'Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Warning: Mild violence; language.

Chapter 50 – A Friendship Broken

Dumbledore's owl had been thoroughly discussed between the two younger couples, as the ramifications of Walburga Black's return to London seemed to be quite far-reaching. James was unconcerned about any potential visit she might pay to his family ("Dad'll have her arse in Azkaban quicker than she can say 'Unforgiveable'", the boy had said darkly – and Sirius knew the statement was entirely accurate.). Kate, however, was more apprehensive than she let on; having knowledge they did not of the history between their two families. Sirius reassured her by saying that his father had kept private the details of what had happened that night at Grimmauld Place. He added that Orion was well aware of Sirius' intent to have nothing further to do with his parents or his previous home in London. The fact that Walburga wished to speak with her elder son didn't surprise Sirius in the slightest; she, however, had no way of knowing what had happened to him after he'd left. It was far more likely that she would attempt to contact him directly at the school than through any of his friends. Kate decided to swallow her concerns for the moment, but resolved to speak with Dumbledore about what she'd learned from her own mother if it appeared necessary.

Later that night, Sirius sat cross-legged on his bed, waiting for James to come out of their bathroom. When he finally appeared, James took in his friend's anxious demeanor and grinned. "If you had to go that badly, Padfoot, you could have transformed and gone behind the shed!"

Sirius gave him a rude gesture before speaking. "Listen, Jamie, I need to tell you something," and he proceeded to tell him about the morning at the dog park and how Padfoot had been called into service on Kate's behalf. "She knows nothing about you or Peter," he reassured his friend. "I promise. I didn't breathe a word."

James was seated next to Sirius and had been listening intently as the other wizard recounted his experience with the aggressive canine. When his friend spoke of maintaining his silence about the rest of the Marauders' Animagi status, James reached over and grasped Sirius' arm. "I believe you," he said simply.

Sirius smiled in relief. "Thanks, Jamie. I wouldn't …"

"I know," James caught Sirius' gaze and held it, lifting his eyebrows. "I know," he repeated.

Sirius nodded.

James smiled then stood and walked over to his own bed. "So, Padfoot faced off against – what? A Pekinese? No, wait – I know – what's one of those other, manly dogs … oh, I remember – a Shitzu?" He barely ducked his head before Sirius' rather large pillow went sailing past him. Laughing, James picked up his own pillow, turned and leapt on the now defenseless wizard and the ensuing - and rather noisy - round of wrestling ceased only when Mr. Potter rapped on the door and demanded quiet. The effect was somewhat ruined by the low chuckle the boys could hear as he walked back down the staircase to his own rooms below.

XXXXXXXX

The group spent the remainder of their holiday in much the same manner as those that went before: lazing on the beach and roaming about the tourist sections of town. While they hated to see the long, warm days come to an end; the thought that they were going to spend the next six weeks together at the castle provided some compensation.

Late on Wednesday afternoon, the quartet returned to the beach house to get ready for their evening at the dance club with David and the crowd they'd met the previous week. After a light dinner with the Potters, the group disappeared upstairs and Hal and Margaret were treated to an hour of trampling feet, bursts of laughter and snippets of conversation from the rooms above them. Finally, the four young people appeared: showered, groomed and dressed in lightweight, casual Muggle clothing.

"Have a wonderful time, darlings," Margaret called.

"Be safe," Hal added, looking at them over the top of The Daily Prophet.

The group waved and promised – with an eye-roll from James - to be back at a reasonable hour before heading out the door and into the warm summer evening. As they walked along the path, conversation turned to Hogwarts and their imminent return. Lily's parents were sad to think that she wouldn't be spending the last six weeks of her summer holiday at home, but completely understood her desire to be with her friends. As Lily pointed out, her parents were not clueless about Petunia's cruel behavior and were of the opinion that Lily had tolerated just about as much of her elder sister as she could for one summer. Having been exposed to the nasty Petunia, the other three laughed appreciatively.

James knew that Sirius was nervous about returning to Hogwarts knowing that Remus would be there shortly after they arrived. James had done his best to reassure his friend that he would not be alone as he'd been immediately prior to the end of term. That said, Sirius' nerves were only marginally quelled.

"He hasn't had enough time to come to terms with what I did, Jamie," Sirius said. "I just wish I knew how long it was going to take before I know if we'll ever be friends again."

Kate slipped her hand into the crook of Sirius' arm. "Unless you've developed some vast Divination skill you've kept secret from the rest of us, you can't know the answer until we get back and you have the chance to speak with Remus."

"I know. It's just bloody hard not knowing if I'll even be given the chance," Sirius replied sadly.

"Since there's no way you can predict what will happen when we're all together again, I suggest that we all focus on being here – right now – and enjoy the rest of our holiday in this lovely place," Lily said, smiling as James swung their clasped hands back and forth as they walked. "If everything goes pear-shaped back at Hogwarts, at least we'll know that we made the most of this part of our holiday."

"Good thinking," James agreed, turning to Sirius with a smile. "C'mon, Pads; let's have some fun while we're here; next week will come around soon enough, yeah?"

"Yeah, Jamie," Sirius replied after a moment. "Let's go show 'em how it's done, eh?"

XXXXXXXX

When the foursome reached the club, the party was in full swing. The music was pounding and the dance floor was crowded. Along the far side of the club, thirsty dancers lined up at the bar, ordering a variety of beverages that ranged from water and juice to an assortment of Muggle soft drinks. As David had originally explained to them, this was a place to come and dance. Those who wanted a bit more in the way of refreshment could travel a little further up the street to one of the local pubs.

"Sirius!" a male voice called out from a large corner table on the opposite side of the room. "Over here!"

Sirius, James, Lily and Kate located the source of the summons and, waving at David and his friends, they made their way over to the four seats that had been saved for them.

"Glad you made it," the young man welcomed the group. "It's a great crowd tonight and the music is really hot..."

David had no soon finished speaking when the pulsing opening beats of "Turn the Beat Around" came blasting through the speakers. David smiled when another member of their group stood and grabbed his hand. "Come on, Dave," Mark shouted, pulling on the other boy and leading him to the dance floor. James paused for a second, then looked at Lily and wiggled his eyebrows up and down; she laughed and stood. As the pair began dancing, James felt a hip slam against his own and he turned to see Sirius gyrating madly opposite Kate. James caught Kate's attention and rolled his eyes, gesturing toward her partner. Kate laughed and shrugged, spinning and twisting in an effort to keep up with him.

As the evening wore on, the crowd spent more time on the dance floor than off but, when the DJ took breaks, they were forced to sit down and catch their collective breath. The wizards were introduced to fizzy drinks by their Muggle counterparts and Sirius, in particular, fell in love with them. Lily and Kate were aware of the physiological consequences of the carbonated beverage and knew that both boys would take great joy in exploiting them for their own amusement. It hadn't taken long. While, of course, they did not reveal their magical identities to their new friends, they carefully shaped their conversation to ensure sufficient information to be considered credible. "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" became "a private boarding school in Scotland". As their friends were a bit older and attended university in London, they didn't ask for any further details. They were simply a group of young people who enjoyed laughing, dancing and having absolutely no responsibilities that prevented them from doing so. For the moment, that was enough.

The hours flew by and soon, the DJ announced that the evening had come to an end. James looked at his watch and saw that it was close to midnight. He leaned over and showed Sirius the time. "Think it's 'reasonable' enough?"

Sirius laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "Let's wait a minute for things to thin out a bit."

As they gathered their things, Kate noticed that one of Lily's earrings had gone missing. If they were going to wait for the crowd to lessen anyway, the redhead reasoned that they could spend the time looking around to see if they could find it.

After ten minutes or so spent (as James said) crawling around on the floor, the missing earring had not been located and Lily sadly gave it up for lost. "My mum gave me those for my last birthday," she said, picking up her lightweight sweater and glancing around. There were fewer than a dozen people remaining and most of them the friends with whom they'd spent the evening.

"Don't give up quite yet, Lily," Kate said as they began to move toward the door. "It could be caught in your clothing or have fallen in your bag. We'll check tonight when we …"

Sirius' hand tightening on hers cut Kate's comment short. Just as she was about to ask what was happening and why he had stopped short of the door, she became aware that somehow, things had shifted. The laughter and happy chatter of just moments before had been reduced to an occasional murmur.

Kate stood on her toes to try to see over the heads of those in front of her, but she was unable to do so. Sirius half turned to her. "Stay here," he muttered then he and James used their shoulders to nudge their way to the doorway. Once there, Kate heard Sirius' gasp, followed by a voice she recognized all too well. Several of the group they'd been dancing with saw this as an opportunity to move quickly down the steps and away from the club, giving Kate a clear view of the scene before her. Lucius Malfoy stood over their friend, David, who was kneeling on the ground, his head held up by his long ponytail which was now clenched firmly in the fist of Vincent Crabbe. The tall, blonde wizard inclined his head toward the young man next to him. David's lip was bleeding and he looked at Sirius in some confusion.

"There you are, Black. I believe this belongs to you, does it not?"

"Call off your pet troll, Malfoy; this man's done nothing to either one of you," Sirius said, his voice low and determined.

"How sweet," Malfoy oozed. "Protecting your - partner, isn't that the term for relationships like yours? I wondered why you left home so abruptly and when there was no sensible explanation for it, I knew you must have finally pushed things too far. The other night, in town with the Potters, when I saw you with this crowd, the light came on."

"David isn't my partner, you imbecile, he's a friend – to all of us," Sirius gestured toward Kate and Lily, both standing behind him – and to James, who had stood beside Sirius throughout his conversation with the Slytherin.

Malfoy gave then a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "A Mudblood – and a queer one at that; a friend to wizards? How pathetic." With blinding speed, Malfoy's foot left the ground and connected with David's ribs. The young man let out a sharp cry as bones cracked and pain flooded through him.

As Malfoy admired his handiwork, Sirius and James took full advantage of the distraction and came off the steps as one. Regrettably, Crabbe was not distracted and shouted a warning to his Slytherin friend.

"David, move," Sirius shouted and was relieved to see the young man roll – albeit painfully – away from the two Slytherin wizards. Unfortunately, looking away for that small moment cost him as Crabbe's fist connected painfully with Sirius' right cheekbone.

With a small groan, the young wizard half-spun and landed on his knees from the force of the blow. As he did so, he saw James uncork a rather well-aimed right hook on Malfoy's jaw and heard a satisfying crunch as his fist made contact.

Kate and Lily pulled David clear of the fighting.

"W-who are those guys?" the young man asked, his breath halting due to the pain in his ribs.

"They're from our school," Lily explained. "They don't much care for us, I'm afraid."

"They're g-getting the shit kicked out of them," he continued. Kate and Lily looked over to where the four were still hard at it and saw that David was right.

"How did you get here tonight, David?" Lily asked.

"I drove," he whispered. "Keys – in my pocket. G-go."

Kate looked at Lily. "Do you know how to drive?" At the other girl's nod she continued, "Get Mr. Potter and bring him here. David, where is your car?"

"Around f-front. B-blue Ford."

"I'll be back," Lily said and hurried away. Moments later, Kate heard the roar of an engine. She turned her attention back to the scene before her. James and Sirius had struggled to their feet and the four wizards were circling each other warily; all worse for wear.

"Where's the rest of your little entourage, Malfoy?" Sirius staggered slightly, but his voice was strong. "I'm surprised you didn't bring them along to cheer you on. After all, blood lust runs rather high in the Black family; I'm sure 'Cissy and dear Bella would have been delighted to come along."

"I wouldn't expose them to this sordid business," Malfoy bit out.

"'Sordid business'?" Sirius gaped at the blonde. "You'd better be talking about yourself when you say that; nothing and no one else here can be called 'sordid'."

Malfoy raised an elegant eyebrow and spared a brief glance toward David. "Indeed? Then I will suggest to you again that the rumors I've heard about you are true." His mistake was turning to Goyle with a gloating smirk on his face. Sirius took full advantage, much as the other wizard had done earlier – and pounced. His punch hit the side of Malfoy's jaw, spinning him around.

Once he'd regained his balance, the Slytherin spat on the ground; his lip was split, swollen and bleeding. "You're no better than the company you keep, Black," he ground out, glancing over at Kate and David. "I cannot believe I soiled my hands on the likes of you." He looked at James, standing next to Sirius and breathing heavily, clearly protecting his left side. "Either of you," Malfoy added. He reached into his cloak and pulled out his wand. "But I shall soil them no further." Malfoy took a deep breath, pointing his wand directly at Sirius, eyes glittering with malice.

"I wouldn't," came a deep voice from the corner of the club and Malfoy jerked his head in its direction.

Hal Potter walked over to where the four wizards were standing, his own wand drawn and held loosely at his side. "I'll take that, if you please." Hal gestured toward Malfoy's wand.

The younger wizard's gaze was incredulous. "I have no intention of giving you …"

"Save it," Hal said quietly. "You will give me your wand – now – or I will cast a binding charm and take it from you forcibly. I am not here as James' father at the moment, you see; I am here in my more official – Ministry – capacity." As Malfoy continued to gape at him, Hal reached over and removed his wand from his hand. "Thank you," he said crisply, before glancing over at Crabbe and extending his hand. "I'll have yours, as well."

Realizing that he hadn't any choice, the large boy grudgingly surrendered his wand to the older man.

"Now then, I'm going to put you both in my car – just over there. I'm going to cast a spell to bind you to the vehicle until I come for you. We're going to deal with that boy's injuries before I bring you back to the LeStrange home. That is where you're staying, I assume?" Hal asked.

Malfoy nodded once, sharply.

"And your parents are also staying there?"

"Yes."

"Excellent. There will be no need to travel to London, then. Come with me."

Hal gestured for the two Slytherin wizards to go ahead of him and the three walked back in the direction from which Hal had come.

James and Sirius went over to where Lily and Kate were sitting with David.

"Are you alright?" James asked the young man, who just stared at James. "I'm so sorry about all of this, mate."

"What are you people?" he asked, but his demeanor spoke more of curiosity than fear.

The four exchanged anxious looks. There were rules about the disclosure of their world but given what had happened this evening, perhaps those rules weren't so very important at the moment.

Sirius lowered himself slowly to the steps and sat down gingerly. "Look, David, if we answer your question – and whether or not you believe me – you must promise that you won't tell anyone else." He spoke thickly, his lip swollen and bleeding from a well-landed punch from Crabbe.

David nodded.

"Sirius," Lily warned. "We mustn't…"

Sirius shook his head. "Maybe half the problem between our world and his is the fact that no one talks about our existence."

David looked at each of them in turn. "Your world?'

"We're wizards," Sirius said quietly. "Well, James and I are; Lily and Kate are witches."

"Pull the other one," David managed, his eyes growing even wider.

"No, it's true; we swear it," James answered. "We wouldn't lie to you."

"And the two who ambushed us – they're wizards, as well?"

"Yes, unfortunately," Hal's voice startled them all as they had been so intent on their conversation with David that they had failed to hear him approach.

"Dad, we…," James began, but his father put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"It's fine, son."

David looked at the older man. "You're one, too?"

Hal smiled. "Yes – and I'm James' father. I'm willing to bet that one of these young people has told you how important it is that you not repeat to others what you've learned. Someday, perhaps, things will be different and we can be more open; for now, however, it's better for all concerned that we keep things separate – and quiet. Do you understand?"

David nodded. "I know a bit about having to keep things quiet, myself." The young man glanced briefly at the four young people before returning his attention to Hal. "I should be going. I need to have someone look at my ribs; I think they're broken."

Hal knelt down beside David and withdrew his own wand. David eyed the smooth wood then looked at the older man. "You've got one, too, then? What are you going to do with it?"

Hal smiled. "Well, I could spare you the trip to hospital and heal you with it, if you're agreeable and trust me enough to permit it. I promise you, I know what I'm doing and it will be much quicker – and far less painful than traveling in a vehicle with those ribs."

David thought for a moment then nodded. "Go ahead," he said quietly, closing his eyes.

Hal brought the tip of his wand to a point just beneath the young man's armpit and gently trailed it down his side, over his injured ribs. As he did so, he quietly muttered words David couldn't quite discern, but the effect was instantaneous; with an odd rippling f++feeling and two or three snaps, bones knit themselves together and the pain disappeared.

When he was finished with David's ribs, Hal healed the cuts and bruises on the boy's face as well. There was soon no sign that the boy had ever been involved in any kind of physical altercation.

"Whoa," the young man breathed as he ran his hand over his side. "You're for real, aren't you?"

James smiled, wincing when the action reopened a cut on his lip. "Yes, we're for real."

David rose, gesturing toward the two younger wizards and speaking to Hal again. "You'd best do something similar to these two; they look like they could use it."

Hal motioned to the two boys and several minutes later, he had them sorted as well. When he'd finished, he turned to find David watching with the same look of astonishment he'd worn when Hal had tended to him. "Brilliant," he said. "Listen, those two won't … they don't know who …"

Hal shook his head, understanding what the young man was asking him. "They have no idea of your identity; they won't be coming anywhere near you. You've nothing to worry about."

David looked visibly relieved and extended his hand to Hal. "Thanks, Mr. Potter. I appreciate your help."

Hal shook his hand and smiled warmly. "I'm glad you suffered nothing I couldn't easily heal." Hal looked over to the four other young people standing off to the side. "It's late and I'm afraid your mother is already worried about the four of you; I think it's time we headed home."

David looked over at Lily. "Where did you park my car?"

Lily stepped forward and handed him his key ring. "Are you certain you're alright?" she asked.

David smiled and nodded. "Yes, Mum."

Instead of a stern retort, Lily smiled and gave him a warm hug. "Thanks for teaching us how to dance – and for being so accepting of who we are."

David returned the hug and gave the girl a wry smile. "Oh, I think the acceptance bit went both ways, don't you? And I'm grateful; thank you all." David looked beyond Lily to where the other three were standing. As he passed them on the way to his car, Kate also hugged the young man and Sirius and James each shook his hand in turn.

"I hope we run into each other again," David said, sincerely. "You're nice people; I don't care what else you are. And you needn't worry; I won't tell a soul about tonight."

"We know you won't," Sirius responded. "David, I'm very sorry you went through what you did tonight. In our world, not everyone is decent and fair."

David nodded, smiling ruefully. "Same thing in my world." He paused for a moment, looking around at them. "Thanks, again. I'd better head out."

"Maybe we'll see you around here next summer, eh, mate?" James called out.

David turned with a grin, walking backward toward his car. "It's a date."

XXXXXXXX

"Well, it's about time," Margaret met them at the door, her demeanor at once irritated and relieved. "I've been sitting here worrying about you all since the two of you lit out of the house." She nodded in the direction of Lily and Hal. "What on earth happened?"

Hal embraced his wife. "Why don't we let the kids get some sleep and I'll tell you all about it over a nice cup of tea?"

James, Lily, Sirius and Kate were glad for the reprieve. They'd lived through the evening once already and had no desire to do so again. They each bade the Potters goodnight and wearily climbed the staircase to their respective bedrooms.

"Are you alright?" Kate whispered as she and Sirius drew up to his bedroom door.

Sirius peered down at her in the dim light of the hallway and he smiled softly. "Yeah; sure. Are you?"

"I didn't like seeing you hurt, although I'll admit seeing you inflict a bit of pain on Malfoy wasn't too difficult to take," she replied. "Still…"

Sirius pulled her into a gentle embrace, resting his cheek against the top of her head. The sound of a throat clearing caused Sirius to look over in James' direction, eyebrows raised. James and Lily stood, hands clasped, smiling softly. Ah. Don't worry, Jamie; I get it. He inclined his head toward their door and smiled in return.

'Give me a minute,' he mouthed and, obligingly, James and Lily moved a bit further down the corridor.

"Kate," Sirius said softly. "I think James and Lily would like a bit of privacy tonight. Would you let me stay with you? Just to sleep, I promise."

Kate lifted her head from his shoulder and smiled. "Yes, please. After tonight, the idea of sleeping with you next to me is particularly appealing."

"I'll just grab my toothbrush and I'll be along, ok?" He cleared his throat to get James' attention, then leaned down and kissed Kate's cheek gently. "I won't be long."

It wasn't long before Sirius had grabbed his toothbrush and pillow and was on his way down to the girls' room. He knocked on the door lightly, glancing at the staircase to make sure James' parents didn't decide to come up to discuss the evening's events before retiring for the night. He needn't have worried; the house was silent.

"Come in."

Sirius turned the doorknob and walked into the room. In the moonlight flowing in through the window, he could see Kate, already in bed, propped up on several large pillows. Sirius smiled and closed the door behind him. "Hi," he said, suddenly feeling shy.

"Hi," Kate replied, nodding toward a door to his right. "The bathroom's in there if you'd like to change."

Sirius nodded and disappeared into the bathroom, emerging a short time later – bare chested but wearing sleep pants. Tossing his clothing and toothbrush on a chair, he made his way over to Kate's bed. "Are you sure?" he whispered. "I can sleep over in Lily's bed, if you're not comfortable."

Kate lifted the top sheet from the other side of her bed. "I'm comfortable," she whispered. "Now, are you just going to stand there smiling or are you coming to bed?"

Sirius laughed quietly. "I'm coming to bed."

Moments later, he was lying next to her. Kate turned onto her side, facing him. "Are you tired?"

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, I am; you?" At her nod, he reached over and pulled her gently to him. Kate lay with her head on his chest, content to be held tightly in his arms. She kissed the smooth skin of his chest. "I love you," she murmured.

"I love you, too," Sirius' whispered back, his hand absently stroking her back. Despite his weariness, his mind raced. Hogwarts – and Remus – loomed large before him; Malfoy's actions earlier in the evening echoed in his head as well. He knew the incident would be duly reported back at Grimmauld Place and despite the knowledge that it really couldn't hurt him anymore; he couldn't help but feel apprehensive. His mother had already expressed a desire to meet with him; he sincerely doubted that this episode would dampen her desire to do so. He would be safe at school and his friends would be with him; there wasn't much more that he could ask. Sirius glanced down at the auburn head lying on his chest. Kate's breathing had evened out and settled into a distinct, easy rhythm. She was asleep. Sirius' gaze rested on the square of bright moonlight on the hardwood floor. Sirius glanced out the window where the full moon hung high in the sky. Remus. While Sirius was beyond grateful to have things resolved with James, it was Remus he had hurt by his actions and Remus whose friendship was still denied to him. In three days' time, the foursome would be reunited with the young werewolf. Could they resolve things before the new term started? Would their estrangement inform the new school year as it had ended the old? Sirius hoped it would not, but as he felt sleep pulling him under he knew that he would do everything in his power to make things right. Remus was his brother in all but name. Sirius had lost enough family over the past several weeks; he was determined that he would lose no more.

With that thought, Sirius closed his eyes and finally slept.