Hola everyone! I'm going to keep this brief since there is kind of a long author's note at the end of this that I think you should read.

All I'm going to say is that there is some underage drinking in this chapter but that's why it's rated T. You have been warned.

When Remus awoke on a stormy Saturday morning, he honestly expected it to be a horrible day. The weather was stifling hot, there was dense fog everywhere, and it didn't help that it was a full moon either.

He was not expecting to see a familiar owl, Thalia, sitting on his window sill. He ran to the window and ushered the bird inside. She flew in circles around his head and dropped the letter on his floor. He picked it up and proceeded to feed Thalia a treat.

The letter was short and simple but it lifted the weight that had settled on his shoulders all summer. It was from Sirius basically saying that they were out of Grimmauld and they were with the Potters. They were a bit banged up but it was nothing serious. He penned a response and just let Thalia out of his window to return the letter when another owl flew in.

It dropped the Prophet on his bed and looked at him, demanding payment. Slightly annoyed at all the owls, he quickly paid the bird before it attacked. Since it was Saturday, the last page of the paper was dedicated to listing the dead and missing from that week. It did him no good but he forced himself to read the list every week to reassure himself. He figured that if anything happened to any of his friends, he would know about it or get proof that it happened. News was terribly unreliable but the list of the dead and missing was the only thing that the Prophet always told the complete truth on.

As he scanned the names, his stomach clenched when he recognized last names of classmates, spouses or parents of current and past students he knew, adults (he was horrified two weeks ago to see that Professor Katsopolis and his family had been listed) and the occasional muggle family he knew.

This week's list seemed to be almost clear until one name popped up at the bottom, the most recent death, and he froze in shock and horror. It wasn't….no...

Hundreds of miles away, Elyse O'Brian was sitting at the base of the hill near her house with her arms wrapped around Pat. He had surprised her this morning when he threw small rocks at her window. Elyse was about ready to curse him to next week when he held up the blanket and pointed to the east, more specifically where the sun hadn't risen yet. It was incredibly romantic and Elyse nearly swooned right out of her second floor window when he flashed that adorable and (to her at least) drop dead sexy smile.

The sunrise was beautiful and calming but for some reason Elyse couldn't shake the feeling that something wrong had happened. She got a quick flash of a gravestone that caused a shiver to go straight down her spine. Pat took it as she was shivering from the slight chill that morning and placed his arm around her. She melted into his embraced and tried to calm down. Since then they just laid there and watched the clouds roll by.

Then out of nowhere Pat asked, "Woot's 'hat?"

The owl swooped down low enough to drop the paper right onto Elyse's lap. She quickly flipped it to the back, ignoring Pat's yelp when he saw the moving pictures on the cover. She scanned the list of the dead and missing, getting more and worried by the second as she recognized a few of the names from school. But it wasn't like the horrified feeling she felt when she got to the last and most recent name.

Without an explanation, she scrambled to her feet and ran back to her house. She ignored Pat's shouts behind her as he tried to catch up with her to figure out what was wrong. She slammed the kitchen door open, scaring her mother half to death.

"Elyse! Woot's wrong?!" Mrs. O'Brian asked, knowing that something had to be terribly wrong.

"I've ter get ter Godric's Hallow," she said before running up the stairs and got ready to pack. They needed her right now.

James didn't know what woke him up that early. The clock next to him ready 5 a.m. He groaned and tried to get back to sleep but when he heard the murmur of voices, his curiosity was peaked. He looked over to Sirius who was snoring softly in his sleep, not at all talking as he was occasionally known to do. That left only one option. Someone was downstairs.

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and reached for his invisibility cloak and threw it over himself to go investigate who or what was downstairs.

There were certain advantages of having an invisibility cloak. Going anywhere, seeing anything, listening to everything; it was a trouble makers dream. More than once James was sure that his parents rued the day they gave him the family heirloom. The cloak was ridiculously perfect. It never tattered no matter how many times it should have snagged on something. It also never faded. James never thought that it would let him down.

His bare feet padded softly across the soft carpet of his room until he came to his door. He slowly turned the doorknob, praying that the squeak it sometimes made wouldn't give him away. Apparently, someone was on his side since it made no noise.

The hallway was completely empty. Ursula's room was closed and James would bet his entire inheritance that it was locked. The only thing that was odd was his parents' door was open. He looked to his left and saw a soft glow coming from the living room. He climbed down the stairs and the voices became clearer and clearer as he got closer to the landing.

"—late notice," the stranger said.

James tiptoed to the landing and peered around the corner and almost fell over in shock. Standing in the doorway was none other than Jay White.

"It's alright Jay." Mrs. Potter said. "From what the message said, something bad has happened." That certainly caught James's attention and he moved the rest of the way into the living room, making sure he was far enough away so they wouldn't run into him but at the same time, close enough so he could hear them.

Mr. White sighed and motioned towards the sofa, "You might want to be sitting for this."

"Jay, we've been expecting this for a long time," Mr. Potter muttered, his voice gravely and sad.

Mrs. Potter shook her head and wiped away a tear that slipped from her eye. James's breath caught in his throat. His mother never cried. The last time he saw her cry was when her friend from Hogwarts passed away almost seven years ago.

"We've been expecting this but we didn't think it would happen so soon. I don't even think the twins know yet," she said through her tears.

Mr. White shook his head sadly, "I just checked at the Ministry. Five years ago he changed his will. Sirius and Ursula are getting everything to evenly split. Alphard even wrote into the will that whatever money he was set to inherit goes to the twins."

James's jaw dropped. He knew that Alphard was ill but he didn't know that he was ill enough that he was on his death bed. Even though the twins had been there for almost a week now, none of the Potters mentioned to either of them the state of their uncle. Now it was too late.

"Alphard also left something else in his will. He didn't leave it to either of the twins or his sister. Not to any of his relatives actually," Mr. White continued.

"What are you going on about?"

Mr. White sighed, "Al prepared for everything in case of his death. If the twins should run away, he arranged it so that they could live in either of his homes for the rest of their life with little worry. I understand that they are living here now. If you wish it, they could—"

Before either of his parents could answer, James threw the invisibility cloak off of himself and exclaimed, "They're staying here!"

All three adults jumped.

"James!" Mrs. Potter scolded, a hand pressed against her heart in shock and surprise.

He ignored his mother's scolding and glared at the Minister for Magic, "This is Ursula and Sirius's home. When they ran away, they didn't think to go to Alphard's house. They came here. This has been their home since they were eleven and there's no way in hell that I am letting them go live in some cold house by themselves."

His parents watched in horror as their son yelled at the most powerful man in the magical world. To their complete and utter surprise, Mr. White started to laugh after a moment, "Oh, James, my son was a fool when he discarded you as a friend. No, no, I know the twins have called this place home for many years. What I was going to suggest to your parents was if they wanted to, Alphard left them the right to sell the house or keep it. And if they sold it, they could even keep the money or give it to the twins. It was never a question if they were leaving."

James was momentarily silent, having no rebuttal or argument to make. Mr. White smiled kindly at him and turned back towards the elder Potters, "I must take my leave now. I suspect the Blacks will be awake soon and I highly doubt either of them would appreciate my presence."

"What do you mean?" James asked.

Mr. White chuckled, "I may have fathered a fool but I am not one myself." He then turned towards Mr. and Mrs. Potter, "Please let them know they have my condolences."

"We will Jay." Mr. Potter assured.

"And you have it as well. I may not have gone to school with you but I know you two were closer than brothers. Call me an ignorant youth but friendships like that don't just fade away with years. The way I saw you behaving you two might as well have been brothers. If you need anything, anything at all, I'll be there to help."

"Thank you, Jay," Mrs. Potter said as she gave Mr. White a hug.

After he was released, Mr. White nodded respectfully towards James and then shook hands with Mr. Potter before leaving. James just looked at his parents, an understanding exchanged between them all. James wanted to tell them. His parents would let him, if not only for that they didn't wish to explain the death of their dearly beloved friends to his presumable distraught relatives.

James walked up the stairs and carelessly tossed his cloak on the floor before walking over to Ursula's room, knowing that she would have the least unpredictable reaction. He knocked on the door.

When Ursula opened it, she already knew something was wrong. James never knocked. "What is it?"

"We got news that you might want to sit down for," he prefaced.

She shook her head, "Just tell me James. Was it someone we knew."

James looked her steadily in the eyes, "Ursula, Alphard had been sick for a very long time. I'm sorry but he passed away last night."

Her face just about broke James's heart. It looked like someone had just ripped open her chest, taken her heart, and tore it apart bit by bit. Her face was drained of color, making her look even paler than she already was.

"How long was he sick?" She asked, horror gripping her as she thought about all the jibs her mother had made about her brother's health.

"For a couple months. It only got serious about a month ago." James told her. "I tried to tell you and your brother but something always pulled you away before I could say it. I'm sorry."

"I'll be in my room," she said quickly.

The door slammed shut in James's face before he could stop her. He heard the click of the lock and the repressed sobs from the other side. James rested his forehead against the door in frustration. He hit his fist against the door next to his head. This summer was supposed to be fun but all it was turning out to be was a complete nightmare. "Bloody hell," he muttered to himself. This was too difficult but he felt…responsible?...for them. He needed to be the one to tell Sirius.

He gathered himself together and walked back to his room and prepared himself to break the news to his closest friend.

As he expected, Sirius did not take the news well. He denied it at first and then shoved James into the wall when he saw that his friend wasn't joking. He collapsed on his bed after that and just like his sister, asked to be alone. James respected his wishes and left the room. He stood outside the door and waited to hear noise and he was surprised when he heard slightly hysterical laughter coming from the other side.

James should have received an award for not getting in trouble for over twelve hours when left to his own devices. He spent most of the day going over new Quidditch plays he wanted to test with Ursula and Elyse when the latter finally showed up. The rest of the day he spent trying to transfigure himself into a stag. By eleven o'clock that night, his parents were back home from finalizing some details and in bed, and he had yet to see either of the twins.

Since trying to transfigure himself had left him thirsty, James walked into the kitchen to get a drink only to see the cabinet he was rarely allowed into partially open. He walked over and saw two bottles of firewhiskey missing. He sighed, knowing where two of the bottles went, he grabbed his own and walked up the stairs.

He opened his door and saw Sirius lounging on his bed, his back resting against the wall, the bottle in his hand half empty. Sirius looked up with slightly glazed eyes and looked at him as if he didn't recognize him.

"What're you doin' here?" Sirius slurred.

James sat down on the opposite side of the bed and popped open his bottle. "If I know anything about getting drunk, you should never get drunk on your own." He took a swing of his bottle and smirked.

Sirius chuckled and held his bottle up as a toast. They clinked bottles and proceeded to each take another swing.

About an hour later, they were both completely pissed. James had somehow ended up on the floor and Sirius was laying on his stomach, half hanging off the bed, "And you know what the worst part is!?" Sirius shouted drunkenly. "all those bloody girls! I just wanna've fun and they're always doin something stupid and dumb," he whined before falling off the bed onto his back.

James didn't seem to noticed that Sirius was out cold now and joined in on the complaining, "Lily's stupid and dumb too! Turnin me down! It bloody hurts." He seemed to notice that Sirius was snoring. "You sister would listen to me," James shoved Sirius roughly, pushing him half under the bed.

James staggered to his feet and walked across the hallway as silently as he could, thinking that he could sneak past his parents. He didn't notice that they had magically sealed off the staircase so no one could fall down.

He opened the door to Ursula's room. It didn't register to him that it was extremely odd that it wasn't locked. He stumbled in and saw Ursula sitting at the foot of her bed staring sadly down at the half empty bottle of firewhiskey. Both of her hands were holding onto her locket, listing over and over again to the music playing inside.

James walked over and fell onto the bed next to her, "That music is so bloody loud," he groaned, covering his ears dramatically.

Ursula rolled her eyes and closed the locket for his sake. Then James scared the hell out of her when he suddenly jumped up and pointed an accusatory finger in her face, "You're makin yourself feel bad about yourself! Stupid girls! Why are girls so stupid?" He asked drunkenly in a high pitched voice.

"Boys're just as stupid," she slurred, trying to focus on his face.

"No we're not! We tell people when we have problems. Girls are all sneaky. All girls belong in Slytherin!" James decreed.

Ursula glared at him and tried to hit him but he just caught her hand. She tried to pull her arm free but he wouldn't let go. "Let go," she complained.

He just pulled her closer and whispered, "Why does Lily like breaking my heart?" he asked in a pathetically sad voice.

"I don't know James." She answered honestly, looking into his glazed over, yet beautiful hazel eyes. Beautiful? Ursula shook her head and tried to clear her thoughts but she couldn't look away from his eyes.

"Would you break my heart?"

He before she could answer, James pulled her forward and drunkenly smashed his lips against hers. Ursula jumped at the sudden contact and somewhere through the drunken haze, she realized that she was kissing James, but for a moment she forgot all about Ben. With the alcohol giving her extra courage, she gripped the front of his shirt and pulled him closer. James moved his hands to her sides and pulled her flush against his chest. His hands went to the back of her neck, angling her mouth so he could kiss her more deeply.

Then there was a loud crash from the other room when Sirius tried to climb out from under the bed that broke them out of their drunken haze simultaneously. They both blushed bright red. James ran his hand through his hair a few times nervously, "I'm gonna go." He said without looking her in the eye.

Without another word, he got off the bed and practically ran to his room.

Ursula fell against her bed and groaned. What the hell had just happened?

The funeral was an extremely private event two days later. Alphard only wanted Andromeda, Ursula, Sirius, and the Potters there.

Sirius, who had actually gone missing from the house for eight hours after finding out about his uncle's death, stared at the urn of ashes as the mortician handed to Mr. Potter. Alphard didn't want to be buried at the family cemetery. He had been very specific about his wishes in death, including the way he would be 'disposed of'.

He specifically asked to be cremated and have his ashes spread at the 'Real Black Lake'. No one understood that at the will reading the day before the funeral except for Mr. Potter. He explained that whenever Alphard was able to sneak out, he would send an owl to Mr. Potter and they would meet up at the lake behind in the forest behind the house in Godric's Hallow. As years went past, Alphard one time mused that that lake was the true Black Lake, not the one at Hogwarts. From then on, it was the Real Black Lake.

It was just the four of them standing around the edge of the lake, Mr. Potter, Mrs. Potter, Ursula, and Sirius. James was waiting back at the house and Andromeda had to leave early because Nymphadora was feeling ill.

"Goodbye friend," Mr. Potter muttered before gently tossing the ashes into the lake.

Ursula went to reach for Sirius's hand but he moved his hands behind his back. Ursula flinched at the rejection but didn't say anything else as their uncle's ashes were spread. Once they were all gone and dispersed in the water, Mrs. Potter turned towards the twins. "We'll give you a moment. Just head back up to the house when you are ready."

She gave them a hug and a kiss on the cheek before walking hand and hand back home with her husband.

Sirius and Ursula stared at the water as the last of the ashes disappeared under the water.

"We didn't even get a chance to say goodbye," Ursula muttered mournfully.

Sirius snorted, "And whose fault is that?"

Ursula flinched and glared at her brother, "What the hell Sirius? I didn't kill Uncle Alphard!"

He never said those words but the implication was there. He glared at her but didn't say anything. Ursula sighed and reached into her bag for something. She played around with the bronze key.

"Listen, Sirius, the night we left I spoke to Dad and he said—"

Sirius, who had tried to be passive, glared scathingly at her, "Let me guess. He gave you some crap about loving us and wanted to protect us that entire time. Yeah, he tried to feed me the same bull shit."

She stared at him in shock. He then looked at the key and laughed sarcastically, "Oh don't tell me you listed long enough for him to give you the key!? He used that as last resort to try to get me to listen. I thought you were smarter than that."

"Sirius, the money he left us, along with the money Uncle Alphard left—"

"Don't you dare dirty Uncle Alphard's money by combining it his." Sirius hissed. "You can take all of that money you want. I don't want a knut of that."

With that, he turned on his heel and walked back towards the house. He heard voices coming from the house and took a deep breath to compose himself. He smirked when he saw his friends all solemnly gathered around the kitchen.

"Look at you depressing bastards," Sirius quipped as he stole a swing of firewhiskey from a bottle he hid back under the cupboard from the other night. "Let's go do something reckless."

James winced when he saw the bottle, remembering the hangover he woke up with the other day. Elyse rolled her eyes but pulled Sirius into a hug, "Come on, yeh big idiot. Yeh need ter 'elp us wit this wee trick fer teh Slytherins."

She guided Sirius into the living room and Peter dutifully followed. Remus hung back when he didn't see James moving to follow. James shook his head, "I'm going to wait for Ursula. I'll be in there in a moment."

Remus nodded and followed his friends into the other room.

James waited five more minutes before Ursula walked in through the door. She turned red when she saw James alone. She had been avoiding him ever since that night and James was tired of it.

"I just wanted to talk to you," James said, holding his hands up in surrender.

She nodded and motioned for him to continue.

"I just want to make sure everything is okay between the two of us after last night. Judging by your face you remember what happened."

"I wasn't that pissed," Ursula defended, the tips of her ears flaring up.

James chuckled, "You could have fooled me. I would say that I apologize for snogging you but I have to admit that I've thought about it before. I just want to know one thing."

"What?" She asked, itching to be anywhere but there.

"How good of a snog was I?" James asked with a cocky smirk. He laughed when Ursula somehow managed to turn even redder. "Pretty damn good judging by that face."

"Stuff it," she said glaring at him.

He chuckled and took one of her hands, "Listen, I know we are friends but there was something in the back of our minds that at least considered it. A relationship I mean. I know it won't be permanent and our hearts belong to other people."

"James, you can't be—"

"Who can say no to this handsome face? I mean look at me! I'm the best looking bloke at Hogwarts!"

Ursula laughed and removed her hand, "I'm sorry James. Not now."

"Eh, maybe later. I'll accept that for now." He brought her hand up and kissed it gently. "Until next time, my lady."

Ursula rolled her eyes at his antics. She left the kitchen first, going to change out of her funeral clothes. James went to get a glass of butterbeer when Elyse walked into the kitchen as well.

"Woot's goin on, Prongs?" Elyse asked as she got herself her own drink.

He shrugged and his eyes followed where Ursula just disappeared, "Nothing much, Lucky."

She smiled and was about to reply when her eyes suddenly glazed over. It happened so suddenly that even James was caught off guard as she dropped her glass and it shattered on the floor. Usually she gave some sort of warning.

She opened her mouth and started speaking in a voice that wasn't hers.

"A muggleborn child…born with powers greater than all her peers combined…the third time shall be the charm…immortalizing her in youth…betrayed by one she calls a friend...her life shall not be the only one at stake...multiple will be extinguished for love and sacrifice…a valiant fight for ones she loves...only to die begging for death...for the third time she dies."

Elyse shook her head and looked down the shattered glass and spilled liquid. "Oh, I think I dropped 'at. James, do yeh've a mop?" She looked up at his horrified face. "James?"

"Oh my God," he breathed in shock.

"Woot?! Woot is it? Woot 'appened?" She demanded.

James shook his head in disbelief, "You just made a prophecy."

"Is 'at good o' bad?" She asked excitedly but with slight apprehension. She thought it was awesome that she could do this but judging by the look on James's face, it was nothing to be happy about.

He looked at her thought of the words of the prophecy. A small tremor of fear raced down his spine, chilling him to his core.

"I don't know. I honestly don't know."

And that simple admission scared him more than the prophecy.

Okay, before everyone freaks out, James and Ursula will not be the end couple in this story. James will marry Lily and they will have Harry in accordance to the books. I just added this because I found it highly unlikely that James never dated anyone before Lily.

That's why I chose to do it like this. It isn't a serious relationship and they both know that this is just a way for the other deal with the pain of not being able to be with the one they care for. James is still in love with Lily but he can't deal with the fact she has a boyfriend (Gabe Abbot) and he respects the legitimacy of their relationship to ever seriously try to do anything with Lily while she is dating another bloke. James and Ursula won't even be an official couple. They might just hold hands or go out on a mini date or two to Hogsmeade. This is going to be brief so don't worry. And I mean brief as in a couple months into the school year at that. I know I'm probably giving away part of the story but I don't want to have everyone freaking out about James/Lily and or Ursula/Ben.

So enough with that. The next chapter will have them back at Hogwarts so that should make things a lot more interesting. Let's just say while this seems like a weird place to say it, this is going to be the beginning of James and Lily and a certain red head will be making his reappearance in a little bit.

I would love to hear what you have to say about this. I know I threw kind of a lot at you at once but that was kind of the point. Things are going to be hectic and crazy and they won't always have time to let things sink in before something new comes up.

Please review and I will see you guys in probably about a week. Until next time, have a great day and happy reading!