Disclaimer: Neither Kagumi nor Bridget own anything related to the Harry Potter series, other than the stuff they've bought and the ideas they come up with. Original characters and most of the situations presented, however, they do own.

Author's Notes: Well, that didn't take as long as it might have, although we've still to hit our stride with our updating schedule. Don't worry; we'll get it down eventually. And we've cut it down to shorter chapters, so they ought to be coming along a little faster.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Don't Wait Up

"The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live."

- Flora Whittemore

The feast (or what was left of it) was nearly over when sparks flew out above the Head Table. The green light— unintentionally so like that used by the Death Eaters— caught everyone's attention and the mini food fight that had been in full swing halted in its tracks, many hands still loaded with "ammunition."

Several of the more jumpy students had dropped to the ground, but everyone's eyes turned to where the Headmaster still stood, his wand pointed at the ceiling. He seemed unusually stoic, especially considering that it was one of his beloved holidays, and the ever-present twinkle in his eyes just wasn't there.

If anyone had been paying attention, they would have seen the owl that had directly preceded this reaction, but both teachers and students had been occupied with the food flinging across the room and they hadn't. The Gryffindors in particular (instigators of the event, of course) had been either throwing marshmallows charmed to explode on contact or dumping chocolate sauce.

"All prefects direct the other students back to the dormitories directly," Dumbledore said in a level voice that was more startling than anything else from the normally cheerful Headmaster. "Curfew begins immediately. Seventh year prefects will conduct a head count once in the common room. Our Head Boy and Girl," his eyes turned to James and Lily, but encompassed all of the elder Gryffindors, who turned to look at each other warily, "will retire to their dormitory to await further instruction before morning. Please go."

The Great Hall broke out into a controlled sort of chaos that only schools and households with many children (or one very curious one, as James's parents could attest to) seemed to ever be able to manage. Chattering enough to fill the emptying hall with noise, the crowd of younger students slowly dwindled, shepherded away by worried-looking prefects and in the commotion, the seven Gryffindors slipped away. Something had happened and they weren't about to be separated just because James and Lily were Heads.

"Something's not right," Bridget said suddenly, sounding solemn and grim.

Kagumi looked worriedly at her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, the stubborn set of her features suggesting that nothing short of removing her arm from her body would get her to let Bridget go. Sirius paused but pulled Bridget against his side, arm wrapped firmly around her waist. She leaned against him and rested her hand over his, lacing her fingers through his.

"We won't find out what it is until Dumbledore decides to tell us." He gave her waist a quick squeeze. "Come on, love. They're leaving us behind." But the way Gumi stuck by Bridget's side, even as they made their way through the crowded halls, and Bridget's unnerving silence and slightly distant look gave Sirius a lot to think about.

It felt wrong.

James didn't know why it did— with the war things were getting worse by the day, bad news wasn't exactly unexpected, and whatever could upset Dumbledore was bound to be bad news— but something was very wrong. He pulled on a spare shirt and left for the Common Room, hoping absently that he'd gotten all of the chocolate sauce out of his hair.

"Prongs."

James stopped at Sirius' call; his friend was using his Black Heir voice and he never did that. Sirius caught up and pulled James towards his bedroom, although neither went farther than the doorway. His friend seemed worried, face drawn in concern.

"Bridget all right, then?" he asked.

"Cleaning up," Sirius replied dismissively. "You know how birds are. Prongs, do you feel like something's wrong with all this?"

"You as well, then?"

"Yeah. Lily's on edge, too, but you know how Remus can get after the full moon. He wouldn't notice if we were all replaced by House Elves some days. And Bridget— Bridget knows that something's wrong."

"None of us know exactly what's going on."

Sirius watched him expectantly until he gave up on his friend and sighed, deftly tapping James once in the middle of his forehead before he settled back against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. James blinked at him a second before it all became clear to him.

"You can't possibly think she's—"

"Think about it, Prongs," Sirius interrupted. "It makes sense."

"It doesn't— do you know how bloody rare that is?"

"Yeah, I do. And I know what my family would do to have a True Seer marry into our family, so I know why she wouldn't tell us. With you and me and even Remus; we're all Old Families, even if Remus is a half-blood. She couldn't have known how we'd react."

"And that would explain why Gumi—"

"Is so damn protective."

James was silent for a long moment. Even if he'd never put as much stock into Seers as other wizards did, he did know that if Bridget had The Sight, or was suspected of having it, she'd be sought after relentlessly. "We can't let anything happen to her. She likes us well enough; maybe she'll tell us."

"Like Remus did?" Sirius shook his head, and ran a hand through his hair, grimacing at the drying, thick chocolate strands clinging to his hand. "Probably not, but we don't have to worry about it yet. Bridget is a lot stronger than we'd think. Anyway, Gumi's snapping at people too, more than usual, that is." He looked at his hand again in disgust. "Ugh. I think I'm going to—" He gestured towards James' rooms.

"Yeah," James replied. "Yeah, go ahead. I think… I think it's going to happen soon so hurry up, will you?"

Sirius smirked. "I wouldn't have to if you hadn't taken so long. Bloody girl."

"Bollocks. I don't spend hours on my hair."

"Wouldn't do you any good anyways, Prongsie boy."

With a parting gesture of goodwill— the ever expressive one-fingered salute— Sirius left to get all the chocolate sauce out of his beloved hair. James made his way across the room to where the others were congregated near the fireplace. He'd just settled down in the seat nearest Lily when her bedroom door opened and Bridget strode out.

She stopped in front of him and crossed her arms over her chest. "Holly."

James blinked in bemusement. "What?"

"Holly," Bridget repeated firmly. "She's one of us now and she should be here."

"She— what?— how?"

"We can't get her here," Remus replied for him. "Dumbledore didn't just mean a regular curfew, he meant a Curfew. It was created during Grindlewald's war and the prefects have been informed about it since our third year when Voldemort started getting really bad. The professors have the Common Rooms locked down."

"And we have the Map and James' Cloak. It can't be that difficult."

"We don't have a way of getting into—"

"I have the possible Ravenclaw passwords," she interrupted, rolling her eyes. "I promised I wouldn't tell you lot, but I think these are extenuating circumstances. She should be here."

"She's right." Lily put her book down. "Holly's one of us. She doesn't have many close friends in Ravenclaw, and she's spent so much time with us that the others are starting to, well, ignore her."

"What?" James asked incredulously. "It's not as though we're a disease or something catching."

"You don't understand, James," Kagumi replied lowly. The temper and worry that had her on edge was still clearly visible in every facet of her face. "You lot have always been an exclusive sort of group. You probably didn't mean to, but you sort of ignored anyone not on your radar. People expect the people who hang about you to be the same way."

"I still don't get it," James said, his mind racing. Did they really seem that bad? He hadn't thought so, but he supposed the Marauders could've been seen as too tight-knit to allow others around.

"James…" Gumi growled warningly. Remus grabbed her hand, stroking his finger over the knuckles, and she relaxed. "Holly spends time with me, Lily and Bridge. We, in turn, are almost always around you lot. The Ravenclaws, in that odd and pubescent way, are probably thinking that Holly is ditching them because she can't possibly have two groups of friends."

James looked between Gumi's annoyance, Jet's determination and Lily's worry, and sighed in defeat; he'd been outmaneuvered by the girls. Again.

"Fine. I'll get the Cloak and we can leave."

"Won't work," Bridget said, waving her hand absentmindedly; there was still a bit of distance in her eyes, and Sirius' words came back to linger in James' mind. "You and I could probably fit under it easily enough and maintain silence, but add in Holly, who's never been under the cloak, and we may run into some problems. I can do it well enough on my own and, well, you have to be here if Dumbledore or McGonagall show up."

Sirius would kill him. There was no doubt in James' mind. Sirius would murder him, and they'd never find the body. "I can't let you—"

There was a tense moment of silence, as Kagumi was obviously torn between going to fetch Holly and not leaving Bridget's side, Lily was thinking about the questionably acceptable use of the cloak to skirt the rules, and Remus was watching every one else. Then a voice spoke up from the corner by the door. "I'll do it."

"Pete?"

Peter ducked into the nearby alcove, pulling the cloak tight around him and steadying his breathing. He just had to wait for McGonagall and Sprout to pass by and he'd have an open path to the Ravenclaw Common Room. Their voices got louder as they passed by him, even though they were barely whispering.

"But, Minerva, I don't understand. What does this mean for us?"

"Hogwarts students are not safe. Mr. Potter and his friends are in…"

He couldn't hear any more. Peter cursed under his breath, momentarily torn between following the professors and getting Holly. In the end, she was one of theirs and he needed to get her first; there were always ways of getting information later, once they were all together.

He turned to the door and pulled the cloak off of his arm, hoping that the professors were far enough that they wouldn't be able to hear the bronze eagle knocker. Peter hesitated, but reached out and lifted the knocker once.

The eagle's beak opened and a soft, musical voice said, "The more you take, the more you leave behind. What are they?"

Peter blinked. Maybe Bridget should have come instead. This was one of the riddles she hadn't covered before he'd left. He glanced down at his watch, wondering how upset they'd be with him if he came back empty hand—wait. Peter unfolded the Map, holding it in front of him and looked at the dots of the professors trailing down the next hall.

"Can you repeat the question?" he asked hesitantly, hoping that the knocker wouldn't take that as an answer.

"The more you take, the more you leave behind. What are they?"

He grinned, even if the knocker had sounded exasperated and it was a little demeaning to be looked down on by a metal bird, but at least he had the answer. "Footsteps."

"Wise choice."

Peter stepped into the door and pulled off the cloak once it closed behind him. He turned around and froze. Maybe he should have kept the cloak on, after all, he thought to himself as the broad-shouldered Ravenclaw Keeper stared him down.

"Pettigrew?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Um, hey Ackerly."

The seventh year prefect sighed. "I suppose you're here for Harper, then?" he drawled, obviously unsurprised.

"Yeah." Peter frowned at him. "How'd you know?"

Ackerly waved his hand dismissively. "We are Ravenclaws, you know; we're not stupid. Besides, the entire school notices when the Marauders take interest in someone new." Peter wasn't quite sure what to say to that, and was still fumbling for a response when Ackerly smiled, amused. "Don't worry 'bout it; I'll get her for you."

The boy disappeared in the door across from him, leaving Peter alone in the large, circular room. It was a lot like the Gryffindor Common Room, just with more books and stuff and blue everywhere instead of the bright red and gold that dominated his Tower. He felt distinctly out of place in a room that radiated such… scholarly calm. Also, the ceiling had stars and that was a little—

"Peter?"

He nearly toppled over. "Hi, Holly."

She pulled the front of her robes tighter. Peter had his sleeves pushed up past his elbows and, without his school robes on, looked more broad-shouldered than just big; it was making her a little self-conscious in just her nightgown and outer robes. While the rest of the Ravenclaws had been debating what could've happened to upset everyone, she'd felt disquiet at being left behind (before firmly telling herself she couldn't expect that they'd remember) and had tried to get to sleep early.

"Peter," she asked in a soft voice, "what are you doing here?"

"Um, well, we're sorry we sort of forgot about you when Dumbledore made his speech. Wow, that really sounds terrible. You're not unimportant or anything, it's just— I mean, we're not used to having people outside of our House and it was a little chaotic, wasn't it? They're good—"

"Peter," Holly interrupted, smiling gently; he was rather adorable when he babbled. "Why are you here? It's the middle of the night. You're supposed to be in your dorm."

"Erm, that's why." He caught himself before he could run his hand through his hair like James and Sirius did when they were nervous. "You're one of us now, Hols. You're supposed to be with us. I came to bring you to our Common Room."

"I'm not going to spend the night in the Gryffindor Common Room," she said, arching one eyebrow at him.

"Uh, no. I meant the Heads' dorm. We've been staying there off and on for a while; I thought you knew. You'd be with the girls in Lily's room, o'course, but they're brilliant at— I mean you're good at Transfiguration, too, but—"

"Okay." She blushed when he stopped speaking to stare at her, his cornflower blue eyes wide with shock. "I'll go with you. Just… let me get changed first."

He flushed a matching shade of red as his gaze wandered down to her state of dress and snapped politely back up to her face. "Oh. Of course. I'll just… wait here."

"What do you mean you sent Peter?" Sirius said. He decided he probably hadn't used the best tone when he saw Bridget's jaw set stubbornly. Well, that was perfectly great, he thought. Now they'd have to go save Peter and get Holly because Bridget had entered one of her stubborn phases and, of course, Gumi and Lily were right there with her and dammit, why'd this have to happen tonight?

"Of course we sent Peter. He's perfectly capable, you know."

"I know that," he said, annoyed.

"Do you?" Gumi asked harshly, her pacing interrupted long enough to glare at him; then her gaze softened as she leaned against the couch. "Sometimes I wonder. He's not the tag-along every sees him as, Siri, and he's just as capable as any of us."

"I know." He ran a hand through his newly-washed hair. "He's just— Merlin, he's Peter. We never send him by himself unless we don't have a choice."

Jet crossed her arms over her chest, eyes blazing. "That doesn't mean he can't do it. If someone had to get me would you let anyone but you or James go? If it was Lily would James let anyone else get her? Don't be an idiot."

"I don't—" Sirius faltered. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Are you being deliberately thick, Black?" Kagumi snapped from her perch on the couch arm.

He whirled on her, a little stung by the use of his last name. "I am not—"

"You're all being stupid," Lily said, visibly harried. "Will everyone just sit down and be quiet?"

Bridget opened her mouth as if she was going to say something else, but shook her head and settled back down in her seat, still stiff until Sirius had sat down next to her.

Lily nodded once in satisfaction. "Good. Now we just have to wait for them to get back or Dumbledore to arrive."

It was almost one by the time the Headmaster had arrived with McGonagall and most of them had fallen asleep in the Common Room, Bridget curled up between Sirius and James with Kagumi, Remus, and Lily on the other couch and Peter and Holly in the two armchairs. Sirius and James were the only ones who'd managed to stay awake, Sirius running a hand over Bridget's hair in an effort to keep the girl from fidgeting too much while they tried to figure out what was going on.

"Albus, I don't believe they'll still be awake," McGonagall was saying as they entered. "It's nearly one in the morning. Why can't we wait until a reasonable hour?"

"My dear Minerva, this cannot wait. We cannot risk having them find out through another student or, magic forbid, the wireless." The Headmaster appeared, outlined in the dim firelight. "Ah, Mr. Potter and Mr. Black, I see you waited up for me; I do apologize for the late hour."

"It's not a problem, Professor," Sirius replied, voice tense with agitation, which clearly said that it was, in fact, a problem but that he wasn't going to call a respected elder on it. "Are you going to tell us what's going on now?"

"Perhaps it would be best if you woke Messrs. Lupin and Pettigrew and the girls first."

Simultaneously, Sirius and James threw pillows at the Marauder nearest to them, jerking the two other boys into semi-wakeful states; under any other circumstance, the unintentional synchronization would've been amusing.

"Up," James said sternly as he knelt down next to Lily. "And wake up the girls, too."

"Bridget," Sirius murmured softly. "Love, wake up now. Professor Dumbledore's here to see us."

"Hm?" Bridget blearily blinked open her eyes, smiling up at him trustingly as he stroked her hair. "Sirius?"

"Yes, that's right. Time to wake up." She yawned, but obligingly sat up, although she leaned against him, still dozing.

"Gumi?" Remus said, barely loud enough to be heard; Sirius and James both gave him an exasperated look, as though to say, 'get on with it, we're waiting here.' She mumbled something and burrowed her head deeper in his side, one hand waving vaguely at something in her dream. "Gumi."

The girl grumbled, and the hand resting on Remus's knee tightened around his robes. Exasperated, he removed the arm that had been draped across her shoulders and gave a single, gentle yank on her ponytail; that jolted her awake so fast she narrowly missed colliding with his chin as she shot upwards. Blinking owlishly, Gumi spun around, disoriented, before finally focusing on the two professors standing in front of the fire.

"Professors?"

"Miss Harper?" McGonagall observed, frowning. She covered her eyes with her hand and sighed; it was the weary sigh of a put-upon guardian, telling even in its fondness. "I don't even think I'm surprised by anything you boys get into anymore."

"Professor McGonagall!" Holly gasped, clutching the small throw Peter had wrapped her up in to her chest. "I'm so sorry. I just—I don't—"

"It's of no matter Miss Harper. I don't expect anything less from my Gryffindors."

Sirius grinned over at James. "See, Prongs, she does love us."

"I've been telling you that for years, Padfoot."

"Headmaster," Lily said before they could get into their stride; it would not help the situation. "What happened tonight?"

"I have some bad news for all of you," Professor Dumbledore said solemnly. "Tonight there were several monumental Death Eater attacks. I'm afraid—"

"Dad?" James interrupted, ashen.

"No, Mr. Potter," McGonagall replied kindly. "Your parents are safe."

"Several others are not, however. St. Mungo's Hospital and the offices of The Daily Prophet were both hit."

This time it was Bridget who interrupted, just as pale as James had been and wide awake now, while Gumi clung to Remus' arm with wide eyes. "Is Mr. Longbottom okay? And Remus' mum?"

"Yes, Miss Griffins," Dumbledore said. "Both are fine. Luckily the Prophet was solely property damage and St. Mungo's had no fatalities. We believe they only intended to frighten people at the hospital. Unfortunately, the Minister's home was also attacked. His family was visiting relatives in France, but Minister Cadwalder and Deputy Minister Erastus along with Ambassador Santiago from America were killed in the attack." He gave James a somber look over his half-moon glasses, although the boy already knew what he was going to say.

"James your father is acting Minister waiting on his confirmation by the Wizengamot."

"James?" Bridget asked worriedly. The boy's blank stare unnerved her, and something in the back of her mind told her not to leave him alone. "James, love, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," came the toneless reply. James met her gaze and grinned, but it didn't touch the cold hazel eyes and that worried all of them. Bridget looked over at Gumi and the two girls started gesturing in ways that Holly couldn't understand, even if Lily appeared to be mostly following it.

"You're far from fine, James," Gumi concluded, resting her elbows on her knees. "What's going through your head?"

"You wouldn't want to know," he replied, in the same neutral manner. He flashed a grin at Bridget and gave Lily a longer look, as if he'd just noticed that she was there. Then he shook his head and slowly walked into his bedroom, somehow looking small and lost even with his back turned.

Lily waited until James had sat on his bed and was gazing into the fire, only partially visible, before turning to the rest of the group. "I'm worried."

"Funny, you never really worried before," Bridget snapped, her patience obviously worn thin. "You were content to be the one who put that look on his face."

"Jet, I—" Lily stopped, biting her lip. Bridget, still looking at the door James disappeared into, didn't even notice.

"Bids, that's uncalled for," Gumi said incredulously; Bridget never snapped at anyone without reason, and it wasn't like her to willfully hurt someone, and especially not a friend. "Lily is just as worried as the rest of us."

Bridget rolled her eyes, "Yeah. What—" There was a soft thump in the other room, followed by a loud whooshing sound and she sat straight up, not bothering to finish her reply. Sirius gently pulled her taut form back into a resting position.

"James?" he called. The fire suddenly flared green and James was pulling his Cloak around his shoulders.

In a split second, Remus was on his feet and across the room with Sirius at his heels. They simultaneously tackled James, pulling him out of the fire before he could state his destination. James didn't fight, didn't pull away or struggle, he just lay there, half hidden under his friends as Remus put out the fire.

Bridget, bracing herself in the doorway, slid to a stop so quickly that Lily nearly ended up crushed between her and Holly. Luckily, Gumi was quick enough to dodge under her taller friend's arms, stopping just in the room. It hurt to look at the scene, and Holly had the feeling that this was something terribly private, something she had no right to see.

Sirius motioned to Peter and the boy started gently pulling the girls back. He nearly had to wrestle Bridget away from the room, just lifting her off her feet and carrying her away when she refused to budge. Remus stood, leaving James in Sirius's hands, and pulled Lily aside.

"Maybe you can get through to him," he said softly, the concern apparent in his eyes. "Maybe you can make him listen to reason." She shook her head, watching Sirius peel the Cloak from James as he chattered in a soothing voice. "Lily, he listens to you."

"What was he doing?" Holly asked, shaking slightly.

"He was going to go to the Ministry, to find his da," Peter replied. "It'd be chaos there and having James right in the middle of it would be too perfect of an opportunity for the Death Eaters, or sympathizers. It would be a warning to pureblood heirs and parents if they got their hands on him."

"But you're not supposed to be able to connect to the Floo network from a regular fireplace, are you?" Kagumi asked. "It's not possible."

"He's James. He's done plenty of the impossible," Lily said, stepping towards James with just the faintest hint of pride. Sirius nodded his approval (which was surprising in itself, because Lily and he were never the best of friends, so to speak) and helped James up until he was sitting on the edge of the bed, shutting the door behind him.

It didn't take long for the door to open again and James rushed away, out of the room before any of them could react. Lily followed a few seconds later. She looked close to tears, her eyes red-rimmed and her voice thick when she spoke.

"He's upset."

Bridget spun towards her, ignoring Sirius's attempts to pull her back, and narrowed her eyes at the other girl. "What did you say to him?" she asked in a level voice that had Sirius wrapping his arms around her waist and physically pulling her back.

"Bridget," he whispered close to her ear. She ignored him and pushed his hands away as she stood up.

"What did you say to him?" Jet rolled her eyes, a derisive frown on her face. "Do you ever pass up an opportunity to hurt him? God, Lily, what is wrong with you?"

"Bridget," Gumi snapped, watching as Lily folded in on herself in the armchair by the fire, "what is wrong with you? Leave her alone. Can't you see she's hurting and worried just like any of us?"

"I'm leaving." Bridget turned her back on her friends, and it seemed like more than just a physical gesture. "Don't wait up for me."

Author's Ending Notes: I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Please review if you read it; they guilt us into posting faster.

Thanks to BlistersOnMyFingers, elexa, Wandering Hitokiri, SiriusObsession, monbade and fairydustandcansofspam for reviewing. Seriously, guys, you make our day, and sometimes our week, by reviewing, and it always guilts us into writing faster.

Thanks to the following for putting us on Alert: PennyLane09, elexa (author and story), Suezanne, SiriusObsession and Mizuko Renka.

And for favorites: elexa (author and story, again), Wandering Hitokiri, SiriusObsession and monbade (also author and story).

Preview of the Next Chapter:

"They look up to you, James, you can't lose hope or they will."

"Who?"

"Everyone. Sirius, Peter, and Remus will do whatever you do, but a lot of people in this school— and not just students—follow your lead. Once you're out of Hogwarts others will, too. You were born for greatness, love. You can't lose hope now."

"No, but I do have to grow up," he said quietly, scrubbing the tears from his eyes as his grip on her shoulders tightened; even though it was uncomfortable, she let him tighten his hand without a wince. He needed the comfort of her there. "I have to grow into the wizard Mum and Da want me to be."

"And things will change," Jet said, that distant look in her eye again. "Have hope and love and the darkness will end in time. You will lead, unwillingly, and be a better man for it. And when all has passed, and all come together, and the bindings you've been splinted with removed, you'll heal proper and true and grow into your destiny."

"…Bridge?"