A/N- I have no excuses except that I didn't know how to proceed with this chapter. I suck at writing scenes outside Hogwarts. Thank you to all the people who kept leaving reviews asking me to update. I think I finally finished this chapter because of you guys. Hopefully the next chapter won't take quite so long.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

Sirius took her hand and led her away from the main entrance of the common room, to a corner where it was much less conspicuous. He checked to see whether anyone was nearby, and then looked at her with an inscrutable expression.

"Well?" Dany wasn't sure whether she should just remove her hand from his since he still hadn't let go.

"What happened that night - I think I've figured it out," he said, his voice low.

"That night? You mean…" Dany's eyes widened as she realised he was talking about her strange hallucination (or whatever that was) when she had stumbled upon Remus' secret.

"It's dark, Dany," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. She felt a strange sinking feeling at the loss of his hand holding hers. "I still can't believe it."

"Sirius, what the hell happened?" she asked, growing slightly impatient.

"Legilimency."

"What?"

"That's right. Someone used Legilimency on you," he said, clenching his right fist. "Planted that vision of Evans in your mind, and lured you out that night."

"How do you know this?" asked Dany, feeling her throat dry up. Legilimency was a very advanced and incredibly dangerous form of magic. She felt scared just thinking about what else could have happened.

"I made a deal with my dear brother." Sirius practically spat out the last word. "He said that there are quite a few Slytherins who practice Legilimency. But he couldn't confirm who it was that cast the spell on you."

"Oh…" Dany felt awfully cold all of a sudden. Who hated her enough to try an attempt on her life like that? She rubbed her palms up and down her hands, hoping that her shiver wasn't visible.

"Don't worry. We'll get to the bottom of this. That bastard won't get away!" In very Sirius fashion, his eyes were blazing as he passionately declared his sentiments to exact revenge.

"Dany? Sirius? What are you two doing here?"

Lily walked up to them, looking a little tired but curious nonetheless. Dany felt slightly self conscious for some reason. She glanced at Sirius briefly, but he was looking at Lily.

"What's going on?" Lily continued.

"Nothing." Dany flushed as Lily narrowed her eyes, not believing a word she was saying.

"Sirius?" she asked the grey eyed Marauder. He looked towards Dany questioningly but she shook her head vigorously.

"You told him." It was more of a statement than a question. "I told you not to tell anyone about this, Dany."

"I'll just leave you two to talk this over," Sirius muttered, walking off with his hands in his pockets.

Lily still looked a little annoyed, waiting for Sirius to get out of earshot. Tying her hair up into a messy bun, she cast a charm around them so that nobody could hear their conversation.

"Look, Dany," she sighed. "I'm sorry, but if Sirius knows then the others will know as well. And I don't want anyone else to find out about this."

It was strange how agitated Lily was, considering this appeared to be a one-off incident they had had no idea about before. Unless…

"You know, don't you?" Dany had an uncanny feeling that Lily was trying very hard to keep herself calm. "You know someone used Legilimency on me. And you know who it was."

Her silence was enough of an answer.

"Who was it, Lils? And why don't you want anyone else to find out?"

Lily had green eyes. Eyes that sparkled with life and emotion - every emotion in existence had probably taken shape in those emerald depths at some point of time. Which is why Dany realised why her friend hadn't spoken yet. Sirius' words from a few moments before came back to her, and everything just fell into place.

"Snape."

"I'm sorry, Dany! I can't believe he did that!" Lily covered her face with her hands. "I had my suspicions but now I'm sure. And if the others find out, I don't know what they'll do!"

Dany bit her lip, not sure of how to react. Part of her was scared - worried that she would be attacked at any moment. The other part was angry. Why was Lily defending him? Did she not care that her friend's life was being threatened? And what kind of world was she living in that brewing a good potion warranted such a reaction?

"So he's going to go off scot-free?" Her voice was stiff, trying not to let her disappointment show.

"What? No! No, of course not!" Lily's green eyes went wide with horror. "Dany! Why would you think that? Of course he's not going to go off scot-free! I was going to ask you to come to Dumbledore with me and report him. He'll know how to deal with this best. I just- I don't want the others to find out about this because James and Sirius would probably do something incredibly reckless and stupid. Which wouldn't solve anything."

Dany's posture relaxed slightly. The disappointment that had welled up inside her dissolved all at once. She really was incredibly easy to rile up and then placate.

It was decided that they shouldn't lose any time, heading to Dumbledore's office immediately. The Headmaster listened to everything they had to say with a grave look in his eyes.

"Thank you for coming to me," he said, his back facing them. "I'm sure it was extremely frightening for you, Ms. Wilson. I will look into how to prevent such occurrences in the future. And Ms. Evans, you have displayed a great deal of character in a difficult situation. You have behaved admirably."

Lily flushed at the praise, diverting the conversation to possible safety precautions. By the time they had finished talking, it was past curfew.

"Let me accompany you both," he said, a twinkle in his eyes. "If nothing but to prevent any misunderstanding on Mr. Filch's end."

"I can't believe we're here!" Marlene's squeals echoed through the large corridors inside the Potters' home. "We are going to see the WORLD CUP! Can you believe it?"

"Are you sure you can believe it?" Remus gave her a very amused smile.

"Don't encourage her, Moony," said Peter, edging away from Marlene slightly. "She's got that crazy look in her eyes."

"For your information," sneered Marlene. "I'm perfectly alright. In fact, Lils and I are going to head up to our room and talk about stuff without you guys."

"Wormy! Now look what you did!" James' whine was far too comical to evoke any kind of sympathy, causing the three boys to break into laughter. "Shove off, wankers."

"Aw. Don't worry Prongsy," said Sirius with a smirk. "I'm sure Evans is saving some of that good lovin' for later. Ow!"

A flash of red disappearing up the stairs meant that it had, indeed, been Lily who had thrown a large bag at Sirius's head.

The Quidditch World Cup was being held in Manchester, making it even more exciting for fans to witness the epic final between Germany and Ireland. Germany were the underdogs, having barely scraped into the finals, going up against the fire power of a seasoned Irish team. James, being the enthusiastic fan that he was, had invited all his friends to stay at his place during the weekend of the final. They had all arrived on Friday and the final was on Saturday. Sunday was going to be a frenzy of food, excitement and happy times.

"Why isn't Dany here?" Peter looked up from his plate filled with Mrs. Potter's baked treats, his eyes wandering from James to Lily to Marlene and then Sirius.

"She said she'll meet us at the venue and then stay here for the rest of the weekend. Some family stuff, as far as I know," said James with a shrug.

"Have a thing for her, do you, Pete?" asked Sirius with a smirk. A slight flush crept over Peter's cheeks but he simply shook his head in response.

"Don't be a wanker, Pads," Remus chastised, giving him a look.

"He knows I'm just messing with him," he replied, winking at his friend. "Don't you, Pete?"

"Yeah. But you are a proper wanker, though. Heard you at it so many times at night." Peter's statement was met with a round of guffaws and exclamations.

"Well played, Pettigrew," said Sirius, offering his hand in faux reverence.

Dany had never been to a live Quidditch game before. Not outside the house games at Hogwarts. Being muggleborn had certain restrictions of course. So this was a very exciting prospect for her. Germany versus Ireland. It didn't get better than that. And even though Liam, Scott's older brother, was playing for the Irish national team, her heart felt that Germany would squeeze away a victory.

She checked her watch- it was almost time to meet the others. They had decided on the Irish food stall check post on the north end. There was a sudden pop and all six of them appeared out of nowhere. They had all passed their Apparation tests, so there was no need for Portkeys.

"Dany!" Marlene's enthusiastic cry was accompanied by her bounding over and tackling her friend in a bear hug. The younger girl wobbled slightly from the impact and giggled at her friend's reaction.

"She's been like this for the last couple of days," muttered Peter, giving Dany a clear look of warning. "I'm just letting you know. Almost knocked my bloody eyes out this morning."

"Hush, Pete. Don't awaken the inner Scot in her. Next thing you know, she'll be throwing shortbread at you- Hey! Marls!" James run off, ducking from the light punches Marlene was throwing his way.

"Haven't missed much, have I?" asked Dany, smiling fondly at the ensuing chaos.

"Nope." Lily grinned at her, linking her arms with Dany and Remus.

"Oi! Keep up! Else the Irish will have won before you lot even make it to the stadium!" hollered Sirius, running backwards. "Pete! Get me some fish and chips as well, will yah?"

"Murphy has the Quaffle! Dodges a bludger from Klein - swerves past Müller and Jung - the only thing standing between him and the hoops is Keeper Hartmann. Murphy aims and- OH! Spectacular save by Hartmann!"

The german fans cheered loudly, chanting the name of their young, female Keeper. She had incredible instincts and was doing a great job guarding the hoops from an incessant Irish onslaught.

"Isn't it ironic that the 6'5" Beater who looks like he could lift a mountain, is called 'Klein'?" murmured Dany, as the crowd quieted down a little.

"The universe loves a good joke," chuckled Remus.

Dany felt a nudge from behind her. She turned around and frowned at Sirius who was grinning at her cheekily.

"Didn't know you spoke German, Juliet," he whispered, so that no one else could hear.

"Nur ein bisschen," she replied with a shrug.

"Ich werde mir das merken," he smirked.

"Oi! Stop flirting, you two!" came Marlene's annoyed voice from beside Sirius.

"I was not flirting!" Dany replied hotly.

"Wish you had been," Sirius added, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly. Dany felt very warm all of a sudden. Much warmer than the cold damp weather in Manchester warranted. She quickly turned her attention back to the game, trying to remove the image of Sirius looking at her from her mind.

"The score is 110-60 in favor of the Irish! The snitch is still nowhere to be seen. That could be the only thing that can save Germany at this point!"

It was true. The German defense was good but the Chasers were far inferior to their Irish counterparts. Liam was a fantastic Keeper and it was no wonder he had been picked for the national team. Dany was quite interested in the Seekers. She wasn't sure how Donovan and Vogel would fare against each other. They were both slightly built and had similar playing styles.

"Donovan has caught sight of the snitch! He's rushing off to the west flank! Vogel's also got wind of it! She's sped off after him- Oh! She narrowly dodges a bludger from Doyle! And-"

It was riveting. Watching Vogel and Donovan weave their way in and out of the players and flying balls, everyone held their breath. This was the moment of reckoning. An Irish whitewash or a German upset.

"Germany have won the World Cup! Vogel pulls off an outstanding dive to snatch the snitch away from Donovan's grasp! THE CROWD IS GOING WILD! THE YOUNGEST FEMALE SEEKER TO WIN THE MATCH FOR A NATIONAL TEAM!"

"Bloody hell! She did it!" Half an hour after the match had ended, Dany was still jumping up and down in excitement.

"It was bad enough with Marlene. Now Dany? Why can't I get a moment's peace?" whined Peter, ducking behind Remus to avoid any incoming blows from either girl.

"Why are you so excited, Dany? Didn't know you were such a loyal German fan," teased James.

"I'm gutted. This is proper betrayal on your part."

A new voice came from behind them and they turned around to see Liam O'Brien grinning at Dany, still in his Quidditch gear.

"Liam!" Dany squealed and launched herself at him.

"Some context would be appreciated, Dany," laughed Lily.

"You haven't told your friends? Now I'm really hurt." Dany giggled at Liam's theatrics and hugged him tighter.

"Hold on. You're friends with Liam O'Brien - Keeper of the Ballycastle Bats and part of the Irish national team? And you didn't think it necessary to tell us?" James' look of utter disbelief made Dany giggle even more.

"Nice to meet you, mate," said Liam, extending a hand out to James.

"I'm James. Potter. Gryffindor quidditch captain," James rattled off mechanically, a glazed look in his eyes.

Liam shook hands with all of Dany's friends and noted with interest, the slight tightening of Sirius' jaw as his eyes flicked to the arm resting around Dany - his arm, which slung loosely after the hug. A glint of mischief crossed his eyes and Liam pulled Dany closer to him.

"We've been neighbours since birth. I've known Dany since she was a wee girl, running around the lawn and falling over every few inches," he said with a grin, pressing a light kiss to her cheek. He was rather pleased to see Sirius flinch and clench his fist at the action. What was going on here, then?

"Yeah. We've known her forever. I'm Scott, Liam's younger brother." Another person walked over to the group and waved at everyone. Dany hugged him as well, before he moved closer to his brother, whispering, "Don't be a wanker, Liam."

"It's all a bit of fun, Scotty," his brother replied with a cheeky grin. "I've got to get going. We're having a loser's party in a while. Don't think I'll remember much of it though. Nice meeting you lot."

"Bye, Liam!" yelled Dany. "Drop by sometime, why don't you? Dad misses your gossipy anecdotes!"

"Will do!"

"Come on," said Scott, gesturing towards a particular tent. "My mom's got a ton of food in there. Why don't you lot come in and have something to eat?"

"Spiffing!" James looked delighted, taking Lily's hand in his and running in the direction Scott had pointed towards.

Scott lingered behind a little, deliberately hoping to catch Sirius on his own.

"Hey. You alright, mate?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow at him and shrugged.

"He can be a bit of a wanker," continued Scott, looking ahead of him. "Liam, I mean. He does things to get a reaction sometimes. It's harmless, really."

"Why are you telling me this?" Sirius questioned, digging his hands into his pockets.

"I don't know. Just… a preemptive strike maybe? Try and dissolve anything that could jeopardise the future."

"The future?"

"The present?" asked Scott, a slight smirk crossing his face.

"I don't understand you," huffed Sirius, hastening towards the rest of the group. His cheeks were tinged pink and he frowned, hoping to stop the frantic beating of his heart.

So what'd you guys think? It was pretty disjointed. But I threw in a couple of references for you lot. Let's see if you can catch them. Do you want to see what happens at the Potters'? Or should I move on back to school?

Cheers.