ANOTHER CHAPTER!

I hope you all like it. This is going to be moving the plot quite a bit more, so we're starting to get to the after Holydays feels of the school year and the Marauders' last year. And we all know what happens next.

This is pretty much a Gryffindor Chapter. I know, rare, but I was feeling quite into the idea of getting their view of things since he usually follow mostly Luna and Regulus in this fic, so I give you Lily Evans and Sirius Black. Also, have fun with the James Potter content (it's just a bit, but it's there).

LEAVE COMMENTS.

THE MORE COMMENTS, THE FASTER I WRITE.

Lily Evans was strong, and everybody knew that, but the strongest people are usually the ones with the most empathy, even if they hide it very well.

The first time Lily Evans cried in school was when she was nine or so, and a boy two years above her had hit Severus and her on the playground and she hadn't been able to defend herself, even Severus had failed to run away from his punches. It was the first time she had a black eye, but she had not cried from pain, she had cried because Severus' father had come to pick him up from school and he had slapped Severus in front of everybody, and she hadn't been able to do anything to stop the man from dragging his son home, screaming at him the whole way there. The first time she cried at Hogwarts had been in her first year, just a few weeks into the school year that had made her so happy; Petunia had written a horrible letter to her, telling her that they were no longer sisters and that Lily was a freak, arguing that she had been the older sister, therefore it should've been her to go to Hogwarts, not Lily – it was one of the only times Lily had cried for herself, but she liked to believe that she had cried for Petunia as well that night, thinking of her sister's anger and jealousy choking her to the point of writing those horrible words. Lily was no saint, of course, she had written home the next morning and tattling on Petunia's sick hatred, which left her sister grounded for two weeks.

But this was the first time Lily was crying for someone she didn't know.

Clutching the newspaper against her chest, back against the window of the Common Room of the Head's Rooms, she felt her whole body shake and heard the window rattle behind her with each of her sobs.

So many people had gotten hurt.

"Evans?" James said.

She peaked between her fingers before closing her eyes and hiding her face again, going back to sobbing. She didn't care that James was walking out of his own bedroom looking absolutely horrified with her crying state, standing frozen at the foot of the stairs.

"Lily, what happened?" James tried again.

She offered him the newspaper, refusing to speak of it.

How could she tell him without crumbling completely, without a resemblance of control when she was almost melting to the ground? How could she tell him of the dozens hurts and dead in Wizarding London?

And all because they were defending constitutional rights. The rights of the minority. The rights of muggleborns – of people like her, that were so hated and distrusted without any concrete reason.

"Oh," James whispered, clearly reading the article slowly. Words jumped at him. "Ten dead," he whispered to himself.

Lily nodded.

"Ten dead," she agreed. "They said it was accidental, but I doubt it." She looked up, getting up from the window and cleaning her face as best as she could, but her hands were shaking. "They said that the other crowd in the contrary protest had an accidental spell while trying to disperse the crowd. Impossible. They knew! They were trying to kill them, and they managed."

"Justice will be made, you'll see," James said, shaking his head, not looking away from the article. "This is complete rubbish, don't worry about anything they said. My father will know what's true, I'll write to him; he's friends with Aurors."

Lily reached for the paper, pointing at something.

"Erik Torres. He's dead," she said. "His mother wrote to me. He really is dead, James. I talked to him last week, and now he's dead."

"Erik Torres. Last year's Head Boy," James said, recognising the name. Lily lowered her head. "How could this happen? This was supposed to be a peaceful protest. It was warned and advertised. The Ministry should've put Aurors on it to protect everybody when they know the feeling that is happening around," he added, bitterly.

Lily just went back to crying, walking away from him and sitting on the armchair near the roaring fireplace.

"I don't feel safe," Lily admitted.

James' face darkened.

"You are safe in Hogwarts, Lily. I'll make sure of it, and I know that Dumbledore will as well," he answered. "Nobody will dare attack the Head Girl."

"What about all the others, James?" she asked, shaking her head. "What about all the other muggleborns in this school? Who can protect them when clearly the Ministry couldn't protect anyone in that movement?" She took a deep breath, cleaning her tears again, even though more came to wet her face. "I don't know why I'm saying this. I'm scared for myself as well, not just for them."

"It's alright to be scared. You have all the right to be scared. This," and he raised the papers, "is quite terrifying, Lily. Nobody will blame you for not feeling a hundred percent safe after this attack."

Lily took a shaking breath. She quietly hugged herself for a moment, leaning towards her arms and almost folding herself in half on the armchair, chasing the warmth of the fireplace like a child chases their mother's love.

"Do you think Hogwarts will be dangerous?" Lily asked, voice small.

"I think Dumbledore will be harsh in punishment with whatever happens because of this," James answered carefully.

"So you do think something will happen," Lily said, raising her eyebrows as she looked at her partner.

James hesitated, but nodded nonetheless. "I think something is bound to happen sooner or later. I just think that it won't be as bad as someone getting terribly hurt or someone dying, but I do think things are about to change."

"Change too much?"

"Entirely."

"For the worst?"

"No doubt."

And through the rest of the week, though Lily wouldn't admit it out loud and James wouldn't dare brag about it, she felt safer with James walking nearby at all times, even getting to his own classes late more than once. Marlene noticed James Potter following them around and even pointed him out to Lily, but she just shrugged it off and said that he was probably just going towards the same direction as they were, even though his classes were on the other side of the castle.

Lily didn't thank him, and not for a moment he resented her for that. James continued walking her to classes a few feet behind her until Lily's hands stopped shaking on the way to breakfast and she stopped pacing around the small living room with a cup of water in the middle of the night, sniffing from tears due to a nightmare (and he no longer had to pretend that it didn't wake him up every time).

Sirius Black wasn't proud to admit that he was following Luna Lupin (he had thought those days were over and behind him by far), but he was even less proud to admit that he was doing that without Remus' knowledge, but some sacrifices needed to be made so his conscience could be cleared from the nights he had spent awake, tossing and turning in his own bed in concern and worry.

Truth was that, no matter how much Sirius Black pretended not to, he knew his family far too well to not doubt a thing or two of his brother's disappearances and his brother's friends' disappearances. He was glad to find out that Regulus was mostly sneaking around to broom cupboards with Luna or playing Quidditch with his team, but he was terrified in seeing Evan Rosier and Barty Crouch Junior walking with the wrong people, because that meant that it wouldn't take too long before Regulus followed them. Regulus was a strong person, yes, but he wasn't immune to the teenage year of peer pressure and constant judgement that they all had to go through. If Evan and Barty insisted on something for long enough, Regulus would find an agreement between his own wishes and what other people wished for him – it was like that with their parents and it would be like that with his friends.

Unless someone with a stronger pull decided to say something.

Hence why Sirius was hiding behind a tapestry, looking at the map in his hand with his wand in his mouth shining some light into the small point with 'Luna Lupin' walking around the castle. Sirius waited for her to walk by as silently as he could.

He heard footsteps before he held his breath.

Luna walked by.

Sirius jumped out quickly, taking the small window of opportunity between a group of Hufflepuff students walking by, hoping to not let anyone see them talking, because something like that would certainly get to Regulus, and neither wanted the reaction the boy would have to the pair talking. Sirius put his hand over her mouth, dragging her behind the tapestry with him.

Luna, blindsided, kicked behind her, trying to elbow the attacked and bite into the hand, but Sirius was quick to turn her around and show her his face.

"What the fuck?!" she hissed at him, shoving her hands on his chest and pushing his away violently. "What the fuck are you trying to do, Sirius?"

"I needed to talk to you," he said, spitting his wand into his mouth and pursuing his lips after holding onto his wand like that for so long.

"Can't you be like a normal person and ask? You almost gave me a heart attack!" Luna said, crossing her arms with her back against the stone wall. She tried to keep herself away from him. "What do you want?"

Sirius bit back a remark about her being polite to him, knowing that had it slipped from his mouth he would've lost any opportunity of her listening to him.

"It's about Regulus," he said.

Luna's face frowned before going back, clearly already getting her into a defensive position as she shifted her weigh from one leg to the other.

"What about him?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"He didn't do anything wrong, don't worry. I mean, at least not yet," Sirius said, frowning as well. He was slightly annoyed with how dismissive Luna sounded. "But he might do it soon enough. Do you understand what I'm trying to say now?"

"I certainly do not," she said.

Sirius sighed.

"Why do you look so scared? I'm not going to do anything to you. Is that the sort of thing you think of me? I'm just trying to talk to you," he said.

"You dragged me behind a tapestry and covered my mouth so I wouldn't scream, and I couldn't fight you off. I'm sorry if I'm shaken up," she said, narrowing her eyes at him. She did not uncross her arms. "I don't think you're going to assault me, but that doesn't mean that I'm not uncomfortable right now. I did think my heart was going to stop for a moment, and you do know how my heart works."

Sirius was a bit embarrassed to say that he had forgotten that Luna's body was fragile, the fact that she had stopped going to the Hospital Wing as often as before didn't mean that she was healthy. Still, Sirius was aware of how close the full moon was; it was, by far, one of the stupidest things he had done.

"Sorry," he said, looking down at his feet. "But I needed to talk to you."

"Then go on, talk," she said, urging him.

"Have you heard about Knights of Walpurgis?" Sirius asked.

Luna frowned.

"Yes."

Sirius seemed surprised by her answer.

"Is Regulus a part of it?" Sirius asked.

"No."

He waited for a moment, thinking that Luna would go on to explain everything deeply, but when she continued with her silence, he had to continue the conversation.

"I know that his friends are a part of it, and I'm not certain you can convince me he isn't," Sirius said, crossing his own arms. "Rosier and Crouch are going around with those people, chin up and proud of their fucking decision. And Regulus isn't? How come?"

Luna shrugged, glancing at the entrance of the alcove, thinking how easy it would be to slip out from behind the tapestry and walk away, not giving Sirius an answer. Sirius would probably follow her, but he wouldn't dare drag her back there when she expressed no interest in being alone with him, in that much she trusted Sirius' understanding of consent. She didn't want to answer, but still... she wondered if Sirius would be kind enough to answer her questions about Remus had the roles been reversed.

"He wasn't invited, apparently his relationship with me makes it clear that he isn't ready to be a part of the group," Luna said. "He didn't seem too upset about it, though. He has too much on his plate to care."

"Not because he disagrees with the cause or their maddening theories, but because he has too much to do," Sirius repeated, narrowing his eyes. Luna just stared at him, not answering. Sirius took a deep breath and rolled his eyes. "This is ridiculous. I don't know why I even try."

"Maybe you shouldn't. Maybe you should leave your brother alone," Luna said bitterly.

Without giving him time to answer, Luna reached for the tapestry and slipped out from the alcove, quickly making her way through the corridor. She could hear his rapid footsteps running after her and quickly matching her rhythm, however Sirius did not touch her while they walked beside each other.

"I'm worried," Sirius admitted.

"Regulus is fine. He is fine and he'll continue being so, if you leave him in peace," Luna said, frowning.

Luna turned to Sirius, glancing at his face before looking at the ground. They had agreed to start over, but it was hard to meet his eyes regardless. But Luna could see the haunted look in Sirius' eyes, the clear fear of something he had been dreading for a long time finally coming closer than he hoped.

"Regulus is safe," Luna added, voice softening and expression following.

Sirius looked at her, seeing her eyes turned away from him, but he didn't look away from her. There was intimacy in staring at someone that wasn't looking at you, but that knew you were staring at them – intimacy that scared Sirius.

"He will get hurt if this goes on. These news... this mess... they aren't coincidental, Luna," Sirius said, voice lower than his usual. He felt like he was whispering a secret even in a deserted corridor. "Things are going to get really bad. I can feel it."

Luna looked at him, meeting his eyes.

"I know," she said.

And she sounded resigned, all too aware that there was nothing she could do about the future that was coming closer by the second.

Sirius narrowed his eyes, eyebrows twitching as he went on studying Luna's face. She looked almost tired, as if she knew something that was weighting her down and she couldn't share. She knew something that he didn't.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Luna looked away, down the corridor as she put her hands behind her back and took a step back. Her shoulders were tense and her face completely blank. She had realised she had slipped, but she was Occluding – something that Sirius didn't know she could do, but that made sense to him, after all there had to be a reason for her surviving amongst his family for so long – and she was scared.

"Nothing," she dismissed.

"You know something."

"I know a lot of things. None that are useful for this conversation, just... dream-like whispers," she answered.

Sirius didn't understand her, but he didn't like whatever could be the meaning for her riddles.

He forced a carefree smile.

"You're starting to sound like him. Speaking in riddles. You're losing your accent," Sirius said.

Luna's lips twitched. "I have been losing my accents for years now. The Bristolian in me is quite upset, the part of me that wants a good vacancy in a posh Academy is quite glad for the posh accent," she answered, exaggerating in the posh accent.

Sirius grimaced. "You sounded like my cousin Narcissa for a second," he complained.

Luna smiled openly at that, chuckling and looking down, kicking imaginary dirty from the ground to not let Sirius see her smile too much. Some of her hair fell in front of her face, creating a curtain for a moment before she raised her head again and the hair fell on her shoulders. She had only the top part of her hair pulled back and braided, the rest was loose.

Sirius had never noticed she had started wearing less complicated braids before.

He pressed his lips together, not wanting to speak on it. He put his hands behind his back, not wanting to reach for it.

"Dumbledore approached us. Me and my mates, I mean, your brother included, and some of the birds in our year as well," Sirius started, shifting his weight to his other leg and extending his free leg – the pose seemed relaxed enough. "He's creating a counter-group. Not in school, of course, but for afterwards."

"A counter-group?" she asked, frowning.

"Against the attackers. They have a name now, or at least someone baptised them in a way. Death Eaters," Sirius said.

Luna nodded.

"It was Xenophilius Lovegood. He said they fed on death, devoured it. Someone copied him and called them Death Eaters," Luna explained.

"The name fits," Sirius grumbled through his teeth, looking away and locking his jaw for a moment. A list of names went through his name – he didn't know many of them, but each name felt like a stab in the back. "They're feeding on all this suffering. One of them sent a typed letter to Prophet Diary to recognise the name 'Death Eaters' as their own and claim the attack from a couple of week ago as theirs. Dumbledore didn't like. He said they were getting too comfortable with their prejudices now that they were turning to violence."

"Dumbledore saw it happen before. I'm not surprised he's paying attention to it," Luna said, nodding slowly as she took in Sirius' words. "But he didn't approach me. How come are you telling me of this future group?"

Sirius shook his head.

"Not future. He has already formed it, he invited us to join when we're out of school. I agreed," Sirius said.

"I see. And why are you telling me this?" Luna asked, suspicious. "Did my brother agree?"

Sirius shrugged. "He said he had to think about it... think about you," he explained.

"Me?"

"He wouldn't dare join something publicly that he knew would put you in danger, especially when you're involved with those type of people," Sirius explained.

"And what are you expecting of me? You want me to break up with Regulus so my brother can join a little group?" she asked, annoyed. She took another step back.

Sirius took two steps forward, taking her arms into his hands to keep her in place and shaking his head, eyes widening as he listening to how his words sounded.

"No! No!" he said. "I just... I thought – I thought you'd like to know that your brother was thinking about you when he said he needed to think about fighting for something he believed in. That you were his priority above his morals," Sirius explained.

Luna frowned, narrowing her eyes at him as she took him in, unsure of where he was trying to get. While she was grateful for knowing that her brother cared enough for her future and her safety that he was willing to look away from his own morals to make sure she was safe, there was more to it – more to why Sirius had gone to such lengths to talk about it with her in an empty corridor.

"It was something that you didn't do," she guessed.

Sirius pressed his lips together, hesitating. Still, at the end, he nodded.

"Something that I couldn't do."

"And why?"

"Because we both know which side of this fight Regulus will end up in," Sirius said, voice breathy. He had finally said what he had gotten there to say.

Sirius had given up on his old family and was bound to look at the future and his new family present on it.

Luna shook her head, a bitter smile coming to her lips. She should've expected something like that coming from Sirius, but for a moment she had hoped there was more to it than Sirius throwing salt at the wound of his family; for a moment she had hoped he had just tried to be kind and make sure Luna knew how much Remus loved her, but it was too much to ask from Sirius.

"You don't know anything about who he's becoming, just the child you knew," she corrected, pulling her arms away from him and taking two steps back. She raised her arms in surrender. "This is... -- You are wrong, Sirius. You are wrong about him."

Sirius locked his jaw, lip curling as he bared his teeth at her to spit the words: "Don't come crying to me when it happens. I told you so."

Luna's own lips curled in disgust at his feelings.

"This is ridiculous!" she exclaimed. "I can't believe you have so little hope in him. He's your brother!"

"He's no longer my brother if those are the things he believes in, and I have no hope in him, nor in his parents," Sirius said, throwing his arms open as if he was trying to show her something in the empty air between them. "If he doesn't go by wish, he'll go by force. Don't be stupid, we both know that much."

"You misjudge –"

"I misjudge nothing! I misunderstand nothing! I know exactly the type of people they are. I know exactly the type of person Regulus will become if he stays. And he'll stay." Sirius crossed his arms.

"You –" she started, pointing at him and walking towards him, hand on his chest to shove him away.

Footsteps tripped in surprise. Someone stopped at the end of the corridor, clearly not expecting to find anyone there.

They both froze.

James Potter stood there with wide eyes that danced between the two people, trying to interpret the scene he was watching without judging them too fast, but it was hard. After all, whether they had meant to or not, Sirius had his arms open to his sides and Luna hand touching him.

"You two alright?" James asked.

Luna took three steps back.

"Tell your friend to leave me and Regulus alone," Luna said. She sighed, turning her head around, but stopped, turning to Sirius and continuing. "It was a mistake forgiving you if this is how you're going to act."

"You're not listening to me," Sirius said, reaching to get her arm again.

Luna pulled herself away from him.

"Stop it!" she complained.

James reached them with a few strides of his long legs, reaching for his friend's shoulder and pulling Sirius back slightly, getting in between him and Luna with a swift move.

"What's happened?" James asked.

"I'm telling her that Regulus and his friends are getting involved in something dangerous, and she isn't listening!" Sirius said.

"And I already said that Regulus isn't part of that stupid club and that he would never put me willingly in danger!" Luna said, turning completely towards Sirius, ignoring that James was in front of her.

"'Willingly' being the key word there," Sirius grumbled.

"He's smarter than you give him credit for," Luna insisted.

"If he was so smart, he would've found a way out of that fucking loony house," Sirius said. "If he was so smart, he would've realised that those people in there are going to destroy him until the point he wishes he was dead. But no! He rests his head on mummy's lap and pretends the world isn't burning to ashes out here. Do you truly believe he's blissfully unaware of everything that is happening, Luna? He'll be just like them. He'll look away from the parts of the job that he doesn't like, and he'll do it anyway for the betterment for his fucking cause."

Luna scoffed, aware that there was no discussing with Sirius when he was that annoyed, so she turned away and walked towards the Ravenclaw Tower without a goodbye and without a single explanation more to how she was seeing things.

Still, as she walked, she wondered if there was a small part of Sirius that was speaking the truth, because Regulus had started reading the newspapers with a lot more attention and his poem books were left in his bag more often than not.

I hope you all liked it!

Guys: GIVE ME SONGS that fit the narrative/characters. I'm trying to get in the mood for writing more as I post this.