Chapter 12: Sirius' Mistake

The first month rolled by and I soon realized that no day was uneventful with the Marauders. The day after Amos asked me out, James did get back at him. Amos walked into the Great Hall that day with enlarged teeth, pink robes, and his usually neat hair was disheveled. He scowled at anyone who laughed at him and took away points if they made fun of him. Later that day, he chased Sirius around the school for telling him I was still single. It was tons of fun, watching Sirius run around the lake, screaming like a girl. When Amos did finally catch him, I had to go in and break it all apart, as a Prefect. They each got about two weeks of detention from an enraged McGonagall.

The Gryffindor Quidditch team was going pretty well and only a few days ago they had their first game and won by a pretty good margin. James was proving to be an exceptional chaser and I was convinced that John would soon become a better seeker than James ever was. Their only threat was Slytherin, who improved their team because Lucius left and wasn't holding them back. Everyone knew his father had bribed the captain's father to put Lucius on the team.

Sirius was being more Sirius than usual, especially since he did really give up girls. His pranks were going overboard, claiming he needed to make up for James, who no longer had time for pranking because of our homework load (but I really think he gave up because he knew I wouldn't approve). Peter suddenly became Sirius' new pranking partner, and much to the dismay of the teachers, he proved to be as bad as James was.

James actually decided to take up Muggle Studies, to be with me. It was very shocking when I walked in and saw him sitting in my seat. He told me how he took the O.W.L for it, and passed with such a wonderful grade that McGonagall couldn't possibly tell him he couldn't join.

Mary was behaving as she promised she would on the train ride, snogging almost half the boys in the school. They boys didn't mind, the ones that were still single were very desperate, and as long as they were good-looking, Mary was snogging them. I caught her a few times during my patrols, in a broom closet, which was very awkward and disturbing. It made my heart ache every time I saw her, like every time I saw Snape.

Snape was also acting a little oddly. He glared at James every time we passed him in the hallways, and he was starting to look scarier by the day. His hair gets greasier everyday and he somehow got paler, and his noise, pointier.

Today was the day that I had to patrol without Remus by my side. It was the full moon today, and Remus enlisted Benjy Fenwick to patrol with me. I told him and James it was completely unnecessary and they were making a big deal out of it, but they wouldn't hear a thing against it. I finally gave it up, telling myself that no harm was being done, so now I was patrolling the corridors with Fenwick and it was quite boring. He was just humming to himself, not really saying anything. I wasn't complaining, I enjoyed silence, but not at ten o'clock at night, with sounds from outside being louder than ever. We were turning a corner when something caught my eye. We were on the first floor, so it was open to the grounds. I saw the Whoomping Willow, and four figures go towards it. I sighed in relief to myself, knowing it was just James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter. But, as they entered the tunnel that was supposed to be at the bottom of the tree, I saw another figure emerged from the dark. I gasped to myself. Someone had seen them! I wanted to go over there and investigate, but I knew Fenwick wouldn't let me out of his sight; it was strict directions from James. So, I figured I could make something up.

"Hey, Benjy, I'm really getting tired and I know for sure there'll be no one down here. Why don't we give it up for tonight?" I asked him. He looked at me in relief.

"Yeah, okay." We walked back to the Gryffindor Tower together and entered the common room with the password, "Succurro lemma" I waited until he was out of sight and in his dorm before leaving the Common Room again. I went down the stairs as fast as I could, because I might be too late. I stood in the shadows, because I heard a few voices, and saw two figures, right in front of the tree. I walked closer and closer. When I was only about 30 feet away, I recognized the voices. It was impossible not to. I'd known them for over 5 years. It was James and Snape. I moved closer, to hear if I could get more of what they were saying.

"No, you can't go down there! How many times do I have to tell you?" James voice angrily said.

"Potter, I'm warning you to move aside, or I will hex you." Snape threatened, pulling out his wand.

"Fine, hex me then. I refuse to let you go down there. I don't care what Pad…-Sirius told you. You cannot go down there." James said firmly. Snape attempted to push past him, but James held him back by the collar. Didn't the greasy imbecile realize what James was trying to do? He was trying to save him! And Snape probably knew that Remus was down there, he told me that theory over and over again since about the middle of fifth year. I knew by then it was true, but I also knew that Snape hated the Marauders, and if he leaked out that information about Remus, they'd be crushed, which was probably Snape's life-long dream. James grabbed Snape's wand out of his hand and threw it aside. Snape raised a fist. He was going to try to fight James-muggle style! I couldn't let that happen!

"STOP IT!" I screamed, stepping forward. They both froze and their eyes went wide.

"Lily! What are you doing here?" They yelled and looked at each other, shocked they said the same thing. They let go and glared at each other, then at looked back at me. "You need to get out of here!" They once again, screamed together. This was honestly getting creepy. I ran closer to them, so we could talk with out screaming.

"Lily, you really need to leave. Now. And take him with you." James said in desperation.

"Yes, that was exactly what I was going to do." I assured him.

"Great, now take him and leave. Peter can probably hear us arguing up here and will warn us." James said. Just as he did, I saw a rat, who was obviously Peter run behind the tree. Peter in his human form emerged.

"Lily? What are you doing here? You need to leave! And take that slimy bastard with you!" Peter gasped. A howl followed by barking came from the tunnel. Severus stepped back. Peter whispered to James, "He's worse than usual tonight."

"Merlin, why today, Moony? Why today?" James said to no one in particular. "We'll never be able to get them back to the castle in time. Okay, Lily, you need to take my cloak. Take it; it should fit both you and Snape. As much as I wouldn't mind him being a werewolf, Moony would be devastated if he found out he turned someone into a werewolf." He pulled out a piece of parchment. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. Okay, Dumbledore's in his office, pacing. Go there, make sure he knows Snape knows Moony's secret." He handed me the cloak and I looked around for Snape. He was already halfway to the castle. I heard the barks and howls get closer. "Lily, GO!" James screamed at me. I threw the cloak over myself and ran as fast as I could. I knew Snape was already back in the castle, because I could see his figure, watching from where I first spotted the five go near the tree. I could hear the howling and barking grow louder behind me, and I just ran as fast as I could. I knew they couldn't see me, but I was scared, nevertheless. The howling and barking eventually faded, and I assumed they were headed for the Forbidden Forest. It only made sense. I reached Snape, who was still looking in the direction of the tree. I took off the invisibility cloak.

"I'm taking you to Professor Dumbledore." I told him emotionlessly. He glared at me.

"And why is that?" He asked curtly.

"We need to make sure you don't tell a single soul about Remus." I replied.

"No."

"What?"

"No, I'm not going to Professor Dumbledore." He repeated. I sighed. "Where are Potter, Black, and Pettigrew?" He asked. How was I supposed to get him to Dumbledore? Maybe it could wait. Dumbledore would surely ask, like Snape, where James, Sirius and Peter were. There was no way I could make something up! Maybe I could just wait in the common room for them to come back. They usually came back around 1. It was 10:30 now, so I'd just have to wait 3 hours. Snape probably wouldn't wake up anyone and tell them in that time…hopefully. I gave Snape a look and walked to the common room. I told the Fat Lady the password and was quite relieved to see that no one was in the common room and my favorite couch across the roaring fire was open. I set the invisibility cloak down next to me and waited.

At about 1:30, three hours of very patient waiting, James and Peter stumbled into the common room.

"Lily, what are you doing here?" James asked.

"I was waiting for you guys." I replied simply.

"Did you tell Dumbledore?" I shook my head.

"What? Why not?" Peter asked. James let out an exasperated sigh.

"Lily! This was important! Snape could've told the entire Slytherin House by now!" James said, raising his voice a little.

"Because, what was I going to tell Dumbledore when he asked why you guys were there and then didn't come back with me?" I pointed out.

"She has a point, mate." Peter told him.

"Alright, we'll have to go now." He pulled out his map. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." He said, pointing his wand at the map. "He's still pacing in the off. Does the man not sleep?" He muttered to himself.

"Let's go." I said, giving him the invisibility cloak. "Wait, where are Remus and Sirius?"

"Moony's in the hospital wing and Padfoot is probably roaming around the castle. He had a bit of a row with Prongs." Peter explained. James didn't say a word, and took the invisibility cloak. He went through the portrait hole with me and Peter following. We walked under James' invisibility cloak…kind of. We were hoping our feel couldn't be seen in this darkness and Mrs. Norris or Filch wouldn't come strolling along now. James was keeping an eye on her using the map, so we managed to avoid them. We finally reached the gargoyle after taking five or six "shortcuts".

"Password?" It asked in a low voice when we took off the cloak.

"Bullocks. Do either of you happen to know this password?" James asked.

"Lemon Drops." I told it. As a prefect, I do get to know the Headmaster's password. We went up the revolving staircase and James put away the invisibility cloak. We were silently arguing over who should knock when a voice came through the door.

"Come in." Dumbledore said politely. We hesitantly opened the door and found ourselves in Dumbledore's round office. I'd been in here several times, so the beauty no longer ceased to amaze me, but it was still amazing. There were numerous possessions of his that only seemed to keep increasing every month. What I found the most interesting were the old Headmaster's paintings. They were all very talkative and very funny. "Pray tell what you three are here for at such a late hour." Dumbledore said, sitting behind his desk. We stood in front of him, rather awkwardly, not sure who should start.

"Uh, Professor, what we're…uh...here for at this late hour is…uh…" James began.

"Something…happened…tonight that we…uh…" Peter tried. I sighed.

"Professor, as I'm sure you know, we as in Sirius, James, Peter and I know that Remus is a werewolf. I was patrolling tonight on the first floor, in clear view of the Whoomping Willow. I saw four figures head towards the tree, but I knew everything was fine because it was just them. But, when I looked again, I saw a fifth figure head towards the tree. I knew something was wrong, so I went to go investigate. As I approached the tree, I saw Snape and James in a fight. It appeared to me that Sirius told Snape how to go through the tunnel in the tree, and Snape was going to try to go through it tonight, but James tried stopping him. Of course, he succeeded, but it was already too late because Remus had already transformed and Snape heard the howling, and ran back to the castle, and I followed. James and Peter remained, at a safe distance, to make sure Remus didn't accidentally kill himself. They said he sounded worse than usual tonight. When Remus returned to human form, they took him to the hospital wing, had a verbal, I hope, fight with Sirius, got me from the common room, and came directly here. Sirius, we think, is roaming around the castle." I finished, figuring it was a pretty good summary. Dumbledore nodded.

"Is there anything you want to say?" Dumbledore asked James and Peter. They both shook their heads.

"Sirius Orion BLACK, mixing with half-breeds? Has he no shame!" A portrait on the wall said. I read the name. Phineas Nigellus Black. It was another one of Sirius' relatives.

"Phineas, this is not the time. And, you may not run off to your portrait at 12 Grimmauld Place and tell Walburga. Remember, what is said in here, stays in here." Dumbledore warned him. He just huffed in reply. "I believe we need to locate Mr. Black and Mr. Snape." He started writing on two separate pieces of parchment. "Fawkes." He called out when he finished. His large, beautiful, red phoenix swooped down from above. "I want you to give this one to Severus Snape, sixth year dorm, Slytherin tower, and this one to Sirius Black." He told the phoenix. It looked like it nodded in reply. We stood in a few minutes of silence before either one of them finally arrived.

"Please come in, Mr. Snape." Dumbledore said all of a sudden. Snape came through the door, still dressed in his school robes like the rest of us. He looked at Peter and stared at me (James unnecessarily reacted by grabbing my hand). He averted his eyes and began glared at James, who glared back, and his gaze rested on our entwined hands, making James tighten his grip. I sighed to myself. These silent wars were so annoying. He finally returned his eyes to Dumbledore.

"Good morning, Professor Dumbledore. What can I do for you?" He asked a little too politely.

"Oh, nothing right now, Mr. Snape. We are waiting for Mr. Black, who will be joining us in a few seconds." Dumbledore replied. Could the man see the future or something? Sure enough, a knock came at the door. "Please join us, Mr. Black." Dumbledore said. Sirius entered the room, his face expressionless. He only looked at Dumbledore.

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK! HOW DARE YOU MIX WITH MUDBLOODS AND HALF-BREEDS AND BLOOD TRAITORS! WHAT-" Phineas yelled.

"Phineas. That will be enough." Dumbledore told him calmly. Phineas grimaced and started muttering to himself under his breath.

"I asked Fawkes to bring you two here for something that has occurred tonight. I know both of you know what I'm referring to. Is there anything you'd like to say before I continue?" Dumbledore asked, sitting behind his desk again.

"Professor, I didn't do anything wrong." Sirius stated. James let out a sarcastic laugh. I hit him on the arm. Boys could be such idiots sometimes.

"On the contrary, Mr. Black. You told Mr. Snape how to go through the tunnel, which would have killed him if Mr. Potter didn't stop him." Dumbledore replied gravely. Sirius did not respond right away.

"What's my punishment? Suspension?" Sirius asked warily.

"No, Mr. Black. You will serve two months of detention every night starting tomorrow, from 5 to 10 with Mr. Filch. You will not get time for dinner during this time so I suggest you eat beforehand. Additionally, I'm taking 40 points from Gryffindor."

"Alright, Professor." Sirius replied grudgingly.

"Now Mr. Snape, you are not allowed to tell anyone about Mr. Lupin or you will be asked to leave the school. You will have two weeks of detention, weekends included, with Professor McGonagall. The details will be up to her. And, I'm taking 30 points from Slytherin." He said. Snape just nodded, his face inexpressive. "You two may leave now." They nodded and left with a murmur of "goodnight." "You three, hold on." Dumbledore said as we turned around to leave, too. "Now, you three, it will be up to you whether or not you tell Mr. Lupin. Good night." Dumbledore said. We nodded and left the office. James put the invisibility cloak on us and we walked back to Gryffindor tower in silence. I gave the Fat Lady the password and we entered. Sirius wasn't in the common room, so I guessed he decided to sleep in the kitchens.

"I'm going to sleep." Peter said. James and I nodded. "Goodnight." He called as he went up the stairs for the boys' dormitories.

"Are we going to tell Remus?" I asked James.

"I don't know. If we tell him, he'll be really mad at Sirius. If we don't and he finds out, he'll be even madder at all of us." James said in despair. His eyes were hurt and I could tell he wanted to fix things but didn't know how. I sighed and hugged him.

"Everything will be alright." I assured him. And it would, they were the Marauders and they would always stick together.

"Thanks, Lily." He said, stroking my hair.

"We'll talk to them tomorrow. You can fix this." I comforted him. He smiled at me and moved his head closer.

"I love you." He whispered. My breath caught in my throat. This time he actually said it to me

"I love you, too." I whispered back, surprised at myself. I didn't think it would come so easily, but it did. I smiled back at him and our lips met. His hand caressed my cheek and I felt my entire body press up against his. I put my arms around his neck and pushed my mouth against his with a little more force. I felt the familiar giddiness in my stomach. I sighed contently as we parted and looked up into his caramel eyes.

"Goodnight, Lily." He said softly.

"Goodnight, James." I replied, giving him one last hug before heading upstairs.

"Where are they, lazy idiots." I muttered to myself. It was Saturday morning and I was waiting for James and Peter to get out of their dorm. James left a note on my dresser this morning, saying that we were going to tell Remus what happened last night. He was still in the Hospital Wing and would probably be let out later today. I looked up when I heard something creaking. I looked around the common room. It was empty. Everyone was probably outside or sleeping in late. What else would everyone be doing on such a wonderful Saturday morning? I heard the noise again. This time, I knew it was coming from the direction of the staircase to the boy's dormitories. I heard a few more. It kept coming closer with each thud. I listened a little more carefully. It actually sounded like someone coming down the stairs. I sighed to myself. This was obviously James or Peter under the cloak. It was most likely Peter because James wouldn't make all that racket while coming down the steps.

"PETER! TAKE OFF TE CLOAK AND GET JAMES DOWN HERE!" I screeched. His hair, then the rest of his head, and then the rest of his body appeared.

"Aw man, how'd you know it was me?" He asked.

"WHERE'S JAMES?" I screamed at him.

"Never fear! James is here!" James announced from the top of the steps.

"The only one who will be doing any fearing is you if you're ever late again." I warned him. I took his hand and Peter's arm and dragged them through the Portrait Hole. I let go and began speed-walking towards the Hospital Wing.

"What's the hurry?" James asked, his long legs managing to keep up with me. Peter, however, was in a slow jog, struggling to keep up.

"I have homework, you have homework, and the more problems we solve, the more we accomplish. After we tell Remus what happened, we'll go find Sirius so you can apologize to him."

"Wait, WHAT?" He yelled. He grabbed my arm to stop me. "I'm not apologizing. The fault wasn't mine, it was his. He should be apologizing to me, and if not me, then Remus." I sighed. Boys and their bloody pride. We walked the rest of the way in silence.

"Mr. Potter, glad to see you out of these beds!" Madame Pomfrey exclaimed when we arrived.

"Me too." James replied politely.

"And Miss Evans, glad to see you're not getting into any unnecessary trouble!" Madame Pomfrey exclaimed with a smile, looking between me and James. Teachers can be such gossips. I wonder who leaked the information about me and James out. I bet it was Professor Slughorn. He'd do anything for you if he's drunk, and he got drunk often. I accidentally stumbled on his wine cabinet while looking for Potions ingredients once. It was filled with dozens of empty bottles and even more full ones.

"We want to talk to Remus, is he well?" Peter asked her.

"Yes, Mr. Lupin is fine. Just a few bruises and cuts now, that's all. He'll be back in a few hours." She told us. "Oh, Mr. Rutherford, what did you do to yourself this time?" She asked, looking past us to a third year.

"Hi guys." Remus said when he saw us. He was sitting upright in his bed, reading our Defense book.

"Morning, Remus." I replied. Peter and James looked tentatively at each other.

"Moony, mate, we have to tell you something." James said, sitting down in one of the chairs. Peter and I sat on either side of him.

"Is it about Sirius?" He asked warily. We nodded. "Go on then." He said.

"Well, apparently Snape demanded to know how to get past the Whoomping Willow, and Sirius told him. So, last night, Snape…uh…went down there. And I had to stop him from going any further." He said slowly. "But no one got hurt and I managed to stop him in time, and Lily helped me get him away from there." He added, seeing Remus' expression.

"What? There were TWO people I could've hurt there?" Remus screamed.

"We got away before you even came out of there." I quickly said.

"And we led you near the forest." James added.

"Where's Sirius, that absolute idiot! And know Snape knows! He's going to tell everyone!" Remus said, burying his head in his hands.

"No, Dumbledore said that Snape would be expelled if he did. He's not going to tell anyone. We just need to make sure we don't give him a reason to." James said.

"I'm going to kill Sirius! Where is he?" Remus yelled.

"Calm down, Lily is going to talk to him." James said.

"Wait, I am?" I asked, confused. I don't remember talking about this…

"Yeah, I talked to Peter about it this morning, and he agreed." James told me. "Actually, how about you go now?" He asked. I nodded. He took out his map. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. He's in the kitchens. You know how to get in, right? Tickle the pear?" He said. I nodded again and stood up.

"I'll see you guys later, then." I walked out and headed up to the fifth floor, where the kitchens were. I found the portrait with the fruit bowl on it and tickled the pear. It swung open and I entered. The ceilings were draped with pots and pans, and the entire place was spotless. I spotted Sirius sitting at one of the tables, in his own world.

"Excuse me, Miss, do you want anything?" A house elf asked, smiling.

"No thank you," I replied, "And call me Lily, please." I told him. He smiled wider and left. I walked over to where Sirius was and sat down across from him. I stared at him. His eyes were somewhere distant and his mouth was in a frown. He had bags under his eyes and his hair was sticking up in all directions. "Sirius?" I said, gently touching his arm. He looked at me, and actually looked kind of relieved.

"Lily! Thank Merlin you're here! I know Prongs won't even look at me, but I need you to tell him I'm really sorry. And Moony, if he'll listen to me. I know I wasn't supposed to tell Snape how to get through there, I realize now it was wrong." He told me remorsefully. I smiled. This was the difference between Regulus and Sirius. Sirius could do something wrong and be remorseful. Regulus wouldn't do that.

"Let's go find James." I smiled.

"Will he forgive me?" He asked.

"Of course, you want to be forgiven and you're going to go ask him for forgiveness. And he loves you, so he'll forgive you." I said as I lead him out.

"Evans. That is an unspoken rule of manhood. You love your brothers, but you don't tell anyone that or say it out loud." Sirius said.

"Well you just told me."

"Did not."

"I quote, 'You love your brothers'" He stuck his tongue out at me. "Real mature, Sirius." I said, rolling my eyes.

"You know, I feel like I should be calling you Lily, but it doesn't feel right." He told me, randomly changing the topic.

"Yeah, it doesn't sound right coming from your mouth either." I replied. "Okay, are you ready?" I asked him as we approached the entrance to the Hospital Wing. He took a deep breath.

"Yeah, I am." He said confidently. I nodded and opened the door. We cautiously walked in. James, Peter and Remus stared at us. Sirius took another deep breath.

"Prongs, Moony, I'm really sorry." He said. James' eyes widened in surprise and looked at me, as if asking, 'What did you say?' I shrugged my shoulders. I didn't do anything. It was all him.

"Well Padfoot, you've seemed to learn your lesson, so I will forgive you." Remus said, smiling. Sirius ran over and gave him his classic bear hug. I rolled my eyes and Remus faked choked. Boys. Sirius pulled away and looked at James, who still hadn't said anything.

"I suppose since Moony forgave you, I should, too." James said. Sirius' grin widened. James stood up and gave him a hug. I smiled. These guys were probably the closest knit group in the entire school. Not everyone here could say that they lived with their best friend, became animagi for their best friend, looked past prejudices for their best friend, and forgave their best friend if they did something wrong.

A/N: Thank you, everyone who reviewed and favorited! It makes me SO happy after giving up an hour of my sleep each day to work on the story. You guys are the best!

This chapter wasn't exactly my favorite, but tell me what you think!

Love,

SAM :)