A/N: So I have been doing some Christmas cleaning on some of my stories, and decided to change a few things. I decided to combine the two stories Hibiscus and Marigold and Amaranth. I realized a few things were confusing so I'm starting with the marauders being in their seventh year (were Amaranth started), while using a few of the things from Hibiscus and Marigold. So if you ever read any of those stories – erase everything from your memory because we are starting all over ;). Enjoy.

Chapter 1

She took a deep breath as she looked up at the huge building in front of her. It seemed bigger than the last time she saw it, but she knew nothing had been added to it. She slowly pushed the gate open and started walking up the narrow path leading to the front door. The grass on either side of the path could use a cut. As could the bushes. The sky above her was cloud-free and the sun was shining brightly, warming her bare arms. It was still early. She was wearing a plain white top and a navy blue skirt. It felt like the path would never end, but she finally reached the door. On a small golden plate she read the name Potter.

She swallowed hard and took out her wand. With a simple spell she was able to push the door open. It gave a painful squeak as if it had not been opened for a long time. She took a step inside and saw the familiar entrance. To her left a door was leading to the living room, and on her right another door, this one leading to the kitchen and dining room. She had been here so many times before, but this time it was different. This time something was missing. She knew exactly what it was.

The jet-black haired girl walked over to a nearby wall. Here hang a picture. A girl looking a lot like herself, a boy looking much like the girl, and a man were smiling brightly, while waving energetic at her. They seemed so happy.

She reached out and touched the picture, though knowing nothing would happen. She knew the people in the picture. The young girl was in fact herself, and the boy her brother. The man was their father, though he had died almost six months before. He was the one missing in the house. He was the one, who made the house seem emptier than ever before. This was the first time she was back in the Potter residence after his death. She had been spending her holiday at her best friend's house. Her brother had decided to go on a trip for the summer, though he promised to be back before the star of school. He still had two weeks to get home before the Hogwarts Express would be leaving Kings Cross.

She had arranged to meet her boyfriend here. She would be spending the rest of the summer holidays with him, and she hoped she could talk him into not staying here. It had too many memories for her to handle at the moment. She walked over to a cupboard and ran a finger over the top of it. The finger was grey of dust when she looked at it. Nothing else was to be expected, when no one had lived at the residence for six months. She heard a loud crack behind her, causing her to jump in surprise. She turned around, expecting to see her boyfriend, but instead a familiar black-haired boy stood in front of her.

"Well don't look so surprised, Joey" he said after a while.

Joey shook her head, realising she had been staring at him wide-eyed. "What are you doing here, Sirius?" It sounded a lot colder than she wanted it to.

"It's good to see you too," he said, obviously noticing the coldness in her voice. She had not seen him all summer, which was quite unusual since he used to stay with her and her brother here in this house. "I'm meeting Remus. Apparently he invited both of us to stay at his house the next two weeks."

Joey thought about it for a while. "But if he hasn't invited you before now, what have you been doing the past two months?"

He took a step closer to her, and a smirk appeared on his face. "I've been around," he answered. "I visited my parents, though that was not a pleasant visit, so that only lasted for two days. Then I stayed with Peter for a while, and for the rest of the time, I have just been running around."

"Running around?" Joey asked with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah," he said grinning, "you know, letting my inner dog loose."

She didn't question or comment this. Mainly, because she wasn't really sure what to say. There was an awkward silence between them. Joey stared at her feet, occasionally glancing over at the picture she had been looking at not too long ago. She, her brother and her father were still waving at her. She wished they would stop. "Have you heard from James?" She asked.

"Once or twice."

"I guess our speeches didn't work that well," Joey said with a small laugh, remembering the take-care-and-remember-to-write-every-week speech she and Sirius had given her brother, James, before he left.

"I guess not," Sirius answered simply again.

"Though he is not the only one, who hasn't been writing all summer," Joey said eyeing Sirius. He looked at her with an emotionless expression. "It's not like you to stay out of touch, or to answer simply."

"Yeah well you don't tell me things, so I don't see why I should tell you what I'm up to."

"What?" Joey yelled angrily.

"You perfectly knew Angelica was gonna break up with me," Sirius yelled back. "It would have been nice to know what was gonna happen, before I made myself look like a jerk in front of her. I was talking about how I wanted our relationship to go well, and two seconds later she says she has found someone else, and don't think our relationship is going anywhere. I could have saved myself from that speech."

"It couldn't have hurt you to make that speech! Besides I thought you were over her. It has been almost two months, and you never stay sad for that long!"

"I am over her, but that is not the point. I looked like a jerk on that Quidditch pitch!"

"I figured you would want to hear it from Angelica herself. I would be really angry if you were the one to tell me Remus wishes to break up with me."

Sirius was quiet after this. "Then a hint or something," he finally spoke up, "so I could be prepared."

Joey's voice calmed as his had just done. "Fine, I'll remember that next time then." Sirius smiled at this, which she returned.

Crack

Suddenly a blond-haired boy appeared behind them. He was a bit smaller than Sirius, but they looked of the same age. "Am I interrupting something?" He asked when he saw their smiles.

"Not at all, Remus" Joey said, her smile growing wider. She walked over to him and gave him a hug, which he returned. She did not wish to give him a kiss in front of Sirius. "We should get going," she continued hastily, wanting to leave her childhood home.

Remus nodded knowingly and with yet another crack, the three of them left the Potter residence. Before they knew it they were standing before a much smaller house, nevertheless a charming one. It looked very peaceful. "Well here we are," Remus said, trying to catch Joey's face expression out of the corner of his left eye. When she realised what he was doing, she send him a smile, which he returned.

"Feels good to be back," Sirius said and took a deep breath, as if he had been in a polluted city for a long time, not being able to breathe the fresh air you can find in the country sides.

Suddenly the door burst open and small blond-haired woman came running out of the house. "Welcome home!" she said with a motherly voice and hugged Remus tight.

"Really mother, I have only been gone about an hour," Remus said with a squeaky voice. Apparently Mrs. Lupin was squeezing him so hard he could barely breathe. When she finally let go, Remus took a few breaths before introducing Sirius and Joey. "I take it you remember Sirius," he said nodding to Sirius.

"Of course!" Mrs. Lupin yelled happily. She gave Sirius the same turn she had just given Remus. Sirius accepted it with a smile. It wasn't the first time she had given him that hug. "And who do we have here?" She asked excitedly when she noticed Joey.

"This is Joey," Remus answered. "Joey Potter."

"Oh my," Mrs. Lupin said, taking a closer look at Joey. "Harold!" she yelled. "HAROLD!" Suddenly a man appeared in the doorway next to Mrs. Lupin. He was wearing reading glasses and had the Daily Prophet under his arm. He looked annoyed at first, but then his expression softened. "Harold, this is Joey Potter."

"Oh," Mr. Lupin said thoughtful. "Pleasure to meet you Ms. Potter. Remus has told so much about you."

Joey noticed Remus blushing slightly. She let out a short laugh. "Only good things I hope."

"Aren't you a sweetheart?!" Mrs. Lupin asked. She gave Joey a tight hug. "You are just skin and bones, dear, you must be hungry." Before Joey could answer, Mrs. Lupin was dragging her inside the house. "Don't worry, I'll make anything you like."

Both Remus and Sirius laughed. They entered the house and sat down in the living room with Mr. Lupin. "So any interesting news, Mr. L?" Sirius asked, referring to the newspaper Mr. Lupin had been reading.

"Well now that you ask, Sirius," Mr. Lupin answered. He opened the news paper and leafed through a few pages. He finally stopped and pointed at an article. Next to the article was a picture of a moving Minister of Magic. He looked very serious and concerned. Both Sirius and Remus leaned in to get a closer look at the picture. "You probably recognise the minister Wallace Crouch. For the first time he speaks up about Auror business. Of course it is not much, but as he says, they need to warn people."

"Warn us about what?" Remus asked.

"About these Death Eaters and their leader." Mr. Lupin continued pointing at a certain paragraph in the article. "For the first time they have finally identified one of them. The Aurors have been tracking him for a while, and when they finally met him face to face, they were attacked by more than one Death Eater. The Death Eater they were looking for, Wilkes, died in the battle, but before he died he took an Auror with him in death. The rest of the Death Eaters got away. This is not mentioned in the article, but a colleague of mine told the story one day."

"Doesn't it say how many Death Eaters the Aurors were attacked by?" Sirius asked.

"No. You know the minister; he doesn't wish to say more than what is necessary."

"So why did they start tracking this Wilkes in the first place?" Remus continued the questioning. "He must have done something to make the Aurors start looking for him."

"According to the article he has killed some muggles, and threatening a few wizards in full public view, in the middle of Diagon Alley."

"He doesn't sound like the brightest one," Sirius concluded. "So what was the intention with the article? To let us know that there are more Death Eaters out there?" Sirius asked.

"Something like that," Mr. Lupin said thoughtfully. He paused for a while to think it through. "The ministry is aware that this could turn out to be dangerous to civilians, which is why they need to be warned, but on the other hand they are not sure what they are up against. They are still not sure, who the leader is, or what his intentions are."

"Are you sure a lot of students will be returning to Hogwarts then?" Remus asked.

"I wouldn't worry about that. They have larger protection at Hogwarts than the children would have at home. The students are constantly surrounded by professors, not to mention Headmaster Dumbledore."

Both Sirius and Remus nodded. Mr. Lupin was right, with all the professors around no student would have something to fear. Remus eyes glanced down at the paper again. The minister was still looking very serious. His eyes travelled to the paragraph about Wilkes death. He suddenly remembered something his father had just told him and Sirius. "Dad, you said something about an Auror dying along with Wilkes. Who was the Auror?" He asked.

Sirius looked up as well to hear the answer. A trace of sadness came across Mr. Lupin's face. He took a sip of the cup standing on the coffee table. It didn't look like the tea in it was warm. With a very low and weak voice he answered, "David Potter."

Just then Joey and Mrs. Lupin entered the living room, both with a smile on their face. "Your mother makes the best scrambled eggs, I have ever tasted," Joey stated and sat down on the couch next to Remus. She had plate with the scrambled eggs in one hand, and a fork in the other. Suddenly she noticed the strange expression on both Sirius and Remus' faces. She looked over at Mr. Lupin, who had the same sad, yet serious face expression. "What's going on?" she asked suddenly with a lower voice.

"Nothing," Remus answered, realising how they had not exactly been handling the news. "Nothing at all," he smiled at her, but she did not return it right away. He knew he hadn't convinced her. He decided to change the subject. "Do you have any more of that scrambled eggs?" He asked his mother, who smiled.

"Make that two," Sirius said happily. Naturally he would cheer up whenever food was the subject. Mrs. Lupin hurried into the kitchen, and in a matter of seconds, she returned with two plates, which she handed to Sirius and Remus. They immediately started eating; ignoring the suspicious looks the got from Joey.

A week later, Remus, Joey and Sirius were walking down Diagon Alley. They had all three received their book list a few days before, and with only a week left before they had to leave to Hogwarts, they decided it was time to get their shopping done. The article from the ministry had clearly been read by a lot, and a lot had reacted to it. There weren't a lot of people on the street. Most were running from store to store, not wanting to spend more time than necessary in the open.

Outside Flourish and Blotts, the three of them split up. Joey saw Lily inside the store, and Remus and Sirius wanted to get some ice cream. A new ice cream parlour had opened not too long ago, by a young wizard named Florean Fortescue. Inside Remus and Sirius noticed a friendly face. "Hello Peter," Remus greeted their friend as they joined him by the counter. Peter was already half done with a pumpkin sundae.

"It's not really a surprise to see you two in here," Peter laughed.

"Ditto," Sirius grinned. "So what is good in here?"

"About everything," a young witch said from behind the counter. "What can I get for you?"

Sirius looked up and met her blue eyes. She had brown hair, which looked good with the uniform she was wearing. A lock of this brown hair fell from her shoulder. Sirius followed it with his eyes, until he saw a name on her uniform. It read Theresa.

"Theresa," Sirius said confidently. "What do you think is really good?"

Theresa smiled slightly. "Well personally I love the vanilla-chocolate chip."

Sirius smiled back, "A vanilla-chocolate chip it is then." Without taking his eyes of Theresa he asked, "What about you, Moony?"

"That pumpkin sundae doesn't look bad," Remus said.

"Coming right up," Theresa said and broke the eye contact between her and Sirius.

"And here I thought you would last a summer without flirting, Padfoot," Peter said when Theresa wouldn't hear them.

Sirius laughed, but didn't comment on it. A few seconds later, Theresa returned with their ice creams. Peter and Remus retired to a table in the back of the parlour, but right by the window so they could look out on the street. Not that anything interesting was happening out there. Sirius remained at the counter and got into a deep conversation with Theresa.

"So if you go to Hogwarts, then why haven't I seen you around?" Sirius asked after having learned they went to the same school.

"I'm a sixth year," she said after having thought about it for a while. "And a Ravenclaw."

"Right," Sirius said, "well you must have heard of me then. Sirius Black?"

"Only by rumour."

"A good one?"

She looked closely at him. "Depends on how you interpret the rumour. You know the saying, 'Don't believe everything you hear.' Now when I have met you it is believable."

Sirius let out a laugh. "And how have you interpreted this rumour you have heard?"

She thought about it for a while. "That what you did was inventive, original, imaginative, rather funny and slightly… disgusting."

Sirius laughed again. "Sounds like something I would do." Theresa smiled in return, "so what are you doing here, instead of enjoying you holiday?"

"It's just a summer job. The money is good, and I get to eat ice cream and flirt with boys while being paid."

"Funny," Sirius said sarcastically. He could tell by her laugh that the last fact probably wasn't true, but he couldn't really be sure.

"Sorry Romeo, but we should get going." Remus came up to them after a while. "We still need to buy our books."

Sirius nodded, "Promise me you'll find me at Hogwarts," he said to Theresa. She nodded with a smile. He smiled at her one last time, before walking out of the ice cream parlour with Remus and Peter.

They walked down Diagon Alley until they reached Flourish and Blotts again. The store was full of Hogwarts students doing the last minute shopping. After a long time searching they finally found Joey and Lily in a corner on the second floor. "Hey Evans," Sirius greeted Lily using her surname. "Why are the two of you hiding in a corner?"

"To avoid my sister," Lily answered simply.

"I thought your sister hated everything about magic," Remus said.

"She does," Lily reassured him, "My parents forced her to go, because they thought they could hit two birds with one rock, and go wedding dress shopping while they were in London."

"When is the wedding?"

"Christmas," Lily said annoyingly. "It is not like it is coming up in a few days, so I don't get why we have to buy the dress already."

"Because it is my wedding, and I get to choose the time of when we go shopping." A voice suddenly said behind them. They turned and saw Lily's sister Petunia walking up to them. She had a very small, but mean smile on her slim face. "Personally I don't get why you had to pick the same day as I." She spat at Lily. "This dirty place suits you and your – kind," Her large pale eyes glanced at Joey, Sirius, Remus and Peter, who all raised eyebrows. "We have to go, Lily, so if you are done showing off that ugly badge, and having your once in a lifetime moment of shine, lets get out of here fast." With that she turned and walked down the stairs to rejoin her parents, who had their hands full of Lily's new books.

"Moment of shine?" Sirius asked.

"What badge?" Joey asked before Lily could answer the first question.

"Well, I…" Lily started, obviously struggling to get the right words out. "Dumbledore send me a badge along with my book list." She spoke quietly.

"I knew you would make Head Girl!" Joey said excitedly. She hugged her friend happily. "Why didn't you say anything before?"

"I wished to save my so called 'moment of shine' for later," Lily said and rolled her eyes, though she was not able to hide the smile, which slowly formed on her lips. "I better get going." She hugged Joey once again. "I will see you on the Express." Joey nodded with a smile. Lily followed her sister's trail and walked out of the store with her parents and sister.