The next week was rough on Julie and me as she mourned the loss of her parents and I remembered mine. The way that after my mother died my father hated me, the beatings that I got in the desperation that it would unlock some power to bring her back, some power I wasn't born to have but got anyway.

The boys where there for us even if they didn't know that I was sad. They comforted Julie even though they didn't know her that well and she was a first year. She spent the week in my bed and I spent most of my time with her curled up in bed. Each day the boys tried something different to make Julie laugh. One day James would put on a one man show and strut across the room pulling fake white rabbits from black hats and transfiguring random things around the room. Peter would tell awful jokes and we would all laugh at how crap they were (peter thought that they were actually funny.) Remus would clamber onto the bed beside us and pull open a muggle or magical fairytale book and would read to her hoping that it would cheer her up.

Sirius on the other hand didn't do anything funny or stupid; he was just there for her. If she was sad and crying and was curled up against my side he would hug her from the other side. He would offer her chocolate and then steal it from Moonys (which was his nick name- apparently since second year when they figured out he was a werewolf) secret stash. Or even just say comforting words to her like

"Hey, everything's going to be OK." Even though I worried about where she was going to go and live at the end of the school year. She didn't have any family left, like me, and no one was going to take her in. she knew that she had no family left and whispered to me a couple time that week

"What am I going to do, Hunter? I have no family left." To which I would whisper back because ever one else was asleep,

"We're family, and I'll make sure nothing happens to you."

The funeral was that Friday. Dumbledore had come to me one of the few times that I made an appearance in the great hall to try and eat. He had noticed that neither of us had been seen that week and probably knew considering he was the one that gave her the damned letter, decided that it would be a good idea that someone went with her.

On the Thursday night I went over to her dorm room to get black clothes for her to wear the next day. When I got back to the dorm Julie was asleep and sprawled out all over my bed. Instead of waking her up and since all the boys were away exploring the castle to let Julie sleep or rest or whatever. Since I didn't want to wake her up either so I crawled into Sirius' bed and fell asleep.

When I woke up I looked across to my bed to see it empty. Then I heard the shower on and relaxed knowing that she up and getting ready for what obviously was going to be a long and hard day on her. I tried to get up but realised that there was an arm around my waist. I shifted slightly and saw that it was Sirius who was holding me in place. I nudged him trying to wake him up, and his eyes shot open immediately showing me his gray eyes. He gave me a smirk and said in a low voice,

"Morning, beautiful." I played along and jokingly looked over my shoulder before replying

"Who me? I thought that your eyes where set on young Julie, pervert."

"Well," he started, "it's not every night I come up to bed to see my female marauder lying asleep in my bed" throughout all this time his arm had not moved an inch.

"I guess then that you'll be feeling let down when I say that I am here because Julie was talking up the whole bed and you're the only one that stays still when you're sleeping peacefully." I said before removing his arm and throwing the blanket away from us.

"Sleeping peacefully?" he questioned.

"You thought that I wouldn't notice your nightmares? I had to wake you up a couple nights ago so that you wouldn't wake anyone else." what I didn't tell him was that I had just woken up for a nightmare too. I got up out of the bed and stretched showing some scars on my lower stomach. He lifted his hand and poked one causing me to giggle.

"Have you not seen any on Remus?"

"Yea, but his are more ragged."

"That's because mine are from getting my appendix out as a kid. I don't have many scars from the moon." He let out a low chuckle before I moved over to my trunk to get my dress and cloak for the day.

Julie came out of the bathroom releasing all the steam from the shower. Her blond hair was dripping wet and looked knotted. She was wearing the black dress that I had got her last night. She looked at me with her blue eyes full of sadness and I just opened my arms. She came over and hugged me and I quietly asked,

"Do you want me to do your hair?" she nodded into my head so I grabbed my wand that was beside me on my trunk and summoned my hairbrush from the bathroom. It came flying out and I had to drop my wand to catch it. I slowly started to brush her hair easing out the knots with my fingers before returning to the bush. Sirius soon came up to us and took over. I mouthed a 'thanks' before grabbing my wand and clothes and heading to the bathroom to shower and dress.

Once out of the shower I put on my bra and undies before looking in the mirror. I had let my blue black hair- the factor that made me look like a dude grow out and with a little extra help from my abilities it was now the length that it was before I came to Hogwarts, just below my shoulder blades and curly. I took my wand from the counter and straightened it so that it nearly hit my waist.

I didn't have many scars from the moon but I did have a few from my dad. When I was younger, after the full moon, my dad would beat me and cut me with a knife for making noise or just because I reminded him of mum. I looked over these scars before throwing my dress on. I came out of the bathroom and back into out red and gold clad dorm room.

Everyone else had been woken up by the time I was out of the bathroom and James was sprinting in. Julie was sitting talking to Sirius and Remus who were both rocking brilliant bed heads that would rival James normal style. I saw Sirius give me the once over of me and my knee length dress before giving me his signature smirk which I ignored and asked Julie,

"You ready to go?"

"Give me a minute" Sirius said before jumping up, grabbing a bundle of clothes and barging into the occupied bathroom which earned a shout from James

"OI, GET OUT" this got a chuckle from the rest of us and not two minutes after he went in there he was out in a black suit, still rocking the bed head.

"What are you doing, are you going?" I questioned giving him the once over. He was looking good for such a sad occasion even with the bed head.

"Yea and we better go if we want Dumbledore to apparate with us instead of us flooing." I nodded before taking my wand and fixing his hair. I got a thank you from him as Julie said a quiet good bye to Remus, James who had left the bathroom, and Peter. After that we left and went down the empty common room. Most student where away at classes except us who were skipping apart from Remus who had a free period. We were surprised to see Dumbledore sitting on one of the soft chairs in front of the empty fire place. He stood when he saw us the reveal that he was in a black suit with a purple tie. He came over to us and asked,

"Ready to go?" we all nodded our agreement and we were soon leaving the warmth of the common room and the castle for the wind as made our way out to Hogsmede, where we would obviously be apparating. Julie didn't have a cloak so I handed her mine which was only slightly big on her and I was only a couple inches bigger than her. Once we were in Hogsmede we apparated, which felt like being sucked through a straw, to a place not far from where Julie had grown up.

Once we got to the grave site we were greeted by people dressed in black around the grave like ravens waiting for food. When they noticed Julie they cleared the way for her to see her parents one last time before they closed the caskets. As she walked up people where patting her back but then ignored her and went back to gossiping with their friends like old ladies at market. She made it to the casket and when she looked in you could see her world crumble under her. It only lasted a moment though before she tried to compose herself.

She looked once more into the casket before whispering something that neither me or Sirius could pick up before starting to make her way towards us. She stood beside us throughout the service and was handed a white rose to place on the coffins before they were buried. Once the first piece of dirt was dropped onto the coffin people started to leave for the party thing in some hotel. Dumbledore and Sirius wanted to go not long after but I knew that Julie would want to stay until the coffins where completely buried just like I had with my mum.

When everyone else and had left it was starting to get dark and had started to rain, she went up to where the grave diggers had been by the side of the newly dug grave and stood there looking at the temporary grave markers. Sirius and Dumbledore stayed under a tree as I went out and stood beside her. We both stared at the flimsy laminated piece of paper bearing the names of her parents.

"You know I lost my mum when I was seven"

"No"

"Well I did and when my dad told me I didn't cry. My dad left me at the cemetery after the funeral and it was pouring with rain, much like it is now, and I looked at her grave and I just couldn't take it. I broke down and I cried. But when I look back on that day I realise something. I realised that my mum was crying with me, even though I couldn't see her she was crying and that was making it rain. Maybe she was crying because she could see what my father was going to do with me but she cried much like your parents are crying with you now." I said to her talking through the rain,

"I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't be sad pet, there still looking out for you, their just doing it from somewhere else now." She looked up at me at this and she saw that I had tears running down my checks as well and she hugged me. We where both soaked but that didn't matter. We both now shared something that few others did.

"Come on time to go home. The boys have probably destroyed Hogwarts without us. "That earned a small giggle as we both made out way towards the huge oak tree which sheltered Sirius and Dumbledore where waiting, dry. They said nothing but it was clear from their faces that they had heard me talking. Silently Dumbledore grabber Sirius arm and I grabbed but Sirius and Julies' arm before we apparated, and the tightness in our chests returned. We stumbled outside the three broomsticks before we were hit with howling wind which cut through my soaked figure like glass. The cold affected me the most as Julie was dry under my cloak and Sirius was dry even though he didn't have a cloak

We quickly made our way back up to the castle were lights where glowing like fireflies and where it would be warm. Dumbledore bid us a good evening at the front entrance and advised that I visit madam Pomfrey which I ignored. We made our way up to the Gryffindor common room where the boys where sitting by the fire huddled together as if plotting something.

When the portrait door shut they looked up and saw the three of us, me and Julie soaked they were up and making their way towards us. They grabbed us and dragged us up to the dorm, I was shivering really badly by now and when Sirius noticed this in the dorm he grabbed some of the warmest clothes that he could find and started to help me change. Julie was in the shower so Sirius helped me change in the dorm room. The boys all turned around until I was wearing dry undies bra and vest top. I was shivering wore and my teeth where chattering.

The boys turned back around and because I was shivering so badly helped me throw on warm pj's and handed me blankets. Julie came out dressed in her pj's and we all went downstairs to sit by the fire to warm me up even further. Remus carried me down the stairs while Sirius changed out of his suit. He put me down on one of the seats right beside the fire where Sirius would normally sit. Not long after Sirius came down in pj pants and a Beatles top: which was a muggle band that he liked.

He sat down beside me and started plotting his next prank with James. James was talking about how he was going to ask lily out next when Julie stood up and said

"I'm away up to bed. Good night guys and thanks for helping me this week." Before she headed toward the girls dorms and headed up the stairs. My eyes followed her all the way up the staircase and after she disappeared we all gave each other confused looks before the boys continued with their conversation. Not long after I fell asleep on the seat still shivering but feeling slightly warmer than before.