Everything

Chapter 2: The Marauders

The morning after the full moon, Remus had returned to his friends demanding to know what had happened. He knew that he had blacked out and he remembered little of the night. He knew that if he had no memory of what had taken place then it almost certainly wouldn't be good. After a lot of pleading, Sirius and James had broken down and regretfully told him what his memory did not. Remus did not take the news of his attack well. He blamed himself for nearly causing the death of not only the girl but also Sirius and James. The entire day saw him acting as though he appalled himself. He hardly talked at all and only answered with a simple yes or no. That night when he failed to come down from his dormitory, James and Sirius began to worry. They went in search of him and found that he was sitting silently on his bed, a packed trunk beside him.

"What do you think you are doing?" demanded Sirius when he realized what Remus was thinking.

"I can't stay," he replied. "Dumbledore trusted me and look what almost happened. I could have killed you both!" Sirius could tell his friend was close to tears and it tore at his heart to see Remus that way.

"Don't be ridiculous," said James sensibly. "You're not going anywhere. You never hurt anyone and you belong here."

"Don't try to stop me," Remus replied a slight and reluctant anger rising in his normally calm voice. He brushed his sandy hair away from his handsome face. He avoided making eye contact with either of them because he knew they would never let him leave. But he knew he had to do what he must.

"What do you think Dumbledore will do when he finds out you're gone?" questioned Sirius. "Do you really think he will just left you leave? Do you think he doesn't care about you? Do you think we don't care about you?"

Remus knew he was hurting them but he just couldn't stay. If he had killed them he would have never been able to live with himself. He would never be able to forgive himself. It would be pain far beyond that which was eating at him as he took his first steps toward the door. "Don't you think I know Dumbledore cares? Don't you think I know you guys care? Don't you think I care too?" he shouted at them. "That is why I have to go! I care about you too much!" He walked quickly across the room without looking at either of them.

"Remus please," James pleaded to no avail. "You can't go. You can't run away from what you are."

Remus slowed slightly but did not look back at his friends. "And what am I?" he shot loudly. "A beast, a monster!"

James and Sirius gaped at the back of his sandy head. "No," replied James softly. "You're a friend."

Remus stopped and turned to look at them. James tall, with his unruly black hair and hidden lopsided grin. Sirius, saturated in an arrogance that hid his true identity, his true pain. These were his friends. They loved him and cared for him. They saw him for what he was. "That is why I have to go," he said sadly and turned away once more.

"Remus Lupin," said Sirius as his friend's hand was on the knob and he was prepared to leave the room, "don't you move a step further or I swear I will curse all that wonderful hair of yours off and see to it that every girl in this school will see that lovely pair of pink knickers you keep locked away in your trunk."

Remus stopped in his trek and smiled slightly. Leave it to Sirius to stop him no matter what. That boy could charm a tree if he had to, he though to himself with a slight smile. Behind his back James and Sirius knew they had prevailed and smiled too. He knew in his heart that he could never leave them. They were all he had. Where else would he go?

"Do you want help unpacking?" James asked with a smile as Remus turned back to look at them.

****

The Monday after the eventful encounter by the lake, Sirius had a few of his own questions answered.

"Look there she is," he hissed loudly to James and Remus as they walked into Charms class to see the girl they had saved seated next to Lily Evans.

"Honestly Sirius," Remus replied with a hint of exasperation. "You if you got any slower you would be moving backwards. Her name is Riley. She's been here since the start of the year."

"Yeah," agreed James. "You've just been too hung up on Angalie to notice."

"Hung up," Sirius snorted. "I don't think so. You're the one who is hung up on Lily. Anyway Angalie is history. She thinks that I'm not sensitive enough, said so this morning at breakfast."

"We know," replied Remus. "The entire hall heard."

"She's a bit loud, isn't she?" Sirius smirked.

"Just a bit," James agreed. "Though it was quite funny when she dumped that cup of orange juice on your head."

"Ha ha, absolutely hysterical," Sirius replied with sarcasm. "But seriously, since the start of the year, and I haven't noticed yet. I really am losing my touch with women. I am going to have to introduce myself."

"Poor girl," muttered Remus.

"What's that?" questioned Sirius hotly.

"I said poor squirrel," lied Remus, pointing out the window. "Over there. It just fell out of that tree."

"Idiot," Sirius muttered.

When class started Sirius found himself staring blankly at the blackboard ahead, upon which the day's notes were writing themselves. But soon he found his gaze being averted to a certain girl he had rescued by the lake. Riley, Remus had said her name was, and boy was she gorgeous. The moonlight really did her no justice. Sirius felt something stir inside him as he scanned her long soft flowing hair and deep intense hazel eyes. He found himself day dreaming about kissing her vivid and luscious red lips. He couldn't help but wonder how he could have missed any girl as hot as this one. There was defiantly something special about her.

"You can stop drooling now, Padfoot," James mocked sardonically.

"I'm not drooling," Sirius replied subconsciously.

"Um... yeah mate, you are," said Remus pointing to a dark spot on the parchment in from of him.

"Oh," replied Sirius sheepishly.

That girl haunted Sirius thoughts and dreams for the next two days. He had wanted desperately to find a chance to talk to her, but she never seemed to be around except in class. Once though she had sat near him in the great hall and had made his day by asking him so pass the peas. He had done so, or nearly done so, as he had toppled an entire bowl of mashed potatoes onto Peter's lap in the process. She had chuckled slightly as Peter had whacked him on the head. But to his great surprise, he hadn't managed to even spit out his name, though he tried fiercely. It was odd. He was Sirius Black, yet this girl made him forget his name and drop things when he was in her presence. He was beginning to understand what James had meant when he said 'hung up'.

So far he knew this about her:

Name: Riley Evans.

Related to Lily Evans: no idea.

Age: 17, same as him.

Sex: female, just a wild guess though.

House: Gryffindor

Hotness: 25 million billion out of ten. Was that even a number?

Other: Friends with Lily and another girl name Summer McKinnon. Very smart. Doesn't hang out in the library, common room, great hall, grounds, hospital wing, or girls' bathroom, not that he checked that last himself. Talks with in an unknown accent. Canadian maybe? American? Doesn't eat any red meat of any kind, but chews on her quill while taking notes. Takes Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures. Writes right handed, but eats left handed. Is that normal?

Hung up? Sirius Black was indeed.

****

"Hey! Hey! Alright stop!" Sirius shouted to be heard over the music. James stopped drumming and Remus let the last chord he had strummed ring to a silence. They both looked at him knowing why he had called an abrupt end to the song.

Peter did not notice the others looking at him as he kept steadily playing the bass part of the new song Sirius had just written. The problem wasn't that he kept playing so much as it was he kept playing the wrong notes. And he couldn't keep up with the melody line that Remus played on guitar or the drum beat the James supplied. Evidently absorbed by the sheet of music set in front of him, Sirius doubted whether he could even read it.

"Wormtail!" he shouted into the short boy's ear. "You can stop now!"

Peter gave a little jump and scowled as Sirius grinned down on him. James and Remus too failed at the attempt to hide their smiles. Ever since they had started their band, needlessly to say called the Marauders, in fourth year, Peter had been a shameful addition to the otherwise talented band. Though they would never say it to him, he was only added to the band out of pity, for before they had inducted him he was quite friendless and unpopular.

Three days after the attack the boys were gathered in their rehearsal room. Well to be technical it was actually to heads' common room. But they had modified it slightly. It now housed a stage and an abundance of musical instruments, amps, microphones, and layers of sheet music covering the floor. Lily had nearly done a flip when she had first seen it, but somehow James had managed to convince her to leave it. The guy defiantly had charm.

The room had started out as a handsomely decorated room that resembled the main house common room floors below it. But now the room at the top of the Gryffindor tower was cluttered and messy, though if you asked any Marauder they would swear that it was perfectly organized. A few of the red and gold chairs remain positioned around the stage and a finely carven fireplace. The walls were plastered with posters of Jimmy Hendrix and Kurt Cobain and Bad Religion. Lily had once tried to take down a poster of the Sex Pistols, saying that if they had to safety pin their clothes together than they could be all that successful, but the Sirius had set her straight. After weeks of being forced to listen to 'Stairway to Heaven' she had finally given up on and left the Marauders alone.

"Why have you all stopped?" Peter questioned as if they had been the problem and not he.

"Well sorry to tell you Petey, but it kind of hard to make the song sound good if the bass player can't play," Sirius said bluntly.

Peter looked around at the others as if looking for someone who would defend him, but all he got was an amused smile from James and a nod of agreement from Remus. Sirius felt bad for him but he was indeed very tired of Peter ruining the songs he wrote and making a mess of them each time the Marauders performed in front of the school. He, James, and Remus would always make playful jokes to disguise the poor performance of their so called bass player but ever did their annoyance with him grow.

"Are you saying I'm a bad bass player?" Peter questioned with offense.

"No I'm saying you're a horrible bass player," Sirius corrected and Peter's face fell. "You couldn't play music if You-know-who came and put the Imperius curse on you and ordered you to."

"You would think he'd be able to then, wouldn't you?" disagreed James with a smile.

"Well what do you know? You have got to be the worst drummer at Hogwarts. We only keep you because those stupid giggly girls think you're so cute." Sirius laughed at his friend.

"Hey what can I say?" James replied oh so modestly messing up his hair.

Remus finally took pity and said, "Well Prongs is one story, but don't you think you are being a bit hard on Peter? He hasn't been playing nearly as long as we have, and he has improved a lot."

"Improved?" Sirius sneered haughtily. He knew he was being an arrogant jerk but he thought it a crime to hear his songs destroyed so violently by the likes of a bass player who thought that a guitar was a type of vegetable until Sirius had shoved one in his hands.

"Are you kicking me out of the band?" Peter asked, his face had gone quite pale and Sirius knew he had indeed gone too far.

"Well, no," he replied, finally taking pity on the poor boy. "Well at least not until we can find a replacement." Remus frowned at Sirius as he added the last bit. Sirius shrugged and Remus shook his head.

"Peter, don't listen to Sirius," Remus said calmly. "You know he's full of-"

"I am not!" exclaimed Sirius.

Peter shook his head. He uttered a loud sniff before looking up at them. Sirius was sure that he had started to cry, but when he spoke he was angry rather than upset. "No Sirius is right, I am terrible! And you know what? I don't care! I don't care about your stupid band! I don't even know why I agreed to join in the first place!"

He roughly threw the bass he held into its stand at which point Sirius had roared, "Be careful, with that! It's worth more than you've got!" to the further scowls of Remus. He stormed from the room without a second look back at them even as Remus called, "Peter, wait. He didn't mean it."

"That boy has got quite a temper," Sirius smirked after Peter was out of earshot.

"You are horrible sometimes, Sirius Black," Remus shot back at him. "We all know he's awful but did you really have to be so cruel?"

"Don't worry. He'll forgive us," Sirius replied. "He always does. I mean who else does he have?"

Remus scowled again and said, "Well what if he decides to go out and find some new friends?"

Sirius shrugged. "He'll be back, don't worry about it." Remus frowned.

"But what do we do in the meantime?" questioned James. "We're still out a bass player."

Sirius picked up the guitar that he had found beside Riley three nights before and threw himself into one of the red colored chairs. He plucked a few tuneless notes and replied, "That is a slight problem, isn't it?"

"I suppose we could ask around," suggested Remus.

"I guess there is bound to be someone who can decently play bass guitar somewhere in this school," James put in.

"Yeah, but it might be some Hufflepuff loser like Nathan McDonald," said Sirius with a mock look of disgust. "Or worse, Snivellus."

"Can you imagine old Snivelly with a guitar?" laughed James. "The great greasy git would probably think it was broomstick and try to ride it."

The remainder of the band broke into laughs at the thought of Snape trying to ride a guitar like a broom. Sirius thought that if they did indeed tell him that one of their guitars was the latest racing broom it would make for a great prank. He could imagine that thick idiot trying to push off at the start of a Quidditch match and then cursing the guitar into oblivion when it refused to lift into the air.

As Sirius laughed he quietly started to strum the chords to a song by a muggle band called the Hives. The song 'Walk Idiot Walk', didn't sound great played on acoustic guitar because it was mostly power cord driven and it needed distortion to get the right effect, but he didn't really care at the moment. He often spent time just sitting quietly playing whatever came to him mind. That was actually one of his favorite things to do. When he was alone with a guitar he suddenly got really creative and all sorts of lyrics come pouring out of his head. It was his favorite way to write songs because he could just think and play and be reflective and inspired.

Suddenly though something popped into his head and he stopped halfway through the chorus of the song. He accidentally hit a stray note and the chord he played sounded flat and wrong with the rest of the song.

"What's wrong?" questioned James, but then he too fell quiet as the same realization that had just hit Sirius entered his mind. Remus on the other hand had been waiting for the other two to notice since Sirius had begun to play. All three boys smiled because they knew they had found the answer to their problem.

"Yes," shouted Sirius, as the bass notes to the song he was just playing came flowing steadily from Lily's dormitory penetrating his ears. "The day we would ask Snivellus to join the band would be the last day on earth. But now it looks as though that day is still a long way off."

"Shall we go meet our new bass player?" laughed James.

"I think so," replied Remus.

The three Marauders raced up the short flight of stairs, that thankfully did not turn into a slide at their first step, which led to the head girl's dormitory. Sirius, the first to reach the door, pounded heavily upon it and pushed it open without waiting for a response.

Inside were three girls. Lily Evans, Summer McKinnon, and Riley Evans! Sirius felt his heart leap at the sight of her.

"James Potter!" shrieked Lily at the sight of him. "What on earth do you think you are doing? You're not allowed up here!"

James smiled his lopsided grin in reply. "You play bass, Evans?" he said not quite hiding his excitement.

She shook her head. "Not me," she replied handing the guitar back to the girl that had invaded Sirius dreams since he had saw her face. "Riley."

"Really?" Sirius said excitement growing in his own voice.

"Really," she replied with a cocky smirk.

Sirius could feel his heart beating rapidly in his chest as she looked at him. This was his opportunity. She could be in their band. She could be a Marauder. Oh the possibilities.

"What are you smiling at, Black?" Lily then shot at him.

"I believe I am smiling at the new Marauders bass player," he smirked in reply before returning his focus on Riley.

"Yes," James agreed, "I trust that it was your superb talent we heard coming from here a few minutes ago."

"Yeah, the Hives," she replied simply. "I was teaching Lily a few tricks."

"So..." Sirius prodded with boyish impatience.

"Yes..." she replied with playful hesitation.

"Well are you going to join or not?" he questioned hardly containing his anxiousness.

"Well what is in it for me?" she asked slyly.

Sirius gaped at her for a second. "Well first off you will get to spend a whole lot of quality practice time with yours truly, and you know how much fun that will be." He winked conceitedly.

"Oh what a prize," she replied sarcastically. "Got anything else?"

"Well," said Sirius thinking for a moment, "I'll give you this guitar if you say yes." Surprised by his own wit, he held out her own guitar to her.

"Are you sure that is yours to give?" she asked reading his intention.

"Pretty sure yes," he replied.

"Well could you turn that guitar over for a moment, and tell me what is says on the back?" she returned knowing he missed something.

He looked at her, surprised by her sharpness, and turned the instrument over. "Riley Evans," he read aloud. "See, I've already had your name carven into. You have to join now."

"Oh really?" she said reclaiming her guitar and setting it atop Lily's bad.

"Well then, if you're still not convinced, then I will make one last irrefutable offer," Sirius smirked, his old charisma returning to him. "You join the Marauders and you can go on a date with me."

"Are you getting fresh with me?" she asked.

"Nope," he replied winking once more.

"You're forgetting I witnessed that whole episode in the great hall the other morning, you inconsiderate, unruly idiot."

"Oh you heard that," he replied assuredly. "Well let's just say that Angalie is a bit neurotic."

"I see," replied Riley, whom Sirius was inquiring an even greater taste for.

James and Remus stood off to the side smiling contently to themselves. They had seen the fond sparkle in their friend's eye and were letting him have his fun. They could see that she, unlike most, was too clever to fall for his charm upon first taste.

Sirius himself was wondering why that charm was not working. Never had he failed to gain a date upon asking. But he could see the playfulness in her appearance. She was toying with him, and he liked it.

"I would kindly ask you to stop starring at my cousin, Sirius," Lily said in the Professor McGonagall like voice which she had mastered incredibly quickly in their first year and usually reserved for telling James off.

"Your cousin?" he returned. "No wonder she is so hot, Evans."

"Hey Padfoot, no coming onto my girl," James said from where he stood by Remus.

"Sorry, Potter, but I'm not your girl," she said once more as if McGonagall.

"So if you're cousins, then how come I have never seen you around before, Evans?" Sirius asked addressing Riley.

"Because I haven't been around," she replied. "I'm from Canada."

"Canada?" questioned Remus, who had been quite silent throughout the entire conversation so far. "You're from Canada?"

"That's what I said," she replied. "Dad was on a mission for the ministry there. Some thing to do with You-know-who and his supporters, you know, all that good stuff. He was an Auror. We lived there for eight years, but this summer I came back here.

"Why did you come back then if your dad was there on ministry orders?" asked James, a look of interest and curiousness present in his eye. He dreamed of becoming and Auror after he left Hogwarts. He was always interested in hearing more about what it was like to be out there fighting against Voldemort.

Sirius saw Lily glance somewhat worriedly at her cousin. He wondered why. Had they touched on a bad subject?

"She doesn't want to talk about it," Lily answered immediately.

Riley though could answer for herself. "No it's nothing really," she said, her voice having lost its sarcastic edge. "My sister and I came back here to live with Lily and her family, because mine is, gone."

For a brief moment Riley felt exposed and naked, something she strived never to feel. She had been hurt, but it had been her mission to hide that pain and lock it deep within herself. She did not want to be seen, she didn't not want to be understood. She had a memory, a memory that told her terrible secrets that she did not want to let out. She did not want to remember her father, her mother. They brought back too much pain. And they exposed her, showed her weakness, the weakness she swore she did not have.

And in that moment, Sirius caught her unmasked eyes. They were sorrowful and grieved, aching from an unknown wound, hiding a secret deep and dark. He saw that secret then, that secret she kept so close to her heart, far away from the surface. He did not understand it, but he saw it, when no one else had. She was scared. He could see the fear in her eyes. She was scared of a memory coming back to haunt her, like a reoccurring nightmare. He glimpsed weakness in her eyes as well, the weakness of a lost child. Yet he knew she masked it with a guise of strength, a guise like his own. He understood, only he could understand what he was seeing so deep in her eyes. He understood because, he had been hurt too.

And then that moment passed and Riley was herself again, confident and strong, unbreakable. She had promised herself that she would not let them get in the way, she would not let her memories hurt her anymore. But some things jut cannot be forgotten that easily.

The room was silent for a few moments. Sirius saw that James was wearing a look of regret. "Sorry," he apologized genuinely, knowing her had touched on a bad subject. "I didn't know."

"It's okay," Riley said. Sirius was happy to see that she was smiling again. "Really, it's not that big of a deal."

James nodded but a deep tension seemed to settle over the room then. No one spoke for a few moments, being unsure of what to say, so Sirius, being Sirius and the great tension breaker that he was, said, "So how about it Riley? Going to join the band? I'm sure you will find that we're the best Hogwarts has to offer."

She scanned him with amusement, a slightly Marauderish gleam in her eye. "Alright I'll join," she said with a smile. "But I'm also accepting your last offer."

"My last offer?" questioned Sirius, sudden comprehension dawning on him. "You want to go out on a date?"

"Well not exactly," she replied. "We'll call it a friendly engagement."

"How about a friendly rendezvous?" he grinned at her.

"How about no," she replied. "I just want to hear in your own words why you were taking notes on me in Charms the other day."

"Oh," Sirius replied unresponsively as everybody else in the room broke into laughs.

"Sirius has an extremely short attention span. Pretty girls bring out the worst in him," said Remus.

"That's right, Evans," Sirius said winking to Lily. "Next week I'm taking notes on you."

"Oh please," Lily said sarcastically.

"So when do we start?" asked Riley picking up her bass.

"Right now," said James.

"Down stairs in the common room," added Sirius.

The boys thundered down the steps ahead of her leading her down into their rehearsal room. She followed behind closely with Lily and Summer, hiding her excitement with what she had just agreed to.

"Nice room," she observed looking around. "Bet you don't have Filch problems up here do you? He's been after me since the start of the year. He even confiscated one of my guitars, but I stole it back."

"Can't say that we do," said James seating himself behind his drum kit. "But last year it was a nightmare finding a place to play. McGonagall chased us out of every empty classroom in the school. We finally settled in the Gryffindor common room, but then our dear friend Lily the Prefect chased us out of there too."

"You were disturbing the entire castle with that noise of yours," she replied hotly.

"That noise dear Lily, is called music," said James with a smile.

"It doesn't sound like it to me," she replied.

"That's just because you don't understand the fine art that is rock and roll," proclaimed Sirius. "And you call yourself a witch. I bet you don't even know the middle name of the great James Hendrix."

"Marshall," put in Riley.

"Very good," he smiled at her. "I see we have made a fine choice for our new bass player."

"How is that relevant to anything?" Lily questioned sharply.

Remus shrugged lightly at her. "Nothing Sirius says ever makes sense," he replied picking up his guitar.

"Why, Moony, my friend, you doubt my intelligence," Sirius said with mock offense. "I resent that. Everything I say makes sense to those of deep intellectual thinking."

"Whatever you say, Padfoot," Remus shrugged his friend off.

"I resent that too," he shot.

Remus ignored the stupid antics of his friend and busied himself finding a jack for Riley to plug her bass into. He tossed her a cord as Sirius tossed her a sheet of music with the bass part to the song they had been practicing on it. She somehow managed to catch both.

"Thanks," she muttered to Sirius who had folded the sheet music into a paper airplane and aimed it at her head.

"You're welcome, darling," he replied brashly.

He watched as she unfolded the sheet and began to read the notes scribbled on it. "Hey this is pretty good," she commented. "Who wrote it?"

"That would be me," Sirius said pompously.

"Am I the only one who has trouble believing that?" she questioned the room.

"Actually, however shocking, it's true," answered Remus.

"Really," she said only mildly surprised. "You wouldn't think anyone with an IQ lower than a pig would even be able to spell his name."

"I resent that," Sirius replied jesting indignation. "Pigs happen to have very high IQs."

"Right," she said looking back to the paper in her hands. "You've forgotten a title."

"I haven't," Sirius replied.

"Then why does it say 'put title here'," she observed pointing to the top of the paper.

"What, you don't think that's a good title?" he questioned.

"Needs some work," she replied.

"Any other comments?" he asked. "Or questions?"

"Yeah," she replied. "Who sings?"

"Sirius," answered James and Remus in unison.

"That's right," he said. "I am a man of many talents. Perhaps I will have to show you some of them on our little date."

"It's not a date," she replied.

"You can call it anything you like, babe," he said with a wink.

"Great, I will call it canceled then," she smirked back at him.

"Anything except that," he replied.

"Anyway, about this singing issue," she continued. "I joined so we play by my rules."

"And what would those be?" he questioned.

"I sing too," she replied.

"Hold up there, sweetheart," Sirius said standing from where he was seated on the edge of the stage. "You're invading my territory. My band, my rules."

"Okay then," she said. "Your band, minus one bass player."

"Alright," he said seeing the dilemma. "We compromise, but, only because you're so hot."

"I resent that," she replied.

"Ha ha. Names your terms," he said.

"I sing the verses," she replied.

"Okay," he agreed.

"And, the bridge."

"The bridge too," he complained. "Well what am I supposed to do then?"

"You play guitar?" she asked.

He nodded.

"Well play then." She thrust an acoustic guitar into his unsuspecting hands.

James and Remus behind them were laughing slightly to themselves at the taken aback look etched on their friend's face. There weren't many girls who would talk to Sirius like that.

"I don't like your attitude," he said sourly.

"Really," said Remus, "because I quite enjoy hearing you get told off."

"I resent that," he muttered.

"Shall we play then?" asked James twirling a drumstick between his fingers.

"I think so," said Sirius. "Let's see what she's got."

"She's standing right here," Riley said in third person.

"I know that," Sirius replied. "Just seeing if you were paying attention."

"Well I am, so let's get started," she said.

"Alright then, back to work everybody," he called and hopped onto the stage.

Riley followed his lead and jumped onto the stage and took her place behind a waiting microphone.

"Everybody ready?" asked James. "Alright, one, two, three, go!"

Music flooded the room and seeped into the dormitories below. It was loud and fast, and played with perfection! Sirius smiled as he waited for Riley to begin the first verse.

"Darkness is all around.

I am lost and never will be found.

I am left out in the cold,

The pain that plagues me is getting really old

My heart is breaking, I'm held and bound.

Can't you see what you have done to me?

Alone!"

Wow could she sing. Sirius was seriously dazed by her voice. It was powerful and strong, yet soft and warm. If he had to describe he would have said a mixture of Brodie Armstrong and Celine Dion. No wait, nobody likes Celine Dion. Brodie Armstrong and Sarah McLachlan or Whitney Houston or Britney Spears. Wait. Hang on a second. Britney Spears, ick. What was she doing on this list? Nobody likes Britney Spears. How about Christina? She can actually sing. Though come to think of it, not nearly as well as Riley could. Hang on a second. Wait. Aren't I supposed to be doing something? SINGING! Right. I almost forgot. Here I go.

"...Alone!" His own edgy and intensely passionate voice blended with hers on the last note and they held it together for a full measure before he finally broke away and took the lead of the song.

"You tore my heart out. Why did I love you?

And you left me with nothing!

All I have left are your scars so new,

Cause you've beat me and broken me.

You hurt me and kicked me and left me to die

And I may be alone but I'm still Alive!"

Most of the songs Sirius wrote were pretty intense, but this one held a particular passion to it and he was quite proud of it. He had written it the day after the attack. He had been sitting alone and had all of a sudden felt the need to write it out, write out his own story, his own hurt. Despite what James and Remus had mistaken it for, the song had not come out of his break up with Angalie. In fact it had nothing to do with her. This was his song. It was the song that had been inside his head all those times he had faced his father's menacing stare before the beating came, faced his mother's harsh abusive words. This song was his cry for help, his cry of redemption, his cry of pain.

And it was being played with perfection and getting the respect it deserved. Sirius beamed with satisfaction.

"She's defiantly got skills, Padfoot," said James as the last notes of the song rang out.

"I'd have to agree," Sirius replied. "She even impressed me. And her vocal talent is brilliant."

"So do you think she's in?" James smiled as he looked over at Riley staring at them exasperatedly.

"I think she's in," Sirius replied.

"And she's still standing right here," Riley said once again. "But she is prepared to look passed your idiocy because of the compliments you have given her."

"Why are you talking like that?" asked Sirius with mock confusion. "We can see you're right there."

"Moron," she muttered throwing a stray pillow at him.

"Hey hey, no need to get testy," he said catching it cleanly out of the air. "There is no grumpiness allowed in this band."

"Well that countS you out then, Padfoot," said James. "You're grumpy every morning."

"Yeah," agreed Riley. "I thought I saw you yelling at your cereal bowl once."

"No that was because I dropped my fork in it," he replied.

"Why were you eating cereal with a fork?" asked Remus.

"Why not?" he retorted. "Is it against some unwritten law of wizardism to eat your breakfast with a fork? Why patronize the fork?"

"Okay, okay, it was just a question," muttered Remus setting his guitar back in its stand.

"Speaking of breakfast, is anyone else hungry?" questioned Sirius looking at his watch. "It's nearly time for dinner if my trusty wristwatch doesn't deceive me."

"Actually, yeah," answered Riley. "I am pretty hungry.'

"Good," said Sirius, "because I was thinking that we should just ditch practice and go down to the great hall and get some chow."

"Sounds like a good plan to me," agreed James, sticking his drum sticks into his back pocket and ruffling up his hair.

"Do you have to do that James," Lily said with exasperation, piping up for the first time since they had left her dormitory.

"What?" he questioned looking openly confused.

"Mess up your hair like that," she smiled slightly. "You look like a bum. Use a brush."

"Ah, you like it Evans, don't you," James replied as he wrapped his arm around her.

"Sorry, Potter, but I don't think so," she said trying only halfheartedly to duck out of his grasp.

"Don't lie," he smirked and the two left the room.

"Oooohhh!" Sirius found himself calling after them despite the better judgment of his maturity. "Jamesy loves Lily."

"Shut up, Black!" came Lily's voice from half way down the stairs.

Remus looked at him with exasperation. "Do you ever plan on growing up?"

"Nope," he replied. "I'm going to be like Peter Pan and stay young forever. That way I will keep my good looks."

"Idiot," muttered Remus.

Sirius smiled. "So Riley," he said. "How about we get this date started off with a nice cozy romantic dinner prepared by those nifty little house elves?"

"Or not," she replied.

"Whatever you want, babe. We can skip dinner if you'd like."

"Or mot," she repeated.

Remus sighed as he followed his manic friend down the stairs. Life with Sirius was always interesting.