She thought her life was over – but fate gave her another chance, in a world of magic. Now, running around Hogwarts with James Potter and his friends, she's about to make choices that will change the future in ways she never thought possible…

Marauder's Phase

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Secrets

"Locomotor Mortis."

"SIRIUS!!" I yelled, as the poor second year student he'd chosen as his latest victim froze up, and toppled down the staircase. The kid's books went flying, and almost everyone in the vicinity started laughing.

"What!?" Sirius cried, giving me a Look. "Emmy, he set my cloak on fire during lunchtime yesterday, you remember…"

"Yeah, but it was an accident!" I reminded him, as I pointed my wand at the second year and undid the curse.

Sirius pouted. "You are never on my side…I'm the innocent victim here…"

I tapped him on the head with my wand. "Ah, hullo? Illegal you-know-what here? Innocent?" Sirius grinned at me, as we stepped into an abandoned corridor, and he pulled me close to him.

My heart tingled…it always did when Sirius kissed me, and it had been a month since we'd thought we were going to lose each other. Sirius seemed to have taken the entire matter to heart, and hardly ever let me out of his sight now. We were an inseparable duo who went everywhere together, and people got used to seeing us with or without our friends. The only thing we couldn't get around was the whole boys dorm verus girls dorm thing. I mean, I suppose I could have slept in the boys dorm, but Serilda Roans would've told Professor McGonagall if that had happened. She was still furious that I had dared to go out with the boy she had been crushing on for (according to Molly) five years now, and I had only known him for six months.

James, on the other hand, was thrilled for us. When I asked him about it much, much later on, he'd admitted that he was happy seeing Sirius (and I quote) 'finally settling down for once in his life'.

Yeah, if you could call settling down 'being my own personal shadow and waiting for me outside of the few classes we didn't have together'.

*

Peter called it an obsession, to which Sirius said: "No, the way Prongs acts with Lily is an obsession."

"Yeah, you could just call this an unhealthy case of attraction." I'd agreed, as I poured over my History Of Magic homework, which was starting to drive me insane. I was more interested in chewing on the end of my sugar quill – you know the ones that are really fragile and made out of sugar, so that you can chew on the end of them and make it look as if you're just thinking what to write next…they were awesome.

"Didn't he send her that singing Chocolate Frog?" Peter asked.

"Come to think of it, yeah…he did…" Sirius said, so thoughtfully that I stopped chewing on my sugar quill and looked up, fixing him with a steely glare.

"You do that," I said, glaring at him. "And I'm going to put Fire Crabs in your pants." Our Care Of Magical Creatures class was learning how to take care of Fire Crabs, tortoise-like creatures with six legs and heavily jewelled shells. They were on loan from Fiji, and thriving in one of the greenhouses, which had been enchanted with a tropical climate spell. They're kinda cool, in a pinchy sort of way.

They also shoot fire from their rears when they're threatened. The class had a bet going to see who could go for an entire lesson without their hand being barbequed. So far, no one had won yet.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "They might, you know, burn my pants off."

I gave him a smug look. "Might not be much left down there if they get that far. So – no singing Chocolate Frog." I declared, crossing my arms firmly.

Sirius smiled at me. "I love you." He said, leaning across the table and kissing me. I enjoyed it. He did too. "Sugar quill again, sweetheart?" He asked me, as he leaned back.

I nodded grimly. "Yes – this essay is a nightmare! How the hell am I supposed to know who 'Hedwig' was?" 'And I'm guessing 'Harry Potter's owl later on in life' is NOT the correct answer'… Sighing in frustration, I picked up my History Of Magic book, by Bathilda Bagshot. "I haven't even looked in this book all year, but I know that it's in here somewhere…" I muttered incoherently under my breath.

Remus, who had been sitting opposite Peter at our little table of four in the Gryffindor common room (James was off stalking Lily Evans again) sighed, and reached over, half taking the book in his hands. "Here…" He'd said, and showed me the section where the paragraph on Hedwig was written. "It was also the names of two saints in the muggle-world…"

"Hold on, hold on, slow down…" I'd said, my quill flying across the page (when all I'd wanted to do was resume eating it) in my illegible scrawl. "Hedwig…of…Andechs…?"

"No, you spelt it wrong…" Remus had said calmly, and placed his hand over mine which was holding the quill, using his wand to erase the word and then helping me write it correctly. "There, now it's alright…" He didn't take his hand off of mine.

I looked at the word Andechs. "Oh yeah, sure Remi – that's the only word he's gonna be able to read, he'll know you wrote it…"

*

And now I was left confused.

On the one hand, Sirius Black was my boyfriend. I loved being with him, and he'd made it pretty clear, despite how I'd thought he was, that I was his. He'd as well as shouted it out for all the world to hear. There was no denying this one.

But then…

The more I thought about it, the stranger it seemed…because…I felt something strong and indescribable for someone else as well. A certain somebody who turned into a werewolf once a month.

I liked Remus Lupin as well.

Once I had grasped this fact, this tiny, sticky fact…instead of making my life a lot easier, it just got so much bloody harder!

I should have been annoyed that Sirius wouldn't let me out of his sight…but I was beginning to feel like anything and everything he did for me…would be okay with me. Don't as me why, I just felt that way. Like he knew what I needed in this relationship way better than I did, and possibly even vice-a-versa.

But with Remus…he was more than a teacher, more than a friend. He was like a partner, the one thing, the only bloody thing, that could calm me down when someone got me riled up over 'mudbloods' or 'werewolves'. I admired Remus, I cared for Remus…I wouldn't be able to live if he was killed anymore.

Unfortunately…the same went for one Sirius Black.

"It's a right mess I've gotten myself into now, Haphazard." I told my owl, as we sat there late one night, looking out at the clear night sky. "A right mess…"

***

"Okay then, flying," James Potter said to me one late afternoon, as we stood out on the deserted Quidditch pitch, with our broomsticks in our hands. In the stands sat Peter, Remus, Sirius and Lily, the latter whom had shown up to support me in my first time leaving the ground in flight. "Is simple enough. You read the book Padfoot got you for Christmas then, right?"

"Yes." I replied, nodding. 'That and watched Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone twenty-six times'….

"Okay, so firstly…" James said, glancing quickly at Lily who was sitting in the stands, watching us with an intent expression on her face. Her look read 'let her fall, and I'll kill you, Potter'…

"Okay, let me try…" I said quickly. "I think I can do this…" I held the broom out in front of me and, with a deep breath, swung my leg over it. I tried to remember what Madam Hooch had said in the movie. 'Kick off from the ground…hover…then touch back down by leaning forward…'. "Right," I said out loud, nodding to myself. "Okay." I kicked off from the ground, maintaining a firm grip on the broom (firm grip? My knuckles were turning white…) as I did so. "How's that?" I wanted to know.

"Excellent," James nodded, as I leaned forward slightly and touched back down. "Want to try going higher now?" He asked me, and I glanced toward the stands.

Lily, Peter, Remus and Sirius were all looking at me, and the looks on their faces were very encouraging.

I smiled. I had always wanted to fly…it had been a fascinating part of Harry Potter…and now I was getting to live it. I nodded, and kicked off from the ground again, harder this time. I pulled me broom up, higher and higher, until I was at about level with the three hoop…goal…thingies. I looked around me, and then I leaned forward and shot off toward one end of the pitch, enjoying the feeling of the wind rushing through my hair, trying hard not to think about what would happen if I fell off. Do people die from broken necks?

"Oh well." I said out loud, and turned my broomstick sharply to face the way I'd come, enjoying the cheers from my friends down below. I flew up a bit higher, wondering how high you could go until you couldn't breath, deciding that a hundred feet was high enough, and that I'd better get down before Sirius and Lily both had dual heart attacks.

The sunlight was still very bright, I could see for miles…this was wonderful, being up so high…

And then I happened to glance over to my left, to see someone standing there beside one of the bleachers, staring up at me with dark eyes…watchful, wondering eyes…but, at the same time, they were guarded.

He had black hair, and it fell across his eyes. He was wearing Slytherin robes.

So startled was I that I gave a little yelp and, for a moment, I slipped a little, but I regained my seating.

Unfortunately, my pocket watch – the gold and silver one with the stag on the front – slipped out of my pocket, and plummeted towards the ground as if in slow-motion.

"NO!!"I shouted, and then leaned forward, heading toward the ground as quickly as I could, desperate to catch up with the watch, one of the last things I had left from the other world. The wind whistled in my ears, billowed at my robes as I sped up to catch the pocket watch and the ground sped up to meet me. This was it, I might very well crash and die here…I lunged out with my right hand, keeping my left one clasped around the broom.

Then…

No…I had caught the watch, felt my fingers close around its shiny cool surface, and I was pulling up as hard as I possibly could, to avoid hitting the grass. As it was, the heels of my sneakers skimmed the freshly cut lawn, as I pulled up and out of the dive, gasping from the sheer exhilaration of it all, and clasping the pocket watch firmly in my hand. Once I was sure I was okay, I landed, staggering onto the grass to be caught in a fierce hug by none other than Lily Evans herself.

"You will never put me through that again!" She fairly growled, and I realised how pale she was. She must've seen a terribly bad broomstick accident that none of the others had seen or something, because they were all grinning like crazy, sprinting toward me, and James reached us first.

He pulled both me and Lily into a hug, and declared: "Excellent! We found our reserve seeker!"

"What!?" Both Lily and I yelled, as Sirius and the others reached us, and Sirius yanked me away from James to kiss me.

Lily said, somewhat furiously: "What is this all about, Potter!?"

"Listen, I've been getting a lot of backlash Evans because there's no reserve seeker," James said earnestly, running his hand through his hair. Lily's eyes were flashing. "And because of what happened with the Dementors," There was a collective group shudder. "The team thought it would be best to be…prepared, should the worst happen…and you saw for yourself, Evans – Em's got the right stuff, she's nearly as good as I am…"

Lily eyes him with a look of great disbelief, and cried: "I don't believe you, Potter!" She turned on her heel and marched away across the Quidditch pitch, despite James calling to her.

"She'll get over it, mate." Sirius said, at the same time I said: "I'll have a talk with her. She'll see reason."

James grinned up at me, for I was still in Sirius' arms, and a feeling little bit taller than usual. "You mean…you'll play for us?" He asked, and then added quickly: "I mean, should the need arise and all?"

"Are you kidding!?" I cried. "James, that was the most exhilarating thing I've ever done! I felt like a Catalonian Fireball!"

"Like a what?" James, Sirius and Peter all asked in unison.

Remus sighed. "Don't you guys read?" He asked them, looking round at them all. "It's a type of dragon…"

"Oh, oh yeah, right…" They all agreed hastily.

Remus and I exchanged a glance, and smiled at each other…and I somehow wished that Remus would suddenly take me out of Sirius' arms and hug me.

I felt incredibly selfish.

I also glanced at the spot where I had last seen the mysterious figure, right before my watch fell.

He was gone.