Previously on Hidden:

At Beaubattons, these girls, with their wits, tempers, and beauty, had been invincible.

"You ready?" Lily said softly.

"Of course. Now remember. You look hot. We both look hot. These guys are going to regret ever underestimating you."

"Whatever you say. Apperate in 3, 2, 1-"

And suddenly, in the dark alley behind the dance hall, two forms appeared in the yellow light from the street lamp.

CHAPTER ELEVEN: HIDDEN

Silently the two girls walked up the street and turned left to the front of the building. The building was a neo-classical masterpiece; columns and marble everywhere. Music was flowing from the open doors, intermingled with the sounds of clanking glass and laughter. Slowly, Lily and Aurelie (among a stream of others) climbed the stairs and walked inside. It was freezing outside, so they were very glad to enter the heated building.

Sirius had not lied.

The party was huge. And the party was formal.

From what Lily could tell, the richest wizards and witches in England were on the guest list. Lily felt more out of place than her first day at Hogwarts. More than ever, she was glad that Aurelie was with her. Aurelie, whose father owned the French Newspaper "La Constitution Quotidienne", was used to these well-to-do parties.

"Find a corner- go find a corner" Aurelie whispered, pulling Lily by her hand to the side of the room. "Never get in the way in these types of parties. And always look like you are doing something so people won't come to ask you to dance."

Across the room, James, Sirius, and Remus were doing exactly that. James kept looking at the door while Sirius and Remus were talking under their breath. Remus was wearing a pair of dark grey dress robes, while James was wearing a similar robe in black and Sirius in navy.

"Who are you looking for mate?" Sirius said under his breath, following James' gaze towards the door.

"You better be nice to Evans. No pranks."

"Why are you so concerned? You used to be the one who initiated the pranks on her, remember?"

"Yah, well, she's not, well, she's different than what I thought. And she probably will feel out of her element here, anyway. I don't know why you invited her."

"She owled me today and said she was bringing someone, so she'll have a familiar-"

"Someone?!" James cried, tearing his eyes off of the door and looking at Sirius. She was bringing a date?!

"A friend?" Sirius said weakly, backing away from James. "She wasn't specific."

Remus, who had been quiet, spoke. "Well this is a switch. You go from hating her to being romantically interested in her within two weeks! "

"I never said I was romantically interested."

"Sure," Remus replyed, sipping his punch. "Well should we go say hello?"

James turned again towards the door. "What? She's here? I didn't see her co-"

"Over there. C'mon."

On the other side of the ballroom, Lily and Aurelie were chatting quietly about the French Revolution. It was quite a boring topic, Lily thought, but Aurelie loved to talk about it and it won any day over an awkward silence. Abruptly, as the black haired girl was just ending her story about some trial a long time ago, she spoke in a lower, softer voice than before, her eyes fixed on something across the room.

"We have visitors."

Lily wheeled around just as Remus, Sirius and James reached them.

"Hello Lily, and who is this?"

"My friend from my old school, Aurelie. Aurelie, meet James Potter, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black."

"Well I must thank you for inviting us Sirius, this is quite an event!" Aurelie said confidently, her eyes scanning the three boys.

"Where are you from? I surely would have noticed if you went to Hogwarts!" Sirius said , winking. The two continued talking.

Meanwhile, James made eye contact with Lily and smiled. She looked down.

Damn. There was no doubt in his mind that she was the most gorgeous woman he had ever laid eyes on. Yet, she looked afraid- even anxious. Robes had always engulfed her body, but now he could see her curves and pleasingly proportional bust. And she wasn't with a date, she had brought her friend… He ran a hand through his hair and looked at Remus, who was smiling slyly at him. Sometimes Remus knew him too well.

"Do they speak French?" Aurelie said under her breath to Lily.

"I doubt it."

"Good. You were right. These boys are very attractive… It can't be that bad at Hogwarts…" Aurelie replied, leaving Remus and Sirius curious. James, however, had to bit his lip to keep from laughing. He didn't know when he was going to tell Lily that he was fluent in French, but certainly not tonight. "Well anyway, despite whatever you might say Madame Aurelie, this is a dreadfully boring party. Besides my most detestful cousins who are out on the patio cursing each other, we are the only people below the age of 20. And in such a situation, we shall entertain ourselves by making our own part-"

"Sirius!" A woman who seemed to float was parting the crowd, walking rapidly closer. Though she had a smile on her face, there was something menacing and intimidating about her. She had high cheekbones, and streaks of white in her jet black hair.

"Mother!" Sirius muttered most icily, for the first time looking angry.

"Please introduce me to your friends!" she said, gazing over the two girls.

"This is Lily Evans and Aurelie…"

"Dimitri, from North France. A pleasure to meet you! What a lovely party!" Damn, Lily thought. She had a very charismatic friend.

"Thank you dear. Now… Lily Evans, I don't seem to--" But she stopped speaking. Her eyes grew wide and then narrowed. When she spoke again, it was in a deadly whisper. "Good heavens, are you Drew Evans' girl?"

Shit. She couldn't deny it. "Yes ma'am, though I haven't seen him in quite a while. I live with my mother-"

"A muggle. A mudblood. At my party." Her eyes were bulging, but her voice was hushed.

"Mother!" Sirius cried in disgust, stepping a foot towards Mrs. Black threateningly.

"I am proud to say that we are one of the oldest and purest of wizarding families who actually value the great honor and responsibility of our name. Why the Dark Lord ever allowed him… It's revolting… And now you, at our party!" Mrs. Black's face was contorted with fury. As to not make a scene, she spoke quietly, but her voice was severe. Her face was now so close to Lily's that Lily could see the power on the older witch's nose.

Sirius pulled his mother away, his voice and anger rising. "Woman- Get away- from her-" He said as he slid in-between Lily and his mother. Meanwhile, Lily, with a look of pure shock on her face, walked out of the building. With a swift look at Auerlie that said "I'll go after her, you stay", James followed. Sirius, however, starting speaking very fast and low to his mother. "Why are you so consumed with honor and names? If you had any class you would treat her equally-"

"Sirius, we've been over this. You are a Black, and you will act accordingly," his mother said, turning towards her son. Her voice was icy and threatening- almost hysterical. She kept wringing her hands, anxious to pull out her wand.

"What if I don't want to be a Black? It's disgusting, you people obsessed with blood. She's a better witch at 17 than you will ever be." He was yelling now, and the entire room was silent.

Mrs. Black turned to her son- her lip quivering.

"Get. Out. Now."

Sirius looked around the ballroom, his face red with anger and tears of fury in his eyes. "I hate you. I hate all of you! When will you see that we are all human?"

And with that, Sirius stormed out- Remus and Auerlie, with equal looks of shock on their faces, followed.

Lily was getting as far away from that ball and the Marauders as she could. Thinking quickly, she set all of her focus on Granken Park and apperated. When she reappeared, she fell on the grass, shaking and crying. Suddenly, James appeared on the ground right next to her.

"Lily, Lily… it's okay, stop crying… it's over…" He said, finding her had and stroking it.

"How-how did you know I was coming here?" Lily asked timidly.

"Occulemcy."

"You can read my mind?"

"Only when what your feeling is very, very strong, and when you're guard isn't up. Which is almost never."

Silence. Through the smog and lights of the city, a few stars were still visible. The ground was frozen, but Lily was hot with anger.

"Of all of your jokes, that was just spitful. That was almost sick. What did I ever do to you guys, anyway?"

"What?" He sat up.

"Inviting me to a pure-blood party. Knowing I would be humiliated."

"No- Sirius, nor I thought that that would ever happen. I didn't even think about blood, and I bet everything I own that Sirius didn't either. That wasn't a prank."

James stopped looking at the stars and sat up, gazing down at Lily. "Believe me- Lily- We wouldn't do that. We're not that low. And besides, even if Sirius was that evil, I wouldn't of consciously let him hurt you."

Lily stared up at him.

"This argument between Sirius and his mum has been going on since he started at Hogwarts. He doesn't give a shit about blood, but his parents… they have other ideas."

Lily sat up, her eyes still on James. She hadn't decided whether she believed him or not.

"Believe me, the only reason Sirius invited you was because he wants to be friends with you. You're very unusual, you know that? Not like any of the other shallow girls back at school."

"You've used that line hundreds of times, haven't you?"

Lily stared into his eyes, and not fully believing what she just said. He leaned in to kiss her, but she backed away reluctantly.

"Let's go back and find the group. C'mon." Shakely, she stood. It was in the middle of the bloody winter and she wasn't wearing a jacket.

"Tepidus" James muttered. Immediately she felt warmth spread from her fingers to her toes. Her mother's words echoed in her head… "He seems really genuine, and concerned…"

"Thanks" she said, without looking up. "Back to the street infront of the hall?"

James nodded. "3, 2, 1-"

At the same time, Remus and Aurelie were sitting on a street bench while Sirius paced up and down the street.

"Where the fuck are they?" he yelled into the night

As if to answer their question, Lily and James appeared behind the bench.

"Where the bloody hell have you guys been?" Sirius said impatiently. "Look, Lily, I swear to all things good I never-"

"It's okay. James explained. Thank you for defending me."

There was silence. The streets were deserted- these were dangerous times, and no one went out at night if they could help it. Sirius calmly looked at the moon.

"I can't take it anymore. I can't take it. I'm never going back," he said gently.

"You can come and stay with me. We have more than enough room," James said.

"Really?"

"Really. Definitly. C'mon. Lets all go back to my parents. It's only a few blocks from here- we can walk, you know, let off some steam…"

The Potter Mansion was huge, and neo-classical, just like Franklin Hall. The gardens extended farther than Lily could see, and in the distance to the east she could see a lake shimmering in the moonlight. All five of them had apperated in front of the grand house, and they were now making their way down the path and in the door.

"My parents aren't home- they are in Germany for a few days," James said as he performed a charm on the door and whispered a password into a metal box on the frame. Lily looked curiously at him and he chuckled.

"My dad's head auror at the Ministry, so we have some security on our house. Doesn't really make a difference, though. If Voldemort wanted to get in, he could. But we would be ready."

Lily smiled and looked around as she entered. The house was as beautiful on the inside as it was on the exterior.

"To my room- c'mon," James said, as he led the group up a case of white marble stairs. Lily caught up with Sirius, who was several paces infront of the group. She would feel bad for not talking to Aurelie, but she seemed rather busy in conversation with Remus.

"I'm, I'm sorry if I caused any trouble back there. I wasn't what-"

"Are you kidding? You are apologizing? God you should hate me for what I did back there. My mother humiliated you in front of everyone. When I invited you, I didn't even think about that. About blood. I apologize for my mother's actions. What a fucking bitch."

"Still, it's family, and now I am the reason-"

"This has been coming for a long while now. I've wanted to leave since I have been at Hogwarts, and saw that there were actually decent people out there. I'm actually relieved, you know?" he said, chuckling. "I'm free from that prison now."

Lily beamed. They were walking down a red hallway now, with paintings on the wall that were watching them sternly. "I'm impressed. I mean- I dunno. I never knew you were this…. This mature."

"Well, that's the first time anyone has ever called me mature."

James was watching Lily and Sirius closely. If Sirius made a move on her…

"James, this is a beautiful house!" She said quietly.

James smiled to himself. She called him James. "Thanks Lily," he said, as he opened to door to his room.

I sincerely apologize for how short the last chapter was. So I hope I'm making up for it with this! Longest chapter ever!

This will be my last update before DEATHLY HALLOWS!!!! I don't really know what state I will be in after I finish the book (depressed, angry, happy) so I can't really predict when I will update again. Hopefully next week. What would help me update sooner is ideas for the plot? I have a few things outlined, but I'm up for new ideas….

And finally, thank you to all of my reviewers. I LOVE YOU ALL!

Have fun at your midnight parties and what not! WAHOOOOOOOOO!

It truly is the end of an era.