Music playing, feet dancing, and people talking; these were the only sounds in the forest. The centaurs were along the trees, all of them playing beautiful melodies.

One centaur stood in the center, cleared his voice, and said "Friends, we are gather today to celebrate the eleventh year of our fawn, Harry!"

Everyone cheered, and all the creatures of the forest came to celebrate young Harry's eleventh birthday.

Harry sat in the middle, and looked shyly at all the guests. He hated to be the center of attention, but his mother wanted him to have a splendid birthday. Harry glanced over at his mom, and saw her talking to Uncle Moony. Her beautiful ruby red hair was tied back, but her eyes were very sad. Harry frowned, he did not want his mother to be sad today; all week she put up a smile but her eyes showed strange emotions. Harry suddenly had an idea, and went to talk to the centaur, Bane.

Lily sighed; she did not want to tell Harry anything.

Remus looked concernedly at his best friend "Lily maybe you should wait a little longer before you tell Harry anything."

Lily looked at Remus, and then looked away "Moony, I would do anything to not say a word, but you know Harry; he will figure out the truth."

Lily looked at her raven-haired son. He got up from his seat, and went to talk to Bane.

Lily looked at Remus again "I'm afriad Moony. I'm afraid that he will hate me for running away. I'm afraid he will hate me for not telling him sooner. I'm afraid he will leave, leave the safety of the forest, and try to find him."

Remus saw his friend, sitting there and almost to tears. Remus hugged her, and glanced at Harry. Harry made a movement with his hand, and Remus understood. The melodies became faster and the creatures started dancing around the fire. Remus let go of Lily, and stood up. Lily looked up and saw Remus hold out his hand.

Remus smiled "Lily, will you do me the honor of having a dance with me?"

Lily laughed softly "Of course, Moony."

Lily grabbed his hand, and Remus pulled her up.

They walked toward the fire, and started dancing to a cheerful tune. They both started laughing, and Lily grabbed Harry. All three of them started laughing, and all expected to dance all night. The three did not sense two men coming closer, ready to disrupt their peaceful lives unknowingly.

James and Sirius went deeper in the forest. Silence engulfed them and it seemed that it was going to be like that for a long time, until James stopped.

James looked around, and said "Sirius we need to leave. Let's go back."

Sirius stopped walking and turned back to stare at his usually courageous best friend

"James, you said that if we saw something, then we will leave. I don't see anything. In fact it's pretty quiet here."

James walked in front of Sirius and talked quietly "When we…us…I went in here, I could always sense the creatures, but now I don't sense anything. It's like there is nothing here…"

Sirius looked around curiously but then shrugged "Then it's easier to explore if all the creatures went out to a party."

James glared at Sirius "Padfoot, we had plenty of times of going in the forest before, so what's so special about today?"

Sirius sighed "Prongs, today I met this guy in the apothecary. He was different and I saw him run toward here."

James looked at his friend strangely "What do you mean different?"

Sirius looked down at the ground, not wanting to see James face when he said this "James he reminded me of Remus. Remus was the only one to have the guts to talk to me like that."

James eyes widened and his body went into shock. If Sirius thinks that the guy from the apothecary was Remus, then maybe Lily was around here too.

James looked at his friend "Well let's see if we can find this guy."

Sirius smiled and the two continue going deeper in the forest.

The music was still playing and the creatures were still dancing around the fire. Lily had started dancing with Harry, and the two were laughing as they twirled around the fire.

Harry turned around and yelled "Uncle Moony, come and join us!"

Remus laughed as he went toward the fire. He took Lily's hand and they both danced. Harry was grabbed by an elf, and the two danced around the flaming fire.

Remus smiled as his nephew laughed. Harry was having such as good time, and everything was simple for now. He looked at Lily and saw her also looking at Harry. A smile was on her face, and her emerald eyes sparkled with joy. She looked at Remus, and they both started laughing. Remus twirled her around, and all the centaurs cheered. The music became louder, and the creatures became dancing a lot more.

Remus stopped dancing with Lily and went to sit back down. He couldn't help feeling that something was going to happen. Remus looked back at the forest, something was in there, and something was coming.

James and Sirius were again walking in comfortable silence. Both were thinking about the man in the apothecary and what secrets he was hiding.

Suddenly James stopped, and Sirius turned around "Hey prongs, why did you stop?"

James said "Sirius shut up and be quiet."

Sirius glared at him but followed his commands. James tried to block out the sounds of the forest, and then he heard a faint melody coming from left of him.

James whispered "Sirius do you hear that?"

Sirius looked confusingly at his best friend but then tried to block out the sounds. He then heard that faint melody and his face brighten.

Sirius said "I know that tune. My cousin studied the centaurs for a bit, and brought back a song they play at gatherings. James centaurs don't have gatherings until the year ends, they are celebrating something else."

James looked around the forest, and then pointed to the west "The music is coming from there, we'll just follow the music, and we will find out what's going on."

Sirius nodded and the two turned to the left to find who the centaurs were playing for.

The centaurs continued playing wonderful melodies and everyone just sat down to listen.

Then a courageous elf yelled "Miss Lily should dance the next song!"

All the creatures started to cheer and yell "Yes, Miss Lily should dance!"

Remus laughed and pushed Lily to the center.

Harry smiled "Mom you dance beautifully and everyone enjoys watching you."

Lily smiled warmly "Fine, Miss Lily will dance in honor of the beautiful birthday boy."

The centaurs started playing a slow but beautiful melody, not knowing that two men were following their tune.

James knew that he was getting closer. He heard the music getting louder but then stop. Sirius started to ask why but then both of them heard cheering, and then they heard the word dance. James and Sirius looked at each other, and walked quietly. Suddenly a slow but beautiful melody engulfed the forest. The forest swayed to the music, and James knew that he was getting closer to the site.

Before Sirius knew, James started running at full speed.

Sirius yelled "Stop James, you don't know what's out there!"

James did not stop nor acknowledge that he heard his best friend. Sirius sighed and started running after James. The beautiful music became louder and Sirius stopped when he saw James standing there.

Sirius panted "James…why did you run…James?"

James did not answer Sirius's question and Sirius turned around to see what James was looking at.

There was a blazing fire in a center of a campground. The centaurs were playing the beautiful music, and all the creatures were sitting watching the beautiful maiden. She had long ruby hair, and it was tied back. She was dancing elegantly around the fire, and her eyes were closed. Sirius and James tried to look closer at her, she seemed familiar. The melody stopped, and the beautiful maiden stopped as well. She took a bow, and everyone started clapping.

Suddenly a voice cried out "That was a beautiful dance."

The maiden laughed "Thank you, Remus, of course it was for the honor of the birthday boy."

James and Sirius stood there shock, and they both jumped out of where they were hiding. They both cried out "REMUS!"

Suddenly the peaceful gathering went into chaos. All the creatures ran in the forest, and the centaurs ran to their homes. The beautiful melodies went away. The fire was still blazing but there was no more happiness in the camp.

The maiden turned around, Remus turned around, and the young birthday boy turned around to see their intruders.