Free Falling

Three

Telling Secrets

Sirius looked over at James and Peter.

"We can't tell her, it isn't right without Remus being here," James said.

"James, it hasn't been fair to Lily. Remus knows that. He's even said so, but we've been too thick to believe him. I'm sure he won't mind if we tell Lily without his being here."

"Sirius, think of what we're playing at," James said. "I, for one, don't think it is a good idea to be telling secrets about our best friend when he's not here."

"What about Lily? She's our best friend too, James," Sirius said. Peter looked at me and nodded his head. I was glad that Sirius was sticking up for me, even if he did treat me like a little girl sometimes.

"Could we not talk about me like I'm not here?" I said.

"Sorry, Lily," Sirius said. I could tell that he was hacked off at me too, and it made sense that he was, for I knew a whole lot more than he thought and I wasn't letting him on. "In a way, James is right. But, Remus has been saying that you're our best friend too and that we've kept you in the dark long enough." He sighed. "What do you want to know? Ask us anything."

"Where is Remus?" I asked, for that was one of the questions that I had no answer to. "He was shown on the map last night, but he was away, visiting his mother."

"That's where you've been misinformed," Sirius said. "Remus' mother doesn't get sick that often. In truth, Remus' mother has probably never been sick a day in her life. The reason Remus goes away once a month is because he is a werewolf."

"He's a what?" I said.

"A werewolf. He has been since he was a very small child. How old did he say he was, James? Three?" James nodded. "Yes, he tried to hide it from us by saying his mother was sick, but we knew better than that. During Astronomy, we noticed that he was always sick during the full moon. Also, we had sent get-well cards to his mother, and she wrote back saying she wasn't sick, so at the end of first year, we confronted him and he told us everything."

"Okay, that explains one of the things I saw. Tell me about the others," I said.

"Others?" James said, shifting nervously. I didn't understand why he was nervous. Maybe he didn't realize I already knew their secret.

"Yeah, when I looked out the window, according to the Marauder's Map the four of you were standing there, but I didn't see you."

"Oh, that. Well, you see, Lily," James started, "we knew how miserable Remus was when he transformed once a month. We felt the best thing we could do was keep him company while he was in his wolf form."

"And how did you do that? You couldn't very well keep him company while you were humans, now could you?" I think James was becoming hacked off and started thinking that I must have been thick. "Let me remind you, Potter, that I want specific answers, so, I'm asking specific questions. Don't try to lie to me, because I know the truth."

"We became Animagi, Lily; that's how we keep him company," James said.

"I knew it," I said. "It took me a minute to realize with the map and the four of you standing out there. So, which one of you is which?"

"You're - you're not mad at us?" Sirius asked in disbelief.

"Of course I am. I am extremely pissed and this Leg Locker Curse is the only thing that is keeping me from physically hurting you three. So, the only thing I can do is ask questions. How long have you been Animagi?"

"This year is the first year that we have gone off and been able to change with Remus," Sirius said. "But, we have been trying to learn how to do it for three years."

"Three years?" I raged. "You kept that from me for three years?"

"It wasn't easy, Lily," squeaked Peter.

"Oh, like bloody hell it wasn't! What stopped you from telling me? Was it because you didn't want me to become an Animagus too? Remus is one of my best friends and I would have done it for him, despite the fact that it's totally illegal."

"Here comes Miss Righteousness," James muttered.

"Go to hell, Potter!" I shrieked. "All I wanted was the truth. You couldn't give it to me. If you didn't want me to be part of the group, then why didn't you say so three years ago so I wouldn't be here on the floor with my legs bound together and my heart aching? This kind of information would have been useful three years ago. I understand that I'm not a picnic to get along with sometimes, but how could you stoop so low as to pretend to like me?"

"That's not what it was like, Lily," Sirius said.

"Oh, the hell it wasn't," I said. "I thought we were best friends. Well - newsflash - best friends don't go sneaking behind each other's backs." I wiped a tear off of my cheek. "Now take this curse off me."

Sirius looked from James to Peter, then back to me.

"Lily, we didn't want you to get hurt," Sirius started.

"Oh, and I'm not hurting now?" I spat, wiping more tears away. I could tell that seeing me in tears brought James and Sirius distress. Peter looked strange, as if he didn't know what to say or do. "Take this curse off me, damn it!"

"Remus was right, we should have told you way before this," Sirius said with a sigh. "I'm sorry Lily. I want you to know that it was nothing like what you think it was. We didn't want you to get hurt or in trouble with the Animagi training, so we thought that the less we told you, the better. But then it started getting very complicated. I hope one day you can forgive us."

"It'll take some time," I said, wiping my eyes more. "Take this curse off me, I need to go think by myself."

"Finite Incantatem," Sirius said, pointing his wand at me. My legs unlocked themselves and I got up.

"Don't try looking for me this time, guys. I know you mean well, but you only make things worse. Tangara," I said, pointing my wand at myself, and becoming invisible from the Invisibility Charm.

* * * * *

"Lily," I heard someone whisper.

I opened my eyes groggily and saw Remus standing over me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Will you come walk with me? I have James' Invisibility Cloak," Remus said.

I looked at the clock on my bedside table. I was three-thirty in the morning. I looked back up at Remus and was about to object, but I saw a light in his eyes begging me to go with him.

"Okay," I said. Remus smiled.

"Great. Where's a dressing gown I can get you?"

"In the closet over there," I said.

Remus is such a gentleman, I thought. Even if I am mad at him. Well, I shouldn't be, it's not exactly his fault, I reminded myself.

"Here you are," Remus said, handing me my dressing gown.

"Thanks," I said, slipping it on.

Remus and I walked out of the portrait hole and slipped the cloak over us.

"Where are we going?" I asked, seeing that Remus was leading me somewhere that I hadn't ever gone.

"Somewhere we can talk," was all he said.

We didn't speak again for fifteen more minutes. Remus stopped at a portrait with a woman on a horse and said, "Pumpkin Pie." This was obviously the password, for the portrait swung forward to reveal a room that was full of books. But it wasn't like the library; these books were all Muggle classics, I noticed as I looked around: Shakespeare, Hemmingway, C.S. Lewis, Hans Christian Anderson, and many more.

"Remus, where did you find this room?" I asked, still staring around, slipping out from under the cloak.

"The Marauder's Map. I think this is one of Dumbledore's rooms. I thought you might like this room because you love to read. But, I didn't bring you in here so you could read. I want to talk to you about what you learned earlier today."

"Well, I learned a lot these past two days. I would have never guessed that was why you guys were keeping away from me. I thought it was totally my fault. I am still very hurt and upset that you guys would keep it from me."

"I figured that that was how you would feel," Remus said. "I know how it feels to be left out, to not have any friends."

"You do?"

"Oh, yes. Before I came to Hogwarts, everybody knew that I was a werewolf. I don't know how they knew. I guess they, like James and Sirius, put two and two together. But I had no friends. That's why I had never told you guys, I was afraid that you would abandon me."

"Oh, Remus, we would never do that."

"I know that. It was kind of a stupid thing to think," Remus said. He looked in to my eyes. His deep brown eyes were pensive and caring. "That's why when we weren't exactly talking to you, I told them to leave you alone. I knew how it felt to be shunned and I told them that you should be let in on the secrets, but they didn't listen to me."

"I understand, though," I said.

"You do?"

"Yeah, I mean, Sirius and James aren't my parents, and they can't tell me what to do (and heaven knows they try). But I understand that you guys were concerned for me because so many things can go wrong. I just am upset that you guys kept it from me for three years. And this year I have felt like I lost my best friends. I mean, this morning I was sitting on the cold floor, kidnapped by Sirius, he put the Leg Locker Curse on me, and was playing Twenty Questions with me. It really hurt that you guys didn't tell me."

Remus wrapped his arms around me and embraced me tightly.

"I know it did. I'm sorry, Lily. We don't ever want to leave you in the dark again."

"Promise?"

"I promise. Even if James, Sirius, and Peter aren't planning to tell you, I will."

I kissed Remus on the cheek and hugged him again.

"Thanks," I said.

"Are you still mad at James and Sirius?"

"What about Peter?"

"I sense that you don't care for Peter much," Remus said simply.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Not really, but I am a werewolf -- I'm not exactly human, so I can tell what people are feeling, it's like a sixth sense."

"Well, I think I will forgive Sirius and James, as long as you do something for me."

"What's that?"

"Convince Sirius to stop acting like he's my father and to treat me like a woman."

"I could try," Remus said.

"Try? Remus, Sirius is your best friend, I know you can do it."

"All right, consider it done."

I kissed Remus on the cheek again as he threw the cloak over us.

* * * * *

Friday morning at breakfast, the post owls brought Sirius a copy of the Daily Prophet. He read it for a while, and then he read an article out loud to James, Remus, Peter, and me.

"Hey guys, listen to this," he said.

"'Saturday, December ninth, there was another attack and torture from the infamous wizard who calls himself Voldemort. Voldemort has rapidly gained a name for himself and his notorious followers that call themselves Death Eaters.

"'Saturday afternoon, Ministry of Magic Obliviator Austin Perry was at the Reed home having tea with his Aunt Mattie, Uncle Phillip, and his two cousins, ten-year-old Jeffrey and sixteen-year-old Hannah.'"

At the same moment Sirius had mentioned Perry and the Reeds, I spat out the juice that I had just taken a sip of.

"Is something wrong, Lily?" James asked.

"Austin Perry? The Reeds?" I cried.

"Yeah, did you know them?" Sirius asked.

"My dream!" I said. "They were in my dream."

"What dream?" Remus asked.

"Remember, Sirius, I was too hacked off at you to tell you about the dream that made me go into your dorm in the first place? That was what my dream was about. Austin ended up being killed, while Mattie, who was a Squib, and Phillip, who was a Muggle, and Jeffrey was a wizard, and Hannah was all Muggle."

"What are you on about?" James asked.

"My dream," I said again.

Sirius continued reading the paper.

"'Eyewitness Hannah Reed claimed Voldemort had come to the door and had asked Perry to join him in his forces. Perry said no, so Voldemort placed the Cruciatus Curse on Mattie Reed.

"'When Perry refused a second time, Voldemort placed the Cruciatus Curse on Phillip Reed.

"'The third time, young Jeffrey Reed, who is planning to attend Hogwarts next year, was placed under the Cruciatus Curse.

"'The fourth, Voldemort took Perry's life.'"

"That man is psycho," James said.

"Yeah, and you didn't dream about him. He looked so happy when he was torturing those people. It was sick," I said.

"Lily, this guy has been around for a while now, but he hasn't killed many people. This is a new thing for him. He's rapidly becoming feared. Some people even call him 'You-Know-Who' because they're afraid that if you say his name, he'll come after you," Sirius said. "When did you have that dream?"

"It was last Friday. Why?"

Sirius' eyes widened and he glanced at Remus, James, and Peter.

"Lily, you had that dream the day before Voldemort attacked those people. Do you realize what that means?"

"That it's really creepy to dream about someone you've never seen?" I teased.

"You had a premonition, Lils."

"I'm awful at Divination, so why would I have a premonition?"

"It's not what you're good at, Lily," James said. "It's just what happens sometimes."

"Oh great, so I practically witnessed the murder too," I said. "I wish we wouldn't have had that fight, then I could have told someone to warn them. Great, now I suffer from premonitions and guilt."

"Lily, it wasn't your fault," James said, in a comforting tone. I was proud of him - he rarely knew how to be a solace.

"I know, but I feel like there was something I could have done. I mean, it's your guys' faults too, because you weren't there when I tried to find you."

"That's right," Sirius said. "But, that doesn't matter. It was nobody's fault. Once someone has a premonition, there is nothing you can do to change the future."

"I see," I said. "I'm sorry I got juice all over the place," I added.

"Don't worry about it," said Remus.

"You know, I'm glad we made up. Or, really, I'm glad I decided to forgive you," I said.

"Not as glad as we are," said Sirius. "But, not as glad as we are that Christmas holiday starts after today."

"Here, here," said Remus.

"What would I do without you four?" I said. "You always seem to cheer me up."

"You'd have killed yourself or probably would have been better off," Sirius said.

"Nice thought, Sirius. And would being better off uncorrupted come before, or after I drown myself in the lake?"

"Who said anything about being uncorrupted? Let's just enjoy this moment together." He put his arm around my shoulder in a brotherly fashion.

* * * * *

"So, Miss Evans," said a weary-looking Professor Dumbledore, "you had a dream about the notorious Dark Lord, Voldemort?"

I nodded.

I was sitting in Professor Dumbledore's office, having been compelled by my friends that I should tell the headmaster of my dream.

"And this dream occurred last week on Friday, the day before the attacks?"

I nodded again.

"Sir, I don't quiet understand why I had the premonition and not Professor Trelawney or someone else who's good at Divination."

"I don't understand either, Miss Evans," Dumbledore said with a small sigh.

"I don't know a lot about these kind of things, Sir," I said.

"Nor do I," Dumbledore said, with a benign smile on his face.

Dumbledore stood up and paced behind his desk. I looked at him thoroughly, from his many feet of silver hair and beard to his sweeping royal purple robes, to his pointed, elf-like shoes.

"Did someone want me to have the premonition? I mean, is that possible?" I asked. "Could Voldemort or one of his supporters have wanted me to See something?"

"I don't know," Dumbledore said, sitting down at his desk again. "It's hard to know when someone would have had to send you the images. Now that you bring that up, we can't rule out the possibility that one of the Dark Lord's supporters had the Sight and that he wanted you to get an image of what he was capable of. But, the question that remains is, why you in particular?"

I was shocked. After four years, I had grown accustom to the fact that Dumbledore had an answer for everything.

"Should I be worried?" I asked.

"No, no," he said, waving his hand jovially. "Maybe you did just have a premonition. I don't think Voldemort would want to send you anything, for he doesn't deal well with Muggle-borns."

"That's what I thought, too," I said. "I don't think I should be worried. I think that, for once, Professor Trelawney will be happy with me."

Dumbledore smiled, his azure eyes twinkling.

"I'm sure she will," he said with finality in his tone. "Have a good Christmas holiday, Miss Evans."

"Happy Christmas," I replied as I stepped out of Dumbledore's office and was carried by the moving spiral staircase to the hidden door.

I walked back up to Gryffindor tower, thinking about what I was going to do over Christmas hols, when Sirius ran up to me.

"It's finally here," he cried. "Christmas hols is finally here!"

"Yeah, and Christmas is a week away," I said. "What'd you get me?"

"Like I'm going to tell you that," Sirius said.

"I bet I can guess," I said in a singsong voice.

"I bet you can't," Sirius said, copying my singsong tone.

"Let's see," I said. "First year you gave me a book. Second year you gave me an eagle feather quill. Third year you got me that Muggle eight track of the band Led Zeppelin. And last year you gave me a basket of chocolates from Honeydukes. So this year I predict," I said, closing my eyes and putting my hands on my temples, "you're going to give me a pair of earrings."

Sirius stopped in his tracks.

"Damn," he said. "How'd you know?"

I smiled at him.

"Sirius, you have gotten too predictable. I love you all the same, but I know you like I know the back of my hand."

"Isn't the expression 'I know you like I know my wand'?"

"Muggle expression, dear."

We walked the rest of the way in silence.

"Well," Sirius said, once we were inside the common room. "I'm going to go get James' Invisibility Cloak. Looks like I have another visit to Hogsmeade to attend to. And just you wait until Christmas morning, Lily Evans, because the gift I am going to give you will make you rethink your theory of my being so predictable."

I shrugged and sat down by the fire with a book in my hands. Minutes later, Sirius came back down, holding the silvery Invisibility Cloak.

"Goodbye, Lils, I'll be back in a couple hours," Sirius said, walking towards the portrait hole.

"Goodbye, Sirius. Oh, and," -he turned and looked at me- "don't get me lingerie and make up for it as being unpredictable."

"Damn," he said, whirling around and stepping through the portrait hole.

I chuckled and returned to my book I was starting to read.

"What was that all about?" I heard James say. He was walking down the staircase to the boys' dormitories. "Is there something going on between you and Sirius? I distinctly heard you say something about lingerie."

"Oh, yes, James," I said in a melodramatic voice, "Sirius and I are not only soul mates, but we're hardcore, passionate lovers."

"After five years, we've corrupted your mind," James said, shaking his head. "Have you seen Remus?"

"Nope, sorry," I said. "Why?"

James hesitated.

"Well, we were supposed to start planning next month when Remus is...you know."

"Oh," I said. "Well, Sirius went off to Hogsmeade if he didn't tell you already. Supposedly I guessed the Christmas gift that he was going to give me, so he was going back to Hogsmeade to get me something different. I saw Remus before I met with Dumbledore. Remus said that he had a few things to do before he came back. Which reminds me, Remus looked really ill. More ill than usual. Or is it that I have let the times slip and the full moon is sooner than I think?"

"Well, I've noticed that too," said James, finally sitting down in a squashy armchair next to me. "He hasn't slept well either. He starts talking in his sleep and tossing and turning. I don't know if it only wakes me, or if everybody is awake and nobody says anything to him. The first night I told him that he was talking in his sleep, he couldn't remember anything."

"Well, try listening to the words that he says. Then we might be able to find out what his dreams are about."

James looked at me with a troubled expression.

"You want me to listen to Remus' talking in the middle of the night?"

"Yeah, there's nothing wrong with that, is there?"

"Well, one thing that I can make out of what he says is 'Lily, Lily'. Then he mumbles some words. What if this dream is the kind of thing that I don't want to hear?"

"Oh, James," I said. "Don't be ridiculous. Remus doesn't like me like that."

"That doesn't mean he can't have dreams about you like that," James said, arching an eyebrow."

"Anyway," I said, blushing slightly. "What else can you make out from his talking?"

"Well, he always says something like 'Hold me more' which then made me think that he was having those kind of dreams about you. But when I listen closely, he says 'Don't let...hold me more...take Lily...take Lily'."

"What does that mean? Whatever he said made absolute no sense."

"You're telling me. And I listen to it almost every night."

"Don't worry about it, if he ever wakes you up and you can't sleep, you can wake me up anytime," I said, turning back to my book. James just sat there, staring out the window.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

I looked up from my book to the portrait hole. Remus was walking towards us.

"Hey, Remus," I said.

"Where've you been, mate?" James exclaimed.

"Oh, I had to see Professor Trelawney for a few. I think she knows about...me. She keeps on insisting that I'm not going to be with you for much longer. What a loony old bat. Anyway," Remus said, looking around. "Where's Sirius?"

"Sirius went to Hogsmeade to get me some lingerie for Christmas."

"What?" Remus asked, his eyes widening.

"He's going into this thing where he thinks he's unpredictable. I mean, I guessed what he got me for Christmas, and he practically told me that I was right. So he said that he was going back to Hogsmeade to get me something that was unpredictable. Well, I know how Sirius' mind works. He was going back to Hogsmeade to get me lingerie for Christmas as a joke and pass it off as unpredictable."

"And he told you this?" Remus asked.

"No, not really. I told him not to get me lingerie and he just stalked out of here. He's too predictable, that man. You would think that I've known him forever."

"Well, you have known all of us for the better years of our lives," said James. "I've known Sirius since the day I was born, mind you, he's a month and a half older than me."

I looked around the empty common room. Everybody had gone home for Christmas holiday save James, Sirius, Remus, and I were the only ones from Gryffindor that had decided to stay. Peter went home to visit his family. As much as I wanted to go home, my parents were off to Hawaii. Petty had to stay at school over Christmas hols too.

"I'm so glad that we don't have homework," said James.

"Yeah, but you should be studying for the O.W.L.s," I replied.

"Lily, it's Christmas," James replied in a don't-bother-me-with-such-petty-things tone. "What are we going to do with this rather large common room all to ourselves?"

"Mm, we could practice dueling," Remus replied.

"Yeah, that could be a good idea," James said. "You know what? I think I'm going to find a new secret passage way or something, keep me from going out of my mind."

"I'll go with you," Remus said. "You want to come, Lily?"

"No thanks," I replied. "I think I will read for a few minutes. Then I'll probably send some owls or something. Have fun, and don't let Filch catch you this time."

"No worries, Lily," James said. "We're the best at not getting caught."

I watched as James and Remus strode out of the common room.

* * * * *

A few hours later, as I was studying for the O.W.L.s, Sirius came back into the common room, looking flushed from the cold. I jumped up, ran over to him, and threw my arms around him.

"Sirius!" I exclaimed. "I was so worried about you. It's after midnight."

"I'm okay Lils," he assured me. "Where're James and Remus?"

"They're getting ready for bed. I was so worried! You were gone for four hours!"

"Yeah, well, you're extremely hard to shop for," he teased. "Actually, the walk there is about an hour, so I spent two hours in Hogsmeade."

"What were you doing there for so long?" I asked.

"Christmas shopping, what else would I have done?"

"I don't know, but you really had me worried."

"I'm sorry, Lils," he said, kissing my cheek.

"Sirius, you sly dog," James said.

I let go of Sirius and turned to James, who was walking down the staircase in only his pajama bottoms. I felt a strong physical desire to wrap my arms around him and never let him go.

"Jamesie-boy," Sirius said, "don't you know that that's what I am? I'm a sly dog. Literally, too."

"Whatever," James glanced at me and did a double take. I was a bit confused at what he started for. I looked down at myself.

I was wearing a silk, thin-strapped nightgown that modestly flowed down to my knees and clung to my curves. It was a rather warm in the castle for a December night and I was sitting by the fire, so I didn't feel like putting on a dressing gown. Besides, James, Remus, Peter, and Sirius had seen me in my pajamas before.

James stared for a good thirty seconds until Sirius leaned towards James and said, "Get a good look, James, because you're more than likely never going to see that again."

James flushed bright red; I could feel my cheeks going pink.

"Going to bed now. Goodnight," I said.

I turned around and walked briskly up to my dormitory.

I shut the door and leaned against it.

"Okay, Lily, this isn't the time nor the place," I said to myself out loud.

I don't get it. He ignores me for four years and suddenly decides now that he going to be giving me looks? Not going to happen. No, no, no. I have Howard and he has Britannia.

Although it did feel kind of good to see him eyeing me like that. And the chest and abs he has. Oh!

"Urgh! Stop that," I scolded myself as I extinguished the lamps and crawled into bed.

That night, I couldn't get James to stop running through my mind. His bare chest, the way he looked at me, the way he blushed and quickly turned his head with a nervous smile on his lips. Every time I tried to push thoughts of James out of my head, new thoughts would pop right back in.

* * * * *

Voices woke me.

I could see pale light flowing through the window, which meant it was a little before dawn.

"Should we tell her?"

"It would only frighten her if she new the truth."

"Then we'll tell her a half-truth."

"Guys, were not going to lie to her."

Silence.

The voices were coming from right outside my dormitory door. My ears strained to hear more.

"Sirius, it wouldn't be lying to her, we'd only tell half of what we know."

"That's not right, I think we should tell her everything."

"Well, if that's what you want to do, Remus, you go right on ahead."

"Then I will."

I closed my eyes and pretended to be sleeping.

I felt someone kneel on my bed a hand rub my arm.

"Lily," Remus said. "Lily, wake up, we have something we need to tell you."

I opened my eyes and sat up.

"What's wrong?" I asked, running a hand through my auburn hair.

"Remember when I was telling you about the dreams Remus has been having?" James asked. I nodded. "Well, last night, Remus had it again. Except this time, he said things a little more clearly, or I listened more carefully."

I looked at Remus.

"I don't remember any of it," he said with a shrug.

"He distinctly said 'Don't let Voldemort take Lily'," James said.

"Why would Voldemort want to get me?" I said. "It's not like he wants to recruit me or that kind of thing, I'm a Muggle-born. Right now, they say he's working on Muggles and wizards that won't join him. I think I'm pretty safe."

"I dunno," Sirius said. "Lils, I think you should at least try to be careful, and don't go anywhere outside of the castle without someone being with you."

"Sirius, I'm not five years old, I can take care of myself."

"Lily, this is Voldemort we're talking about. It's not the best idea," Remus said.

"Well, I still don't think I have anything to worry about, especially with you three with me," I said, seeing the pained look in the three pairs of eyes.

"Thank you, Lily," James said. "That means a lot to us. More than you know. Since you've grown up in the Muggle world, you have no idea how awful it can be for witches and wizards in the Dark Times."

"Have you heard of the Holocaust?" I asked. Sirius and James looked slightly confused.

"That was one of the worst things that had ever happened during World War II," Remus said quietly. I nodded. "What Muggles can do to each other is far worse than what wizards can do to each other."

There was silence for a few moments when I heard a tapping noise.

"What's that?" asked James.

"I think it's coming from the window," Sirius said.

I looked out the window and saw a gray owl perched on the window ledge.

"Oh, it's a post owl," I said, getting up and walking towards the window. "It's a little early for the post, though, isn't it?"

I opened the window and the owl fluttered in over to James.

"For me?" James asked it. The owl hooted an obvious yes. "Thank you."

James took the letter off its leg and the owl took off out the window again.

"Hey, it's from Brit," exclaimed James. He started reading the letter with excitement, but soon, that excitement died away and sadness and anger filled his eyes. He passed the letter to Sirius and looked up, his face ashen.

"She -- she wants to -- to break up with me," James said quietly.