Those Who Have Thrice Defied Him

SGR's Note: I figured, after such a long break, I'd be v. nice and update early. Plus, I have a test in Spanish so I'll be back here early to work on this some more.

That and I really like this chapter.

Thanks for all of your kind thoughts with the manuscript. I am determined to be published, and that's all there is to it!

"I'll never leave, I'll never stray,
My love for you will never change,
But I ain't ready to make up,
We'll get around to that.
...I just wanna be mad for a while."
-I Just Wanna Be Mad, Terri Clark

Those Who Have Thrice Defied Him
Chapter Five

Lily put down another box in the bedroom and looked around. It was two in the morning, and it had been a week since she had given birth. Harry had just been released, now a whopping eight pounds, eight ounces, and 19.88 inches. He was in his new crib that had been hastily put up next to their bed while they transferred the rest of their stuff from their old flat into this small house in the middle of a remote Scottish village about an hour's drive from Hogwarts.

"Honey?" James said, walking in with another box. "There's still stuff in there."

"Yeah," Lily nodded, turning and following James. They had been driving for ten hours straight up from their old flat in London, with an old car that Dumbledore had found for them. Neither Lily or James being excellent drivers, James sat at the wheel while magic drive the car. This was a bit of a problem when two Muggles in the car next to them turned to see James' legs sticking out of the backseat while he retrieved a snack.

They had used an Enlargement Charm, on the backseat to fit in everything from their flat, and they were about done moving everything in.

"Are you all right?" James asked, looking at her, as he picked up a giant box. A ghost of a smile passed by her face watching his muscles flex and bulge.

"Yes, just tired is all," she whispered, stacking up another load of clothes in her arms. James paused to look at her. She had been looking increasingly paler day by day, and it had been ages since he had seen her smile.

He maneuvered the box out of the way and kissed her forehead. "Everything's going to be all right..."

"I know," Lily said, unconvinced, walking back into the small house.

James watched her, unsure of what was going on or what he could do for her. Closing the trunk, he followed her inside and put the box down in the kitchen. He heard crying from the bedroom and trotted in there, finding Lily nursing Harry in the rocking chair next to the moonlit window.

"Well!" James exclaimed, looking around. "It's our first house, Lily!"

She nodded, not looking at him. He cleared his throat and sat down on the bed, watching them together. It still put a smile on his face to watch her nurse the baby, even if he'd watched it fifty times before.

"How's our little mate?" James asked, trying to be cheery.

"He's fine," Lily whispered, looking about three inches to the right of her baby.

"What is it, Baby?" James scooted off the bed and over to her, kneeling next to her. "Why won't you smile for me?"

"I'm tired," she snapped, just as Harry finished. "Here, take the baby, I'm going to bed." She handed James the baby and went to go lay down on the bed.

"Honey-"

"Leave me alone," she barked, getting dressed in a nightgown and climbing into bed, pulling the blankets over her head.

Harry was murmuring so James decided to take him out of the room for the time being. He rocked him gently and brought him to the kitchen. He pulled off the blanket that was wrapped around Harry and put it on the table and then placed Harry on top of it.

"Hey there mate," James cooed, taking Harry's socked feet and kissing them. "Are you awake now, buddy?"

Harry made gurgling sounds.

"I....love you!" James said, playing peek-a-boo with Harry's feet. "I....love you!"

"What are you doing?" Lily said, hair a mess, and bathrobe hastily wrapped around her body.

"Playing with him," James said, patting Harry on the stomach. "What do you...need..." Lily had marched past him to the fridge and swung it open, looking at the sparse contents inside. She did find something that she wanted though.

"...since when do you drink?" James said, watching her make off with two bottles of firewhisky. She didn't reply, and was gone before he could say anything else. James looked down at Harry with a quizzical expression and sighed; Harry was asleep again.

"Something is quite wrong with your Mummy, Harry," James whispered, picking Harry up gently and walking back into the bedroom. Lily wasn't in bed, but the bathroom door was shut, and the light was on.

James put the baby in his crib and walked over to the bathroom door, knocking.

"Baby?"

"Go away!" she snapped, and James could hear that she was crying.

"Lily-"

"Go away, or I swear I'll hex you!" she sniffed. "Just leave me the bloody hell alone!!"

Backing away from the door slowly, James walked back to the bed and laid down, trying to wait up for Lily, but falling asleep before she finally staggered to bed.

"Where's my godson!?" Sirius said, bursting through the door, a giant grin on his face, Remus following behind him. The two of them had gone to great lengths to make sure that no one was following them, traveling by Floo, and then by air on Sirius' motorcycle and then riding on the ground for an hour, taking backroads and wooded areas to get to the quaint little village. "Where's my neffy-poo!"

"Good to see you too, mate," James laughed, going to greet them at the door. "But do me a favor and knock next time. You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Forgive him, he has no manners. He was so excited he nearly peed himself on the way over." Remus was brushing off his shirt and trousers, as they were quite dusty. He also had the tell-tale goggle marks around his eyes, but he wiped it off with his sleeve.

"No, Moony, that was you," Sirius, who didn't even care that he was covered from head to toe in dust. "You nearly blew my eardrums with your screaming."

"Yes, well, you nearly took out that poor old woman-"

"Pssh, I missed her by a good foot and a half," Sirius rolled his eyes and approached James, hands out. "Now! Lemme see my godson!"

James was eyeing him unapprovingly. "You're dirty."

"So?"

"You can't hold me two week old son covered in dust!" he said, looking at his best mate as if Sirius was a Dementor.

"Look who's grown up!" Remus cheered.

Sirius glowered and Scourgified himself and then held out his arms. Very carefully, James deposited Harry into Sirius' arms, and placed a blue blanket on Sirius' shoulder.

"What's this for?" Sirius asked.

"Well, I just fed him, so he might spit up," James said, cautiously backing away. He was still eyeing Sirius uncomfortably.

"Deep breathes, Prongs," Remus chuckled, sitting down on the couch after fully cleaning himself up. "Sirius is not going to run off with your baby."

"I just don't want him to drop him," James said, barely blinking. "Lily's already been mean enough lately without having to add to it."

"You've been here three days and you've already pissed her off?" Sirius said, cooing down at Harry who made baby gurgling noises. "Your daddy's not very smart, is he, Harry?"

"It's not me, I swear!" James said, looking to Remus, as Remus was more intelligent in this area. "She's just...been a real bitch lately."

"More than usual you mean?" Sirius asked, in a baby voice. At the look on James' face, he gave a nervous laugh. "Kidding, mate."

"I'm really worried about her," James said, standing as the tea kettle whistled. "She keeps a case of firewhisky in the bathroom, and locks herself in there a lot, crying. She doesn't want to even be around the baby anymore."

"Sounds about right," Remus said, thinking aloud.

"What?" James said, shocked. "You mean, this is normal?"

"Does Lily have any sort of pregnancy book?" Remus asked standing. "Or a post-natal book, or anything of that sort?"

"They might be in that box over there, but be quiet, I don't want to wake Lily."

"Never tickle a sleeping dragon?" Sirius snickered.

"Wiser words were never spoken," James nodded, watching Remus sift around in the still unpacked boxes. He looked down at Harry and smiled a bit at Sirius. "Sorry I snapped at you mate."

"What snapping?" Sirius said, putting Harry on his knees and bouncing him slightly. "Your daddy's under a lot of stress, isn't he Harry? You've caused us a lot of trouble, and you're not even a month old! What else....ew."

James could not hold in a snort. Harry had opened his mouth and projectile vomited all over Sirius' face. Without looking at Sirius, James handed him the blue towel, which he used, slowly.

"I want you to know, Harry, that even though you just spit up on me, I still love you-"

WHAM.

Remus was the first in her line of sight, so she stalked over to him and ripped the book out of his hands, glaring maniacally.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Lupin?" she asked, a dangerous tone in her voice.

Remus, clearly too terrified of this new, skeery!Lily, shook his head meekly and flattened himself against the wall.

"And you!" She reared on the two on the couch. "You're...breathing too loudly!"

The two of them stopped breathing.

"My head hurts," she announced, looking around at them all haughtily. "So I would appreciate it if you would all keep it down."

No three words were uttered more scarier.

Without another word, she walked back into the bedroom and slammed the door, causing Harry to break out into whimpering cries. Sirius was quick to start calming him, bouncing him on his knees and cooing to him.

"Well," Remus cleared his throat softly and went back into the books. "That answers that."

"See?!" James hissed, looking at the two of them. "She's scary!"

"I hope your kid's head doesn't start swivelling," Sirius said, eying Harry oddly.

"�After pregnancy, the new mother might experience mood swings that seem out of place with the joy of birth. This condition, called the postpartum blues, occurs in eight out of every ten mothers." Remus read aloud from a thick book and gave them pointed looks.

"Well, why didn't they say that earlier?" James asked, marching over to Remus and looking over his shoulder. Sirius followed, and the four men (James, Remus, Sirius, and Harry) looked on the book as if it held all the answers to life's questions.

Remus began reading again. "The symptoms for the �baby blues' are varied. A certain amount of insomnia, irritability, tears, overwhelmed feelings, and mood swings are normal during the first days after childbirth. If the symptoms don't subside, they can lead to postpartum depression, which is much more serious."

"What are the symptoms of that?" James asked eyeing the book.

"Depressed mood, loss of pleasure in either all or almost all of your daily activities, appetite and weight change, extreme fatigue or loss of energy, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, with no reasonable cause..."

"Thoughts about death or suicide!!!" James blanched. "What?!"

"You don't think Lily is..." The three of them eyed the door while Harry quietly spit up on Remus' shoulder.

"What does it say to do?" James said, a definite panic in his voice.

"Be supportive of the new mother, encourage friends to come by, get regular exercise, get outside in the sunlight, avoid alcohol-" The three of them shot a look to the door. "And ask for help when you need it."

"Right then," James said, standing up straight and looking at the door. "I can do that. We can do that together!"

"Yeah!" Sirius cheered. "We're behind you mate!" Even Harry gave a little verbal coo, but that was more for spitting up again.

"Right, on the count of three," James said, a couch pillow bound to his midsection. Sirius had a bowl on his head, and Remus held a chair in front of him, ready to keep the wild lioness within at bay. Harry had been placed in his baby pen because it was deemed "too dangerous" for little children to go into the foreboding room before them.

"One," Sirius said, adjusting the salad bowl and snapping his tongs twice.

"Two," Remus breathed, testing out the chair.

"THREE!" James cried, flinging open the door.

What happened next was hard to say. James sustained what he thought was a broken, but at the very least bloody nose. The bowl on Sirius' head was split in two, which made him not only vulnerable, but a target of wrath, so he was the worst off. Remus had turned tail and fled, which caused him much grief from the other two, but he only expressed concern over the welfare of the baby.

"Ow," James said, putting the napkin to his nose. "I don't tink we hab to worry about suicidal..."

"Homicidal," Sirius grumbled nursing a large bruise that was rising from his expertly wavy hair.

"I think we probably just scared it-her," Remus said, rocking Harry gently. James and Sirius glared at him and his unhurt self. "Maybe James should go by himself?"

"Are you joking?!" James blanched. "I'm not going back in there!!"

"You did marry her," Sirius said, dryly.

James didn't have a smart reply to that.

"Perhaps you should offer to take her on a walk?" Remus said. "Just the three of you? A picnic perhaps?"

"Whoa, James and food preparation don't mix," Sirius said, pressing a wet towel to his bleeding cheek where a pair of tweezers had sliced it. "I think he'd best stick to the walk only."

"I'll have you know that I have sustained myself for the past three days by myself. Harry too!"

"Feeding Harry isn't a great feat, you stick a bottle in his mouth and he sucks," Sirius pointed out. "And you've been eating cereal."

"Pop a man's bubble, why don't you?" James grumbled, taking Harry into his arms and holding him to his chest with a blue towel underneath him to pick up the spit that was currently adorning his two friends.

"Well, we'd best be getting back," Sirius said, standing. "Good luck with your crazy wife, Prongs."

"She's not crazy, she's just hormonal," Remus said, shaking James' hand. "But good luck. Let us know how it turns out."

"If we see him again, it turned out."

SGR's Note: I'm not terribly happy with this, but what can you do? I'm going to be out of town until Monday, so I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up.

I know what you want,
Swallowed but still not drunk.
And you get so high on the tears you cry,
Nothing else seems real,
Until you smile
Smile - Michael Lord

Those Who Have Thrice Defied Him
Chapter Six

Lily grunted but kept her eyes shut; she felt a presence near her. She would have rather slept more, but she couldn't rest with James lurking so close to her, and that nagging feeling that he wanted her to open her eyes.

Slowly, she pulled her eyes open.

"What?" she grunted.

"Good morning beautiful," he said. �Beautiful' was a bit of a stretch, as she looked as if she hadn't showered in a few days.

"What do you want?" she said, grumpily.

"You."

"Not in the mood."

"Out of the bed."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

James assumed, being that he was a full-grown man, that he could easily pry his much smaller wife from the bed. Ripping the sheets off of her, he grabbed her feet and pulled. She clamped down on the side of the mattress and held fast.

Five minutes of this tug of war later and James was still without a Lily out of bed. He decided to play a bit dirty, and reached around to pinch at her sides. Instead of the usual shriek of laughter, he got a whiny moan of annoyance and she sat up, grumbling.

"Go away!"

"We're going out," James announced. "You, me, and the baby."

"No."

"Shower." He pushed her towards the bathroom.

"No!!" she cried, but went in anyways. Grunting, she turned to close the door, but James stopped her.

"It's not anything I've not seen before, so keep it open," he said. "I want to make sure you don't lock yourself in there again."

Without any warning or meaning, Lily burst into tears and slammed the door on James' foot. He let out a loud curse and started hopping around the room.

"What the bloody hell was that for?!"

"YOU THINK I'M FAT!"

"What?!" James cried, rubbing his foot. "I most certainly do not!" He hobbled over to the door and put his mouth near the door. "You're perfect, Lily, and always have been."

The door cracked and he saw her red-rimmed eyes looking back at him. "Do you mean that?"

"Yes," he said, quietly, kissing her through the crack of the door. "Though, you do need a bath, because you do smell-OOF!" She slammed the door on his nose. "Lily! Honey!"

"I THOUGHT YOU SAID I WAS PERFECT!"

"You are perfect! You just need a shower! And I tink you just broke my nose again!"

"GOOD! THEN YOU WON'T HAVE TO SMELL ME!"

James sat on the bed, looking at Harry who was gurgling in his crib. Though, luckily, he heard the shower running.

"I don't see why we have to be out here," Lily snapped, glaring at any passer-by who dared look at her in the eye.

"Smile, honey, you're scaring the children," James said, cautiously. He had Harry in one arm, (sleeping blissfully unaware of the storm cloud over his parents) and reached behind Lily to rub her back comfortingly. She looked as if she wanted to smack it away, but didn't.

"Hey, that looks like a fun climb!" James announced, cheerily, pointing to a hill that overlooked the small village.

"I want to go home," Lily announced.

"Tough luck," James said, picking Harry up out of his stroller and handing him to Lily. He then folded up the stroller and held it under his arm, the other one reaching out to guide Lily up the hill. She grit her teeth and stormed up the hill, clutching Harry close to her. The hill was a rough climb, but they finally reached the top.

Lily plopped down, facing away from the village, holding Harry to her bosom. He made a sound and grabbed at her breasts, as if he was hungry, but she continued to stare stonily ahead.

"You know, this is normal," James said, conversationally.

"What?" she barked.

"You being a bitch like this." Lily's jaw dropped, but James continued before she could say anything else. "It's called postmortem depression."

Lily stared at him, open-mouth.

"Yeah," James said. "Padfoot, Moony, and I looked it up. Apparently, every woman, after she gives birth, is so whacked up by hormones that she falls into these depressions. You're supposed to get out of it by the next two weeks but-"

Lily burst out laughing. James was too stunned at her sudden show of happiness to continue.

"You daft idiot," Lily grinned, shaking her head. "It's postpartum blues. Postmortem means �after-death,' stupid." But she was grinning, and that was progress.

James leaned forward and kissed her under her ear. "It's worth my idiocy to see you smiling again."

They heard baby laughter and looked down just to see Harry make his first smile ever. He giggled again, and his smile grew.

"Look!" Lily gasped.

"See?" James whispered on her skin. "He knows when you're unhappy. And who wouldn't want to smile after seeing your happiness."

Lily was sniffing back tears and she lowered her head into his. "I'm sorry I've been such a horrible mother lately."

"It's that damn postmortem," James whispered before kissing her gently.

"Daft idiot," she giggled back, gently rocking Harry. "He's such a beautiful baby."

"Takes after his mother," James said, still kissing on her face.

"No, James, I'm afraid that he looks exactly like you," Lily said, happily, gently running her finger down her baby's soft cheek. "Which isn't bad at all."

"Do you want to go for a walk?" James said. "I'll carry him, if you want-"

"No, I want to carry him," Lily said, rocking him slightly. "I've been neglectful enough as it is."

"Harry and I just bonded, is all," James shrugged, helping her to her feet, and not letting her hand go. "He's quite the chatterbox, I'll tell you."

"Hm?" Lily said, sliding her hand behind James' back. "Is he now?"

"He's quite easy to talk to yes..."

As it turned out, the walk lasted all afternoon. The sunlight, fresh air, and exercise did wonders for Lily's mood, and soon, she was back to her old self. They paused about mid-afternoon as Harry was hungry and needed a diaper change.

They had only planned to stay a few minutes, but then Lily began to talk about all that was bothering her, besides the wacky hormones. Before they got too deep in conversation, James transfigured the baby carrier into a blanket and they all sat down on top of it, enjoying the beautiful countryside.

Once they were comfortable, Lily opened her mouth and could barely stop talking. She wasn't sure if she was ready for motherhood, or if she would ruin Harry's life, accepting, of course, that they all lived that long. She talked a lot about the worry about being hunted, and her fear that Harry would grow up to fear everything.

James had listened, but he also supported her. He reminded her several times that they were in this together, and that it would do no good for her to have this all bottled up inside her. They talked some more, both of them happy that all of the emotions were out on the table now, and Harry, somehow sensing that his mother and father were happy again, kept giggling and smiling at them.

"Hm," Lily said, after a few minutes silence. She reached down to take Harry's hand in hers, and he grasped at her finger. "You know, we should have brought a picnic."

"I was going to, but you know what happens when food and I mix," James laughed, gently kissing her forehead.

"It disappears or explodes, yes I know," Lily laughed, causing Harry to laugh again. "We've got such a smart baby, you know."

James didn't reply, as he was kissing on her the way she liked it. She closed her eyes and looked at him, her eyes half-closed.

"I miss you," she whispered.

"I miss you too," he said, gently nibbling on her lip. "I'm glad you're back with me."

"I'm sorry I left," she whispered. He had taken her neck, nipping and sucking lightly, and kissing her so beautifully that if he'd been kissing her lips she would have fainted. She closed her eyes and leaned into him, looking down at the baby, who was half-asleep.

"I have a feeling," he whispered into her ear, before kissing it. "That we'll need all the us time we can get now."

"Mmm," Lily giggled. "I like us time."

James increased his passionate kisses on her neck and she broke apart from him. "Not here, James. You should know better."

He chuckled and kissed her nose. "I do know better. That doesn't mean I'm not going to do it."

Pulling her closer to him, he sucked on her neck so hard that she knew she would get a mark, but she said nothing except a few moans of pleasure. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she let out a slow breath, savoring each feeling that he gave her.

She tilted her head backwards and let her eyes slit open. She saw something gray in the sky and opened her eyes all the way. The sky had been a clear blue the entire way over, and she didn't want to have the baby out in the rain.

She righted her head and turned around, looking to see what it was that was coming towards them. It wasn't a rain cloud.

"Smoke," she breathed.

"I know, it's getting really hot, isn't it?" James laughed, throatily. "I can't wait to get you back and-"

"No, James, smoke!" Lily pushed him off of her and stood up, putting a hand to her eyes and looking over the countryside. "A lot of it!"

James also stood up, picking up Harry and squinted, eyeing the dark black cloud.

"It's probably normal stuff, Lily," he shrugged it off. "People's chimneys and things like that..."

"The village is on fire!" Lily gasped, seeing red and yellow marks pocket the landscape.

When they arrived at the village, there was nothing left. No houses, no trees, no people. Everything was incinerated into black ash.

Above the city was a giant, floating green skull with a snake coming out of the mouth.

SGR's Note: I do apologize about the lateness of this chapter. I'm having a lot of issues with figuring out what it is I want to do with each chapter. Not to mention, it's the end of the semester, and we all know what that implies.

On the upside, chapter eight comes relatively easy after chapter seven, so you shouldn't expect a long delay. Chapter nine, however, we shall see.

Oh yes, and thank you to Nicole for being my receiver of spam and poker of inspiration. Congrats on your 13th page.

"If you should stop for a while
You will find me standing by
Over here at the side of your life
I like to hold you still, remind you of all you've missed
If you have a little time."
-Do You Have A Little Time, Dido

Those Who Have Thrice Defied Him
Chapter Seven

"Why do we have so much junk?" James grumbled, putting down the final box. "I thought it all got destroyed, but oh no."

"Because I've been b-b-b-breast-feeding every three hours," Lily yawned, gently rocking forward and backwards in the chair, the baby suckling at her.

James turned around, a very confused expression on his face. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Lily yawned again. "I d-d-don't know."

He walked over to her and kissed her on the forehead. "I love you," he smiled down at her.

She looked down at Harry. "I swear, I'm not going to have any left if he continues the way he's going."

"Hey," James said, kneeling down to Harry's level. "Leave some for your dad, eh?"

"Dirty," Lily smiled. James got up and walked behind her, gently rubbing her shoulders.

"We're due," he whispered.

"James, come on," Lily whined, closing her eyes. "I can't take a piss without the baby crying, how on earth do you think we're going to fit in sex in his naps?"

"I daresay we've done it quickly enough before!" James said, indignantly. "Don't you remember that one time in the office?"

She gave him a sly look. "How do you know that I didn't fake it?"

His jaw dropped. "You what?!"

"James, I'm not nearly as horny as you are," she said, gently stroking Harry's cheek.

"You've faked it before?!" James could not get over it.

"Oh, come on, honey, it was playful banter," she cooed at Harry, who had finished eating.

"It was hurtful banter," James pouted. "You don't tell a man that you've faked it before. It plants a seed of paranoia that never goes away!!!"

Lily shook her head and walked into the bedroom, placing Harry down in his crib. She turned around and unhooked her bra, flinging it out the door as an invitation to James. She flung herself on the bed and looked at the ceiling.

"I'm only doing this if I don't have to move," she whispered.

Dumbledore was less than pleased to hear that Sirius and Remus had been to visit the Potters shortly before the village they were staying at was destroyed. He had instructed James and Lily that there were to be no more guests, and that contacts to Hogwarts were to be in the form of letters sent to him and him alone.

Fearing for the safety of their child, James and Lily followed their new instructions enthusiastically at first. However, it was after the first two days that the reality of the situation began to sink in.

"Lily! Guess what!" James cried, running into the room. His wife was curled up under a blanket on the couch, grasping a few moments rest in-between feedings.

"Hm?" she said, half asleep.

"He did it again!!" James was nearly hopping. That morning, he had walked into the bedroom where Harry was awake and to his surprise, his son had smiled at him in recognition. Lily had doubted the validity of the recognition, because Harry had been smiling for weeks now. James subsequently walked out of the room and back in five times with the same response to prove to his wife that Harry was recognizing people.

However, this was not enough for James who had been getting the same response out of Harry for an hour now.

"James, �m trying to sleep," Lily mumbled, putting the blanket over her head.

"Fine then," James huffed. "I'll go tell Sirius."

This elicited a quick response from Lily. "Oh no you don't!" she exclaimed, bolting upright. "You know we can't communicate with anyone except Dumbledore!"

He blinked at her and then pouted. "Dammit."

Lily was watching him wearily, but slowly fell back down on the couch.

"At least Harry wants to hang out with me," James muttered, walking back into the bedroom, only to find Harry had fallen back asleep.

With his wife and son on the oddest sleeping schedule known to man (sleep for three hours, feed, sleep, feed, sleep, feed, etc), James found himself increasingly bored and subsequently lonely.

He had tried reading some of the books that Lily still had in boxes, but reading long boring books was never his style. He tried getting Harry and Lily up and about, but found the two of them ill- suited for daily entertainment. There was nothing to do in the all-Muggle town, and James couldn't go out often in case someone who wasn't a Muggle recognized him.

It had been a month and a half since they had moved into Pembroke, and they had two notes from Dumbledore telling them the same things. Firstly, that they were to continue to stay hidden, use little magic, etc., and secondly, that by all outward sources, Voldemort was still after them. Only, he was not yet searching personally, as with both the Scottish village, and the two towns that Alice and Frank had been found out, he had used his Death Eaters to attend to the families personally.

Dumbledore thought that this meant two things: Firstly, that he did not have the full prophecy, or else there would be more danger, and secondly, that because he was not actively searching for either family, that he was not yet sure who the prophecy referred to.

However, Death Eaters were still dangerous, so extreme precautions were necessary where communication was concerned. He even recommended they put a charm around the house that would sound an alarm whenever a wand passed through it. It went off whenever James or Lily left or came back to the house as well, but increasingly, it was only James that passed through it.

As the days went by, and James became more and more isolated from the rest of his family, the danger seemed to ebb away from the front of his mind. While Lily slept, he took long walks around the village, spending time at the docks, and frequenting a small pub nearby.

The thing that was killing James the most was the absence of his better half. He was sure that he wouldn't feel half as lonely if Sirius was with them, but he was sure that Dumbledore had made him swear on his perfect locks that he would not try to visit or contact James in any way. Remus probably respected Dumbledore's word without having to swear on anything. Damn, but he annoyed the piss out of James sometimes, being so perfect (except for the whole werewolf thing)...

James winced as he stood at the edge of the dock, watching the frothing sea below him. He had forgotten all about Remus' monthly business. He only hoped that Sirius and Peter were around to help him.

Hell, James never even saw Peter any more, and he missed him.

He looked down at his watch and sighed, turning and walking back to the house. It had been three hours, so Lily was probably awake by now.

When he walked into the door, he found Lily sitting on the chair, looking nervous.

"Where were you?" she asked, standing up.

James looked at his watch. "You're up early."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lily said, a bit of a bite in her voice.

"Nothing," he shook his head, smiling. "Glad to see you're awake, though!"

"No, James, what is that supposed to mean?" she said.

"Nothing, honey," James smiled, nervously. "I just take walks while you're asleep, is all..."

"Wait, what?" she said. "You leave the house while I'm sleeping?"

"Just for quick walks to get out of the house," James said, stepping back a bit. "I'm always back before you wake up...?"

"But what if something happens?" Lily said. "What if somebody comes to the house?!"

"The alarm will go off," James nodded.

"I obviously don't hear it when you leave and come back, so what's to say that I'll wake up when it's a Death Eater?" she exclaimed.

The baby started crying from the bedroom.

"Now, look what you've done," he said, walking past her to the bedroom. "You woke up the baby."

"James, I don't think that you're taking this seriously enough," Lily seethed, following him. "I know it's difficult for you to take anything seriously-"

"Hey!" James exclaimed, rocking the baby. "I take a lot of things seriously."

"Quidditch doesn't count, Potter."

"I take my job seriously," James exclaimed, hotly. "I take Harry very seriously. I'm not as stupid as you think I am."

"I don't think you're stupid," Lily softened a bit, watching him hold the baby. "I just don't think that you understand the severity of our situation."

"I understand it just fine," James hissed. "But it's been six weeks since anything has happened. Frank and Alice have been hit two more times than we have. I haven't spoken to any of my friends in weeks, I haven't seen you awake or not busy with the baby in weeks, I'm-"

Lily walked over to him and put her arms around his waist, looking over his shoulder at the baby. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

James sniffed. "I'm lonely. You never want to do anything with me anymore. I thought you said that you were over your post-mortem depression."

"I am," she whispered. "James, having a seven week old baby is tough."

"Not having anyone to talk to is tough too," James sniffed.

Lily closed her eyes and pressed her nose to his shoulder. "I look terrible, but let's go for a walk, hm?"

"Really?" James asked.

"I'll put on my trainers," she whispered.

"I look terrible," Lily muttered, her hand flying to her messy bun.

"You look fine," James sighed. He'd rather she didn't come along if she was going to complain all the time.

"Here, you've been holding the baby long enough," she said. "Let them at least think I have an excuse for looking so horrid."

James rolled his eyes, but handed her the baby.

"It's a bit cold for September," she said. "Did we dress the baby warm enough?"

"Yes," he groaned.

"Well, sorry," Lily grumbled. "Sorry for being concerned at the welfare of our only son."

"You're cranky."

"Somebody was pissed at me for not spending time with him."

"Can you please stop complaining?" he sighed, looking around.

"Can I go home and go back to sleep?"

"Fine by me-"

"James Potter!"

Both of them stopped dead in their tracks, fear washing over them. They turned around slowly to face who it was that had found them out.

James's fear turned into a different sort of fear, a nervous fear. Lily's fear turned into complete and utter shock.

The young woman bounding up the walk bore striking resemblance to Lily...and she had a look on her similar face that Lily did not like.

"James Potter, where have you been over the past few years!" the woman exclaimed, throwing herself (and her rather large bosom) onto James. James fell back a bit, gently patting her on the back and trying to run over possible scenarios in his mind, both on how to explain his absence, and how to explain to his wife.

"Er..." he said, dumbly. "School and...things..."

"You...oh my..." She caught glance of Lily, who was holding the baby very obstinately. She looked back to James, a hint of a smile on her face, and then back to Lily, spying the ring on her finger.

James took a step back from her, running his hand nervously through his hair.

"Um, Ann, this is my wife, Lily," James swallowed. "And our son Harry."

"Pleasure to meet you," Ann said, her eyes darting back to James, knowingly. He was sure she was thinking about the stark similarities between the two women before him, and he knew Lily was as well.

"Lily," James said, looking to her as if expecting an explosion. "This is my...first girlfriend, Ann."

SGR's Note: Well, lots of drama, ain't there? To those of you who came here from Fanfiction.Net, thank you for continuing to read. For those who don't know, Fanfiction.Net recently deleted all of my stories (a year and a half's worth of reviews, going on 3400 total) so I just decided to never post there again.

If you would like to be on a mailing list, my email address is on my main page, and just drop me a line.

For those of you who want to know where Ann came from, check out Deer to Me, Chapter 11, near the end.

"Your beauty is beyond compare,
With flaming locks of auburn hair,
With ivory skin and eyes of emerald green.
Your smile is like a breath of spring;
Your voice is soft like summer rain,
And I cannot compete with you, Jolene."
-Jolene, Dolly Parton

Those Who Have Thrice Defied Him
Chapter Eight

"Girlfriend?" Lily said, blinking at him. She was positive that she was his first girlfriend. Had he been lying to her all this time?

"Er, it was before us," James coughed, reading her correctly.

"We had fun that summer, didn't we?" Ann laughed, gently touching James' arm. "Of course, James insisted that we break it off at the end of the summer. Him going to his fancy boarding school and all."

"Yes," Lily said, trying to keep her already short temper under control. She wanted to say more, but she wasn't sure she could say it without a sharp tone to her voice.

"So, um, what have you been up to?" James asked, trying for polite conversation.

"Oh, you know," she laughed, flipping her straight red hair behind her shoulder. "Finishing school, and I've just opened up a little caf� around here. What about you?"

"Same here," James nodded.

"Except you got married," Ann reminded him, a twinkle in her eye.

"Yeah," James smiled, running his hand through his hair again. "And had a baby and all that."

Ann shook her head, that pleased smile on her face. "You still run your hand through your hair, like that, don't you?"

Lily got the distinct impression that, unlike her, Ann had no problems with that mannerism when they dated. In fact, with the way she was staring at him, and the way James was looking back at her, Lily was suspecting that Ann had run her hands through his hair a few times as well.

"So what about you?" Ann asked after a few moments of private remembering between them. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, uh," James said, caught off-guard. "Doing a bit of...work...."

"James and I both work for the government," Lily interrupted.

"With a baby?" Ann asked.

Lily thinned her lips. "I have taken off for a bit."

"I cannot believe you had a baby!" Ann laughed. "So...young..." She eyed James mischievously, as if she wanted to say something, but wasn't sure if it would be appropriate. "I'm not even thinking about marriage yet, let alone starting a family."

"James proposed right out of school," Lily interrupted.

"Well, not right out," James corrected.

"Close enough."

"There was that little-"

"Hush, dear."

Ann cleared her throat and smiled again, her white teeth sparkling in the late summer sunlight. "How about we meet up for dinner tonight? I want to hear all about what you've been up to, James."

"That sounds great!" James said, looking back at Lily, who would have rather said no, but manners called for her to agree.

"What time then? My caf�, of course," she said, touching her hand to her chest lightly.

"Eight sound all right?" James said.

"Eight sounds great," Ann said, looking at her watch. "Well, I'd love to sit and chat, but I've got one hundred pounds of vegetables scheduled to arrive, so I've got to be there to sign for them!" She reached up and gave James another hug. "Eight sharp, at the Caf� de Pez, all right?"

"We'll be there!" James said, waving to her as she went trotting off. He turned around and his face fell into one of confusion. "What?"

"When did you date her?" Lily asked, turning and walking back to the house.

James ran up to catch her. "Summer before we started dating. Remember, you hated me then."

"I'm starting to remember, yes."

"Oh, Lily, come on, don't be mad at me!"

"What am I supposed to do?" she hissed, walking faster. "A girl shows up who looks like me, but prettier, and says she's your ex-girlfriend, and invites you out to dinner."

"Us, honey," James said. "She just wants to catch up with me. We had quite a fling."

"I don't want to hear that."

"You were with that Hobo guy."

Lily stopped and stared at him incredulously. "I cannot believe you would bring that up now."

"Why not? It's the same thing."

"You knew about H�kan. You never once mentioned this girl."

"I did so!" James said. "I remember exactly when I told you! It was over the Christmas holidays, when we were walking around your town, and I asked you how many blokes you'd kissed, and then I said that I'd slept with a muggle girl back at Godric's Hollow."

"....slept with?!"

"What?!" James said. "So I'm not allowed to have ex-girlfriends who I slept with? You almost slept with Hobo!"

"Well, if you hadn't been so stupid as to break up with me, I wouldn't have dated him," Lily spat.

"If you had said yes the first time I asked you out, I wouldn't have dated Ann," James retorted.

"I'm sorry if I didn't find you dangling Severus upside-down showing off his underwear attractive." Through their squabbling, they had reached the house, but stopped in front of the door to continue arguing.

"Obviously not," James rolled his eyes. "I seem to remember you stomping on my heart."

"Your head was so big, I'm surprised you could feel anything."

"Is that why you married me then?" James asked.

"I'm starting to second guess my decision," Lily snapped, flinging open the door and walking inside.

"Hey!" Ann smiled, seeing James walk into the door. "Where's your wife?"

"Oh," James cleared his throat. "The baby was being fussy, so she said she'd stay home." Fussy was an understatement, the baby was screaming at the top of his lungs, and wouldn't stop. James and Lily were still not on the best of terms, and she had "kindly" told him to go to dinner without her.

"Oh, what a shame," Ann frowned.

"Wow, this place is...a lot bigger than I thought it would be," James said. When Ann had said "small caf�" she had meant "two story, on the water, full scale restaurant."

"Yeah," she smiled, humbly. "It's grown very quickly."

"Apparently," James laughed.

"Shall we then?" Ann reached forward and took his arm in hers. "I've got one of the best tables reserved for us." She squeezed his arm. "I'm so glad I ran into you! I was just thinking about you the other day. You know my parents moved out of Godric's Hollow while you were away, so I've just not been in touch with anyone back there. I guess that's why I didn't hear that you got married."

"Er, yeah," James said, a little uncomfortable with the way she was grasping at his arm. She opened the door to a terrace over-looking the bay, and a light breeze was blowing through. He noticed that the table was set for two, but didn't say anything of it.

"Always a gentleman, aren't you?" Ann smiled as James helped her into her chair.

"Habit, I guess," he said, taking his own seat.

"So," Ann smiled. "What a coincidence, hm?"

"Yeah, I didn't expect to see anyone here-"

"No," her long red hair brushed her bare shoulders when she shook her head. "I mean that you married a girl with red hair, and green eyes."

Oh snap, James thought, but kept his composure. He didn't think she would be too pleased to hear that she was a replacement for Lily when she didn't like him. "Guess I know what I like."

"Obviously," Ann reached forward and took his hand. "James, don't you remember how I always insisted on using protection?"

"Yes...?" James said, slowly.

"See what happens?" she chided him lightly. "Now you're stuck with her for life."

"Er...?"

"The baby is adorable though," she sighed.

"Thanks...?" James was still unsure of what she was talking about.

"But let's move on to other things," she nodded, letting go of his hand when the waiter came to pour the wine. "Like this job of yours..."

"Again?" Lily said, turning around from changing Harry's diaper. Both she and James had to talk over the crying of the baby, which had been nonstop except for slumber.

"Lily, she's been really nice to invite us out so often-"

"You," she snapped, as she picked up Harry, trying to sooth his piercing cries.

"What?"

"She's been really nice to invite you all over town," Lily said, trying to keep her tears at bay. "I've been too busy with the baby."

"Why don't I take him for a little while?" James asked. "You're always with him-"

"That's because he's sick and he needs me!" she snapped. "And I don't want to leave him alone with anyone else."

"Lily-" James said, but the baby's crying frustrated him. He walked over to Lily and took the baby from her, putting him in the bedroom and closing the door.

"What do you think you're doing?!" she shrieked, trying to get past him.

"You've been trying to get him to stop crying for three weeks now," James said. "I don't think that five minutes alone will do any damage."

"You see?" Lily said. "This is why I don't want to leave him alone with you!"

"What?!" James blanched.

"You'd neglect him!" she pointed.

"I'm his father, Lily," James glared at her. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of my son, if his mother would let me."

"He stopped crying!" Lily gasped, pushing James out of the way and running into the bedroom. She let out a breath of relief when she saw him simply asleep.

"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?!" James exclaimed.

"James, don't you realize that one day we might wake up and our baby might be gone?" she said.

"No," he folded his arms over his chest. "You're paranoid." He looked at his watch. "And I've got to get to dinner."

"Fine!" Lily cried. "I don't care that she's a better looking version than me!"

"Good bye, Lily," James said, kissing her on the forehead and walking out. Once the door closed, Lily laid back down on the bed and started sobbing.

"Oh, she couldn't make it again?" Ann said, not looking surprised. She was waiting outside of a local bar, looking a bit more than friendly than James thought someone who was just trying to be friendly should with her low black dress.

"The baby's cholera is very bad, apparently," James nodded, solemnly.

Ann gave him a second glance but said nothing. He opened the door for her and the two of them walked inside.

Lily stirred and opened her eyes, looking at the clock on the wall. She rubbed her eyes and then, nervously, her eyes looked to the crib, where the baby was still sleeping. Harry had never slept for this long. She got up off the bed and reached down, gently touching his cheek. It was warm and soft, not to mention perfect.

She sniffed and reached down, kissing the baby on the forehead. Maybe James was right, maybe she did worry too much.

Although, she was sure that her worrying to him this evening had little to do with the baby and more to do with him spending all of his time with a single, sexy, better-looking version of her.

She heard the tell-tale alarm going off when somebody with a wand walked into the from yard and smiled, walking to the window and looking out.

"I'm sort of glad that she went home," James coughed a little bit. The bar was smoky and very dirty. "This isn't really a place for a baby."

"A baby sure changes things," Ann nodded. "See why you should have worn a condom?"

"Ann, I really have no idea what you're talking about?" James shook his head.

"You always needed bluntness," Ann shook her head. "Getting a girl pregnant when you were barely out of school, or were you even out of school-"

"You mean, my wife?" James said.

"You were married before you got her pregnant?" Ann said, incredulous.

"Yes, whatever did you think?"

"Oh," Ann backed off a little bit, a blush rising to her face. "I thought...well...never mind."

"No," James grumbled. "What did you think?"

"I thought that you wanted a replacement for me, and then got her pregnant accidentally," she laughed. "Oh, silly me!"

"Actually," James said, hotly. "I dated you because Lily wouldn't have me."

"...what?" Ann said.

"Excuse me," James said, standing up and grabbing his coat. "It was nice seeing you again, Ann."

With that, he left her, blushing and embarrassed at the bar.

"Lily?" James called, walking into the door. Silence greeted him.

Thinking that she was simply asleep, James put his coat in the closet and walked into the bedroom, intent on apologizing for his horrid behavior earlier in the evening. When he walked into the bedroom, however, he found it completely empty.

"Lily?" he said, getting a bit worried. He searched the whole house and became very worried.

There was no sign of a struggle, and the house wasn't blown up into tiny ashes, but James portkeyed himself to Dumbledore's office, just in case.

"Oh thank Merlin," James breathed out. Lily was sitting, very stiff-backed, in a chair in front of Dumbledore's desk. The older man seemed to have been talking to her, but he stopped when James appeared.

"I think I shall retire tonight," he nodded. "Lily, Madame Pomfrey will prepare a bed for you."

"Can she prepare two?" Lily snapped.

Dumbledore said nothing, but walked out the door.

"What happened?" James asked.

"Be quiet, Harry's finally asleep," she snapped.

"What's wrong?"

"I'll tell you what's wrong!" Lily hissed. "You are out gallivanting with another woman and somebody came to the house!"

"What?" James's face fell.

"Dumbledore doesn't think that they were coming to kill, just to see if we were really there. I got out before whoever it was could see us, but Dumbledore thinks we should move regardless."

"Lily, I'm sorry-"

"Sorry?" Lily gasped. "Sorry? Sorry is for when you say the wrong thing, James. What you were doing was beyond sorry."

"What?" he blinked.

"You were out with another woman, James!" Lily cried. Harry, in a crib in the corner, began crying.

"For the record, I was just trying to catch up with an old friend," James said, beating Lily to the crib and picking up Harry. "She was the one who was trying to-"

"To what?" Lily said, dangerously.

"I don't know what she was trying to do, but there was a reason why I left her at a bar back in Pembroke."

"What was that?" Lily asked, sitting back down on the chair, angrily.

"Merlin, Lily, I'm not cheating on you!" James exclaimed.

"You expect me to believe that?" Lily asked.

"What happened to you?" James stared at her.

"Excuse me?"

"When we first started dating, people thought I was cheating on you then too!" James said, gently rocking Harry back and forth; he was gurgling happily. "But no, you said that you trusted me. What happened to the woman I married?"

"So you're pinning all of this on me again?" Lily said, angrily.

"Give me a break," James muttered, taking out his wand and tapping Harry. He left Harry bobbing happily in the air. Before Lily could shriek in protest, James had pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

"You just-"

James kissed her again.

"James-"

"I'm tired of fighting you," James said. "I'm tired of you being so uptight. I'm tired of us not being able to enjoy our child. I'm tired of-"

"So what do you suggest we do?" Lily asked.

"I suggest that you relax," James said. "And let me worry about everything."

"But you don't!"

"Exactly," he smiled, summoning Harry to them. Lily looked like she wanted to say something about it, but didn't. "If you leave the worrying to me, and I don't worry, then nobody will, and we'll be a happy family."

"James, you don't-"

"Lily, for crying out loud, I know just as much as you do on how to be a good parent. I had two of my own! I can't believe you just don't trust me!" he said, a hurt tone in his voice.

"If something happens to him, I'll never forgive myself," she whispered. "I don't want..." She trailed off.

"Ah!" came a voice from the wall. "Now I remember! Your parents, yes! You made quite the spectacle then, too, didn't you? You do have a flair for the dramatic-"

"Phineus, buzz off," James growled, not turning around. The rest of the portraits in the office had disappeared once they had started arguing, but Phineus Black, apparently, wanted to watch the show.

"Fine, fine. Interrupt good gossip..."

"Lily, I know you're worried, but you're going to make yourself sick!" James whispered. "Yes, we're in danger, but it's been two months since we were last attacked. That says something, doesn't it?"

She shrugged, not convinced.

"Now," he yawned. "Should Poppy still prepare two beds?"

"I don't know," Lily said, clearing her throat. "If we don't share one, I think Poppy might want to."

James laughed and kissed her on the forehead. "See? I knew you were in there somewhere."

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.