Last Chapter: 

"Oh," James said slowly, finally catching on. After what had happened it did seem a strange time, but who was he to object? The only girl he had ever cared for liked him back! "Well, in that case ... I think you may have missed." He smiled widely and softly touched her cheek, going in for a proper kiss, blissfully ignorant for a few seconds of his parents, the Hogwarts students, the war - everything was perfect in this moment.

-----

Lily was poignantly aware of the slightly flushed tone of her cheeks as she followed James through the large double front doors which swung opened to reveal a vast, white marble foyer. She had managed to steady her breathing into a somewhat regular pattern as the pair walked down the winding drive which led to the home she now stood in. Mansion, more like, she wondered, feeling dazedly overwhelmed as here eyes passed over the gently curving staircase.

She barely had time to wonder where they were or what had even just happened before James took her hand, sending a shock through her body with the sudden touch. It wasn't a bad one, though, but rather a warm, tingling, and pleasant kind of shock. He led her though several large rooms before finally dropping her hand as they exited the large house through a glass door in the back. Lily could make out a small white shed which was barely visible through the large glistening forcefield of protective spells which surrounded it.

Just to the side of this, was a little old witch with salt and pepper hair, lost in concentration as she muttered what Lily could only imagine were long and complex spells. Small beams of light drifted from the tip of her wand, before striking the glistening protective shield with shocks of what looked like a small electrical storm.

"Mum!"

"Oh, James!" the little woman ceased her muttering immediately and gazed up at James, who had broken into a jog, engulfing the little lady in a bear hug. Lily remained a few paces behind, letting them have a moment. If he had been thinking in any way similar to the way she was just a few moments ago, he probably wasn't expecting to be able to ever see his mother again.

Lily gazed back up at the mansion they had just walked through. This is his house, she marveled, a little overwhelmed by the wealth of it, though not particularly surprised. How could James have not turned out so arrogant and confident when he was raised as the prince of this castle?

A frigid November breeze snapped her out of her reverie and she shivered, teeth chattering. The adrenaline from the battle and, sweet Rowena, the kiss, was beginning to wear off and she realized that Mrs. Potter was now addressing her.

"Oh, my dear, you must be frozen! And after what's happened, please, come and I'll fetch you some warm cider." Lily smiled gratefully, and followed the Potters back into the large home. Mrs. Potter grabbed her son's elbow for balance as she teetered up the few stairs that led back into the house, "I'm so grateful that you are both okay. How is Sirius? And the other boys?"

James' face fell slightly, "I don't know," he admitted. "Where's dad?"

"He's with Ted, they're arranging for the safe transport of the students back to Hogwarts. Little 'Dora is here with Andromeda, back with the students, we will go say hello once you've warmed up a bit." She turned her warm gaze back onto Lily as they made their way to the kitchen, "You must be Lily - how wonderful to meet you, though it's a terrible circumstance," James' face turned scarlet that his mother had recognized Lily, no doubt from years of his talking about her. Lily hid her smile.

"it's so lovely to meet you as well, Mrs. Potter. Thank you for the cider."

-:-

Remus was never more invigorated than when he was dueling. He had been in the Hogwarts Dueling club led by Flitwick ever since it began in his fifth year, along with Sirius and James, who had dropped it this year in favor of his Head Boy duties. Though the formality of the sport was lost in this real life version of it, it still felt like a bit of sport to Remus. He countered a red jet of light from the masked man, and promptly shot back his own hex with a flourish, and the adrenaline coursed through his body, enlivening him. Peter, who was hopeless at dueling, remained at his side, every so often blocking a curse or shooting his own spell at a Death Eater. As a team, they were able to incapacitate two different Death Eaters before two more soon took their place. Remus fired a hex at the first one, ducking as it flew back in his direction with uncanny speed. Peter let out a squeak from beside him, and Remus glanced at his friend, knowing he needed to get the chubby boy out of this before he got hurt. Peter had never been much good at dueling. Indeed, he was quite dreadful, and didn't really have the stomach for it, either.

"Wormtail, we need to get you-"

Remus was cut off, as he and Peter were suddenly careening through the air along with the busted up pieces of what had once been a statue of one of Hogsmeade's founders and a pile of dust. In his distraction, Remus hadn't seen the green streak of light heading straight toward them, but luckily Professor McGonagall's statue soldier had, and sacrificed himself for the two students. Remus scrambled to his feet, reeling. Somehow, he had managed to keep his wand firmly in ironlike grip. He was barely aware of Peter, who was struggling and groaning several meters in the distance, or of a tall witch Remus didn't recognize who had taken his place in dueling the Death Eater who had almost killed him.

All of this was merely in the periphery for him because his gaze had caught a crumpled up form in the distance. Her dark hair was splayed across her colorless face, her arms clutching her wand at her stomach.

Mary Macdonald wasn't moving. Remus felt his heart racing in his ears, muffling the sounds of the struggle around him.

-:-

Sirius was blind with rage as he made his way through the corridors leading to the dungeons. He didn't notice the unusual quietness of the castle, or the group of first years he nearly trampled as he bee-lined for the staircase leading to the dungeons.

He could see only one thing, blazing before his vision: Regulus' dark eyes locked on his own, filled with terror at the note he had just read from his brother.

Finally he had reached the wall that he knew led to the Slytherin common room, and cursed under his breath, knowing he wouldn't be able to get in without the password.

"Evil?" He guessed, "Death Eater? Pureblood? Voldemort? OPEN UP, DAMMIT!" He shouted, about to whip his wand out to curse the hell out of the wall, but suddenly it opened, revealing a vaguely familiar girl, who despite probably having come out to see what all the noise was about, seemed to be rather startled by the enraged seventh year Gryffindor before her. She opened her mouth, probably about to express the confusion clear on her face, but Sirius cut across her.

"Where is Regulus?" He barked loudly, putting a hand on the side of the entrance in case she decided to try and shut him out. The girl's eyes widened, and suddenly Sirius recognized her. Susan Rivers was in Regulus' year, the daughter of a pureblood witch and her muggle-born husband. Most of that was hush-hush though, and he only knew about her from one of his batty old mother's tirades a few years ago.

"Don't just stand there gaping like the half-wit you are!" He snapped, furious at her open-mouthed confused expression. "Tell my brother to get his arse into this corridor!" The girl looked back into the common room, fidgeting uncomfortably.

"I'm not sure where he is - I think he's, er, studying, or-"

"Don't lie to me, Rivers!" he growled, not sure if she was really lying or not. Perhaps if he weren't so mad with rage he would be ashamed of how he was clearly terrifying the girl. As it was, though, he couldn't care less.

"I'll see if he's here." Without another word, she pulled the entranceway shut as she shrunk back into the common room, almost catching Sirius' arm with the door as she did so. A few minutes passed, and Sirius paced, wondering if she would even look for Regulus at all. Finally, he sat down across the corridor, reflecting on the days events and trying to calm himself. After parting ways with Lily, he'd dueled with his cousin, Bellatrix. The psychotic bitch had managed to disarm him, before an Auror, Gideon - or perhaps it was Fabian - Well, one of the Prewetts - one that wasn't Molly, arrived, and immediately caught her attention. As Sirius had scrambled to get his wand again, Bellatrix had disapparated, surely frightened off. Soon there were others joining into the mix - Sirius recognized Frank Longbottom, who had graduated Hogwarts the year before and was training to be an Auror, as well as perhaps a dozen other Aurors - some familiar, others not. Finally, Dumbledore appeared, sending most of the remaining Death Eaters scattering.

Looking back only in order to see whether he was in the trajectory of a spell, Sirius had made his way to Honeydukes, which he was relieved to find empty. Within moments he was making his way through the passageway which led to Hogwarts.

A creak echoed through the corridor, snapping Sirius out of his reverie; Regulus stepped out of the common room, allowing the portrait to shut behind him.

Upon seeing Regulus' face as the younger boy exited the Slytherin common room, Sirius felt a renewed sense of fury. He flew to his feet and closed the space between himself and the younger Black in less than a few seconds.

"You slimy little git bastard!"

For a moment, he considered pulling out his wand and cursing the other boy into the next century, but that would never be enough. Instead, he pulled back his arm and swung hard at his brother, fist landing so solidly that blood spilled from Regulus' nose and a bruise began to form around his eyes within moments.

Sirius grabbed his still reeling brother by the shoulders and shoved him into the stone wall with all of his considerable strength. Regulus grimaced as something cracked, but Sirius was unrelenting. "You knew!" He shouted, shaking the younger boy as he spoke. "You knew they were planning an attack, yet you said nothing!" He shook the boy again in emphasis.

Finally, Regulus managed to open his mouth. "I - I tried to keep you away from there. I didn't want -"

Sirius cut across him, "what you want doesn't matter, Regulus! If one single innocent person died today, I hope it tears you apart, because it is nobody's fault but your own! You understand, Regulus, this isn't a game - these are people's lives! One day you're going to be too far in over your head, brother, and when you are, it's going to be too bloody late!"

-:-

When he was absolutely sure that Regulus had gone, Sirius slid down the stone wall until he was seated, head in his hands. Hot tears spilled silently from his eyes as he remembered the childhood games he and Regulus had once played, how they had driven their already stark raving mother even more mad when they would run away from her and hide as she went after them.

Unwarranted, Sirius recalled the image of little Regulus - perhaps he was five, maybe six. He had left his door open a crack, and when Sirius passed by he heard racking sobs. He peered in through the crack to see Regulus' small form shaking with grief, and quickly pushed through the door, jumping onto the bed and putting an arm over his brother's back.

"Regulus, what's happened?" Sirius asked, but the other boy just shook his head, letting out a particularly loud cry and wiping his eyes furiously with his little hands. "Please Regulus?" Sirius prodded, leaning in closer to his brother. "You're making me sad, too." Regulus took several sharp breaths before he was able to calm himself enough to speak properly.

"M-mummy-" he gasped, but kept from sobbing again, "Mummy killed Arcle! She put him in a p-potion!" The last word came out as more of a wail than a word, and was again reduced to sobs, burying his head in Sirius' chest. Arcle was the family Kneazle, whom their Aunt Druella had given them a few years ago when her own Kneazle had a litter of Knittens. Ever since, Regulus had been quite attached to the clever little ugly thing, and Arcle slept in his room every night.

"I loved Arcle. W-why- why-" Sirius couldn't understand the other boy's words anymore, but he felt a lump in the back of his throat as his vision went blurry.

-:-

When Regulus finally made it to the Hospital Wing, Madame Pomfrey was in front of him before he was even able to look up - not that he was really able to see her through his swollen black eyes.

"What in the heavens has happened to you?" The little witch asked, frantic.

Regulus tried to blink, and a shock of sharp pain wracked his head. "I fell," he managed.