Chapter 34

April 1st, 1977

Lily Evans and James Potter walked into class together. Yes, a few head turns but they didn't care because they both came only ten minutes ago. Professor McGonagall eyed the two students suspiciously but also said nothing. Lily took her seat next to Marlene while James plopped down beside Sirius.

Lily was nervous about sitting next to Marlene because she was quite the interrogator. The blond knew what her ginger friend and her cousin were doing behind doors, but she gave them enough privacy. Lily imagined it would be weird for Marlene to be asking too many questions about her hook-up life, but that didn't stop her or Emmeline.

But toady was different. Marlene was too focused on someone across the room to ask questions about Lily's life. She followed Marlene's gaze and noticed she was staring at a very hungover Sirius Black.

"He looks like he needs liters of water and a day's worth of rest," Lily noted.

Marlene jumped a little. She blushed slightly before opening her books. "I was not looking," she said sternly.

"Of course not," agreed Lily. "You were staring."

Marlene glared. "Sod off."

Lily scoffed. She shrugged before opening her own notebooks and retrieving her class assignment. She pretended not to notice Marlene's continued stare at Sirius.

After Sirius and Marlene shagged that morning in the choir classroom, they shimmied up their clothes in silence. She smiled at him. He didn't. She made for the door, feeling embarrassed, stupid, and vulnerable: three emotions she detested. He turned her around her and kissed her one more, tenderly and softly. She held him closer. He did the same.

But, when they parted and left the classroom, they hadn't spoken since. What was there to say? Well, there were a lot of things to say ('let's shag,' 'let's not,' 'Oy") but neither one of them said anything. They'd just pass each other, making eye-contact for mere seconds before turning away. It was terribly… terrible.

James noticed a few more people walking in, but noticed one absent in particular. He was about to ask a lax Sirius but then another soft voice did it for him.

"Oy, where's Lupin?"

Sirius and James both turned around to see Dorcas Meadowes sitting at a desk alone. Her eyes were wide, and her hands were gripping at the edge of the desk; her nails left marks in the wood.

"Hospital Wing," Sirius grumbled dully, leaning his head on his hand.

"Hospital Wing?" James asked. "I thought he was getting out today."

"Had another, er, incident, shall we call it," Sirius grumbled, rubbing his eyes. It was like he was coming back to life.

"Incident?" Dorcas asked wildly. "You mean, that shaking thing? It happened again?" She was met with a nod, and rubbed her head in response. "Bloody Hell."

"It's getting worse," noted James. "This never happens during his time of the month."

Dorcas was about to add something, but McGonagall tapped her wand against her desk. She whisked her wand, making sheets float to each student, and added, "Pop Quiz."

"Ugh, Minerva," Sirius grumbled dramatically.

"And five points deducted immediately from your quiz, Mr. Black," McGonagall said firmly.

Sirius sighed, "I can respect that choice."

Once the bloody pop quiz and class was through, the students poured out of their afternoon class for the sake of it being a Friday afternoon. It was also the last day of midterms since the Easter Break was the next weekend. Students couldn't contain their glee.

"Lily! Marlene!" Emmeline called out from the hall. She was coming from the Divination Tower staircase.

"Em, it's been bloody ages," groaned Marlene. She pulled the smaller girl in for a large hug. "Did your Divination exam go well?" She crooned, patting her head.

"I think I did decent, thank you," Emmeline smiled proudly. "Now, listen up you two! Finals are over, so we all deserve a well-earned party. The Hufflepuffs are throwing a Kitchen party tonight."

"With the House elves?" Marlene asked skeptically.

"Yes, Rosie and I will do a duet," Emmeline deadpanned. "No House Elves. Mary and Caradoc are already discussing with them now. And they'll just be out until midnight, you know?"

"Where will they go?" Lily wondered aloud.

The dark-haired girl shrugged," Again, Caradoc is working out the details. I'm in charge of invitations."

"Looks like we have a Gatsby on our hands," Marlene smirked, giving Emmeline a nudge.

"Tell Dorcas for me too," Emmeline asked. "I didn't see her come out of class."

"Yeah, she ran out of our class," explained Marlene. "Didn't see where she ran off to, but we'll tell her."

"So, will you come? I haven't seen you lot in weeks. Please, please, please," Emmeline begged, blinking her eyelashes.

"I'm in," Marlene nodded. "I need to get blasted, and shagged. I need both."

"That's my girl," Emmeline said, patting her back. She looked at Lily and wagged an eyebrow. "And you, Mrs. Potter?"

Lily nearly choked on plain ole' air, while Marlene let out a low whistle patting her friend's hunched-over back. The ginger looked up and glared, "The fuck did you call me?"

"Oh, too far, I reckon?" Emmeline asked, smiling nervously.

"Did you just refer to me as his Mrs.?" Lily repeated.

"Oh, come on, Lils," Emmeline laughed. 'It's just a joke."

"Not a funny one," Lily glared.

Emmeline shrugged, "To each is own. If you're enjoying snogging him on the side, why hide it?"

"Because it's James," Lily hissed.

Marlene shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Some things never change."

"If the whole school knew suddenly, do you know how many questions I'd get? Do you know how times I would be called a hypocrite for avoiding him for so long? It's ridiculous."

"That's because you technically are a hypocrite," a voice said from behind Lily.

"Like clockwork," Marlene chuckled as James and Sirius approached them. "Go on, Lily, why're you hiding it again?"

"Sod off, Marls," James said. "You too, Emmeline."

Marlene and Emmeline stuck their tongues out at the tall Gryffindor. James felt rather good about himself and smirked, but that was before Lily nudged him in the ribs.

"I don't need you to defend me, Potter."

"Really, Evans?" He countered. "Because, I heard you stammering early."

"I do not stammer," she said shortly.

"Uh, y-yes, you d-do," he mocked.

Sirius let out a low groan and said, "I'm far too hungover for this squabble. I'll see you lot later." He stalked off irritably towards the Grand Staircase.

"Oy, Black, are you going to come over tonight?" Emmeline called out.

Sirius stopped and turned back. His eyes narrowed, maybe from the sunlight or just light in general, and asked, "Will there be alcohol?"

"Naturally," Emmeline said brightly.

James and Lily exchanged glances, both wondering if Sirius should ever drink liquor again. But they said nothing.

Sirius shrugged, "Why not?" He then turned around before leaving for the staircase again.

Emmeline clicked her tongue. "He seems out of sorts," she said softly, looking up to James.

"Yeah, definitely, recently too," agreed James. He didn't want to give too much away because more than anything, Sirius hated pity. But seriously, who does?

James also noticed Marlene's worry on her face. She seemed nervous to begin with, which was not her natural disposition. For people who knew each other for that long, you'd imagine that there were other times Marlene had worried about Sirius. Something changed, James decided, he just didn't know what.

"Miss Meadowes," sighed Madam Pomfrey. "I said no."

The Healer and the Slytherin student, roughly the same height, glared into one another's eyes. The elder one looked tired in comparison to the on edge seventeen year old.

"Miss Meadowes, you can blink at me with those big blue eyes as much as you'd like, but I still will not allow you to see him now."

Dorcas clasped her hands together rather loudly, causing Madam Pomfrey to jump slightly. "Just five minutes, Ma'am, I swear. I just want to see how he's doing."

"And I assure you, as the Head Healer, that Mr. Lupin will be fine," Pomfrey insisted, patting her hand gently onto Dorcas' shoulder. "I'll let him know that you stopped by when he wakes up. I'm sure he'd be glad to know that his girlfriend came to check up on him."

Dorcas' nose crinkled at the word-that-must-not-be-named. "I'm not his girlfriend, Madam Pomfrey."

Madam Pomfrey raised a brow, which literally came across as "who the fuck are you trying to play, child." But when the elder witch realized that Dorcas Meadowes was completely serious about not dating the unconscious lad, Madam Pomfrey simply murmured, "Youth."

"Pardon?"

"Darling, I'll let you know about his health the moment Mr. Lupin regains consciousness. Until then, I need you to return to your schedule." Madam Pomfrey, though small, pushed Dorcas with some surprising might towards the exit, shooing her like a moth "You're a sixth year, Dorcas, don't you have something to do or somewhere to be?"

Dorcas looked back at the tiny woman and reeled her glare in, but this was true. The sixth year could've been studying for her midterm for Magical Creatures or study up on some more serpents. Either one would suffice, but she definitely could not focus now.

"Please let me know when he wakes up," Dorcas said again, trying her hardest to sound calm.

Madam Pomfrey nodded again, this time with a smile. "Of course, Dear. Now get, before I develop latent agoraphobia."

Dorcas walked away with a little more confidence, deciding to trust Madam Pomfrey's promise. She looked back at the Hospital Wing entrance on more time before heading away towards the library to study, research, or anything to get her mind off of Remus Lupin.

The quiet and muddled voices in her head were no help either. It sounded like louder than white noise and a little more static. Her wall construction moved slowly with Max, but it managed at a steady enough rate for this noise to be increasingly more tolerable than the constant chatter before.

Dorcas was so focused on the health of Remus Lupin that even the noise couldn't distract her. as she walked into the library that she didn't even hear people thinking about her.

A/N - We're almost there, everyone! Thank you for everyone who has supported and enjoyed this story as much I have! I think there will be in total 2 more chapters, and I am debating on doing a seventh year continuation. It would not be as long as this story, but I still have to decide. If you are interested, please let me know in the comments section. It would mean a lot to me and help gage how many people are interested in such.

Cheers,

Rose!