Lily, Loraina, and Delilah-

We're really, really sorry for lying to you, but we honestly do have our reasons. You just need to find it in yourselves to trust us. We promise you it'll be worth it, and eventually we will tell you why we had to lie, but not for a little while. Could you please forgive us? We miss you.

Love,

The Marauders.

AKA James, Remus, and Sirius.

P.S. Loraina-We (James and Sirius) are terribly sorry for tying you up outside. Once again, we promise we have our reasons.

"Do we forgive them?" Lily asked her friends with raised eyebrows.

"I suppose," Loraina said quietly.

"Yeah. I mean, it's been a week, and it wasn't that bad," Delilah said. "So, they have their secrets. But so do we."

"Exactly," Lily said with a smile. "Let's write them a letter back."

To our idiotic Marauders-

We miss you guys, too, and accept your apology. You have your secrets, and we have ours. Deal? Good. Glad we're friends again!

Love,

Delilah, Loraina, and Lily.

P.S. James and Sirius-You guys are still idiots for tying me up, but I forgive you, only because Troy saved me.

And just like that, in two days time, they were back to normal once again. Lily and James were back to their now playful bickering, Delilah and Sirius were back to flirting like no other, and Loraina and Remus were back to shyly conversing about books and the like.

"First Hogsmeade trip this weekend!" Lily announced happily as she sat down to breakfast on a Thursday morning.

"Really? That's great!" Delilah enthused.

"I'm so excited!" Loraina agreed. "This is our last first Hogsmeade Weekend!"

"Well that was an oximoron if I've ever heard one," Remus laughed as he sat beside his blonde friend. "I'm assuming Lily told you?"

"Yep," Delilah chirped. "I need to go write...someone. I'll be back!" With that, she raced from the Hall, rummaging in her bag for a quill.

"She can't possibly still be writing him, can she?" Lily asked, turning to Loraina with concern on her features. Sirius, who had just joined them with James, asked her to elaborate.

"It's nothing," Loraina said in a monotone voice.

"I'm just not okay with her writing him!" Lily continued. Loraina gave her a silencing look, but Lily ignored it. "After all he's done and all that he is..."

"I agree. But that's not going to stop her, Lily. You know how she is," Loraina said, trying to placate her friend.

Lily fell deeply into thought once again, and Loraina seemed to do the same while the Marauders just looked between them in utter bewilderment.

The Hogsmeade Weekend dawned bright and early for the girls, who all met up in Lily's dorm to discuss outfits, possible hookups, and plans.

"I'm meeting up with him," Delilah said to answer the question her friends were obviously dying to ask. "Just for a little bit."

"You know how I feel about this relationship," Lily said haughtily.

"Yes, I do," Delilah whispered, closing her eyes. "But you know how much he means to me."

"Why, I will never understand," Lily grunted as she continued to look through her closet. She settled on a simple outfit of some dark, straight leg jeans and a form fitting, burnt orange V-neck sweater.

Loraina pulled a baby blue lace tank top on, then a white cardigan, and a pair of light jeans. She topped off her outfit with some sparkling blue flats. "Delilah, we're just worried about you."

"Why am I the one who's always worried about?" Delilah scoffed as she looked at her outfit of dark skinny jeans, a black, off-the-shoulder sweater, and her long hair in big, barrel curls.

"Because you're just...you," Lily said by way of explanation.

Loraina placed a headband in Delilah's hair. "You look really pretty."

"So do both of you," Delilah smiled. "Now let's go have a good last first trip!"

The girls laughed and linked arms as they walked into the village. Come what many, they would stick together, forever.

Delilah began her trek to the seedy pub on the hill at just past twelve. She passed by Sirius and his date, a girl named Melissa who seemed positively smitten with the raven haired Casanova. He winked at Delilah as she walked by, and Delilah stuck her tongue out at him as she continued up the high road.

She noticed Loraina, laughing with Troy and a few of his friends, and then James, Remus, and Lily. The boys were dragging her rule-abiding friend into Zonko's Joke Shop, and she was jokingly screeching.

Smiling at the sight of her friends, she kept going and opened the creaky, slightly rotting wooden door. She walked in apprehensively, hating that he insisted they meet in places like this. When she spotted his dark brown hair, she approached him slowly.

"Hello, Delilah," he said, flashing a downright sexy smile. She smiled back, slightly shaky.

"Hello, Orion."

"Where's Delilah and Loraina?" Remus asked curiously as James placed a talking birthday cake hat on Lily's head. She laughed and took it off, going on her tip toes to place it on the tall boy's head.

"Loraina was meeting up with Troy for a little while and Delilah is meeting up with an old...friend," Lily said, the word friend coming out very forced.

"Why is Loraina meeting up with Troy?" James asked for Remus, who obviously wanted to interrogate Lily on the possible relationship.

"Oh, something about missing their friendship," Lily said off handedly. "Can we go to Honeyduke's now?"

The boys nodded and followed the small redhead, who continued speaking. "To be honest, I'm not a big fan of Troy, which is why I'm not with them right now. He's bitter that James is Head Boy and he isn't."

"I'm just that good," James bragged mockingly. Lily whacked him soundly on the chest.

"Shut up, Ego Boy," she laughed. "Anyway, Remus, you don't need to worry about Troy and Loraina getting back together. It'll never happen."

"Who said I was worrying?" Remus said would-be casually.

"It's so obvious," Lily said with a small eye roll. "Where's Sirius?"

"He's out on a date with some girl named Melissa," James answered.

"Ah," Lily replied. "On to the next one as usual."

"I think he's actually trying to tone it down a bit, actually."

"I doubt that'll work," Lily scoffed. She looked up in shock as Delilah ran toward them. One of her cheeks was very red, and Lily bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from saying something.

"Lily! James! Remus!" she said in relief. "I've been looking for you guys everywhere!

"Woah there, Delilah," James chuckled. "What's the rush?"

"Nothing in particular. I was bored on my own, and Loraina was being weird."

"You know how she gets with Troy," Lily said with a roll of her eyes.

"Ugh. Only too well," Delilah nodded.

Sirius was having a surprisingly good time with Melissa. Something about it just wasn't right, though. He wasn't sure why. When he saw Delilah wandering the High Street by herself, he was temporarily worried before he saw the excited expression on her face. She was probably meeting up with a date or something, he figured. He winked at her, and she stuck her tongue out playfully.

"Sirius," Melissa was saying, waving her hands in front of his face. Sirius shook himself, looking at her with wide gray eyes.

"Wha?"

"Look, you're a really great guy," she said sweetly. "But you sure as hell don't have a crush on me."

"What are you on about?"

"I can tell there's someone who's already got your heart, Sirius. And I can see that you've really, really got to tell her. So whatever you've got to say, and whoever you've got to say it to, you better say it," Melissa said with a serious look on her cute face as she got up and walked off slowly.

Sirius leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees and hanging his head. What the hell was that?

From where Loraina stood with Troy and his friends, she saw Sirius, slumped over on a bench. She watched as his date walked away from him, and excused herself from Troy and his posse hurriedly, walking to Sirius with rushed steps.

"Sirius?" she asked gently, kneeling in front of him.

"Hey Raina," he replied, his gray eyes looking saddened and confused.

"What's wrong? I saw Melissa just now, and she looked pretty...solemn."

"She just left me with the weirdest little monologue," Sirius said with a laugh. "Girls. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em."

"I take offense to that," Loraina laughed. "Really though, what'd she say?"

"She said that I sure as hell don't have a crush on her, and that someone already has my heart, and that I need to tell whoever that is."

"Sirius," Loraina giggled. "That isn't complicated at all!"

"Maybe not to you! But to me it is!" Sirius grumbled, rubbing his hands together. "How do I know who has my heart?"

"Your heart would know that, wouldn't it?" Loraina said with a twinkle in her light green eyes. Sirius looked up at her sarcastically.

"C'mon now, Raina, don't get all poetic on my sorry ass," Sirius joked.

"Coming from the boy who writes songs."

"That's different though."

"Sure it is," Loraina said with a small roll of her eyes. "Okay, so lemme quiz you, okay? Who's the girl you feel most comfortable with?"

"Hm...probably you or Lily."

"Okay, then it's not one of us," Loraina stated. When he looked confused she scoffed. "C'mon, Sirius, think. You wouldn't feel utterly at ease with someone you like. You'd get butterflies, or something like that. That's not being at ease with someone."

"Okay, fine, agreed."

"Now, is there anyone who makes your heart stop? Who makes your stomach go crazy?" Loraina asked gently.

"There is one person," Sirius mumbled.

"It's Delilah, isn't it?" Loraina said sweetly.

"What? How'd you-"

"It's all in your eyes, my friend. I'll see you later, Sirius."

With that, yet another girl left Sirius on that bench, confused and pondering.

Orion Black leaned back in that seedy pub on the top of the hill. He knew several of his cousins were somewhere in the town; Sirius, Bellatrix, Regalus, Narcissa. He decided not to find them, however. Delilah's story interested him. The fact that she had become friends with his blood traitor cousin Sirius was most definitely interesting to him.

Orion didn't love her. He didn't love Delilah Monroe at all. But he had a power over her that he thoroughly enjoyed. If he just kept up his act of love for a little while longer, he knew he could get what he needed out of her and then never have to hear her try to convince him that the Dark Lord was the wrong way to go.