I think this may have been my favorite chapter of this story so far

Fifth Year

"It's too bloody cold for patrols," Lily muttered to herself, pulling her cloak around her body tightly. The drafty corridors were awful on a regular basis; at almost midnight on a February night, it was unbearably cold. It didn't help that her patrol partner for the night, Teresa McDaniel from Ravenclaw, had gotten hurt during Potions and was forced to stay overnight in the Hospital Wing. The patrols could be tedious, but they passed quickly when you had company. When you were alone, all you could focus on was how cold it was and your slowly freezing limbs. 'Just the Astronomy Tower and then I can go crawl into my toasty bed,' she told herself as she ascended the spiral staircase.

The Astronomy Tower seemed to be the preferred location for students to sneak off to when they were looking for a quick snog, after the broom cupboards. Lily always saved the Tower for last; she told her fellow prefects it was so she wouldn't have to double-check the Tower before she went back to her common room, but she honestly wanted to give the couples a bit of privacy, even if they were breaking the rules. She wasn't heartless after all. Though she would never admit it to anyone, she had snuck up there once in fourth year with a boy; a prefect showing up was an absolute mood killer.

As she pushed open the door at the top of the Tower, Lily thought she was going to be blown back down the stairs. 'Please be empty, please be empty, please be empty,' she thought desperately as her teeth chattered. She couldn't imagine anyone would be mad enough to be outside in the cold, but hormonal teenagers always surprised her. Lily shut the door behind her as the wind finally died down. She circled the top of the Tower, frowning as she spotted a figure hunched over against the wall. "It's after curfew," she said sternly as she approached them, her arms folded across her chest. "What's your name?"

The figure looked up at her, a tight smile spreading across his lips as the wind ruffled his long black hair. His cheeks and nose were tinged pink from the cold air and he hadn't bothered to pull his cloak shut, as if he wasn't bothered by the biting cold. "I think you already know me, Evans."

Lily scowled as she looked down at the boy. Out of all the people she could find at the top of the Tower, it had to be one of the most annoying prats in the entire school. "Black," she said dryly. "Why am I not surprised? Where's the rest of the lost boys then? I know Remus has patrols, but I'm sure Potter and Peter are up here with you."

"Not here," Sirius replied, raising a bottle to his lips and taking a deep drink from the nearly empty bottle. "It's just me."

"Are you drunk?" Lily asked incredulously, grabbing the bottle from his hand. She examined the amber liquid before taking a whiff of the bottle, her eyebrows rising. "How in Godric Gryffindor's name did you get firewhiskey?"

"Marauder's secret," he slurred as he grabbed another bottle from his side, knocking over the two empty ones seated next to him. "So why don't you bugger off and leave me alone, yeah?"

"Stop that," she said firmly, reaching for the second bottle. Her grip barely missed the glass as Sirius yanked it away. "You know you'll end up with at least two weeks of detention for underage drinking and being out after curfew, right?"

Sirius shrugged his shoulders, uncorking the bottle. "Ask me if I care," he muttered, taking a drink.

Lily's eyes narrowed as she watched him, her foot tapping against the stone floor. Something wasn't quite right with Black. He was always reckless, doing anything he could for a laugh, having absolutely no regard whatsoever for the rules or his fellow students, but he was never like this. He was never destructive, not like this. 'I'm going to regret this,' she thought as she sat down beside her, a shiver going through her body as the cold seeped through her clothes. "What's wrong?" she asked tonelessly, looking straight ahead as she set the bottle she confiscated beside her.

"What makes you think something's wrong?" he retorted, leaning his head back against the wall. His eyes closed slowly before reopening. "I'm fine."

"You're lying," Lily answered easily, pulling her cloak more tightly around her. "You and Potter are joined at the hip; the only time you aren't together is when you're put in separate detentions and even then I'm sure that you find a way to each other. So obviously something must be wrong if you're out here drinking alone. I'm sure Potter enjoys firewhiskey just as much as you."

Sirius snorted loudly, "If something is wrong like you seem to think, why do you think I'd want to tell you about it? You don't give a rat's arse about me. We're not friends."

She shrugged her shoulders. "Probably because we're not friends. You couldn't care less what I think of you or your problems. You'll care about what your best mates think, but you don't care about me. As you so eloquently said, you don't give a rat's arse about me," Lily replied as she shivered. "So out with it already; I don't have all night to sit up here and watch you get piss drunk."

"You've got your own bottle now; you're welcome to join me," he said with a disbelieving laugh.

"I don't drink," she answered dryly, giving him a dirty look.

Sirius gasped dramatically, one hand clutching his chest as the other held his bottle. "Perfect prefect Lily Evans doesn't drink? I'm absolutely shocked," he said sarcastically. Lily remained silent, refusing to rise to his bait. 'Five minutes,' she told herself as she shivered again. 'Five minutes and then I'm dragging him downstairs by his hair.'

The silence stretched between them, broken only by the sound of the wind blowing and the firewhiskey swishing around in Sirius's bottle. Lily was getting ready to stand up when Sirius cleared his throat. "My kid brother, Reg, hates me," he muttered, his words quickly followed by a drink from his bottle. "Thinks I'm a blood traitor."

"Blood traitor?" Lily asked in confusion.

"My family's full of whacked out blood elitist arses," Sirius explained, a hint of anger tinting his voice. "Thinks they're Merlin's gift to the world because they're purebloods and that muggleborns are scum. I think it's a load of shit so I'm a blood traitor. You shoulda seen the fit they threw when I was sorted into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin like the rest of my family. Surprised they didn't turn me out of the house."

Lily frowned deeply at his words. She knew there were magical families out there that thought like that, but she never considered that Sirius's family would be one of them. Sirius liked or disliked people regardless of their blood status. Suddenly the fifteen-year-old boy seemed so much older than he should be. "That's awful," she said honestly.

"He's getting himself in too deep," he said quietly, a frown tugging at his lips. "The people he hangs out with, the older students, they'll eat him alive. My parents already poisoned his head."

"You tried to warn him?" Lily asked gently, trying to keep any hint of pity or sympathy from her voice.

He nodded jerkily, taking a deep pull from his bottle. "Cornered him after dinner, told him he was being a git, that his friends would get him into something I couldn't save him from. You know what Reg said to me?" Sirius said with a bitter laugh, his jaw tense. "He said I was a blood traitor, a disgrace to our family. That I wasn't his brother anymore, I was dead to him."

Lily's frown deepened, her brow wrinkling. She knew all too well what it felt like to be on the receiving end of those words, when the person who is supposed to always be in your corner turns their back on you. She knew too well how it burned you from the inside out, how the pain never really went away; it just faded into a somewhat bearable ache. "I know how it feels when your sibling tells you that," Lily murmured. "My sister and I…well long story short, she says I'm a freak and not her sister."

"I didn't know you had a sister," he slurred, his bottle nearly slipping from his hands.

Lily shrugged, feigning nonchalance. "She and I don't get on well, not since I got my Hogwarts letter. When I became a witch, I stopped being her sister and started being the freak. We don't talk unless we're snapping at each other," she sighed, playing with the hem of her cloak. "We used to be close and now she won't even look at me. Summer break is always awful because of her."

Sirius was quiet for a moment, the cold wind ruffling his hair. "Ungrateful bastards, the lot of them," he muttered, offering his firewhiskey bottle to her.

She grabbed the nearly empty bottle beside her, tapping it against Sirius's lightly. There was only enough alcohol in the bottle for two, maybe three mouthfuls; what was the harm. "To hell with them. We'll make our family here," Lily agreed, taking a drink from the bottle. She barely managed to swallow the liquid before she began coughing, her hand pounding against her chest. "Bloody hell, that burns."

Sirius laughed loudly, his face losing a hint of its haunted look. "It's an acquired taste, Evans," he answered.

"I guess I'll just have to keep at it then," Lily replied, glancing at Sirius before taking a tentative sip from the bottle.

"Let's put your perfectionist streak to some real fun," Sirius declared, turning his attention back to his own bottle.

"Merlin, how are you so heavy," Lily groaned as she shuffled Sirius through the portrait hole and into the common room. It was nearly two o'clock in the morning and Lily was exhausted and still quite cold. After Sirius finished off his firewhiskey, Lily convinced him it would be better to head back to Gryffindor Tower instead of getting hypothermia sitting outside. Maneuvering him had been an absolute nightmare; he seemed far more drunk standing up than he had been sitting down. It was a wonder they didn't get caught by any professors in the halls.

His arm still slung across her shoulder, Lily wound her arm around his waist tightly as she led him up the steps to the boys' dormitory. "Better appreciate this, Black," she muttered as they slowly made their way up the stone steps. She didn't think she'd be able to get back up if they took a tumble down the stairs.

"I'll remember this forever, Lil," Sirius slurred, his head lolling onto her shoulder. "Promise."

'You'll be lucky if you remember anything tomorrow,' she thought as she approached the fifth floor boys' bedrooms. She was relieved to see the light shining beneath the door; at least she wouldn't be fumbling in the dark with Sirius. If a light was on, that meant someone had to be up to help her. Lily kicked the door lightly, worried Sirius would fall over if she released him for a moment.

There was shuffling and muttering in the room before the door was opened, the bright light spilling into the hall. James stood in the doorway in his pajamas; she could see Remus and Peter inside of the room, their heads turned toward her. "Lily," James said in shock, his hand ruffling his hair. "Oh thank Merlin, Padfoot. Where've you been? We were about to come looking for you." James stepped forward, pulling Sirius's free arm across his shoulders before shifting the boy to lean against him.

"Hey mate," Sirius slurred, grinning up at James. "Been ha-hanging with Evans."

"You were going to search the whole castle for him?" Lily questioned, sighing in relief as Sirius's dead weight was lifted from her shoulders. Sirius may have looked rather slim, but he weighed a ton.

"Of course we would," James answered easily, leading Sirius to his bed. "No Marauder left behind."

"Where'd you find him?" Peter asked curiously, sitting on the trunk at the end of his bed. "We checked all the usual places after dinner."

"In the Astronomy Tower," she replied easily.

Remus raised his brows, "Is he mad? It's freezing out there."

"Don't I know it," Lily sighed. "I'm sure the four bottles of firewhiskey kept him warm enough."

James sighed as he sat Sirius down carefully on his bed before removing his shoes for him. "Merlin, Sirius, couldn't wait to party with us? How many detentions does he have, Evans?" he questioned as he removed his tie, tossing it aside. "Don't fall asleep on me yet, mate; you won't thank yourself in the morning."

"He doesn't have any detention," Lily answered, shifting uncomfortably as three pairs of eyes turned to stare at her. "He had an awful day and I…I get it. So I'm giving him a break this time. But it's only going to be this once," she said firmly.

James smiled at her as he helped Sirius out of his robes. "You're an angel, Evans," he said sincerely. "Thank you."

Lily blushed brightly, "It was nothing. Just try to keep him out of trouble, alright? I won't freeze my arse off for him a second time."

"We'll try our best, but you know Sirius," Remus chuckled.

She rolled her eyes, an amused smile on her lips as she watched James tuck Sirius into bed. "Black," Lily called, "you remember what I said about family, right?"

"I have family here," Sirius slurred, nearly smacking James in the face as he held up three fingers.

"Don't forget that, alright?" she said gently before looking at the other three boys. "I'm going to bed now. Try to stay out of trouble tomorrow so I can catch up on my sleep."

"Evans," James called as Lily began to close the door behind her. "Thanks again for looking after Sirius. He's a prat sometimes, but he's our prat."

Lily nodded, a small smile on her lips. "Sleep well, boys," she said as she shut the door behind her.

"Evans is a nice bird," Sirius yawned, his eyes closing slowly. "Barking mad, but she's nice."

James chuckled, "You got lucky this time with her, Padfoot. She could have put you in detention for a month."

Sirius nodded slightly as sleep began to overtake him. "See why you like her, Prongs…she's nice."

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