Thanks to all of you who are reading but I still wonder if any of you still like this or just click on it to see what's next. No reviews after 17 days? hm.

Chapter 31: Pureblood Fight

"Professor Hunter, can I talk to you for a moment?" Sirius asked one day after classes.

"Sirius? Sure, what's on your mind?" Jason motioned to the front row of desks as he hopped up on his desk. Sirius shook his head.

"Your sister and I have had a tough past. Up until this year I couldn't say she liked me. Love? Well I constantly say that she does and sometimes she looks at me like she does but I don't know for sure. I know that I love her."

"Name one thing you love about her that isn't superficial." If this boy really did love his sister and Jason could tell he had strong feelings towards the girl, Jason would have to make sure they were true.

"Just one?" Sirius asked. It was almost like he didn't know if it was possible. Almost like he couldn't find a single thing he loved that wasn't her looks or something superficial. "Her fierce protectiveness. The way she cares so deeply about her friends; I love how imperfect she is. The way she loves James so much—"

Jason cut him off since he could see that Sirius could go on. Obviously it wasn't hard for Sirius to say what he loved about Mandy. "So you want my permission to ask my sister to marry you?"

"Yes."

"I am about 85% sure my sister loves you and she could do a whole lot worse than you but honestly I don't think I'm the right person to ask," Jason shrugged.

"You mean Mr. Dixon? I've already owled him."

Jason sat back shocked. This boy was intent on marrying his sister. If Sirius was willing to go as far as talking to Patrick, then he must really love Mandy. Then again a small part of Jason, the Auror part that was partnered with Alastor Moody, thought that the only reason Sirius could be going this far was because it was expected of him and Sirius didn't want to cross Jason. He would have to keep an eye on this. "I meant James. According to McGonagall you and James are thicker than thieves with more honor than English gentlemen. It's good to have friends like that. When I look at him with my sister, I feel so bad. I am nine years older than her. He's the brother she deserves to have. She relates to him better than she does me. She may legally be my sister, but they act more like siblings than we ever did. With all that said, I don't think she'd agree to it unless it was okay by him."

"I know but I still want you to be alright with it. You are her brother."

"Yes, Sirius, I am okay with you marrying my sister." Jason nodded, sliding off his desk.

"Thank you," Sirius said relieved. It was good to have the Auror's support.

"When are you planning on asking her?" Jason asked curiously.

"End of the year. With the gift and everything I don't want to further stress her out."

"You honesty do love her," Jason said in realization.

"I do. If she'd agree, I'd marry her and raise our baby together but I know she'd never agree to that." Sirius may have wanted to take care of Mandy forever but he knew that there were some things that he couldn't change her mind about. Since Mandy made up her mind Sirius knew he couldn't change it.

"I think I'm impressed. I will warn you now, although I'm not as close to my sister as James is, I'm still an Auror and I will protect her with every last breath in my body." Sirius swallowed but nodded and left the room. He had come to know the man was protective of his sister but never realized how much. Another thing Sirius didn't realize was that Lily had heard the entire conversation and was intrigued by it. Maybe it could help her. Since she had been trying to find a way to get Mandy to see that Sirius could take care of himself, this could be the perfect way. Getting Sirius and James to duel in public where Mandy could see them would work but first she'd have to check with Remus. He'd know for certain if it'd get them mad enough to duel or not.

The next day was the last game of the season. Gryffindor versus Slytherin. If Gryffindor won this game they would win the Quidditch cup, they lost they'd come in second. Either way Slytherin would come in third. It was a hard fought battle, Slytherin doing their best to keep Gryffindor from winning the cup and Gryffindor trying to win. Finally the game ended 270-110 to Gryffindor. The party was huge that night. It lasted until well past midnight when McGonagall showed up and shut them down. Though disappointed, the house slowly went to bed.

Sunday afternoon Mandy was studying on the couch in the surprisingly nearly empty Common Room when Peter hesitantly approached her. "Uh ... Mandy, are you busy?" he asked hesitantly.

"No, is something wrong? You look more nervous than a rat in a room full of cats," Mandy answered. He flinched at the expression but shook it off.

"No, nothing's wrong, could you just come with me?"

"Sure," Mandy said, tossing her book into the overstuffed arm chair. She hauled herself up off the couch looking at him. He seemed ... happier, for lack of a better word. "As long as it's not something disgusting Wormy, I'm not sure my stomach can take it."

"Nothing like that." Peter led her through the castle to the fourth floor and a window that overlooked the grounds and the lake. Peter knew by Mandy's confused look that he had better explain. "Uh ..." Now what was it that Remus had told him to say in this event? Peter thought to himself. "Just watch. It's a surprise," Peter said. Mandy looked at the boy carefully. He looked nervous but at the same time excited.

"Pete, are you happy?" Mandy asked.

"Why would you ask that?"

"James has been busy with Lily and we can see how much Sirius is concerned with me, I just don't want you to feel left out."

"There is this girl, her name is Annabeth. I'm kinda sweet on her, but she's only a sixth year. It's still kinda new."

"She likes you back?"

"Yes, so I kinda understand why they've been preoccupied with you and her." Peter was saved any further answer by the lights that started finishing on the grounds. Red, yellow, white, and blue flashes lit up the ground and caught Mandy's attention. The flashes came quickly, in rapid succession. Mandy recognized mostly defensive spells though a few were offensive, none of them were more advanced than that of fourth year spells. That meant it was either younger students going at it or older students holding back.

Then Mandy's eyes zeroed in on the ends of the duel. The two students dueling both had dark hair. At first she thought it was one of the Marauders and Snape. The one facing her was definitely James; she'd recognize his mop of hair anywhere. It was when she recognized the other student that her jaw literally dropped. The neat, black hair fell casually across his shoulders with nary a one out of place. The way he stood was graceful, almost elegant and regal. There was no doubt in her mind, especially since he was wearing a t-shirt and jeans, that the other boy in question was Sirius. That couldn't be right though. James and Sirius couldn't be dueling on Hogwarts's front lawn. James was Head Boy and Sirius knew better. At least that explained why the spells were so simple. They were definitely holding back. Mandy's first instinct upon recognizing the boys was to run and put a stop to it but a voice began to purr in her ear.

Now just wait a moment, you've always wondered if Sirius was capable of taking care of himself. Here's your chance to find out. Though Prongs isn't going to use anything seriously harmful on Sirius, he'd still jinx him with something potentially embarrassing. Just wait and see how Sirius handles it. Of course Stripes was more interested in the fight than keeping people safe.

At the same time, Mandy didn't really have an argument against Stripes, not since what she said made some sense, so she took her advice. From what Mandy could tell there were enough sixth and seventh years in the crowd to fix anything should something go wrong plus no one looked like they were close enough to get hurt. "Pete, did you know this was going to happen?"

"No." Peter shook his head.

"Really? Because it didn't start until we were looking out the window and you said it was a surprise."

"What I meant was ..." Peter swallowed. "I don't want you to get mad."

Mandy stared at him. She knew she had come off as angry and standoffish, but she hadn't realized that people thought she was temperamental and would snap at the slightest provocation. "Is that how you really see me? That someone could say one little thing and I'd get upset?"

"You do—that is to say, you have been more prone to anger lately," he said nervously.

"I see. I'm sorry, Pete, I didn't mean to come off like that. I guess it's just stress."

"Yeah," Peter agreed smiling. They went back to watching out the window, Mandy in awe at how evenly matched they were. Neither was making much headway and she finally came to the same conclusion that Stripes had: Sirius could take care of himself. Finally Mandy could no longer take just watching them go at it and she bolted, moving as fast as she could in her state, to the grounds.

Once Mandy was close enough, she whipped out her wand and hollered the disarming spell, causing both wands to fly to her free hand. "What are you two thinking? No! I don't even want to hear whatever lousy excuse you think can calm me down. James, you're Head Boy! You're supposed to be better than that. You're supposed to be setting a good example for everyone at this school. And you Sirius, you're better than this. It is one thing to go and pull pranks, it's completely different when you are dueling on the grounds," Mandy berated both of them.

"But—" James started.

"No!" Mandy held up a finger to stop him from speaking. "I know that the two of you are more than capable of taking care of yourselves, anyone who just saw all that would know that, but there are children here. Children who could have gotten hurt. Children who look up to you and think of you as a role model and influence. Is this how you want them to think of the infamous Marauders? As two boys who, even at age 17, are more prone to dueling than they are to trying to solve things with words? Now, what do you two have to say for yourselves?" Mandy asked, this time giving the two boys a chance to speak.

"He started it," James said stubbornly.

"I did not!" Sirius snapped back.

"I was just lying in the sun going over the best way to fend off a Lethifold attack when he stormed up all angry over something stupid."

"I just wanted to ask him if—" Sirius stopped suddenly and looked at Mandy nervously.

"If I'd be okay with you dumping Mandy? That answer is no. Especially not if you break her heart again." James narrowed his eyes at Sirius. This time he was going to protect Mandy no matter what.

"Where would you get that kind of idea from?" Sirius looked shocked. Almost as if he couldn't believe James would think that of him. James knew him better than that. "That's not what I wanted to ask at all. In fact I ... never mind." Sirius shook his head and looked away almost disappointed or sad.

Sensing that whatever Sirius was going to say was important and shouldn't be brought up in front of multitudes of Hogwarts students, Mandy looked at the gathered crowd. "Clear out you lot, show's over, nothing to see here." Mandy called. The crowd looked bummed but slowly they left the area. Once it was clear enough Mandy turned to Sirius. "What did you want to ask him?"

"It's not important," Sirius said slowly.

"James?"

"Remus told me that you were going to hurt Mandy," James answered.

"That's funny because Remus told me you'd never—" Sirius stopped short and exchanged a look with James. They both got this look in their eyes and then walked over to Remus. Mandy followed slowly. "You wanted us to fight." Sirius glared at his so-called best friend.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Remus said lightly, as he got more comfortable against the base of the willow tree the foursome was now under. He was leaning back casually but Mandy could tell he was nervous. To most people he would just look casual but Mandy could tell due to the strength of their friendship just how nervous he was.

"What did you tell them Remus? Better yet, why?" Mandy asked.

"Why did you want us to fight?" James asked gently.

"Do you remember what you told Lily?" Remus asked.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"When?" James asked.

"Who?" Mandy asked.

"Mandy, do you remember what you told Lily?" Remus asked.

"When?" Mandy asked.

"After that conversation we had about Moony and Stripes? It had just started to rain after we went back inside and Lily told me the boys were looking for me. Do you remember the conversation you had with her?"

"Yeah, but I never asked her to get the boys to duel."

"No, not exactly. You implied that you wanted to know how the boys handled your brother's classes. When she asked if you were worried about him you told her that you feel like no matter what anyone threw at James he could handle it, but that you couldn't say the same about Sirius. How you didn't know if she could prove it to you short of having them duel. Do you remember that?"

"So you thought you would prove it to me?" Mandy asked.

"Didn't it work?" Remus asked.

"I—" Mandy started.

"Next time just ask," James said.

"Yeah, we love to practice," Sirius said. Mandy looked at both of them.

"Really? The two of you would have gone at it, no-holds-barred, if I had just asked?" Remus asked in disbelief. He leveled both boys with a stare so strong that they both instantly flashed to all the times McGonagall had stopped them.

They both swallowed. "Maybe not no-holds-barred, but we definitely would have gone at it." James told him.

"Yeah, because that duel you just had, you didn't use a spell above fourth year. There is no way that you two really would have gone at it," Remus answered.

"That's because there were children around. We didn't want to hurt them. The most they'd get is antlers or jelly legs. It wouldn't be anything that you or Sirius or Madame Pomfrey couldn't heal in seconds. We're not dangerous. Not in front of children," James claimed passionately.

"He does have a point. We're not stupid," Sirius agreed.

"No one ever said you were," Mandy answered.

"You did," Sirius argued.

"No, I didn't," Mandy growled. "I said you were supposed to be a good influence and that I didn't want to hear your lousy excuse. I also said you knew better but never once did I say you were stupid. I would never say that."

"Walk with me, Mandy?" Remus said. Mandy looked at the other two boys then walked with Remus out of earshot.

"What did you want to say to me? What did Remus say to you to get you so angry?" James asked looking at Sirius curiously.

"I love Mandy."

"I know, Mate. You're amazing with her. You changed her life."

"Thanks. I've known for a while now if she's not in my life, it won't be the same. I need her in my life."

"You want to marry her."

"Yes, and I want your approval. She won't marry me unless you say it's okay."

"I don't know if that's a good idea. You have yet to prove to me that you're able to provide for her for the rest of your lives. That you even want to. Sirius—"

"James, I love her. Doesn't that—Isn't that all that matters?"

"I know you. I've known you for years. I've seen what you've done to girls."

"I know and I can't change what happened in the past. She makes me a better person. You trust me, don't you? I could never hurt her, not like that, not again. I can't promise that things are going to be "happy ever after" as the muggle saying goes, but I'm going to try my best to make sure she never wants for anything and to protect her. I can't promise it but I'm going to try. Doesn't that mean anything?"

"Okay, just remember I want to be an Auror," James said. Sirius swallowed. It was one thing when an actual Auror threated him. An actual Auror would probably know when to stop but James, Sirius wasn't so sure. Especially since James was loyal to a fault.

"So Remus just told you that Dad didn't want you to marry Mandy?" Harry asked.

"His exact words were 'Mate, you do know James will never let you marry Mandy, right?' I don't know how he knew but he knew," Sirius said.

"Lily overheard you talking to my brother and asking for his permission," Mandy said. "He told me about it after you proposed. Him and Lily both. We were on the train home and he told me what happened. I wanted to see the two of you duel or at the very least make sure that you could handle yourself, come what may, and Lily thought that a duel was the best way. After she heard you talking to my brother she was pretty sure how to get you two to do it, she just wasn't 100 percent sure. She talked to Remus and he told her that he would set it up and have Peter get me to be there when it happened. Remus told James that Sirius was going to come down and ask him if James was okay with Sirius breaking up with me because he couldn't see a stable future for us and well you know what he told Sirius. Before he did all that Remus told Peter to get me to the fourth floor corridor that overlooked the lawn. That way I was close enough to see it, but at the same time I couldn't rush right out into it," Mandy told them.

"Did Remus know when you were coming?" George asked.

"Yeah, Peter had the two way mirror and right after I left Peter's side, he warned Remus. If he hadn't Remus would have put up a barrier that I would have run into so that I wouldn't get hit by any spells. Instead he had time to get both their attention so there was a lull in the spells when I had walked out," Mandy explained.

"So the Hogsmeade attack didn't convince you Dad could take care of himself?" Devin asked.

"Kinda, but not to the point where I was completely sure that he would be okay," Mandy said.

"She is part bear, she does worry," Sirius said.

Everyone nodded knowing how that could be. "How do you know when to stop protecting people? When did you know when everyone could stand on their own two feet?" Megan asked.

"It varies for each person. I had grown up with James, I knew from the time he was 15 or 16 that he could take care of himself and was a valued partner. With Remus I think that came the day we graduated Hogwarts. The rest, you just have to use your intuition. Especially as a mother. You have to be willing to understand that yes, they are your children but at the same time they're growing up and they have to stand on their own two feet sometime," Mandy said. Megan nodded. Her mother had a valid point but she also knew how much at times Mandy still struggled with it.

Please, please, please tell me what you think. Just one of you, please?