The next morning, Delilah awoke with a pounding headache and sore...well, sore everything. She ran her hands through her messy hair, glancing up to find Sirius still asleep. She pulled the red sheet close to her as she got up to retrieve her dress, giggling as Sirius shivered with the absence of the blankets.

"Sirius," she whispered loudly, shaking him as she put on her clothes. "Sirius, come on. We've got to go back!"

"Morning," he yawned, leaning up on his elbows. "So, are you regetting last night yet?"

"No," she said indiginantly. "Are you?"

"Of course not," he grinned, getting dressed as well. "I wonder how our friends fared."

Delilah's mind thought back to the events of the wild party she had helped throw, and she groaned as she remembered the high level of Lily's drunkenness.

"Oh bloody hell," the blonde mumbled. "And Remus and Loraina. Jesus, they were hardly speaking just days ago, and all of a sudden they're attached at the mouth!"

Sirius righted the room with his wand, and their little getaway place resumed its appearance as a classroom. Sirius grabbed her hand.

"Come on, love, we'd better get back before everyone wakes up."

She dashed down the halls with him, shoes in one hand, resisting the urge to giggle loudly for no particular reason. When they swept into the Gryffindor common room, they shared a sweet kiss before separating up their respective staircases.

Sirius burst into his room rather loudly, whistling as he made his way into the bathroom to take a shower.

"Oi, Moony, you'll never guess what happened last night!" he yelled from the bathroom as he brushed his teeth. "Moony?"

Remus stuck his head out of his closed curtains. "Erm, hey Padfoot."

"Hey yourself," Sirius said with a dirty smirk, "how was Loraina last night?"

Remus blushed a deep red. "That's none of your business."

"No really, did you have totally hot werewolf sex?" Sirius asked, his toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. Remus's color got even deeper.

"Really, mate, shut up!" he hissed. Sirius suddenly widened his grey eyes.

"Oh hell, is she still here."

"Yes, and she's asleep, so shush!"

Sirius winked and sauntered back into the bathroom, closing the door. Loraina stirred at the slamming noise, waking up and blinking sleepily at the blonde boy.

"Morning," he said cheerily.

"Morning," she smiled, before blushing at her lack of clothing. "I should probably get out of here..."

"Probably," Remus said as she began to put on her undergarments.

"Uh, Remus," she said, "you sort of demolished my dress..."

"Er, right, sorry about that."

"How do you suppose I should go about getting to my room? You know, not wearing clothes."

Remus laughed at that, slipping on his boxers and getting up. He threw another pair of boxers from his drunk to her, and one of his grey sweatshirts. She pulled them on.

"Oh, I look so sketchy," she giggled, smoothing out her messy hair in the mirror. Remus came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her hips. He kissed her temple and swayed a little.

"I think it's cute."

"You're insane."

"For you."

"Well aren't you cute this morning?" she laughed, twisting to give him a kiss. The shower suddenly shut off, and Loraina widened her eyes before giving him another kiss and bolting from the room. Remus laughed, staring after her as Sirius came out of the shower.

"She gone?" Sirius asked, shaking out his black hair.

"Yeah," Remus replied. Sirius opened his mouth to say anything. "I'm not going to tell you anything, before you even ask."

"Oh come on!" Sirius whined. "At least give me the basics. Did you finally lose it?"

Remus sighed, sitting on the bed with a huge smile on his face.

"Oh, you so did," Sirius shouted, grabbing his clothes and going back in the bathroom.

"I never said that!" Remus yelled at the closed door.

"Might as well have!"

Meanwhile, in the girl's dorm, Loraina opened the door to her room only to be dragged back out by Delilah, who was still wearing her dress from last night and no shoes.

"Lily's room, now!" Delilah demanded. "We all need to talk!"

Loraina looked down at herself. "Can I at least change?"

"No, your outfit is too hilariously incriminating," Delilah teased, dragging her friend down the stairs and toward Lily's room. They arrived quickly, dashing up Lily's stairs. Delilah burst through the door.

"Lily! We've got to talk to you!"

"Oh God!" Loraina gasped, covering her eyes as a very indecent James rolled out of the bed in shock. Lily pulled the covers over her head in embarassment.

"Bloody hell James, this is the second time I've seen you naked this year!" Delilah squealed, covering her face and turning away. "Put some clothes on, man!"

"It's not my fault you never learned to knock!" James shouted back, throwing on his boxers and pants. He grabbed his shirt off the floor and hugged the lump of covers that was Lily. "Bye, love. I'll see you later."

With that, a red faced James Potter evacuated the area.

Lily poked her head out from the covers. "I should probably put clothes on..."

"Probably," the other girls chorused, keeping their hands over their face. Lily dressed quickly, sitting atop her bed. Delilah lowered her hands warily, approaching the bed with a suspicous look.

"Is it safe to sit down?"

"Yes," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "We didn't...you know..."

"Well I did," Delilah smirked cockily. Lily dropped her jaw, smiling and hitting her friend with the nearest pillow.

"You did not!"

"I did!" Delilah squealed. "And it was good."

"Of course it was good," Loraina said, joining them on the bed. "It's Sirius freaking Black!"

"I'm doubting it was as good as vicious werewolf sex," Delilah smirked at Loraina.

"What?" Lily squealed. "Oh my God, are you wearing his boxers?"

"He ripped my dress!" Loraina defended, before turning bright pink. "I mean..."

"Oh my God, look at her neck!" Delilah laughed, pointing to where several bruises, some indicating teeth marks, were coloring her pale friend's neck. Lily burst into loud, amazed laughter.

"Who knew Remus Lupin would be such a freak?" Lily teased. Loraina blushed but smirked, looking strikingly like her other blonde friend.

"You think the werewolf's bad? You should see his neck," Loraina giggled. Lily let out a little scream, still laughing, and Delilah hit her friend with the same pillow Lily had whacked her with.

"Looks like we only have one little virgin left," Delilah said, looking pointedly at Lily.

"Not for my lack of trying," Lily joked. "Talk about rejected."

"James would never reject you!" Loraina exclaimed. "I mean, he's been waiting for this since he was eleven."

"Well, he didn't want to take advantage of me while I was wasted."

"That's sweet," Delilah said, her face softening.

"Yeah," Lily agreed, smiling at the thought of her night with James. "It was still an amazing night."

"What a start to the New Year," Delilah giggled. "Thank god I've been taking those contraceptive potions, just in case."

Loraina suddenly paled. "Contraceptive potions?"

Her two friends stared at her in shock. "You...you haven't?" Lily asked nervously.

"No!" Loraina burst out. "I mean, I didn't plan on.."

"Can werewolves even impregnate?" Delilah asked suddenly.

"Their junk still works fine!" Lily snapped. "Okay, what do we do?"

"Wait until she misses a period," Delilah suggested with a shrug. "It was her first time, I doubt she'll get preg-"

"Don't even say it," Loraina said, looking ill. "I can't believe...oh God..."

"It's going to be just fine," Delilah said, hugging her. Lily took her hand.

"It really will," Lily said. "Plus, worse comes to worse, you guys will have an adorable baby."

"Lily," Delilah groaned. "Don't!"

"Sorry," Lily said sheepishly. There was a light knock on the door.

"I'm meeting the guys at the kitchens for breakfast," James called through the door. "You girls want anything?"

"Comfort food, please!" all three girls said desperately to the door.

"Erm...what does that mean exactly?"

"Just tell the elves," Lily laughed. "They'll know what to do."

"Uh, all right..."

"Thanks, Jay!"

"Welcome, flower. See you."

They waited until they heard his footsteps disappear before resuming their conversation.

"Do I tell him?" Loraina asked nervously.

"No," Delilah said, just as Lily nodded. They looked at each other.

"He's got to know!"

"He'd just freak out and it might mean nothing!"

"What do you mean, it might mean nothing?" Loraina asked, looking terrified. "Like, it meant nothing?"

"No, no, honey," Lily interjected. "She means this whole scare thing."

"Oh. Okay," Loraina said, breathing once again.

"Look, why don't we go in my pool of a bathtub in some swimsuits and just relax?" Lily asked. "Try not to think about it. I'm sure it's all going to be fine."

"Okay," Loraina said with a shaky smile. Lily grabbed some bikinis that they all quickly changed into before going into the bathroom where the huge jacuzzi tub was. Lily turned on the faucets, flicking on a few extra streams of scented bubbles.

"Jesus," Delilah whistled. "You've got the digs, Evans."

"I know," Lily giggled, getting into the warm water, her friends following right after.

In the kitchens, Sirius was recounting his escapade with Delilah, sometimes in a little too much detail.

"Mate," James said with a wrinkled up face, "remember that the girl is like my sister."

"You two talk about Loraina and Lily all the time!" Sirius exclaimed. "And they're like my sisters!"

"Yeah, who you would sleep with," Remus laughed, taking a bite of the omelette the elves had made him.

"I would not sleep with Lily," Sirius defended. "But Raina..."

Remus glared daggers at him. "Shut it."

"Oh right, sorry. You've marked your territory and all," Sirius teased, letting out a little yelp as Remus put him in a headlock jokingly.

"Doesn't that like, turn her into a werewolf?" Sirius choked. Remus suddenly released him, his face pale.

"Could it?" he whispered, his voice choked. James laughed loudly.

"No, Moony, you can't make her a werewolf by sleeping with her."

"Are you sure?" Remus asked, his face remaining colorless. "I mean, I never even thought about it but it would make sense..."

"You weren't Moony," James explained. "It's not as if you were mating with her."

Sirius let out a bark of laughter, and both of his companions silenced him with glares. He shrugged and continued to eat. Remus looked comforted.

"You're right," the blonde boy said, obviously convinced. "I mean, what could go wrong?"

Later that day, Remus and Loraina had gone for a walk on the grounds to have a much needed conversation about their relationship status. Delilah and Sirius were napping in his room; at least that's what they told their friends they were doing. Lily chose to believe them.

"Hey," a tentative James said from her doorway. She was laying on her bed, reading. She looked up and gave him a small, nervous smile.

"Hello James."

"I was wondering if I could talk to you," James said, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. She nodded and beckoned for him to sit on the bed. He sat at the foot, ruffling the back of his head. "Listen, I'm sorry for the way things happened last night. I nearly took advantage of you. And I feel that I still did. I want to make sure that this is really what you want."

Lily looked surprised for a moment, tucking her hair behind her ear. "It really is what I want, James. I promise that it is."

"I just need to know for sure," he said desperately, looking up at her pleadingly. "I really care about you. We haven't even had a chance to stop and just talk after everything that's happened. I don't even know what happened to you, while you were captured."

Lily took a deep breath. "That's hard to talk about."

"I know it is, Lils, but we've got to. I need to know, and you need to tell someone. Let me in."

"I'm scared."

"As much as I hate to say this, then maybe this was the wrong choice for you. I'll wait until you're ready to let me in, Lily."

"I am ready," Lily said. "I'm scared of what happened to me, not scared of you."

He reached out and touched her hand. "It's all over now. I promise."

Lily bit her lip and began her story. She told him how she was in her room one moment, and waking up in a cell the next. How they immediately began to torture her, both with curses and with their kicks and punches and slaps. How they would Polyjuice other prisoners. How little she had to eat, if anything. How she wanted death to come, but how she pictured his face and it was all okay.

Throughout it all, she would stop to sob, to take deep breaths, to grit her teeth and force herself to keep going. James sat and listened attentively. He would squeeze her hand, or stroke her leg, but he made no move to hold her or kiss her until the story was over. He crawled beside her and pulled her to him, stroking her hair as she cried lightly. She suddenly felt wetness on the top of her hair. Looking up at him, she found James biting his lip to keep from making a sound as he silently sobbed.

"My Lily," he cried, clutching her desperately. "I am so sorry. I am so, so sorry."

She wiped the tears off of his face, despite the fact that they were almost immediately replaced by new ones. "I love you."

"I love you, too," James croaked, taking shuddering breaths to stop his crying. "I love you so much, Lily. And I'm never going to let them near you again. Never."