Disclaimer: Sod off, I own nothing.

A/N: You know what? I am so sick of this. This is the third time I've written the stupid chapter out! I started 2 weeks ago, then my computer broke down again, and has yet to return. So, I wrote again and was smart enough to save it on a diskette the second time when typing on my brother's laptop. Sadly, his bloody laptop was infected by a virus, so it went to the shop. Now, I'm using yet another laptop, but this one can't accept diskettes! Bah! You lot better appreciate this!

Ignore the sulkiness, am in very bad mood right now.

Oh yeah. I'm not sure about this chapter really… I think it's the after effects of author's block. I'm used to getting a steady stream of ideas, but in this case, it was like 'Ideas!... no ideas… ideas! … no ideas…'. So, I'm just not sure how good this chapter is, but I've been planning it for quite a while now.

P.S. Show said appreciation by reviewing!

Oh yeah, I remember someone asking me a few chapters ago why I didn't describe scenes or Remus' transformation. Well, this is because I want this fic to be humourous. You'll notice that I haven't mentioned Voldemort or all those other depressing things because I just don't want to weigh it all down with depression. That, and I feel that loads of other people have already written it, I doubt I'd be able to put my own spin on things since it's been retold so many times. And, I'm a lazy bum.

OY! PEOPLE! READ! There was a question about Lily's self-control etc. Basically, Lily's trying to stop herself from hexing James, but she isn't doing a good job. What she has quit completely is pranking. She does make an effort to walk away, but James manages to push her buttons, and we all know she doesn't have the best temper in the world.

As for the Wolfsbane Potion as brought up by Elladora D. Jobberknoll. the thing given to Remus was NOT the Wolfsbane Potion. It's like in the process of inventing the Wolfsbane Potion, there had to be several precedents, right? Anyway, that was just one of the more successful ones, so they're using that but still trying to get the Potion itself right.

Also, Remus did not change physically. You see, it was all in his mind; it was like the wolf took over his instincts and whatnot. He didn't change; it's just the wolf there, nothing physical. Basically just spiritual and mental! Oh, and about the not being able to e-mail people and not finishing the sentence, that's just me completely forgetting about it. I have the attention span of a gnat.

It was one of those times again.

One of those, Lily ignored James, James retaliated by ignoring Lily, Lily countered by ignoring James's efforts to ignore Lily, hence resulting with a very irate James Potter.

Scrrrreeeeeeek.

Remus, Taylor, Peter and Sirius winced at the sound of James bending his fork when he stabbed his bacon too hard.

Lily merely flipped to the next page of her Transfiguration textbook.

Now, you will notice that Andrea wasn't mentioned in any of this, for true to her word, she had become a nervous blithering wreck. If her friends hadn't known her so well, they would hardly have recognize her as the bouncy, composed person she was two weeks ago.

Her hair was in disarray, sticking up in the oddest angles possible, her skin was stark and drawn, contrasting against the large purple shadows under her eyes, making her somewhat resemble a raccoon. And her eyes… her once sparkling cerulean eyes had lost their glow, leaving in its wake a wild frenzied look. These days, it was not uncommon to see her with three large textbooks in front of her at a time, her eyes blurring over the words as she proved herself to have mastered the art of multitasking.

Now, she was flipping frantically through a thick Potion textbook, mumbling to herself all the while, "3ounces of dragon liver… eye of newt… bezoar…"

Many students were bewildered by her appearance and behavior, but none seemed to know the true reason behind her obsessive studying. In the end, they satisfied themselves by making up wild rumours about how her once wealthy family was now bankrupt, forcing her to take on certain nightly 'duties' to pay off loan sharks. So, she studied in hopes of getting a more respectable career.

Several boys who had whole-heartedly believed this and approached her for said 'services' received a swift kick in the groin and several nights in the Hospital Wing.

Taylor tore her eyes away from a seething James and looked at Remus briefly, who inched his head from side to side. She knew what he meant; it was hardly the best time to tell his friends. She gave a barely audible sigh, wishing it could be out in the open. She'd already told Lily and Andrea. The former had congratulated her heartily, though a flicker of pain was seen in her eyes, the latter had managed a tired smile before falling asleep on her Charms book.

She sighed again and turned to Andrea. Carefully cutting up a pancake into bite-sized slices, she speared the pieces with a fork and waved it in front of Andrea's face. Without giving the barest sign that she'd even noticed anything there, she opened her mouth, allowing Taylor to shove the food inside. After a few minutes of chewing, Lily held a goblet of coffee (for caffeine.) to Andrea's lips and took a napkin to gently pat the trickles of black liquid that had dribbled down her chin.

This obviously caused some talk in the Great Hall, yet several students remembered witnessing a rather similar scene two years ago. The Marauders had pestered their one source of information: Taylor, but she just said, 'Exams.'. When Remus had refused to accept that, she answered. "It's Andrea's secret, so it's not my place to tell you. After all, don't you and the Marauders have loads of stuff you can't tell me?"

That caused him to shut up.

As Taylor spooned scrambled eggs into Andrea's open mouth and absently smoothed her friend's mussed hair, she couldn't help feeling that things were stretched to the breaking point. Just the other night, Andrea had shaken her awake roughly at 3 in the morning because she'd been muttering incoherent words in her sleep. She'd demanded to know what Taylor had been dreaming about so she could interpret it. When Taylor had replied that she couldn't quite remember, she'd said that that obviously meant the world was about to be struck by a giant flying cow and burst into a round of mad laughter.

Right.

And as Taylor often was with feelings, she was spot on. The tense situation stretched and stretched and stretched… until it sort of… broke.

……

"I can't take it anymore!

It was Andrea who'd shrieked those five words (Well, six, if you count the contraction.) that had been running through just about everybody's heads of late. She stood up from her armchair and violently threw her heavy textbook away, striding over to Remus and Taylor with the distinct aura of madness.

Sirius raised an eyebrow while Peter inched away from her when she sat in between them. Normally, he'd have made a snarky comment, but taking in her disheveled appearance, he simply didn't have the heart to.

"What is it, Andy?" said Taylor comfortingly.

She gave a quick look around the Common Room to make sure that Lily and James were nowhere in sight and burst out, "I'm at the end of my rope here! I mean, as if it's not bad enough that we've got to burrow into our books day and night for bloody Mock NEWTs! No, we have to have Lily and Potter constantly at each other's throats! We can barely eat a meal without fear of something blowing up!" she drew a breath and her voice rose in pitch. "And to top it all of, I'm going barmy because-"

She stopped what she was saying when Taylor kicked her in the shins.

"Because…" she trailed off, very conscious that she had attracted a lot of attention, and the Marauders were also peering closely at her, "because… I'm… mad."

"Can't say I don't agree with that," said Sirius, unable to let the opportunity slip by.

She shot him a glare of death that she'd learnt from Lily, her brain so frazzled that she couldn't think of a proper comeback.

"Andrea's right," said Remus. "I think that they're trying to contain themselves… but, let's face it, they're not doing a very good job. We ought to try to stop the feud, if not for the sake of the student population, then for our own sanity."

"Like we have any left," snorted Andrea, nicking part of Taylor's History of Magic notes.

"Speak for yourself," said Sirius, earning himself another filthy look.

"Hang on," said Peter with a frown; he was unusually quick at picking certain things. He eyed Remus and Taylor's hands that had been unconsciously inching towards each other. "You two aren't-"

"You-" squawked Sirius, also eyeing the pair of hands that had abruptly drawn back. "You – both of you?"

After a quick glance at Taylor, Remus shrugged and nodded.

Sirius let out a raucous shout of laughter, earning himself yet again more glares. "Well done, Moony! About time you got yourself a girl!"

Remus winced, "Thank you, Sirius, for announcing my love life to the entire Common Room."

"Or lack of," quipped Andrea with a weak smile.

"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" said Sirius, assuming the look of a wounded puppy.

"Yeah!" said Peter, for lack of anything better to say.

"We wanted to tell you," said Taylor, "but it was just… you know, we weren't sure how James would react. And… everybody's tense enough as it is, we don't need another scene."

"Oh," said Peter, looking rather put off.

"Would this be another reason to end the feud quickly?" said Sirius, a smile on his face that indicated that large quantities of teasing would soon follow.

"Well," replied Taylor, refusing to be goaded. "Not really, but it'd be nice to come out in the open."

"It's not quite the same if one of my best mates doesn't know about it," added Remus.

"Enough talk," snapped Andrea, "We're all in agreement that the both of them need to sort out their problems. The question is how."

"We lock them together until they either call a truce or kill each other," answered Sirius simply.

"That isn't a plan," snorted Andrea. "That's a… well, it's so stupid and blunt, I don't even know what to call it."

"How about 'Andrea Rose'?" said Sirius nastily.

"Actually," said Remus quickly, seeing Andrea open her mouth to reply, "that might work. This would force them into a situation that would require compromise."

"We just have to find a room or something to stuff them in," chimed in Taylor. "Then, we could take away their wands and refuse to let them out till everything's been smoothed over."

"I know a place we can put them!" said Peter.

Everyone stared at him; surprised he actually had something important to contribute.

"Err," he said, looking astonished but not displeased by the unusual amount of attention he was receiving, "there's a large cupboard on the first floor. I've never seen anyone use it, and hardly anyone goes there."

"Wait a minute," said Remus with a frown, "you mean the big antique one?"

"I remember it," said Sirius, "It's under the alcove."

"But I keep feeling as though there's something we ought to remember about it," said Remus, still not satisfied.

"You probably thought it'd be a good place to snog or something," replied Sirius, dismissing his worries with a wave of his hand. "Bring Taylor sometime."

"Sirius!" shouted the embarrassed couple in unison.

"Oh, please," said Andrea. "You don't need to look so mortified. It's obvious that both of you've been at it," she turned to Taylor with a knowing smile. "You've got bruised lips."

Taylor reached up her fingers sheepishly to touch her slightly swollen lips.

"I have the most perfect lip balm for that," said Andrea, digging through her purse. "It was by Rogue, really covers up-" she paused and gasped. "Oh my lord."

"What?" asked Taylor, feeling disappointed. For a few moments, it seemed as though the old Andrea was back.

"When was the decision of the confederation of Vampires of 1975 made?"

"Err…" said Taylor, wondering how this had anything to do with what's-her-name's brand of lip balm.

"Two years later, February 12th, 1977," said Sirius easily, without even looking up. (A/N: I know I'm annoying, but February 12th is my birthday! If I update around then, I expect extra long reviews!)

"Fuck," she cursed, flipping through the notes. "How could I have forgotten that?"

"Relax Andy," said Taylor, "It'll all be over soon."

"Oh, sod it," she sulked, shoving the large stack of paper back to Taylor, "I'll concentrate better when this whole ordeal is over. Let's just finish planning."

And so, the five of them put their heads together, and plotted.

……

"Oy! Prongs!" hollered Sirius.

"What?" snapped James, who was in a very foul mood. He hated being ignored, particularly by a certain Head Girl.

"Snivellus is picking on Wormtail, want to go hex him?"

"Lead the way!" said James eagerly; so enthusiastic that he didn't even stop to wonder why Sirius hadn't defended Peter immediately.

He ran after Sirius, eager for an opportunity to vent his anger. So he was in a horrendous mood right now, and if a slimy, greasy enemy of his happened to pick on his mates while he was in said horrendous mood, it certainly wasn't his fault.

……

"Lily!" gasped Taylor. "James is picking on Snape again!"

"That prat!" shouted Lily righteously. Taylor rolled her eyes inwardly, knowing full well that Lily, though always sticking up for victims, was also looking for a fight. "As Head Girl, I've got to put a stop to this!"

Lily followed Taylor down several flights of stairs. After a few minutes of sprinting and a lot of cursing James Potter, she stood in front of Remus, Andrea, Peter and an antique cupboard. Just then, James and Sirius rushed in.

"Where's Snape?" asked James and Lily in confusion.

"You!" they both yelled, jumping when they caught sight of each other. Immediately, their wands were out and ready.

Suddenly, cries of 'Expelliarmus' rang through the corridor, and their wands landed in Andrea's open hand. Before they could fully comprehend what was happening, the other three Marauders had shoved them into the cupboard.

After casting a Sealing Charm on the cupboard, Taylor shouted, "Lily! James! We're not letting you out till you act like adults and resolve this fight that's been going on for months!"

"You're both behaving like children," agreed Remus. "You've been disrupting the peace and quiet with your constant bickering and fights!"

"Not that we didn't disrupt the peace and quiet before," said Sirius needlessly.

"And you're destroying my study time!" said Andrea. She clapped a hand over her mouth and gasped. "Merlin, I can't believe I said that."

"We understand that you've ended the prank war, and it's been an improvement," continued Taylor, "but really! It's just so immature! Especially on your part James!"

"Evans hasn't exactly been the easiest person to work with either," said Sirius loyally.

"Well Potter didn't even bloody apologise to her!" snapped Andrea.

"Lily? James?" called out Remus, a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

"10 sickles says they just killed each other," hissed Peter, interrupting the bickering between Andrea and Sirius.

"Nah," said Andrea. "Lily wouldn't kill him; she wouldn't want to ruin her permanent record. 12 sickles says she's strangling him."

"A galleon says they're snogging madly," chimed in Sirius, digging his pockets for money. He met their disbelieving gazes, "What? It could happen!"

"Look, if you're trying to trick us into letting you out by being all quiet, it's so not going to work!" said Taylor, but her face was worried.

"Crap," said Remus, a look of pure horror dawning on his face.

"What's wrong?" asked Taylor.

"What floor are we on?"

"First," said Peter, obviously confused.

But now Sirius too had a similar expression of shock and dread, "You don't think we-"

"This can't be the-"

"What?" yelled Andrea and Taylor simultaneously.

"What're you two talking about?"

Sirius frantically undid the sealing charm, but when he and Remus wrenched the doors open, there was…

Nothing.

The cupboard was completely empty.

"We just shoved them into the Vanishing Cupboard," explained Remus hoarsely, his throat dry.

There was a horrified silence after his announcement, broken only by Andrea's heavy breathing.

"Oh. My. God," she choked out, gaping at the open cupboard. "Oh my God oh my God oh my God oh my God oh my-"

"I think she's going to hyperventilate," said Taylor vaguely, as though she was in a dream.

Sirius stepped over to her and gave her a shake none too gently, holding onto her shoulders and staring at her. Immediately, her terrified blue eyes flew up to meet his.

Then, she let out a piercing scream.

They clapped their hands over their ears and Sirius jerked away from her in surprise. She screeched long and loud before beginning to babble. "Stress piled on stress. Stress piled on stress. We're already going dotty because of exams, but clearly, that just isn't enough! No, my best friend has to be pushed into a cupboard with her worst enemy and transported to who-knows-where, and they'll end killing each other and we'll never ever, ever, ever, ever find them and-"

Sirius had stepped forward to shake her again, but before he got there, a nasal voice went, "What's going on?"

They all turned to stare at the speaker, only to find Filch, the new caretaker, his pouchy eyes roving around the scene. There was a gleeful smile on his lips at having caught the three Marauders at something for once.

"Nothing," said the three troublemakers he was so pleased to catch; giving innocent looks that fooled no one.

Filch stared at the two wands that had been discarded on the ground, a red-faced Andrea (lack of air) leaning against the open cupboard, hand on her chest, Taylor near her, still staring at the empty cupboard, as though refusing to believe the both of them weren't there and the boys who'd caused him so much grief.

Darned if he wasn't going to blame them for something.

"What's going on?" he repeated suspiciously.

"Nothing," they chorused again.

"Do I look stupid?" he growled, seeing Sirius open his mouth to answer, he snapped, "Don't answer that!"

Facing five blank-faced teenagers who refused to talk, he hissed in frustration. "I know that you lot are up to something," he snarled, eyes still resting on the Marauders, "but if you won't tell me, maybe you'll tell Dumbledore."

They followed Filch silently, each knowing that the best thing to do now would be to bring the matter to the Headmaster. After all, who knew how long it'd be before Lily and James showed up? And more importantly, where?

"Chocolate frog," said Filch to the stone gargoyle. He knocked on the door once before pushing all of them in roughly, seeming desperate that they not escape.

"Hello," said Professor Dumbledore mildly, his hands clasped in front of him, looking for all the world as though having a pissed off caretaker and five students barge into his office was a daily occurrence.

Then again, maybe it was.

"Professor," said Filch, "I found these miscreants on the first floor next to a highly valuable Vanishing Cupboard. I also picked these up from the floor," with that, he shook Lily and James's wands in front of the headmaster's face. "It's obvious that they've been playing some foolhardy prank on innocent victims again."

Dumbledore said nothing, merely turning to them and raising his eyebrows. After a moment's silence, he said, "Have you anything you might want to say?"

"It has to be one of those Marauders!" barked Filch, unable to control the accusations fighting to burst out. "Those four, always wreaking havoc, Dungbombs and Slug Pellets everywhere I go-"

"It was me, Professor," interrupted Andrea suddenly. "It was my fault."

The other four stared at her, but she gave them a warning glare not to say anything. Dumbledore settled his piercing gaze on her. "Before you admit to anything else, I would like to remind you, Ms. Rose, that this is a very unfortunate time for you to get into trouble. She is arriving soon, is she not?"

The Marauders looked bewildered, but Taylor bit her lip and a worried frown creased her face.

Though Andrea paled visibly, she said, "I understand, Professor. Even so, this entire thing was my idea," she began to explain. "Lily and James are always fighting; I guess I couldn't stand it anymore. So, I managed to get the others involved even though they didn't want to and-"

"Don't you go taking all the credit, Rose," cut in Sirius easily. His dark eyes flickered from Dumbledore's face to Andrea's. He knew that there was something going on that he didn't know about, and that something was probably related to Andrea's questionable behavior. Whatever it was, he figured that he ought to help her, and hopefully solve several mysteries at the same time. "I was the mastermind behind the plans and you know it."

"Hey-" Remus opened his mouth to admit his guilt too, but shut up when Sirius casually -and painfully- stepped on his and Taylor's feet.

"That was hardly a plan!" yelled Andrea. Upon realizing that she'd done exactly what he wanted her to do, she hissed angrily, "Can't you I'm trying to get you off the hook, Black?"

"Yeah, but shoving them in was my idea!"

"Well I should take the blame because-"

"No, I should-"

"Excuse me," said Dumbledore calmly, looking at them though his half-moon spectacles, quieting them immediately. "But I was under the impression that this is a rather pressing situation."

"I shoved Lily and James into a cupboard to make them work out their differences and stop fighting but only just realized that it was the Vanishing Cupboard they were in," blurted Andrea before Sirius could stop her.

"What d'you mean you shoved them in?" said Sirius incredulously, he held up one of her arms and continued, "Look at this arm, skinny as anything-"

"Let go or I'll show you what kind of punch this skinny arm can give," she snarled, pulling her hand away.

Dumbledore coughed softly to get their attention again and said, "I see," his mouth tightened slightly. "Mr. Filch, would you kindly find Professor McGonagall and tell her about the situation? Inform her that I'd like a search party gathered at once. Also, ask Professor Flitwick to perform the necessary spells to ensure that neither of them is 'trapped' in there."

"But- their punishments…" said Filch, reluctant to leave without seeing them get into trouble.

"I will deal with that," answered Dumbledore, signaling that there was no room for discussion. "Leave their wands please," he added to Filch's retreating back. With a growl, they landed on his desk. When Filch left, he turned to Sirius and Andrea. "As you're both willing to share the blame, you will receive detention tomorrow night with Mr. Filch. I believe that the trophies are beginning to look rather grubby again. Normally, a more severe punishment would be issued, but taking into account that Mock NEWTs are around the corner, and your good intentions, you get off lightly."

"Professor," said Remus slowly, "What did you mean just now when you said 'trapped' in the cupboard?"

"They could be in there for hours, days or even weeks before they're sent to wherever it is," said Dumbledore soberly. "We can only hope that they arrive at their destinations immediately before any mental or psychological damage is done to them."

"If Professor Flitwick can get them out of the cupboard at once, it's not so bad, is it?" said Taylor hopefully.

"That would indeed be the case if it weren't for the fact that…" he paused.

"If what?" practically shrieked Andrea and Sirius.

"The Vanishing Cupboard doesn't only transport people around Hogwarts," he stated. Remus felt his stomach drop; hopes of finding the two with the Marauder's Map vanished. "It goes to places near Hogwarts as well, places where the magic is still strong, the grounds, Hogsmeade and-" Again, he hesitated.

"What?" whispered Taylor, dreading the answer.

"And the Forbidden Forest."

(A/N: You know, I could be really mean and end it here, but since I'm such a kind person, I won't.)

……

She was spinning… spinning… spinning so fast that everything around her was a blank, white blur. Or maybe that was just the way it was. Lily didn't know, nor did she care to think about it too much. She was too confused.

Everything seemed to be happening too quickly, one second she was standing opposite Potter with a wand in her hand, and the next, the wand was gone and she was pushed into a cupboard with him. And before she knew it, she was here.

Wherever 'here' was.

She didn't know how long she was in that… that place, but suddenly, she was falling. It was so unexpected that she barely had time to brace her arms to prevent herself from landing flat on her face and breaking her nose. Even so, she could feel a jarring pain in her right ankle.

She tried to take in her surroundings, instead, she was up on her knees, retching and emptying her stomach of all its contents. She tried to stand, but her body was racked with convulsions, and her head was pounding madly to an unknown rhythm.

"Evans?" called out a weak voice.

James eyed the girl in front of him warily. Her arms were wrapped around her body protectively, like she was shielding herself from some vicious horror, eyes shut and sweating profusely while kneeling in front of a puddle of her own sick.

A wave of concern washed over him. He'd been sick a minute or two ago, but why was Lily in such bad shape? Did whatever they'd been through affected girls worse than it did boys? He rushed over to her and held back her hair as she threw up again. Carefully, he picked her up and set her against a boulder.

Lily had the vague sensation of floating and being put down. With difficulty, she opened her eyes and the worried face of James Potter came into focus.

"Gaah!" squawked Lily at the sight of him. She would have screamed, but she didn't have the strength.

"Settle down, Evans," said James, the worried look disappearing from his face instantly, an expressionless mask in its place. But, there was a definite hint of relief in his voice.

"Where are we?" she asked, part of her mind wondering why he hadn't made some sort of prat-like comment yet. Then again, the other part of her realized that this was hardly the time or place for an argument.

"I don't know," he said, getting up slowly to get a better look of their surroundings. Lily's eyes followed his as he gazed at the towering trees, mossy ground and strange plants.

"This can't be," he muttered to himself.

"What?" asked Lily, her mind was finally beginning to clear. "What?" she repeated when he didn't reply.

"What's the last thing you remember?" he said, turning around and staring at her intensely.

She frowned, not liking the fact that he hadn't answered any of her questions. However, she rifled through her recent memories that seemed to be obscured by a thick fog. As she concentrated, the fog cleared, and the pain in her head receded to a dull throb. "T-Taylor was leading me down a few floors…" she started, pressing her palms against her forehead. "She said that you were picking on Snape again," James flushed, but went unnoticed, "and then we were in front of this cupboard…"

"And they took away our wands and pushed us in," said James, furrowing his brow, the memory coming back to him at last.

"That doesn't make sense!" exploded Lily. "One moment we're in a cupboard in Hogwarts, and the next, we're here! What bloody happened?"

A look of horror was creeping onto James' face (much similar to Sirius and Remus'.) He held up a few fingers and began ticking off points, mumbling, "Nausea… slight memory loss… headache…"

"What?" said Lily, truly pissed at him now.

"What floor were we on?" said James frantically.

"Will you answer my questions for once?" she snapped. "First… I think."

"Th-they pushed us into the Vanishing Cupboard," he choked out.

Lily felt a jolt of fear in her heart, "W-Well that isn't so bad, is it?" she said, trying to be positive. "I mean, it'll only bring us around Hogwarts. Are we in the greenhouses or something?"

"This isn't a well know fact," said James, still fighting to keep the terror out of his voice as not to alarm Lily, "but it also brings people to places near Hogwarts, like…" he gulped and gestured limply at their surroundings, "the Forbidden Forest."

"No," said Lily in a voice very unlike her own, shaking her head in denial. "W-we can't possibly be here, I mean there. We just can't!"

"Why not, Evans?" asked James harshly. Fear for himself and Lily made him lash out. "This was probably some harebrained plan hatched by your friends to stop the war."

"Don't you blame this on them!" yelled Lily. "They're far too sensible and considerate to-"

"Sensible? Considerate?" scoffed James. "Taylor might be that, but Rose hardly is! This is obviously her doing, her head in the clouds"-

"Shut up!" snarled Lily so poisonously that James actually stopped talking. "You don't fucking know what she's going through right now!"

"What?" said James, now confused and curious.

"You dare blame this on Andrea," continued Lily, ignoring him, "no doubt you friends were in on it too. They must've been the ones who plotted this whole thing out! Conned my friends into helping them, those manipulative, sneaky-"

"Evans," said James in a low voice, practically radiating with anger. "Don't bloody insult my mates. You can rag on me till kingdom come and I won't give a damn. But my mates are the best friends I could ever ask for and I won't hear one stinking word against them!"

Lily was shocked into silence by how… fierce he sounded, but she recovered in a moment. "You say that they pushed us in to stop the war. Fine then, let's not blame them. This entire thing would never have happened if you hadn't bloody pranked me so much!"

"Shut it, Evans!" shouted James, letting her get him worked up. "If you hadn't retaliated, I wouldn't have done anything else! It was all your stubborn pride-"

"My stubborn pride?" yelped Lily. "It was your freaking stubborn pride! You sent that Howler! You put the Bile into my juice!"

"Yeah," said James, realizing that she had a point but refusing to admit that he was wrong. "Well, if you'd just given up sooner-"

"I'll never give up!" said Lily vehemently, standing up. She barely hid a grimace as she put her weight on her tender ankle.

"Fine!" said James, throwing up his arms in frustration.

"Fine!" said Lily, stalking off in the opposite direction.

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

So, with both of them being fine, both their stubborn prides forced them to go their separate ways into the forest that was for obvious reasons, forbidden.

……

"You're late, you inconsiderate little brat," snarled Filch as Andrea breezed past him.

"I was doing my hair," she said calmly. She smiled just to infuriate Filch, giving a little twirl and patting her glossy black locks. It was pushed up into a bun by two unusually long wooden chopsticks with gilded ends. "You like? This look is from Japan, traditional, yet stylish."

Filch glowered. "Just get in there," he snapped, ushering her in. "I've got to make sure Black hasn't blown anything up yet, stinking Marauder he is."

"Top o' the morning to you," said Sirius brightly with an easy grin. He spun a rag in one hand and tipped an imaginary hat in the other.

"It's evening," said Andrea, marveling at the shade of puce Filch was turning, and setting herself opposite him.

"Don't be so cheerful," snarled Filch. "I want those trophies to be so clean that they sparkle! Sparkle, you hear me? Sparkle!"

With that, he slammed the door.

"Well he was pleasant," said Andrea, absent-mindedly polishing a plaque.

"He needs a life," agreed Sirius. He looked at her, "You look more… pulled together."

She merely shrugged and looked at her reflection in the plaque. Her hair looked normal, and a large amount of concealer had successfully covered her bags. True, she still had a haggard look on her, but it was better than the past few days. "Taylor calmed me down," she said at last.

2 hours ago.

"After the Goblin Rebellion of 1823, the French government was finally willing to try to compromise in order to stop the havoc that was being caused. Leaders of said Rebellion, Furg the Filthy and Vork the Vile, met with French Minister, Jacques Delacour. However, due to excessive and unreasonable demands, the primary one being an entire country whose government consisted of Goblins, Jacques refused. So, they continued to rebel for three years before the French sought help from England and a plan known as 'Bennet Tactic' was devised, successfully cutting off their food and water supply," recited Andrea, stumbling to get the words out.

"That's great, Andy!" said Taylor, dropping the large pile of notes on the table with a bang. "You practically quoted the notes!"

"One more question!" said Andrea, bouncing on the bed nervously.

"No!" said Taylor. "I'm not asking you anymore questions! I've tested you on every single subject and you've yet to answer a question wrongly, relax!

"I can't relax, Tay," said Andrea pleadingly. "Every time my mind isn't busy, I think of her visit. Or worse, Lily."

"I've told you," said Taylor patiently, "I asked Flitwick earlier and he said they're both out of the cupboard. They might feel a bit sick, but they'll be fine. I don't know how the Marauders know, but they've managed to convince Dumbledore that Lily and James aren't in the castle. He's getting the faculty and all the students who aren't taking exams to search for them outside Hogwarts. We'll find them soon!"

"Even so-"

"Have you ever thought, Andy," began Taylor hesitantly. "That she might have sent that letter just to make you jump?"

"W-what d'you mean?" she asked, looking confused.

"I mean she isn't exactly predictable," said Taylor, wondering why they always referred to her as 'she', and not 'your mum'. "She might be doing this just to get you up and running."

"That would be just like that bitch," said Andrea slowly. "Making me hop around like a scalded flea, straining my eyes for the slightest hint of her, and what does she do? Bloody waltz in months later!"

"Exactly!" exclaimed Taylor in relief. "And you're prepared for the exams! I know you are. Keep this up for the next week and you'll have everything down to pat. Just-" she hesitated again.

"What?"

"God, I can't believe I'm saying this. Just relax! Do you know that I actually miss hearing you prattle about make up and clothes? I miss you hogging the dressing table for hours and forcing me to listen to your debate over what sort of lipstick you should use! You haven't even looked at a mirror for ages!"

"Oh, Taylor!" said Andrea, giving her friend a tight hug. "Maybe I could ease up… a little." She glanced at the mirror and gave a small shriek. "Merlin, is that me!"

End.

She was roughly shaken from her thoughts when a rag hit her on the head.

"Eww! Black!"

"Quit daydreaming, Rose," said Sirius, unperturbed. "We've got a lot of polishing ahead of us."

"Maybe you, but not me," said Andrea smugly. She reached up to the chopsticks that held up her hair. Shaking her tresses back, she held out one of the sticks, which turned out to be her wand. "Filch was so worried about you, he didn't even bother to make sure I didn't have a wand!"

"Inventive," said Sirius, a hint of respect in his eyes. "But don't get too full of yourself. You think we haven't tried that before? All of this has some sort of charm on it, if we try to clean it with magic, it squirts sludge."

"And you think I haven't worked my way around that?" snorted Andrea. "Watch," she waved her wand and mumbled something, and instantly, all of the trophies on her side shone as though they'd been polished vigorously for hours.

Sirius gaped, "How-"

"What I think you guys've been doing is trying to get it clean," she said, admiring her handiwork. "But what I did was I made it look clean, but the spell'll wear off in a few days. Pity for the next student who's in trouble."

She grinned at his astonished face as heard the solution that would've helped the Marauders in so many detentions. "Don't get too excited thought, it doesn't work on stuff like cauldrons that's actually going to be used," she sat down with a satisfied smile. "Here," she picked up the second chopstick and threw it to him. "I'm such a good person, always helping the needy…" he gave her a 'look'. "Well, actually, you left it in the Common Room and I couldn't find anything else that was the same length as my wand."

"Thanks," he said, feeling rather surprised. With a quick wave, he cast the same spell Andrea had. Then, he looked at her strangely, "Did we just have a civil conversation?"

"You know what?" said Andrea, equally amazed. "I think we did."

"Who knew we were mature enough?"

"I guess the Lily/James thing must be addling our minds. How did you guys know they weren't in the castle anyway?"

Sirius shrugged. He knew of her famed prowess of picking up hints and putting two and two together. So, he gestured to the gleaming trophies to distract her, "Imagine you figuring this out."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, affronted. "Just because I act like a ditz doesn't mean I'm a complete idiot. When you have as much work as I used to do, you start thinking of ways to cut corners."

"You? A lot to do?" he snorted and leaned over to grab her hand, displaying the soft, white skin. "Look at this," he continued, running a finger over her skin and heading to her forearm, not noticing her shiver slightly at his touch. "Not a single blister or callous or-"

He stopped suddenly and stared, inspecting the skin. He'd just felt a small bump. Looking closely, he could see a long thin white scar. In fact, there were several others, some long, some short, barely visible and obviously caused by a human. She stiffened when she noticed what he was staring at and drew back her arm roughly.

"Where did you get those scars?" asked Sirius slowly.

"Not that it's any business of yours, Black," she spat defensively, "but I… fell."

"You must have fallen a great deal of times then," said Sirius, looking at her closely. "Those scars weren't an accident, Andrea."

She shook her head stubbornly, but a ripple of astonishment went through her when he said her first name in a non-flirting situation. "So? I fell into a thorn bush," she said angrily. "Sod off, Black."

"You don't seem to be the type who'd cut herself," he said quietly. "Who's been hurting you?"

She opened her mouth, most likely to tell him to shut up, but before she could say anything, a nervous voice was heard at the door. "Err… Ms. Rose?"

Andrea glanced up to see a third year who she knew had a crush on her. "What?" she said, her tone sharper than she meant it to be."

"Sorry to interrupt," he said, afraid he'd displeased her, "but Professor Dumbledore sent me. H-he wanted me to tell you that… that…"

"What?" she repeated, this time more urgently.

"That your mother is here."

A/N: Yes! Finally finished this darned thing! Bwahahaha! I didn't end at one cliffhanger and chose another! Evil aren't I? Anyway, I've been planning this chapter for a long time. So, this is the situation, and the secret of what happened in first year will be revealed in either the next chapter or the one after it. Andrea's situation will also be further explained soon.

Cool, I wrote almost 7000 words! Just so you know, I've been typing madly since yesterday for this! On to review replies! Lord, I love you people. Almost forgot! Thank you, if you prayed for me and whatever! I did not get chicken pox even though I was the one smearing cream on all my sister's little spots! Thank you!

Well, that's all for now! I love you people! Review!

READ! One more thing, the results of my exams are coming out soon. You know, the ones I was worrying my head off about, a few chapters ago? It's kind of like OWLs, so the results are finally coming out. I think they'll be out right after Christmas, so after you eat your turkey and get your presents, pray for me! I'm so worried about it, like if I get one question wrong and it'll be the difference between an A and a B. Anyway, it depends on my results, if I get the straight A's I hope for, you can probably expect a chapter soon. I usually write when I'm exuberantly happy. If I don't… then… then I really don't want to think about it.

Well, Merry Christmas! Consider it a present!