"Why will she sit with him and not us?" Sirius inquired as he observed his sister at the Hufflepuff table. He turned forward with a huff, "I thought we were okay."

"I'm sure you are," Remus countered. "But you did spend any and all free time you had with her while she was on bed rest. She's probably just annoyed with you."

Sirius rolled his eyes as he stabbed his food rather aggressively, "We weren't speaking for a year. I was making up for lost time."

James rolled his eyes at this. He knew his best friend could be rather dramatic but this was taking it a tad too far if he was honest.

Then again, James knew the real reason she wasn't sitting with them. Well, part of the real reason. As they both had agreed, they stayed clear of each other whenever they could. And it was harder than he thought it would be.

Even though he had only really just started to talk to the girl for the past month, he had begun to enjoy her company. Despite the fact that she spent most of it telling him to leave her alone.

"But it's Halloween!" he exclaimed. "We always spend Halloween together!"

"Not last year," James countered.

Sirius narrowed his eyes at the boy, "That was cold, even for you Prongs."

"Hmm," he replied, placing his fork down. "Just spend the time in Hogsmeade with her," he suggested, "It's not as though you had any plans." Peter laughed at this but quickly covered his mouth. James turned to the boy in confusion and Sirius rolled his eyes. He looked between the two of them and raised an eyebrow, "Am I missing something?"

"You're missing nothing," Sirius replied simply, "I'll just invite her to hang with us in Hogsmeade then."

As soon as lunch was over, Sirius found Del and followed her to the infirmary. "Come with us to Hogsmeade," Sirius suggested as he sat down on one of the empty beds.

"Can't," she replied. "The wheelchair won't make it through the snow and I definitely won't be able to walk."

It was odd, the more she thought about it. She would start to feel better at the end of the week and then come Monday and it was like she was back to square one again.

"If I'm stuck in this wheelchair a second longer..." Del began and Sirius rolled his eyes. She hadn't realized how much she was missing out on when she wasn't able to walk. Not that there weren't things she could do in the chair. Harry had made sure she was still able to a lot of the things she did before but there was only so much he could do.

If she was ever able to walk again, she would never take it for granted ever again.

"It's your own fault you're too weak to use the crutches," he countered. It was true. Mostly.

Physically, she was fine. All signs said she was the picture of health. Except that she still couldn't walk. Pomfrey said it was a psychological thing but if you asked Del, that was bullshit. She wanted nothing more than out of the chair but she wasn't making progress.

She groaned, placing her head in her hands. "Have you thought about at least trying crutches again?" Sirius inquired. "Maybe you've built up enough strength rolling around in the wheelchair."

"He makes a good point," Pomfrey spoke up and Del jumped at her voice. "We can try again if you'd like."

"I don't-"

"Yes," Sirius interrupted.

Del glared at her brother but eventually nodded in agreement, "I guess it wouldn't hurt."

Pomfrey grabbed the crutches from the closet and Del frowned when she saw they weren't the ones she had been trying before. "I was talking to a friend at St. Mungo's and they suggested these. They're supposed to have more forearm support making them easier to use."

She stood up from her wheelchair and Sirius grabbed her arm as she steadied herself. She slipped her arm into each of the holes and held herself.

"Try to walk," Pomfrey suggested and Del listened. She carefully made her way across the room, surprised with how much easier these crutches were from the last ones she used. "If you're comfortable with it, we can probably make the switch permanent."

Del nodded eagerly, "Anything to get out of the chair."

"Okay," she smiled, "I'll keep the wheelchair on hand in case you ever have an off day." She crossed the room and grabbed the chair, folding it up, "I have extra crutches in case anything goes wrong with those ones." She then re-entered her office.

"And you know what this means?" Sirius grinned and Del raised an eyebrow. "You're coming to Hogsmeade!"

"I am regretting this with every passing minute," Del announced as she yanked the crutch out of the snow only to have it fly everywhere. She turned to her brother, "How did I let you talk me into this?"

"Because I'm just charming that way," Sirius replied with a smirk before nodding his head at a building ahead of them. "Let's go to Three Broomsticks so you get a break."

Del nodded in agreement before she and James followed after her brother. Peter was off doing who knows what while Remus had decided to stay behind and study for N.E.W.T's. Things were a little awkward only she was certain that Sirius had no idea. But James definitely did.

James quickly caught the door before it could hit Del and Sirius looked back apologetically, "Sorry, I forgot."

Del rolled her eyes before making her way to a table, flinching slightly as the crutch pinched her arm again. She leaned them against the table as she took a seat, James sitting down in the chair diagonal from her.

Sirius joined them a moment later, three butterbeers in hand. He placed them down and Del noted that on the sides of the mugs were little jack-o-lanterns, probably in honor of Halloween.

She placed her hands on either side of the cup and felt her hands start to dethaw significantly. After a moment, she took a sip of the hot liquid, not even bothered as it burned her tongue because it was better than being numb.

"You're going to hurt yourself," James spoke up and both Sirius and Del turned to look at him. It was the first time he had spoken directly to her since they had left Hogwarts. He cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Just be careful."

Del raised an eyebrow but didn't question it as she placed her mug down. "I have to go," Sirius announced abruptly, confusing the other two. He stood up quickly, "I'll see you both later." And then he ran out.

"Sirius!" Del shouted after him but the door closed behind him and didn't open again. "Merlin, I'm going to kill him one of these days."

"Just make sure you hide the body well," James suggested, raising his mug of butter beer before taking a sip.

"You have a little..." she trailed off, pointed to above his lip where he had a whipped cream mustache.

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, "Thanks."

"You can go you know," she informed him. "I'm sure you have people you'd much rather hang out with and I just have to stop at Honeydukes before heading back."

"It's alright," he shook his head, "I'll stay with you."

"I don't want to keep you," she pointed out. "I'm sure you would much rather be going to find Lily then babysitting the disabled."

"Yeah," he laughed a little, running a hand through his hair, messing it up a little. Del noticed that he tended to do that when he was nervous or uncomfortable. She assumed it was the latter. "I've been thinking about putting the whole Lily thing to rest."

"No," she gasped dramatically and the few in the store turned to look at her. "But you were so close!"

"Was I?" he mused. Neither of them were sure what it was but something had shifted and it suddenly felt less awkward.

"Closer than you'd think," she shrugged, leaning back in her seat. "I don't think you should give up just yet."

He eyed her for a moment, "You don't?"

"Nope," she replied, popping the 'p' for affect, "You might as well stick it through till the end."

"Seems pointless."

"How about this," she began, sticking her arms through the holes in the crutches and forcing herself to stand up. "I'll patrol with you tonight and we can discuss your next move."

"My next move?" he asked in confusion as he too stood up, pushing his chair in.

They both made their way to the door and James opened it for her to leave. "It'll be a whole thing," she explained, "We can call it Operation Lily." He raised an eyebrow at her as they walked to Honeydukes, "What? Too on the nose for you Potter?" He nodded, "Fine. Operation Flower."

"I'm not sure that's much better," James pointed out as he opened the door to Honeydukes.

The two entered the candy shop, both grateful to be out of the cold. Something caught Del's eye and her jaw dropped, confusing James. "Are you okay?"

"That's Marlene McKinnon!" Del shouted and James was quick to cover the girl's mouth and pull her behind a table of candies. He didn't remove his hand as they both peered over the stack of goodies to observe the two.

Sirius scratched the back of his neck as he usually did when he was uncomfortable before leaning against the wall. Marlene laughed at something he said before leaning in toward him. He appeared as though he was going to make a move when there was a clattering from next to them.

"Sorry," a kid apologized after having knocked over a bunch of candies.

Sirius looked back at the girl and pointed to the door, saying something and she nodded. James removed his hand from Del's mouth and placed it on the small of her back to help guide her away faster. It didn't help much.

Lucky for them, they remained out of sight as the two left. As soon as they were gone, Del turned to James with a grin, "That's why he ran out so fast! He was going to be late for his date!"

"And that would be what Peter laughed at this morning," James concluded, although mostly to himself, "I'm surprised, he's not good at keeping secrets."

Del made her way through the store, "This is so rich!" She reached up to grab a chocolate bar but stumbled. James steadied her before reaching up and grabbing it for her. "Thank you," she smiled as he held it for her. "I have to restock."

"Restock?" he inquired.

"I kind of burned through all of what Remus gave me," she explained as James grabbed a few things for himself. "I think I'm addicted now."

"Then should I stop you from getting it?" James asked. "I don't know how I feel about aiding an addict."

"I guarantee you'll feel a lot worse if you try and put it back," she informed him and he put his hands up in faux surrender before he placed the items on the countertop where the cash register was.

Del moved to make an attempt at grabbing her money but James stopped her. "I can pay for you,'' he told her, "It's probably easier that way."

"No," she shook her head, "I've got it."

"You can pay next time," he suggested and she nodded in agreement. She couldn't help but like that there would be a next time despite the fact that up until about a half an hour ago, they had planned on avoiding each other at all costs.

"You're not bad company, Potter," Del informed him as they made their way back to the castle. Occasionally Del's crutch would slip but James was always quick enough to stop her from falling.

"You're not too bad yourself," he replied with a smug expression. "Here," he said after steadying her. He gestured to his back, "Hop on."

She hesitated, "I'll crush you."

He glanced at her with a raised eyebrow, "I think I can handle it." She huffed before she placed her hands on his shoulders and he lifted her up. "See, light as a feather."

She moved the crutches so she was holding them in one hand, "Yeah, we'll see how you feel after a minute."

"From what I can recall, your brother doesn't want us around each other," he reminded her, jumping back into their previous conversation.

"What my brother doesn't know, won't hurt him," she pointed out as they entered the castle, grateful for the warmth that immediately greeted them.

"Delphinus!" someone shouted from ahead and Del looked over to find Regulus standing there.

"Speaking of," she huffed. She looked down at James, "I'll see you later." The boy nodded before carefully placing her down. He glanced over at Regulus before saying a quick goodbye.

"You were with James in Hogsmeade?" Regulus asked anxiously, glancing over at the boy who was now making his way back to the Gryffindor common room. "I thought you weren't going to hang around him anymore."

Del shrugged, "Sirius ditched us so we decided to hang out for a little while. What's the big deal?"

"Mom doesn't like it when you're around him."

She rolled her eyes at this, "Really, Regulus?" She started to adjust her crutches, "I thought I was clear before."

"She jinxed the letter," Regulus announced suddenly and Del grew confused. She turned around to face him and waited for him to continue. "Mom," he explained, "She jinxed the letter she sent you. It makes it so that the more time you spend near Potter, the weaker you become."

Del closed her eyes for a moment, shaking her head as she tried to process the new information. "Why?"

He frowned, "Because she didn't want you to leave like Sirius did."

"Oh, that's bullshit and you know it," Del scoffed. "She doesn't give a rat's ass about me."

"She thought it was the only way to ensure that you obeyed her."

"We have classes together!" Del exclaimed. She shook her head and rubbed her temples. "What am I supposed to do? We're both the Heads of our houses, I can't stay away from him completely."

"I don't know," Regulus frowned. "I tried to talk her out of it. Convince her to fix it but she refused."

"But you knew," she accused. "You told James to stay away from me. You knew that they were going to do this and you said nothing. You should have said something!"

"I didn't know what to say!" he countered. And they both seemed to realize they were drawing attention to themselves so they lowered their voices. "I knew you were mad at me for what I did. I didn't know how I was supposed to talk to you after what happened."

"I can't do this with you anymore," she scoffed. Del shook her head in disbelief, "I'm stuck using these stupid crutches for the rest of the year and that's because of you, Regulus. This has nothing to do with you letting those people into the school but has everything to do with the fact that you're so terrified of your parents that you wouldn't warn me that this was going to happen."

"Del, just wait-" he tried before she shook her head.

"No, I'm done," she informed him before she readjusted her crutches and got away from the boy.

"Hey," James spoke up from behind Del at the Hufflepuff table. He had checked to make sure Regulus wasn't there before approaching just to be safe. Del looked up at him in confusion and he held out the bag from Honeydukes. "I forgot that I had your stuff too."

She took it from him with a tight smile, "Thank you."

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "Are you okay?"

She nodded, "I'm fine."

"I'll see you tonight then?"

"Actually," she began warily, "I'm not really up for it. Today kind of wore me out."

"Oh, yeah," he nodded understandingly although he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. "Another time then."

"Another time," she agreed but it didn't seem like something she would make good on.