A/N: I know, I suck for giving you guys two cliffhangers in a row, but at least no one like threatened me this time, that's good, let's move along now:

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Claire groaned and rolled onto her back, not opening her eyes. It felt like someone was torturing her, every part of her body was sore and nothing was a dull pain, but it was sharp and terrible. She opened her eyes and was staring up at the forest. She tried to remember what had happened the previous night and it all flooded back to her.

"Oh my God!" she yelled, shitting up too fast and hurting herself even more.

"Calm down," came a voice form behind her. She turned her head slowly and Sirius was sitting there listening closely to something Claire couldn't hear.

"What's going on?" she asked in a whisper.

"I sent a message to Moony a while ago and I'm waiting for a reply," explained Sirius calmly.

"What shot me?" asked Claire, suddenly angry.

"Not sure," Sirius whispered.

"Lily and James, Tanya and Remus, where are they?"

"Tanya and Moony are at the castle, I've been communicating with Moony for about an hour now. He can understand my dog speak and he yells back, seeing as I have sensitive ears, I can hear him as a dog. Lily and James aren't at the castle, Moony suspects that they're somewhere in here too."

"Do you know where we're at in the forest?" She waited anxiously for the answer she was afraid of, wondering and fearing. Sirius knew these forests better than anyone but the other Marauders. If he didn't know where they were, all hope was lost.

"No," he said calmly. "I can try my best to get us out of here though. I leave trails when we come in here every month, scratching up the trees as marks of where I've already been. No bears live in the forest, so I don't have to worry about them scratching trees too." Claire nodded and pulled her legs against her body, shivering slightly. She was only wearing a pair of jeans and a thin, long-sleeved shirt.

"You cold?" asked Sirius with concern.

"A bit," she said quietly.

"Here," he said, pulling off his jacket and draping it over her shoulders. It was the same jacket he had given her on the ship and it still had a small hint of her perfume on it, but more evident was his cologne. She inhaled his scent and felt at peace for the first time in a long time.

"There's one good thing about this though," she said softly, not really talking to him.

"What's that?" asked Sirius sarcastically.

"We're together…it's definitely better than being alone and if I had to chose to get lost in the wilderness with someone, I would definitely choose you." Sirius blushed and looked across the forest, listening intently for any sign that would take them back to the castle. He looked back at her and saw her expectant face.

"Thanks, I feel the same way too," he said softly before looking up at the cloudy sky. If there was going to be a storm, they had to find some kind of shelter.

"We should find a place to go," said Claire, looking up at the sky as well.

"You read my mind," said Sirius with a weak smile,

Meanwhile

Lily sat up and rubbed her head.

"Ow!" she flinched as her hand grazed a wet bump on her head. She pulled her hand away to look at it. There was a good amount of blood on her fingers. She crawled over to James lying unconscious, facedown on the ground. "James," she whispered, shaking him.

"Hmm?" he asked in a groan.

"James," she hissed louder. "James, get your lazy ass off this floor or I'll…I'll, well I don't know what I'll do, but just get up." He waved his hand in the air as if swatting a large and annoying fly. Lily pushed his arm down and smacked his face, not too hard, but enough to get his attention.

"What!" he asked in surprise, standing up in a one, bumbling motion that almost knocked the kneeling Lily over. "Where are we, Lils?" he asked, looking around. He held out his hand and she took it as he helped her to her feet. She looked around, and James caught a glimpse of the back of her head.

"Lils, you're bleeding," he said in a concerned voice.

"It's nothing," she said, turning to face him again. "I think we're in the Forbidden Forest, James," she said, her voice now anxious.

"Yeah, you threw off the weight on the broom and we lost our balance and fell. The broom went somewhere, but I didn't see where it went. It's a miracle we didn't hit branches," said James in an accusatory voice.

"So, you're blaming it on me?" she asked, surprised by his accusation.

"Maybe," said James rudely. He didn't truly mean that and he knew he didn't. He was angry he had put Lily's life endanger again and he was mad at himself, not at her. It truly wasn't her fault. Lily shouldn't have moved and James should've had better control on the broom or they would've never fallen in the first place. Lily turned away from him and began to walk in the opposite direction. James grabbed her hand and pulled her back to him so that she was pressed against him. She was trying not to smile and he could definitely tell.

"You know I didn't mean that," he whispered into her ear. Shivers traveled up and down her spine. How could he have this much control over her? She sighed and looked into his big hazel eyes and then rolled her own.

"I know," she groaned.

"Alright, well, we have to go this way," said James beginning to walk to the right.

"No, it's this way," said Lily, going in the opposite direction.

"Lils, I come in here once a month, this is one of Sirius's trails right here," said James, gesturing to one of the trees with the claw marks.

"James, I've read Hogwarts: A History over twenty times, I know every map of this forest, I can get us out by getting us to a path," said Lily assertively.

"Oh really?" asked James, still a but snappish.

"Yes, really," said Lily, growing aggravated.

"Have you ever been in the forest though?"

"Well…no, but I know this forest like the back of my hand."

"And I've come in here more than you could ever imagine. I knew where every single path is in here."

"Fine, you go your way and I'll go mine," said Lily.

"Lils, I can't leave you alone," he objected.

"I'll be perfectly fine, I have my wand…oh my gosh!" she exclaimed.

"What is it?" asked James in anxiety.

"My wand, I left it at the castle," she whined.

"Me too," said James, his tone now very solemn and worried. "We have to stick together then. I think we should go my way."

"How about we play rock, paper, scissors for it?" suggested Lily.

"Fine."

Meanwhile

"I can't believe this, they've been gone a full day now!" shouted Tanya in anger.

"Calm down, Tanya!" objected Remus.

"But, chinito (that's Spanish for sweetheart I think), I'm worried," she said. They were sitting in the common room, waiting for word from Dumbledore and Tanya was pacing anxiously in front of Remus whose eyes were moving like a cat's as he watched her.

"I know, I know, I'm worried too," said Remus softly. He hadn't heard a message from Sirius in hours and was growing anxious. Sirius hadn't found a single one of his trails yet and they definably hadn't found Lily and James. It was getting to be a scary time for all of them. Dumbledore's search parties had to be called off as well due to the storms coming in. The thunderstorm was predicted to be extremely violent and harsh in comparison with a typhoon. This was not going to be good.

"Why doesn't Dumbledore try harder?" asked Tanya exasperatedly.

"I don't know, hun, why don't you ask him?" said Remus sarcastically.

"I don't need that right now, Remus," she snapped.

"Sorry, it's just, respect Dumbledore, please. He's doing the best he can, you have no idea how great he is," said Remus.

"Okay," she said softly, walking back over to the couch and sitting next to him. She leaned her head against his chest and tried to fall asleep, it being like one in the morning and all.

Meanwhile

"Sirius, I'm starving," whined Claire.

"I know, babe, I know," he said softly, pulling her by her hand as she dragged her feet. It really wasn't fair if you thought about it. Sirius was oftentimes changing into a dog so he could have four legs to run with, but Claire was stuck with only two legs. She was still very sore and very tired, they hadn't slept since they woke up and it was the middle of the night for the second time.

"Have you spotted a trail yet?" she asked warily. She didn't want a negative answer and she was wary about it. It was getting worse and worse everyday as they kept on moving.

"Not yet, but every time I change into a dog, the scent of our paths gets stronger, so I'll follow that. And every time a wind blows towards us from the other side of the forest, I get the scent of James and Lily. I know now that they're in here," said Sirius, looking around. Suddenly, Claire's hand was empty and a large black dog was in front of her. She smiled and rubbed behind its ears. When she stood back up, the dog began sniffing the air, looking for some sort of sign. Then, it was a person again and Claire's hand was in his.

"Lily and James are this way, tha path is that way, what do you want to do?" asked Sirius solemnly. Claire deliberated for a moment. She wanted to get out of the forest and she also wanted to find her friends. James was an animal with an okay sense of smell, and he knew the forest as well as Sirius did, but they had less of a chance of getting out.

"Let's find Lily and James and get out of here after we find them," she said with a nod.

"I agree, let's go," said Sirius, beginning to walk much faster. Claire felt like Sirius was dragging her along by her arm within five minutes.

Meanwhile

Lily was riding on the back of a huge stag. After she had wandered off four times in a row, convinced that she knew which way to go and he didn't - even though he won rock, paper, scissors - James made sure she wouldn't get away from him anymore. She had a huge smile on her face and her arms were wrapped around his neck, keeping her from falling off. It wasn't a comfortable thing; as a matter of fact, it was very bumpy. She had tried so hard not to fall asleep though. She was exhausted and hungry and very thirsty. When James found a large stream in the middle of a clearing, he transformed back into human form and it looked as though he was giving Lily a piggyback ride. She stirred slightly and he smiled to himself, sitting down on the ground next to the stream and trying to uncoil her arms from him neck. When he got her off of him, she laid, faceup on the ground, a peaceful expression on her face.

James got a drink of water and then stepped over to Lily.

"Wake up," he whispered to her. She turned over and sat up, looking him straight in the eye.

"What time is it?" she asked, looking around with curiosity.

"About one in the morning. Last night a little after you fell asleep, I caught scent of Sirius. Him and Claire are in here too. I think we should go and find them," he said calmly.

"This is one thing I think we can agree on, and I think you know the way better than I do."

"So, it's settled then, we'll go d find them and we can get out of this forest," he said softly.

"Yeah, but we should rest first."

"You just slept for like five full hours!"

"I meant you," she said sweetly, running her fingers through his messy hair. In about an hour, Lily and James had fallen asleep in each other's arms, holding each other closely. It would have been adorable if they didn't look so pale and sickly from not eating or sleeping for two days.

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A/N: Sorry it took so very long to update, you have no idea how hard it was to get anything done the second half of the week. Well, review and stuff. Oh and it's a long weekend, that means more time for me to work, yay!