Disclaimer- I don't own the characters etc. J.K. does. However, I DO own the plotline.

a/n- it would be nice to get some reviews. It seems as though I'm writing this for nobody.

Chapter 3- The visitation
Sirius lay in the hospital bed that night, tossing about, waiting until midnight. The room was silent, apart from the soft sighs from neighbouring beds and the occasional moan. The hospital door creaked open, and Sirius immediately stopped his restless dance. Soft footsteps were heard to enter the room and pause. Sirius strained to listen to the intruder. Haltingly, they made their way over to his bed. Sirius' breath caught in his throat as he heard the advancement. A tiny chink of light from a candle entered the confines of his bed as the person opened his curtains. He sat up in the bed, groping for his wand on the bedside table.

"Sirius?" whispered the timid voice of Lily Evans.

"Oh my God! Lily, what are you doing here? You scared me half to death!"

Lily Evans, clothed in a burgundy dressing gown, her hair hanging loose down her back, entered the confines surrounding Sirius. She placed the candle on his bedside table, illuminating each of them. Sirius was still breathing rapidly from her sudden entrance. Her pale skin seemed to glow in the candlelight and her green eyes met his own. She was standing awkwardly beside him, shifting from one foot to the other.

"You alright, Lily?"

"I'm fine, just a bit cold really. Can I sit down?"

"Sure." He pulled back the covers to the bed and moved up to give her room. Lily eyed this action and hesitantly sat on the very edge of the bed.

"I don't bite, you know. Well, I do, but I won't bite you. You said you were cold didn't you?"

She smiled and got into the bed, pulling the covers over them both. She wriggled about a bit, making herself comfortable before she lay down and faced Sirius.

"That's much better," she said, with a twinkle in her eye. The bed was very narrow, so Sirius lent up on one elbow and looked down at Lily.

"This is a strange time to go and visit the invalids, Lily. Why did you come, if not for the sole purpose of scaring me half to death?"

She laughed quietly, "I am sorry, my friend. I didn't come here with the express wish of scaring the hell out of you."

"Hmmm, I believe you. But was there any particular reason for this sojourn?"

Lily sighed and traced the pattern on the pillow with her fingers. Sirius found himself observing her troubled countenance closely. He wanted to take her into his arms and tell her everything would be alright, but, of course, that was impossible, so he contented himself with smiling encouragingly.

"Sirius, truthfully now, does James really care for me?"

"Of course he cares for you Lily. We all do!"

"It's just that... you're his best friend, you know him the best. I need the truth. Everybody knows how many people he's been out with, I ... need to know if I'm just one of those girls who he will forget about."

She looked up expectantly at Sirius, whose forehead was creased into a slight frown.

"The thing is though, he's moving so fast as well. I mean, a few months ago, I couldn't stand him. But now, he's even talking of marriage! I don't know what to do with myself around him. Was he like this with the others?"

"Well, he has been obsessive over one or two... Jesus, Lily! I'm not the one to come to with these types of things!" he exclaimed.

"Marriage?!" he asked, the full meaning of the word striking him, all at once.

"Yes," she nodded, "as soon as we leave Hogwarts."

Sirius stared into space for a while, shocked beyond reason.

"B-but, you're still young! Whoa, I- I'm sorry, this has just come as a bit of a shock."

"Sirius, I just, I don't know if I'm ready to commit to James and James alone, forever! And, in a little while, I don't think that James will want to wake up to my face for the rest of his life."

Sirius frowned. "Is there somebody else Lily?"

"I'm not sure, Sirius. Possibly, but I know nothing can come of it."

"Why not?"

"Because I know that it would break James' heart. I couldn't bear to live with the knowledge that I had done that. He is deadly serious about this marriage as well, Sirius, just how long he will remain serious is beyond me."

"Well, Lily, I think we both know the reason why James wants to marry you." She looked at him questioningly.

"Voldemort."

At the mere mention of his name, Lily shuddered and looked downcast.

"Are we all going through with it though?"

"I know that I am. I mean, what else can I do? I'd rather join Dumbledore's Order than sit at home and watch. And I'm pretty sure that if I join, James will. We all know that there's a small chance of survival, so James probably wants to keep you safe in his own way."

"I suppose. It's just that, I couldn't bear to marry him and then be parted from him. It would be too much to handle... I'd go mad, Sirius!"

"Well, do you have to marry him?"

"I don't have to... but I wouldn't mind it. He's changed so much; he's not a cocky, arrogant, bastard anymore. I do love him, Sirius, just how much, I'm not entirely sure."

"I understand."

"Promise me you won't tell anybody this. Please, Sirius."

"I promise Lily. I just hope you make your mind up soon, for all our sakes."

"You know, you're not making this better."

"Oh, right, sorry. Remember though, Remus and I will always support you, whatever you decide. Even Peter will, I suppose."

"Poor Peter. Without you three, he'd be helpless," she said, giggling slightly.

"He's been acting strange lately. I don't know what's come over him."

Sirius glanced over to the bedside cabinet, where his Muggle watch lay, illuminated by the light of Lily's candle. It was fifteen minutes until midnight.

"Hey, Lily, I don't mean to be rude, but it's been a hard day, I need some rest."

"It's a lot for me too, you know! You're not the one who's being bombarded with wedding ideas day and night," she said, smiling.

"Broke my leg and arm, Lily."

"Right, I'd best be going then. Hadn't I? I know when I'm not wanted. I'll see you tomorrow, Sirius."

He laughed at this and settled back down, under the pretence of going to sleep. With that, Lily reached over and kissed him softly on the cheek. "Thanks, Sirius."

Bellatrix Black sat in her dormitory, completely satisfied with the night's work. She had passed Lily Evans by the Entrance Hall, earlier that evening.

####

"Lily! Please, come quickly. I- I don't know what's wrong with her!" pleaded Bella, tearfully.

"What's wrong Bellatrix?"

"It's Lisbeth Broom! She's fallen down the great staircase and she's badly hurt. There's nobody else about! Please, help me!"

"Of course I'll help, Bella," she said, a look of concern spreading across her face.

"Where exactly is she hurt?"

"She's bashed her head and she won't wake up!"

"We must be quick then. Quickly, go fetch Madame Provideo."

"Right." Bella hurried off in the direction of the hospital wing as Lily made her way to the Great Staircase.
Once she got there, she spotted a pile of robes at the foot of the stairs and made her way towards them.

"Lisbeth? Can you hear me, Lisbeth?" Lily reached the robes and looked down, confused. There was nobody there, just a pile of Slytherin laundry.

"What on Earth...?"

"Specto," whispered a voice behind her. Lily's mind went blank; she forgot why she was at the foot of the stairs, where she had been going, everything.

"W-what?"

"Oh, Lily! Are you alright?" asked the concerned voice of Bellatrix.

"W-where was I going?"

"I don't know, perhaps to see Sirius?" asked Bella, grinning.

"Yes... yes I was," she whispered, her thoughts returning. "Where's Lisbeth?"

"She must have been alright after all. I'll bet she's gone back to the common room."

"What on Earth is all this laundry doing here?"

"House-elf must have dropped it. You'd better go, Lily, I'll take care of it." Lily didn't question the thoughtfulness of Bella's actions. She merely turned away and walked towards the hospital wing.

Bellatrix watched Lily leave. Everything that Lily saw, she could see. The scratching on that door, the uneven step right there. Bellatrix saw Lily enter the hospital wing. She saw everything played out in front of her. She was right about that fool, this just confirmed his secret.

####

"Shh, Lupin! Put the cloak on quickly!"

"Hang on! I just need to..." "Remus!"

"Fine, fine." Remus dived under James' invisibility cloak, just as Frank Longbottom sat up, trying to spot where the voices had come from.

"H-hello? Who's there?"

Silence.

They must have waited, 10, 15 minutes before Frank finally settled down to sleep again.

"You're so noisy, Remus."

"I am not! You're the one who kept making me hurry up!"

"Shush."

"I am shushed."

The pair made their way down to the Entrance Hall, where they saw Lily, looking drained and confused, walking past them, back towards the Gryffindor Tower.

"Li..." Before James could continue, Remus had trodden on his foot. Lily looked around to where they were standing, but decided she was hearing things and turned away once more.

"We're invisible, you prick."

"I know! I'm not stupid! Let's just carry on walking."

They left the Castle and hurried over to the Quidditch pitch, where they spotted a great black dog sitting there patiently.

"Sirius!" The dog morphed before their eyes into Sirius Black.

The transformation was quick and in a moment he was bounding towards them. Remus and James had discarded the Invisibility Cloak, and so could hug their friend properly without injury.

"Thank God you didn't tell Peter."

"How come?"

"He's just been annoying me more than usual lately. He seems- extra twitchy... I don't know..."

"So... what are we doing?"

"Well... I thought that we could wonder around Hogsmeade for a little bit?"

"Sirius, Moony doesn't transform until next week! What's this all about?"

"I just felt like getting out of the Castle for a while."

"You're insane man. Totally wild."

"Well, of course I am! I mean, how many other people do you know with a flying motorbike?"

"Granted."

"So, are we going to go or are you going to mooch about the Castle all night, observing the different breeds of Prefects?"

"Hey! I resent that!"said Remus.

The trio laughed at Remus, the only one amongst them to be made a prefect.

"And here with us today we have the lesser- spotted werewolf prefect!" Remus grinned, shyly at the comment.

"So, are we going out or not?"

"I'm alright with it Siz, Remus?"

"Well, it would be interesting... so long as we're back before dawn."

"Remus, cloak yourself." Sirius commanded in a terrible tone.

And with that, he transformed back into his dog form. In the place of James was a mighty stag, and Lupin had completely disappeared.

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