Disclaimer: Anything that rings a bell belongs to J.K Rowling

Chapter Thirty Six : Socius Animae

Jude stayed close behind Sirius as they snuck up the Astronomy Tower. He was pretty good at avoiding prefects, he seemed to know which were the favoured routes depending on who was on duty and had managed to get them all the way up here without a disillusionment charm.

He turned, a finger over his smirking lips as they made their way up the stairs, Professor Akita's rooms were not far from here.

Sirius grabbed her hand, not letting go as they ascended, and Jude was grateful that they were cloaked in darkness because surely her face was glowing red. She knew he was just being a good friend to James by taking care of her, but she couldn't control her body's reaction to him.

She didn't know why Sirius holding her hand would be any different to James doing so…

Her blush disappeared when she thought of James, glancing eastwards where she knew Gryffindor Tower was…he displayed odd behaviour tonight. She knew he was dating Azura Carmichael, but she never thought he liked her much. He hadn't mentioned her once over the break, and when Jude tried asking after her he would change the subject…

Did he not trust her with his feelings? Jude thought his reluctance to talk was indifference to the girl, but perhaps he was just private and they weren't as close as she thought they were.

Her lips dipped at that thought…

"It's just through here." Jude hadn't realised they stopped moving. They were at the top of the Tower, in the large circular room they often did their astronomy lessons.

Just a matter of weeks ago Sirius and Bellatrix Lestrange duelled right here. The memory made her tighten her grip on his hand, and she caught his concerned look in the moonlight, "You okay?"

She nodded, not intending to worry him. "We can go back to the common room, if you want?"

"No!" She was a bit loud in her haste and she covered her mouth, both of them glancing in the direction of Professor Akita's rooms.

Thankfully, the still night reigned supreme on the Tower, and Jude watched as Sirius crouched to the floor, near the wall furthest away from the balcony. She heard a definitive click, and had to stifle her gasp as almost immediately the floor in front of them creaked open, revealing a neat square hole - a trap door.

Sirius jumped in and she looked down in concern, but the drop wasn't too far, his head was practically jutting out of the hole. He lit his wand, and then gestured for her to follow him down.

She sat on the floor, her feet dangling and his grey eyes shining bright up at her, "I've got you."

Her heartbeat quickened, and it had nothing to do with the little jump she had to make. She slid off the floor, and let out a small gasp as she let gravity do its job, but it was only a six foot deep hole, and she landed with surprising grace, Sirius' hands hovering near her waist just in case… but never touching her.

She heard the click again, and the hole above them closed. She lit her wand as well, looking around, finding themselves in a passage that Sirius had to crouch a bit to fit into.

She heard a scuttling sound and he jumped into her and she burst out laughing as he took on a sheepish look, "Is someone scared of the creepy crawlies?"

"No, I just…walk like that." She laughed louder at his feeble excuse and stepped in front of him.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you." His playful expression changed immediately, and Jude couldn't decipher just what his eyes were conveying at her tease. He wasn't angry at her, but he didn't find her amusing either. He licked his lips and the action brought her eyes to the feature, and she hadn't realised how symmetrical they were. She tried to commit this to memory so that she could draw it later on, she imagined how simple and satisfying it would be to put such an image to parchment.

"Judalia?"

Her eyes snapped up, she completely forgot that she was staring at him so openly and she turned around, utterly embarrassed, hoping she didn't make him feel uncomfortable. She began walking and he grabbed her hand.

"Not so fast. I've only been down here once before, I'll walk ahead." She nodded, glad to have his back to her so she could blush in peace. The passage was fairly long, they walked for a good five minutes.

They reached the end where nothing but a tall portrait of the night sky framed the wall, twinkling stars smiling down at them.

"This is as far as I got the last time. I didn't have much time to figure out how to open it, but I thought you might enjoy having a crack at it. I noticed you liked puzzles."

She smiled up at him, flattered that he had noticed anything about her this past week. Charlus and she liked doing the Daily Prophet crossword puzzles. Her heart gave a great pang thinking of the kind man who had rescued her. He had been strong in the face of the loss of his friend, but Jude often noticed large tear stains on the newspaper they worked on together, and she was sad that he felt that he had to hide his grief from them.

She took a large breath, centering herself in the present lest she be weighed down too much with worry for her James and her Charlus. Sirius' grey eyes were taking her in intently, and she didn't want to make the boy any more concerned for her, so she held her wand up to the portrait to better inspect it. She saw some words written in fine gold font at the base of the painting.

Solitarius. Socius Animae. Adsurgere

"Solitary. Soul Mate. Soar." Sirius translated aloud.

Jude gasped as her eyes landed on the constellation those words summoned in her head.

"Aquila. The eagle. Solitary is a type of eagle, they mate for life, and a group of them are called a soar." Jude stood on her tiptoes, and intuitively tapped the constellation with her wand, and the portrait swung open.

"You are brilliant!" She held her left elbow with her right hand at those words, uncomfortable with such praise.

"I couldn't have done it without your translation."

"Like you don't speak latin." He teased, and she bit her bottom lip, to stop her smile. She reminded herself that he was just being friendly, and he was only spending time with her right now because she was hurt.

"Hey." He lifted her chin up and her eyes widened, surprised at his touch, and confused as to why he was currently just holding her face, not saying anything. A few more seconds of silence ticked by, and his expression flittered, moving through so many emotions she couldn't identify them. "You are brilliant."

"Thank you." She whispered, unsure what else she could say to the reinforced compliment.

"That's a good girl." He smirked and let go of her chin, stepping through the portrait, and she followed him, unsure why his words seemed to play havoc on her heart. "Ah. Well…This is a tad anti-climactic. Sorry."

They were in a completely bare circular room, taller than the passage outside, and about as large as the room they had their Astronomy lessons in. Jude had to wonder where in the castle they were right now.

"I think we're in Ravenclaw Tower." Sirius was inspecting the empty room. There was nothing, no windows, no paintings, just bare stone walls. "Well…maybe they used to be something kept in here, but they've emptied it? Wait." He crossed the room quickly, just as she spotted it as well.

There was just one item in the room.

"A globe?" They both stared at the rather unimpressive instrument, a model of the world that could be found in many a magical household. It hovered over a small table, and their wandlights did a poor job of making out the writing on it.

"Imagine owning a house so large, you have a whole room, just for your globe?" Sirius snorted at her words.

"Did you just call Hogwarts a house."

She shrugged, "What is a house, if not the place you call home?"

"Touché, Devon." She quickly noted the change of name, he had begun calling her Judalia tonight, and she enjoyed that. She wondered why he reverted back to the formality of her made-up last name. "Judalia?"

She had to laugh at her own thoughts for being unnecessarily introspective, and it drowned out his words. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

Sirius looked curiously at her, but repeated his question, "Is there somewhere in the world you've always wanted to visit?"

"Oh so many places! I have a list. I want to see the Incan runes in Machu Picchu, and the Sanskrit ones that lie beneath the Taj Mahal. Oh! And I'm reading about Galdrastafir in Iceland, they're meant to be found all over the island, and some of them are only visible when the Northern lights are brightest." Jude suddenly became aware of how much she was talking, and glanced at the floor, embarrassed at her essay for such a simple question. She touched the globe, hoping to distract her hands which kept having the mad urge to hold Sirius' own again, however just then the room flooded with sunlight.

They both looked up, staring at the bright blue sky that suddenly shone down on them, images of birds soaring across clouds projected onto the ceiling and walls around them.

"Oh, it's just like the Great Hall." She mumbled, looking around at the circular room awash with the most beautiful summer sky.

Sirius shook his head, lips slightly parted in shock, "No, the ceiling in the hall is enchanted to look like the sky outside. And it's nighttime…" He inspected the globe without touching it, has it continued hovering over the table. He narrowed his eyes, staring at the country that sat at the top of the round instrument right now, "Singapore."

Jude felt his hand on hers, which was still steady on the globe, and his teeth glinted at her as he smiled, "Close your eyes."

She did as he asked, knowing that she had a goofy grin on her face, she did enjoy surprises. Her sense of touch was on overdrive to compensate for her lack of sight, and she could feel his fingers on her hand almost as if he had been running them all over her body.

She felt him move her hand across the smooth globe, and then his deep voice, "Open your eyes."

She did just that and found that it landed on both their hands, her smaller one beneath his, long fingers interlaced atop hers, lying across the word…

"Iceland." She read the name of the country that was now at the top of the globe, and she gasped, looking up, staring at the Northern lights shining down on them both. "Morgana above. It's breathtaking."

"It is." She heard Sirius say, but she was so transfixed by the celestial image presented to her she couldn't tear her eyes away. She realised her free hand had snaked its way to her own heart, unsure why it had done that, but the organ feeled so full right now, she worried it may burst. "Judalia?"

She looked to Sirius, who had stepped closer to her, his face near her own, and her breath caught.

Was he going to kiss her again?

She felt his hand, almost as gentle as a summer breeze sweep across her left cheek, and she watched him look at the lone tear he brushed off her face. She hadn't even realised she had begun to cry, moved by the sky above them. She had been sick for so long, hidden away for so long, alone for so long, that she thought she'd never have such adventures. He rubbed the liquid betwen his fingers, a thoughtful expression on his face, almost as if he was trying to figure out its composition.

"It's a happy tear. I promise." She whispered.

He nodded, still looking down at the tear in between his fingers, "I know. It feels happy."

She chuckled at his silly words, "Tears just feel like water."

"Not yours. Yours inspire feeling." She looked at him, confused at his words, they didn't make any sense. She wondered how he could even be looking at her teardrop right now when the Northern lights were shining above him.

"Sirius." He looked at her then, stepping closer, his eyes so dark it looked Black, no sign of his usual masks, be it teasing smirk, or confident chuckles, "Is there…someplace you always wanted to go?"

He nodded, and she could see his nostrils flutter as he seemed to be taking deep breaths, as if he were trying to calm himself down.

"Where?" Her voice was soft, and she wasn't even sure if she spoke the question, or just mouthed it.

"Right here." She felt as if he could surely hear her heart thumping, making a melody with his loud breathing that filled the room. She stared at his nose, not wanting to look at his eyes any more, concentrating on the contours of it.

She needed to stop getting ahead of herself. He was James' best friend. He was in love with another girl a week ago, probably still is. He never mentioned that one kiss they shared, probably embarrased by it…or maybe he didn't like it?

She was reading into everything too much! She barely had friends, it's probably normal for this amount of hand holding and…intense looks.

She shook her head, wanting to be rid of these thoughts that made her head hurt.

"You wanted to see the Northern Lights too?"

His eyes widened a fraction, and he slowly took a step back at her words which seemed to trigger something in him. He turned away from her, looking at the aurora borealis above, "Sure."

Jude tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, watching him watch the lights, "It is breathtaking." He muttered, almost as if he just took them in properly now, and that made her wonder what he had been talking about earlier, when he had agreed with her on her sentiment of the sky.

Jude lowered to the floor, and before she could reach the ground, Sirius was already there. She leaned back against the wall, her shoulders brushing his, staring up at the magical night that he had conjured just for her.

-x-x-x-

Lily tossed and turned in her bed, and eventually jumped out of it. Pulling her four poster open and looking at the empty bed across from her.

Jude was still not back.

Black had taken her on a walk a good five hours ago. What if he went off with one of his strumpets and left Jude to get back to the common room by herself and something happened? The girl had been injured, and Madam Pomfrey said she needed to be looked after tonight.

Mary snored loudly and for some reason that snapped Lily into action, and she left the room, grabbing her robe on the way out and pulling on her slippers.

She squinted down the stairs, lighting her wand, and frowning at the empty common room. She heaved a sigh, and quickly crossed over to the other staircase, moving up it as quietly as she could.

It was two in the morning, she didn't want to be caught on the boys' staircases right now. She headed straight to the sixth year boys room, but then stopped.

What was she going to do? Knock on the door and wake Black up and make him tell her where Jude was.

A notion suddenly struck her.

Jude couldn't be in there with him?

Godric, no!

With that thought she contemplated just barging in, she'll neuter him if he took advantage of the innocent girl!

"Evans?"

Lily jumped almost a foot in the air, turning her wand on the person behind her.

"Looking for someone?" Potter smirked at her and she glared at him. How dare he flirt with her with Carmichael's cheap lipstick on his cheek. His smirk fell at the look on her face, "Is everything okay?"

"Oh, yes. I mean, no. I wondered where Jude is, she left for a walk with Black hours ago and she's not in the dorm, and Madam Pomfrey said…" Her words faultered as Potter's face was turning a violent shade of red, "Are you okay?"

"Where did they go?"

"Just a walk in the grounds…" Potter pushed passed her and she winced as their dorm was flooded with light. "Jeez, you boys not hear of Nox."

"He isn't here." Potter glanced at the empty bed next to his own. Lily noticed that all their beds were empty, which was definitely odd. She knew they snuck out a lot, but usually as a group…

Potter was digging in his trunk for something, and she narrowed her eyes.

He seemed angry?

Why was he angry?

"Oh. Well, hello." Lily turned to the easily recognisable voice, and swapped her confusion for a Black look, "Don't let me interrupt."

Black teased, looking between Potter and her suggestively.

Lily rolled her eyes, "Where's Jude?"

Black walked over to his bed, carefree as ever, "Downstairs, about to be annihilated in Exploding Snap. Where did we leave the pack?"

"Where have you been?" Potter's voice was very low, and Lily was surprised at his tone, and so was his friend.

He never took that tone with Black and the taller boy frowned, "We went for a walk, mate. And just a wander around, she's not tired, or the least bit sleepy, which I think might be some side effect from the potion."

Potter's hazel eyes met Lily's and she took in his expression, confused. He looked to be trying to calm down…he was furious…

Was he angry at Black for spending time with Jude? Why? He clearly was breaking curfew with Carmichael, why would he be annoyed his friend was doing the same?

"Lily." She was surprised at the tenor in his voice, "Could you please go downstairs to check on Jude, I need to speak to Sirius."

Lily would have been annoyed if he didn't take such a gentle tone with her. Black looked as if he was about to be sick, and she actually felt bad for him.

She didn't love the idea of these two arguing, it was unnatural. She would give them space though, just glad that Jude wasn't in here doing heaven knows what with their resident playboy.

She froze, on her way to the door.

"Lily, please."

She ignored Potter and ran to the bed she hadn't had a view of until now, "Peter? Peter!"

Peter Pettigrew was lying on the floor next to his bed…unmoving and pale.

Both boys somehow managed to get to their friend first, who Lily just realisd she hadn't seen at dinner. Black was trying to ennervate him while Potter was muttering healing spells and Lily looked at the half eaten box of chocolates strewn on the floor…

She picked up the box that was labelled simply, "Gryffindor Tower, Sixth year boys dormitory. Bon appetite."

-x-x-x-

Lily walked into the headmaster's office, followed by Potter and Black. They had rushed Peter down to the Hospital Wing, waiting in the wings as Madam Pomfrey helped their friend.

Lily glanced at Potter and Black, who had barely spoken in the last hour, unusually withdrawn. They were asked to visit the headmaster, but his office was empty and they took some seats in front of his desk. She glanced around at the snoring portraits, never ceasing to be amazed by the plethora of instruments Dumbledore had.

Just then the door opened, and they all looked behind them, the headmaster entered, along with a man that Lily didn't recognise, but could hazard a guess who he was…

Godric they looked alike.

"Dad!" Potter sprung to his feet, Black slowly rising behind him, a fearful look on his face. He clearly didn't think the appearance of a parent was a good sign.

She watched as Potter hugged his father, and Lily was surprised at how soft his features turned as he looked upon the older man. He clearly admired him, and the feeling was very mutual. She'd never seen the usually overly confident boy look so vulnerable, his lips dipping in concern, his eyebrows furrowed, his nose flaring. He was angry and scared, and in this state he was more genuine than she ever saw him before.

Black hugged and greeted Mr Potter, and the man turned his kind hazel eyes to Lily, walking forward, "I'm Charlus. You must be Lily Evans. It is such a pleasure to meet you."

Lily took the man's hand, shaking it firmly and smiling. She liked his round glasses, it made him look youthful despite his white specked dark hair. He looked a bit older than her own father, but very debonair. "Pleasure meeting you, Mr Potter."

He nodded, taking the seat that the Headmaster conjured for him before he claimed his own. Dumbledore's twinkling blue eyes looked at them solemnly over his clasped hands.

"Is Peter okay?" Black blurted out, the least patient of them all, "We wanted to wait till Madam Pomfrey was done, but Professor McGonagall said we have to come up here urgently."

"And thank you for doing so, Mr Black. I am aware of the time, and the circumstances. Mr Pettigrew has come to, it was good of you all to bring him to the Hospital Wing with such expediency. Especially Mr Potter, I believe it was you who performed the assistive breathing charm, which very well may have saved his life."

Lily had been surprised at the amount of healing magic Potter knew, he never expressed a passion for the occupation, one that she very much did, and felt all the more ill equipped to apply for a training spot after witnessing him in action.

Potter didn't gloat, or even acknowledge the headmaster's praise, turning to his father, "Have you sent the box of chocolates and the note to your people."

Mr Potter nodded, "Though I think it will confirm what we suspect, baneberry poisoning. It's fairly easy to acquire as it is a milder form of poison since it is fairly slow acting. Do you boys have any idea who may have sent you such an item?"

"Slytherins." Potter answered and Lily let out a sigh. She heard their theories back in the hospital wing.

"I was told that my mother had tried to get my brother to poison me a few weeks ago." Lily's eyes widened, and she turned to Black, astonished at his words, "Though, I don't think it's her." Lily would hate to think that it was, "If it were, she has access to much more effective poisons. And there's no reason not to direct the letter to me, or ensure I ingest it by slipping it into my food."

"It's not your mother, Sirius. We had an anonymous tip off of a significant amount of poisons discovered in an abandoned warehouse in London, and I have reason to believe it was your father getting rid off her stock. I think Orion has had decent control of the situation, and you're right. It is a very messy way to go about such a thing."

Lily couldn't believe they were sitting here casually discussing Black's own mother wanting him dead. This was absurd.

"Which is why it must be the Snakes. They don't care whichever of us they harm, they hate us all equally. And they're angry that we got in the way of their plans in France, which is why they had the French phrase."

Lily didn't know what he was talking about in terms of France, but she did think he was clutching at straws thinking that the most common French phrase in the world was a clue of some sort.

"We interviewed everyone you boys reported were there that night at Le Arc, and they all had good alibis, and they've had muggles confess to the explosion."

"Well clearly they were being controlled." Potter pushed, but his father was unfazed.

"That was looked into as well, James, but is there any particular reason you think it may be someone in this school that wants to do any of you boys harm?"

Black and Potter remained quiet. These lot were incredibly popular, but Lily had to admit that there was a long list of Slytherins' that would want to hurt them. "I suppose James has a point." James' brows rose at her words and her usage of his given name, but Lily didn't want Mr Potter to think her rude, "I don't agree that anybody would want them dead from Slytherin, but they might want to just teach them a lesson. A moderately harmful prank, but one that can be looked into as any of the teachers should have access to the writing of any students in the school, which you could compare to the note you now have, Mr Potter."

The older gentleman smiled warmly at her, "Very good, Miss Evans. That's precisely what we plan on doing, but we hoped that the search could first be narrowed down to a few potential students."

"We can give you a list." Potter added, "Severus Snape."

"Sev wouldn't do something like this." Lily glared at the boy, just as she was seeing him a different light he made sure to remind her that she was right about him in the first place, "And I would have recognised his handwriting."

"Of course you would." He muttered darkly, "Which is probably why the annoying git got someone else to write the note."

"That's enough, Mr Potter." Dumbledore added, sternly, "We cannot accuse students without any legitimate reason of doing something so horrific. If you didn't find Mr Pettigrew when you did, he could have died."

Potter looked like he wanted to protest but he glanced at his father, and remained silent. Lily looked curiously at the man, who managed to effortlessly receive such respect from the younger boys.

"Well, it's clear that the measures we were discussing for the new school year need to be brought forward." Mr Potter directed the statement to Dumbledore, and the headmaster nodded his head slowly.

"Measures?" The boys said in unison.

"The Dark Lord is almost at the height of his power, and we can't leave Hogwarts unprotected, especially when Albus will often have to step away from the castle at times to consult with the ministry. All mail coming into the castle will have to be checked before it makes its way to the recipient, and we will have aurors on watch duty, mostly as a deterrent. We still don't believe that the Dark Lord has any immediate plans to attack this school."

Lily straightened in her chair, not wanting to process what Mr Potter just said. She didn't want to think about Hogwarts, her safe haven, ever being in threat.

"I believe we've kept you for far too long Mr Potter, Mr Black, Miss Evans, you may go back to your dormitory."

"Can't we wait in the hospital wing?"

"Mr Pettigrew is likely asleep now, as you should be." The Headmaster was always kind, but firm, but Lily knew both boys had no intention to heed his words. She didn't tell on them, though, she didn't blame them one stitch for wanting to be with their friend now.

The three sixth years left the room, both boys hugging Mr Potter, and Lily being treated to a warm handshake from the man.

How did Potter look so much like his father but in personality fall so far away on the spectrum.

They made their way up to Gryffindor common room in an uncomfortable silence. Lily had a feeling that they were mostly not talking because they didn't want to speak in front of her. She just remembered that they had almost begun fighting earlier on, and didn't like the look in Potter's eye right now.

"Thank you, by the way." Potter finally spoke, "I doubt I would have spotted him in time."

Lily stared at the portrait of the dancing puppies on the fourth floor short-cut up to their common room, she didn't know how to respond when Potter was not being his usual arrogant self. "Well, you were the most use when we did find him. How did you know those spells?"

He looked at her, a small smile on his lips, "My mum's a retired medi-wizard. She's had me first aid trained since fourth year."

"Ah." Lily could tell he was very proud of this, and part of her thought that was sweet, but the other part of her thought how very unfair it was that Potter had this advantage merely because he was born with at least one magical parent.

They had reached the common room, and Lily glanced at Black, who was unusually quiet. As they were rushing down to the Hospital wing earlier, they had taken Jude with, and Madam Pomfrey insisted she stay the rest of the night there, perhaps regretting letting the girl leave early now that another student was hurt, even if the two incidents were not connected.

"Good night." Potter nodded at Lily, and she returned the nod, as Black gestured goodbye with a small wave. She wondered whether he was distracted thinking about his mother…what an awul thing… to want to harm your own child.

"Sirius." He glanced up, surprised at being called by the girl so informally, and she didn't really know what to say to him… sorry your mother seems like an evil git? "Thank you for keeping an eye on Jude tonight. That was decent of you."

His brows rose, surprised at the compliment, glancing at Potter who turned and made for the staircases to the boys dorms at Lily's words. Black sighed, following his best friend, and Lily had to wonder in confusion if it would have been better if she brought up his homicidal mother instead.

A/N: An eventful chapter - what do you think of the room? I wanted Sirius and Jude to have a special place which will be significant to them in some way. Who do you think poisoned Peter?

Thank you for reading ! I hope you're enjoying the story so far!

Kalina