A/N: Discovered while writing this chapter that Dark Mark plus Death Eaters AND humour is pretty much impossible without it coming across as ridiculous. So, there's some Sirius and Remus laughs first before getting into the more serious scenes. There will be more Half Blood Prince stuff next chapter, I swear.

Oooo, oooo, before I forget! Check out a project I'm involved in called ACCIO SANITY by clicking on a link my profile. It's comedy written by the Marauders and Lily though parchment notes. Give in to the shameless promotion please and go comment over there, yeah?

Thanks to Anna/Moony for beta-ing.

Chapter 18

With a clearly visible frown on his face, Sirius escaped The Three Broomsticks and into the cold night air. He was slightly amused by his breath coming out in clouds like a steam train until he realized it was much more fun competing against Peter for the longest breath-cloud trail, which Sirius always won, which James concluded was because it was his "body's way of telling you by making the breath-cloud gas that you speak way too much shit, Padfoot."

Sirius had given him a Dead Leg for that.

Hot Georgina had just popped in the pub and Sirius didn't fancy feeling awkward from the other side of the room, not to mention he found Remus not being by her side on their apparent "date" very strange. Sirius wondered where he was. Perhaps he had killed himself. After seeing Honeydukes was closed, Remus probably didn't have access to any chocolate, therefore resulting in a miserable chocolate-famished death. Sirius wondered if he could devour Remus' body as he had a theory that Remus had consumed so much chocolate he had become milk chocolate himself. Organs, and everything.

"Chocolate Moony entrails?" Sirius pondered aloud.

Passing a shop window, Sirius stopped to examine his reflection. Narrowing his eyes, he leaned in to get a closer look at himself, wiping the window pane that quickly misted from his breath. Once it was clear again, he let off a squeal and—

"Oh my God, I've turned into my mother!"

Regrettably, the frown on his face was a spitting image of his mother's, not that he'd seen his mother recently since he'd fled in a joyful fashion to James' abode and Sirius constantly checked the obituary for his mother's name. He was devastated when it wasn't there. He liked to pretend she was dead by adding 'MOTHER BLACK THE HAG – DEATH BY VERY SHARP KNIFE STABBED VICIOUSLY THROUGH THE HEART' in messy ink to the Daily Prophet, until Remus complained he couldn't read certain articles of his newspaper because Sirius was writing his mother's obituary on every page.

Taking his gaze off his (recently titled) Black Frown, he moved quickly along the street in agitated steps.

"Oh Merlin's boobs," he cursed with eyes as wide as dinner plates. "I was thinking about eating Remus earlier, which is an idea of eating humans, which evidently is what my mother does as she eats Muggle babies for breakfast, which means something ridiculously abnormal that I can't think up on the spot right now!"

Sirius had developed his mother's frown and now he was going to slowly become her. First he would have to develop a taste for human flesh because eating Muggle babies would be on the daily menu, then stop using public bathrooms because "Muggle and Mudblood bottoms might have once sat on them!" and finally start addressing people, especially family members like devilishly handsome sons as "YOU THERE!"

Sirius decided singing was the only option. Sirius' mother didn't sing, unless you included full-pelting lyrics such as 'I hate yooooou, my blood traitor of a son! I wish I had a daughter! Die, die, die!'

An upbeat song sprung to mind and he began to croon.

"Ee-e-e-um-um-a-weh, wimoweh, wimoweh, wimoweh, wimoweh! In the forest, the forbidden forest, the werewolf sleeps tonight! In the forest, the forbidden forest, the werewolf sleeps tonight! Ee-e-e—!"

"Oh dear God, what are you singing?"

Sirius jumped out of his skin and looked directly into a wand's light – not something predominantly recommended along with looking directly at the sun. The owner of the wand revealed himself by shining light briefly into his face, and Sirius thanked heavens it was just Remus, sitting on a bench, in the dark, eating what looked to be a box of half priced chocolate (Sirius could tell by the sticker), as he looked out at the Shrieking Shack in the distance.

"A Muggle song," Sirius answered Remus' question eventually. He debated whether to sit on the bench next to him but remained standing. You see, there was bird poop on the patch next to him and Sirius would get mucky trousers. Sirius wondered if the bird poop was there before Remus sat down or Remus had actually witnessed a bird pooping—

"It was there before I sat down," Remus mentioned quickly, noticing Sirius eyeing the bird excrement crusting the wood. "Anyway, what Muggle song?" he crept back on subject.

"The Lion Sleeps Tonight by The Tokens…"

"And how exactly are you ruining it?"

"I'm replacing the words 'mighty jungle' with 'forbidden forest'…" Sirius seemed very embarrassed. "And…'lion' with 'werewolf'…"

"Well, that deserves a clap for being one of the most pointless things ever."

"You don't understand: I'm turning into my mother."

Remus blinked at Sirius. Sirius blinked at what Remus thought was him, until he realized Sirius was, in actual fact, blinking at the bench.

"Do you want to sit down?" Remus asked, guessing Sirius' thoughts.

"But I'll get a mucky bum."

As accustomed, a vein throbbed on Remus' forehead. "For goodness' sake, I'll clean it…" He got a tissue out of his pocket and began wiping the wooden surface. Sirius watched him. Cleaning—something he had never attempted voluntarily—was fascinating.

"Why do you carry a tissue?" Sirius asked immediately.

"I don't carry a tissue, I carry a pack of tissues," Remus corrected him.

"Why do you carry a pack of tissues?"

"Why don't you?"

"Because I'm not a woman?"

"Do you want this tissue of bird droppings rubbed in your face?" Remus stopped wiping, holding the scrunched up tissue near Sirius. Sirius imagined droppings up the nostrils were not pleasant. "Good, now you may sit."

Sirius eyed the clean patch next to Remus with wary eyes, ultimately plopping his bottom onto it. "If I get a white patch on my bum I'll blame you, Remus Lupin."

Remus sighed, "You will not get a white patch on your bum. My cleaning skills are incomparable." Sirius remained sceptic.

"Check now, is there a white patch on my bum?" Sirius stood up and pointed his rear in the direction of Remus.

"I'm not looking at your bum, Sirius!" Embarrassed, Remus looked anywhere but rear.

"God, don't be so pedant. It's not as though I'm inviting you to sex. I just want you to look at my arse."

"I'm not looking at your arse! What sort of person demands others to look at his arse?" Remus exclaimed.

"Healers with patients who've got acne on their bum," Sirius smiled smugly at his answer. He had got Remus there.

"Fine," Remus gave in moodily. "I'll look at your arse."

Sirius stood in front of Remus, backside positioned. Squirming, Remus slowly moved his head and let his eyes fall upon the mighty buttocks of Black.

"Did your bottom become larger since we last talked—?" Remus began.

"Remus, why are you looking at Sirius' bum?"

As if on cue, Frank Longbottom had appeared out of nowhere, apparently on a night stroll with Alice. The couple was now positioned beside the bench, incredibly bothered by the scene of Remus scanning the arse of Sirius, who had unnecessarily bent over to position his bum and make the outlook come across as even more filthy.

"See, I knew this would happen!" Remus blew up, reddening to no end. He booted Sirius in the back of the legs and he toppled over to the ground. Before Sirius and Remus could explain the white-mark-on-the-bum situation, Frank and Alice had skipped off giggling, seemingly too caught up in giving each other sweet kisses in the dark.

"My arse has not become bigger," Sirius thought it was necessary to mutter. He wanted to sulk about his apparently inflating arse by rocking back and forth on the floor, but realized the floor would give him a mucky bottom, and obviously he would have to ask Remus if there was a dirty patch on his bottom, and the whole humiliating Remus-being-caught-studying-Sirius'-bottom cycle would repeat.

"Where did you get those chocolates?" Sirius asked instead, sitting back down on the bench. "I thought Honeydukes was closed."

Remus was busy trying to get the colour of his cheeks back to its normal pale appearance.

"Private supply," he grumbled, tapping the box.

Sirius examined the back of the box, in particular the small writing. "Moony, these are out of date by six months."

Remus looked a little alarmed at the news at first, but eventually shrugged. "Chocolate is like wine: the older it is, the more flavour it adds."

"That's because that flavour is mould, you silly sod. Give me that." He snatched the box out of Remus' hand. The werewolf sighed dejectedly.

"Do you think I've become my mother, Moony?"

Remus looked up from his empty hands to eye Sirius with a strange look. "Your mother…is she here?" he asked suddenly. He got out his wand, ducked a little and looked round in all directions in panic.

"Oh good God, no!" Sirius laughed with gusto. "This place is apparently too common for her. I thought I saw her earlier but I mistook a large boulder for her."

"Lord knows how many times you've made that mistake…especially in rocky locations," Remus commented.

Sirius chuckled a little, and then suddenly turned quiet. He'd made enough friendly banter to bring up a more serious subject.

"Why is Hot Georgina on her own in The Three Broomsticks while you're out here making yourself ill with prehistoric chocolate?"

"You'll laugh if I tell you," Remus replied quietly.

Sirius scoffed, "No I wouldn't. On the other hand, if you put a pair of knickers on your head and boogied, laughter would probably arise."

Remus frowned at him. "Well, I don't plan to be doing that in the near future."

"But it's definitely something you would consider?"

"Oh for Merlin's sake," Remus cursed, not liking the insane path this conversation was turning towards. "Hot Geo—for the love of…do not lower yourself to Sirius and James' level and call her that stupid nickname," he muttered distractedly. "Georgina," he continued as steadily as he could muster, "decided that befriending me was a mistake and cancelled going to Hogsmeade with me today."

Sirius looked gob-smacked, sitting up from lounging on the bench. "She did that?" he said in a tone of genuine shock.

"Yeah," Remus struggled to reply casually. "Yeah, she did that."

"Do you want me to hex her?" Sirius asked at once. "I'll do it, I will. I've got no problem with her being a girl. She's got sharp nails but I could probably take her." He cracked a knuckle.

"You can't even take Lily, Sirius."

"She put a fucking marble paperweight in a cushion, for Merlin's sake!"

"What?"

"Oh, right, you weren't there," Sirius realized. He wished Remus had been. He could have taken the blow for him, if by taken the blow you meant shove Remus in front of him as the cushion collided squarely with his face. Suddenly, Remus erupted into small chuckles.

"What's so funny?" questioned Sirius, disturbed. "A girl cancelled your date and you're laughing? That chocolate has made you into a very loony man."

"Oh come on," Remus continued to laugh. "As if a girl like Georgina would ever consider becoming friends, or even dating, someone of the likes of me. I'm boring and studious and eat…six month archaic chocolate." He ended on a squirm, beginning to feel sick.

"Well, I can't say that last one isn't a little odd—but anyway, I'm going to punch that girl in the womanly bits for making your Moony low self-esteem come out again."

"No Sirius," Remus forbade him on hitting people, not that it had ever stopped him before. If Sirius could have it his way, a slap to the face would be a general greeting of 'Hello there!' "You can't just go round punching people—especially not in the womanly bits, that's disgusting!"

Sirius ignored him. "I can't believe Georgina did this to you!" His indisputable anger alarmed Remus. "No longer can we call her Hot Georgina after this! We'll call her…Georgina the Grungy! Though it's not necessarily true because she is exceptionally fine—damn it! It's as though my mouth forbids me to say she is unattractive—because she is so obviously gorgeous—DAMN IT." He shook his head and limbs. "Why don't we find a spell that makes her ugly? That would infuriate her!"

"Don't be stupid Sirius, you're not doing anything to her," Remus warned him.

"I think you're being the stupid one here for not wanting to do anything to her!"

"There's no point retaliating by hexing her!"

Sirius pouted stubbornly. "But I want to make her ugly," he mumbled.

Remus sighed. "Well…carry out the spell on jelly babies to amuse yourself instead," he suggested lamely.

"I've run out of jelly babies and Honeydukes is closed."

"Are you purposely being difficult?"

"Good lord Moony; this is how I usually am. Have you forgotten?"

Remus couldn't suppress a chuckle. Though it was his turn to scold Sirius and make a witty remark, it seemed more fitting to mention, "I missed this," the this meaning the simple act of arguing over white marks on one's bottom.

"So have I," Sirius admitted. "Want to know something selfish?"

Remus' face filled up with dread. "Oh no Sirius, you didn't! You killed Lily, didn't you? You killed James' girlfriend! He's going to murder you for that—"

"I didn't kill Lily," Sirius cut him off in annoyance. His expression suddenly changed to one of fake malevolence. "All in due time, mate, harharhar…" Remus' eyes grew wide. "Kidding! I'd never kill Lily….without a money reward."

"Your mutterings scare me, but do go on."

"Well," Sirius started, trying to think of the gentlest way to speak next. "I'm kind of happy Georgina the Grungy ended it with you."

"…I'm trying incredibly hard not to be offended, so I'm hoping there's a considerably heart-warming line after what you've just said."

Sirius yawned and stretched his legs out audaciously. "Not really."

"What?"

"Not really would be a significantly dim-witted answer, er, which is why I have prepared a heart-warming line to add!" Sirius quickly covered himself. "Glad to have you back with the Marauders, mate." He patted Remus on the shoulder. A sudden worry came to mind and he panicked suddenly. "You are coming back, right? If not, I've got a plan to overturn this bench and repeatedly hit you on the head with it until you see sense, so ye be warned."

"I can't take you seriously when you say 'ye' and talk all pirate-like."

"Ye best answer the question, matey."

Remus kept an unnaturally blank stare directed at Sirius but swiftly moved on, "The dreams about….you, and me, and us, and us doing….stuff, and us liking the….stuff, and oddly chicken, have stopped….temporarily." Sirius turned sad, looking at his lap (making Remus think he was examining his crotch, as usual), assuming Remus was still bothered by his images through his sleep. "But…I honestly don't care if they come back, nor will I go into trauma if they do."

Sirius looked up, changing his bleak disposition to a smile.

"The question is: are the Marauders going to take me back?" Remus asked with his brow raised.

With a grin plastered across his face, Sirius scoffed, "God, I can't believe you're even asking me that," making Remus smile gratefully in return. Sirius wiped away a fake tear. "I think I deserve a Moony Hug, don't you?"

The smile immediately wiped off Remus' face. "You know for a fact those are very rare. I only like to give them to you at Christmas and birthdays because it's polite."

"Yes, but I want mine now," Sirius demanded stubbornly.

"Are you quite sure? They only come round twice a year. I'll have to take away the one at Christmas, you know."

"Sod it," Sirius said flippantly. Anyway, Christmas was always that time he got Remus sloshed and he ended up giving free hugs out like no tomorrow, not that the werewolf knew that.

"Padfoot, you've been hugging me for more than five seconds now. You know the rule: if it's any longer, it's considered very, very weird."

No response.

"Padfoot? Padfoot, have you passed out, or something?" Remus tried to move his arms but they were currently pinned to their sides by Sirius'. "Good grief, has James given you any attention since I've been gone?"

"He brought a girl to a Boys' Day Out."

"I'll have a word with him later if you want."

"Thanks. Can you also break it to Peter that he's not replacing you anymore? It's a bit hard to speak to him since he married a dictionary."

"Really? I must say that's lovely news—"

"RUN! RUUUN!" an unknown voice interrupted them.

"Piss off!" Sirius snapped immediately to the intruder. "We're having a brotherly moment here!"

"Sirius." Remus had pulled away, holding one of his hands to his brow as he shielded his eyes from something dangerously bright in the sky.

"What the bloody hell is that?" Sirius demanded. He was moody from the hug interruption and tried to focus on what Remus was looking at up above that seemed to be occupying his attention rather than him. "Whatever it is it's most definitely not doing wonders for my cornea and—fuck."

Sirius didn't like this feeling of not being able to breathe. He liked to breathe.

"The Dark Mark," he murmured.

"We need to get away from here," Remus said at once. The Dark Mark was something he'd seen repeatedly in the Daily Prophet, but never up close. Seeing it with his very eyes made it seem more real - the screaming around him too, you never got sounds like that with a moving photograph.

"We've…we've…" Remus struggled to clear his head as swarms of people shot out of the shops and pubs, running through the street in bedlam. He stuck near Sirius and grabbed a hold of his arm so he wouldn't be pulled along with the sea of bodies. Despite the bustling of everyone around him, Sirius was frozen to the ground as he stared up at the sky. Remus couldn't understand why they hadn't started running for safety yet. "We've got to get back to the castle, Sirius."

"Kind of...alluring, isn't it?"

Remus stared at him in confusion. "What?" he yelled.

"Alluring," Sirius repeated. Remus frowned at the way Sirius held a sort of intrigued daze at the snake coming out of the skull's mouth. "The way it sort of…glows, you know?"

"No, I don't know." Remus continued to frown at Sirius' behaviour but knew there was no time to dwell on it. "Sirius come on, we can't just stand here!" Remus pulled on his arm but he persisted to be motionless. "Sirius, please!" he said desperately.

"Moony, stop me looking at it." It seemed like Sirius was trying hard to look away but the Dark Mark had locked him into an eerie trance. His eyes had never been so glazed. "Stop me looking at it now. I don't want to end up like my…family." Images of his parents floated above the Dark Mark in his mind, smirking down at him.

"You're not like them, Sirius."

Sirius being Sirius tried to crack an offhand smile, but you could tell by his eyes he was frightened. In Remus' mind, Sirius seemed like the type to be furthest away from fear out of all people.

"You're not like them," Remus persisted to reassure him. "You don't belong to that side."

It took Sirius a while to finally accept his words with a nod.

"Come on, it's not safe here." Remus motioned for them to get going, and with one final look, Sirius tore his eyes off the Dark Mark and the two disappeared amongst the crowd and in the direction of the Shrieking Shack.

-------------

"Following me, are we, Lily?"

She cursed herself for getting in this situation. How could she have been so dim-witted to follow Derrick? What did she think she would achieve from following him? What had she expected to find?

Well, she'd found him, alright. She'd found him and she was pretty sure she was going to die in this alley if Derrick didn't stop wringing her neck. The beginning of watery eyes had already formed from the pain, and if she wasn't mistaken, her sight was turning a bloody red.

She found it painful to talk, but managed to squeak out in reply, "Don't flatter yourself."

She kicked out her legs but all they managed to do was boot the wall she was pinned against with her heels. He'd actually managed to lift her off the ground. She'd never known him to be this strong last year. He'd got tougher, she could tell, and risked everything to be it, his previously immaculate self replaced by a scruffy boy with a power-hungry look in his eye.

"Best not to struggle to defend yourself when I know for a fact you've been following me for the entire afternoon, Lily. I wonder what James would think."

The mere proposal of James finding out she had been trailing Derrick this Hogsmeade trip made the insides of her stomach squirm. Letting out a hiss of protest, she continued to kick out her legs and claw her nails into his hands in attempt to make him release her.

"Come on Lily, why not so chatty?"

She continued to glare at him. "Perhaps because I can't breathe, you prick," she hissed out.

Whether it was pity or Derrick simply couldn't bother to hold Lily up anymore, he released his suffocating grip on her neck and she fell to the ground on her front. Staring at the ground on bent knees, she massaged her neck and tried to take in as much air as possible to get her breath back.

"What is it that you want, Lily?"

"One name," she managed to cough out.

A scowl formed upon Derrick's face as he leant against the wall. "We're not still on the subject of the Half Blood Prince, are we? I find it incredibly boring."

"Just one name, Derrick. That's all I'm asking. I won't get you involved, I won't tell the Half Blood Prince you grassed up on him, or whatever!" Lily truly had enough of it all. "Please, I'm begging you."

The sight of Lily on her knees seemed to please Derrick. She watched him with careful eyes as he bent down to her level and smiled.

"Alright," he murmured. Lily was confused.

"Alright what?"

"Alright, I'll tell you."

Lily was delighted, becoming more alert as she crept closer to listen.

"The Half Blood Prince," Derrick paused deliberately to torture her, and she urged him to go on, "is—"

"RUN! RUUUUN!"

Derrick and Lily snapped their attention to the opening of the alley where a wizard had flown past in a hurry. At once, the air erupted with deafening screams.

Lily rose on her feet, bewildered by the noise. "What on earth…?"

"Must dash, Lily," Derrick informed her, his eyes intently on the opening of the alley. "Things to do."

Before Lily could register what he'd said, had run down the passage and into the main street of Hogsmeade, looking right before sprinting left.

"No!" Lily attempted to run after him but by the time she'd escaped the alley and made it to the main street, she was lost in a crowd of distressed bodies. "No, he was about to tell me who he was!" she cried out in fury, but she could barely hear herself speak amongst the villagers bawling. She let out a moan of annoyance as several wizards and witches shoved her out of the way, nearly making her topple over. "Hey!" She tumbled into another stranger's torso. "What the heck is going on?"

A scared wizard standing in front of her grabbed her elbow roughly and Lily shrieked in protest thinking he was about to hurt her. Instead, he pointed above.

"Look at the sky, girl! Look at the sky!"

Before she even looked she understood - it all clicked at that instant. The Dark Mark plagued the sky in all its wicked glory.

Only one name seemed to come to mind, and surprisingly it wasn't James'.

Nicole.

Lily's eyes grew wide.

'I'm worried about you, Lily…'

Where was Nicole? Was she—?

'I'm going to the toilet...'

"Oh no," Lily murmured. "Oh no, oh no, oh no…" She got out her wand and started pushing through the crowds in the direction of the Hog's Head, in the complete opposite course to where everyone was trying to escape to.

"Lily! Lily, where are you going?" a fellow classmate spotted her in the midst of the throng and tugged on her elbow. "You're going the wrong way!"

"Get off!" Lily tugged her elbow free. The girl frowned at Lily, upset by how harshly she'd acted. "I'm sorry; just get back to the castle, alright? Anybody you see from Hogwarts you tell them to get straight back to the castle and to their common rooms, do you understand?" The girl nodded. "Quickly! Go!"

Once Lily's classmate was lost again in the crowds, Lily struggled her way to the Hog's Head once again. Finally reaching the pub, she discovered the front door already open and she bounded inside, keeping her wand at the ready. She found the pub dark inside, muttering a "lumos" to spot tables overturned and the owner out of sight.

Was Nicole here? Had she left for safety?

Lily quickly came to realization as she looked at the Hog's Head toilet, the very same one she remembered her and the Marauders getting locked in last year. To her dismay, the same piece of parchment was still stuck to the door: 'Don't close completely. Door's dodgy.'

"Well done twat of a pub owner for not getting it fixed," she grumbled viciously. She stepped over the strewn stools and stood in front of the bathroom door, pressing her ear to it. There didn't appear to be any sounds of movement from inside. That worried her.

"Nicole?" When she got no reply, she started banging on the door with her fists. "Nicole!"

"Lily?" a frightened voice squeaked from inside.

"Nicole, thank God!" Lily rested her forehead on the door and sighed with relief. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, but what's going on outside? I can hear screaming."

Lily gulped. She didn't have the heart to tell her what was going on outside, and it was best not to make her friend panic in this situation. Nicole's voice already suggested she was scared enough as it was.

"Never mind that," Lily told her. "Just come out of there."

"I can't Lily, the door won't open!"

Lily tried not to focus on her friend's tone of distress. She made for the door handle and tugged on it furiously, but it refused to budge. "Come on," she begged, rattling the door.

"Lily, what's going on? I'm scared."

"Don't panic, alright? I'm dealing with it." Lily checked behind her in worry in case a Death Eater decided to make a surprise visit. She hoped an empty Hog's Head wouldn't interest them…

------------

Why wasn't I prepared for this? James wondered as he stared at the Dark Mark plaguing the sky. I should have been prepared for this.

"Wormtail," he tried not to get distracted by his thoughts and focused on Peter, watching worriedly as his friend sputtered out no words. "Wormtail, don't panic, alright? Panic and you get yourself killed." Honesty would be the best way to get through to him right now.

A sudden thought hit him. Where were Padfoot and Moony?

Luckily he had his two-way pocket mirror on him. He rustled it out of his trouser pocket and held it out of in front of him. "Sirius!" he yelled at it, "SIRIUS!"

"I'm here, I'm here!" Sirius' face appeared at the mirror, turning in all directions as he appeared to be running.

"Where are you? Is Moony with you? Are you both okay?"

"We're fine, we're getting back to the castle," Sirius said hurriedly. "You and Wormtail get your arse back to Hogwarts now, Prongs."

"I will, I just—"

Lily.

James showed a look of horror. "I've got to find Lily."

"What? No, she's probably at the castle already! Prongs, don't you go looking for her—"

James had already stuffed the mirror in his pocket and Sirius' voice was muffled.

"Peter, please, can you help me find Lily—Peter? Peter, are you alright?" James studied his friend's face. He didn't like that look upon him.

"I'm sorry, James," Peter looked at him apologetically. Ducking into a nearby alley, Peter transformed into his animagus form of a rat and shot off down the street, making his way in and out of people's feet and towards Hogwarts. James stared after him.

He'd like to admit he was angry, he was angry as hell…yet, he couldn't blame him. Peter was terrified—heck, so was James. If James had the option to, he'd run back to the castle too, but not without knowing Lily was definitely absent from the village…

James would forgive Peter later. That's what friends did.

"Right," James spoke to himself, steadying his breathing. Clutching his wand tightly in his hand, he pushed through the crowd and began to search.

-------------

"Come on, open."

Lily became more nervous as time passed. The door just would not budge with human force. It was impossible.

But with magic….

She suddenly pointed her wand to the door and spoke, "Alohomora!"

The door remained locked. She was certain that would have worked.

"Lily? Lily, what's happening?"

Tears began to form in her eyes. "Nicole, I can't open it."

"You can't?"

"No, I'm just keeping you locked in a bathroom for a laugh!" She pushed all her weight on the door but only resulted in hurting her shoulder. "Oh God, oh God…"

"Get the owner, Lily!"

"The owner's gone!"

"What?" Nicole cried. "Why?"

"Because the Dark Mark is outside!" Lily blurted out, wincing afterwards.

"WHAT?"

Lily heard Nicole burst into tears.

"Oh my God! Oh my God, I'm going to die!"

"Don't be stupid, and keep your voice down." She glanced behind her nervously. She didn't want any loud voices to attract attention, especially when it seemed to be quiet all of a sudden. Glancing at the windows, outside seemed pretty bare except for the occasional wizard running past.

"Merlin, please, Lily, get me out!"

"I'm trying!" She tried to think of other spells to use off the top of her head but her mind seemed frustratingly blank. She heard a crunching noise of a footstep behind her and she sucked in a breath in fear.

"Oh God," Lily whispered.

"What?" Lily could tell Nicole was on the other side of the door, pressing her ear to the surface. "Lily? Lily, what's happening?"

"Someone's coming."

"What?"

"Nox," Lily whispered, extinguishing the light of her wand. She crouched low to the ground and kept silent. She tried to hide herself deeper in the shadows as she spotted a figure enter the room, climbing over the tables and stools.

"James, where are you…." Lily whispered in fear.

Suddenly a wand light shined in her face and she issued a scream…

"Orange peel?"

Lily quickly stopped screaming as she found James standing above her, delighted to have found her as though they'd been playing Hide and Seek, expecting a hug and flurry of kisses—

"You bastard!" She hit him repeatedly on the shoulder and tried to aim for his crotch next but he protected himself with his hands.

"Ow, ow, OW! What are you doing, woman?" James exclaimed in utter disbelief.

"I thought you were a Death Eater, you stupid git!" She hit him again and James let out a whimper, a perfect sound for a knight in shining armour.

"Normally heroes don't get this sort of welcoming, you know," he grumbled.

"Normally proper heroes have swords and beautiful white stallion horses," Lily harrumphed, looking for the aforementioned.

James looked at his wand, which was really just a stick to the average Muggle, as though it was his very small penis. "I think you're being awfully fussy—" His head snapped at the sound of a noise. He clamped his hand over Lily's mouth and pushed them both low to the floor. Confusedly, Lily kept silent and didn't resist. She let out a muffled squeak of terror against James' fingers as they watched someone in a black hooded cloak slowly pass the window of the pub. Once the assumed Death Eater was out of sight, James released his palm from Lily's mouth and she immediately hugged him.

"Scary stuff, huh?"

Lily nodded into his shoulder in reply.

"What are you even doing here?" James asked as soon as he pulled away from her. "We need to get back to the castle—"

"No," Lily determinedly shook her head, "Nicole's in there." She gestured to the locked bathroom.

James looked at her in exasperation. Just when he thought the situation couldn't get any worse, he was yet again proved wrong. "You've got to be kidding me…"

"Hello?" they both heard Nicole's call coming from the other side of the door. "Can you not forget about me, please? I'm kind of pissing my knickers right now."

"You'd think you wouldn't do that with the amount of toilets that surround you—ow, ow," James rubbed his shoulder that Lily had slapped due to his remark.

"What are we going to do, James?" Lily asked, lowering her voice so Nicole couldn't hear or worry more. "The door won't budge. It's impossible to open as last year when we got trapped in there."

James grinned all of a sudden, "Good times."

"Stop being an idiot and help!"

"Alright, alright!" James looked the door up and down, and Lily hoped to God he wasn't actually trying the method of intimidating it to unlock. An idea triggered. "Got a plan!" he announced.

"Yes! James, I love you!" Lily clapped her hands.

"..wait, I lost it."

"YOU STUPID TWAT!" Lily hit him round the head. "Get it back! Get the idea back!" she commanded.

"Wait, wait, I've got it again—nope, that's wind…no….yes, yes! I've got it!" James rustled his hands in his pockets.

"You better not be looking for change," Lily growled.

"Found it!" James brought out his pocket knife borrowed from Sirius, the special one for opening persistent doors like this. "It may not be a sword—"

"It's definitely not a sword," Lily snubbed it.

"Don't rebuff it for its size, my love, or it might just accidentally cut your throat." James jammed the knife into the door lock and jangled it about. After a few seconds, the door clicked and opened and Nicole came bursting out in tears. James puffed out his chest, expecting praise and thank-you-mangoes-now-please.

"Well done, knife!" Lily congratulated it.

James turned sour. "Yes, no thanks to me at all," he mumbled, pocketing the knife back into his pocket.

Lily suddenly thought of something. "Why didn't you use that last time we were trapped in the toilet?" she demanded ferociously.

James sighed. "Because I'm stupid, my love," he answered obediently.

"Yes, that's something you incredibly are," a fake smile plastered across her face. James would pay for his mistakes later.

"Thank you, James," Nicole told him gratefully as she hugged Lily. "You're not quite a prick after all."

James grinned smugly, "Why, thank you, Nic—WHAT? YOU THOUGHT I WAS A PRICK? YOU BLOODY—"

"Let's go, James."

"Yes, Lily dear."

With James leading, the three bounded quickly over the strewn tables and stools and cautiously peeked out from the building. Seeing the coast was clear, only the occasional wizard running past in panic, James said, "Let's go." The three ran as fast as they could through the streets of Hogsmeade, checking if there were any fellow classmates running astray in the village, but finding none to their relief. Once the gates to the castle were visible in the distance, the three ran harder; the school, akin to a safe home for all of them, was so near.

However, there was a lone figure standing nearby that attracted Lily's attention. James and Nicole looked at him briefly but passed him, running ahead towards the gates, yet Lily couldn't.

"Snape?"

It was weird for Lily to say his name; it wasn't a name she could roll off her lips so easily. She studied Snape looking up at the Dark Mark with a vacant gaze; it was still glowing in the sky. He didn't even turn to look at her when she said his name.

"Snape," Lily repeated. Still no luck. "Severus," she tried instead.

That did the trick. Now he wasn't looking at the Dark Mark but looking at her, a strange look of consideration, and she felt her blood run cold. Finding her voice, she told him, "You should get back to the castle."

"Lily, come on." James had appeared at her side and was tightly holding her hand. Though he was addressing her, he was making beady eyes at Snape. "Like what you see, Snape?" He resisted the usual nickname of 'Snivellus'; knowing Lily hated it when he called him that. Nonetheless, he stepped in front of Snape's line of gaze, blocking him from looking at Lily. Snape's eyes tore away from emerald ones and hit hazel, the ones of James Potter. Once again, Snape looked up at the Dark Mark.

"Let's go," James tugged add Lily's hand and she let him pull along.

She looked back at Snape, "But what about—"

"Who cares?" James snorted, answering his own question, "Nobody."

Snape had heard what James said, Lily could tell, as she glanced behind her and found Snape's fists clenching.

Who cares about Snape? Lily wondered. No one.

And, strangely enough, that made her sad.

---------------

The atmosphere was grim in the Gryffindor common room.

"Who wants a game of Thumb War, eh?"

Sirius had been trying desperately hard to lighten up spirits, but to no avail (you could play Thumb War so many times before wanting to saw off your own thumbs). Professor McGonagall had already come in briefly to tell Gryffindor House the situation: there had been an attack on Hogsmeade by the Death Eaters but Aurors had come in the nick of time before true turmoil occurred. She'd then told the Gryffindors to get some sleep, 'for tomorrow was Sunday, another day' and other positive, look-on-the-bright-side-of-life mumbo jumbo no one truly listened to. It was only Lily and the Marauders still up in the common room; apparently too deep in thought to sleep.

"Do you know if anyone was injured?" Lily asked the Marauders after a lengthy moment of silence. The boys shook their heads solemnly. Peter in particular was especially quiet since meeting James back in the common room. James could tell he felt guilty, it was as though guilt waves were radiating off him.

"James," Peter started.

"Don't worry about it, Pete," he told him quickly, forcing a small smile to reassure his friend. "If I were in your situation, I would have done the same."

Except he was lying.

"Do you think they were planning to attack the school?" Lily asked yet another question. She had so many questions since she'd gotten back to the castle, and most would be left unanswered.

"Of course it wasn't," Sirius snapped a little. "It was an attack on Hogsmeade, not Hogwarts."

"Well, how do you know they weren't just working themselves up to the castle?" Lily bit back.

"But they didn't, did they."

"But they could have. Do you think they'll shut down the school?"

"Of course they won't shut down the school, Lily!"

"Oh shut up Sirius, how do you know? You're not Dumbledore!"

"Dumbledore would never shut down the school, alright! This school is my home!"

"I know Sirius, everyone feels that way, but we've got to face up to the facts that Hogwarts isn't as safe as we thought!"

"You don't know what you're talking about! Hogwarts will always be safe—"

"Guys! Guys, please!" James shut Sirius and Lily up with a yell, looking tiredly at the two. With a sigh, they both finished arguing.

"I think we're all just irritable because of lack of sleep," Remus said steadily from his chair. "Why don't we all just all go to bed?" The others nodded in agreement, getting up from their seats, but paused when they spotted Frank Longbottom making his way down the staircase.

"Hey guys," he greeted them with a small smile, picking up his school robes he'd left on the back of one of the chairs. "Rough day, right?"

"You said it," James replied, exhausted.

"Oh," Frank came closer, remembering something. "Did you guys hear? About the person who was murdered by You-know-who?"

Lily gasped while the boys widened their eyes in astonishment.

"Someone died?" Remus repeated.

"Yeah," Frank nodded gravely. "McGonagall tried to keep quiet about it, but word around the castle is that it was a father of somebody in this school."

"Oh my goodness," Lily covered her open mouth with her hand. "Who?"

"Oh…I can't remember her name….I think you guys know her. That girl…what is it you call her? 'Hot Georgina', I think?"

The group sucked in a breath, the second Frank had mentioned her name; he didn't realize he'd get such a reaction from them. Looking uncomfortable, he told them awkwardly "night, then" and retired up the staircase to his dorm.

James immediately looked at Remus who'd gone to sit back down in his chair, laying his chin on clasped hands as his elbows rested on his knees. Lily and Peter stood by his side, unsure of what to do. Sirius was already making for the portrait exit. James stopped him before he left through the hole and steered him to a corner of the common room out of the others' range of hearing.

"What are you doing?" James hissed at him.

Sirius frowned at him. "What does it look like I'm doing, Prongs? I'm going to see if she's okay." He made his way for the portrait again but James grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back roughly. Sirius scowled at him.

"What is your problem, James?"

"What is yours?"

Out of the corner of his eye, James spotted Lily looking over from sitting with Remus, wondering what was going on from their raised voices. James lowered his.

"I know her father just died, but she is not a good person, Sirius."

"Her father was murdered, Prongs. Whatever happened with Moony can be pushed aside tonight, she needs a friend right now." Yet again, he made his way to the portrait but James determinedly stood in front of him. Sirius couldn't understand why he was stopping him from leaving.

"Get out of my way James—"

"You don't get it," he gritted through his teeth. "The reason why Georgina broke off their date to Hogsmeade today wasn't because he was boring, studious or whatever; it was because she found out he was a werewolf."

Sirius blinked in surprise, running a hand through his hair in unease. He really couldn't believe it. They'd been so careful in hiding Remus' secret. "But how?"

"I don't know," James shrugged bitterly. "All I know is that she'll date anyone except a werewolf."

Sirius shut his eyes briefly, disappointment in Georgina shown clearly across his face.

"Maybe her father getting murdered will be a wake up call to her—"

"Don't say stuff like that," Sirius shook his head, shooting James a hurt look at such a vicious remark.

"Sirius, just…." James sighed in frustration. "Just get over there and sit with Remus, now." And Sirius would do it, because James asked nicely and it was James after all.

"I may live under the same roof as you, but you are not my fucking mother, Prongs."

Sirius bashed shoulders with him and climbed through the portrait hole, and James stared after him with a look that said betrayal.