, cross-legged, a few feet away from her. She said absolutely nothing. It was different than tying to get into Sirius' head; she knew him, she knew what would work, she knew what emotions she could play off of to get him to talk. She didn't know anything about this woman except that she was scared and trusted her cousin enough to come to him when she was hurt.

"What do you want?" She asked, obviously trying to be snarky, but failing and sounding more afraid than anything else. Not even the Black family sneer could get her through this.

"You're Andromeda, right?" She asked and the woman nodded. "I'm Dany, I'm a friend of your cousin's. You go by Andy?" She asked and she nodded again.

"How did you know that?" She asked, clearly trying to act uninterested.

"Because Sirius never shuts up about his cousin that was incredible enough to date a Muggleborn right under her parents' noses. His name's Ted, right?" She asked and Andy nodded again. She seemed to be more and more intrigued by a stranger knowing anything about her. Her eyes obviously softened when she had mentioned her boyfriend. "Yes, well you should know that that your cousin never stops talking about it and it's to the point where I develop a headache every time he mentions it. But, I'm sure you know all about that. Words come out and they just hurt to listen to sometimes." She said airily and Sirius protested.

"I resent that, Dan." He said and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"I know the feeling. He was even worse as a little kid." Andy said and Dany snorted. She couldn't even imagine. She was getting there. Andromeda's eyes were starting to meet hers more often.

"He's a whiny brat now, I don't want to even think about him as an actual whiny brat." She commented and Andy smiled a little.

"It was dreadful honestly; between him and his brother, babysitting was a nightmare. So Sirius was always dumped off at Alphard's doorstep because no one else could handle his nonstop complaining and Regulus at the same time." She said and Dany laughed.

"Yeah…clearly not much has changed." She said and Andy nodded. "If it's not to much to ask, I'd like to take a look at your face. I'm awfully good at fixing these types of things." She said and Andy hesitated. "I think I could get some testimonies from satisfied customers, if I needed to." She added on and gently nodded towards her cousin. Andy seemed to realize what she was talking about. Dany didn't miss how her eyes flicked to everyone in the room.

"I don't know…" She trailed off and Dany nodded.

"Everyone out. Sirius, stay." She said loudly and everyone exchanged looks. She had literally just kicked Dumbledore out of his own office.

"Danilynn Masters—" McGonagall started and Dany glared at her harshly, daring her to argue. McGonagall fell silent. James' mouth fell open at that.

"Come everyone, it's clear that our presences are a hindrance." Professor Dumbledore said, amused by McGonagall going silent under a student's gaze, and everyone filed out except for Sirius, who sat down next to Dany on the floor.

"Andy, she's really good at what you need. I can show you, if you don't believe me." He said and Andy, although she was probably around twenty, seemed like a scared little girl. She nodded and Sirius sighed and glanced at Dany. "Turn around, Dan. You don't get to see this fucked up mess." He said and she turned around. "It's gotten about a thousand times worse since Third Year." He added on and she rolled her eyes, even though he couldn't see her. "And don't roll your eyes at me." He said and she laughed. Time passed and she stared at the wall in silence. "See? Looks pretty good, right? The best part is that she doesn't ask questions; you're not going to get better medical treatment without going to Pomfrey or St. Mungo's." He said and then another few seconds passed. "You can turn back around." He said and Dany turned around and it appeared that Sirius was pulling his shirt back down.

"Go ahead." Andy said quietly and Dany was surprised. She stood up and waved her wand. The blood vanished and it became very obvious that this had been a brutal beating of the girl's face. She tapped the three cuts on her forehead and they slowly vanished. These didn't scar; she was much better than she was when she had attempted to fix Sirius' chest when she was thirteen. She inspected her eyes and the skin around both was starting to darken. She had a set of black eyes. Her nose could be broken if they were both bruised. She touched her nose gently.

"Does that hurt?" She asked and Andy shook her head. Dany moved her hand and pressed a little harder on the bridge of her nose. Andy winced; it was broken. "Okay, this is going to sting." She said quietly and waved her wand. Andy's nose set itself with a crack and she yelped. "And for those bruises…I can think of something, but before that, can I look at your head? We don't need a concussion hiding under all of that pretty black hair." She said and Andy nodded. Dany examined the top of her head. There was a little blood but no obvious wound. She looked at the girl's pupils and they weren't dilated disproportionally so she dismissed that, figuring that the blood was probably from another part of her body. Dany tried to think of something that didn't involve salves to fix the bruises. She didn't want to get Madam Pomfrey involved. But then again, she didn't have to. She was standing next to the person with some of the stickiest fingers in Hogwarts. "Sirius? Can you do me a favor?"

"Course. What is it?" It was pretty unquestioning, which surprised her.

"Go down to the hospital wing and swipe a couple of things for me." She said and he nodded. She told him quietly what she needed and gave him a quick description before he left. "So, is there anything else, while he's gone?" She asked and she pulled her top off and stood to turn around. Her back looked terrible. It honestly reminded Dany of pictures of slaves' scars from being lashed, before slavery had been done away with. She checked for infection and found none so she closed the wounds carefully and cleaned the blood off her back and clothes. "I don't really want to have to ask but I don't know anything about your family or anything like that so…is sexual abuse relevant to this?" She asked delicately and Andy shook her head. "I'm not passing judgment and I'm not prying; I just want to know if you need potions or anything." She added on and Andy still shook her head.

"Thanks, but that's not a problem. That's about the only thing that isn't a problem." She said with a small smile as Dany helped her back into her shirt and the other girl sat down again.

"Alright, I'm just checking." She said and caught sight of the other girl's hands. They were bloody and there were scars on them. "Can I see your hands?" She asked and Andy held them out as Dany kneeled down to see them better.

"I always held my fork with the wrong hand; it was unbecoming of a lady." She said quietly and Dany gently took her hands and turned them over, inspecting the palms. "Narcissa never had these problems." She added on quietly and Dany looked up her, surprised at the mention of the girl's sister.

"Well, that's just ridiculous. You're left-handed?" She asked and she nodded. "That's unique. Being different is something to be celebrated…and besides, from what I remember of Narcissa she has a stick so far up her ass that I'm surprised the end of it doesn't come out of her mouth by now." She added on as she healed the fine lines that were still oozing blood. Andy laughed a bit.

"That's definitely one way to put it…she is a bit snotty, isn't she?" She said and Dany nodded with a smile.

"A little bit."

"Even Bellatrix didn't have problems with acting ladylike like I have." She said, as if this was a great confession of some great sin. She had heard another Black use the same voice. They thought that they had committed crimes against humanity.

"Well, take it from someone who knows; being ladylike sucks. And being a lady of society is even more dreadful. So, tell me about Ted. I'd like to hear about the boy that made you go rogue." She said and Andy instantly smiled.

"He's fantastic. He's so sweet and he's kind and…he accepts me. He knows what my family is and how damaged I am and he still loves me. He's going to propose, I think. He hasn't yet, but I accidentally found the ring one day. I'm going to say yes; I don't care about being blasted off the family tree. I want to be with him." She said and Dany nodded with a small smile.

"He sounds like a great man."

"He is…he really is. I really love him, you know?" She said and Dany nodded.

"I do. I really do." She said. "People that can ignore last names are few and far between. I know exactly what you mean." She realized that she wasn't talking about Brady at all. Someone cleared his throat. It was Sirius.

"I come bearing gifts." He said and reached into his pocket, revealing exactly what Dany had asked for.

"Thank you so much. You're a fantastic person, my sneaky friend." Dany said as she got back up and took them from him. She unscrewed one of them. "So this is going to get rid of the bruises," she said as she put it on the girl's face, "and this is going to keep you from being too sore. Even though the outside is normal, you'll still be aching tomorrow. Just put it on where it hurts and it should help a bit. I'd think about using it on your hands and your joints mainly. Keep it out of your eyes though. It relaxes muscles and you'll get a lazy eye until it wears off if it gets in there." She said with a smile and Andy laughed a bit as she handed her the small jar.

"I'll keep that in mind." She said and Dany laughed a little and gently wiped the lotion-like substance back off the girl's face.

"I learned that the hard way, unfortunately…see? All gone." She said and pointed to a mirror in Dumbledore's office. Andy smiled. Her face looked like nothing had ever happened.

"Thank you, really." She said and Dany smiled.

"It's no problem. No one deserves the treatment that you receive at home and no one deserves to be scarred for life because they fell in love with a good man." Andy suddenly hugged her and Andy warmly at her.

"He was right; you're good at this. You should think about healing." She said and Dany smiled a little.

"I did for a while—consider healing, I mean. But I think that being a Healer is a bit too sedentary for me." She said and Andy nodded.

"It's just a thought." Dany glanced at Sirius, who was eyeing the two women.

"I'll give you two some quality family time…Sirius Black if I even think that you're going to do some stupid, pigheaded thing like try to go get revenge, I'll tie you to a chair until the idea leaves your head." She added on and walked out.

Brady was clearly unhappy, Lily thought. As soon as Dany had snapped at everyone to get out, he wasn't thrilled. That discontent turned to complete irritation at the second part. "Everyone out. Sirius, stay." She had said so strongly that no one but McGonagall had dared to question it. Even then, Dany had looked at her so harshly and so much like her father that even their Head of House hadn't finished her reprimand. This wasn't open to negotiation and it was quite obvious. They all walked out and stood just outside the office. Lily quietly talked to James.

"How's Sirius going to be after this?" She asked and James shrugged.

"No clue, to be honest. I never knew much about her outside of her existence; I think Dan might know more than I do though. My guess is he won't be overly thrilled." He said and Lily was surprised that James didn't know much about her.

"Dany definitely knew who she was. I told her that it was Andromeda Black and she looked immediately so worried and said 'Sirius' cousin Andy?' She knew her boyfriend's name, even." Lily said and James nodded. Suddenly, Sirius walked out. Lily saw Brady glare at him. She knew that it was a very sore spot that his girlfriend would place another guy's needs above his. Such was the inclination of the Masters family in regards to friendship. Dany had dropped everything instantly for one of Sirius' relatives, probably wrecking a day of couple-y activities. She hadn't even seemed to care if Brady came with her.

"Sirius, wha—?" James started.

"I'm just taking a walk. Andy wanted some one-on-one with Dan." He said. "Said to come back in like fifteen minutes." He added on with a shrug before walking by and down the hall. Lily noticed which way he was going; he was walking towards the hospital wing and trying very hard to make it look like he wasn't.

"She wants him to grab something from the hospital wing." Lily said quietly and James nodded.

"She knows he has sticky fingers; she probably doesn't want to get Pomfrey involved and needs something that works better than a wand." He said. "Do you think she would have done this for a stranger?" Lily thought about it.

"I think she would have, but I don't think she would have been nearly as concerned. Andy is a stranger to her, but her cousin isn't. She's worried because Sirius cares for her and she doesn't want to see him hurting, but I think she'd try to help a stranger too…I don't think she would have snapped at McGonagall the way she did though." She said thoughtfully and Brady glanced up, apparently overhearing some of their conversation.

"That was bloody terrifying. I forget a lot of the time how scary they all are. Rhaegar is a bit too soft to be like Dan and her dad…they're nice and gentle and respectful but as soon as you seem like a threat to someone they care about, they'll rip you into tiny pieces and spread the pieces across the country as they laugh." They all stood in silence for a while and Sirius appeared from a different direction. He could have been aimlessly wandering for all it looked like. He slipped back into the room and another fifteen minutes elapsed and Dany walked out by herself.

"Miss Danilynn, is everything okay?" Dumbledore asked politely. He had always been extremely respectful of her, using the title most people used for her; never opting for simply her last name, like many professors did.

"She'll be fine. They're having some family time." She said quietly and Lily saw that her hands had blood on them again. It was just like Third Year. Dany lived her life with her hands constantly covered in the blood of the Black family.

"Dan, come here." Lily said and Dany walked over. Brady moved towards them too.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Hold out your hands."

"Um…"

"They're bloody." James said bluntly. Dany looked down and appeared to just now realize that. She held her hands out and Lily tapped them with her hand. The blood vanished.

"Thanks…that poor girl. She was so scared." She said softly and Lily could have sworn that she was next to tears.

"It's alright, Sweetie. You did everything you could for her. She'll be okay and there'll be no harm done." Lily said and Dany apparently didn't like that answer. She shook her head.

"Not on the outside, but she'll never forget this. She'll carry the scars from this for the rest of her life and they'll be invisible and I think that makes it worse." She said softly. Lily hugged her and Dany hugged her back tightly. James put an arm around her gently.

"It's okay, Dan. You did the best you could and you know how Sirius is about family, he'll take good care of her." He said and she nodded. Brady looked less than impressed. "So will we. We're all going to take good care of her." James said quietly. "We'll take good care of both of them." He added on so quickly and softly that Lily wasn't quite sure that she had heard right. Dany nodded and smiled half-heartedly at her boyfriend.

"Sorry that this kind of put a damper on the day." She said and he shrugged.

"It's fine…can I talk to you for a second?" He asked. It clearly wasn't fine.

"Yeah…I'll see you guys later, okay?" She said and walked off with Brady. They were barely out of earshot when they started arguing. Lily knew how it would end—it was how it always ended. Dany would refuse to apologize for being who she was and would tell her boyfriend to back off of her friends. Brady would ask her to make up for it by going and snogging in a corner somewhere and she'd agree up until he tried to put his hands up her skirt and then the tension would continue to build between the couple. Things were fantastic.

"That's her, huh?" Andy said as soon as Dany walked out of the room. Sirius glanced back at the door Dany had just left through.

"That's her. I really don't think that my unrequited crush should be your main priority right now though." He commented and she shrugged.

"I'm no longer irreparably harmed so I think I can ask. I have to say, she's way out of your league." She said with a smile.

"Thank you Andromeda. Like I don't already know and think that every day." He said and sat down on the ground in front of her chair. "Besides, she has a boyfriend so it's not like she's what I would call 'on the market'."

"Hey, I'm just going to say that she's a sweet girl and I think she might have magic powers of persuasion." She said and he grinned.

"You couldn't keep yourself from talking to her either, could you?" She shook her head.

"It was like a spell! I couldn't keep my feelings from coming out of my mouth. It was terribly embarrassing."

"I know the feeling, believe me. But trust me, she's heard worse than whatever you told her." He said and she raised an eyebrow.

"What have you told her, Sirius Black?" His cousin asked and he shrugged.

"More than I probably should have, honestly. But once you get going, it's kind of hard to stop…I told her about the Cruciatus." He said softly.

"You told her? Her father's the bloody Minister." She said.

"He is, but I asked her not to tell anyone and she hasn't. She won't repeat what you told her, that I can promise you." He said and Andy nodded.

"I like her, I really do. She'd be good for you…you need someone with a gentle touch that knows how to heal a body, a mind, and a heart. It's what we all need in this family, really." She said and Sirius nodded.

"Probably, but she's in a serious relationship so don't get your hopes up."

"I saw him today. Brady Harris, right? He was a shithead when I went here." Andy said and Sirius nodded.

"Still is. He puts on a great face though, let me tell you. Apparently he's in the running for boyfriend of the year." He said and Andy smiled.

"It's like saying Alphard's in the running."

"Hey, say what you want about Alphard but he treats women he is with respectfully. Dan says that Brady's a mean drunk. She's never said much about what comes out of his mouth but she usually has some hurt feelings afterwards."

"He doesn't hit her, does he?" Andy asked, clearly alarmed.

"No, he doesn't. She'll take some verbal abuse just because she's tolerant, but she's not someone to cross the wrong way physically. If he hit her, she'd break him into two pieces." He said and Andy nodded and looked reassured.

"You really love her, don't you?" She asked and he shrugged.

"She's a good person. The entirety of the Wizarding World loves her." He said and Andy suppressed a smile quite obviously. "Whatever you and Alphard say, Andy. Whatever you two say. Now, I think it's time that we give Dumbledore his office back." He said and they both stood.

"I can't believe that she looked at McGonagall like that and got away with it." She giggled and Sirius grinned. She reminded him of Daniel so much it was scary sometimes. "She actually cut her off."

"She's like her dad. Daniel's very much the same way." He said. Andy paused.

"Did you just call the Minister of Magic by his first name?" He nodded. "You're in a first name basis with the Minister?" She clarified.

"Yes, Andromeda that's what tends to happen when you're friends with someone: you meet their parents." He added on before they left the office. Everyone was there, except for Dany and Brady. There was trouble in paradise. Again.

"Headmaster, Professor, we'd really like to keep Andromeda for tonight, if that's okay with you. I really think she would benefit from being in a room of people that she knows care about her." Lily said and Sirius smiled at her gratefully. McGonagall looked like she was highly opposed to this. Dumbledore nodded.

"That's very generous of you, Lily and I do believe that Gryffindor tower would be adequate protection for her stint in the castle." He said and Lily nodded before walking over to Andy and introducing herself.

"I'm Lily Evans. You go by Andy?" She asked and her cousin nodded. "It's lovely to meet you. Come on; let's get you into some clean clothes, huh? You look like you're about Marlene's size; she's one of our roommates. Alice is the fourth. Don't worry, Dan's the scary one and you've already met her." She said and started to walk off with the older girl. James and Sirius started to follow them and they reached Gryffindor tower uninterrupted. They walked in and Dany was sitting with Marlene on a couch in the common room. It was a beautiful day out and so they were the only people in there. They both looked up and Sirius caught sight of tear tracks on Dany's face. She'd been arguing with Brady. She quickly wiped her eyes and the two girls walked over. No one else had noticed her tears.

"I see we're keeping her for tonight?" Dany asked and Lily nodded. Marlene smiled at his cousin. Sirius was incredibly grateful for the girls' immediate acceptance and kindness.

"I'm Marlene McKinnon. It's nice to meet you. Dan said that you're Sirius' cousin?" She nodded. "Well for all of our sakes, please don't be a prat like he is." She said and Dany smiled and so did Andy. Lily made a sound like she agreed with that.

"Let's not be mean, McKinnon; I'm right here you know." Marlene shrugged.

"Whatever. Not to be rude, but you look like you could use some clean clothes. Let me see if I can find something for you." She said and took Andy upstairs. "You'll meet Alice too. She's a real sweetheart, you can't help but like her." He heard her say before they vanished completely.

"Danilynn why the hell were you just—?"

"I don't want to hear it, Lily. I really don't. It was the same shit as always." She said dismissively. Sirius really wanted to know what they were talking about but said nothing.

"Look, not to intervene but I don't know how good of an idea it is to separate her from her cousin." James said and Sirius shrugged. She had come here searching for his help and not the girls'. Dany and Lily both nodded.

"You're right, but I don't want to leave her in your room with just you guys; she needs a soft touch right now and none of you, except for maybe Remus, are particularly gentle and he's laid up in the Hospital Wing because of you-know-what." Lily said and Dany nodded.

"Stay up in our room for tonight. It's a full moon tomorrow so Remus isn't in the room for a few nights and you lot can take our beds." James said and they both looked surprised.

"We're not taking your beds. Andy can take Remus' bed but we're all fine with the floor." Lily said and Dany nodded.

"Yeah, I don't feel comfortable with that. It doesn't feel right to kick you out of your own beds." She added on. The sun was already starting to go down. Marlene, Alice, and Andy came back downstairs and James extended the same offer to them. They also accepted but opted to sleep on the floor because "James Potter we're in good health and this chivalrous shit is just that: shit". Lily and Dany left to go change into pajamas and the rest of them walked up to the boys' room. Sirius directed Andy to Remus' bed and she gratefully crawled under the covers. Marlene and Alice found a couple of places on the floor that weren't covered in candy wrappers and started to get comfortable with the help of a couple of pillows. Dany and Lily walked in and James tossed his Godsister a pillow.

"I guess we're fighting over it, Lils." She said with a grin but handed it over to Lily. "I don't think I'll be sleeping much." He heard her quietly say before Lily nodded and looked highly concerned, touching her friend on the shoulder. Dany shrugged and gave a noncommittal answer and Lily nodded again before settling in. James turned the lights off and everyone went to sleep almost immediately.

Sirius woke up to bloody horrible nightmares. Having everyone in one room was actually quite reassuring; he took one look around and it was quite obvious that everyone was well and simply sleeping. Except Dany wasn't sleeping next to Lily, where he had last seen her. He looked around and recognized her profile sitting on the floor, against the wall by the window overlooking the grounds.

"Dany?" He said and she looked up, clearly surprised. She pressed a finger to her lips and looked around. He nodded and got up and sat down next to her. "What the hell are you doing up?" She shrugged.

"I couldn't sleep. What about you?"

"Same, I guess." He said. No way he was going to admit to having nightmares.

"You talk in your sleep, you know." She said quietly and he shook his head.

"No I don't. I definitely don't." He said and she nodded.

"You really do…do you want to talk about it?" She asked. Damn.

"Not really. Do you? I know you've been fighting with Brady again."

"I don't care either way, but I know you don't want to hear it so I'll save my breath." She said and sighed. She clearly wanted to talk about it, but didn't want to dump her problems onto him.

"Aw come on, let's hear it." He said and she smiled a little.

"It was just the usual crap, really. But I don't know…I just—halfway through the fight I remembered that vision, one of the first ones I had, that I was married. And it just popped into my head that I could end up marrying him. I was probably only nineteen or so and that's not that far away and I realized that it could very well be him and that's so terrifying and—and sad. That makes me really sad." She said quietly. This completely took Sirius off guard; he had quite forgotten that Dany had caught a glimpse of her future husband, despite never seeing his face.

"Marriage in general or marriage to him?"

"To him. I couldn't spend the rest of my life with him—I just couldn't do it. I'm happy with him for now but that won't last. I couldn't live with how possessive and jealous he is forever." She said and he considered putting an arm around her as she started to cry but this entire conversation was about her boyfriend so he didn't. "What's wrong with me?" She asked mainly to herself.

"Dan, hey there's nothing wrong with you, okay?" She shrugged. "Just because you can't see yourself spending the rest of your life with some guy doesn't make you a violation of nature. There's nothing wrong with you." She nodded.

"You know, he's mean to me when he's drunk." She said quietly. He looked down at her, as she didn't even bother to wipe her eyes and let the tears drip down her cheeks. She was looking at her hands, where they were folded in her lap.

"You've said."

"He's so hurtful and cruel. He's never like that to his friends." She said and Sirius had no idea why she was telling him this and had no idea how to respond.

"What does he say?" He asked quietly and she hesitated.

"He takes digs at me because of my family. I turn into 'Princess Danilynn' and it just feels really…degrading. It upsets me and when I try to talk to him about it later, he says that he doesn't remember so I can't exactly tell him to stop."

"You let him talk to you like that?" He was surprised that she took that kind of verbal abuse. She was tolerant of bluntness but not cruelty.

"No, I usually walk off and tell him that I'll only talk to him when he's sober but that doesn't stop it from hurting. I have feelings, you know." She said and continued to cry silently. "I'm sorry, this is too much. Go back to bed. This isn't your problem; you don't need to hear about it." She said as she wiped her eyes quickly.

"I'm not going to leave you crying on my bedroom floor, I hope you realize that." He said and she shrugged.

"I'm not crying."

"Yes, you are."

"Fine. Maybe a little." She said. He reconsidered touching her and he seriously thought that this warranted something more than sitting and listening; but she had a boyfriend and he was going to respect that, even if Brady was an asshole.

"Yeah, maybe a little." He said and she smiled a little bit and leaned on him; he automatically wrapped an arm around her that she seemed grateful for as she adjusted so her weight wasn't squishing the arm around her shoulders. He hadn't even thought about doing it, despite his silent promise thirty seconds ago that he was going to respect the fact that she was dating Brady.

"I'm sorry for this, I really am." She said quietly and he nodded a little.

"It's okay. It's better than keeping all of this locked up." He said.

"He's just really scary when he's drunk." She whispered and started to let the tears fall again. She put a hand over her mouth and he rubbed a hand up and down her arm and she rested her head on his shoulder; this was pretty inappropriate seeing that they were both in relationships, but he didn't move his arm and she was only moving closer to him. This was wrong. He wasn't even in a shirt and she was only in a tank top and sleep shorts. She was leaned up against his shoulder with his arm around her, rubbing her arm in an attempt to calm her down and it felt far more intimate than it should have. This was toeing the line of cheating—they were both aware and neither of them moved.

"I'm not trying to start a fight right now, but if he scares you that much, why are you still with him?" He asked and she shrugged a little.

"Because he's nothing but nice to me when he's sober. Which is almost all of the time, except when he spends like the entire day with the guys or whatever. I like him when he's actually himself." She said quietly. Sirius had never wanted to tell her to dump him more in his life but he stopped himself. That definitely wasn't going to go over well and now wasn't the time for that argument.

"You could talk to him about not drinking so much." He said.

"Yeah, I could…I don't know how effective that would be, but I could try." She said and he noticed that the tears had halted for now. "I'm sorry about Andy…that poor girl." She said and looked over at where his cousin was peacefully sleeping. "Will she be okay?" She asked quietly and he shrugged.

"I think so…she's tougher than she looks." He said and she nodded. "She likes you, you know." He said and she looked over at him, surprised.

"What? Really?"

"Really. Believe it or not, you're actually kind of likable." He said and she smiled a little.

"She didn't deserve that." She said softly and he sighed. She was kind and sweet and gentle and she didn't understand how cruel the world was sometimes.

"No she didn't, but you get used to it. Being used and abused doesn't seem so strange when you've grown up with it." He said and she looked horrified.

"I know you must be really tired of the pity, but I'm sorry. You shouldn't be used to it and neither should she." She said and he shrugged.

"I'm not really tired of the pity because I don't get any. No one knows that would care outside of you, Andy, Alphard, and James. Needless to say that Alphard and James aren't exactly knocking down the door to talk about feelings and I don't see Andy that often." He said and she nodded.

"Then I really and truly am sorry. Out of everyone I know, you're one of the people that deserves that the least." She said and he smiled at her.

"Thanks. That's one of the nicest things anyone's said to me in a while." He said and she smiled.

"It's just the truth." She said and he realized that it was three in the morning.

"We should probably get some sleep. You need sleep, Dan; you're not invincible, you know." He said and she nodded.

"I know. Go on back to bed, Sirius. I'll be fine." She said and moved away so he could take his arm back. He stood up and she smiled. "Thanks for everything."

"Goodnight, Dany. At least try to get some sleep." He said and she smiled before he climbed back into bed.

James hadn't slept very well that night. It had been spotty at best and one time when he woke up, he heard soft voices. It was Dany. It was Dany and Sirius. When he woke up the next morning, he pretended that he hadn't heard a thing. Looking at Dany and Sirius both, he wouldn't have guessed that they had been talking last night. He was just rolling out of bed and she was awake and looking out the window. God, they loved each other. Andy woke up suddenly and Dany looked over, but made no effort to approach her; Sirius, however, did. He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. Andy nodded and responded to her cousin. They looked so alike. Same hair and height and noses. They were clearly relatives.

"Dan." Dany looked up when Sirius said her name. "It is possible for you to track down Ted?" He asked and she stood up and nodded.

"Let me go pull a couple of strings and see what I can do. His last name's Tonks, yeah?" Sirius nodded. "I'll be back soon." She said with a smile before she left. The rest of the girls woke up almost simultaneously and looked around.

"Good morning everyone." Lily said with a yawn. "Where's Dan?" She asked.

"She had to make a quick call to her dad." James said and Lily nodded. Andy raised an eyebrow.

"I hope everything's okay…you can never tell these days though." Marlene said as she helped Alice up off the ground where they had slept. James nodded.

"Everything's fine. The Ministry hasn't devolved into a state of emergency and we're not under martial law. She wouldn't be making a quick call if the world were coming to an end; she'd be put into hiding before someone could assassinate her." James said and everyone looked at him. "What? It's true. Rhea, Rhaegar, and Dan would be taken into hiding as fast as humanly possible if the Ministry fell."

"Well that's not unsettling at all."

"What about Daniel? No one's going to put him in hiding?" Lily asked.

"The only way the Ministry would fall was if he was dead. There's no point in hiding a dead person."

"Oi, we're not talking about my father dying, thank you very much James Potter." Dany said from behind him. "Now, Andy. I Flooed someone in the Ministry and I have someone you'll want to see." She said and stepped aside and a man James assumed as Ted Tonks walked in. Andy got up and ran to him. Ted clung onto her.

"Thank God. Shh, shh it's okay. It's okay Sweetheart. We're going to be okay. You're okay. I'll take care of you." He said quietly and Andy nodded. Dany smiled a little and watched the couple have their reunion. The woman let go of her boyfriend.

"How did you find him?" She asked Dany and Ted laughed.

"You could only imagine my surprise when the Minister's secretary showed up looking for me." Everyone looked at Dany.

"What? Laura knows everything and everyone." She said. "It was the best I could think of without having to go through tax records and showing up at his house." Andy hugged her abruptly. Dany hugged her back, despite looking surprised.

"Thank you so much." She whispered. Dany shook her head.

"It was no problem. You need him; we all need someone to take care of us sometimes." She said and Andy nodded and returned to her boyfriend's side.

"Still, thank you. You're a really good person. You're certainly not what people say you are. At least, what my family says you are." She said and Dany nodded, her eyes moving to Sirius for a second.

"Well, it's always reassuring to know that I'm not a shining example of respectable to sadistic blood supremacists." She said and Andy, to everyone's surprise, laughed.

"You're really not. Alphard would like her." She said and Sirius nodded.

"I know he would. I have designs so that they never meet and I don't ever have to deal with both of them at the same time." He replied.

"So would Reg. He'd like her too." She said quietly and Dany raised an eyebrow and glanced at Sirius. It took James a moment to realize that she was talking about Sirius' brother. Dany didn't strike James as the type to get on with Regulus Black, but maybe the brothers were more alike than people thought.

"I don't know about that. Regulus doesn't like much that isn't related to Voldemort these days." He said and Andy's eyes darkened.

"Of course. I forgot for a minute. Reg would have liked her when he was little." She corrected and Sirius nodded.

"That I believe." Sirius said quietly and Dany looked at her feet.

Dany and Brady made up a few days after, right as exams concluded and were back to being a relatively happy couple by the time they were back on the Hogwarts Express headed towards London. Dany entertained herself by demolishing James in three consecutive games of chess, leaving Brady with very little to do. James thought it was quite hilarious to watch him try to find something when his girlfriend wasn't available for a snog or an argument.

Like always, everyone fell silent as the train entered London and the smiles and laughter stopped. It suddenly went from light and airy in the compartment, to seeming like a funeral. Brady had no idea what was going on, but made no efforts to talk, mainly because he probably didn't care enough to try and start conversation. The train came to a halt and James left the train with Lily, Sirius, and Dany stuck pretty close to them with Brady holding her hand. They all (minus Brady, who was waiting on his girlfriend) were waiting on the same thing: Sirius' parents. James saw Dany's eyes widen and James waited for the overly peppy and sickeningly sweet smile to appear on her face—being overly sweet to the Blacks was one of her favorite pastimes. Except she didn't. She looked incredibly neutral to the entire thing. James also noticed that Dany was making a point of holding Brady's hand in a pretty obvious way; he had no idea what that was about.

"Sirius, come. Your Aunt Druella and Uncle Cygnus are expecting us, as are Bellatrix and Narcissa." Walburga said and Dany's neutral expression slipped into a smirk so quickly that James barely processed it. Sirius was wearing the exact same one; unlike Dany, however, he didn't bother to try and hide it. He realized that Andy's name was absent from that list—that's what they had both caught.

"Of course, but where is Andromeda?" He asked innocently and Orion's mouth tightened.

"Andromeda is no longer family and you will not speak of her in front of her parents and sisters. Never speak of her at all." He said and Sirius was still smirking.

"Well we wouldn't want to keep our relatives waiting, would we?" Sirius asked his mother, but paused before walking off with them. "See you lot in September." He said and Lily hugged him quickly and James clapped him on the back. Dany smiled a little at him, but she didn't cling onto him like she usually did. Something was definitely going on. Dany and Sirius were only growing closer and now they were acting like they barely knew each other. Sirius walked off without looking back. Dany let go of Brady's hand as soon as they vanished and she looked how she usually did when Sirius left with this parents; she had been playing everything down, they both had, and James had no idea why. She was still worried as hell though.