"SHHHH," I hissed with a hastily smothered giggle, "We'll be caught!"

"Oh, hush up and live a little Twinkle," Sirius grabbed my hand and pulled me down next to him on the blanket.

"Yeah Arty, live a little." Lily's impression of Sirius was pitch perfection and brought forth another round of laughter, James booming laugh lower than Lily's light hearted guffaws.

I gave up and lay down on the blanket beside Sirius and Lily. The night sky was perfect, not a cloud in sight so that every star could be seen in striking detail and as I lay on my back I began to point them out to Sirius who wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me close. The grounds were illuminated by the silvery light of the moon. I linked my fingers with Sirius's and gave them a small squeeze.

"There you are," I whispered, because even though we were completely alone it seemed the right thing to do – whisper. Like the slightest noise could shatter the moment. "Sirius, the dog star." I pointed up at the tiny light, so far away. "And there's Orion. Your family certainly know how to name their kids."

He snorted. "Says you, little Miss Artemis."

I held up my hands in mock surrender. "Blame my parents. My mum and dad both have normal names it's just me I'm afraid." He nuzzled into my neck and I sighed blissfully.

Next to us, out of the corner of my eye, I could see Lily and James whispering together too. I rose up on my elbow and looked at them. Even though they both lay on their backs they leaned towards each other, almost subconsciously. They had linked hands too, and I could see James stroking Lily's thumb with his own as he stared deep into her eyes.

I let my head flop back down and laid my head on Sirius's shoulder. He kissed my forehead then brought up his other arm to begin to play with my hair, wrapping the strands around a finger then letting them slide off.

The four of us lay there, in that small knot of trees by the lake, not needing words to convey the companionship we felt between us, how close we felt those days, the last days of term before the real world began.

I was half asleep when I heard it, a slight plop, like a pebble falling into a pool of water. I shot up, startled by the sudden noise in the darkness and peered through the gloom. Sirius beside me, who had been asleep, stirred and sat up yawning.

"What is it?"

I shushed him hastily and strained my ears, listening for any movement. There was a slight rustling, and a creak, like the creak my tiny messenger ship always made when it was battling it's way to whoever I sent it to. I smiled slightly then froze:

I could hear footsteps.

I climbed to my feet as silently as I could and stole forward, bare feet quiet on the grass. A dark shape floated on the Black Lake and in front of me, so close that if I reached out I could almost touch them, were hooded black figures.

I flinched backwards and almost collided with a tree but fortunately they didn't seem to hear me, too busy were they, waiting for the rest of the figures to disembark. I took a step back and bumped into someone, hard. A hand rose to cover my mouth to stifle to scream I'd been about to let rip. Twisting my head around I saw it was not the hooded Deatheater as I'd half been expecting but Sirius and beside him was Lily and James, all three had their wands drawn.

All of the figures had assembled in the clearing in front of us now. There were twelve in total, but I couldn't see their faces which were cast in shadow by the hoods they wore and in any case, they all wore masks. They formed a rough circle as though waiting for a strange, satanic, ritual to start. And then, I gasped, even though no-one could hear it through Sirius's hand which still covered my mouth, I saw him.

Even in the darkness I could see the slitted nostrils, the long fingers gripping a wand. He billowed rather than walked, the black robes sweeping around him as though he walked in a storm and when he looked past us, I shuddered, piercing red eyes.

"You know what to do." He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named voice was high and cold, echoing around the ancient trees. Even though the Deatheaters hadn't been talking a strange hush fell so that all that could be heard was his words and the occasional rustle of the leaves. There was a pause then a murmur of ascent and the Deatheaters vanished, one by one, as disillusionment charms were cast until only the tall lone figure of You-Know-Who was left visible.

Gently, I pushed my friends back until we were a short distance away.

"We need to warn Dumbledore." I whispered.

Lily frowned uneasily, "How? We'll never get there before the Deatheaters."

"Can you do that patronas thing?" James asked me.

"You know I can't cast a patronas." I whispered back, "Corporal or otherwise, I've never been able to produce more than smoke."

"I can," Lily said, "But I've never tried to send a message with one."

"Arty!" Said Sirius suddenly, far too loud.

"Shhh!" I hissed, freezing and straining my ears again for any sound but all was quiet.

"Sorry," He breathed after a moment when we hadn't been hit with a dozen curses. "But I just thought, your little boat. Why don't you use that."

I felt dumb for not thinking of it to start with and pulled my wand out of the waistband of my skirt. Conjuring the tiny ship, I whispered my message and blew, filling the sails with my breath. It took flight and soared into the sky, seconds later vanishing into the dark.

"Gees Arty, go for the dramatic why don't you?" Sirius teased.

I hushed him. "My ship doesn't have that good a memory. It can't cope with huge paragraphs!"

"Yeah, but was it necessary to say 'They are coming' in that melodramatic way."

"If you're not taking this seriously then there's something very wrong with you." I snapped back.

The smile slipped from his face, "Sometimes, when it's the difference between good and evil, you have to laugh, just to make it through to the dawn."

I caught his fingers in my hand and squeezed them, my silent apology clear in the motion. He smiled at me, a flash of brilliant white teeth and together we slipped forward, heading for the castle.