So no reviews for the past two chapters. That makes me sad. Thanks to everyone for reading though. You make me happy with that.

Betas for this chapter are: LittleDrummerGirl2010 and Prongs Smitch. You guys are great.

Chapter 19: Pain Can Cause Fights

When Mandy re-entered the hospital wing after lunch, it was dead silent. James looked more nervous than a stag in a hunter's cross hairs, Remus looked pensive and Sirius looked shocked. Then Sirius exploded, or he would have had Mandy not chosen that exact second to hit him with a silencing spell.

"What did you do?" Mandy asked looking at James.

"Me? Why do you assume I did something?" James asked.

"Because it's always you." Mandy answered.

"Are you crazy?" Remus asked.

"Excuse me?" Mandy replied.

"Crazy, as in not completely sane?" Remus pushed.

"I kind of told them what we did second year," James said.

"Kinda? What do you mean kinda?" Mandy asked.

"Okay, so I told them," James answered sheepishly.

Mandy instantly knew what he was talking about; the blood bond. She just had to make sure that there wasn't something else he had told them from that year. "Told them? Told them what?" Mandy asked.

James cleared his throat. "About the bond."

"The bond? James, you didn't!" Mandy growled. Mandy wasn't sure if she was upset or angry about it but she knew either way that it wasn't good. The more people that found out, the worse it could be and the more people who could use it against her.

"Mandy, I'm sorry," James pleaded.

"If you weren't already in that bed, I'd put you in one," Mandy snapped.

"She doesn't sound happy mate," Sirius said. The silencing spell must have worn off.

James glared at him then turned his attention back to Mandy. "Mandy, I'm sorry, okay?" James asked.

"No, it's not okay. For years I asked you what was different about Remus and for years you told me to ask him. Then when I badgered you for days, weeks even, about Sirius running away, you told me that both of you had to be there. James, this wasn't just your secret to tell. When they wanted to know what happened to me two summers ago or about us dating we agreed to tell them together. You had no right to tell them without my consent. I can't believe you would betray my trust like this." Mandy shook her head and stormed out of the hospital wing.

James flopped back against his pillow and berated himself in his head. He should have known Mandy would react like that. Though James and Mandy knew the others would never say anything about what he had told them, James knew he had just broken Mandy's trust. James continued to curse himself as Sirius got up and went to find his brunette girlfriend.

When Sirius found her, nearly an hour later, she was sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room near a window. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of checking there first. Typically when Mandy was upset she'd go out to the grounds or to the library or anywhere but the Common Room. It was too public with too many people asking about her foul mood. He guessed this time no one would ask and seeing the look on her face he wasn't sure he wanted to either. Still he sat down beside her and took her hand as Cyrus jumped into his lap. He petted the cat while he pondered what to say to his obviously angry girlfriend but Mandy wasn't exactly angry with James, she was more hurt.

"He didn't mean to break your trust," Sirius finally settled on saying after a moment. "You're not the only one whose heart jumps into their throat at the thought of their best friend being hurt. I know that right now James is lying in that bed cursing himself to oblivion because he buggered that up. He shouldn't have told us and we shouldn't have asked. It was none of our business why the two of you are so close. We should have continued to think that you are close because you're really good friends and left it at that."

"How does he do it?" Mandy asked. There was no trace of anger on her face. Instead she looked hurt and confused. Well, from what Sirius could see of her face. She was staring across the room and not looking at him.

Since she wasn't looking at him, he wasn't exactly sure what she was asking. "Do what exactly?" Sirius asked gently. He didn't want to provoke her temper but at the same time he had to know what she was talking about.

"Have a completely normal relationship with Lily and fall in love with her but at the same time still love me the way he does? Is it because his heart is bigger than mine? Is that why I can't love you and him both?"

"Aw, love, it's not that. You both have a very big heart. Do you know why your form is a bear?" Sirius asked softly.

"No," Mandy answered.

"Because you're strong, confident, a leader and very protective. Did you know that bear cubs stay with their mother for two to four years? Bears tend to be laid back but at times when they feel threatened they are severely protective. It describes you perfectly. I love how protective and loving you can be and I know that you love me."

"What?" Mandy asked, looking up at him confused. She didn't understand what her animagus form had to do with her ability to love more than one person at a time.

"I know it's hard for you to realize how your heart feels but it's there. I look in your eyes and nearly every time you look at me," Sirius took her chin in his hand making sure he looked directly into her eyes, "every time you see me your eyes light up. Your head doesn't realize how your heart feels. It's denying your heart for some reason but I know it's there and I'm going to spend the rest of my life convincing your head to feel the same way your heart does." He had been right; there really was no trace of anger on her face.

"But what if you're wrong?"

"Wrong about what?" Sirius asked. Mandy could see confusion swirling in his grey orbs and Sirius could see the fear in her eyes. Mandy wasn't afraid though. All Mandy felt was worry. Worry that he would figure out she didn't actually love him.

"About how I feel. What if the only reason I light up when you walk in is because you're always with James? Maybe I'm happy to see him."

"Maybe but there have been times when I'm not with James and I see the same reactions from you. Mandy, sometimes your eyes say one thing and your head says another. What you're thinking is almost never reflected in your eyes. Even if it is, I've spent the last eight months studying you and getting to really know you. I know that you're just scared of admitting to yourself how you really feel about me." They both went quiet and Mandy went back to staring across the room. "Are you still upset with James?" Sirius asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I almost lost my best friend yesterday. Madame Pomfrey told me if the banishing charm had been any stronger he would have been worse off. I don't know if she's right, but just the thought that he could have been, it hurts, Sirius."

"So you're not really mad at him are you?" He had to make sure she wasn't angry with James. Their friendship was too precious and he didn't want to have to intervene again. He'd do it again in a heartbeat for them but he didn't want to have to.

"No, but I am hormonal so he still shouldn't have done it."

"He shouldn't have done it even if you weren't hormonal. Remember he does love you and he wants the best for you. He didn't think there was any harm in telling us. We're not going to tell anyone."

"I know but even if he did this for a very good reason, he shouldn't have done it. I don't think I can get over that."

"So you and he are no longer friends?"

"I didn't say that, I just said that I had a problem with what he did."

"Are you going to—" Sirius cut himself off not sure of what he was doing or where he was going with that statement.

"James will forever be my best friend but right now I just don't want to see him." Mandy stared across the room, glaring at the wall. Sirius slipped his hand into hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. Mandy gave him a brief smile then stared back at the opposite wall.

"Wait," Harry snapped, standing up from where he had been sitting on the arm of Devin's chair, "you never told me you and Dad fought that badly—not to the point where you didn't want to see him. I'd always assumed you had your fights but I never thought that you and Dad were ever on not speaking terms." The boy, well now man, seemed flabbergasted and angry. It was an odd sort of look but for some reason it seemed to work.

"Yes, well I've never completely told you about the bond we had before either," Mandy answered.

"Mummy, what's a soul blood bond?" Erin asked.

"Well, remember what your dad explained when James was telling him and Remus?" Mandy asked, looking down at her daughter.

"Yeah but what is it exactly?" The little girl batted her eyes at her mum and Mandy smiled. "Does it leave a mark? Does it hurt?"

"It only leaves one physical mark." Mandy flipped her right wrist over and held it towards her daughter. "You see that white scar under the JP tattoo?" Erin nodded. "To complete a blood bond you have to cut yourself and the other person and press the cuts against each other. Then you have to say this really complex spell and wave your wand in a specific manner and the bond is sealed." Mandy explained.

"But what does it do? Daddy said that Remus told James it could make the two of you crazy and that you could go to Mungo's for it but he never said the point of the bond," Erin begged for an answer. Sirius had taken over telling that parts of the story that Mandy hadn't actually been present for.

"Centuries ago," Mandy smiled at her daughter, "there was a man who loved a woman so deeply that he never wanted to fight with her. He thought they were perfect so he invented this spell that would make it so he could feel every emotion she felt. When she was sad, he'd feel it, when she was happy, again, when she was angry, upset, mad, and so on. He'd always know it and could feel when what he was doing to make it up to her was working and when she was getting angrier. What he didn't realize was that he felt everything she felt. When she was injured, when she gave birth, when she was hungry, and on and on. He tried to bury the spell once he realized what he had done. Especially when he found out the spell didn't just work one way. It worked both ways. For everything he could feel from her she could feel from him. She was not happy."

"What do you mean he tried to bury the spell?" Devin asked, sitting on the edge of the chair. He was interested to find out what had happened; Devin always loved a good story.

"He only had one copy of the instructions and had locked them in this big box that said it was never to be opened again and buried it six feet under this big tree in his backyard. Why he didn't just burn them I don't know. Anyway after he and his wife died it was written off as a myth of the man who could feel everything his wife felt. After that as you know the Earth erodes and landscapes change and things that were once buried are found again. A few centuries later a man found it and published it. Soon it became tradition at weddings. Back then divorce wasn't acceptable so you had to stay together and they, whoever they are, the powers that be I guess, decided that this was the best way to make sure marriages worked. Once you tied the knot and this spell was cast they figured the spell would make sure divorce was never necessary."

"How?" Erin asked.

"If you can feel what your spouse is feeling then you'll know when you've screwed up and you can fix it. Dummy," Devin explained with a roll of his eyes. Mandy's eyes narrowed at her son and Sirius's gaze jumped from his baby to his spitting image. Sometimes his son really surprised him. The smile fell from Sirius's lips and his look hardened. Devin looked from his father to his mother and swallowed. Then he knew what he had to do and he apologized to his sister for calling her names. He looked back down at his book after he apologized and his mother's look softened.

"That's my boy," Sirius said. Devin glanced up to see neither of his parents looking angry so he smiled and Mandy continued with her story.

"That's the point of it. Feeling what the other person does to make sure things aren't going wrong. Then they realized what it could do to people, driving them crazy and it fell out of fashion. Especially with the great wars that countries were fighting. Men were going off into battle and dying much younger and it hurt their wives so they stopped using the spell," Mandy concluded.

"So when my dad died—" Harry started.

"All in good time," Mandy said. She looked at her children to see different looks on their faces. Megan looked calm and at peace with her mother's decision, Devin looked intrigued, and Erin looked stunned.

"You did this dangerous thing with James when you were Devin's age?" Erin asked.

"I wasn't quite as old as Devin when we did this. I was only 12. James and I thought it was cool and we really wanted to be family. Given the choice I wouldn't do it again. I love James very much but I realize now how stupid what we did was," Mandy said, stroking her daughter's brown locks.

"When my dad died—"

"We'll get to that Cub, not yet but we'll get to it," Mandy said. Since Mandy's animagus form was a bear, those children she loved dearly, her own kids and Harry, had always been considered cubs to her. However, Harry was the only one she called that.

"Did you ever regret it?" Devin asked, curious.

"Yes, when I gave birth." It had been hard on James when Mandy had given birth; he nearly cried from the pain running through his stomach.

"Wait, so you and Dad were bonded by blood right? So that means his blood runs through your veins. Why couldn't I—?" Harry started again.

"We'll get to that too. That was something I took great issue with Dumbledore on," Mandy said. "Meg, are you alright?"

"I know why you did what you did. You were his best friend and you've told me how close you two were. This just makes sense. I'm fine," she answered her mother. Sometimes it scared Mandy how accepting her daughter could be. Mandy was sure it came from spending so much time with Michael or perhaps Meg had gotten it from Cassie–the pair liked spending Saturdays together when they could.

"Cub, what are you thinking?" Mandy asked. Harry was looking pensive and she was hoping he wasn't about to get angry or yell at her or anything along those lines. Though the boy could be as explosive as his mother, Mandy knew from experience that sometimes she had to get him to talk so he didn't bottle it all up inside which could be even more dangerous. He got that from his father. "Aside from what happened to me after your father died."

"How long did you go without speaking to him?" Harry asked.

"Three weeks," Mandy answered confidently.

"Two days," Sirius corrected with a bark of a laugh.

"It felt like three weeks." Mandy rolled her eyes.

"That's because the time before that when James stopped speaking to you it was three weeks," Meg said.

"That is true," Mandy agreed. "I guess it really was only a couple of days. His birthday was a week later. What I didn't realize until that night at dinner was that the day I stopped speaking to your father was the start of Easter hols. They wanted to get a Hogsmeade trip in before the holiday so they pushed the train back to Sunday instead of Saturday. A lot of people were gone that week."

"I don't get how you could be on non-speaking terms with my father. I thought you two were really close. Good friends don't go around not speaking to each other." Harry shook his head, beyond confused. It didn't make sense.

"Three words: Goblet of Fire," Mandy said.

Harry looked at her then suddenly realized what she meant. "Oh."

"That's it? No "I'm sorry, you're right"? Just "Oh"?" Mandy asked.

"You're right and I apologize, I forgot," Harry answered. She was referring to the time when Harry had gone nearly a full month without speaking to Ron about the latter's jealousy over the Triwizard Tournament. "So, how did you make up with Dad?" Harry asked.

"It started with a dream I had early that Wednesday morning," Mandy said, "though it was more like a nightmare."

In order to find out what the nightmare was about and how Mandy and James fixed things please review and stay tuned. Please tell me what you liked, what you didn't, if you want me to update again, something please.