Sirius leaned back, lounging in the Mauraders' compartment. "Your mum would not let up about this girl, mate. Why would you make something like that up? And just for a necklace. I could have bought you a necklace, if you wanted to look pretty."

Peter laughed, James rolled his eyes, and Remus watched James for his reaction.

"Are you so sure I made it up?"

"I'd know if there was a girl," Sirius said, brimming with confidence.

"Would you?" James left it at that, returning to his reading.

He could tell by the silence that Sirius was no longer certain. "Is that where you've been? Not studying, but off seducing some bird? Who was it?"

James chose not to respond. He'd let Sirius conduct his own research. Which for Sirius probably meant trying to shag every girl above fifth year.

"Well-behaved," Sirius said, and James – though he didn't look up – could just picture him tapping his chin. "That cuts out most of your usual sort. Hmmm . . . Pretty, which was a given. Not even sure why she mentioned it. It's not as if you're after shagging some cow."

At just that moment, Lily swung through the door.

"Speaking of . . ." Sirius muttered.

"Oi. Shut it," James growled.

Lily looked uncertain. "I'm sorry. I was just wondering if I could borrow you for a moment." She glanced at James. "Or Remus could-"

"I've got it," James said, shooting a glare at his sandy-haired friend, who looked amused by the response.

James tried to hurry her out the door, but she insisted on turning to Remus. "Hi, by the way," she said, waving at him.

"Hi," he said, grinning at James' irritation.

"You don't need to say hi to him," James muttered.

Lily raised her eyebrows. "It was rude not to."

"Oi," Sirius said, interjecting for the first time. "What are we? Chopped liver?"

Lily glanced at him. James knew she was considering ignoring him, or glaring at him, or insulting him. Her manners took over. "Hello, Sirius. Peter."

Then she let James guide her out the door.

"OK," she began, tripping over her words, "I think I know-"

"Do you have to flirt with him right in front of me?" James demanded, cutting her off.

"Sirius? Trust me, I'm not the least-"

"Remus," he cut in. "You know, your old boyfriend."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Would you like to take a moment, and consider how incredibly foolish that sounds?"

"No, I-"

"James." She managed to look patient and formidable at the same time. "Saying hello isn't flirting. And I assure you, I don't find jealousy attractive in the least."

"Fine," he muttered. "And you weren't just saying hello. You were going to let him take my place."

"Well, yes, I'm on a bit of a tight schedule here, what with the train arriving soon and all. But, yes, definitely. Let's spend several minutes arguing about whether or not my wave was flirtatious."

James cleared his throat. "What was it you needed?"

"Are you going to be a grown up about it? Because if you're not, I'll handle-"

"I'm good. I'm fine. I won't bring it up again. What is it?"

"I think I know who it is!"

James stared at her. "Really? Who? How did you figure it out?"

"It was you, actually. The story about the house elves. I got to thinking, what if none of my spells worked, because they were all made for human targets? What if it was a house elf all along?"

"That would narrow down the list considerably."

"It did. But I didn't know where to go from there. I went to a museum over break-"

"Weren't we on a schedule?"

"And," she continued, as though he'd never interrupted, "I realized that you can see similar styles, in artists trained by the same instructor. The same thing would apply to language, right? Whoever teaches you to speak, they leave an imprint on your speech patterns, your word choices."

"Alright . . ."

"I kept thinking it was Sirius. I kept coming back to it, even when I'd crossed him off. It just fit. The drawing, the words he used, his family. All of it fit. He even has a house elf."

James deflated. "It's not Sirius, Lily. I'm sorry, I'm sure you thought you solved it, but-"

"No, it's not Sirius. It's Regalus. I'm almost certain."

"Regalus?"

"You said yourself he wants to be a Death Eater. He hates my kind, wants them wiped out. He has a house elf. He probably had the same drawing lessons as Sirius, which would explain why their styles are so similar. The words used in the notes and Sirius' insults . . ."

"It would make sense," James said, thinking it over. He froze, as a thought struck him. "I'm gonna kill him." He turned and started back toward his own compartment.

"Who?" Lily shoved herself in between him and the door. "What? James, you're going the wrong way! And I don't want you to kill him. I want you to get his bag."

"If he knew, and he hid it-" He kept trying to move her out of the way, surprised at how difficult she made it.

"James!" She shoved him back a full step. "We don't have much time. I need you to focus right now."

"What? We know who it is. I'm going to find out if Sirius knew, and if he did, I'm going to kill him."

"We don't know who it is, James. We think we know. And I, for one, would really like to be certain. Which is the whole reason I came to you."

"I agree that you're right. It's a good thought. Now I need to speak with Sirius."

"No, you arse. I want you to get his bag."

"Whose bag?"

"Regalus' bag. It's got a notebook in it. One he's been drawing in . . ."

"Oh."

"You guys have always been good at getting your hands on things you shouldn't. Like my knickers, in fourth year."

James turned red. "That was-"

"Not the point, at the moment. Can you get it? His bag? If we can see that notebook, we can be sure."

James nodded, and started toward his compartment again.

"James!" She pulled him back, infuriated. "You said you would help!"

"I am. I will. I need something from in there."

"James."

"I do. I've a cloak. It's why we never get caught. If you want me to get the bag for you, you have to let me go in there."

"And you won't waste time fighting with Sirius?"

"I won't."

"Ok."

The moment she released him, James hurried back into the compartment.

"What was that about?" Sirius asked.

James ignored him. He went straight for his bag, pulled out the cloak, and slipped it on.

"Oi! Mate! She's still out there. If you go out now-"

"Leave it, Sirius," James snapped, unable to contain his fury. The more he thought about it, the more he convinced himself Sirius had known all along.

"Bloody hell," Sirius muttered, as James shouldered past him and out the door.

James stroked a hand down Lily's arm as he passed, making her shiver and look around. "I'll get it. Wait here."

He stalked down the train, looking in each compartment until he found Regalus. He waited, furious at every second that passed. The door didn't open until they finally arrived at Hogwarts. James slipped in as the first Slytherin walked out.

He sidled up next to Regalus. The moment the boy leaned over to check his trunk, James swiped the notebook out of his bag. He slipped it under the cloak and made himself as small as possible. Regalus didn't notice as he shouldered the backpack.

James breathed a sigh of relief when the other boy was gone. He returned to his compartment and found both Lily and his belongings had disappeared.

When he found her, his heart rate picked back up again. She and Sirius were standing several feet from each other on the platform, both looking furious.

"What did you send him off to do?" Sirius was shouting, waving his arms. "Got him running your errands now, have you? Is it the cloak? Are you holding it over him? Threatening to get him in trouble?"

Lily faced away from him, arms crossed and shoulders hunched.

James glanced around to make sure no one else could see. Then he swept off the robe and handed the notebook to Lily. "Here," he said. "Now I can kill him."

He moved forward, but Lily put herself in his way again. "Don't, James. You don't know if he knew anything."

"Lily?" Remus started toward her. "What's this about?"

"Backoff," James barked.

"James," Lily hissed. "Get it together. You're acting like a child."

"That's a nice thank you."

"I'm sorry. I thought your offer to help was based on you wanting to help, not you looking for excessive gratitude."

"A thank you isn't excessive."

"It's a little hard to come by when you're threatening to kill your best friend and throwing a tantrum about the other one."

"I wasn't-" he broke off as she opened the notebook. The first few pages were obviously cover, but by the middle of it, it was full of threatening messages, grotesque images, hateful scribbles.

"Well, I guess that answers that," she said.

"What?" Sirius started forward, but James shoved him back with a hand on his throat.

"Did you know?" James growled.

"James." Lily tried to force her way between them, pushing against James' chest. "Stop it. I don't even think he knew, and I can't stand Sirius."

"Knew what?" Sirius choked out. "Bloody hell, James. What?"

Remus had snuck a look at the notebook in the intervening time. "Merlin, Lily. How did you find out about these?"

"Did you know?" James demanded, releasing Sirius and rounding on Remus.

"Of course he didn't," Lily said. "God, James. Calm down."

"Will somebody please tell me what the bloody hell is going on?" Sirius shouted, rubbing his neck.

James took the notebook and threw it at Sirius. The other boy snatched it out of the air, surprise and confusion covering his face. James ground his teeth together, trying to stay calm. "That. That's what's going on. And I'd like to know what you knew about it."

Sirius stared down at the notebook. "This is my brother's," he said quietly.

"We know," James responded. Lily put a hand on his arm, though he didn't move.

Sirius opened it. He flipped through the first few pages without reaction. Then his face closed off. "You saw him drawing these?" he asked Lily, tonelessly.

"He's been sending them to her all year. Putting them in her books. Trying to-"

"James," Lily said, stroking a hand down his arm. "Calm down." She focused on Sirius, who hadn't noticed the gesture. He was looking at the notebook again. "I put it together, on the train. When I saw him drawing. I wasn't sure it was him, so I asked James to get the notebook for me."

"He's been sending them to you?" Sirius asked.

Lily nodded. "Yes. It started at the end of last year."

"Why didn't you go to Dumbledore?" he asked.

Lily shrugged. "I didn't think there was much he could do. They're just drawings, mostly."

"They're sick." He clearly meant it, as Sirius looked ill himself.

James felt some of the tension leave his shoulders. "You didn't know?"

"Of course I didn't know!" Sirius shouted. "Does this look like something I'd let him do?"

James shrugged, uncomfortable now.

Sirius turned back to Lily, held out the notebook. "You should take it to Dumbledore. He should be expelled. You might even be able to press charges."

Lily shook her head. "I don't think so. I don't really want to make myself a target for every aspiring Death Eater out there."

"You should take it to Dumbledore, at least," James said, looking over at her. "Tell him your concerns. He'll know what to do. He's on the right side of this, I promise you."

"Yeah. Maybe."

"I can walk you there," Remus offered, "if you'd like."

"I'll take her." And James was back to glaring at the werewolf.

Remus opened and closed his mouth while Lily looked uncomfortably at Sirius. They obviously both wanted to give him and his mate a chance to talk.

"Thank you for your help, James," Lily said, rising to kiss him on the cheek. "But I'd like Remus to escort me. You have more pressing matters here, I think."

It was clear that James wanted to object. He looked first to Lily, then to Remus, and finally over at Sirius, who was about as miserable as any of them had ever seen him. James nodded, and then watched them walk away.

Alone with his best friend, James found he had nothing to say, and no idea what to do.

Sirius broke the silence. "Do you really think I'd just let that go?" he asked.

James shrugged. His hands slipped into his pockets, and he rocked back on his heels, looking anywhere but at Sirius. "She's not exactly your favorite person."

"That was sick, James. There were drawings of her dead and-" he looked away. James couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Sirius so emotional.

"I know."

"I would have done something."

James nodded. "OK. I'm sorry. I just . . ." He scrubbed his fingers through his hair. "She's been going through this all year, and you keep adding your shit on, and I just thought . . . I don't know."

"I'm not the only one who did that, James. You were a part of it, too."

James nodded. "I know. Trust me, I know."

"I would have stopped, earlier, if I'd known why you wanted me to."

"I know. I told her that. But she didn't want you to know. She thought it was you, some of the time. Kept coming back to it."

Sirius didn't respond.

"I kept telling her there was no way. Finally she figured it out. It's just that all the things that made her think it was you, it was family stuff."

"Great."

"I'm sorry," James said. "I knew it wasn't you. I kept telling her it wasn't you. But then when she said it was Regalus, I just . . ."

"Yeah. Well, why wouldn't you think that?" Sirius said, bitterness carved into his face. "I'm a Black, after all. They'd be proud."

"I'm sorry, Sirius. I know better."

"It's fine."

James knew, looking at him, that it wasn't fine, and might never be again.

"So," Sirius said, sliding his hands into his pockets. James mirrored the gesture. "Is she the girl, then? The one your mum was asking about?"

"Yes."

"You could have said that was why you wanted me to lay off," Sirius muttered. "I'd have gone for that, too."

"Yeah. . . I just . . . I didn't know how you'd react." James looked out across the forest. "That part was me, being a coward."

"Well, we're a hell of team. I'm a prejudiced arsewank, apparently, and you're my cowardly friend."

"That's not exactly how I'd describe us," James said.

Sirius shook his head. "Evans . . . Really?" He glanced at James. "No judgment or anything, and I don't mean any offense when I say this, but isn't she a bit of a stick in the mud?"

"I think you'd like her, honestly, if you gave her a chance."

"Right."

"I mean it."

"Alright."

"And you will, right? Try to give her a chance?"

"Hey, mate. You love her," Sirius said. "I love her."

"I didn't say love," James corrected quickly.

"Well, then you'd better adjust that vocabulary of yours, because if you just choked your best friend over like, we're going to have a problem."