A/N- Hey guys! Thanks for the lovely reviews last time! I really look forward to them. Much love. So this is a hella dramatic chapter. And I kind of took a while to write to. So apologies for that. Lemme know what you think.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw to decide the winner of the Quidditch Cup - which did not involve Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, but rather Gryffindor and Slytherin. Funny how these things work. Which meant a very disgruntled Ravenclaw team flew up into the air, unsure of what they would rather have - win the match and hand the Cup to Slytherin, or lose and hand it to Gryffindor.

It was no wonder that the Ravenclaw captain appeared to be crushing James' hand during the captains' handshake. Madam Hooch blew the whistle and the game was underway. Remus, Peter, Lily, Dany, Dorcas and Mary were all sitting together in the stands, cheering on their House. Now that the whole issue with Lily had been cleared up, Dany was delighted to note the excited flush on her friend's face as she watched her boyfriend scorch the pitch. Dany nudged Dorcas and both girls snorted as James performed an elaborate celebratory move after scoring yet another goal - no doubt aimed at a certain red head in the stands.

"Merlin, he's insufferable," chuckled Remus resignedly.

"I know," said Lily with a breathy sigh. Dany snorted beside her, glad that the deafening cheers had drowned it. It was very cute to see a loved up Lily Evans.

It was a good match, not a spectacular one, but a good one nonetheless. Gryffindor won, successfully winning the Cup as well. All seven players huddled together in a group hug as a few scattered boos echoed from the green side of the supporters.

"I'm happy for you, Lils," Dany whispered, giving her friend a small smile. She looked confused for a second but smiled broadly as she realised what her friend meant.

"Thanks," she murmured, squeezing Dany's hand lightly. In a second, Lily was swooped up by an elated Gryffindor captain. They kind of fit together. Perfectly. And it made Dany a little uncomfortable. Because relationships were complicated. It involved more than one person. And people are always different from one another. Sometimes there was bound to be a conflict of interests. Or worse.

She pushed aside those troubling thoughts, content with the looks of pure joy on James and Lily's faces. No matter how long this lasted, it was worth it just for the thing itself. Sometimes the present was just too important to worry about the future.

Unbeknownst to her, a pair of grey eyes were watching her facial expressions intently. Sirius clenched and unclenched his fist, feeling a strange conflict course through him.

"Padfoot," he didn't turn around when Remus came up to stand next to him. "Why don't you just apologise to her?"

"It's not that simple, Moony," he muttered.

"Why not? Do you like seeing her like this? Are you okay fighting with her? Aren't you sorry for what you did?"

"Of course I am!" Sirius hissed.

"Then why can't you apologise?"

"I don't know," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. The truth was, he was scared. This was not a situation he had ever been in before. While he remembered how shitty it felt to have disappointed Remus after almost exposing his situation via Snape in fifth year, this was different. Because it involved her. He didn't know how she would react. He had fit her into this pliable box, but it turned out that he might have been wrong about requiring a container of any kind. There were things he knew about her. But it paled in comparison to everything he didn't know. And that worried him. Because Sirius Black was always confident about things around him. Or at least, the things he cared about around him. And Daniella Wilson had fallen into that category at some point of time. Which was why he was struggling with the simple thing that she wanted - for him to tell her that he was sorry for hurting her. Apologies didn't come easy for him because he rarely ever felt like he had done something wrong. And the fact that this was such a stupid mistake - something that nobody, not even Sirius himself, would condone - made it even more difficult for him. It hurt his pride.

"Well, I'd suggest you hurry up and figure it out," advised Remus, before walking off to congratulate James.

It was now a choice of what was more important to him - his pride or her friendship.

Severus Snape was a bit of an oddball. While he was a Slytherin, he did not get along with most of the other students in his House. He exuded an air of disdain, and his unfriendly attitude only served to alienate people. For the longest time, he had been close to Lily Evans - another bone of contention with the Slytherins. However, his conflicting interest in certain branches of magic spurred by Avery and Macnair, had prompted his estrangement from the Gryffindor prefect. Due to his perverse moral code, he continued to hold Lily in high esteem - choosing to shift the blame onto the other Gryffindors when he saw fit. It was usually James Potter or Sirius Black, and sometimes even Remus Lupin. But this time, he had acquired a new scapegoat to dump his own shortcomings on - Daniella Wilson.

He was seething at how those Gryffindors had humiliated him once again. And this time, the quiet and barely noticeable girl had been a big part of it. How dare she? Snape skulked about his dormitory replaying the events of the week before, his mind searching for ways in which he could get back at her. And then it came to him. The perfect plan. The best way to teach her a lesson - and involve the Marauders in it as well.

Snape drew the curtains around his four poster bed. Concentrating on exactly what he wanted to achieve, he picked up his wand and slowly muttered the incantation.

"Legilimens."

Saturday nights usually meant that Dany was free to do whatever she wanted. But this close to the final exams, she hadn't found much time to do anything but study and revise what she had studied. It wasn't that there was a lot of work - she only had 5 NEWTs. But everything was exceedingly difficult, especially Transfiguration. So she was naturally very excited to have finished her work early that day, leaving Lily, Marlene and Dorcas in the library as they sweated it out themselves.

She had a new book which she was dying to read. It had been a long time since she had been able to read anything other than textbooks. Curling up underneath her blanket, she began devouring the pages until sleep took over.

"Dany… Please. Help me. Dany, I don't think I can- UGH!"

Dany woke up with a start, her heart beating wildly in her chest. What in Merlin's name was that? Did she just have a very realistic nightmare? There was something so odd about it. Lily's face… It had been a ghostly white. Not like anything she had ever seen before.

She pushed aside her covers and gulped down a glass of water. That made her feel a little calmer. Turning towards Lily's bed, her heart plummeted at the perfect white sheets devoid of any human contact. The rest of the beds were occupied - Marlene's blonde hair peeking out from underneath her covers, Dorcas curled up with a cushion, and Mary's hand hanging from one end of her bed. But no Lily.

Panic seized Dany. Where was Lily? Could what she have seen have an ounce of truth in it? Of course not. That was just a silly dream. But then… where was Lily? She wondered briefly whether the red head was in the boy's dorm. She and James were going out after all. But…

Grabbing her wand from her bedside table, she padded out towards the stairs leading to the sixth year boys dorm. Listening for any telltale noises that might alert her to anything she might not want to see with her own eyes (this was a new couple after all), she knocked on the door softly.

Nothing.

She opened the door slightly, glancing inside with a lot of hesitance. Her eyes were already accustomed to the dark so it didn't take her long to realise that the dorm was almost completely empty. No Lily, no James, no Sirius, no Remus, no Peter. Just Frank, snoring loudly.

A sick feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. Where were they? What was going on?

"DANY! UGH!"

That was Lily's voice. She ran to the window, trying to find where the voice was coming from. And then she understood. It all clicked inside her head like puzzle pieces connecting together. The Whomping Willow - she didn't know how or why but something told her that that was where she needed to go.

She dashed out of the dorm, down the stairs and through the portrait hole, leaving Frank still snoring as if nothing had happened.

Full moon nights were becoming harder to cope with. The boys were more exhausted than usual with upcoming exams and Quidditch, and the general stress of living in times of an impending war. Remus had just finished his transformation, his tortured shrieks subsiding as he ran out after James in stag form. Peter stayed near the tree, his small form preferring to stay away from the heart of the action. Sirius ran after Moony and Prongs, his shiny black fur glistening in the moonlight.

Most of his human senses were dulled as Padfoot, but his sense of smell made up for it. It was that sense coupled with heightened hearing, caused him to stop his usual carefree running. He could hear someone getting closer. Someone who should definitely not be here at this hour. Someone whose smell was so familiar that every hair on his body stood up in high alert. He barked loudly, hoping to sway her from the dangerous path she had taken, and also to alert Prongs of danger.

Her footsteps were getting closer. Padfoot ran towards her, stopping right in front of her and snarling at her. Perhaps he could frighten her into leaving. He could see the fear in her eyes. But there was something else in it as well. Something which didn't seem quite right. Which was why he decided that there was no use risking things. In a flash, he had transformed back, causing Daniella Wilson to trip and fall backwards.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, his voice low and gruff.

He could see that she was struggling with her words, trying to grasp what exactly had happened.

"Dany! Answer me!" he urged.

"Y-you're an Animagus. W-why? What's going on?" she stammered, getting to her feet warily. Her wand was still clutched tightly in her hand.

"You need to leave. Now." She flinched at his tone but he didn't care. Her life was in danger at this moment.

"What's going on? Where's Lily?" she asked.

"Lily? How should I know?"

"Lily… Sh-she was here. By the Whomping Willow. I heard her…"

"What? She's not here. And you shouldn't be here either. Leave. Now."

"If she's not here then-"

A howl pierced through the tranquil night. Moony had caught a whiff of her scent. Sirius' eyes darted towards the forest, where he had left the others. If he had caught her scent, it wouldn't be long…

"Come on!" he yelled, grabbing her hand and running towards the castle. He needed to think fast. Prongs wouldn't be able to keep him at bay on his own. He couldn't risk leading Moony back to the castle either.

"Where are we going? What was that howl?" she asked, her face white with fear.

"Do you trust me?" he asked, rounding on her suddenly.

Indecision wavered in her eyes and it pained Sirius to realise that it was his fault that she wasn't able to answer him.

"I need you to trust me. For tonight, at least."

She nodded her head, tightening her grip on his hand.

"We're going to the Shrieking Shack," he said, his jaw clenching. The howls were getting closer and he tugged her hand, hastening towards the centre of all their sins.

Once they had reached, her face betrayed nothing but a slight disconcertance. There would be no hiding the truth from her after this. But for now, her safety was the first priority.

"Stay in here," he said, pointing to one of the rooms which was less damaged. "Do not come out unless I come for you."

She nodded her head, watching in confusion as he changed back into Padfoot. With a low growl, he charged out, hoping that he and Prongs would be able to keep Moony out of the shack until sunrise.

Dany was shaking. Her thoughts were confused and she felt like she was running around in some sort of warped reality. Sirius was an Animagus. Why? It seemed ridiculous. And where on earth was Lily? What the hell were those noises? Almost like werewolf…

A loud thud sounded from outside the shack, causing Dany to move towards the window and try to see what was going on. She could see Sirius (in his transformed state), growling and snapping at a slightly hunched creature with yellow eyes and-

"A werewolf!" Fear gripped every part of Dany as she stood paralysed at the window. Sirius was trying his best to hold off the werewolf. Apparently, there was a stag out there with the same idea. It kept butting the werewolf with its antlers, clearly trying to move it back towards the forest.

Dany was not someone who sought out adventures or risky experiences. She often felt like she didn't belong in the House of Godric Gryffindor - known for its daring and bravery. Under normal circumstances, she would have stayed put inside the shack (actually, under normal circumstances she'd be happily asleep in her bed), but something about how the werewolf kept going at Sirius, made her resolve to do something utterly stupid and exceedingly reckless.

She ran out and blasted the first spell she could think of at the yellow eyed beast.

"Stupefy!"

The jet of red light hit it square on the chest and it staggered back, giving the stag a chance to push it towards the forest.

"Sirius? Are you okay?" she asked, looking at his wounds frantically. His breathing was heavy and, soon, he had transformed back into human form. A series of gashes and wounds were littered all over him, but his eyes glistened with anger.

"Didn't I tell you to stay inside?" he spat out, coughing slightly as the wounds dug into him.

"I couldn't stay there and watch you get ripped to shreds," she said, her own voice shaking with emotion.

"You don't understand anything. You should have stayed inside," he muttered, trying to get to his feet. Dany placed her arm around him, giving him some much needed support.

"You need treatment," she whispered, softly touching the large gash on his cheek.

"I need you to get back inside. Please," his tone was pleading as his strength continued to decrease with every given minute.

Another howl pierced through the air. Dany and Sirius turned towards the direction of the howl, only to see the werewolf bounding towards them. The combination of Sirius' weight, the pace of the incoming beast, and Dany's strained nerves caused her to lose balance and drop her wand onto the ground.

It was in that moment that Dany understood the power of fear, as she stood rooted to the spot, waiting for a werewolf to pounce on her and Sirius.

"Impedimenta!" A jet of light struck the werewolf from one side, knocking it off its feet. Dany was only able to catch one glimpse of the caster before darkness engulfed her and she lost consciousness.

Sorry for leaving things at this juncture :P But it was honestly getting too long. Thoughts? Confusion? I'll try and address them best I can in the next chapter, so let me know.

Cheers xxx