A/N: Edited July 16, 2007. Only a few more days until HP7!
Warning: this chapter and the next do not exactly work together. Will try to resolve quickly.
Chapter Seven: The Marauders
Sirius Black peeked through the third floor window of the boy's dormitory at the Auror's Academy tucked away in a remote stretch of English countryside. Of course, Sirius had found the place and sneaked into the premises. He was no dark wizard but he knew cunning. Pranks didn't just create themselves. Of course, he had also known his share of being caught and serving detention. But that had never stopped a slightly reckless spark in him.
Perfect, Sirius thought. The dorm was completely deserted. (The advantage of arriving at dinner time).
"Alohomora," Sirius whispered touching the point of his wand to the lock on the window. It popped open and Sirius slipped inside. No alarms, so far as he could tell. So far, so good. He glanced around and flicked his wand at the nearest trunk. It sprang open and Sirius peered inside. Chocolate frogs, school robes, stuffed monkey, purple dress robes? Not James.
Next. A picture of a beaming Lily was right on top. Oho!
Sirius flung garments and books randomly out of the trunk searching. Nearly to the bottom of the trunk he found it: the precious invisibility cloak. He pulled out the silvery cloth and took it to the window. With haste, he tossed it over his new flying motorcycle, parked outside on the roof, and returned back inside locking the window behind him.
Sirius grabbed some spare parchment and supplies from James trunk and scribbled a note. Then, just to be safe, he transformed into a dog and settled on James's bed, waiting.
The bed was a little bouncy—too bouncy. Practically broken actually. It was a good thing Lily was no where near the school, Sirius thought, testing the limits of the alarmingly loose springs and wondering how James managed to sleep on this thing. This bed would not be at all conducive to any sort of…er…companionable activity…
James didn't take long. He came into the dorm at a near gallop his wand drawn, his hair looking particularly windswept.
"Prongs!" Sirius said suddenly transforming into a human.
"What are you doing here?" James cried glancing nervously around his room. That grin of Sirius's was all too familiar. Unfortunately, this wasn't Hogwarts and James wasn't in the mood for any jokes.
"What do you think I'm doing here? You said 'hell yeah'."
"What?" James asked, his face screwing up in confusion.
"I've been buttering up Rosie. We've got a gig tonight at the Three Broomsticks. She thinks it might attract some of the business that the clubs are seeing and spark more than regulars to show up during the week. She said Madam Puddifoot's had Celestina Warbeck two weeks ago and she was a huge hit for attracting business.
I've already worked it out with Peter and we've created this handy little charm for Remus's keyboard. We just need you!"
"You are out of your mind. I have school! I'm at school! And the fact that you somehow got past security at one of the top Auror schools in the country is alarming to say the least."
"A marauder doesn't get caught unless he means to."
James stared at his friend for a few moments and thought he must be crazy. Of course, he'd thought it before. Like the time they decided to become illegal animagi. Or when he decided it would be no big deal for James to date Lily. Or… "No." James said suddenly and watched Sirius' face fall.
"Prongs," Sirius whined. "I'll have you back by 3:00AM. No one has to know, least of all Lily, if that's what you're worried about. We'll be a huge success. You can't back out on me now. We have to try the new song. I assume you've at least looked at it."
"Listen, Sirius," James said, glancing around nervously again, wondering how long he had until someone returned to the dorm. "I have too much to lose. I can't take a chance like this."
"Whatever you say Snivellus. I swear you're turning out to be just like him."
"Snivellus!" James roared. Sirius grinned. He had hit the right button.
"The old James Potter would have jumped at a chance like this." Sirius pressed on. "But I guess you've changed now. Talking about getting married…"
James felt his face grow hot. Sirius just didn't understand. This wasn't the same sort of run-of-the-mill prank. This was serious stuff. I mean, OK, it was pretty serious when they decided to break laws at Hogwarts but facing expulsion at this point just wasn't an option. Somehow, this was different and James didn't have the patience or the time to explain it to Sirius just then. "I have not changed," he protested. Sirius looked unconvinced. And James grew more and more frustrated. This was ridiculous, crazy, so much to lose…but then, the more James thought of it the more he realized he had risked expulsion and Azkaban and the whole lot before without a moment's hesitation. "I have not changed!" He yelled again more to convince himself now than Sirius who was looking infuriatingly smug. Sirius remained silent, patient, knowing he was only moments away. "Fine! Let's go! I'll show you, Sirius Black! I'm still part of the Marauders! Come on!" Sirius smiled, triumphantly. He knew all along he just had to push the right buttons and James would agree.
"No time to waste then," Sirius said, clapping his hands together and causing the window to spring open all at the same time.
"How did you get here?" James asked curiously peering out of the window as Sirius climbed through and felt around like a blind man for his motorcycle. "Because there are a lot of enchantments—"
"Yes indeed," Sirius muttered. "But nothing I didn't anticipate, especially with—OUCH!" He had found his motorcycle. James clambered out of the window and stood on the roof next to Sirius looking at him like he was insane. "Behold!" Sirius exclaimed, beaming, as he yanked back the invisibility cloak and exposed his brand new motorcycle. James found he could do little more than stare for a beat.
"Hey!" James shouted, suddenly. "Is that mine?" he asked pointing an accusing finger at the cloak in Sirius's hands.
"What?" Sirius asked, looking around bewildered for a moment. "Oh yeah," he said handing it to James. "Keep that. We might need it." Then he fell into silence for a moment, his eyes contemplating his motorcycle like a lover. "Isn't it beautiful?"
James had to agree; it was a nice looking ride and he could easily see himself roaring up to his house fetching Lily on it. "Where did you get the money?" James asked.
Sirius blushed ever so slightly and shrugged. "Picked up some gold here and there."
"You're not still modeling are you?" James asked, as they mounted the bike and prepared for take-off. "It's bloody embarrassing mate."
"Slightly," Sirius agreed. "But my paycheck is anything but embarrassing."
When they arrived at the Three Broomsticks it was to see that set up was already underway. Peter and a brown haired witch were zooming instruments and equipment at dangerous speeds with their wands and slopping butterbeer down their fronts in zealous pursuit of liquid.
"Sierra!?" James exclaimed and the witch turned and beamed. She was a friend of theirs from high school known for her wicked fast wand work and dueling ability, her ridiculously long last name, and her fabulously wealthy father.
"Hey Potter," she said. "Long time no see."
"Sierra!" Sirius cried exuberantly and smothering her in a hug.
"Down boy," she said with a grin. "Got your owl just as I was getting ready for bed last night. Made me happier than anything I could have dreamed about."
Sirius grinned and looked from her to James. James shrugged. This was turning out to look like a very good idea.
Madam Rosmerta found a spare moment between mixing drinks to sidle up to Sirius. She made a formidable sight, her wand drawn and her high spike heels giving her extra inches. "I'm warning you…all of you," she said, giving them each a good glare. "No damaged property, no trouble or you'll never have a drink in this town in your life!"
"Don't get your knickers in a twist, Rosie," Sirius said. "Oh, and, uh…DUCK!" he exclaimed, forcing her head down as a guitar went soaring over their heads just missing them. "Oy! Peabrains! Watch what you're doing!" he shouted, turning from her and approaching his bandmates.
"Don't call me Rosie!" she shouted as she marched back to the bar. When she was out of sight Sirius shared a grin all around. Madam Rosmerta put up a pretense but it was all show. This was going to be the busiest Tuesday night the Three Broomsticks had seen in years.
"Are we doing the new song?" Peter asked, hoping he wouldn't screw up his part.
"Of course," Sirius replied. "So long as Angie gets here." He looked out into the crowd of friendly faces hoping to catch a glimpse of shining blond hair but was disappointed.
"Angie is going to be here?" James asked, his face going white. "She'll tell Lily for sure," James said.
"Leave it to me. I'll make sure she knows what's what. But she's got to be here to sing the song. Not that we don't love your voice James but we were writing the song so we kind of planned it for our vocals."
"Right," James said raising his eyebrows suggestively. Peter stopped what he was doing and fixed Sirius with an expectant look as well.
"What?" Sirius asked, realizing everyone was staring at him.
"Are you and Angie…I mean…again?" Peter asked somewhat in shock.
"What!? No, of course not," Sirius said, his shocked expression marred slightly by the nervous and knowing glance he shared with James.
Peter didn't miss it. "Uh-huh. We've heard that before."
"Yeah but—" Sirius cut himself off as he saw Peter shake with silent laughter. He gave them a scowl and turned back to setting up the drum set.
"How did you get my guitar here?" James asked, picking in a seemingly random fashion as he tuned.
"Just told Lily you were letting a replacement borrow it," Sirius said with a shrug.
"Not to be repetitive or anything," James said. "But you've already talked to Angie right? She's not going to, like, bring Lily or something?"
"I hope not. We'd all be in some shit," Peter said.
"I think the bigger fear would be that you were caught leaving school, not if Lily catches you," Sierra said.
Sirius and James looked at each other and both said: "Lily." Sierra burst out laughing.
"I'll catch you later," she said, entering the bar room.
"Relax James," Sirius said, sounding bored. "Angie is practically a Marauder where Lily is decidedly not. She knows Lily. She's not stupid."
Before they were going to play, they put a charm on their instruments to make the sound much softer, so they could do a quick run-through.
Peter played bass guitar, Sirius played drums, Remus played keyboard (though currently the keyboard seemed to play of its own accord which forced them all to keep a steady beat), and James sang and played guitar. Together they made a pretty good ensemble. And, of course, they called themselves THE MARAUDERS.
Just as they were finishing up Angie appeared and clapped enthusiastically as they finished. "That new song is going to sound great tonight!" she said. Catching James's eyes she said, "Somebody's a bad boy!"
"Have I ever been good?" James joked.
"True, you haven't…" Angie said thoughtfully.
"It was all Sirius's idea anyway."
"If you think that gets you off the hook, then you've got another thing coming James Potter!" All five of them turned to see none other than Lily Evans standing there. James felt his stomach bottom out and felt all the blood drain from his face in shock. "I suppose you sneaked away from school to come play tonight?" James cast a desperate glance at Sirius. When none of them said anything Lily turned and walked off.
"You didn't happen to bring the ring, did you? That might take her mind off this little indiscretion," Sirius suggested trying to be lighthearted. James was not amused.
"Bad luck mate," Peter murmured.
"No I didn't bring the ring, damn it! You said—"
"Yeah, I know what I said," Sirius cut James off and turned a scathing look to Angie. Her face glowed red and her face was twisted in genuine guilt. "What did you bring her for?" Sirius asked accusingly.
"I…" Angie sputtered. "You told Lily there was a replacement…I didn't know…" Sirius deflated a bit as he realized Angie had never heard the real plan. James was still in a state of slight panic, however and not ready to let either of them off the hook.
Angie caught sight of James's imminent explosion and, thinking fast, neatly cut him off.
"Don't panic; I'll talk to Lily. In the meantime it wouldn't hurt if you lot started this show and it had better be with Lily's song." Having finished giving orders she moved purposefully away; a woman on a mission.
"Don't worry James," Sirius advised. "Let's just do this."
When they were all assembled on stage James was surprised to see just how many people had arrived. It appeared that Sirius had owled everyone they had ever known and their next-door neighbors as well.
His eyes scanned the crowd for Lily but he was having trouble seeing through the haze of cigarette smoke. He recognized Sierra enjoying a drink with a couple of other familiar faces. Just as they were about to start he caught sight of a shock of red hair near the door in the back. She was in deep conversation with Angie and it didn't look good. Feeling slightly queasy James heard Sirius count off and they started Lily's song: Just a Flower.
"The stars were just the stars,
Until you caught them in your eyes.
"The sunrise just the morning,
Until your smile.
"You were just another girl,
Until I held you in my arms.
"And a lily was just a flower,
Until I met you…"
James kept trying to watch Lily the whole time, hoping to catch her eye but there was always someone obstructing his view. As it faded into nothingness and people started cheering their approval he caught sight of her. She hadn't left at least though she was quite alone, Angie having disappeared. She wasn't looking at him or anyone, instead she was staring at her finger as it traced the rim of her mug.
Sirius's shout and beat shook him back to the present and he got lost in the new song trying to remember it never having practiced it with the full band before. When the vocals started James moved aside to see Angie in the back with Sirius by the drum set. Angie's part wasn't much actually, she just provided some back-up (which was a pity because her voice was far superior to Sirius's.) But she did seem to be enjoying herself dancing around and blowing kisses.
James thought once he could see Lily grinning despite herself.
When I was a young boy,
I was fond of a good joke or two.
Slipping Beatles into soup.
Or frogs in a girls bed.
Guess I never did grow up.
Guess I never did change.
Never said I was a good boy.
Who told you that?
Never said I followed the rules,
Or even the crowd.
So I'm just a little bad boy,
But I'm still in love with you.
I know I'm not what you expected,
Not a nice, good young man.
But I'll wear shining armor,
If that's what you want.
Know I never did grow up
Not sure if I can change.
Never said I was a good boy.
Who told you that?
Never said I followed the rules,
Or even the crowd.
So I'm just a little bad boy,
But I'm still in love with you.
The song, which had been plenty loud and upbeat, got a huge roar from the crowd when it ended. Probably a lot of that had to do with the fact that people listening in were familiar with Sirius and Angie. James had to wonder again whether Sirius was telling the truth about the current state of his and Angie's relationship.
The Marauders played a couple of sets until they exhausted their repertoire which was admittedly not that large especially since they hadn't done anything since they'd left Hogwarts. Once or twice the keyboard did some strange, slightly unexpected things, but most people were too loud and too drunk to care. It was a lot of fun though; fun that kept growing the more freely the bar flowed. When they were taking down their equipment James saw Madam Rosmerta catch Sirius's eye and she winked. Far from sparking a riot, the band had been a huge hit. Everyone seemed happy.
Except, possibly, Lily.
James fought his way through the crowd but it took him a lot longer than expected. There were so many people here he wanted to stop and talk to; that he hadn't seen in a long time. Eventually though he caught up with Lily who was talking to Sierra, her cheeks glowing red with the good feelings of a beer buzz.
Lily made an excuse and they ducked outside onto the street for some privacy. James blew out a gusty sigh not sure how he should start. Lily just shook her head, taking her time, building herself up.
"I don't want to make a big deal out of this," she said softly.
"But I know it is kind of a big deal."
"You know?" Lily repeated, looking into his face. "You see that is exactly the problem. That's what I'm talking about."
James lifted his eyebrows in surprise as her voice grew louder. "About what…specifically?" James asked tentatively trying to follow her train of thought.
"You never take anything seriously. You could be expelled for this. But do you care? No!"
"Like hell I don't care," James shouted, losing his temper in the face of her unjust general accusations.
"Your actions say the opposite. They always do. And you let your friends control you."
"And what is so bad about that?" James exploded. "All around us people are second-guessing themselves. They won't even come out to a place like this and gather on a regular basis. All I'm trying to do is keep the connection alive; stop the alienation and lessen the fear. I understand the importance of going to school. I'm not lightly throwing it aside. The risk I'm not taking really is not that big. Especially compared to other things I've done in the past."
James stopped though he had more to say. He was slightly alarmed to note that there were tears sparkling in her eyes. "Lil…" he said softly, reaching out to touch her as she shivered in the cold.
She shook him off and wiped her eyes angrily with the back of her hand. "You think I don't realize what the world is like? You think all I do is sit at home and hide afraid to take risks like you? No. But there is a difference between being brave and being stupid. Some things are worth certain consequences.
"Ask yourself, James. Was this really worth possible expulsion?"
James looked at his feet and kicked nervously at the ground trying to fight off the wave of guilt that only Lily could cause him to feel. He was surprised to hear a soft pop and when his head flipped up it was to realize that she had just disapparated.
James stood out in the street for a while weighing his options. Wondering if he should go after Lily and argue some more or just leave it. He decided to just leave it as he was going to have to force Sirius to sneak him back into the dorm soon anyway.
"Sirius! Sirius Black!" Lily shouted, standing in her living room, holding a star next to a very tall Christmas tree.
"The only Sirius you'll ever know," Sirius said, appearing on the stairs. Grinning he came the rest of the way down and plucked the star out of her hands. "Need a few inches love?" he asked, standing on his tiptoes and placing the star on top of the tree.
"Uh…no…" Lily said. "I could have done that with my wand. But, what has you in such a good mood?"
"Oh nothing, nothing…" Sirius said airily. Lily sniffed the air suspiciously.
"Have you been drinking wellness potion?"
"Just a nip," Sirius admitted amiably. "I went to see the kiddies in the orphanage and a couple of them have nasty coughs."
"Sirius…you have to be careful with that stuff. Too much and you're sky high."
"Nonsense," Sirius said. "I've had much worse in my time."
"Right…well…I was going to ask your opinion on decorating. I was thinking of getting a couple of fairies to float around on the ceiling."
"That would be very romantic wouldn't it?" Sirius asked, his eyes a little misty.
"Uh…yes," Lily replied hesitantly studying Sirius with a mixture of concern and amusement. "Sirius…no more wellness potion, OK?"
"Whatever you say, love. You're sooo smart."
Lily rolled her eyes and went back to her decorating. James would be home in a few days and then before they knew it Christmas would be upon them and it was going to have to be absolutely perfect.
"Where is he Sirius?" Lily asked nervously wringing her hands as she paced back in forth in front of the fire place. Whatever lingering angry feelings their might have been about the Three Broomsticks performance was forgotten by time away.
"Lily," Sirius said softly, putting his arms around her in a big bear hug. By doing so he effectively stopped her pacing and she laughed into his chest. "He'll be here in a moment."
"OK," Lily said, taking a step back and heaving a deep sigh in an effort to calm herself. Sirius grinned.
Just as the minutes were beginning to wear on to long and Sirius was afraid Lily was about to take up pacing again the front door burst open. James was looking a little wilder than normal, his broom only sort of shouldered, his robes coming off his shoulders and his hair looking incredibly windswept, even for him.
Lily had built up this moment far too much to notice his appearance but Sirius himself had been rather startled at the state of dishevelment. It certainly wasn't without cause.
James put Lily off, which, Sirius imagined, was much harder to do than James made it seem. "Turn on the Wizarding Wireless immediately!" he shouted into her face, though he was looking to Sirius.
Sirius sprang in to action at once, his wand out summoning the wooden box and turning it on. As it zoomed into the living room and settled on the cursed coffee table it switched on. Instead of the cheery holiday music that had been playing lately a tight and haggard sounding voice was reporting news.
And it wasn't good news. There was a really nasty incident in Diagon Alley a few hours ago resulting in one death. The Dark Mark hung over the sky and a great deal of property damage had been done.
The three sank stonily onto the furniture and listened in horror to the continuing bad news. Attacks had happened before, of course. Not the least of which was the one in Hogsmeade that Halloween that nearly resulted in the death of Angela Star. But this was getting a lot of coverage. People were scared. It was the holiday season and this attack had shaken a lot of people.
The night was effectively subdued as they sat for long hours into the night listening to the reports come in. There was no laughter or exuberant home coming celebrations. As a matter of fact, there was very little conversation at all and eventually they all retired, keeping their own thoughts as company.
Everyone was up early the next morning despite being up late. No one, it seems slept well and the WWN was keeping up a quiet but steady stream of news information in the kitchen now as Lily set out coffee and toast.
"I forgot to tell you yesterday, Lily," Sirius said, sipping his coffee. "But this letter from your mother arrived via a man. He seemed most confused. Definitely a muggle."
"Oh," Lily said, a small smile on her face as she pictured the scene with the post man coming to visit. "Thank you."
Everyone was awkwardly silent as she opened the rather lengthy letter and read it silently to herself. After a few moments James leaned over her shoulder and his sharp eyes scanned it quickly.
Lily looked up uneasily but James forced himself to smile. "Let's do it. Let's go visit."
"Oh…but…" Lily said, her eyes widening in shock. She wasn't sure that's what she really wanted to do. In truth she had been avoiding the place since she left. She hadn't, after all, departed on the best of terms and she was not keen on being interrogated about every aspect of her own private life.
"I think we should," James continued. "With stuff like this," he gestured vaguely toward the WWN, "happening you should be with family." He didn't say visiting was important because one or more of them or her might be killed but he didn't have to. It was implicit.
So, Lily and James made a special trip into London and Lily telephoned her house to let them know she and James were going to come visit for a day or two. Her mother was breathlessly ecstatic and kept pestering Lily with questions which she had to cut off because of the pay phone she was on.
"We'll just be gone a day or two," James assured Sirius.
"Where's Lily now?" Sirius asked, glancing around the room as if he expected to see her somewhere.
"Packing I suppose," James said with a shrug.
"Are you going to…you know...?" Sirius asked.
"No! Not at her parent's house," James exclaimed going pale with the thought. "But, I did have the thought that I might talk to her father. At least, try and make myself likable."
"Yes, good thinking," Sirius said.
"No owls," James reminded.
"Right."
"Wish me luck."
"Good luck mate."
"Right."
James and Lily had scarcely left when Angie came rolling out of the fire, brushing ash off her shoulders and looking quite attractive in the low lighting of the Potter living room. Sirius unfolded himself from the couch where he had been absently reading The Evening Prophet. It was reporting a slew of gruesome werewolf attacks on a little town not far from London.
"Oh hi," Angie said with a small smile. "Did James make it back all right? I was hoping to see everyone but I wanted to give them a few days."
"James is home but we've all been kind of tense around here. You weren't around when the attacks in Diagon Alley happened, were you?" Sirius asked, suddenly very concerned as he remembered that she worked at The Daily Prophet.
"No," Angie said, sinking onto a seat next to him. "But we were very busy reporting it. That was OK though," Angie added. "At least I was distracted from really thinking about what was happening. At least I wasn't at home contemplating the events in my empty flat."
Sirius silently cursed himself for not thinking of her sooner. Of course she would have been frightened. "I stayed with my father last night. Of course, that was just a bit of silliness. But he insisted. After the werewolf attacks from today I didn't think he'd ever let me out of his sight."
"Not so silly," Sirius said seriously. "James and Lily decided they should be with family and just left to stay with Lily's parents for a few days."
"Oh. So they aren't here?"
"Uh…no…" Sirius said, suddenly realizing that things were about to get awkward.
"I see…" Angie said. And they lapsed into silence.
"W…Would you like something to eat?"
"Like dinner you mean?" Angie asked.
"Yes, like dinner."
"I've already had dinner."
"Oh."
More silence.
"Oh! But you haven't. Do you want me to make you something?"
"You don't have to make me something."
"No. No, I want to. Let's see what there is."
Something about the cooking process, the movement keeping hands occupied, and digesting was calming and lightened the tension hanging in the air. They had decided to keep the WWN off for a while and though the meal was over neither one seemed to want the companionship to come to an end.
"Lily bought some good wine," Sirius said, rummaging around in the kitchen and emerging with a bottle in hand.
"Perhaps we shouldn't open it," Angie said. Sirius shrugged.
"Too late," he said, popping the cork off. He grinned and said, "I'll replace it later. Wine, mademoiselle?" As he said this he produced a very delicate looking goblet in his hand and held it while the bottle poured itself.
"Thank you," she murmured taking the goblet from him. He poured himself one and then carried the bottle into the living room.
For a long time they simply enjoyed the wine and watched the flames in the fireplace. Silence was no longer awkward and Angie reclined against Sirius. "Sing me something sweet," Sirius said after a while.
"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, hoggy warty Hogwarts," she said in a sing-songy voice.
"Something sweet. With your beautiful voice."
"I don't feel like singing Sirius," Angie said with a sigh.
"Did you like singing at the Three Broomsticks?"
"Yes," she answered immediately and sat up to turn and face him. "Sirius? Why didn't Remus come?"
"You've been thinking about that too?" Sirius asked gravely. "He never gave me a straight answer even after I offered to pay for him on the Knight Bus. I talked to him briefly via floo network but he seemed a little shifty. I dunno, maybe I'm reading more into this after recent events but something didn't feel right."
"I'm not suggesting that he was involved in anything," Angie said, looking horrified with herself.
"No, I know. I'm not either," Sirius agreed, a nasty shudder taking him for a moment. The thought that one of his very closest friends could be involved in anything so awful chilled the blood.
"It's just that everything is so awful these days. It was so wonderful just to see so many happy familiar faces. I thought that maybe everything was going to be OK. Now…" her eyes sparkled with tears. She sniffed and they subsided. Sirius drained his goblet and set it down on the table. "I'm sorry," Angie said softly after some time.
"You don't have to be sorry," Sirius said, lifting her chin a little with his thumb. She lifted her eyes to his and he gave her a melancholy smile. "I know how you feel."
It wasn't clear who moved first but quite suddenly they were kissing. And this wasn't mindless, meaningless making out in the club. This was Angie kissing Sirius. Sirius kissing Angie. This was I need you and you need me and the world can screw itself for all it mattered at that moment.
Angie shut her eyes tight and let Sirius lead her on a journey of blissful escape.
A/N: So, I ended up changing quite a lot of this chapter from the original. Which is fine. It is working much more how I want it to. However, the next chapter doesn't entirely flow. For one thing, James is able to come home for Christmas. For another, they go to Lily's parents house but I haven't written anything there yet. I'll try to get the next chapter straightened out quickly. But just be aware if you're reading through this that the next chapter, until I update it, is not entirely in sync with what I have just posted.
Stardust