Okay, putting this chapter out a little early. Originally I had planned to start this chapter at the start of seventh year but I really wanted to address Sirius running away. This chapter is really long, but I didn't feel right breaking it up! Hope you enjoy!

Usually the sound of an owl pecking at her window did not cause Ruby Zeller such distress. However for the last three days whenever she could see an owl on the horizon, Roo would jump up and anxiously tear into the parchment. Mostly though, the letters were a disappointment though. Leaping off her bed, she hurried to the window only to sigh loudly when she saw that it was Jude's owl.

"Jeeze Roo, you need to calm down." Lily Evans voice rang out in her room as Ruby tossed her brother's letter aside, letting his owl take refuge in a spare cage before she went on her way.

"Stuff it Evans, this is important." She muttered, shutting the window again and grumpily throwing herself back into her bed.

"You're obsessed. I thought that it wasn't like that with you and Black." The red head shrugged, her legs crossed underneath her.

"It's not." Roo rolled her eyes.

"So says the girl who was basically straddling him in the common room a few months ago." Lily countered, raising a thin eyebrow in her friend's direction. "And you kissed him, you told me that. So how is it 'not like that'?"

"Because it's not," She sighed loudly. "I will not rehash the story for you again, you know we didn't do anything. Like the common room would be a good place for a shag anyways. Honestly Evans," Ruby exasperated. "As for the whole kiss thing, the idiot acted like nothing ever happened. He was back after Meadowes in a week." She mumbled darkly.

Dorcas Meadowes something else entirely, a sort of something that Ruby didn't particularly like to discuss. She came from a long line of Pureblood Irish Chinese family and had known Sirius since they were kids. Roo didn't know her too well, but she seemed nice enough at first, Hufflepuffs usually were. That was until you got to close to Sirius, of course. Ruby didn't make a point to hang around the off and on again couple too much but when she did, she didn't like it.

Dorcas flaunted Sirius around like he was some kind of trophy that she won, like he was some special Pureblood prize to show off. Not to mention it seemed like she was always putting him down for a laugh, Sirius seemed to laugh it off but it didn't escape Ruby's eye when he turned extremely sour and moody afterwards. She didn't know how their relationship worked, maybe Dorcas was really nice when not around other people, but Ruby didn't really care. She didn't like how she treated him.

And she wouldn't whether she fancied him or not.

Sirius was first and foremost one of her closest friends. They had shared a lot of things over the years, fights, pranks, what have you, and while Ruby may have harbored a slight flame for him, it didn't take away from the fact that she thought he should be treated better.

Truth be told, Sirius Black was always something of an enigma. Not only was he handsome, but he had a great sense of humor and a heart of gold as cliché as it was to say. Despite growing up with a poor excuse of a family, he had turned out pretty well.

"It's got nothing to do with any of that Lils. I just know he's been going through some rough stuff with his family. He sent me this owl a couple days ago, and I've just been worried." Ruby shrugged, her eyes darting over to the window again as if Sirius's owl would magically be there.

"What's going on then?"

"Well, it's kind of private." Ruby answered, already cringing at how Lily would react to that. She never took being out of the loop very well.

"Like I would say anything to anyone! Who have I got to talk about Sirius Black? Hmm, I don't know, maybe just you?! You can't just say 'he's going through some things' and act like a lunatic whenever there's an owl nearby and NOT tell me!"

"Okay, okay, but you literally cannot say anything to him Lily Evans. I mean it. No matter how pathetic and sad he may look, you act like you know nothing!"

"I swear. I swear on Petunia's ugly wedding gown!" Lily retorted with a grin. Her older sister, who Ruby most certainly did not get along with, was getting married the next summer and was already in a whirlwind of wedding planning. It was driving Lily bratty, hence why she was taking up with the Zeller's for the rest of the holidays.

"She hasn't even gotten it yet," Roo snorted in a very unladylike fashion.

"But we both know it'll be hideous. To match Vernon and all," The serious moment of their friend's predicament was lost for a moment while the girls dissolved into a fit of giggles at thought of Vernon Dursley being stuffed into a tuxedo and not looking like a whale.

"Anyways," Ruby coughed trying to regain her composure. "Sirius is, or was having some trouble with his family. Real snobby, you know? They didn't like that he wasn't sorted into Slytherin. That he's mixing with blood traitors and muggle trash." She rolled her eyes. "He doesn't really talk about it, at least not to me, but I've gathered that much and based off what James has said, I put it together." She decided now probably wasn't the time to point out to her friend that she hardly grimaced at the mention of James Potter. "Anyways, every year I always tell him that he's welcome to come by for a visit. Like this house needs anymore boys, right? Plus, my dad would get a real kick out of him and hearing all about how Purebloods are."

Colin Zeller was a simple Muggle man who really should have been born a wizard. Now that his children were older, they indulged him in bits of magic. Plus he always got overly excited when someone arrived by floo.

"I know there's no way that Sirius would be allowed to drop by though. His mum wouldn't allow it, Zeller is a Muggle name. I can't even write him letters and sign my full name or she'd find out. They read his mail sometimes Lily, they aren't good people. I still offer though 'cause I think it makes him feel better knowing he has a place other than home to go." She spit out, feeling more anger at Sirius's family the more she thought about it. "Anyways, like three days ago, his owl shows up here and all it says 'Offer still stand?' with his initials. I think he was trying to leave, but I haven't heard from him since. I don't know if they shut him up in his room, or if he got out and is wandering around on the streets."

Lily was quiet for a few moments, taking all the information in. She had known that Sirius's family was a little fanatical, but never how bad it was for him. "Did you think maybe he had gone to James's? You know how close they are."

"Yeah, I would hope if he was at the Potter's though, he'd be considerate enough to let me know he's not dead or something." Lily snorted loudly, as if the idea of Sirius Black being considerate was unthinkable.

Ruby couldn't help but agree a little.

"Just write James and ask if he's there. Simple. Then you can go back to normal."

"Oh, so he's James now? Not Potter?" Roo teased, leaning over to her nightstand and grabbing a spare bit of paper.

"I was being kind because he's your friend." Reddening in the cheeks a bit, Lily took the opportunity to look thoughtfully out the window.

"Right." Rolling her eyes, Ruby turned back down to the paper and began scribbling a note to James.

James,

At the risk of sounding like a crazy person, is Sirius with you right now? He sent me some BS cryptic owl a few days ago and I haven't heard from his since. Getting a bit worried. Unless he is there with you and couldn't even think of anyone but himself to pick up a quill and write back, the lousy no good mongrel.

Hope your hols are good. Lily is staying with me for the next few days. Perhaps this might be the perfect time to introduce you to movies? Tell Sirius (if he's with you, hopefully) he's not invited until he begs for forgiveness. Let me know about the movies, yeah?

Roo

"There." She declared, hopping up from the bed and advancing on Jude's owl. Cleo was always a twitchy thing and didn't like the twins too much but Amery's owl was already out on a delivery, most likely sending some letter to that pretty Hufflepuff girl he's been seeing. Cleo clicked her beak in her direction but stood relatively still while she fastened the note to her leg. "Take that to James Potter, please. Don't leave until he writes back; peck his eyes out if you have too."

Lily looked positively thrilled at that idea.

Although she probably wouldn't be too happy if she found that she was inviting James and company to their movie dates. Lily was a huge movie buff, and they always made a point to see at least one when they were together. Since meeting in their first year, the girls always spent some time with each other over the holidays. Ruby loved going to the Evans'. Lily didn't have a handful of annoying siblings, constantly running underfoot.

There was only Petunia, and torturing siblings was a lot easier when you only had one target. Growing up, Roo had her pick between Amery, Zane and Jude. She never picked on Naomi, not only because she was younger, but sisters had to band together. Usually the boys tried to gang up on them, but with Naomi's brains (she was only 13, but she was smart) and Ruby's ability to execute, they usually came out the victors.

The only bad thing about visiting Lily (besides her horrible horse faced sister), was that Snape was always nearby. Before the end of 5th year, when Roo would spend a week with her friend, Severus usually tagged alone. Lily justified it by saying she spent all year with the Gryffindors, so the summer was for the little git. But after what was now referred to as the 'incident' by Lily, Ruby was happy that Snape was only involved from afar. Although she did think it was impossibly creepy that he tried to ambush her at home all the time.

When she could, Lily would always try to convince Ruby to let her stay with her family. Lily loved her parents and despite all appearances loved Tuney too. But staying with the Zeller's was like being a part of one big crazy family where no one resented each other over their magical ability. Plus now that Jude was older, Lily liked to grill him about life outside of Hogwarts.

There was a knock at her door, and Naomi's little blonde head peeked through the doorway. She was still a slip of a thing, mirroring her sister in size, but she wasn't quite as skittish as she once was. Naomi was usually much more at ease at home, and she adored Lily, so she entered with more confidence then usual.

"Hogwarts owls are here, and mum wants to hem your robes Roo." She smiled brightly at her sister and her friend. "Lily, your owl came here too!"

"Just school owls?" Ruby rolled off her bed rather ungracefully, disappointment evident in her voice.

"Yep, nothing from Sirius." Naomi gave her a sympathetic pat. Although the Marauders were not the type of boys she'd hang out with, she knew Ruby cared for them a great deal.

"Ugh!" Roo snatched her black robes off her dresser, pulling Lily out of the room with her. "Thanks Naomi." She ruffled her sister's hair.

"Either Malkin is making these robes longer every year or you are shrinking." Orla Zeller tutted, as she waved her wand at the tape measurers flitting around her oldest daughter.

"Probably shrinking, Ma, you both are." Zane piped up from the end of the kitchen table, snickering at Roo as she shook the long sleeves back off her arms. She waited until her mother's back was turned to flip him off which just caused Zane to laugh loudly, sending bread crumbs flying from his mouth.

"You're disgusting." Ruby wrinkled her nose at him, as Lily and Naomi sat back and laughed.

"I wouldn't laugh if I were you were Zane. You're probably done growing as it is!" Mrs. Zeller countered slyly, as she started to pin back Ruby's sleeves. The Zeller's as a whole were not tall people, Jude was the only one who had gotten a growth spurt and was a decent height. Amery really got the short end of the stick, quite literally only being an inch or two taller than Ruby. "Lily dear, you haven't opened your letter. Go on!" She encouraged, watching Lily trace the Hogwarts crest stamped on the outside.

"She's just nervous that her Head Girl badge won't be in there." Ruby snorted, which turned into a cry of pain as her mother jabbed her with a pin. "Oi, watch my delicate skin woman!"

"Sorry love, it was an accident." The gleam in her mother's eyes said it was anything but and if she wanted to make another smart comment about Lily, she'd suffer another jab.

Without waiting any longer, Lily tore into her envelope shifting all the required reading aside, gleefully holding up her new Head Girl badge. She let out a triumphant whoop which the other Zeller's joined in on.

"Great job Lily." Mr. Zeller patted her on her shoulder as he moved past her, drooping to kiss Orla's cheek. "Weren't you Head Girl in your days, love?"

Mrs. Zeller nodded her head enthusiastically; too many pins pursed between her lips to properly answer, but still took the moment to preen. It seemed that only Naomi had inherited their mother's as the rest of her children were hell bent on being trouble makers.

"Oh my god." Although it was a horrified sort of whisper, everyone's head turned back to Lily, her eyes wide as they devoured the letter in front of her. "James Potter is Head Boy." Her tone once victorious took on a more miserable tone as Ruby began to laugh almost maniacally.

Before she could start on teasing her friend, there was a resounding smack and Roo practically threw herself off the stool to throw open the window for James' poor owl which took a face plant into glass.

Roo,

Did Evans read her owl from Hogwarts yet? Of course she did. You must already know then that I am Head Boy this year. I'm not sure what gillyweed Dumbledore is smoking to make me a Head, but I have the badge to prove it. How thrilled was my Lily flower to find out that we'd be working closely together this year? This might really be my year Roo! I've been trying to be on my best behavior since the thing with Snape, and maybe this will really prove to Lily how I feel about her!

Oh and yeah, Sirius is here with me. Showed up a three nights ago. He's been kind of out of it, don't be too mad at him for not writing. It's been bad for him. Don't think he's going back, probably blasted off by now. Maybe those movie things will cheer him up. How about tonight, around 7? We'll come by floo, know how your dad likes that. And I can talk Head Boy strategies with Evans (do Heads have strategies? I imagine it to be a bit like Quidditch really). Maybe you can cheer up Padfoot, been right miserable.

Cheers!
James

Ignoring her mother's cry of protest, Ruby pulled her robes over her head and tossed them on the table. Lily regarded her with a cool look, knowing that the recovering owl was James. "What does Potter want?" She asked in a cool voice, all notes of excitement from earlier gone. She was so melodramatic.

"Just that he's looking forward to working with such a lovely young woman and hopes to learn a lot from you." Ruby answered, quickly shoving the letter down the front of her shirt before Lily could try to snatch it. She would throw a fit if she knew James was calling her Lily Flower again. "More importantly, Sirius IS with him, and is okay. Just moody and probably never going back." Roo paused there knowing what she was going to say would send Lily over the top. "I sort of figured Sirius might be down in the dumps, running away from home and all. Plus Remus is on holidays and Peter is stuck with his sick grandfather. So I kind of invited them to the movies with us? They've never seen on before, you know." She added that on quickly as if that would save her from her friend's wrath.

Lily didn't say anything for a long moment, obviously contemplating her next move. "One of them better buy my popcorn then if I'm going to have to explain everything to them." She sniffed but obviously conceding knowing how important Sirius really was to Ruby. She'd swallow her blind hatred for James, if only for her best friend.

"I love you Lily Marie Evans." Ruby grinned widely before turning back to her parents. Her mother was eying her pile of robes with great distaste but her dad looked positively thrilled at the aspect of more wizards coming into his house. "The boys will floo in around seven." Mrs. Zeller scoffed, piling her daughter's forgotten robes in her arms but Roo knew her enough that she was already planning dinner for a big group.

"As long as it's okay with James' parents."

Although she would sooner die than admit it, Lily did spend an inordinate amount of time on her hair and make up. It wasn't for Potter, maybe she'd meet a better looking boy at the movies. One had to be prepared for anything. She had chosen her nicest blouse to wear, it was cream colored and set very nicely against her hair.

It wasn't as though she fancied Potter, although he had gotten considerably better over the last year, but Lily didn't want to go out looking like a slob. At least that's what she told herself as she lightly dusted blush over her cheeks. She stole a glance at Ruby who was wearing a plain black t-shirt (which was too big judging by the way it kept falling off her shoulder) and a pair of tattered jeans. She only wore mascara but still sat beside Lily, giving make up tips where she felt fit.

"Don't you want to dress up more?" Lily questioned after putting her brush down. "You know since Sirius will be there?" She added on at Roo's question look.

She just snorted very loudly, hopping off the vanity's table top. "Is that why you were so concerned about the proper shade of blush? For Sirius? Or maybe James? Like either one of them would even notice that you're using a pale pink instead of powder pink." Roo shot her friend a wicked grin as Lily retaliated by throwing a discarded make up brush in her direction. "Ruby Zeller dresses up for no one! Sirius has girls throwing themselves at his feet all the time, I'm not gonna join the masses. Never mind that one time I wore a dress to Hogsmeade and he went on about it for weeks." She rolled her eyes. "As far as Sirius Black is concerned, I'm not even likely a girl."

"Well that's certainly depressing."

Before Ruby could comment, there was a loud commotion downstairs (Ruby swore she heard the distinct sound of her father clapping) which meant that Sirius and James had arrived.

"Better comb your hair Evans, lover boy is here!" Ruby taunted, darting around Lily as she tried to make a grab for her. Laughing, she bolted down the steps, past Zane and leaping on James Potter. "Such gentlemen, showing up early!"

"Good to see you too Roo," James laughed, hugging her back and twirling her around in a circle for a moment.

"She'll be down in a minute." Ruby rolled her eyes as James looked up hopefully at the stairs. She turned to Sirius who offered her a smile, one that looked considerably sadder than his usual. Wasting no time, she dropped James and moved over to Sirius and threw her arms around his neck. "Everything okay?" Roo questioned quietly, making sure to give him an extra hard squeeze.

"I'll be fine." Sirius nodded, before discreetly pressing his lips to her temple. Ruby held on for a moment longer, before releasing him and elbowing him playfully in the ribs.

"Next time you owl me back yourself, you git."

Sirius said nothing but smirked back at her, one that looked a little less sad. A moment later, Lily emerged from the stairs, looking regal and flawless as usual.

"Potter, Black." She regarded the boys coolly, although Ruby saw her eyes dart back to James a few times. He must have been used to seeing Lily exclusively in school robes because at the moment it looked like he had died and seen the face of a goddess.

Both Ruby and Sirius rolled their eyes at the antics of their friends. They were both maddening.

"Dad, no one else is coming through." Having turned away from her friends, Ruby now eyed her father who was still on all fours inspecting the fire place.

"Can never be too sure Ruby." Colin grinned, before bouncing back up and brushing off his pant legs. "You lot behave now, I don't want a visit from the police officers again." At this, Mr. Zeller fixed his daughter with a pointed look which she promptly looked away from.

"If we leave now, we'll have time to get popcorn before." Ruby said after hugging her dad and ducking out from under his gaze. "We're gonna see Carrie."

Originally they had wanted to see Taxi Driver, but they thought they'd spend the whole movie trying to explain every detail to Sirius and James. At least with Carrie, they'd have some understanding with a magical aspect. Lily had been disappointed by the change.

When Roo had first met Lily, she was surprised to find her friend had such a passion for action movies. Lily was the kind of girl who read Jane Austen between classes, who helped Willow stitch dresses together out of silk and lace. However, Mr. Evans was a movie buff like his daughter and while he tolerated the classic animations and cartoons for his daughters, he loved the nitty gritty the most.

It seemed Lily developed that same love too because she was not happy at all they weren't seeing Robert De Niro.

The theater was only a few blocks from the Zeller's home so they had decided to walk. Plus Orla wouldn't let her daughter take the car for anything. Ruby didn't live in a bad neighborhood, necessarily but it was run down. Living on a journalist's and a seamstress's salary between five kids tended to stretch the paychecks a bit. But it was still a relatively nice area for their means.

Heeding final warnings to behave themselves, the teens filed out of the door and out onto the road. Lily was sure to keep some distance between her and James. He didn't look too phased by it really, but held a panicked look on his face as he pulled Ruby to the side.

"Roo, I really wanna pay for Lily, gentlemanly and all," He started in a hushed whisper as Sirius looked on the pair with an amused grin and eye roll. "But I don't have any muggle money!"

Stifling a laugh that would have no doubt made Lily even more suspicious than she already was, Ruby rooted around in her pockets pulling out crumbled bills. "Here James, just offer to pay for everyone. You can pay me back later." She passed the bills to James who looked at them as if a couple notes were the key to Lily Evans heart.

"Hey Lily, stop walking so fast. You need to tell me how movies work!" James stuffed the money into his pocket before picking up his pace to catch up with Lily who looked properly annoyed.

"You'd think all the times she's turned him down, he'd move on." Roo couldn't help but laugh at James's attempts to slide his arms around Lily's shoulders, watching as she batted him away.

"Nah, not in his nature." Sirius answered with a grin. "How's the summer with the harpy been?"

It wasn't that Sirius disliked Lily, he just didn't get why his friend kept chasing after a girl who was not interested, although it did seem as if the red head had cooled against him slightly. Lily wasn't really his type anyway, but he could see how she would appeal to James. But as loyal as Sirius was, he didn't like some of the stuff that Lily said about his friends.

Ruby gave him a hard look before answering. "She's been fine. I think she fancies James." Her voice carried a hint of glee, watching as Lily threw her arms in the air and reluctantly let James drop his around her shoulder. "How have YOU been?"

"I'm fine, Roo." Sirius's answer was short. She knew he didn't like people prying into his family stuff. But she also wasn't going to let one of her best friends wallow in misery and self deprecation because his family were a bunch of ignorant purists who tried to stuff their son in a role he didn't belong.

"Obviously you aren't. James said you left home. For good?" Ruby pressed, knowing that she was skating on very thin ice. But it wasn't in HER nature to let things go, she was a self professed busy body. She'd rather have Sirius explode on her than go off for the rest of the summer, hell the rest of his life, bottling up his feelings because he thought it was better.

"Don't Ruby. Just don't." Sirius spit out through gritted teeth, his hands clenched at his sides. "You don't know what it's like, and you can't pretend to understand either."

She didn't say anything for a few minutes, letting the sound of James and Lily's bickering wash over them.

"You're right, I don't know. But I know you, and that's enough. I know you hate your parents but you can't feel good about leaving Regulus behind no matter how much you disagree with them. I know you wouldn't have left unless they really crossed the line because no matter how much your brother says he hates you, you still love him and don't want him to be alone. But you're just gonna pretend that you never cared and everything is fine, when it isn't." Ruby answered in a quiet voice, unusually serious.

Sirius never told her much about her family but she had encountered him enough times with his brother Regulus to make an honest guess. There was the time she came across the pair shouting at each other in an abandoned corridor during their fourth year, Sirius screaming at his brother that their parents were wrong, that they did more damage than good. She quickly hurried away, hoping Sirius hadn't seen her. She didn't know if he did because he never brought it up.

Ruby knew Sirius Black and she knew there was no way someone like him would ever be okay leaving ANYONE in that house. Sirius said nothing, but continued to stare straight ahead, clenching his fists tightly at his sides.

"I just don't like seeing you upset Sirius." She placed a small hand on his forearm, fixing him with a sad smile before hurrying along to catch up with Lily and James.

He didn't say anything, just kept staring in front of him keeping the three of them in his sights as he followed. The urge to change into Padfoot was overwhelming, to become a dog and just run away again. James would understand, he always did, but Ruby wouldn't. Instead he swallowed his anger, the best way he could at least and started jogging to catch up with them.

"So wait, that wasn't REAL?" James voice cut through the crowd, apparently outraged that Carrie was not a true story.

"No James, the people were just acting. It's fake." Roo rolled her eyes, neither him nor Sirius seemed to be able to wrap their heads around it.

"But how did she do all that stuff then?" James insisted.

"It's a movie, they have special effects." Lily exasperated, but Ruby noticed with a grin that she still hadn't shaken off James's arm.

Before James could comment again, a loud bang rang out nearby. Their heads snapped around, and their eyes widened on sight. Red jets of light were shooting every direction in the middle of the town. It didn't take long for the screams to start up soon after.

Ruby took off before anyone could stop her, running as fast as her body could carry her to the thick of the action. Since turning seventeen in May, Ruby carried her wand everywhere with her now, pulling it from the inside of her jacket as she ran.

Lily, James and Sirius all shared a look with each other and without another word, they tore after Ruby. It didn't take them long to reach the center of panic, a small group of masked wizards with various colors of light shooting from their wands towards the muggles on the street. With no hesitation in her voice, Ruby shot a disarming spell at a Death Eater who was raising his wand towards a young mother and her toddler. She didn't hit him, but it was enough to divert his attention away from the woman so she could run.

As the Death Eater turned to face her, Roo knew in the pit of her heart that she should have run home, tried to alert the ministry instead of trying to take on a group of Voldemort's supporters with just her and a few friends. But fear had gripped her heart as soon as she saw those lights. All she could think of was Death Eaters marching to her house where her underage siblings played board games, where her defenseless muggle father napped with a newspaper on his chest. And Ruby knew that she would do whatever she could to keep them away.

Luckily, they all had been regulars at dueling clubs and knew how to defend themselves. It helped that Jude, who was now an auror for the ministry had taught his younger siblings some defensive maneuvers once they turned seventeen.

Before the Death Eater could so much as begin to think what curse to send Roo's way, he was knocked over by a powerful spell Sirius aimed at him. Shaking herself, Ruby was one the move again, shooting protective spells where she could, and trying to remember every single hex she ever learned. One Death Eater fell to his knees after being hit full force by an entrails expelling hex as she danced on her toes to avoid being hit.

The four of them circled the group of Death Eaters, trying in vain to hit them with whatever they could think of but they just barely managed to dodge their own spells being rebound at them. Ruby darted around, never stopping for more than a second to avoid being hit, but kept her friends in her sight. James protectively stood in front of Lily no matter where they moved, the pair of them alternatively shooting spells into the group. Sirius was across the street, wearing a fierce mask of hatred as he roared curse after curse.

Ruby was so concerned with her friends (James had been hit in the face by something and was now covering his nose as he brandished his wand), she didn't see the burly Death Eater take aim for her, and she certainly didn't have time to jump out of the way.

It felt like someone was pressing hot knives into every inch of her skin, like every one of her bones were being snapped over and over. She didn't feel herself screaming but Ruby knew she did as she fell to the hard ground. Her eyes watered as she watched Sirius struggling to make his way to her. God, she just wanted it to stop, it would be better to just kill her.

Eventually the pain stopped and all she could hear was the sound of her own terrified screams. Before she could process what was happening, Ruby was scooped up into a pair of strong arms. She could feel herself trembling, her entire body was aching. She heard voices all around her and all she wanted to do was to scream that there were Death Eaters and someone had to get them.

Vaguely aware that she was crying, Ruby was surprised to feel warm blood dripping onto her face. She glanced up to James Potter's face, with his broken nose flowing blood down his face and was relieved to see at least one of her friends was safe. Her throat hurt too much to ask about Lily and Sirius but the look on her face must have made sense to James.

"Everyone is okay. Aurors are here, we're going back to your parents. You're okay Roo." His voice had a lisp to it, but he spoke in a determined tone that immediately put Ruby at ease.

When Ruby woke up, her entire body still ached, her head pounded but she recognized the familiar scent of her home, and was warm under a large duvet. She tried to raise herself into a sitting position but let out a sharp cry of pain when she moved.

"I got you Roo, just hold on a second." Lily's voice didn't sound as delicate as usual, it was hoarse as she bent over her friend, gingerly helping her to lean against the bedframe. The red head looked a little worse for wear, with a dark bruise forming around her eye, and dried blood on her cheek. She handed Ruby a glass of water, which she gratefully drank quenching her dry throat.

"What's going on?" Ruby choked out after finishing off the glass.

"You've been out for a little bit, aurors showed up. Jude was coming to visit and saw everything and called the ministry. Sirius and James are downstairs talking to them now. I wanted to stay with you." Lily grasped her hand tightly as tears leaked from the corner of her eyes. "You're supposed to take this, it'll help. You got hit by a Cruciatus curse. They said you'll be sore for a while." She squeezed Ruby's hand one more time, before standing and grabbing an orange looking potion off the side table.

"Good thing you want to be a healer Lils, you have a good bed side manner." Ruby said, with as big of a smile as she could manage without it hurting her face. A tight smile formed on Lily's mouth as she uncorked a bottle and held it to Roo's mouth, tipping the vial back.

"I'm going to let your parents know you're okay. I have to talk to the aurors, and Dumbledore. Someone will be right up, okay?" Lily desperately looked like she wanted to hug her, but was too afraid that it would hurt her. Ruby reached out for her friend, not caring about the intense burning in her shoulders.

"I'm glad you're okay Lily." Roo said softly while she cried quietly against her shoulder.

"Me too." Lily held her on for a little longer before letting her go and settling Ruby back into bed. "Don't you dare get up, you are on strict bed rest." That was more like the Lily Evans she knew.

She was alone in her room for maybe ten minutes before the door opened again and Sirius poked his head in. He looked considerably better than Lily, but Ruby just figured was that he had time to see a healer before coming to see her.

"Hey Pads." Ruby offered him a small smile, knowing that he hated it when she called him that. Padfoot was strictly a Marauder's only name.

"Hey Roo," He barely smiled, moving to her bedside and taking her hand. "How are you feeling?"

"I've been better. I'd shrug at you, but it hurts." She answered good naturedly, even though Sirius looked far from amused. "Where is everyone?"

"James and Lily are still talking your brother and some other aurors. Dumbledore showed up right after. He's drinking tea with your mum and dad. Amery and Naomi had to take some sleeping potions, they were a little hysterical. Amery nearly attacked a full ministry of aurors because they wouldn't let him see you. I think Zane is staying with Naomi to make sure she's okay."

Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach, she knew how much Naomi hated taking sleeping potions after encountered a bad patch when she was younger. Sirius must have noticed the look of distress on Ruby's face since he squeezed her hand tighter. "They'll be okay Roo, they were just worried about you. Once they see you're okay, they'll be fine." He reassured, sliding off the chair and in the bed next to her. Lightly he wrapped his free arm around her shoulders and gently pulled her close to him.

They sat like that in silence for a few minutes, while tears rolled down her cheeks onto his shirt. "I don't feel bad about doing it though, you know." Ruby's voice was hard when she spoke again. She didn't like that she lead her friends to getting hurt, didn't like that her family was upset because of her. But Ruby didn't regret running into the center of town, not even when she incurred the anger of a Death Eater for helping a woman escape. It deterred the Death Eaters from going any further, her house wasn't that far away from where they were at. It was bad enough that they were torturing innocent Muggles before the group of showed up to distract them.

"You're so stupid," Sirius murmured against her hair, careful not to lean too hard on her.

"You followed me."

"I'd do it again."

"I know."

Whew, there you have it. Hope you guys made it through this massive chapter. Like I said earlier, I couldn't find a good place to break it up into two chapters, and plus I really wanted to start chapter eight at Hogwarts already. This chapter kind of took a life of it's own. When I started to write it, it was originally supposed to address Sirius running away and melt into some Jily fluff. Obviously, that didn't happen! But I wanted to show the affects of the war before they entered the safety of Hogwarts. Plus this will hopefully lead way into an arc involving Mary and Mulciber! I'm having a bit of writers block with chapter eight, but hopefully it'll be out on time next week. Please let you know what you think, reviews mean the world to me!