Title: Glass Hearts

Rating: PG-13

Summary (of chapter): Spin the bottle, gillyweed, confessions, and a Dark Mark.

--

The house was relatively full; it looked like Mary had invited most of sixth and seventh years - save for the Slytherins, of course. Mary's house was full of Quidditch posters, memorabilia, and gear. James had been excited for the party because he loved her brothers and dad, but halfway into the living room, he saw a head of long red hair. James spun around and grabbed Sirius's arm in a deathgrip. "You didn't tell me Evans was going to be here!" he snarled.

"How was I supposed to know?" Sirius asked, shoving him off. "Look, I'm sure Mary will have plenty of firewhiskey. You can forget that stupid letter."

James felt like he was going to be sick. Remus grabbed one of his arms, and Sirius the other. The four of them walked to the drinks table. "Mary, we let ourselves in," Sirius called to the hostess of the party.

"Hi, guys!" Mary said brightly.

Jewel walked over to Sirius and touched him on the arm. "I didn't know you'd be here," she said.

"Me, neither," Sirius replied, then kissed her on the cheek.

James turned to Remus. He was going to throw up. He was going to spew all over Mary's nice floor and Jewel's green shirt and Sirius's perfect hair. "Remus, please, let's go," he said. "I can't be in the same house as her."

"Get a grip," Sirius said loudly. He looked around for a moment, then yelled at Mary, "You don't have any mistletoe up, do you?"

"Heavens no," Mary yelled back at him.

"I think I might actually like her," Sirius said.

"You're always sucking up to her brothers," Peter said temperately.

"Hey, I don't remember asking you," Sirius said. He wrapped his arm around Jewel. "I need to get away from these three."

"We love you, too, Sirius," Remus said as they walked off. Yet another party. Why had he agreed to come, anyway?

--

For having thrown this party together last minute, Mary didn't think it was going too badly. She had sent a few owls out, gathered up some food and drinks, and got her dad to get a band to come. They arrived late, but they were soon playing a few rock tunes. Mostly sixth and seventh years had showed up.

She was making the rounds, butterbeer in hand. In the living room, there was a crazy game of spin the bottle going on. Candace has just pulled away from kissing Kingsley Shacklebolt. Mary sat down next to Juniper Mufflet. "I'm playing," she announced.

Kingsley spun the bottle and the tip fell on Sirius. The latter held up his hands. "Hey, I do a lot of things, but that is not one of them," Sirius said.

"What?" Juniper asked. "You made me and Debra kiss each other!"

"I didn't make you do anything," Sirius said. "I just strongly suggested it."

"It's okay, really," Kingsley said, looking relieved. He spun again, and when the bottle stopped spinning, it pointed towards Jewel. Kingsley glanced towards Sirius. "May I?"

Sirius shrugged, his eyes on Jewel. Jewel gave him a sly smile, then leaned towards Kingsley. They pecked on the lips. "That is so weird," Mary said. "How can you just let her kiss another guy?"

Sirius replied with a second shrug. "It's called trust," he said.

Mary rolled her eyes. "Spin it again," she said.

After a few eventful spins, Mary moved on. The rock band wasn't playing anymore, but smoking gillyweed in her basement. James Potter had joined them. "Lily problems again?" Mary asked, sitting on James's lap.

"You have no idea," James said in a slow voice.

"Aren't you glad I don't have any mistletoe here?" Mary asked.

"Oh, yeah," James said.

Mary took the rolled up gillyweed from his hand and inhaled a little bit. She had only smoked gillyweed twice before, so she coughed a little bit. What she did get she felt go through her muscles, relaxing her. This stuff did a wonder. The first time she smoked it, she puked her guts out. The next time, though, was one of the craziest nights of her life.

The musicians were a few years older than them, and all of them were pretty good-looking. After a few more drags, she felt totally at ease, no cares in the world. Sure, there was a war, but they would all get out alive. Her brother would be let go, the ministry mistaken about his sketchy behavior. It would be over soon. They would look back on this and laugh.

The guys seemed even hotter, but she had a feeling they weren't interested. One of the guys was strumming his guitar, another was absorbed in his gillyweed, and the third was talking about the war with James.

"My sister died last week," the musician said.

"What?" James asked, as though he had never heard the word 'die' before.

"Yeah," he said. "It's easier to understand when I'm smoking."

"Man," Mary said. She was still on James's lap, practically laying on him. She felt like all of her muscles were sleeping, and James's heartbeat against her chest was kind of comforting, knowing someone else lived with her. "I'm sorry."

"How?" James asked.

"Death Eater attack," the musician said. "Her best friend was a Muggleborn, and they were together."

"Bloody hell," James said.

"We didn't talk much," the musician said.

Mary thought about her friends, her family, and the war. Her parents, clueless. Her brother, in Azkaban. Her friends, Gryffindors against the war. "Makes you wonder who's gonna die next," she said.

There was a moment of silence. It was too heavy for Mary. She sat up. Her whole body felt heavy. "Is there any more gillyweed?" she asked.

The guy with the dead sister shook his head. "Brian smoked it all," he said.

She floated up to the third floor, looking around for Frank. She found Lily and Paul talking in the hallway, sitting up against the wall. "You guys seen Frank?" she asked.

Lily paused, glancing around. "He was around here, but I think he went back downstairs," she said.

"Mmm," Mary said.

"You okay?" Lily asked.

"Yeah," Mary said, walking back downstairs. She saw Frank sitting at the kitchen table. There was some girl sitting with him, but Mary couldn't remember her name right now...some Hufflepuff...

Mary stumbled over to the table and sat down next to Frank. "Hey," she said.

"Hi," Frank said, looking a little uncomfortable.

"I just have to tell someone," she said, feeling reckless. "My brother's in Azkaban."

"What?" Frank asked. "Why?"

"Sketchy behavior," Mary said. "Some Death Eater friend. He was at some attack site...I don't know, they won't give us all the details." She sighed. She felt like there had been a load lifted off of her shoulders. She leaned down, putting her face on the table. She felt Frank's hand on her shoulder and let out tears she had held back for weeks.

--

Alice sat at the table, unsure of what to do. Her and Frank had been talking...it had been going really well until Mary came in. And now she was crying. Frank patted her shaking shoulders, his forehead wrinkled in concern.

"I should go," Alice said.

"Wait," Frank said.

Alice stood up, taking her jacket and purse. She shouldn't have come to this party at all. What was she thinking?

"Alice," Frank said, standing up.

Mary looked up, sniffling, a confused look on her face. Alice realized she had probably been smoking gillyweed with James and the band. She had made the mistake of venturing into the basement, but it hadn't taken her long to leave. "Thanks for the party, Mary," Alice said. "I'm just going to Floo home."

"Don't leave," Frank said.

"I shouldn't have even come," Alice said, pulling her jacket on. "Look, don't worry about it. It's fine - everything's fine, okay?"

"I want to keep talking," Frank said.

Alice hated that look on his face, like he didn't want anything else in the world but her. "Goodnight," she said. She left the kitchen and walked towards the living room where the fireplace was.

He followed her, taking her arm. "Wait," he said.

"Frank, you have a girlfriend in there," Alice said, pulling away from him.

"I don't want you to leave," Frank said quietly. "Look, I meant what I said, all of it."

Others in the room were watching the two of them. They probably had no idea that they were even friends, much less...involved. At least that's what Alice would call it. Frank was convinced they were in love. In love - then why hadn't he talked to her the last four months of school?

Alice gave him a glare and turned to start a fire in the fireplace. He took her arm again. "Alice, come on," he said. "How about I walk you home? Your parents won't have their Floo up this late."

"No," Alice said. She hadn't actually thought of that. She would have to Floo to the nearest pub. "No, it's fine. I'll walk home myself."

"Let me get my coat," Frank said.

When he turned to leave, Alice started the fire with her wand. He was back before she could Floo out. "What about Mary?" she whispered.

"I told her," Frank said. "Don't worry about her. I'm not letting you walk home alone."

"Happy New Year!" Sirius said, raising his pumpkin juice.

Alice blushed when she saw how many people were watching the two of them. She turned to the fire and Flooed, saying, "The Three Broomsticks."

--

"That was interesting," Sirius said, his eyebrows raised. "Frank Longbottom and Alice Hodge?"

"Just about as interesting as Frank Longbottom and Mary MacDonald," Marlene said as she walked into the kitchen.

Sirius was enjoying himself. Jewel was laying on the couch, her feet in his lap. They had played too many games of spin the bottle; Sirius had kissed Candace, Debra, Mary, and, of course, Jewel. His bottle had landed on Marlene, but she had refused to kiss him. He was almost offended. Almost. They had also complained about school endlessly and played around on some of the band's instruments. Now the band was sleeping off their gillyweed. Sirius had no idea where his friends were, but after spending almost all of the last four months with them, he really didn't care.

"It's almost 1977," he said.

"Yep," Jewel said with a yawn. "Are we going over to your place after this?"

Sirius smirked at her. "If you want me to get kicked out, sure," he said.

"You can live with me," Jewel said.

Sirius let out a laugh like a bark. "Your dad hates me," he said.

"He hates anyone who's trying to shag his little girl," Jewel said.

"Shag?" Sirius repeated. "I've never heard the word."

Jewel grinned, kicking his knee. "I'm sure you haven't," she said.

--

"Why do you have to do this?" Alice turned on Frank as soon as they had gotten out of The Three Broomsticks, which was full of people celebrating the coming new year.

"Do what?" Frank asked.

"This!" Alice exclaimed. "We haven't talked for four months, but suddenly you see me at a Christmas party and you want to be with me again and everything that happened during the summer actually meant something to you?"

"I was freaked out," Frank said defensively.

Alice started walking down the street towards her house. It was freezing. She pulled her coat close to her, walking against the wind. It didn't help that she was angry with Frank, either. She would have been fine thinking they just weren't going to work out, even though it killed her inside every day. She was moving on, slowly, but surely. But now, he had to say all of these things.

"Alice," Frank said. "I was freaked out. I fell in love with you, and it was too much for me. I didn't know what to do."

"Well, breaking up with me wasn't the best choice!" Alice exclaimed. "I mean, technically we were never going steady -"

"I was stupid," Frank said.

Alice stopped abruptly, looking up at Frank. He was a few inches taller than her. She had gotten used to craning her neck a little bit to look into his eyes. "I don't think you should be telling me any of this until you break it off with Mary," she said. "I don't care what you have to say while you have a girlfriend."

"But I -" Frank began.

"Break up with Mary," Alice said, "and then if you tell me how much you love me, I might listen."

Frank paused. He began to nod. "I can do that," he said.

Alice's face fell. She stared at him for a moment. "You're going to break up with her?" she asked.

"Isn't that what you just asked me to do?" Frank asked.

Alice's toes were going numb. "Let's get inside and talk," she said. She turned just as she heard a scream. Then they saw it: the Dark Mark, that green hovering skull with the snake wrapped around it. Against the starry night, it looked sinister. It was a few blocks again, but they could see it clearly.

"Oh, my god," Alice said, her insides going cold.

The two of them took out their wands at the same time. Alice started running towards her house. She turned left, her heart pounding. She turned again, and she realized it was hovering over her home. "Oh, my god!" she yelled. She ran faster, but Frank grabbed her, flinging her back.

"Wait!" he said. "You don't know if there are Death Eaters in there!"

"I don't care!" Alice yelled. "Someone in there is dead!"

The neighbors were coming out. People were yelling, others were staring in shock. Alice fought against Frank frantically, but he was nearly twice his size. "Alice, it's not safe!" he said.

"Just let me go!" Alice shrieked. Her mind raced over all the horrible possibilities: her mom, her dad, her younger brother, her grandparents.

Frank must have done the typical alert to the Aurors, because soon they were Apparating onto the street. She recognized at least one of them; he went running into her house. She was tired of fighting, so she stopped struggling as much, tears falling down her cheeks. "Alice, it's going to be okay," Frank said, holding her tight against him.

There were a few minutes of dead silence as the Aurors scanned the house. Alice felt her heart slamming against her chest. After a few shots of purple light, someone called out to them, "It's safe."

Alice broke free from Frank's arms, running inside as fast as her legs would allow her to go. She found one of the Aurors standing over two bodies; her brother and her grandmother.

--

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1!"

Mary's party erupted into cheers and applause after counting down with the WWN. Jewel grabbed Sirius's face, kissing him on the mouth. Mary had fallen asleep in the kitchen. James was wiped out next to her, so he was spared the sight of Lily and Paul kissing. A few other people were kissing, others were hugging, cheering, drinking. They had survived another year.

About fifteen minutes after midnight, someone came into the front door, yelling.

"Alice! Alice, where's Alice?"

It was a middle-aged man with a round face. James and Mary woke up, but neither of them had any idea where they were or who Alice was. "Where is she?" he demanded.

Sirius walked over to the man. "Hey, Alice left about thirty minutes ago," he said. "She Flooed to The Three Broomsticks."

The man paled. "The Three Broomsticks?" he said. "She was going home? Who'd she go with?"

"Frank Longbottom," Sirius replied. "What's wrong?"

"It's - we've been...attacked," the man said. He looked frantic. "My son and my mother, they were killed. I...I..." he broke down, holding his head in his hands. "I tried to help, I tried, but then we just...we had to go, me and my wife and my dad...it was just - it happened so fast. It should have been me instead."

The party had taken a sudden turn. Everyone stared at this grown man crying and trying to explain to Sirius his guilt and helplessness. There was shock and fear on their faces. Some of the kids were buzzed, but everyone understood what was going on. Death.

"Look," Sirius said. He swallowed, unsure of what to say. He put his hand on the man's shoulder. "How about we Floo to The Three Broomsticks and I help you find Alice? Let's go make sure she's safe."

Sirius grabbed his coat from the kitchen and led the man to the fireplace. He nodded to Remus. "Stay here 'til I get back," he said.

Remus nodded. "You want me to come?" he asked.

"No, make sure James doesn't do anything too stupid," Sirius said. He started up a fire and threw in some Floo Powder. They couldn't enjoy one bloody holiday.

--

A/N: The credit for the idea of smoking gilyweed goes all to Project Shoebox, not my own clever mind.

I'll be gone for all of July, but expect the next chapter in August. Remus is glad to be back at Hogwarts, Sirius talks with his brother, Frank and Mary come to a decision, Lily reflects on James's response to the letter, and someone's head is hexed to twice its normal size. Find out who in the next installment of...Glass Hearts!

Please review :)