Madam Pomfrey would not let the three boys into the infirmary. She blocked them at the door, arms crossed and a stern look on her face as Sirius begged for them to be let in.

"Remus is not up to visitors," she said. "He's very ill, boys. You can see him in a few days." With that, she stepped back inside and shut the door. The loud click of the lock echoed around the hall.

"What do we do now?" Peter whined, glancing from Sirius to James. "How do we make sure he's okay?"

"A few days," Sirius muttered. "She means until after the full moon, doesn't she?"

James nodded. "Of course she does. I'm going to the library, finish the homework I have left." He glanced out the window. It was dark outside, nothing visible except the stars and the growing moon. "There's nothing we can do, Pete. Just got to wait."

"Homework." Sirius said the word like it was dirty. "Ugh. Guess I'll have to join you, I've still got a few bits left."

The three headed for the library, silent as they walked. The portraits were going from one frame to another, whispering among themselves. One portrait, which showed a woman with long blonde hair sitting beneath a willow, constantly with her head in her hands, was weeping openly. Every so often she'd let out a wail that could be heard even around the corner.

But the library, in contrast to the chattering sound of the portraits, was silent. A few students sat, dotted around at different tables, heads buried in books. The portraits in there were all of former librarians, and they all remained silent, keeping a watchful eye over those in the room as they had in real life. The boys tried to sit away from any of the portraits. They often acted as the librarian's eyes and ears, telling her when a student looked like they were about to deface a book or shushing students whose voices grew louder than was allowed.

James yanked a few books off the shelves on the way to their favourite table. Located right at the back of the library, the table sat underneath one of the high, arched windows.

There was a low buzz around the other tables, discussions that even the librarian and the portraits couldn't put a stop to. The students wanted and needed to talk, to discuss the events that had been revealed to them and try to work out what it meant.

James opened a book at random and placed it on the table, eyes snapping from Peter to Sirius.

"This is wrong," James muttered, eventually, shaking his head. "Whatever's happening out there…"

"Is something we can't stop," Sirius said, glancing nervously around. "This isn't some game, James. I think we should keep the sneaking around to a minimum."

Peter nodded his agreement.

"You have a point." James drummed his fingers on the table. "We can't do anything. Yet."

"Yet?" Sirius scoffed. "I've met these people, James." He'd lowered his voice, even more than was needed. "Merlin, my parents are these people. It's pureblood fanatics who will stop at nothing to see Muggles gone from our world completely. I don't think Mum's involved that deeply, but…" He looked around again. "I'm sure Malfoy is. But there's nothing we can do. They're dangerous."

"Malfoy looked smug," James said, staring at the table. "I thought they'd left us alone because they were busy with school. What if it's because they were busy with something else?" His eyes snapped up, locking onto Sirius. "Andromeda would know, wouldn't she?"

"I don't know." Sirius began picking at the flakes of wood on the table. "She's…well, let's just say I think she's close to getting disowned."

"Disowned? By who?"

He shrugged. "Her parents. My parents. Her sisters."

"But…but she's their family!" James looked shocked, mouth hanging open and eyes narrow. "Sirius…"

"She loves a Muggle," he said, a smile creeping up on his face. "As soon as they've graduated, Narcissa will marry Lucius, Bellatrix will marry an ugly git like their parents want and Andromeda," he laughed, "Andromeda, I think, is going to put her foot very firmly down."

"What then?" Peter glanced up from the book in front of him, staring at Sirius. "I mean, it's still her family, right? Would they really disown her?"

"Yes. And she's offered me somewhere to stay when she gets her own home."

"Aw, Sirius. You know you can always stay with me."

"Not yet, I can't." He took a deep breath. "There's blood magic on the house. Any Black child under the age of fifteen has to be at the house at least once every six weeks. There's a spell only the parents know that means they can sort of delay it, if we're at Hogwarts." He dropped his head. "It was put in as a preventative measure, when the children of rich wizards got kidnapped frequently. If Mum activates it and I'm not there, it sends out a powerful tracking spell. It's why my delightful cousins used to have to come over so often."

"Merlin, that's cruel," Peter said, shaking his head.

"A lot of the rich families have it," Sirius explained. "It stops us running away and, well, kidnapping used to be a huge problem."

"I've heard of it," James said. "But a lot of wizard families have moved away from the huge houses they used to live in. The spells deactivate once there are no more with that surname living there."

"Families like mine tend to still have them," Sirius continued, for Peter's benefit. "The ones obsessed with bloodlines and names. It's a status symbol. Might as well have a sign hanging outside that says we were important enough to have our children kidnapped for ransom." He rolled his eyes and sank down in his seat, crossing his arms as he stared at the table. "Lucius and Narcissa will be gone at the end of the year, Bella the year after. Who knows what they'll get up to once they're out of here."

"But why would the Slytherins be so happy about it?" Peter was leaning on the table, arms crossed as his eyes flickered from James to Sirius. "One of the students was a Slytherin."

"And Dumbledore said their bodies were recovered," Sirius muttered. "They seemed awfully happy about one of their own being dead."

"Maybe he didn't fit in," James suggested. "Maybe he wasn't like the others. Could be he actually liked Muggles."

"Are you stupid?"

The three boys turned to look at the nearest bookcase. Lily stepped out from behind it with a few books clasped to her chest. Her red hair was tied back, wisps of it falling out and around her face. Alice stood beside her, soft brown hair falling around her face. It had been Lily who had spoken, but the next words came from Alice.

"Tock was one of the worst," she said, putting a hand on Lily's arm and gently pushing her forward. "He had it in for Muggles. Like, really badly. I'm surprised he hasn't been expelled with some of the stuff he's done." The two girls sat down, Lily fidgeting for a while before dropping the books onto the table. She let out soft sigh.

"Like what?" James asked.

"Like charming a bludger to follow one boy around the Quidditch Pitch during a Gryffindor – Ravenclaw match."

James frowned. "We would have heard if that happened. Or seen it for ourselves."

"Not if it happened before we were here," Lily snapped. "He cursed a Muggle girl the year before we arrived. She had to stay in the infirmary for a week."

"Not to mention Muggle duelling," Alice added, rolling her eyes. "Picking fights with anyone he thought deserved it. Not just Muggle-borns, but people who didn't have the right name, the right family."

"How do you know all this?" James was frowning at them both, eyes flickering from one to the other. Lily dipped her head.

"Alice's cousin told her," she said. "When he…he…" She took a deep breath before her head snapped up. "When he cursed me."

"Cursed you?" Sirius leant forward. "What did he do, Lily?"

Tears filled her eyes but she composed herself before she answered. "Freckles and spots spelling out Mudblood on my face." She spat the word out, cringing even as she said it.

"We didn't see that."

"Of course you didn't!" Alice snapped. "Lily went to the infirmary straight away."

"Okay, we get the picture," James said. "He's a typical Slytherin."

"No, he's not!" Lily's face went bright red as she glared at him. "They're not all like that, Potter. And even the ones who are…he's much worse."

"I forgot your little crush on Snape," he sneered, shaking his head. Her face went even darker as she drew in quick, sharp breaths.

Alice reached out, putting a hand on Lily's shoulder.

"It doesn't explain why they were looking so smug," Sirius said, clearly trying to draw attention away from the way James and Lily were staring at each other.

It worked. Lily huffed but her shoulders slumped and the colour in her cheeks dulled as she turned towards him. "What if he's not dead?" She lowered her voice even further. "What if he's gone to join whoever is doing this?"

None of them had anything to say to that. The boys sat back, clearly contemplating her words, until after a few moments she spoke again.

"How's Remus, anyway? He didn't look well."

"He's not." Sirius glanced at the other two boys before turning back to her. "He's going to have to stay in the infirmary a few days. Madam Pomfrey won't let us see him."

"Probably because you'd set the place on fire trying to cheer him up," Alice said, clearly trying to interject a bit of light-heartedness into the conversation. "Maybe she'll let us visit."

"I doubt it," James muttered, grabbing the books and putting them into a pile before standing.

"If you try and if she does, take him some chocolate," Sirius said, grinning at them both as he followed James' lead and got to his feet. "Remus loves chocolate."

Lily smiled back at him. "Okay, will do."

The three boys left the library, James mouth set in a frown as they stepped into the corridor and made their way back towards the Common Room.

"Why do you and Lily argue so much?" Sirius asked, shaking his head. "I don't get it."

"She's friends with Snape," James replied, scowling at the empty corridor ahead of them. "How can she be friends with a Slytherin?"

"They were friends before Hogwarts," Peter piped up. "Maybe he helped her."

"Helped her? That git can't help himself wash his own damn hair."

Sirius laughed, putting his hand on his friend's shoulder. "True. But Lily…she hasn't grown up in our world. She doesn't know Slytherins are evil, slimy gits."

"You'd think after a year and a half she'd learn. Where's this come from, anyway? You've never stuck up for Evans before."

Sirius shrugged. "Remus is friends with her. He gets along with her and I'm sure he'd be happy if we could, too."

"Remus would have mentioned something."

James had sped up, putting him a few steps in front of the other two, but when Sirius reached out and grasped his shoulder, he stopped.

"You really think he would have?"

James frowned, head tilted forward as he looked at the ground. "She hates me, Sirius. Seriously. She's had it in for me since the first day." He shrugged his friend's hand off and turned towards him. "And, come on, she's not that great, is she? She looks down on us because we like having fun. Let's face it, me and Evans aren't ever going to get along."

"Fine, fine." Sirius lifted his hands up as Peter glanced from one boy to the other. "But, well, we could try to be civil around her, couldn't we? For Remus?"

"Fine. I'll try. For Remus."

Sirius clapped him on his back. "That's all we ask, my friend. That's all we ask."

X X X

The snow was melting in places, the feet of so many students turning it to slush. James placed one careful foot in front of the other, broomstick clutched tightly in his hand. It was still cold and there was still more snow to come, snow that would cover the paths their feet had made and wipe away traces of the joy the students had had in the blanket that covered the grounds.

He reached the Quidditch Pitch in one piece, glad he hadn't slipped. Not on the grounds, anyway, but he had seen the other Gryffindor players training over the holidays, the ones that had stayed behind. And he was sure the others would have found some spot near their homes, some place where they could fly to their heart's content and practice their moves.

With everything that had been going on, James hadn't thought of picking up a broom since the last training session with the team. But with Remus in the infirmary, his homework done, and Sirius and Peter still working on theirs, the urge to fly had filled him. Sirius had offered to come, but James had waved him away.

"You've got homework."

Usually Remus would be there to help them, to point out the mistakes. He helped Peter more than the other two, but it was always handy having his notes around for the classes Sirius and James hadn't paid attention in.

James pulled the box containing the balls from the storage cupboard. He let one of the bludgers go, and leapt onto the broom, rising easily up into the air and feeling the wind through his hair, feeling like fingers running through it, something that always relaxed him.

The bludger flew aimlessly for a while, before it started for him. Unless hit, the bludger would simply go for the fastest object it could sense. James set to work dodging it, relishing the freedom that flying brought.

As he rose higher, he caught sight of the hospital wing. The ball, rushing towards him, made him dip back down.

Maybe, he thought, Sirius had been right. Lily and Remus did seem to get along well, and if he trusted her, then James figured she couldn't be all bad.

He swerved to avoid the bludger, bringing the broom around to face the ball. It had whizzed past him and curved around, and now sat hovering directly in front of him. James took a deep breath, lowered himself to the broom and began to fly to the bludger.

Lily, he knew, was a clever and intelligent witch. She'd excelled in every class they had, even without the basic building blocks the wizard children had. Perhaps, he thought, if he was nice to her, she'd help out with Potions, the one class he really struggled with.

He shook the thought from his head as he yanked his broomstick upwards, flying vertically to avoid the bludger. It carried on, travelling its path.

James levelled the broom.

Lily wouldn't help him, no matter how civil he was. She hated the fact that Sirius and James sometimes disrupted lessons, the fact that they found ways to have fun when Binns was droning on and on. Plus she was friends with a Slytherin and James really couldn't wrap his mind around that. Why would anyone want to be friends with Snape? He was a stuck up, slimy git. Intelligent, yes, but James sometimes wondered where that intelligence would lead him.

James had a fair few years before he had to make any sort of decision in regards to a job, but he already knew what sort of thing he wanted to do. The things happening in the Wizarding World, what he and Sirius had seen in the forest, they all just served to make him more determined. James was approaching thirteen, but he already knew he was going to fight Dark Wizards. Whether it was as an Auror or something else, that was a decision for later.

But some part of his gut felt that he would one day be standing opposite Severus Snape. He disliked and distrusted the Slytherin because somewhere, deep down inside, he knew that eventually, one of them would die and the other would live. He had no basis for the feeling, no reason to think it was true, but he had seen Snape in their Defence, Charm and Transfiguration classes, had seen him lingering near the Forbidden Section of the library, and saw the people he hung around with in his own house. His bad feelings about the other boy grew every time he saw him, and James felt that it wasn't unlikely for Snape to one day follow Gregory Tock.

He came to a stop above the top of the stadium, looking out over the forest.. The leaves rustled as the wind brushed them. From where he was, the forest looked peaceful to James, beautiful even. But he couldn't shake from his mind what he had witnessed in its trees.

McGonagall seemed better, but sometimes in class, when they were working on a new spell or quietly reading, James would see her staring out the window at the forest, fear flickering through her eyes. And now, if Lily and Alice were right, Tock may have joined up with whoever was doing it all. With the people who had killed hundreds of Muggles.

He turned around and found himself facing the castle, staring at where Dumbledore's office was. Whatever was going on, James knew the headmaster would protect them.

He heard the bludger coming back and tilted himself, letting it whizz closely past him before he grabbed the ball and began to fly back towards the ground.