A/N: Sorry! We didn't update for a really, really, really, really, really long time. We decided to work on this again. We're not sure how fast we'll get stuff up, but we will try our best to get you guys new chapters frequently. Thanks for reading!

This is written by two authors. Me and CleveristWitchHerAge. We would both like to add that we don't own Harry Potter, though we both wish we did, but you all knew that already, didn't you?

Family Keeps You Sane

By: animaguswolfsong and CleveristWitchHerAge

Disclaimer: Don't own it. Never have, never will.

Chapter 6 - Defense Against the Dark Arts

Mr. Potter,

We regrettably inform you of the death of William Meyers. This is a great loss for all of us. He died defending our way of life and no one will ever forget that. My sincerest condolences for your loss.

We will notify you when the funeral date is set.

Sincerely,

Millicent Bagnold

Minister of Magic

James stared at the letter in slight shock. His mouth hung open as he stared at the letter.

"James, what is it?" Sirius asked. James looked up. Remus and Peter were leaning in towards him, staring curiously at him. The owl had flown away right after delivering the letter.

"What is it?" Remus asked.

"My . . . my uncle, he died," James said in a whisper.

"Oh, James," Remus muttered, his eyes filling with sorrow.

"It's okay," James said. "I'll be fine. He was my great uncle. I didn't know him very well." James stared back at the letter. He really hadn't known his Uncle William very well, but his mother had. His mother was very close to him, and James could only imagine how she was feeling right now.

"How'd he die? What'd your mum say?" Peter asked.

"What?" James asked.

"Isn't that letter from your mum and dad?" Peter explained.

James' eyes widened. "No," he said. "The Minister of Magic sent it."

"What?" Sirius queried, talking the letter from James and reading it. "The Ministry doesn't send out death letters."

"I know. The letter says 'he died defending our way of life.'"

"Maybe Voldemort killed him."

Just then, another owl swooped down in front of the Marauders. This one, they recognized. It was the Potter family owl, Bimbo.

"Hey, Bim," James whispered as he untied the letter from the owl's foot. James let Bimbo nip his finger affectionately before flying off. He opened the letter and read it.

"We were right," James announced after reading. "Uncle Will was killed. Voldemort's Death Eaters killed him yesterday."

"They found him?"

James nodded. "My mum found him this morning. The Dark Mark was over his house."

Peter shivered at the thought. "Is your mum alright?"

"She's a bit upset. Dad wrote the letter. Mum's in her room. She's taking a few days off work."

"You sure okay, Prongs?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, Padfoot. You don't need to worry about me." James stood up with that. He took the letter back from Sirius and walked out of the Great hall.

The entire day went slow for the Marauders. No one knew what to say to James, and James didn't seem too keen on talking at the moment. The group filed into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom as they usually did, taking their places near the back of the room.

Today, Professor Rune would collect their fear papers. The entire class murmured with anxious excitement as the room slowly filled. At the front of the classroom, a cot had been set up, presumably for the Mud.

Just then, the door burst open and the class's attention turned to their professor walking briskly to the middle of the classroom.

"I trust you all have your papers ready to hand in?" he said loudly as he turned to face the class. A few nodded their heads as others ruffled through their bags to pull it out.

"Good. Now, then. Here is how we will do this. I will call you up here. You will hand me your paper. I may read your fear out loud, I may not. I will perform a spell so I can see what your fear is when you touch the Mud I have in this jar. You will need to place your entire hand into the mud in order to feel the full affect of it."

The entire class sat at attention, staring at Professor Rune. Some of the students looked slightly nervous. Remus had paled considerably at the prospect that the professor would read the fears aloud for the entire class to hear. James, Sirius, and Peter all exchanged glances at this news and tried to give Remus comforting smiles as well. He only smiled weakly back at them.

"Do I have any volunteers to go first?" Professor Rune asked. Not a single person moved. The students stared at their professor eyes barely blinking. The room was completely silent, each student hoping the professor wouldn't choose them to go first.

"Not one brave person will go first?" Professor Rune sneered. "Pity. I'll just have to call on someone, then, won't I?" He scanned the room, making eye contact with each student, a sneer plastered on his face as the students winced under his gaze. James gave him a hard look when his professor's eyes locked on his. His gaze finally left and fell onto each of his friends in turn.

"Miss Evans, would you care to go first?" Professor Rune said. All eyes turned to Lily who gulped nervously. Adelie and Tori both looked at her and nodded encouragingly. Lily turned back to the professor and stood up. Paper in hand, she walked to the front of the classroom, hands shaking.

James stared intently at Lily. He did not like Rune. He kept choosing her. Last lesson, he picked on her, and now he's forcing her to go first. Lily handed Rune her paper. He read over it quickly, his eyebrows rising slightly.

"How sweet, Miss Evans. Now, let's see if you are correct." Lily breathed heavily as she sat down on the cot. Rune handed her a small jar and set it beside her.

Rune took out his wand and muttered a small spell under his breath. Lily's face showed surprise after he had performed the spell.

"Put your hand inside," Rune commanded. Lily slowly obeyed. James couldn't take his eyes off Lily's face. He had his fists clenched in anxiety. It took only a few moments for the Mud to take affect. With a small sigh, Lily collapsed onto the cot, unconscious. The class watched in eerie silence, waiting for something to happen.

Suddenly, Lily twitched violently. Her face contorted with pain as she turned her head.

"No," she muttered, though only a few people understood what she said.

"NO!" She screamed this time, causing the entire class to jump at the sudden sound emanating from the unconscious form. "MUM!" Lily let out a whimper as she moved her head again. "Stop it!" she cried out. Her breathing was heavy as she turned on the cot. There were a few moments of silence until she let out a blood-curdling scream. "DAD!"

Lily thrashed about on the cot, pain written on her face. Rune ended his spell with a flick of his wand and pulled the jar of Oneirogenic Mud away from Lily. He set it on his desk. Lily shot up, eyes wide. She was breathing erratically, looking frantically around the room.

"Well done, Miss Evans. Your fear was correct. Take you seat," Rune said emotionlessly. Lily stood on shaky legs and almost fell over once on her way to her seat. Tori and Adelie immediately went to comfort her. Lily's face was pale, and her eyes were red. Her body shook slightly as Adelie rubbed her back.

"Who's next?" Rune asked, gazing across the classroom once more. His eyes fell on the Marauders.

"How about one of you? Who wants to go next?" The Marauders only looked at each other. After watching Lily go through hers, not one of them wanted to go next. James sighed. He was about to volunteer to go next, when Rune called out, "Mr. Lupin, come join me up front, please."

Remus paled even more than he had previously. He had no desire for any one of these people to see anything relating to his fear. Sirius gave his friend a comforting pat on the shoulder before pushing him gently upwards. Remus stood on shaky feet before walking to the front.

Remus handed the professor his paper, and Rune read it just as he had read Lily's. Rune's face contorted into a sneer. He looked up at Remus.

"A bit ironic, Lupin, isn't it? You're afraid of werewolves?"

There was a loud snort from the Slytherin side of the room. James looked over to see Snape glaring at Remus. Sirius clenched his fists and suppressed a growl; James' eyes narrowed in the direction of his professor. Peter muttered under his breath, "He better not."

Rune muttered his spell once again, instructed Remus to sit on the cot, and stick his hand into the jar. Just like Lily, after a few moments, Remus collapsed onto the cot, eyes closed.

Nothing much happened for the first few moments. Then, Remus let out a low growl. His features contorted into fury as he raised his right hand to claw the air. He growled even louder the second time as he twisted more on the cot. His hand swung through the air as if trying to smack someone across the face.

Just then, Remus let out a spine-tingling scream. He jerked violently, rolling over and falling with a thud to the ground. James and Sirius stood by there seats. The Mud jar flew from his hands, landing next to the wall. Remus struggled a few moments more before his eyes burst open. He searched the room frantically and sighed with relief when he saw his friends in the back.

"Close, Mr. Lupin, but I'm afraid your guess was incorrect." Remus stood and walked to his seat. James glared at Professor Rune.

"He knows bloody well why you didn't put your real fear down," James muttered darkly as he sat down.

Remus only sat there, staring at his desk.

"Next, will be Mr. Pettigrew," Rune stated evenly, eyes glued on the figure sitting next to Remus. Peter gulped, his anger gone and replaced by anxiety.

Peter handed the professor his paper nervously. Rune frowned deeply as he read the writing.

"Didn't I make it specifically clear that irrational fears were off limits?" Rune queried. Peter quivered under his professor's stare.

"I couldn't think of anything," Peter explained.

"That is no excuse. I'm sure every other person was able to figure out a fear that is relatively rational. Get on the cot, Pettigrew. You will now discover your fear with no preparation whatsoever." Peter gulped as he sat down. Rune performed his spell. He summoned the jar from where it had landed on the floor and gave it to Peter. After a moment's hesitation, he sunk his hand into the Mud and passed out like Lily and Remus.

"No, wait for me!" Peter cried out suddenly. "I can do it, too!" Peter's head whipped to the side. "Guys, wait just a little bit longer. I can do it, I know I can. All I need is a little time."

Rune ended his spell and pulled the mud from Peter's hand. Peter snapped out of his dream. His face was not one of terror as the previous ones had been, but one of true sorrow. Peter stared at the floor as he walked back to his seat.

"Interesting, Mr. Pettigrew," was the only thing Rune said. "Next will be Mr. Black."

James gave his friend a comforting look as Sirius clutched his paper in his hands, a grim look on his face as he stood up. He walked to the front of the room and handed his paper to the professor.

"You don't like your family, Mr. Black?" Rune asked, glancing up a Sirius.

"Of course not," Sirius said simply. "They're all slimy Slytherin gits." Rune sneered at Sirius before performing his spell and instructing Sirius to sit on the cot.

A slight flicker of nervousness flashed across Sirius' eyes, but vanished just as quickly as it had come.

"Stick your hand in the jar, Mr. Black," Rune instructed. Sirius did as he was told and fell unconscious on the cot as the others had.

The normal few moments of silence commenced, but Sirius' cry cut it off. James winced. He sounded almost as if he was in pain. The entire class gasped at the next thing that Sirius cried out. "Crucio!"

James' eyes widened. Remus stared, his mouth hanging open, and Peter winced at the fury in Sirius' voice. Even more chilling was what came next. Sirius burst out laughing. It wasn't the happy, bark-like laugh that everyone always heard from Sirius, but some demented cry of pleasure that had obviously come from casting the torture curse. Even the Slytherins seemed slightly scared by the maniacal happiness that emitted from Sirius.

Finally, Rune cut off his spell and pulled the Mud from Sirius' hand. Sirius jumped awake, almost falling off the cot. He panted uncontrollably and couldn't seem to take a full breath of air.

"You were correct, Mr. Black. Take your seat, please," Rune instructed. Sirius stood on shaky feet and made his way to his seat. A few paces away, though, his legs gave out and he fell to the floor.

"Sirius!" James exclaimed and leaped up to help his friend stand.

"Since you're up, Mr. Potter, why don't you go next?"

James glared at the professor. "Don't you think we've all had enough for today?"

"Are you scared to go?" Rune asked.

James clenched his fists. "I just think we've all had enough. Can we do the rest next time?"

"No," Rune stated evenly. "We still have time in class and we are going to use it to our fullest. You all have N.E.W.T.S. at the end of the year. If we put things off, we will never get done with what we need to cover. You will go now, Mr. Potter."

James stared angrily at his professor as he grabbed his essay and handed it to Rune. Rune skimmed over it quickly.

"You care for your friends. You're afraid that you won't be friends forever," Rune sneered.

"That's not how it was meant," James said, when he heard noises from the Marauders. "I'm afraid that this growing war thing will pull us apart or . . . or do something to separate us." Rune only nodded. He cast his spell, James sat on the cot, and Rune gave him the Mud. James stuck his hand into the mud and quickly fell unconscious.

The feeling was something James had never experienced before. His limbs grew heavy and numb. His mind felt cloudy and unused.

James looked around, and found he was in a completely different place. It was a large field. He started walking. As he walked, James noticed bodies lying on the ground everywhere. James began to panic. Where was he? What were these bodies? Closer inspection showed that each body was bloody and torn, but the cause of death was obvious. The Killing Curse had ended the lives of each of the bodies.

James turned around, panic rising. The field was strewn with bloody bodies, each one unmoving, each dead. James took a step back, shaking his head, but he fell backwards, tripping over one of the dead. James scrambled away hurriedly from the body he had fallen on, but on look at the face made him stop dead.

"Peter?" James looked at the body. It was Peter. His eyes were open wide, blood staining the skin around his mouth. His arm was bent underneath his body at an unnatural angle. His wand lay beside his body, stained with blood and split in two.

James turned his head away, but regretted it immediately. For there, lying at the head of Peter, was the body of Remus Lupin, as dead as Peter.

"No," James choked. "Remus? Please, no! NO!" he shouted. Peter was hard enough, but now Remus was dead, too. "This can't be happening." James shook his head. His heart ached horribly. Both Remus and Peter were dead. He couldn't take the pain in his heart. His friends couldn't be dead.

"They can't be," James whispered. Just then, James thought of Sirius. James searched frantically around him, dreading the fact he might find Sirius there, but James couldn't find Sirius anywhere near Remus or Peter. His heart rose slightly at his friend's absence; he needed to find Sirius. James stood and walked around, looking at each body for Sirius. He hoped beyond hope that Sirius wasn't there, but deep down inside him, he knew he would find his best friend among the bodies.

And he was right.

James found Sirius lying on the ground, flat on his back in the middle of the battlefield.

"No." James sprinted towards Sirius, dropping to his knees at the sight of his best friend. He wrapped his arms around Sirius' body, not daring to believe.

"No, not Sirius," James muttered. "No, not you. Please, not you. Sirius. SIRIUS!" James pushed his friend's hair from his face and saw how bloodied his face had become.

"SIRIUS!"

Just then, the graveyard began to fade. The clouds returned and James found himself lying on the floor of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

Sirius. . . James looked to the back of the classroom. There, his friends sat, alive and not bloody, though maybe a little pale.

"Take your seat, Potter," Rune instructed. James slowly lifted himself off the ground and walked back to his seat, his friends staring at him, pale faces looking worried.