The summer was finally drawing to a close, as Lily and Severus walked back to her house after spending hours wandering the streets of Cokeworth. He dropped her off outside her doorstep, before waving aside her offer to come in. "I can't Lils," he said sadly, as he backtracked down the drive, "I have to help my mum with supper. But I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you later Sev," Lily replied before using her key to let herself into the house. Her parents were both on their way home from work, while Petunia spent the day with some of her friends from school. Whenever Lily was out of the house, Petunia would stay, and vice versa. It had gotten to the point that after four years of spending her holidays being taunted and ignored by her elder sister, Lily had given up on trying to mend her relationship. She hauled herself up the stairs and into her room, where she promptly began gathering things for a shower. She heard the door open again, and knowing it was Petunia, carried on with her business.

Her elder sister came up the stairs and walked past Lily's room, to her own. Lily sighed before heading into the washroom.

A Few Hours Later. . .

Mr. and Mrs. Evans were sitting at the table with their children who shot each other dark looks when they thought the parents weren't looking. Mr. Evans surveyed the pair before speaking, "So Petunia, what were you up to today?" he asked, hoping to incite some sort of interaction between the two siblings.

Petunia sniffed and stuck her nose in to the air, "I was at Anna's with Caroline today. She was talking about her birthday party on August 27th, which she happened to invite me to."

Mrs Evans looked at her daughter, hoping that she'd continue, but to no avail. Sighing, she turned to Lily, "So what were you up to?"

"I spent the whole day with Severus. He was telling me about the wizard prison, Azkaban."

The two parents exchanged interested looks before turning back to their daughter. "What do you mean, 'wizard prison'?" They asked, intrigued. Petunia shot Lily a disgusted look, before going back to her salad.

"Well," Lily began, feeling glad that for once someone was actually interested in her stories, "wizards have their own laws, and they have officers that enforce those laws. Severus was telling me what happens to the people who break the laws and where they go." She paused for a moment to let that information sink in. "Apparently, the wizards have their own prisons, because the muggle ones would be too easy for them to break out of. So out on an island in the middle of the North Sea is a penitentiary, called Azkaban. Most of the people that go there on business can't even talk about what goes on in there. The only thing everyone knows about are the Dementors."

"Dementors?" Petunia said, repeating the word slowly before laughing. "This is complete codswallop. I mean, wizards don't have prisons, because-let's face it- you're all strange."

Silence fell over the table as Petunia went back to her salad. Her mother and father exchanged a look, while Lily sighed and looked back at her parents, who asked the same question as Petunia. "Dementors," said Lily, ignoring the look of jealousy on Petunia's face, "are these huge, cloaked figures that drain the happiness out of the air around them, and if you are exposed to them for long enough, like the people inside Azkaban are, you are left with nothing but the worst experiences of your life."

The Evans' shuddered at the thought, "Why would Severus be telling you about this?' asked Mrs. Evans, slightly concerned for her daughters choice in friends.

Lily laughed, "I asked him what would happen if a wizard committed a crime, and this is what he told me. Granted, he has told me about Azkaban and the Dementors before, but he just went more in-depth this time. Apparently, that's all we're going to be learning about in our fifth year; Dark Creatures."

"Wait, so there are other things out there?" Mr. Evans asked, shocked. He and his wife grew up in the age where Dracula, King Kong, Frankenstein, and other types of fictional creatures were all the rage. For them to learn that some of these things were real, left them with a slight fascination and worry for the world that their daughter was part of.

"Well, I ahvent gotten my books yet, but from what I've learned in my other classes, there are all sorts of Dark creatures. But the only ones I have heard of are Dementors, Vampires, and Hags. Mind you, none of my classes have been as intensive as the upcoming ones," she finished.

"Vampires," said Mrs. Evans, her mouth open wide.

"Werewolves," added Mr. Evans, his eyes bulging out of his skull. "And all of this actually exists?"

"Well yes" said Lily simply, "But it is nothing we ought to be worried about. Such creatures are not commonly found in England."

"How sure are you," her father teased.

"Sure enough," Lily replied smartly.

The rest of Lily's summer passed surprisingly quietly. That was, until, afternoon on August 30th that her mother walked into her room and shut the door behind her. "How are you?" she asked, in a way that clearly stated, 'I need you to do something you won't like for me.'

"What is it?' Lily replied half-heartedly, looking at her mother, knowing it must be something bad for her to have to shut the door behind her.

"I know you and Petunia have, well, drifted apart in the past few years, what with you being away at school and all," she began, perching herself on the edge of the bed, and tucking away a strand of loose hair that had escaped her bun.

Lily shot up, "Drifted apart?" she said, outraged. "No, more like shoved away because of her thick head, and attitude," Lily replied, but noticing the look on her mother's face, she relaxed.

"I wanted to ask you if you would go with her to Anna's birthday party, just to keep an eye on her for me? I mean, she's seventeen now, and I don't want her getting herself into any trouble now."

Lily sighed before looking back at her mother, who looked at her pleadingly. Breaking down inside, and knowing that she'd probably mess something up for her sister, she nodded, "I'll go. But you'd better tell her that I'm coming, because she won't let me go if I tell her myself."

Her mother nodded curtly, before leaving her room and walking across the landing. A few moments later, Lily heard a shriek and a bang, and a second later her mother walked back into her room. "Have fun on Friday."

It was when Friday came that Lily was most concerned. She'd never been out anywhere, to any social event since she'd started at Hogwarts. Luckily enough, Anna's house was two blocks away and Petunia, who was leading Lily from five feet ahead, was not speaking to her younger sibling. She didn't even bother to introduce Lily to anyone once they arrived to the party, which wasn't a problem to the redhead. She simply stood alone in a corner of the room by the drinks and waited until someone spoke to her. While she was used to begin at events at Hogwarts, whenever the Gryffindors won a Quidditch match, or it was a birthday party, she never felt as though she were left out. Everyone in Hogwarts knew what it was like to feel as though they did not belong (expect Potter, who had his abnormally large heard and ego to absorb other people in).

She was startled out of her reverie by the sound of someone saying her name. "Huh" she said, thickly, looking out into the crowd. A sharp tap on her shoulder brought her face to face with a blonde girl.

"You're Lily, Petunia's sister, right?" she asked interestedly. The girl was wearing a short dress with a pair of heels, which looked dangerously high. She could tell the girl was uncomfortable with her choice of clothing as she constantly pulled the neck of her dress u, and the hem down, while simultaneously attempting to keep her balance on a pair of sky scrapers. "I love your hair, is that your natural colour?"

Lily nodded, while trying to find her sister, "have you seen Petunia?" she asked the blond who poured herself more punch (which at this point, Lily thought must definitely have been laced with alcohol).

"Uh, yeah, go into the next room, you'll see her on the sofa," the blond replied, making her way back through the crowd to her friends.

Lily sighed, before edging past a few older kids, who were dancing rather provocatively for Lily's taste. She slipped into the other room and saw her sister on the sofa next to a brunette and another raven-haired girl. She edged closer and attempted to catch her sister's eye, which turned out to be futile. She was too deep in a conversation with the other girls, and as Lily steppe closer, she realized it was more of a one sided rant.

"I mean she's a horrible person," Petunia said, waving her arms energetically in the air, while tossing her head back. "Just because she gets selected to go to this prestigious school (the story the Evans' had been telling the neighbours whenever inquired about Lily's whereabouts) and she's learning a whole bunch of useless crap, doesn't mean she's better than me. If anything, I think she's a freak. I mean, they just teach her the most useless stuff. But nevertheless, she walks around thinking she's a hell of a lot better than me. And my parents treat her like she's the greatest child ever. They practically worship the ground she walks on. And I get left behind. I mean, if I think about it, the family would be better off without her."

Lily was rooted to the spot until she heard Petunia's final sentence, and that was when she could hear her blood rushing in her ears. She walked straight up to Petunia, the glasses of party-goes being shattered in their hands as she walked by them. Petunia looked up and saw Lily standing in front of her.

"Out of all the sick, disgusting, and cruel things you've said about me, this has got to be one of the worst ever. You are a horrible sister, and hope no one in the world is ever given a sibling such as yourself!" and with that she stormed through the rooms, and out of the door, running back to her house. She found herself in front of the door, and unlocked it, not looking back. Her parents were sitting in the front room, and were shocked to see their youngest daughter in tears.

Her mother stood up immediately, "what happened Lily!" she asked concerned.

"Ask your older daughter," she replied sourly, before shooting up the stairs and into her room. Where she promptly threw herself upon her bed, crying into the pillows.

She woke up a few hours later, into what must have been the early morning. She lifted herself off the bed, and began to change into her nightgown, which she hadn't done while crying the previous night. Upon changing, she walked over to her desk and pulled out a piece of parchment, writing out a letter to Demi.

Dear D,

I hope you're well, and that Bighead Potter isn't giving you too hard a time, if you're already back at the Potters. I can't wait until you and I can discuss everything we did in the summer with Alice, Kiaria, and Frank.

I just had the worst night ever with Petunia. My mother forced me to go with her to some muggle girl's party, and she was badmouthing me to everyone. So I may have lost control and shattered some glasses, is that normal for a witch? Honestly, I am so tired of being seen as an outcast by her, she is officially the worst sibling ever, unless Pighead Potter is in the race, in which case it may be a tie.

Did Kiaria tell you about that Muggle girl she's been dating? It's amazing, considering what happened last year, I thought she's just have a bad outlook on dating in general. How are you and Jeremiah? Amos and I decided to call it quits mid-way through July, which wasn't much of a surprise. I mean, he spent half of our relationship hiding from Potter. Frank and Alice seem to be fine though, I honestly don't know how they do it? It's amazing. Over a year and they've never had a fight! They must be really patient people.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Love from Lily Evans.

She folded up the letter waiting for her owl, Artemis (which she'd gotten a week ago from her trip to Diagon Alley), who was out hunting and lay back in bed where she fell back asleep a moment later.

James was dying for Demi to come back. She's said the last week, and yet there were only five days left until they had to head back to Hogwarts. In the back of his mind he feared that something may have happened to her, yet he immediately drew his thoughts away from such horrors, as he remembered Dumbledore was with her. That was the only thing that calmed him down. That, and the fact that Sirius had shown up on the Potter's doorstep only two days ago, looking nauseous after a ride on the Knight Bus.

The pair had spent the majority of his stay playing Quidditch, and trying to cram in as much of their summer homework before heading off to school. The pair hadn't picked up their new books though, as Demi was expected to arrive any day now. James was looking forward to seeing her again, and having Sirius around was a sore reminder of how much he missed his sibling.

It was the morning of August 28th, the pair were out in the yard playing a few rounds of Keep-the-Quaffle-Up, when they heard the doorbell ring. The pair exchanged an excited look before quickly landing on the ground and running through the house to the front door. James was so excited he frog jumped over Tingle the House-Elf and swung the door open.

Demi was standing in front of him, smiling brightly, the ways he used to before she was attacked by Nott and Malfoy. Her hair was back to being luscious, thick and shiny, albeit frizzier than before and hung to her lower back in big waves. Her skin was still pale, but looked fuller, and had acquired some colour, while also ridding her skin of all acne and scars. Her eyes were slightly bigger, but her irises were still black. However, it wasn't just her face that had changed. She'd grown taller, and had gained more muscle, rather than looking sickly and frail as she did the last time he'd seen her. The muscle definition was especially visible as she wore an oversized black muscle tank, with white jeans, and black converse. Overall, she looked a lot healthier than she did before, and for that James was glad. Prior to, it looked like one good gust of wind would knock the life out of her, literally.

"Did anybody miss me?" she asked, walking into the room, her trunk by her side, and a bag slung over her shoulder. She dropped the two items as gave James a huge hug, which he returned.

"You have no idea how much I missed you," he said, letting go of her. "You've been hitting the gym," he added.

She flexed, showing off her muscles, "Yeah well, when you're on the road, there's only so much that will keep you occupied. You have to bulk up. It keeps the muggers away."

Before James could say anything else, Sirius managed to stammer out a few words, "you look amazing." He said, looking at Demi as though the pair had never met.

James turned to his best friend and whacked him over the head with his hand, "mate, stop ogling my sister," he said, swinging and arm around her. "So how was your trip? What did you do? Where's Dumbledore? How did you get here?" he began to pelt her with questions.

She laughed before giving Tingle a little hug, "I'll take care of the bags," she said, picking up the shoulder bag and throwing it on, before picking up the trunk as though it were as heavy as a piece of paper. She walked down the hallway and to the staircase, where she began to climb up the steps, Sirius and James behind her. "Where're the parents, James?" she asked, as they got to the landing, and entered her room.

"They're asleep right now. They had a late night, didn't get home from work till around 2 in the morning," he replied dully, as he helped her unpack her stuff.

"Oh," she replied, looking at James, who'd dark circles under his eyes. He'd undoubtedly been waiting until his parents had come home to go to sleep. "When did you get here, Sirius?" she asked, hoping to change the subject.

He went around the bed, before sitting down on her desk, "a few days ago. Was beginning to wonder when you'd show up."

"Yeah, I got held up a little bit on the return journey," she said, as she began to open a few of the letters that had been left on her bed by the Potters.

James' head immediately jerked upwards as he turned to face her, "I've been meaning to ask, what you were doing with Dumbledore? Mum and Dad wouldn't say, but I began to get the feeling that they didn't know either."

She stretched before laying down on her bed, facing the ceiling, "I was doing some work for an organization Dumbledore's been trying to assemble to help fight Voldemort," here James and Sirius did not flinch. After four years, they'd gotten used to her saying the name, and had tried to say it themselves in private to practice. "It's called the Order of the Phoenix."

"Anyone we know involved?" James asked, interested in the new information. Sirius also lent in, hoping to get in on some of the action against the Death Eaters.

"Uh, the Prewitts, Weasleys, Hagrid, and some of the Hogwarts professors, and a few aurors," she said. "I'm sure there are more, but they're all I know of."

The pair nodded, "and what did you do after that?' they asked.

She looked back at them before realizing that they too knew it wouldn't have taken two months to gather a group of twenty odd people. Naturally, she wanted to refrain from giving them anymore information on her whereabouts, but sighed before continuing. "I was in London for a bit," she said, letting them in on her findings, "to figure out some stuff about my past. Like, my parents, and such."

The two came and sat down next to her, unsure of where this conversation may lead, in terms of emotions. "And?" James asked, while Sirius gave her a reassuring smile.

Demi looked down as she spoke, "couldn't find any names, but it turns out that my muggle father had a one night stand with a muggle woman. A few months later she found out she was pregnant with me. When she tried to get him on board, he left her and apparently died a few years later. She was spending so much money on drugs, she couldn't support a baby. So after she had me, she left me at an orphanage." Here she took a break, and saw James' face, his mouth open in shock, while Sirius' lips were tight, and his face slightly pale.

"Is-is she still . . .?" Sirius asked, looking up at her.

"My mum died a few years ago, drug overdose," she said simply, before standing up and continuing to open her letters. She looked back to the bed, where the two boys were still trying to understand. She sight before continuing, "I never met them, and I can't remember anything, so it's not as bad as it seems." James raised his eyebrows, while Sirius whistled, "And when you think about it, them leaving me was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I wouldn't have met Dumbledore, or you guys."

The pair exchanged a look before turning back to her, "you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," she said smiling, and for once, it was true. The next few moments passed in silence, until a small little owl flew into Demi's room, dropping a letter in the girl's trunk. Demi walked over to the bed, where James had picked up the letter.

"It's from Evans!" he cried, about to tear it open.

Demi sighed, "James, if she wanted to send you a letter, it would have your name on it," she replied, indicating her name on the envelope. James frowned before handing the letter to her, in defeat. She slit it open and read through it quickly. "Poor Lils," she said, as she pulled out some parchment and ink for a reply.

"What's wrong? Is she okay?" James said, jumping up with concern. Sirius looked past his best friend, to Demi, with a look that read can you believe this guy?

James walked over to the desk and made to pick up the letter, before Demi quickly picked it up. Some of it's private, but apparently Lily was forced to go to this party with Petunia, and she overheard Petunia badmouthing her to everyone. Clearly Lily is pissed off," Demi said, as she began to write her response.

"Who's Petunia?" Sirius asked interestedly.

James whirled around, "she's Lily's older sister," he said, looking proud of himself for knowing that.

"Ah," said Sirius. "But why is she badmouthing Evans?"

Demi continued writing, answering Sirius, "she's been jealous of Lily ever since she was accepted into Hogwarts. Now she makes fun of Lily every time she comes home for the holidays. Before this, they were really close. Now Severus is the only friend she has there."

"Snivellus," muttered James, running a hand through his already messy hair. "Never understood what Lily sees in him. I mean, she's amazing but he's the oddball, up to his eyes with his death eater friends."

Demi sealed the letter, and gave it to the owl, who soared out of the window immediately. "Severus has known Lily since they were nine. He's the one who told her that she was a witch. Ever since then, Petunia hated Lily, and Lily always found herself hanging out with Severus. He was her first friend, told her all about the wizarding world. That's why they're so close. He knew all about her fights with Petunia and everything. I mean, after all that, it makes sense as to why they're best friends."

Deep down James knew that was all true, but he couldn't help but to hate the little slimey haired git. He had a relationship with Lily, while James was practically an annoying blast-ended skrewt in Lily's eyes. It was this relationship that fueled James' hatred of the Slytherin.

"I'm going to have a quick shower," Demi said, gathering a pair of clothes and a towel.

"We'll be downstairs, making some food. Want anything?" James said, heading to her door.

"Whatever your having," she replied, looking in the suitcase for her hairbrush. James left, bounding down the stairs to the kitchen. Sirius was still sitting on her bed.

"How's the boyfriend?" he asked, as she groped around for the brush.

Demi's mouth dropped open in shock as she turned to face Sirius, "you want to know about Jeremiah?"

He gave a half shrug before getting up and stretching, the shit rippling over his muscles. "I want to know whether I'm allowed to hit on you now, without you getting angry," he said smugly, before giving her one of his usual bear hugs. "I missed you," he said as he let go and walked to the door.

"Me too," she replied, "and Jeremiah and I are still going out."

Sirius mimed vomiting, and headed downstairs.

Demi checked the time, "9:34. I've only seen him for an hour, and he's already hitting on me," she sighed before finally finding her hairbrush and heading to the washroom for a relaxing cold shower.

The trio went down to Diagon Alley later on that day, Demi hoping that she's see Jeremiah there. She'd owled him earlier that day, telling him she'd be there. They were just leaving the Apothecary, and wandering down to Flourish and Blotts. They found themselves being swallowed by the crowd, as many students who'd been on vacation were also shopping last minute. As they walked, she say many teenage witches glaring at her, wondering what was wrong, she looked down at her clothing, everything's tucked in place, she thought. But then she looked at the guys on either side of her.

She was beginning to see why so many of the girls in Hogwarts liked James. Although he wasn't extremely tall, he was fit, and had a certain air of confidence about him, which tended to rub off on anyone near him. His hair, which used to hand into his eyes, was trimmed such that you could see the hazel eyes and circular spectacles perfectly. He had a long, thin face, and a small nose, but the upturned smile on his face made it look like he was always planning something mischievous, which was partly true. He was good-looking, but in a cute, adorkable way and it made sense why he was the second-best looking guy in their year.

Sirius however, left James in the dust, way in the dust. His long wavy hair hung perfectly around his face ending at his shoulders. His skin, although pale like hers, had a lot more colour to it. His grey eyes had become more and more mysterious, making him seem almost unreadable, which was true to those who did not know him well. Sirius was incredibly tall as well, topping at around 6'2 when he was standing straight. It wasn't just the height, but the fact that he had clearly been working out, spending all those days being locked in his room doing copious amounts of pushups and situps. His muscles were clearly visible through his grey and black Gryffindor shirt. It wasn't until she'd actually looked at the pair that she noticed why some people thought they could be siblings. They both had the same athletic look, mischievous smile, and glint in their eye. Not to mention that they were practically inseparable. He noticed the looks he was getting from some of the girls, and did the move that made girls swoon, also known as running your hand through your hair.

A few girls began to fan their faces, and Demi tried to hide a laugh.

Sirius looked down at her, "what?" he asked.

She straightened up and pretended to be very interested in the cloak of the lady in front of her, "nothing" she said, as they turned into the bookstore. Just as they entered, she heard someone calling her name. Looking around through the crowd, she spotted a tall, tanned 6th year waving at her. "Jeremiah," she squealed making her way towards him, as Sirius and James exchanged dark looks before following her. She threw her arms around his neck, and placed a delicate kiss on his lips. "I didn't think you'd get my letter so fast," she said as they moved over to let other people in the store.

He smiled, playing with a strand of her hair, "I got it about half an hour ago and apparated as quickly as I could."

Demi's eyes widened, "you got your license already?" she said.

He rubbed the back of his neck, "no, but I know how to do it now, so I thought I might as well."

She shook her head and laughed, "Well as long as you haven't splinched yourself, you should be fine."

He looked her up and down before saying what many had said before. "You look a hell of a lot different than you did last year."

"It took some time to get me back to how I was prior to the whole 'almost dying' thing," she said as they walked around the store, picking up her books for fifth year. "So, have any OWL tips for me?"

He laughed as he picked up her book for Ancient Runes, "don't stop studying," he replied as they made their way to the counter to pay for their things.

James and Sirius hung back, gathering their supplies slowly, "What do you think he sees in her?" James asked, flipping through a book called Death Omens absentmindedly. "Demi, I mean?"

Sirius buried his face in another book, before replying, "I dunno. She's smart, funny, pretty . . ." he trailed off, trying to think of something Demi was not.

"Pretty?" James said, seriously, putting the book down as they headed to the till.

"I dunno, she's got nice hair," he said, pulling out some galleons to pay.

"Are you saying he's dating my sister because of her hair?" James said inquisitively, as they left the store and went into Madam Malkin's for their robes.

"I'm just saying it could be a contributing factor," Sirius stammered, choosing his words wisely, hoping not to anger James, who could get riled up very easily these days.

There was a pause before James muttered, "Lily's got nice hair."

Sirius gave his best friend a sideways glance, which he returned. They were both equally confused, "I suppose," Sirius said, "very nice."

It wasn't until three hours later, when the trio had met back up with the Potters in the Leaky Cauldron that they flooed back to the Potter's Mansion.

"So, we saw a young man with you today," said Mrs. Potter wiggling her eyebrows while helping Demi pack her things for school. The guys were all downstairs, having an intense discussion about the expectations for this year. While the Potters knew that they couldn't tell Sirius what to do, they couldn't help but feel overprotective of the boy, the more he visited. They understood from what Demi and James had told them about Sirius' family, that there was no one really looking out for him. So they decided to take it upon themselves to treat the boy as their own son, whenever he came round. It had gotten to the point that Sirius had begun to call Mr. and Mrs. Potter, Mum and Dad.

Currently their Dad was downstairs lecturing the two boys on their behaviour for the next year, emphasizing that they will not stand for any more detentions, and do not want to hear about the pair bothering a certain 'Snape boy.'

"Come on mum, really?" Demi said, as she folded up her new robes and put them in her suitcase.

"What?" said Mrs. Potter, looking at Demi, "I just want to know that you're being safe."

Demi went red surprisingly quickly, "MUM!" she whined, "I already had this conversation with you. I'm fine, don't worry about me, really. I think I'm old enough to deal with such things myself."

Mrs. Potter laughed before taking a seat on the bed, next to Demi's trunk. "I didn't mean to say that you weren't. It's just that we worry about you, your father, myself, and James especially. He's never had a sibling, and he feels very overprotective of you."

Demi scoffed, "that's never crossed my mind," she said sarcastically, as she tossed some shrunken shoes in the trunk.

Mrs. Potter shook her head, "he asked your father and I multiple times when you were returning. And he was especially concerned when the beginning of the week had come around and you still weren't here."

Just as she finished her sentence, Demi heard Sirius' voice calling her from downstairs, "Love, we're going for a last round of Quidditch, are you two in?" he said.

The two women exchanged a look before saying "we'll be down in ten." They began tossing things in pell-mell. "Someone else was also concerned," Mrs. Potter said, wiggling her eyebrows a little.

"Who? Sirius?" Demi asked wearily, to which Mrs. Potter nodded, "Eh, he's always concerned about something or other. I'm surprised any of us can go to the washroom without being disturbed by him."

"He's got a nice nickname for you, 'love' isn't it?" she asked inquisitively.

Demi tossed the final few things into her trunk, and shut the lit, locking it up, "That would be correct."

Mrs. Potter got up and they walked to her door, "And yet the two of you are friends, huh?"

Demi turned to face Mrs. Potter, "Oh, not you too!" she sighed, as Mrs. Potter suppressed a smile.

"It's not just me," she said, closing the door behind her, "It's Mr. Potter as well."

Demi shook her head as they went downstairs and into the backyard, where the guys were already on their brooms, hovering a few feet off the ground, the equipment in their boxes. "What are the teams?" Mrs. Potter asked, summoning hers and Demi's brooms from the shed. The pair picked up the battered Quaffle, and said, "Chasers only?"

The men nodded, and within minutes they were off.

A sloth grip roll, two minor collisions, and 50 points later, the girls had won the game. It was a hard-earned win, as the boys had put up a really good fight. However, they all learned two extremely important lessons that day; 1) Mr. Potter was getting slightly old, and 2) Sirius was a horrible chaser.

The family half-dragged, half-crawled back into the house where Tingle was already placing the cutlery and food out on the table. Ever since Demi had become part of the household, she'd taught James to treat all magical creatures with respect, "'If you want to know what a person is truly like, take a good look at how they treat their inferiors, not their equals,'" she would often say, as Tingle joined them at the table. It was something that Dumbledore had often said, and was a quote that his parents used frequently as James was growing up. It was only now that he'd just begun to see what the meaning was.

They ate in tired silence, and chewed slowly on their meal. One by one they each drifted off to take a shower, and lay down on the sofas in the other room, completely worn by the game. While the three teens usually had enough energy for the after-party from a Hogwarts Quidditch match, they too fell unusually quiet, knowing their days of relaxation were coming to an end.

An hour or so later, when Tingle had retired, the two parents began what would only be known as 'the Discussion.'

"You three are in your fifth year now," said Mrs. Potter as she and her husband sipped their tea, relaxingly. "You need to start considering your options when out of school."

The three teens exchanged knowing looks, "We already know what we want to do," James said.

"And what might that be, young man?" his father asked, smiling.

"Well, we weren't quite sure at first," started Demi.

"But then we realized how much good would come of it," Sirius said.

"And now we know exactly how we need to plan our classes," James added.

"So that we can all become . . ." Demi said leading off.

"AURORS!" the three cried in unison.

The two adults looked quite shocked, "Do you have any idea how difficult of a job this is?" Mrs. Potter said. "I mean James' spent a majority of his life worrying himself about whether his parents were going to make it home alright, and you want to make this your job when you're older?"

"It's a lot harder than you think," Mr. Potter said, looking at the teens sternly, "I's not just about chasing bad guys, but there's a ton of paperwork, and you rarely get to see your family. And between raids and the general uncertainty of the present, it's a miracle every time you get to them alive."

"But it's what we've decided, and we all chosen to accept those risks," the three replied in what could only be a rehearsed manner.

"If this is what you choose than I can't force you to step away from your dreams," said Mrs. Potter, as she looked fondly at the three.

"But remember that your OWL results are one of the things that the ministry takes into account when it comes to becoming an Auror. You have to get a minimum of five NEWTS and nothing under exceeds expectations grade, and then you have a whole bunch of tests to go through at the Auror Office."

"It's a difficult career path, and they only choose the best. I remember that Potions, Defence, Transfiguration, Herbology and Charms, were recommended," Mrs. Potter finished. "You'd best be ready to put in some serious effort, rather than messing around all of the time."

The three teens put their heads together, discussing something in hushed tones, "How about we make a deal?" said James as the other two nodded.

"We'll do our best in school, even better than we're doing now-," Demi began.

"If that's possible," interrupted Sirius.

"-and you promise not to lecture us for any bad behaviour we may exhibit. Deal?" said James.

The two adults began whispering, and before long, they had agreed. "Well, you'd best be off to bed. We have to drop you off tomorrow."

"And make sure you have all your stuff packed," Mr. Potter said, eyeing James, who probably hadn't even began to pack yet.

The two parents headed off into their room, calling it a night, and before long, the other three were sitting in James' room, where he and Sirius were gathering up their things, with help from Demi who was sitting between the two trunks placed upon James' bed. While Sirius was sleeping in the other guest bedroom, a majority of his stuff had ended up in James' room and vice versa. The only problem was trying to figure out what belonged to who.

"You really need to start writing your name on things," Demi said as she tossed a folded up sweater in James' trunk.

The two guys laughed, "And you're telling me that the other girls do that?" Sirius asked, tossing his beater's gloves into his trunk.

"Yeah, but I mean, we all wear each other's clothes anyway, so it doesn't really matter. Which reminds me that Kiaria has three of my jeans, Lily has two of my tops, and Alice has my skirt."

"You'd better get that skirt back. What I wouldn't kill for to get a glimpse of those legs," Sirius said jokingly, ducking as James lobbed a spare shoe at his head.

"Mate, I'm right here!" James said, outraged at Sirius' lewd remarks concerning his sister. He continued to fold up his clothing, and sort through his drawers, but in an agitated manner. At around midnight, they were done and quickly locked up their trunks, placing them by the door of the room, James headed downstairs for some water, and Sirius was left with Demi, who promptly stood up and headed to her room.

Sirius trailed behind, "I meant it you know," referring to his comment before.

Demi sighed before looking slightly amused and annoyed. "Sirius, you'll hit on anything that moves." Sirius made a noise, as though her were going to interrupt, but Demi placed a hand over his mouth and continued. "Goodnight Sirius." With that, she headed to her room and made to shut the door, but before doing so, she looked out to where Sirius was still standing, mulling over her words, looking slightly confused. "Goodnight, Sirius" she repeated, smiling to show that she was not angry in the slightest by his remarks and actions.

"Night, love," he said, heading into his room. He changed swiftly and ducked into the covers of the bed, his mind reeling. Although he'd always liked her, when she showed up that day looking so goddamn hot he'd realized just how deep his feelings ran. His mind wandered back to that day on the astronomy tower back in their third year. With that, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.