I really have no true excuse as to why this has taken me so long. Mainly life has just gotten in the way and sadly this story had to sit on the back burner. Thank you to all of you who have continued to check with me about whether this story is continuing because I am happy to say that it was a push I really needed to come back. It won't take me two years to update again, but I won't be able to post as rapidly as I used to when I was back in college. Being an adult is hard. But enough of my rambling, I'm happy to tell you all, here's Chapter 31.

Chapter 31

The excited voices of the crowded corridors could be heard the moment the portrait way to the kitchen swung opened. Lily was too satisfied with the mound of waffles in her stomach to even be bother by the stares sent their way as she and James joined the group outside the Great Hall. "How long until Sinclair finds you?" She whispered to James as the last few pairs of couples filtered in from the final carriages. " If I get up to the Common Room now, not until after dinner." He smiled as he turned down a different corridor than the large crowd before them, grabbing her hand and pulling her along in the process.

"Where are we going now?" She questioned, glancing back at the other students. "Shortcut." He smiled while rounding another corner. "But this is a dead end." She laughed until James stopped in front of a tapestry. "Oh really? Then where does this go?" His crooked grin appeared as he pulled back the fabric to reveal another pathway. Lily's eyes lit up as she took in the new mystery before her. "There are secret passages?" James let out a laugh at the look of awe spread across her face. " More than you'd think." He gestured his hand for her to go ahead and explore. "Let's get a move on before it's not a secret anymore." Her eyes beamed as she moved quickly into the pathway, James following right behind her. Neither of which were aware of the furious gaze of Severus Snape watching them from around the corner.

X

"I didn't even think it was possible for a girl to keep up with me, let alone out eat me!" James groaned as he lay curled up in a ball on his bed. "Who would have guessed that a tiny little thing like Evans would be the one to do it too." Peter laughed as he sat on the trunk at the foot of his bed.

"You should know better than to under estimate that girl! Should have learned that when she jinxed you so far into the air second year that Minny had to come get you down. But then again, we all know how foggy your mind gets when it comes to Lily." Remus remarked from behind his textbook. "Can it, Moony! I'm too full for your sarcasm!" A hiccup escaped James as he shifted slightly to send a better death stare at his friend. "Nice hiccup Prongsy. You drink your trip to Hogsmead away?" Sirius chuckled as he burst into their room. "He tried to keep up eating with Lily." Remus sighed, licking his thumb and flipping to the next page. "Well seems like you lot had a thrilling Hogsmead trip." Rolling his eyes at his disfunctional friends, Sirius slipped into the bathroom and flicked his wand at the shower, letting the hot water rush out at him. He couldn't help but smile after everything that had gone on throughout the day.

He'd known for too long what he wanted and being able to stroll around Hogsmead with her tucked into his side, made it a picture perfect day. His usual technique of being the worlds biggest arse would never work on her and this made everything feel new for him. He loved the constant excitement in his mind of whether or not she was catching on to his plan. Of whether she had learned that none of these other girls we're what he wanted and that he only had eyes for her. He still couldn't fully grasp everything that had just happened. The way her eyes would lock with his whenever he would try to steal a glance at her, a smile always on her face as the two of them strolled through Hogsmead arm in arm. Sirius always feared that the continual looks of shock from their fellow classmates would scare her away, but they didn't even seem to phase her. She was constantly teasing him and giggling, never looking at anyone else around them. Not a care in the world for anyone else but him. As he emerged from the loo, smile sprawled wide across his face, he glanced up to find James and Remus staring at him in surprise. "What?" He chuckled as he walked across the room to his bed. "Someone have a 'successful' Hogsmead trip?" Remus asked, wiggling his eyebrows. "I spent a pleasant day wandering Hogsmead with Heston if that's what you're hinting at." He couldn't hold back smiling even more as the day filtered through his mind again. "No dark alleyways? Broom cupboards? Rosemerta's back room?" James questioned as he sat up and Remus placed his book to the side.

"None of that." He laughed, drying his head of hair with his towel, only to look up to his friends smirking at him. "Bloody hell! What?" He groaned, throwing his towel to the side. "I never thought I'd see the day." Remus chuckled, returning to his book. "See what day?" Peter's voice chimes in as he slipped into the dormitory from the stairwell. "The day Sirius Black met his match." James' crooked grin pulling on his lips as he stared over at his best friends nervous, guilty smile.

"Speaking of meeting their match, Prongs. Deirdre is outside the Portrait Hole looking for you." Peter's voice was full of nerves. "Well... guess it's time to have my head chewed off for skipping Hogsmead." James sighed as he rolled off his bed. "You didn't go?" Sirius gawked after his friend as he watched him reach for the door. "Not with Deirdre." James gave them a mischievous grin with a quick wink as he slipped out the door and down to the Common Room.

X

Her shrieking voice could be heard through the portrait hole and into the Common Room as the majority of Gryffindors awake sat and listened in. Among the group were the three other Marauders listening to their friend being ripped apart in the corridor.

"I have never been so humiliated in my entire life! Stood up by my own boyfriend on a Hogsmead weekend because he 'just didn't feel like it?'" Remus let out a snort as he looked up to catch Sirius mocking Deirdre's voice with his hand yelling at the other. "We hadn't even fully planned to go together! I don't understand how you were humiliated!" At that moment, Sirius' hand clasped over the other like it was biting its head off. "What do you want me to say? I'm sorry I chose to do my homework than follow you and your minions around like a sad puppy dog?"

A laugh sounded behind Peter causing him to jump. The Marauders glanced back to find Lily and Mary leaning against the couch. "He's in for an earful now." Mary smirked as Deirdres scoff rung through the portrait, causing the Fat Lady to retreat to another portrait within the Common Room. "Puppy dog? So spending time with me is like being dragged along now?" The group all leaned in closer as the silence grew from the corridor. "Actually. Yes. Yes it is."

The common room went silent as all eyes turned to the Portrait hole. "What do you mean?" Her voice had dropped immensely in level causing everyone in the room to shift closer to the doorway. "I mean..." His voice paused for a moment and Remus glanced over to find Sirius' attention was not on the door, but fixed on Lily. "The happiness is gone, Deirdre. And I can't make it come back." Lily's eyes glanced to meet Sirius' who was smiling at her. Lily trying to hide a returning smile, turned back to listening along with the rest of Gryffindor tower. "The happiness? You haven't even been trying! You didn't want this relationship anymore, did you?" She snapped, but what surprised the group of listeners was the laugh that sounded. "I didn't want it? That's rich coming from the one who has been cheating since we restarted this joke of a relationship!" All groups that had formed in the common room began ducking their heads together to whisper. "I see the looks you give to Lestrange in the corridors! The secret notes passed by your hands and how your roommates say you haven't spent a single night in your own bed since we returned to school. I'm quite brilliant so don't even play me for a fool!"

There was pure silence spread through both spaces as all waited for whatever was to come next. Lily moved to sit on the couch quietly, feeling a wave of relief come over her. She didn't have to be the one to tell him. Deirdre was already so boastful and stupidly obvious about Lestrange that James had already known

. "I'm done with this, Deirdre. For good this time." Sirius leapt up onto the couch throwing his fist into the air. The whispers erupted loudly in the room as the growing rumor mill began to expand. Mary drifted to Remus and started to whisper to him as Lily looked up at Sirius dancing on the couch beside her. As his gaze finally met hers, they couldn't help but smile at one another.

Meanwhile outside the portrait, Deirdre was curled up against the wall with her knees against her chest. James continued to lean on the wall across from her, observing the details of his wand. "It's because of her. Isn't it?" Her voice squeaked as she tried to hide that she was upset. "Because of who, Deirdre?" He sighed, not bothering to look up from his wand. "Lily." There was a pause as he tapped his wand against his hand and looked up. "She's a part of it, but not all." He nodded slowly, returning his glance to his wand.

"I just wasn't happy anymore to start with. Not sure why. Just couldn't find anything between us anymore." He finally looked back up at her to find she wasn't curled up anymore, but standing. "I guess I shouldn't have left you alone this summer. Maybe there would have been some hope in us lasting." She began as she brushed the dust off the back of her skirt. "I needed this summer to figure out some things about myself. I don't think I would have changed how this summer went." He smiled to himself as he thought about Siruis moving in and his official friendship with Lily coming about.

"I guess it is what it is." She said with a stern nod. "I'll see you around the castle sometime then." Deirdre turned and began to make her way down the corridor. "Good luck with Bella!" James called after as he knocked on the picture frame to call back the Fat Lady. "I hadn't even thought of that." She froze, shaking as a chill rushed down her spine. As James turned back to the portrait, to the judging eyes of the woman before him he sighed. " Abraxon." She gave him a once over before moving her hand and triggering the frame to open.

James took a deep breath before stepping through. As he shifted into the room, the whispers died down as many of the eye's in the room shifted toward him. "Prongsy my boy!" Sirius yelled as he rushed toward him and pulled him into a strong embrace. "How much did you hear, Padfoot?" Sirius pulled back, holding James shoulders to look at him with a face of shock. "I don't understand what you're referring to!" James glanced over at Remus to see him laughing to himself. "Just about everything."

He just laughed as he pushed Sirius off him and made his way around the couch and fell back over the arm, closing his eyes as his head fell back into someone's lap. Whoevers it was probably wouldn't mind since they were sitting with the Marauders. What did surprise him was the gentle touch as their hands glided through his hair. The feeling was soothing and almost put him into a daze. "So I take it you're pleased to be a free man?" Peters voice had a hint of humor in it. The fingers gliding through his hair came to a hault, causing James to let out an objecting grunt and open his eyes. The deepest pools of green glanced down into his own, bringing a smile to his lips. "Quite pleased."

The emerald gaze began to beam as a smile formed on Lily's face while James continued to smile up at her. Her gentle touch returning to his hair, sending a chill through him. As she watched him shiver, a giggle escaped her as the feeling of victory shifted through her mind. She didn't even have to tell him about what she had overheard, because James wasn't stupid. "How'd you ever hear about Lestrange anyway?" Peter spoke up breaking the groups silence. Sirius let out a scoff, bringing James' crooked smirk across his lips. "How do we know where everyone is Wormtail?" Sirius chuckled as he shoved Peter over in his seat. "And how is that?" Mary questioned glancing over the group of Marauders who all seemed to glare at Peter who's mouth began to open, but quickly snapped shut. "We have our own methods being the genius men we are." Sirius exclaimed as he wiggled his eyebrows at Mary, who gave a small gag in response. "Remus? Genius. James? Brainy as well. Peter?" Mary glanced over at Peter picking at the dirt under his nails and let out a sigh. "And you? Not likely either." Mary sneered as she turned and made her way up to the girls dormitory.

"Well someone is moody tonight." Sirius mumbled once she was out of sight. "She doesnt like secrets." Remus chimed in causing both Lily and James to laugh. "That's a lie right there." Lily smiled as she continued to look down at James, stomach flipping over itself as he continued to smile up at her. "And why is that a lie?" Moony asked, looking over at the two as they finally broken eye contact. "Because Mary keeps everything a secret." Max leaned onto the couch back beside Remus, causing him to jump. "Like you're relationship." The devious smile plastered on his face as he took in the surprise on Remus' face. "Max, what are you playing at now? Moony isn't in a relationship." Sirius glanced around only to see all amused smirks aimed at him. A bright red Remus quickly stood up straight and followed Mary's path up the dormitory stairwell, avoiding any eye contact with the others. "Apparently Hestia's dating lessons have taught you nothing." Lily laughed as they all took in Sirius' confused expression following Moony's abrupt exit. "Moony and Mary?" He finally stated after sitting in silence for a moment. "It's a good thing you're gorgeous. Otherwise you'd have nothing going for you." Max let out a sigh as he stared at Sirius in disappointment.