SGR's Note: Well, everyone rejoice because it's the return of one character and the dismissal of another.
"Me and my baby get along
Got a lot of love, got it going on
I wouldn't let go no for anything
Something bout how the highway feels
When you drive along on your freedom wheels
You know any destination will kill the frustration."
-Good Time, Jessica Andrews
Those Who Have Thrice Defied Him
Chapter Nine
"PRONGS!"
James' head popped up just as Sirius came bounding into the kitchen. He jumped to his feet and then jumped on Sirius, the two of them hopping in a circle, laughing, enjoying the moment, and each other.
"Harry, sometimes I wonder about the sexuality of your father," Lily sighed, picking up the baby out of his carrier.
"Ahem..."
"Yeah..."
Lily rolled her eyes, but truly was glad to see Sirius. After another week alone at their new house near Manchester, James had persuaded Dumbledore to let Sirius stay with them for a few days at a time, as long as he used a Portkey through Dumbledore's office. James had profusely argued that Sirius would be any danger to them (because of the Dark Lord, anyways), and the older man had finally relented. The moment he had found out, Sirius was on his way over to visit his favorite couple.
Sirius spied Lily, who was watching them amused, and without any warning, he ran over to her and planted a huge kiss on her mouth, taking care not to hurt the baby in her arms.
"Don't think I didn't miss my favorite girl, Lily," Sirius winked, gently swiping Harry from her arms. "Or my favorite godson. Damn! He's huge!"
"Sirius," Lily said, warningly, rubbing the slobber from her mouth, and watching him like a hawk with her baby.
"Lily, the kid isn't able to understand anything, let alone repeat swearwords," Sirius rolled his eyes and held the baby in front of him with two hands.
"Sirius, be careful! He's not able to hold his head up yet!"
"Prongs, go get those damn suitcases, and hurry," Sirius sighed, and brought the baby back into his arms. "She's worse than you said in your letters."
"What suitcases?" Lily asked.
"Accio suitcases," James said, lazily. "It's about time anyways."
"Time for what? What are those for?" she asked. "What's going on?"
"Your vacation," Sirius announced. "James is sick and tired of you being so uptight, so he's sending you to a spa for a week with Emmeline to relax."
"V-vacation?!" Lily blinked. "I can't go on a vacation! What if something happens?!"
"That's why I'm here!" Sirius said, proudly.
"Oh Merlin..." Lily groaned. "I really can't go! Neither of you know anything about babies, and the baby needs me-"
"You have your little pump...thing," James said, looking uncomfortable. "So you can...do your thing and send it back to me via owl."
After their row, Lily had looked into alternatives to continuous breast feeding, which had left her feeling drained. She had been snooping around a Muggle store when she came upon a wonderful invention called the breast pump. She was now able to prepare several bottles so that James could take over the feedings when she wanted to sleep. James, however, had found the whole process a bit disgusting, so he preferred not to speak of it more than he had to.
"But...!" Lily said, unfortunately finding herself incapable of fighting.
"Oh, it's time for you to go," James said, handing her the handle to the suitcase, as well as slinging the personal bag over her shoulder. "Five, four-"
"James, I don't like this-"
"Three, two-"
"Really!"
"Have fun!" He said, kissing her quickly before she felt herself being pulled in by her navel.
***
Lily landed with an "oof" on the floor of Dumbledore's office. He looked up from the parchment he was reading and smiled at her.
"Ah, Mrs. Potter," he smiled. Lily still couldn't get used to that salutation. "Ms. Vance is waiting at the bottom of the stairs."
She was still disoriented, but stood and walked to the door.
"Oh, and Mrs. Potter?"
"Yes, sir?" Lily said, turning from the door.
"Be sure and enjoy your vacation," Dumbledore nodded, going back to his reading. Lily nodded and walked out the door, still completely unaware of what was going on. She exited the staircase to find Emmeline waiting for her with two suitcases of her own.
"Lily!" she gasped, nearly throwing herself on her friend. "Oh, you don't know how much I've missed you!"
Lily was shocked; Emmeline was usually more composed than this.
"Oh, you don't know how horrid it's been around here. The only people I really know are Sirius and Remus, and you know Sirius and Remus..." she blushed and paused in her quick rambling. "Well, I'll tell you about him later. But, the new Aurors are a bunch of stuck up little...they have no idea what it's really like out there."
"I'm sure!" Lily said, a bit overwhelmed. A few seconds ago, she was eating breakfast, now she was standing at Hogwarts with her old school friend.
"Oh, well, we'll talk later," she said. "Now, it's off to the spa!"
"I must admit, I'm very confused," Lily said, shaking her head. "What is this all about?"
"Let's walk and talk," Emmeline said, taking the handle of her suitcase. "You see, the other day I received the most heartfelt letter from James, practically begging me to come take you away somewhere and give the poor man a break. He said that you had been hovering over that baby without any thought to anyone else, let alone yourself, and that he would cover the both of us, if I would just-"
Lily's face was steadily growing darker. "Oh really."
"Lily, don't be cross with the poor man. He's worried about you," Emmeline said, as they walked down the main staircases. Classes were in session, so no one was walking about the halls. "And besides, you have a free week at a spa, and so do I."
"What spa are we going to?" Lily asked, the beginnings of excitement forming in her stomach.
"Since your husband so graciously said 'any' spa," Emmeline said, mischievously.
"Which one?" Lily gasped.
"Only Ricacara y Demasiado!" Emmeline said, letting out a very Emmeline-like giggle.
"You mean that very expensive place that near Barcelona?" Lily said, shocked. She had been out of the loop, but even she had heard of the spa that was said to have the most wonderful treatment wizard gold could buy.
"Sí, sí, señora!" Emmeline laughed. "For one week, you and I will be basking in the rays of the Mediterranean sun while bathing in the most exquisite mud baths and being massaged by the most beautiful of Spanish men!"
"And James...approved of this?" Lily smiled. "He must really love me..."
"Well," Emmeline said, as they approached the main door to Hogwarts. "He said to send him the bill when we were done...so he doesn't quite know where we're going."
"Oh, Em, you are bad," Lily laughed, and as she stepped out into the late fall sun, she suddenly felt lighter, and made a vow to thank her tactless husband for his thoughtfulness.
And then she thought of Harry.
And the lightness was gone.
***
"So...what do we do now?" Sirius said, eyeing Harry as if he were a foreign object. The two of them had migrated into the living room where James was sitting with Harry in his lap, laying face-up on his stomach and Sirius was sprawled on a chair on the other side of the room.
"Well, you are going to tell me every bloody thing that I've missed," James said, as Harry took his father's fingers in his mouth and sucked on them. "Dumbledore only tells me what I 'need-to-know' because he doesn't have time to fill me in on everything."
Sirius was eyeing Harry. "Is that sanitary?"
"I washed my hands," James said. "He likes it."
"No, I mean, sanitary for you."
"Sirius, he's a baby, what does he have?" James rolled his eyes. "So tell me, what's been going on?"
"No, I mean, he's really slobbering on you," Sirius said.
"Yes, I know this, tell me what's been going on!" James growled.
"Fine, fine," Sirius sighed, leaning back on the chair and stretching. "Well, to tell you the truth, nobody's really sure why you and the Longbottoms just up and disappeared. I'm sure you know," Sirius grumbled, as if he didn't like being left out of such important matters, "But even the Death Eaters are in the dark. Apparently, Voldemort doesn't...well, we don't know what he's thinking, but he's not telling anybody anything."
"That's odd," James said, thinking to himself. Harry had reached up and was grasping his hand with his tiny hands.
"Damn, that's amazing, isn't it?" Sirius said, shaking his head and leaning forward. "You created that, mate!"
"What?" James said, looking down at Harry and smiling. He placed a small kiss on the black tuft of hair. "Yeah, he's my little mate." He straightened up and looked back to Sirius. "How many other people have died since we've been gone?"
"Scores," Sirius shook his head. "We just can't protect them all. Snivellus is...well...not as good as Dumbledore wants him to be. He thinks that a lot of these killings are spontaneous. Like they just drop an owl saying 'Hey, I'm bored, let's go kill someone' or something like that."
James shook his head and held Harry a bit tighter.
"'f course, we've stopped a fair few," Sirius said. "But it's like, every day, someone else is dying. The Prophet's turned into a regular obituary."
"Damn, I wish I was out there," James sighed.
"No, you don't," Sirius shook his head. "What would happen to Harry and Lily?"
"Well, I daresay you'd have to marry Lily and raise up Harry as your own," James laughed. "Although, I don't know if Lily would have you..."
"Please," Sirius jested, flipping back his perfect hair. "Did you not see the way she reacted when I kissed her? She adores me."
"Right, right," James said, his laughter dying a bit. "You...you do know that if anything should happen to us...I want you to-"
Sirius waved James off with a wave of his hand. "I claimed that responsibility a long time ago. Somebody's got to teach the kid how to behave improperly. Lily's got you whipped, and Moony's no good. And Peter's...well, between us mate, I wouldn't want Peter near your kid."
"Why's that?" James asked, nervous.
"Man is a whimp," Sirius scoffed. "I mean, yeah, he's good for food and stuff like that. But other than that, he's got no uses."
"This is true," James said, turning Harry around and facing him. "Harry, you'd best learn all you can from your Uncle Padfoot, you got me?"
Harry dangled happily from his father's arms, and a toothless grin broke out on his face followed by a squeal of laughter, Harry's first.
"You see that?" James sniffed, bringing his son to his chest. "Harry knows who his daddy is."
"Yes, but he needs to be better acquainted with his Uncle Padfoot," Sirius said, standing up. "So hand 'im over."
***
"Aaaaaah," Lily sighed, barely moving her mouth. The mud mask on her face was drying, and she couldn't see anything with the cucumbers over her eyes. But the rest of her body was lying in a giant tub full of mud with a Bubbling Charm cast on it and she could hear the waters of the Mediterranean and everything was perfect.
"Ditto," Emmeline sighed, her words restricted by her lack of use of her cheek muscles. "I hope you do something nice for your husband."
"Oh believe me," Lily said, reaching up and rubbing the mud over her shoulders. "He's going to be thanked."
Lily could hear Emmeline shifting and she heard the splash of water.
"Ok, I can't not talk about it anymore," Emmeline said, and Lily took the cucumbers off of her eyes to look at her friend. She had washed the clay off of her mouth and cheeks, so she could speak, and her eyes were sparkling with mirth. "Remus and I are shagging."
"What?!" Lily cried, sitting up in the mud. She felt her mask on her face crack, but this was too juicy for her to care.
"Well, it started one evening when we were working late on some papers. He and I decided to move into the cafeteria because there was more space and we could work together, and have some company. Well, I go over to the machine to get some coffee and he comes over to get some as well. We're standing there, talking..." Emmeline bit her lip.
"And then?" Lily said, putting her chin on the edge of the tub.
"Well, then we just had the most amazing night of sex we'd ever had. Right there on the cafeteria table," Emmeline sighed.
Lily's jaw dropped.
"I mean, it had been building for weeks," Emmeline emphasized the point by rolling her eyes. "I expected him to ask me to dinner any night, and I was clearly just ready to shag the damn bastard, until that happened."
"When did that happen?" Lily gasped.
"Maybe two months ago?" Emmeline said. "It was after you were put into isolation."
"Wow," Lily sighed and leaned back into her tub. "I missed all the good gossip, didn't I?"
Emmeline nodded. "Oh, it's good to have a girl back. I've had that on my chest for ages with no one to tell it to."
"Does anyone else know?" Lily asked.
"Nope," Emmeline said with satisfaction. "And it had better stay that way."
"Who am I going to tell?" she rolled her eyes.
"Your husband, who will tell Sirius, who will rag Remus without fail," Emmeline said, also sitting back. "I just want to be with the guy without people getting on both of us for his...problem."
Lily suddenly frowned. "I wonder how they're doing."
"Who?" Emmeline said, unconcerned.
"James and the baby," Lily sounded concerned and sat up in the mudbath. "Do you think I should check in?"
"I am under express orders to not allow you to communicate with James or Harry during the course of this week," Emmeline said, without opening her eyes. "I am to only tell you that you are to give me bottles to send home whenever you finish...pumping."
Lily let out a light laugh. "I'm just getting milk for the baby, why does everyone think it's so odd?"
"It's like you're a cow," Emmeline said, the disgust evident in her voice. "When are you going to stop breastfeeding?"
"I don't know," Lily said. "I was thinking six months."
"Six months is so long," Emmeline said.
"I'm already halfway there," Lily said. "It's not so bad. You'll understand when you have a baby-"
Emmeline snorted. "Me? Have a baby? I'll have a baby as soon they invent a cure for lycanthropy."
With that, she shifted in her tub to end the conversation.