The Truth Of The Heart

Summary: Lily Evans has always, ALWAYS hated James Potter. So when they become Head Boy and Girl, nothing could be worse. But could working with him change Lily's opinion? Has she been ignoring the truth in her heart all along?

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this….except a few minor characters, so please don't sue me, JKR, 'cause I have nothing you want….unless you're into human flesh (you're not, are you?)

Chapter 27: Blood Brothers

"Morning!" Despite the cool weather outside, Emma's face at breakfast was a picture of happiness as she watched James and Sirius sit down opposite her and her friends. She smiled sunnily at them, causing Lily and Sapphire to roll their eyes affectionately.

"Somebody's happy today," Sirius commented, reaching for cereal. James rolled his own eyes and smacked Sirius upside the head.

"Excuse the extreme stupidity of my friend, ladies. But don't worry, he's on the waiting list for the nearest mental asylum." He snatched the cereal off Sirius. "Oh, and Emma, Remus said he'd be down soon. He's just waiting for Peter."

"That's okay," Emma said cheerfully. "It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" James looked up at the ceiling, which showed nothing but grey clouds scudding across, and raised an eyebrow.

"She's been like this since she woke up," Lily supplied, in a mock whisper, but her smile as she looked at her friends showed how really happy she was for her. Just then, a pair of legs straddled the bench, and a boy who Lily had come to recognise as Leon Wilkes sat himself down next to Sapphire.

"Hi, Sapphire," he said. "How're you today?"

"Great, until you showed up," Sapphire muttered. She moved away from him. Lily, James and Emma all stared at Leon, who was eyeing Sapphire's chest, but oddly enough, Sirius was watching Sapphire with an unusually shrewd expression on his face. She looked at her plate determinedly, avoiding both his and Leon's eyes.

Leon tore his gaze away from her body. "So. Sapphire, Sapphire, Sapphire. Would you be my girlfriend?"

Sapphire exhaled. "Would you get lost?"

Leon maintained a cavalier smile. "You'll cave in soon enough," he announced, before getting up and going.

Sapphire let out a sigh of relief. "Stalker, that's what he is."

Sirius took a bite of toast, but frowned as he chewed, watching Leon sit down with his own Ravenclaw friends.

"What's the matter?" James asked. "Peanut butter instead of marmalade on your toast?"

Sirius swallowed. "No," he said. He stared at Leon for a few minutes longer, and then turned back to the group. "Have you ever had a boyfriend, Heathleigh?" he asked abruptly.

"What?" Sapphire looked as though she couldn't believe her ears. "Why do you care?" An angry tinge of pink appeared on her cheeks.

"I'm asking. Have you ever had a boyfriend? As in, at all during Hogwarts?"

Sapphire's face darkened to deep red. "If you must know, no, I haven't!" she snapped. "What's it to you?"

"Nothing," Sirius said. He was still eyeing her. "So have you ever crushed on anyone?"

For some reason that Lily and Emma could not fathom, Sapphire's normal defence against Sirius, of ignoring him, had crumbled. She flushed, if possible, even more, but did not meet his eyes. "Yes, of course I have!" she said, with an angry kind of pride. "I know you think I'm a freak, Black, but I do have hormones, though I keep them more in check than you do!"

"But then you've never gone out with anyone," Sirius responded, raising his eyebrows. "Instead, you insult anyone who tries to get near you."

"Get over yourself, Black, you're not some kind of psychoanalyst. And not everyone's a manwhore like you."

Sirius still looked at her, not seeming even remotelynettled by her words, as if weighing something up. "Well, personally, I think anyone who wants to go out with you, needs a psychoanalyst."

"Oh shut up!" Sapphire said sharply. "What is with the interrogation over who I go out with? Maybe I just don't want a boyfriend, have you ever considered that in the dung heap you call your mind?"

Sirius replied with only one word. "Why?" For some reason, this simple question seemed to incense Sapphire even more, and she stood up forcefully, almost knocking Lily over.

"I'm going," she barked. "I don't need to explain myself to you!" She gave him a look of pure, unadulterated loathing, and stormed out.

Sirius shrugged. "I don't envy Wilkes," he said, flashing a brilliant grin at a Hufflepuff fifth year, who smiled, blushed, and giggled her way out of the hall. James choked on his orange juice, and Remus slapped him on the back as he sat down.

"Hey guys."

"Hey," everyone answered. Emma gave him a shy smile as he looked at her, and he returned it. "So what's everyone doing?" Remus poured cereal into a bowl.

James looked around sarcastically. "Hm, I don't know…what DOES one usually do at breakfast?"

"Flirt," Sirius responded automatically. He raised his voice. "Hey, Madhura!" he called.

A pretty Asian girl, walking by arm-in-arm with her two best friends, raised her eyebrows at him. "Hi, Sirius."

"Are you free this Saturday?"

Madhura smiled, albeit mysteriously. "I might be. Depends what you want to know."

"Could I know if you'd go out with me?"

Madhura looked him up and down. "I'll think about it." She walked off, talking to her two friends, who had both been appraising Sirius coolly, as if determining whether or not he was good enough for her.

"She's a tough nut to crack," Sirius said, watching her go.

"That's because she's got beauty and brains, so she doesn't fall all over your feet like some bimbo," James said wisely. "She'd actually be worth your time and effort. And interest."

"Well -" Sirius began, before he was interrupted by the arrival of the owl post. No one paid much attention to the birds, until a large eagle owl glided proudly down to Sirius, who eyed it with distaste.

"Oh no," he said in a low voice, unfastening the letter from its leg. The owl ruffled its feathers, gave him a haughty look, and took off again. Almost deliberately taking his time, Sirius unfolded the parchment. His eyes moved over the words inside, but after a few moments, it became clear that he was not really reading any more.

"What's wrong?" Lily enquired, watching his face pale slightly, his eyes fixed on one point in the letter. Sirius started and looked up, as if surprised to remember that they were all still there.

"Nothing," he said shortly. He looked down at his food, and pushed his plate away, before folding the letter up again and putting it into his pocket. He stood up. "I'm not hungry. I'll just go and…er…yeah…" He left the hall.

There was an awkward pause as six pairs of eyes followed his tall figure walking swiftly out of the hall.

"Well," Lily said, trying to relieve the tension. "It must have been something big to drag Sirius away from food."

James smiled, but turned questioningly to Remus, whose gaze was still riveted on the closed door. "What was all that?" he said, in an undertone.

Remus shrugged. "Go and find out," he replied quietly.

"Who, me? Now?"

"You're the best person for the job – he'll talk to you." He nudged James on the shoulder. "I think he was going outside."

Resigned, James too got up and walked off. He knew Lily's intent green eyes were fixed on him in confusion, as she had not heard any of their exchange, but he stored that to deal with later, and instead focused on the more pressing problem of where Sirius had gone.

Outside, he shivered, crossing his arms over his jumper, and looked around before walking off into the gardens. Sure enough, he soon found Sirius, sitting under a tree, not far from the lake. The letter was in his hand again, but he was now twisting it around mechanically.

"It's freezing cold," he said, sitting down on the ground beside Sirius. He clasped his hands around his knees. "What're you doing out here?"

"Just thinking," Sirius said. He looked idly at the lake.

"Is that really all?" James asked. "Come on Padfoot, we've been best mates for seven years. I know when you're not telling the whole truth."

No reply.

"What was in the letter?" James asked quietly.

Sirius exhaled, a long, slow breath. "My darling hag of a mother wrote to inform me that I've been legally disowned."

"What?" James said incredulously. "Are you sure?"

Wordlessly, Sirius handed him the now-crumpled piece of parchment, and James opened it to skin over its contents. Phrases leapt out at him: '…legally disowned…cut off from the family…inheritance frozen…continuous association with unworthy peers…disregard of family honour…outright disobedience…persistent refusal to co-operate with familial traditions…relentless waste of time on "pranking"…shame to blood kin…burnt off family tree…' James looked up at Sirius, who smiled grimly at his open mouth.

"It's all there," he said bitterly. "Take away the euphemisms, and you can see exactly what they mean." He paused for a moment. "Plus, as it says in there, my wonderful little brother Regulus is 'in total agreement with the proceedings,' being, as he is, a model Black family heir. The only heir, now. So much for brotherly love."

James regarded his best friend seriously. "So…what now?"

Sirius shrugged. "Most of my stuff is here. I can't go back there now…I guess I'll have to find someplace else, and then take everything else."

"But where's 'someplace else'?" James asked in concern. "You know you can come back to my place and stay as long as you like – Mum and Dad'd love to have you."

"Yeah, but I can't stay forever, can I?" A frown passed over Sirius' face. "I reckon I might be able to buy an apartment of my own…Uncle Alphard left me a decent bit of gold; as soon as my birthday comes, I'll have access to it. He got blasted off the family tree for that." He rubbed a hand wearily across his eyes, and it was then that James noticed the recent scars on his knuckles. He grabbed Sirius' hand and scrutinised it.

"What happened here?"

Sirius pulled his hand away. "The day of Alyssa's…funeral, Phineas turned up when we were about to leave Dumbledore' s office, with a message from Mother about my 'impure morals'. When I got back, I was pissed off, I went outside, and even though Moony tried to calm me down, I ended up punching a tree."

James raised his eyebrows, but refrained from commenting. After a while, Sirius spoke again. "I suppose that little episode should have been a warning for today." His eyes suddenly flashed vehemently. "I hate the lot of them! – my blinded parents, my soft brother – all convinced that to have wizard blood makes you practically royal. The only way I would ever have pleased them would have been if I had killed off half the Muggle-borns in school. Commanded the Heir of Slytherin or something."

James could do nothing but watch his friend compassionately. He could not imagine life without his own parents and sister – and they were a family that he loved. How must Sirius feel? Again, it was Sirius who broke the silence. He drew a long, slightly shuddery breath, as if trying to hold onto the one thing in the world that made sense. "I don't know, James. It feels like I've suddenly had to grow up overnight and face my family's ideals head-on for the first time – and it's too fast." He gave a short embittered laugh. "What am I talking about? I don't have a family now, any more."

"You have me," James said quietly. Sirius looked at him for a moment.

"Yeah, I know," he said. "And I wouldn't trade you – you're more my brother than Regulus ever was. But…you're not…" He did not have to say the last word, and James could have fitted it in easily enough. Blood. The word hung in the air heavily. James watched Sirius' profile; the profile of a man, grown from the same profile of an eleven-year-old boy that had befriended him, and grown as close to him as no one else could come. And suddenly, he had an idea.

"Padfoot, do you have your penknife with you?"

Sirius took out a penknife with a burnished wooden handle. It was a valuable aid to the Marauders, having attachments that could unlock any lock and undo any knot. But it was the sharp steel blade that James needed now. Taking the knife in one hand, he reached out for Sirius', turned it over, palm upwards, and made a diagonal slash across it with the blade. Sirius snatched his hand away. "What're you doing?" he demanded as the blood welled up. He gaped as James, without answering, opened his own fist and made a deep diagonal cut in it. The crimson liquid bubbled up, almost delicately highlighting a startlingly red line over his palm. "James! -"

"Shut up," James muttered. Throwing the knife aside onto the grass, he pulled Sirius' hand, just before he could wipe away the blood, and pressed it against his own. Both boys winced slightly as their damaged skin came into contact and a dull, yet searing pain washed over them. James did not take his eyes from their hands, and Sirius could feel that as his own blood left him, another kind was coming in…He felt a strange tingle up his arm.

A few minutes later, James took his hand away, and pulled out a handkerchief so that they could clean up the mess around the cut. Sirius watched his blood slowly clot across, until all that was left was a brown line across the pale skin. He looked up, finding his throat strangely dry. "You – we're – blood -"

"Brothers." James sounded slightly hoarse himself. "If blood was what we needed to make it official, then blood is what we've got." He looked down at his hand. "Besides, it gives Mum even more of a reason to cluck over you when you come home."

Home. It as a word used so freely and easily among others, yet Sirius had always loathed its sound, knowing as he did what "home" constituted for him. Then had come the time that he had left 12 Grimmauld Place, and there had been no home. But now…James' house…home…he could get used to that… "Thanks," he said gruffly, closing his fist. The marks stung a little, but this was one wound that he preferred to heal the Muggle way. With time. "If I was a girl, I'd hug you."

James rolled his eyes. "Oh, come here. One time only." The two of them hugged briefly, and when they drew back, Sirius knew that there was no one else who would ever take James' place.

James looked at his watch. "You know, we're late for Charms," he commented, with a wry smile. He stood up and brushed himself off. "What do you say we swashbuckle up, in true Marauder style, and skive off?"

Sirius grinned, and accepted his offer of a hand to help him up. "I'd say you almost took after me when it came to very good ideas, Prongs, old friend." He paused. "But it does seem a bit unfair to leave Moony and Wormtail stuck in class." He stooped to pick up his knife.

"Ah." James tapped his Head Boy badge fondly. "This has more uses than you'd think."

-&-&-&-

And so it was, that Lily walked into Charms that morning, only to wonder where James was. Remus and Peter had no answers, and she was left to wonder about the empty places where James and Sirius usually sat.

About halfway through the lesson, a knock sounded on the door. Lily, like everyone else, looked up as it opened, and she stared as James stepped in, looking no different from usual, apart from rather windblown hair, wearing his most serious and mature expression.

"I'm terribly sorry to be late to your class, Professor," he said politely, "but I was detained by some…problems." He appeared to hesitate. "Could I possibly borrow Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew for the remainder of the lesson, please?"

"Potter," Professor Flitwick squeaked. "You do realise your NEWTs are only months away? You need all the theory!"

"Yes sir, but…it's rather urgent." Lily would have laughed out loud if she could, as James managed to make himself look even more serious and Head Boyish.

"But the notes you will miss…" Flitwick said despairingly. Lily bit down hard on her lip and fought to control her expression.

James flickered briefly over Remus and Peter, and then, surprisingly, over herself. "Lily said she would give us her notes to copy up, this evening," he said smoothly.

Flitwick turned to Lily. "Is this true, Miss Evans?" he asked curiously.

Lily, confused as she was, did not miss the cue – the cue to lie like hell. "Yes Professor," she answered clearly, keeping her face neutral. "James already asked me before."

"Very well, very well." Flitwick sighed in resignation. "Mr. Lupin, Mr. Pettigrew, you may go. Be sure that all three of you catch up. We shall be moving on tomorrow. And make sure you give Miss Evans back her notes when you're done."

"Yes sir," the three boys muttered. As James held the door open for Remus and Peter, Lily caught a glimpse of a dark head beyond, to a side, which could only be Sirius.

Odd, she thought, as the door clicked shut and Flitwick began talking again. I wonder what's going on?

-&-&-&-

By that evening, she was still wondering. She was pretty sure James knew that she expected some sort of explanation, but so far, it hadn't come. He had mouthed a silent "Thanks" at her in Defence Against the Dark Arts, and had been his usual self – perhaps even louder-than-usual self at dinner. However, she suspected that this was more to cover up the fact that Sirius was not being his usual self – he was much quieter than usual, managing only a few halfhearted jokes (mostly at Sapphire's expense). After dinner, she had hoped to get James on his own, but he had suddenly relapsed into one of his moods and disappeared. She had been left with no option than to go to the library, to research some facts for Transfiguration.

Now, walking back towards the common room at ten o'clock, she considered again all the possible options. Well – at the moment, she could think of only one thing that could have caused Sirius to react like this – the death of somebody close. But, she pondered as she climbed up a flight of stairs, she had seen Sirius react to his family before, and it had not been like this. Still, maybe –

At that moment, she could have sworn she heard a faint noise, as something shot past her in the corner of her eye. She spun round, but had no time to think before the ground began to rumble beneath her feet, and the staircase she was on slid slowly up and across to another wall. As soon as she had stepped off, the stairs moved away again, leaving her stuck.

Silently, she cursed. She more or less knew where she was, in a dark, little-used corridor, but it would take her nearly ten minutes longer to get back. Heaving a deep sigh, she started walking again.

Slowly, another sound began to force itself upon her ears. Footsteps. She stopped and swung round – perhaps those tiresome stairs had carried some else away too. The footsteps had stopped too, however. Shrugging, she turned back. She must have been hearing her own echo.

But as soon as she started moving again, the footsteps started up again too. They were out of step with her own, and she could have sworn that there were now two sets. Stopping again, she turned.

"Hello?" she called out. She strained her eyes in the strange half-light, but could see no figure approaching.

"Hello, poppet."

Lily swivelled round, and froze.

Four tall figures were standing n front of her in a line, effectively blocking the corridor. At first, she could see only that they were all male.

And then, she managed to put names to faces.

Rodolphus Lestrange…

Lucius Malfoy…

Antonin Dolohov…

Regulus Black…

Oh no.

She turned on her heel, intending to walk back the way she had come, but there were two people there as well, smirking.

Narcissa and Bellatrix Black.

She was trapped.

Swallowing, she turned back to face the four Slytherins in front.

"Well, aren't you even going to be polite?" Lucius Malfoy drawled. "Silence is no way to greet us."

Lily glared at him icily, and let her hand drift almost casually towards her wand.

"Ah-ah-ah." Malfoy shook his head, but his wand was already out. "That's not nice."

"What do you want?" Lily demanded, determined not to show her fear.

"Well," Bellatrix said smoothly, as she and Narcissa came around to stand with the boys. "I suppose you remember a little incident on Hallowe'en, where you decided to insult Severus Snape?"

"We do believe we owe you something for that," Rodolphus added.

"What?" Lily exclaimed in outrage. "You're not even his friend!"

"Be that as it may, Mudblood," Malfoy said silkily. "He is a Slytherin, and one of our own. Therefore we must…how shall I put it…avenge his defeat."

Lily looked them all in the eye, and realised that they meant business. A sudden shiver shot down her spine, but she still kept her head up, hoping desperately that a plan of escape would flash into her mind.

Nothing came.

"Ahh, look at the ickle Head Girl trying to get away. She's scared of us," Bellatrix said. A scornful smile curved on her lips as though this were the most ridiculous thing in the world.

"Bella, don't be silly, she was scared before we even turned up," Narcissa said. "Didn't you hear her calling?" She imitated Lily's voice. "Hello? Hello?" A mocking smile appeared on her face too. "As though she honestly expected someone to answer."

"You've got nothing coming to you that you don't deserve," Antonin said fake-cheerfully.

Simultaneously, all six took a step forward, and Lily looked round behind her at the empty corridor, steeling herself to run. When she looked back, she found six wands, all trained on her.

The next moments seemed to play in slow motion, both at the time, and when Lily looked back.

On seeing the wands, her eyes widened, and she pulled out her own wand.

Six voices shouted "Stupefy!" at the same time. Looking back, she remembered hearing, dimly, running footsteps behind her.

Six flashes of red light seemed to travel towards her, almost as if time itself had slowed down to almost a standstill. She watched them advance towards her defenceless body.

Suddenly, at the last moment, she felt a huge push, and was shoved to the side, only to crash against the wall and land painfully on her bag. All six jets of light hit a rather taller figure instead, who crumpled to the floor.

Silence rang through the corridor.

From where she lay, Lily could just about make out, through blurry vision, Lucius Malfoy, as he stepped forward to look at the face of her unknown saviour. He smirked and turned to the others.

"Look what we have here," he called. "The poor little Mudblood's knight in shining armour."

Someone laughed, but another voice piped up. Regulus Black. "Come on, let's go. When that Mudblood wakes up, the first thing she'll do is run for teachers."

"Not if we sort her out properly," snarled Bellatrix's voice.

Lucius stopped her. "Letit go. She'll have worse coming to her in the future. We'll leave." He kicked the motionless body in the stomach, and then in the back, so that it rolled over, and moved out of her view.

Footsteps receded, but it was still some time before Lily was able to roll painfully to a side, rubbing her bruised shoulder painfully. Her vision was almost clear, so she slowly got to her feet, feeling a throbbing where her head had hit the wall, to see who the figure lying face down on the floor was, and gasped as she saw the messy black hair.

It was James.

-&-&-&-&-&-&-&-

A/N: Okay, before you all kill me (painfully, yes, I know), I SERIOUSLY apologise for the long wait. I've had exam after exam - first music exams, then final, future-deciding AS Levels, and life in general has been sucky. But now I'm free (well, for a week or so, until I come off study leave and go back to school again), so I shall post as much as I can. And I'm working REALLY hard on Chapter 35 . So keep your fingers crossed for me. And just remember that if you kill me, you'll NEVER get to find out what happens to Sirius and Sapphire, or how Lily and James get it together. Got you convinced? Good.

By the way…how about a little review to pass your time while you wait?