AN: This is a repost of the chapter. I added some things which would fit in with my sequel.

As always, thanks to Jegan for the plot!!

SEVENTH YEAR ROLLER COASTER

Chapter 15: tough life

James opened the witches hump and climbed out. Sirius, Remus, and Maggie followed. They silently made their way down the corridor, but had scarce taken a turn when a voice rang out.

"Mr. Potter, Black, Lupin, and Ms. Seltzer!" the four turned around apprehensively to face a furious Professor McGonagall.

"four of you… missing, with no note, no whisper of your whereabouts!" her face was lined with a mixture of rage and relief, "no one knew where you had gone, you could have been in Voldemort's clutches for all we knew, absolutely no trace of you this morning! We are going straight to the headmaster!"

They silently followed her to Dumbledore's office.

"ice mice!" barked Professor McGonagall at the gargoyle, which sprang aside, revealing a revolving staircase.

"in!" she commanded, "he'll know what you've come for, I daresay"

The staircase wound up to a door with a griffin knocker. James raised his hand to knock when a voice said, "come in"

They entered, to find Dumbledore sitting at his desk, gazing serenely at them.

"you went to Lily's wedding, didn't you?"

They looked at Dumbledore in shock. Slowly, James nodded.

"and talked to her?"

James nodded again.

"I must impress on you the seriousness of what you have done. You could have been anywhere, killed, in Voldemort's hands. But, just this once, there will be only a detention as punishment. I know Lily is important to you" he added softly, "but even she you rather stayed in Hogwarts. For her sake. Good day"

James. Sirius, Remus, and Maggie headed towards the Gryffindor common room.

"we got off pretty easy," said Sirius, "but this means we can't sneak out again. How are we going to rescue Lily?"

"her birthday's in the spring vacation, remember?" said James, "we'll get her then"

Maggie fiddled with a loose thread on her robes, "I hope Lily's okay"

"so do I" said James softly, "so do I"

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"Now, Lily, as my wife, there are some… rules you have to obey," said Hugh smoothly, "I leave every morning for… work at eight. You must be up by seven. Marge will come at eight- thirty, to monitor your behavior. No contacts with any of your friends. You will not touch any of my personal possessions. All day, you basically sit around doing nothing. I come back from work at nine, or later on some days. Marge will leave at nine. You will stay up until I come back. You are not to leave the house until I say so. You will look presentable and respectable at all times. I will choose your wardrobe. Let's see, I think black, brown, beige, and pink will do nicely. Marge will shop. As for meals, there are plenty of servants. You will, I trust, find everything to your comfort. Any questions?"

Lily shook her head.

"Good. It is seven thirty now. I will leave in half an hour. Marge will come in an hour. And lily, I'm warning you," he lowered his voice," any rule- breaking on your part, any suspicions, anything, and you will regret it"

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"Hey" said Remus, sitting down next to Maggie, "whatcha thinking about?"

"Who else?" she asked, "Lily and James"

"Yeah. Remember those secrets we thought they were keeping? They've changed our lives so much. "

"mmm- hmmm. We though it was something trivial. Instead it's a freakin' explosion"

"Lily is married to a bastard, and James- James is a shadow of what he was. He hasn't been this way since his parents were killed by Voldemort"

"I feel really sorry for James. I mean. To like a girl and all, and then find out she's engaged, and then seeing her wedding. Its- its just unfair and cruel"

"James loves Lily"

"He does?"

"Yep. Told me so himself. He said that when he was holding her- you know, in her room- he had this kind of weird feeling, like he never wanted to let her go, like he'd do anything to protect her, absolutely anything, and that she was special, somehow. He says he's in love."

"Then its even worse for him. Where is he now?"

"Quidditch pitch. Flying out all his troubles. He would've gone to the room of requirement, and drunk till he dropped, but he knows Lily hates it when he gets drunk. Remember how she screamed at him and Sirius when they went to the room to try fire whiskey and ended up coming sloshed?"

"Of course. The biggest fight they had."

"You should say Lily had. James was trying to get Lily to forgive him."

"True. Lily was so mad at James"

"Until he convinced her not to be. I knew he liked her. Remember we caught them?"

"yup. James was pretty pissed at Sirius then. Speaking of Sirius, where is he?"

"He's off pranking left, right and centre. That's what's weird about Sirius, James, and Lily. Usually when people are depressed, they mope around all the time. But with Sirius, Lily, and James, oh no. they go out and start doing stuff like there's no tomorrow."

"I guess by being active they forget stuff."

"you're really quiet"

"I miss Lily. It's horrible, her having to go through all of that stuff because of Hugh. It's not fair, her parents forcing her to marry him," tears began pouring down Maggie's face and she laid her head on Remus' shoulder. "It's not fair, James having to go through such pain. Its not …not fair that we all have to go through this stuff. We're only seventeen! James is already in love! Lily's married! To a fuckin' bastard! James is heartbroken! It's just so… so goddamn unfair!"

Remus stroked Maggie's hair. "I know it's not fair. But we'll pull through. We have to. Everyone does. It will all work out."

"I sure hope you're right"

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Lily banged into the wall, gasping for breath. Hugh grabbed her hair and pulled her towards him. Lily smelt the strong odor of alcohol on his breath.

"Filthy bitch" he hissed in her ear, punching her face. Lily felt her nose break as blood spurted out.

"How dare you cheat on me, how dare you!"

He wrenched her wrist, hard, and it broke. She screamed in agony.

"Shut up!" she snarled, throwing her against the wall, "I don't want you seeing him ever again!"

He stalked into the next room, and Lily heard him collapse onto the bed.

Every night it was the same routine. Marge would leave at nine, Hugh would come an hour or so later, hopelessly drunk. He'd drink even more at home, and accuse her of cheating on him, abusing her. Then he'd pass out on the bed. Lily would tend to her wounds, and go to sleep, waking up early as usual, as per his orders. Hugh would be just the same as ever in the mornings, suave and smooth, with no reference to the previous night, except a harsh, "cover that black eye!"

Lily lifted herself off the floor, climbing into bed next to him, again, on his orders.

"Life sucks" she thought miserably, as she went to sleep.

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AN: in case you guys didn't notice, there were a few changes made to the part in which Remus and Maggie talk. They really put a kinda introduction to my spin-off, which should be posted in twenty minutes, tops. Its called "The Beginning" (really lame I know). Do read, it has lots of fluff!!