Author's Note: I know I haven't uploaded in forever, sorry. We had exam week and I have extreme anxiety, so I spent most of it rocking back and forth in the corner, crying my eyes out and going to my happy place.

But I'm back now, having failed most of them, and I'll be uploading more often, I swear.

I own nothing except dreams buried deep in my old Harry Potter books.

"No."

James turned his head to the right, not wanting her to see him rolling his eyes, before turning back and throwing his hands up into the air. Damn, this girl confused him.

"If you want to be part of this group, you carry your own weight."

"I am."

"I meant your goddamn pack, for God's sake."

"Well, I'm not doing that." This time, James didn't even try to hide his absolute annoyance. She should just wrap her stupid head around the fact that right now, this group was the best chance of survival she had.

"Then why don't we drop you off in the next town we walk through? If you're lucky, you'll even get into a good brothel, but I can't promise you any nice men."

"I'm not property, jackass."

"I never said so, but these men will think so. It's your choice."

"It's heavy."

"Grow a pair, princess. And stop slapping me!" James basically growled the last sentence at her, refusing the urge to hold the cheek she had slapped across again. The only good thing was the obvious pain she felt in her hand which one could only see by the slight discomfort that passed through her green eyes.

Man, if they left her at a brothel, the men would eat her alive. Or maybe they would all back off and her hand would hurt permanently.

"Where are we going anyway?"

"Next hanging tree, if I have a say in it," he murmured, but obviously, she was perfect enough to have 20/20 hearing. He only just dodged the slap.

"Coming, lovebirds?" Sirius grinned at James from where he was leaning against a tree. He had taken his pack off. Remus was fumbling with the remaining coals, hiding them as good as possible. It was best not to leave any kind of hint that they had been here.

"Pig."

"Oh, you've heard nothing, Lily flower." Somehow, Sirius felt the need to make a stupid comment. James pulled a face at him.

Really, mate? Isn't it enough that she wishes me death?

Hey, she's hot, Sirius defended himself (at least James thought it was a 'she's hot' glare. He never had to think out of the box with Sirius.)

Remus glared back at them both and moved over to Lily, telling her something in a low voice. After a moment's hesitation, she nodded and picked up her pack.

"Oh hell no." James shook his head. "Why on earth does she listen to him?"

Sirius snickered. "You know James; the only thing I can't quite figure out is why we thought it was a good idea to send you in the first place. She fucking hates you, man."

James grumbled under his breath. It was a good argument, one that he himself had pointed out to Remus, but Remus told him that he and Lily had just started out on the wrong foot. Nothing that couldn't be fixed.

Well, Remus had been so wrong.

"We need to go," James said to Sirius. "At least if we want to make the next town by tomorrow. We're running out of food, and now we have another mouth to feed."

Sirius nodded and waved over to Remus who gave him a thumbs-up while helping Lily lift her pack onto her shoulders. She was clearly struggling under the weight.

Served her right.

James started walking down the hill they had camped on. Sirius jogged after him, but James was still faster, stomping down as hard as he could, wanting to get away from this stupid place.

"Mate, I know you hate the girl, but we're gonna lose Remus this way, too."

These words stopped him in his tracks. He knew Sirius was only messing with him, Remus could keep his pace, but being alone out here in these peaceful woods was positively deadly. Suddenly, he couldn't wait to reach some kind of town, somewhere where they could relax.

And look out for snatchers, of course, but snatchers weren't half as bad as what waited in these woods.

"Do we really still have enough food?"

Sirius had caught up to him by now and gave him a knowing look as an answer.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. Starvation is the least of our problems. If there's none left, we can just chew grass or something."

James nodded, absent-minded. A branch cracked in the distance, making him flinch. "We need to teach the girl how to shoot."

"What?" Sirius blinked. "Why? So she can shoot us all? Are you nuts?"

"Don't be an idiot, she would never shoot us all." Sirius gave him a look of disbelief, so James continued. "She would never do that to Remus. Also, it would be nice to have another person serve watch at night. When was the last time you slept through the night?"

"The day before yesterday."

"That doesn't count, you just fell asleep when it was your time to play look-out."

"Fair enough. And I'm still sorry because of that."

James sighed and stared back at the girl. She was leaning against a tree and panting. Obviously, she didn't have very much muscle, at least not enough to walk and carry a heavy pack. She would have to learn, it was part of everyday life with them.

"Let's just...I don't know. Get it over with. Find her a place and be done with it."

Remus had taken off his pack too and was now handing her a water bottle.

"Remus seems to like her." Sirius had joined him in his observation-from-afar.

"Remus wasn't bitten by her. And he likes everyone who doesn't try to kill him within minutes of meeting him."

"True. I really wonder why he made friends with us."

A flash of sadness crossed Sirius' face. They both knew why Remus was here, with them.

James cleared his throat. Sirius had brought up a time he really didn't want to go back to.

"Let's get going. She can't rest forever."

"Well, actually – "

"Don't answer that, Sirius."