Those Who Have Thrice Defied Him by Suns Golden Ray Rating: PG13 Ship: Lily & James Canon: Books 1 - 5 Genre: Humor, Romance Status: In progress Length: 28,611 words in 11 chapters Published: 20 Jan 2005 Last updated: 24 May 2005 After hearing a prophecy that may or may not pertain to their newborn baby, James and Lily go into hiding, but try to raise their son as normal as possible. Though, how normal can you be when you're always looking over your shoulder? (Final Book in the LJ Series) From the Unofficial Portkey Archive: https://portkey-archive.org/story/3643/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Feels Like Today SGR's Note: Currently, I am 30,000 feet in the air over what appears to be either Norway or Northern Sweden heading back to the ol' US of A. I don't terribly want to go back, but then again I do, as I really want to start my new semester. I have had my last (legal) Smirnoff Ice for a while, so pardon if I don't make any sense. Ooh, there's ice on the window. Well guys, here's the first chapter of the fourth and final book. To everyone who's been here since Deer to Me, thank you so very much for reading and sticking with it. A year is a long time to be involved with one story, and you guys just rock. Without further ado: "But I know something is coming I don't know what it is But I know it's amazing." -Feels Like Today, Rascal Flatts Those Who Have Thrice Defied Him Chapter One Albus Dumbledore shook the rain off his coat and put it on the coat rack. His sparkling purple coat stood out against the dingy, black dirty coats, but he took no notice. The barman, holding a stark resemblance to Dumbledore, grunted and pointed up the stairs. "She's up there." Dumbledore nodded and made his way through the dirty bar which smelled strongly of goats and climbed the rotting, creaking stairs. Once he was out of sight, a cloaked figure began slowly edging towards the staircase, trying very hard not to arise the eyes of the bartender. "Ah! Professor Dumbledore" Sybill Trelawney was a rather skeletal-looking woman with a stringy purple shawl wrapped around her boney shoulders. Her hair was frizzy and giant, and she was wearing giant glasses that made her look like she was a giant insect. Dumbledore, never one to judge, nodded politely and walked over to greet her properly. "Miss Trelawney," he shook her hand, taking the seat across from her. "How do you do?" "Quite well thanks, and you?" she said, very mysteriously. "I was rather hoping you could tell me that," Dumbledore smiled. "Ah, s-so the job interview has begun!" she said, stuttering a bit. She picked up a giant, torn carpet bag and pulled out a crystal orb. "The Inner Eye does not like to make itself known without invitation, you know," she said, eyeing him cautiously. "I, of course, know how you are doing..." She peered into her crystal ball and kept shooting glances up Dumbledore's way. He was smiling pleasantly. "Er...I see...something large happening in your future....er...something terrible," her voice dropped low. "Something that even...erm...the great Albus Dumbledore will not be able to escape..." "Indeed?" Dumbledore asked, nodding. "And...erm...moving on to tea leaves," she said, clearing her throat. She picked up a drunk tea cup and looked at the dregs, continuing to shoot Dumbledore looks. "I see...the...erm...duck, which means that you will get to know new people, and also the rabbit's foot, which is good luck..." "I see," Dumbledore said, hearing enough. He really did not wish to continue the subject of Divination at Hogwarts, but when the "great-granddaughter of Cassandra Trelawney" sent in an application, out of courtesy, he had to meet her. "Unfortunately, I don't believe that we will require your teaching services," he said, gently. "B-But!" Sybill said, waving the tea cup around. "I see here, in your future, that if you do not hire me, something horrible will happen to your school!" "I shall take my chances then," Dumbledore nodded. "It was a pleasure meeting you." He turned to go to the door. The tea cup broke on the floor. Dumbledore turned around, concerned and his eyes widened slightly when he saw that the woman was now sitting rigid in her seat, and was shaking slightly. Her eyes had rolled into the bag of her head and she was speaking in a low raspy voice. "THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO DEFEAT THE DARK LORD APPROACHES ..." "Pardon?" Dumbledore said, his mouth forming a straight line. "BORN TO THOSE WHO HAVE THRICE DEFIED HIM ... AND THE DARK LORD WILL MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL, BUT HE WILL HAVE THE POWER THE DARK LORD KNOWS NOT ..." "Oi! You ain't ‘posed to be here!" Dumbledore's eyes swept to the door as the barmen dragged away a man in a black clock, but he wanted to retain every bit of the information that this woman was saying. "AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HANDS OF THE OTHER FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES ...THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO DEFEAT THE LORD WILL BE BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES..." And then she let out an ear-splitting scream. A scream, that mirrored one coming out of the bedroom of a woman at the end of her childbirth. Though there were wizards nearby with pain spells, she had been insistent that she wanted no painkillers. Even so, her baby was making it very difficult for her. She held onto her husband's hand as he helped coach her breathing, and he was looking worried at the screaming that was coming out of her mouth. "All right, just push!" the healer said. "You're almost there." "GRRAAH" she said, pushing so hard that tears streamed down her cheeks. "I see the head!!" "Isn't this just so exciting?" Lily said, bouncing slightly, as they heard another scream echo down the hallway. Once the alert had been sounded that Alice Longbottom had gone into labor, the friends of the family rushed over to the Longbottom home to wait for the joyous occasion. "Exciting?" Sirius asked, eyeing her. "Pretty soon, you'll be the one screaming in pain." It was true; Lily looked like someone had inflated a giant balloon under her shirt. Only she wasn't as big as Alice had been, as Lily's baby was due October second, and it was only July thirtieth. "I still think it's exciting," Lily sniffed, folding her arms over her chest and resting them on her bulge. "Don't you think so, Honey?" "Yeah, exciting," James swallowed. He had been looking green ever since Lily had burst into their flat chirping about how Alice had gone into labor while they were out shopping. Lily finally stopped buzzing long enough to notice his pallor. "Are you all right?" she whispered. "Yeah," he swallowed, giving her a slight smile. "You don't look so...ow..." Lily said, grimacing. "What?!" James' face went from sickly to scared in two seconds flat. "Baby?!" "No, James-" "Baby!" Sirius jumped up. "Now?!" "Sirius-" "What?!" Remus said, he had been chitchatting with Emmeline. "Oh damn, not again," Emmeline rolled her eyes. "Guys!" Lily laughed, standing up. "The baby just kicked me is all." "Where are you going then?" James asked, still worried. "Loo," Lily said. "You just went?" Sirius stared at her. "Yes, but the baby seems to like kicking my bladder is all," Lily leaned backwards to stretch. "He's getting heavy." "You don't think the doctor could have been wrong, do you?" James asked. "Are you sure it's the second? It might be tomorrow-" "James, the baby is not coming until October second," Lily sighed, waddling slowly to the door. "Which is nearly two months away. I'm not going into labor any time soon. But I do need to use the loo, so pardon." With that, she waddled out of the room. Not five seconds later, "I'm going to go make sure she doesn't fall over!" "What is with him?" Sirius asked. "He's acting strangely." "Can you blame him?" Remus said, getting up from the couch with Emmeline and sitting next to Sirius. Emmeline had a scowl on her face and glared out the window. "Wouldn't you be acting a bit oddly if you were expecting a baby?" Sirius paused for a moment. "Yes, Moony, if I were pregnant, I would be acting strangely, I think." *** James walked down the hallway, listening to his feet echo in the empty hallway. He looked up when a door opened and Lily walked out of the loo, looking quite put out. "Cannot believe it! How can you have a false alarm to go pee?" she said, not really upset at all. In fact, Lily was rarely upset about anything these days. She was practically a beacon in the night with the way she was glowing when she walked down the street. She noticed James' face and her smile slid a bit. "What's wrong?" "Lily, am I ready to be a father?" he sighed, leaning against the wall. "Bit late for that, isn't it?" Lily couldn't help but giggle. "I think we should have waited." "That was the plan, remember," she said, slyly. "And then someone forgot to use a condom New Years Eve..." "Lily, I'm serious!" James said. "This isn't funny! I'm going to ruin this child!" "Potter, come here," Lily grinned, pulling him over to her by the shirt. She wrapped her arms around him, quite a feat as the bulge between them was quite large. James reached down and placed his hands around the baby. "I don't think I could live with myself if I ruined my own child." "James," Lily laughed softly. "You're going to be a great dad, I know it." "Pssh." "Do you love this baby?" "Of course I do," James said, pressing his forehead to hers and closing his eyes. "Which is why I'm so scared I'm going to screw him up." "If you love the baby, there is no way you can screw him up," Lily smiled and her eyes popped a bit. James gasped and grinned. "He kicked me!" "He loves you too," Lily smiled, closing her eyes and smiling. "See?" "Hey kiddo," James said, getting on his knees and whispering to her belly. "Do you hear me?" He brushed his hands over Lily's shirt and the baby inside kicked again. Smiling to himself, James leaned forward and placed a kiss where the kicking was. "You're going to be a great Daddy," Lily said, running her hands through his hair. "And I think the baby agrees." Hopping to his feet, James let out a shaky sigh. "I'm still nervous..." "So am I," Lily said, rubbing her belly. "You are?" James laughed, putting his arm around her, and walking back into the room. "You're practically over-ready to have this baby." "What makes you say that," she giggled, when his hands found their way inside her overalls and brushed her skin. "The baby's room is nearly bursting with things, and the kid is going to have enough booties to last him until he's thirty, and you're just...so ready..." "That's only because I know I'll have you with me," she kissed him gently. "We should get back in there." "You always make everything all right," he kissed her gently on the side of the head. The two of them walked back to the waiting room where they were surprised to see Frank there. He was holding a bundle of blankets. "Hey," Frank whispered, seeing them in the doorway. "Come look at my boy." The baby in his arms was pink and chubby and was crying his little lungs out. Even though his face was red and his eyes were squinched in a horribly upset expression, the resemblance to Alice was uncanny. His tiny hands were grasping the old quilt and Lily could see tiny, perfect, fingernails adoring each of his ten fingers. Frank was rocking him as if he couldn't be prouder of anything in his life. He cooed at the baby and rocked him slowly backwards and forwards. The baby's cries slowly slowed until they were a small whimper and then he had fallen asleep in his new daddy's arms. "Congratulations," Remus said, looking up at Frank. "How's Alice?" "Tired," Frank admitted. "He came out kicking and screaming, that's for sure. She's resting now, but she wants to see you all." "We need to get out of here," Lily looked to James. Her back was killing her, and she needed to get some rest. "But we'll come by tomorrow to see Alice, all right?" "She'd love that," Frank smiled. "You two need to go spend more money on that baby room." "That we do-" "Frank, James, Lily," Dumbledore interrupted them, looking quite grave. He looked quite hurried, something very odd for Albus Dumbledore, and he looked most stressed, something also very odd for Albus Dumbledore. "What is it?" James asked, putting his arm around Lily, fearing something horrible had happened. "Where is Alice?" Dumbledore asked, hurried. "She's asleep," Frank said, holding his baby closer to him. Seeing Dumbledore that way was frightening, even to him. "Rouse her, quickly, and all four...five of you must go to my office, immediately." He paused to look at the baby and let a small smile come to his face. Then he Disapparated with a crack. "We need to talk in a very private place." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2. Careful SGR's Note: A few points of interest: 1) This is the fourth book in the series. If you have not read Deer to Me and the anteceding books, I suggest you go read those first or else you most definitely will be confused. 2) I apologize for the delay in getting this chapter out. There were technical difficulties, as well as the stress of starting a brand new semester and all that goes with it (book buying and etc). I hope the next chapter comes quicker, but it's looking as though I'll only be able to post one chapter a week. 3) There have been many concerns about the canonicity of Harry Potter's birthday and other points. Those will be answered in this chapter. And for the record, James and Lily have faced Lord Voldemort twice; once in Heading the School, and once in Four Little Words. 4) Shameless plug, but....I'm nominated for "Best New Author" and "Best .... Novel" for Deer to Me on Portkey, so if anybody wants to mosey on over there and give me a few votes, I'd be most appreciative. EDIT: Sorry guys! Confusing dates and all! I fixed the November screw up. It’s October, and I apologize for any confustion!! "You walked out when I asked you to stay As usual you'll get your way You closed the door and stumbled down to the street [...] Careful or you'll hurt yourself." -Guster, Careful Those Who Have Thrice Defied Him Chapter Two Neville slept fitfully next to his mother's bosom. His mother, held him tiredly; she had not yet been able to rest after giving birth to him. There had been an argument on whether or not Neville and his mother should be moved so soon after giving birth, but after the meeting had finally started in Dumbledore's office, no one wanted to leave the safety. After all, when you've just watched a bug-eyed woman tell of the impending death of possibly your child, you'd want to stay in the safest place too. "Well, that's it then," Frank said, grimly, swallowing. "It's Neville... He was born tonight, and we've faced Voldemort three times." "I would say that yes, he is a candidate, but Lily-" Dumbledore started. "Lily's not due until the October second," James said, hotly. "There's no way that...that....thing can refer to her..." Even though, he was grasping his wife so tightly that she was getting uncomfortable. "Not only that, but we've only ‘defied' Voldemort twice." James glared at Dumbledore with such intensity that the older man had to pause a moment before continuing. "James, I do not doubt that the possibility of Lily giving birth by tomorrow night is rare, but it still is a possibility of it being you, however a slim one, so we must take precautions." "Are you sure that someone else heard?"Alice asked, quietly. "I am positive. However, the barman recognized him and ejected him from the premises at some point during the prophecy," Dumbledore said. "Our greatest unknown is how much of the prophecy he knows. Any fragment could lead him to believe that it was Neville, or worse, he could believe it was both of the boys, and go after both of them." Alice looked down at Neville who had started to murmur again. "Albus, he's only a baby," she said. "He wouldn't kill an...." she trailed off and looked down, closing her eyes. Of course Voldemort would kill an innocent baby. "What do we do?" Frank asked, gently rubbing his wife's back. "What do you want us to do?" "Voldemort holds the cards now," Dumbledore said, standing up and walking to the window. "I cannot predict what he will do, nor can I predict the speed that he will receive this information. James, Lily, I would lay low for the next day. Do not use any magic and use Fawkes to check in every hour. Alice, Frank, until we know more, I want the both of you to stay here. Madame Pomfrey will be on hand to assist with your new son." "Do you want us to stay here too?" James asked. Dumbledore stood up and walked to his window, thinking. "We are in a tight spot because we aren't sure to what extent Voldemort knows of the prophecy. As of right now, your unborn child does not fit the prophecy, and Neville does. If you were to stay here, Voldemort might suspect, with his incomplete knowledge, that it applies to you as well, and then you would be suspect and there would be no going back. If we act as if it has nothing to do with you, then Voldemort might leave you alone." "So, the safest place is in our flat?" James asked, slowly. "I believe so," Dumbledore nodded. "As I've said, there's no guarantee that he would even have you in his sights, but I don't want to give him any excuse to think that it's you. I would rather put all of our Aurors on protecting Neville then having to split them up between the two of you." "We'd better go before anyone notices that we're missing," Lily said, quietly. James nodded and helped Lily to her feet. He paused to shake Frank's hand, and give him a small smile, and, to himself, he was positive that Frank's baby was the one destined for that curse. It made sense, James thought, watching Lily Floo back to their house. Frank and Alice were both pure-blood, and Frank was an insanely talented wizard. And why would Voldemort go out of his way to fulfill a prophecy when he had a perfect fit with Neville Longbottom? With that comforting thought, he followed Lily into the fireplace. *** "It's dark," James said, quietly. He had dark circles under his eyes and his hair was damp from coming out of the shower. He looked over to Lily who was sitting at the table, not really seeing anything around her. She jumped and looked out the window. "Finally," Lily said, also having dark circles under her eyes. She was stirring an ice cold cup of coffee and staring blankly into the room, as she was prone to do when she didn't have much sleep. She rubbed her eyes and sighed, putting her head down on the table. "It's nearly eight," James said, walking into the living room and planting a kiss on Lily's forehead. "Time to check in again." "Huh?" she said, looking up, blankly. James smiled tiredly and tapped his wand against the orange plume in his hand. "Go to bed, Baby..." "No," Lily shook her head and put her head in her arms. "Can't go to sleep, what if something happens?" "Lily," James put his arms around her and pulled her to her feet. "You're getting cranky. You don't need to be worried about this in your condition. The baby doesn't need you stressing out about all this stuff..." Lily put her head in his shoulder and closed her eyes, breathing in his scent. She was starting to get a headache from lack of sleep and her bed was looking very inviting. James was rocking her back and forth slowly, and rubbing her aching back, very rhythmically. He leaned down and kissed her lovingly. She moaned softly and licked her lips, about asleep on her feet. They both had a heart attack when the door opened. "Whoa....bad time?" Sirius asked, stopping short. "What's wrong?" Lily, now incredibly awake, shot James a look that could have melted steel. "Nothing." "Sure doesn't look like nothing," Sirius said, closing the door behind him. "Why did Dumbledore want to see you guys last night?" "No reason, Sirius," Lily said, deciding that it would be more intelligent to stay around. She could see James bursting to tell Sirius what was going on, but somehow she didn't want to tell anyone what was going on, at least until they were in the clear. "Lily, we can tell-" James said, motioning to Sirius. "We are not going to tell anybody," Lily said, sternly. Sirius was taken aback by her tone of voice. James squeezed her gently. "Baby, it's-" "The more people who know, the more dangerous it will be," Lily said. "But, it's Sirius, honey," he assured her. "We can trust him-" Sirius watched this banter back and forth very curiously. He'd never seen them in this much disagreement about something; usually one would relent after a few minutes, but neither was ready to back down. "You can wait a few hours," Lily snapped. "I don't want to jeopardize anything-" "How is telling one person jeopardizing anything?" James snapped back. "And it's Padfoot, no less." "Oh yes, dear Padfoot-" "What is your problem?" James glared at her. "I don't think you're taking this seriously enough," Lily said, turning around and staring at him. "We have to think about our child, James-" "I am thinking of our child," James growled. "And I think that his godfather has a right to know what's going on." "Why? What's so important that he needs to know?" Lily asked. "Don't you want as much protection as possible?" James said, as if it slightly embarrassed him to talk about it. "Three of us would be much more protected than two." "But we won't need protection if nobody knows!" Lily stood up, exasperated. "We can't bet on him not knowing!" James stood up too. "Would you rather live a lie and be surprised when, oh here comes Lord Voldemort, going to kill our baby, and us too, or would you rather be protected by one of our oldest and dearest friends?" "Wait a minute," Sirius said, standing up. "What is this about Voldemort and your baby?" Lily felt tears welling up in her eyes and stood up. "Now see what you've done?" She stormed towards the door, grabbing her purse as she went. "Where are you going?" James asked. "I'm going out!" she said. "Oh, if that isn't the dumbest thing I've ever heard," James said. "You aren't going anywhere!" "It'd be safer than with you, blabbing to everyone a dangerous secret!" Lily spat. "Can you both quit fighting long enough to tell me why my godchild is the target of Lord Voldemort?" Sirius interrupted. "Dumbledore heard a prophecy last night that foretold that a child born as the seventh month dies to parents who have personally faced Voldemort three times will have the power to defeat Lord Voldemort," James said, not taking his eyes off of Lily who was getting angrier and angrier by the minute. "But, Lily isn't due until October, Prongs," Sirius said. "And you've only faced him twice-" "Yes, but we aren't sure how much of the prophecy that he knows," Lily said, also not tearing her eyes from James, her eyes burning in cold fury. "So he might have heard half of it and come after us anyways. So, we have to wait until midnight until we're in the clear." "Which is why I thought it was a good idea to tell Sirius," James said. "Oh come off it Potter, you couldn't keep something from Sirius to save your life, and apparently, neither your child's," Lily growled. Her head was pounding from lack of sleep and she was getting unnecessarily angry at James. "I have to get out of here..." she whispered to herself, grabbing at her head and walking to the door. "You are not leaving this room!" James said. "Yeah, leaving wouldn't be the best idea, if there's a murdering bastard out to get you..." Sirius said. "I don't care, I can't stand it here anymore," she said. "And I really can't stand you right now!" With that, she slammed the door behind her. *** She knew she was being irrational, but when she stepped out into the dingy alleyway between their two buildings and got a whiff of dirty, fresh air, she didn't care. She was pregnant, and she hadn't slept in two days, and she would be damned if she was going to let Potter get away unscathed with pissing her off like that. She was probably going to go to Dumbledore's office, or stay the night at Hogwarts or something. But she needed a breath of fresh air before she left. "Lily!" James said, breaking out of the stairwell. She had taken the elevator and he had no choice but to run down seven flights of stairs to catch her. "Go back upstairs!" he bellowed at her. She yanked her arm out of his hand. "Don't you grab at me James Potter!" she spat. "And don't yell at me either!" "I'll yell at you all I want when you're being stupid!" James cried. "I'm not endangering our child any more than you did!" she yelled. "And at least I have an excuse!" "Oh yeah?" James growled. "And what's that?" "I'm pregnant!" she spat. Sirius, who had taken his time walking down the stairwell, approached them slowly. "That's always your excuse, isn't it?" James rolled his eyes. "I'm being a bitch, but it's all right, I'm pregnant!" "Actually, that's a very reasonable excuse," Sirius interjected mildly. "Shut up!" They both said at the same time. "I dare you to carry around this kid for a day, Potter!" Lily glared at him. "I dare you to put up with yourself for a day, Evans-" James mumbled and Lily gasped. "What did you just call me?" she gaped. "Ooh," Sirius said, stepping forward. James was about to loose his testicles. "Look, I think you both are very stressed right now, and for good reason, so why don't we all just take a deep breath. Lily, honey, you don't need to be stressed like this in your condition, and James, you don't need to be saying things like that with Lily in her condition..." "Oh go screw a whore, Sirius," Lily snapped, turning on her heel and walking around the side of the building. Once she whirled around, she stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes widening. "Ah, Mrs. Potter, just the mudblood I wanted to see," said Lord Voldemort, a twisted smile coming to his face. "You've saved me the walk up to your flat." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3. A New Day SGR's Note: I figure a lot of you are watching le Superbradygasmbowl, so I could sneak this one in under you. I do apologize for not getting it done yesterday. I also apologize for the suckiness of it. "Where it was dark now there is light Where there was pain, now there's joy Where there was weakness, I found my strength All in the eyes of a boy." -A New Day, Celine Dion Those Who Have Thrice Defied Him Chapter Three "You..." she breathed. She took two steps backward, and her vision was filled with James and Sirius. They stood in front of her protectively, each had their wand at the level of their eyes. She placed a hand on her stomach and fear like she had never known washed over her. For the first time, she understood what it felt to be afraid for her child's life. "She's not the one you want," James said. "It's the Longbottom child-" "Somehow I doubt your sincerity" Voldemort said, looking at his wand mildly. "Besides, I rid the world of a dirty Half-blood and his Mudblood mother all the-" James was not one to stand around while his wife and child were insulted. With a rough shove, he pushed Lily away from them and cursed Voldemort in the chest. Or attempted to, anyways. Voldemort was a much better dueler and deflected it easily, and rather boredly. "Lily!" he cried. "Get out of-oof!" Voldemort flung James and Sirius onto their backs, recovering from the curse quickly. Shaking, Lily was about to Apparate, but Voldemort cursed the wand out of her hand, slicing open the top of her hand. She fell back a few steps, holding her bleeding hand and looked up just in time to see a shot from Voldemort's wand connect with her swollen belly. Lily's screaming brought James to his feet so fast his head spun. Voldemort seemed to be moving in for the final kill, raising his wand at her. Lily was lying on the ground, the first curse still causing her so much pain she couldn't even open her eyes. She was aware of nothing, not even the wand aiming at her and the incantation that was about to end her life. James flung out his wand and said the first thing that came to mind, hoping that it would distract Voldemort long enough for Lily to Disapparate. Voldemort turned around and deflected a spell from Sirius, who also had gotten to his feet. The two of them combined pushed Voldemort back and engaged him in a duel away from Lily. Lily took a deep breath and opened her eyes, sitting up slightly, still clutching her unborn baby. She looked around for her wand, still feeling the aftershocks, and unable to stand. "What's wrong with her?" James asked, holding his bleeding arm. He was starting to get worried about her, because she was holding her stomach and not getting up. "Why isn't she getting out of here?" Voldemort heard him and noticed Lily again. With a gruesome smile, he cursed her again, and the scream that came out of her mouth was enough to set James' blood on fire. He flung a curse at Voldemort to stop him, and he took the bait, humoring James with a duel. Sirius rushed to Lily's side while James fought Voldemort, brushing his hands over her face. "Lily, talk to me," he whispered. "Can you get up?" "It hurts," she moaned, her voice high and desperate. "It hurts so bad..." "Lily, love, get up," Sirius said, terrified, for the first time. "I can't move," she sobbed, eyes streaming. "Hurts....so bad..." Sirius would have loved to say more, but Voldemort had finished with James for the moment and had Summoned Sirius by his neck and flung him into a nearby trash receptacle. Lily opened her eyes to see Voldemort standing above her, wand pointed at her. She took in a shaky breath and closed her eyes, hands still grasping her overalled stomach where her baby was. She just wanted the pain to stop... "GRAH!" "Lily! Catch!" James yelled. Lily opened her eyes to see James fling his wand at her while Voldemort held his eyes in pain after James had sent a curse into them. She reached up, with some difficulty, and grabbed the wand. James was looking at her with a determined and heartbroken look. "Go!" he said, his voice strangled. "I can't....leave you...." Lily said, shaking her head. Voldemort was blinking, as if he was starting to get his sight back from the attack on his eyes. James looked at her and for a second, time stopped. His eyes told her what she didn't want to know, that the life of their baby was more important than his life. She had to escape, she had to go on with their child. He was the most important thing... "I love you," she whispered, tears spilling down her face. Voldemort's sight had returned to him and he was quite angry for it being gone. He turned to James and used the Unforgivable Crutacious curse. It was then that he noticed that James had no wand. With a ferocious glance, he turned to Lily. "LILY!" James screamed. "GO NOW!" Heart breaking into a thousand pieces, Lily Disapparated. James struggled to his feet, and watched Voldemort turn slowly back to face him. His hand itched without the feeling of his wand in it, but he showed no signs of fear. He really had nothing to fear, now that his wife and child were safe. "Very brave," Voldemort said softly. "But also very stupid." James squared his shoulders and stared at Voldemort. He didn't say anything, because he didn't want to give Voldemort the pleasure of mocking his words before he was sent off into the great beyond. "No last words?" Voldemort asked, raising his wand. "I suppose that you want it over with quickly, hm? I am afraid you've caused me too much trouble for that..." A spark of purple flew across the top of Voldemort's hand and blood spurted out. He looked at his hand, furious, and then to the source of the magic. "That hurt, you white-faced fucker!" Sirius said, coming out of the alley that he had been thrown into, blood tricking down his cheek from his matted black hair. *** Lily appeared in a pile in the waiting room of St. Mungo's. Every inch of her body hurt, physically, mentally, and even her soul was aching. She would never be able to get that sight out of her mind. That sight of James telling her to go, to get out of there, while he sacrificed himself for their baby. She held his wand to her chest and heaved in breaths. It was suddenly very light where she was. The person above her was talking to her, but she couldn't understand what she was saying. There was someone screaming in her ear and it was the only thing she could comprehend. Her body was suddenly bathed in cool air and then lifted onto something soft. The screaming was still going on, but either it or her hearing had dulled into a low roar. The lights were flashing now, and felt herself moving. She was having difficulties breathing now, and there was definitely something wrong with her stomach. "Baby..." she breathed, hands flying down to hold her child. But she couldn't move her arms. There was pressure on her wrists, and she couldn't hold her baby. She wanted to hold her baby. The screaming was louder now, and she finally realized that it was herself. When she realized this, the dulled sound that had been covering the sound was lifted, and the shrillness of her own voice filled her brain, as well as the rest of the sounds. "Mrs. Potter! Calm down!" "We need to give you this potion-!" "James," she sobbed. "He's gone...." "Lily, it's all right," a very pudgy hand slipped into her own. "They're trying to get James out of there." The dullness had settled over her hearing again, and suddenly a new feeling came over her. There was a horribly clenching feeling around her baby. It hurt so bad that the screaming was back, and she was writhing against her bounds. It lasted forever, it seemed like, but it did end, and when it did she let out a breath she was holding. Her chest had been aching from lack of air as well, but it had been but a dull pain compared to what was going on in her belly. The dullness lifted once more and she could hear voices. "That's the second one in a half-hour..." "I think we should stand by, she should be ready soon." "What?" Lily breathed. "What do you mean?" "You're having your baby tonight, Mrs. Potter," the Healer said, feeling her stomach gently. "No...." Lily started breathing erratically. "No, not tonight...No, no, no, no....noooo!" She violently shook her head. She wasn't ready to be a mother, and that would mean the prophecy would pertain to her baby, and she couldn't face Lord Voldemort again without James...James would never get to see his baby born... "Lily, you have to breathe!" "I can't...I can't do this..." she gasped, closing her eyes. Another horrific pain was hitting her. "I can't do this without....without James!" "You're going to have to, Lily," the pudgy hand said. "You're nearly ready!" "James...." she whispered, the room oddly silent for so much activity. "I need you..." "Holy fuck!" At the sound of his voice, everything was suddenly clear. She was in a room at St. Mungo's, Peter Pettigrew was holding her hand, there were two Healers in the room as well as three Mediwitches, and James was standing in the doorway with Sirius behind him, they both having mirroring expressions of confusion on their faces. Lily sprung up into a sitting position, her heart beating so fast that she was getting dizzy. "You're ...alive..." she breathed, eyes filling with tears. "You're in labor!" James exclaimed, looking quite terrified. He rushed to her side, but couldn't do anything because Lily had hugged him so tightly that he was having difficulties breathing. "I was so scared I'd lost you," Lily cried. "I can't do this alone..." "It's all right," James said, brushing her face. "I'm all-" His eyes bulged when Lily crushed him to her again, only this time she was crying out in pain. She hissed in pain and her whole face contorted in pain. It slowly ebbed away and she sat back, not releasing James' hand from her own. "Ah! Here comes the head!" the Healer that was seated in-between Lily's legs cheered. Lily poked her head up and frowned. "What the bloody hell do you think that you're doing down-AAAARG!" Her baby was definitely crowning and she could definitely feel it. "Lily, look, there's his head!" James said, leaving her side for a minute. "I can't bloody see," she said, through clenched teeth. "Get back here!" But instead, when another painful contraction hit her, she came to James, sitting up straight to push better. James reached behind her to hold her up and next to him, wanting them to experience this together. "All right, now, this is going to be the hardest part!" Lily closed her eyes. She was very tired and she wasn't sure if she could do it anymore. She pressed her head against James' and her lip trembled. He held her tightly to him and kissed her on the cheek. "You can do it, Baby," he whispered. "Almost done. Just a little bit more..." "I can't, James...I'm so tired..." "We'll push together, all right?" James said, looking her straight in the eye. "Ready? One, two...." Lily closed her eyes and pushed as hard as she could, gripping James' hand as hard as she could. "Look! Lily, baby, look!" Lily's eyes flew open just in time to see her newborn baby boy fall into the Healer's arms. He was very, very tiny, about the size of a girl's doll, but he was very much alive, screaming at the top of his little lungs. A feeling of joy that she had never known washed over her. Tears filled her eyes once more, but this time, they were tears of happiness. "He's so...tiny..." James, too, was crying. "Congratulations," the Healer said, placing the baby, wrapped in a blue blanket, into Lily's arms. The weight of her baby in her arms caused another wave of tears to fall down Lily's face. He was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her entire life. Small and pink, screaming his little lungs out, and complete with jet black hair to match his father's, here was their baby boy who had been kicking from the inside. "So this is what you look like," James said, leaning down to kiss his son on the forehead. Words were too mundane to express the feeling that was within his chest. He couldn't believe that he almost died without seeing this paradigm of perfection. Remus, Sirius, and Peter were at the borders of the room. They had been there the entire time, having been too involved in the excitement to leave. Peter had a smile on his face and was beaming proudly; Dumbledore had asked him to watch over Lily, as the rest of the Order was trying to get James back to his family. Remus had tears of joy in his eyes, and was trying discreetly to hide them. Sirius was bawling into the nearest Mediwitch. Remus and Peter took both of his arms and lead him out of the room, as he was starting to cause a scene. "James," Lily said, eyes flashing open happily. "James, look!" "What?" James asked, following her eyesight. "I-It's past midnight!!!" "Thank God," Lily closed her eyes and holding her baby close to her. It was August first, this nightmare was finally over. The prophecy didn't apply to them, their baby was safe. Their lives were going to be all right, they were going to have a normal life. "Do you have a name?" asked the Healer gently. Lily looked to James and they both smiled. They weren't prepared in the least to pick out a name; thinking that they had a few more weeks to figure it out. They had always joked that they would be able to figure it out once they saw their baby. "He rather looks like a Harry, doesn't he?" James asked. "Harry James Potter," Lily whispered on top of her baby's hair. James closed his eyes and nudged her head gently. It was a Potter tradition to name the first son after the father, which was why James' middle name was "William," after his father. "So, that's it then?" the Healer asked. Lily nodded fervently. Her little Harry was quieting down slightly but was still whimpering. James leaned down to kiss him again on the forehead. "Right then, Harry James Potter. Height of twenty-five centimeters, weight of one pound, ten ounces. Born to James and Lily Potter, at 11:56 PM, on July the thirty-first...." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4. Childhood Dreams SGR's Note: Oh my God! I've updated!!!! Yes, I know, you all hate me. But I did have a very valid reason for taking a long hiatus. I have just returned from mailing off my first manuscript to my first publisher. Cross your fingers. I took some time off because between fanfiction and Razia, Razia is more important, and I hope you all understand that. But now that the story has been sent off, I can finally take a break from it and finish this story. "The little boy made for me in the stars That's why I love you more the further I go And before this existence you were always there Waiting for me You are, you are the realest thing I know." -Childhood Dreams, Nelly Furtado Those Who Have Thrice Defied Him Chapter Four "Right then, Harry James Potter. Height of twenty-five centimeters, weight of one pound, ten ounces. Born to James and Lily Potter, at 11:56 PM, on July the thirty-first...." "What?!" James and Lily said at the same time, over the loud bawling of their baby. Before James went off yelling at the Medi-witch, Lily grabbed his hand and brought him back to her, to calm him down. He didn't need to be causing a scene. "Is there a problem?" she asked. "Look, can you do us a favor, and say he was born on the first?" James asked, quietly. "I can't do that, it's illegal-" the Mediwitch sniffed. "Not on the legal stuff, but...on the announcement on the door and everything else," James said, looking to the door. "It's...well...it's quite important for everyone to think that he was born on the first..." "Yes, it is," came the solemn voice of Albus Dumbledore. He closed the door behind him and looked at the Mediwitch pleasantly. "On his birth certificate, please, use the correct time and date, as it might be very handy in the future. But on all other documents, Harry James Potter was born on August first." Too shocked to see Albus Dumbledore standing in her presence to argue, the Mediwitch nodded and changed the date on the announcement poster. "May I have a few moments to speak with the new parents?" Dumbledore asked, smiling. Nodding, the Mediwitch left the room, looking quite dazed. Once she left the room, Lily burst into tears again. "Now, Lily," Dumbledore said, sitting in a seat next to the bed. "There is no need to cry." "Albus," James said, holding her gently. "She hasn't slept in days..." "He's so tiny," Lily sniffed, looking at her baby. "He's not even two pounds...and he wants to kill him!" "Ssh," Dumbledore said, looking around. "It is imperative that you not speak of that." He sighed and looked very grave. "First and foremost, I must apologize. It was on my advice that you stayed in your flat-" Lily gave a shuddery breath. "I did not expect Lord Voldemort to be...I underestimated his inhumane nature," he ended quietly. "I did not think that he would attack simply because there was a shadow of a chance...But what's done is done, and now we have a problem on our hands." "What should we do?" James asked, hollowly. "I have made arrangements for you to go into hiding," Dumbledore whispered. "I cannot tell you where at this point in time, nor can I tell you anything else, but Frank and Alice have already gone into hiding at a different place, and will remain there until..." "Until when?" Lily asked. "Until Voldemort chooses which child he will mark as his equal," Dumbledore said, heavily. There was a knock on the door and the Healer came back in, holding a small purple potion and a dropper. "Since your baby was born so prematurely, he'll need a few drops of potion to keep him on the healthy side." Lily opened Harry's mouth and the Healer dropped three drops into Harry's mouth. The baby made a sputtering sound that caused both of his parents to melt into a puddle of goo and forget the impending doom that penetrated the room. "Did you see that?" James asked, eyebrows raised in an expression of astonishment. "He coughed...." "Harry coughed," Lily laughed, feeling tears again. She was rather tired of crying, but she was just so emotional. "When can they take him home?" Dumbledore asked. "We'll need to watch him for a few days to make sure the potion is doing its job, and from the looks of things, the parents need a once-over," he explained. "An encounter from You-Know- Who isn't something we take lightly here." "As well you should," Dumbledore nodded. "Do you want me to take him, Mr. Potter?" the Healer walked forwards. "You and your wife need to be examined-" "No," James said, not really wanting to let his son out of his sight. "No, I'll watch over him." Lily was half-asleep and too tired to make her own defense. Even more gently than James thought was possible, he lifted his tiny baby from his wife's arms, leaving her free to roll over and go to sleep. He, too, was overcome with a powerful emotion as he looked down at his creation, his baby, his perfection. Somehow, he always knew that Harry would be on the shrimpy side, but he was still perfect in his father's eyes. So perfect that James wondered if he was really real, but he was real, all at the same time. "Very well, you may call on the Mediwitches if you have any problems," the Healer said, leaving the room. James half-nodded to him, and continued to stare at his baby with wonder and awe. "You look dead on your feet," Dumbledore said, quietly, placing a hand on James' shoulder. "You need rest-" "I don't want to leave him alone," James shook his head. "I will watch over him tonight," Dumbledore assured him, offering to take the baby. Very reluctantly, James handed his baby over to Dumbledore. He looked even tinier in the old man's arms, and James had the urge to take him back. "Right," James said, running his hands through his hair. "Get some sleep," Dumbledore said, sweeping out of the room. "You'll need it for the months to come." "Right, sleep...." Come to think of it, James was very tired. He yawned and turned around, eyeing a nice patch of bed next to Lily. He climbed in next to her, kicking off his shoes, and wrapped his arms around her. The door shut behind him. "I love you, James," Lily said, having been half-awake the entire time. She reached for his arms and held them tighter to her. "I could never do this without you-" "Ssh," James whispered into her ear. "You'll never have to. I'll always be here beside you." And with that, the two of them fell into a well-deserved sleep. *** "Mrs. Potter..." Lily was being shaken, and she could hear tiny cries. "What is it?" Lily said, sitting up. James arm, which was holding her just under her chest, slid down slowly to rest in her lap when she sat up. He made a movement as if he, too, was wakening. "Your baby-" "What's wrong?" Lily gasped. "No," the Mediwitch smiled, handing the baby to his mother. "He's hungry..." v"Oh..." Lily swallowed. "W-what am I supposed to do?" "Just bare your breast, he should know what to do," she smiled at her. Lily looked down at her baby and stared at his chubby pink cheeks. The potion had already started to work, because Harry looked bigger than he did when she had first given birth to him. "How big is he now?" Lily asked. "He weighs about two and three-quarters pounds now," she said. "We'll let you take him home when he reaches six, which should be sometime within the next few days." "So, I just, bare my breast and he'll know what to do?" Lily asked, nervously. "That he will," she said, leaving Lily to her privacy. Lily looked down at James who was still conked out and probably wouldn't wake up for a while. Nervously, she undid her ties of her gown. She held Harry up to one of her breasts and waited. Watching in awe, her baby leaned up and started suckling. The entire beauty of it was beyond words. The feelings that filled her, she had never felt before. Not when she made love to James, or even when she had married him. Those feelings, the warmth of love she felt those times, they were nothing compared to looking down at her black haired baby suckling at her breast. "Oh wow..." James was awake. His hair was sticking up on one side, and his eyes were puffy, but his face mirrored hers in loving astonishment at their baby who was taking his first meal from his mother. James shifted his weight and sat up, moving to cradle Lily in his arms "So beautiful," he whispered. Harry's hand came up and grabbed at his mother's breast, and Lily and James cooed in adoration. "He's very hungry," Lily whispered. "Got a big appetite like his Daddy," James smiled, proudly. "Oh, I do hope this isn't a sign of things to come," Lily giggled. "The two of you will eat me out of house and home." "He's a growing boy, Lily," James said, kissing her gently, sweetly, lovingly, on the cheek. He closed his eyes and pressed his nose where he kissed her, smiling. "I'm so happy," he whispered. He could feel her stiffen slightly. "What is it?" he asked, opening his eyes. "How can we do this James?" Lily said, opening her eyes to look at him. "How can we raise this baby when we have to keep him in hiding for the rest of his life? What kind of a life is that?" "Hey," James said holding her close to him. "Hey now, what kind of talk is that?" Harry was finished eating, and he turned his head over and was sleeping against his mother's bosom. "Life isn't going to be any different, all right?" James assured her. "So we'll have to move, and we'll probably not be able to use that much magic, and we'll have to be very careful, but so what? That doesn't mean that we can't raise this baby with all the love and affection that he deserves." Lily sniffed. "Do you love this baby?" James asked, using her own words. "I do," Lily nodded. "You've always been the strong one," he told her, taking the baby from her while she sat back and watched him, tearfully. "You've always been the one to tell me that everything's going to be all right, there's nothing to worry about, and that I'm just overreacting. Now it's my turn to take care of you and Harry, all right?" "I love you," she whispered, reaching up and stroking his face. "Get some sleep," he smiled. "I'll watch over him for a while." Getting up from the bed, he felt Lily's eyes on him until he left the room. He shut the door behind him and looked down at Harry who was sleeping soundly. "So, mate," James said, rocking him slowly. "Your mummy is getting worried that we're not going to have a normal life. Well," he cooed, "that's not right, now is it? So you and me, we have to make sure that we do everything normal-like, all right? No funny business from you, Harry. You got me? Your mummy's a good woman, and she deserves the best from the both of us." Harry just slept soundly. "You know," James said, deciding to take a detour and sitting down on one of the waiting chairs that lined the hallway. "You and I need to start your Quidditch training soon. Now, I know you were born a few hours ago, but that doesn't mean that we can't start planning. The Healer says that you're going to be on the shrimpy side, now, mate, I'm not saying that's a bad thing. Remus is scrawny, and he's a pretty cool guy... "Oh!" James said, smiling. "You need to meet your uncles! Uncle Padfoot, he's your godfather, and he said that he's going to spoil you rotten. If anything should happen to your mum or me, he'd take care of you, and you know, he loves you almost as much as we do. Then there's Uncle Moony, he's got a bit of a problem that I'll explain to you when you're a bit older, but you don't have to worry about it, ‘cause he's a good man, and he loves you as well. He's got to be the kindest person alive, next to your mum, I mean. They're good mates, as well. And then there's Uncle Wormy...he's not around a lot, ‘cause he's busy. But he'll take care of you too. "Where was I?" James said, rocking Harry gently. "Oh yes, scrawniness. You know, your old man was a scrawny little thing too, though not as small as you are. But what he lacks in size, he makes up for in everything else, and it's the same for you as well. You'll be a great kid, I just know it. You've got a wonderful mum, you know that don't you? You've got to be the luckiest kid on the face of the planet. Oh, sure, she'll be rough on you a few times, and as a word of caution, there's this tone of voice she uses right before she blows up at you, learn it quickly by watching me, and remember it well." Harry yawned and touched his balled fists to his cheeks. "But back to Quidditch, it's an awesome game. The Potters have been playing it for centuries. You know, your ancestor was the one who designed the Golden Snitch. In fact, your grandmum and granddad still live in Godric's Hollow, that's where it was made." He sighed and looked down the hall. He then looked back down at his baby. "You know, mate, these next few years are going to be hard on all of us. I want you to know that your mum and I, we love you very, very much..." He trailed off, not really knowing what else to say as that pretty much summed it up. "Well, I suppose I'd best get you back with the Mediwitch," he said, standing up. "Don't forget to mind your manners for her, and say please and thank you and all that. It's never to early to learn good manners, you know..." He continued walking on, giving Harry pointers for the life to come. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5. I Just Wanna Be Mad 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." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6. Smile 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 7. Do You Have A Little Time 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." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 8. Jolene 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 café 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 café, 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 Café 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 Håkan. 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 café" 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." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 9. Good Time 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 10. No Other Way SGR's Note: It has finally happened. I have been plagiarized. Miss I-Steal-Work-That-Is-Not-Mine, if you are copying my story and sending it to people pretending you are me, you are really a terrible person and Yahoo and MSN have been notified. You should also notice that your email addresses have been spammed by my fellow authors/readers, and your account on Quizilla will soon be terminated. You. Suck. In other news, thank you a billion to Julie for notifying me of this horrible act. To you, I dedicate this chapter, as well as offer my heartfelt thanks. I also dedicate this chapter to those over at thegreatbreak who stepped forward to spam this idiot with threatening emails. "And know that if I knew All of the answers I would Not hold them from you'd Know all the things that i'd know We told each other, there is no other way." -No Other Way, Jack Johnson Those Who Have Thrice Defied Him Chapter Ten "Aw, lookie, Harry," Sirius said, bouncing the baby on his knee. "You wore out your Daddy." To be fair, James had been doing most of the work for the past four days, while Sirius commented, so it was to be expected that while Sirius had gone for a piss, James had passed out on the floor, with Harry lying on a blanket grabbing at various baby toys. Sirius had taken the baby off the floor and was keeping him at arm's length. Although he was still apprehensive about letting his mouth so close, the little slobber monster was growing on him. Harry was making sounds and sucking lightly on his thumb. "Well, as you're my best mate's ‘little mate,' I guess that means you're my ‘little mate,' too," Sirius nodded. "So that means I get to do all the stuff that I would normally do with James with you, hm?" James snorted on the floor and turned his head on the carpet. Sirius thought he head the word ‘Quaffle' pass through his lips. "Eh," Sirius reconsidered. "I suppose not everything I would do... your dad would murder me if I drug you into some of the trouble that we've gone through before." He continued to bounce Harry gently. "What could we do, mate?" Sirius asked, watching as Harry's head went bobbing up and down. "What could we do....?" Suddenly an idea hit Sirius. His jaw dropped and he stood up, still holding Harry at arm-length away with a huge grin on his face. "Oh, we're going to have some fun tonight!" he cackled, putting the baby on the slobber cloth on his shoulder and sneaking towards the door. *** "Lily, not again," Emmeline sighed. She had walked into the room from taking a long bath to find Lily quietly crying in a corner. "I can't help it!" Lily sighed a watery smile. "I miss my baby." "Now, which baby are we talking about?" Emmeline poked, handing Lily a tissue. "James or Harry?" "Both of them," Lily said, blowing her nose. "Well, once your husband finds out how much we've spent this week, I doubt you'll be able to go on another vacation for a while," Emmeline looked a bit guilty. "So why don't you just enjoy it?" "I am," Lily nodded. "It's just hard to be away from your child." "Dry your tears, we're going out, because I've been too busy to enjoy a drink, and you've been too pregnant," Emmeline grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her off of the couch with a surprised sound. *** "Yeah," Sirius sighed, holding Harry to his stomach with one hand, and holding a beer in the other. "I'm never going to be the same again." "You poor dear," the blonde sighed. "Losing my wife was the hardest thing I think I've ever had to go through," Sirius sighed, taking another drink, while keeping an eye on the girl's expression. "And then, of course, losing our number one babysitter in a freak explosion...but I can't come to a bar and soothe away my problems without leaving my only son...So that is why I brought him." "A good father, too!" she put her hand to her chest. "I love my little Harry," Sirius nodded, solemnly and then took another drink. "Well," the woman said, standing and looking towards the door. "I'm afraid, but my boyfriend is here, so-" Sirius held in a grumble as he watched her walk away. He put the beer up on the bar and then put Harry up there, his little booties hanging off the dirty wood. "We were close, weren't we mate?" Sirius said, nudging the baby in the stomach with his nose. Harry cooed and reached forward, grabbing Sirius' hair. "Owww!" he cried, closing his eyes. "Hey, mate, leggo!" Harry continued to grab without letting go. "Having troubles?" a voice said next to him. "A bit," Sirius said, eyeing the first thing at his eye-level, a pair of large breasts. He sighed melodramatically. "Ever since my wife died, he's been grabbing at everything he can get his hands on." "Your wife died?!" "Score," Sirius winked at Harry as the baby let go of his hair. *** James groggily opened his eyes and turned over onto his back, his mouth falling open slightly as he slept on. *** "I do believe that I will try another," Lily giggled, a bit tipsy. "And yourself, Emmy?" "Yes, yes," she nodded, mock-seriously, reaching for the jug of sangria they were sharing. They were finishing a grand dinner with pastries, with their second jug of sangria still mostly full. Emmeline poured them another full glass each and they toasted each other. "Your husband is going to kill us," Emmeline laughed. "You've said that," Lily nodded. "I don't think so. I'm the spendthrift. He's loaded." "So we should order another jug when we've finished with that?" Emmeline said, trying to force her smile into a serious expression. "Oh indub-dab-dibitabaly," Lily said, losing her composure and giggling again. She couldn't remember the last time she had this much fun, especially with Emmeline. Life had been too stressful to really enjoy anything, let alone friends and good alcohol. She had just came out of school to enter the tough world of Auror training, and then got married and had a baby. When was the last time she had girl time? "I have made a decision!" Lily said, holding up her glass of sangria. "What is that?" Emmeline said, drinking more of hers and licking her lips. "I have decided that my life is entirely too stressful!" "Here, here," Emmeline nodded. "And that it has been far too long since I've had any fun!" she continued. "Here, here!" Emmeline raised her glass to toast again. "So for the remaining three days!" Lily said, sitting up. "I am going to-!" "Malfoy!" Emmeline's eyes bulged. She grabbed Lily by the shirt and yanked her under the table. "What the hell was that for?" Lily said, rubbing at her neck. Her heart stopped when she heard a slippery voice. "Yes," Lucius Malfoy drawled, a blonde hanging off his arm. "I do believe we'll have our same table on the veranda." "Lucius, do you trust that house elf with the baby?" she asked, her voice high. "Yes, dear," Lucius drawled. Lily hiccuped, her heart pounding. She was drunk, but she knew that Lucius wouldn't outright kill her in the middle of this public restaurant on one of the most posh magical resorts in Europe, and that her baby was far, far away in Manchester, under the care of her husband and husband's best friend, but it didn't stop her from being scared out of her wits. The veranda doors shut behind the Malfoys and Lily and Emmeline popped their heads up on the table. "I didn't know Lucius had a baby," Emmeline said, sitting up. "Doesn't make him any less blood-thirsty," Lily whispered, hand still over her heart. "Are you all right?" Emmeline asked. "I didn't mean to scare you like that, but I thought it would be best if they didn't know that we were here." "Do you think any other Death Eaters are here?" Lily whispered, looking about. "Doubtful," Emmeline shook her head. "This looks like a family vacation." "Lucky them," Lily sighed, not really in the mood to drink any more sangria. Emmeline patted her hand gently. "This is all going to blow over soon. It can't go on forever, right?" "I wanted us to be a happy family, Em," Lily ran her hand around the rim of her glass. "I wanted to take trips with Harry and James to the beach, and to watch them play Quidditch in the backyard, and to see him off to school in the fall...I don't even know if we can let him go to Hogwarts." "Lily," Emmeline laughed. "You can send your son to Hogwarts. He'd probably be safest there." "I wonder how James is doing all by himself?" Lily bit her lip. "He's fine, I spoke to him yesterday," Emmeline said. "He and Sirius and Harry have bonded thoroughly and are taking good care of each other." *** "Mmm....my hair..." James opened his eyes. He had been sleeping on the carpet, not very comfortably, as he had been half-on one of Harry's rattles. He sat up, rubbing his face, and looked around. And his heart stopped. "...Sirius?" James said, on his feet instantly. "Harry?" Hoping that he'd find them asleep somewhere, he combed the house as he had done a few weeks previous when his wife was gone. "Oh not again," James grumbled. "Why do people keep leaving with my son?!" He paced around the living room, nervously. He knew Sirius was to be trusted, that was fact he would never dispute, but was Sirius to be trusted? Did he know how to take care of Harry? He seemed pretty clueless, from what James' saw. Not to mention, Lily might decide to come back early, and then she would see that James let Sirius take the baby out and then James would lose his head. Not to mention her trust. She had gone on this vacation to relax and not worry so much, but if she came back and the baby was gone, she would never trust James again. And she already didn't trust him enough as it was! Not to mention what would happen if Sirius was attacked? Did he know what to do? Did he know to flee to Dumbledore's office? No, probably not. Sirius would probably stand and fight, with Harry on his shoulder or something. Did he know how dangerous that was?! He looked up when he heard a beeping. Someone with a wand was walking through the barrier. He heard a soft click and waited on tenderhooks, until he heard the familiar snickering, as well as gurgling. Sirius was pink in the face from laughing so hard. Harry was pressed to his chest and had some sort of a necklace strung around his neck, which he seemed to enjoy chewing on. "James!" Sirius chortled. "James, you'll never guess what your son did! I half don't believe it myself-" "Harry!" James said, rushing to the door and snatching his baby away from his best friend. "Oh damn it, I was so worried." "Mate, I had it handled-" Sirius said, eyebrows coming together. "It's just a baby?" James sighed and closed his eyes, feeling the pulse on the top of his son's head. Holding him close made the weight lift from his chest, and he wasn't quite sure he wanted to let him go. Sirius watched James hold his baby as if he were about to disappear any moment. Under normal circumstances, James probably would have laughed with Sirius and begged him to tell him what wonder his son had just performed. But whatever was going on (and Sirius had only heard garbled from others), it had James scared for his son. Even in the hands of his best mate. "I think its time that you told me what the hell is going on here," Sirius said, in a deadly serious face. "I'm his godfather, I have a right to know." James opened his eyes to find that Harry had fallen asleep on his shoulder. "I'll tell you...as long as you don't tell Lily or Dumbledore I told you." "What, you think I'm stupid or something?" *** "So...what's the big deal?" Sirius said. "Harry was born August first, and unless the prophecy meant ‘cerca the end of the month,' I think we're safe." James didn't look at Sirius, and kept his eyes on the baby in his arms. "James?" Sirius said, sensing something was still being kept from him. This was a conversation where nicknames needed to be left aside. "Harry wasn't born on the first," James whispered. "He was born July 31st at 11:56." Sirius stared blankly. "So...this prophecy really...does have everything to do with him?" "It doesn't as long as Voldemort doesn't think it doesn't," James said, looking at him stubbornly. "How long do you think it'll take for him to find out?" Sirius said, stonily. "He has ways." "Unless he gets Lily or I or you or Dumbledore, he won't know anything," James adjusted Harry in his arms. "And I intend to keep it that way." "Hey, you guys are all I got," Sirius shrugged. "I'm not about to gamble that for anything." "You cannot tell-" "Mate," Sirius laughed. "I know when to keep my mouth shut. I've still not told Lily about-" "And you had better not," James glared, but it soon broke into a wide smile. *** "Ah!" Lily exclaimed, running over to Harry, who was being fed by Sirius. His godfather gladly handed the baby to his mother. "There's my baby boy!" "Good job, Emmeline," James grinned, watching Lily shower their baby with kisses. "You've found my wife again." "Ah-ha, don't thank her yet," Lily said, handing him a large scroll of parchment without taking her eyes away from the baby. "HOLY SHIT!!!" "Not around the baby, dear," Lily said, rocking him. "Did you miss mummy? Mummy missed you, sooo much!" "It can't be that...HOLY SHIT!" "Sirius, honestly," Lily said, grinning. "Not around the baby please." "You...spent...." "Come along Harry," Lily said, walking into the living room. "I think your daddy might have gone into shock." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 11. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas SGR's Note: Well, the plagiarism is all cleared up and everything is back to normal. I apologize for not getting this out sooner, but I've been quite busy back here at home, doing important things like going to the beach and surfing and tanning and going to a giant music festival, you know, that ol' chestnut. Anyways, I've just finished mapping out the rest of the book, and I'm not going to say how many chapters there are going to be because it adds to the shock of the end of the book...not as if you guys have any doubt as to what happens to our favorite couple. I will say that I will be a wreck when I finish writing it. And here is chapter eleven: "Here we are as in olden days Happy golden days of yore Faithful friends who are near to us Once more." -Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Judy Garland Those Who Have Thrice Defied Him Chapter Eleven Harry's first Halloween went without a hitch, except for Lily screeching at Sirius for turning into a dog around the baby. James had protested that it was fine, that Sirius washed himself daily, and that the beast next to a (very) miniature version of Hagrid (as was Harry's Halloween costume) was classic, but Lily refused to relent until Sirius turned back into a human. November went just as smoothly, with Sirius joining the family on weekends. Harry was sleeping through the night, which meant that Lily and James could get back to being married and not worrying about the baby so much. Lily was keeping a correspondence with Emmeline about all of the latest gossip going around the office, and as far as she knew, Em and Remus were still secret lovers. December rolled around cold and snowy. Harry came down with a terrible flu at the beginning of the month, which he passed to his parents, who passed it to Sirius, who infected the entire Auror office. Christmas was fast approaching, and with it, Dumbledore gave them one of the best Christmas presents he could. He asked them to come to his office a few days before the holiday, after all of the students who were going home had gone. "Please, sit down," he said, offering them seats in front of him. James was holding Harry, who was now able to fully sit up (with assistance), and loved nothing more than to sit on his father's lap and stare at people (when his mother wasn't playing with his feet, that is). "What is this all about?" Lily said, her nose still a bit stuffy. "I have some rather pleasant news, which is very hard to come by these days," Dumbledore said, beaming a bit at Harry, who was chewing on James' finger again. "From all of our sources, it seems as though Voldemort has lessened his focus on you." "So does this mean we can come out of hiding?" James said, excited. "No, I am afraid not," Dumbledore shook his head lightly. "While Voldemort seems to believe that young Neville Longbottom is the one he should be after, I do not think it wise to give him an open target of someone who might be the one. However, I have been asked to invite you to the annual Christmas party at the Auror office." "Prof-Albus!" Lily said, almost forgetting herself in her excitement. "Do you think it's safe to go?" "The Aurors will be present, as will myself. Living out in the open is too dangerous, but I think a small Christmas party would be a possibility," Dumbledore smiled. "After all, barely anyone in the office has seen the baby, and I know they are all just dying to see the baby that they work so hard to protect." *** "Can you believe it, James?" Lily said, lying on her back on the floor with him. He was levitating Harry in the air, bringing him down occasionally for a kiss or a tickle from his mother. "We finally get to see all of our friends again!" James reached up and tickled Harry in the stomach, grinning. "You like that, don't you Harry? You're a natural in the air." "Are you listening to me?" Lily said, but not really angry. "I always listen to you," James said, reaching up and grabbing Harry's feet. "But right now, I'm enjoying my baby boy." "You know," Lily said, taking his arm in hers and putting her chin next to his shoulder. "In one way, I'm glad that we have to stay in hiding." "Why's that?" James said, grabbing Harry's feet alternately. "Because think of how much we'd be working. I didn't know how I was going to work and have the baby at the same time, but this pretty much solved everything for us, don't you think?" "Just the little problem of being hunted," James grinned sitting up and plucking Harry out of the air. "Even so," Lily said, sitting up and tickling Harry in the stomach. "We have a family now. And since Voldemort is probably not even going to go after us, we're not under pressure." "I love you," James leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "Crazy moods and all." He lifted Harry into the air and watched as his arms and legs flailed about. "And I love you too, Harry." While his arms were up in the air, Lily crawled into them, snuggling up to his chest. "I'm happy, James," she closed her eyes and smiled. "Bout damn time," James brought Harry to rest in her lap before lifting him up into the air. "Why do you keep doing that?" Lily eyed him. "Doing what?" "Lifting him up like that?" "Quidditch training," James said, as if it was the most elementary thing in the world. "My dad kept me in the air for ninety percent of the day when I was a baby. You have to start early." "So when are you breaking out the brooms?" Lily chuckled, kissing her hand and pressing it to Harry's cheek. "Oh, I won't be doing that until he's walking, at least. I've got my old training broom at my mum's house." Lily reached up behind her to slide her hands through his hair, lovingly. "I guess this means I have to start shopping for Christmas presents, hm? If we're going to see everyone, it's only fair..." "Just not to Emmeline," James muttered, kissing her hair. "I daresay we've given her all presents for every occasion for the next five years." *** "Wow!" Remus exclaimed, nearly dropping his glass. Lily and James had just entered the room, with Harry in arm, sporting a very festive Christmas jumper. Remus crossed the room in three strides and swallowed both of them in a huge hug. "Lily, James, he's so big now!" Remus exclaimed. "Sirius had shown me pictures, but I hardly believe it!" Harry reached out to grab at Remus' sweater. Lily, who was carrying Harry, grinned and handed the baby to him. "Here, you haven't gotten to hold him." "Hey mates," Sirius said, a bit too quickly, popping up on Remus' shoulder. "Welcome back." The corner of his eye was on Remus, but no one noticed. "James, he looks so much like you it's uncanny," Remus said, lifting Harry up to look at him. He squinted his eyes. "Oh wow, he's got such beautiful eyes." "Hm?" Lily said, walking over to look at the baby. "Look," Remus said, a smile coming to his face. "He's got your eyes, Lily." Lily squinted and her jaw dropped. Sure enough, her baby's eyes had changed from blue to a greener color, and she supposed she had been around him too much to notice the slow change. "James, come look!" James looked over Lily's shoulder and he smiled as well. "Well, what do you know, Lily? There you are." "Hm?" Remus asked, looking over to him. "Lily was upset because the baby looked nothing like her," James grinned kissing her cheek. "Gene hogger," Lily muttered. Remus gently cradled Harry in the crook of his arm, and the baby gazed up at him happily. Sirius was still hovering about, but he was soon muscled out by the group of people that had crowded around Remus, ooh-ing and aah-ing about the baby. "He's a bit small," Moody grunted. "Oh stop it, Moody," Emmeline said, standing close to Remus. "He's absolutely perfect." "Look at him basking in all of this attention," Sturgis Podmore laughed. "Just like his dad." "Isn't that the truth?" Lily laughed, sliding her arm behind James. "James is already turning him into a Quidditch crazy. Some sort of method of raising a kid, always keeping him in the air or some tosh like that." "It's not tosh," James snorted, sliding his arm around her. "It's a Finnish Quidditch method of raising a child called the Kaltiainen method. I can find you the book, if it would so please you." "When can you come back to work?" Sturgis asked. "We so miss your idle banter." "Although nothing tops when James built that telescope down the hall to spy on Lily," Emmeline tittered, the rest of the old group following suit. All of the new Aurors laughed into their cups with everyone else, not knowing what was going on. James smiled, but his smile was distant. During those few months, they lost so many people. He looked around the room and counted the members of the Order; Sturgis, Kingsley in the corner, Remus, Sirius, himself, Lily, Emmeline,...Peter? "Hey mate!" Peter squeaked. He had gained a few more pounds since James had seen him last, but was as rosy cheeked as ever. "Is that Harry? Wow, he's so big!" Remus had passed the baby onto Emmeline, who despite her deep dislike for most children, was looking almost maternal. "What are you doing here, Peter?" Lily asked, genially. "I heard that you were going to show up at the party, and I hadn't seen you in months, so I thought I'd stop by and see my mates!" he said. "That was nice of you," Lily smiled. "How are things at the bank?" "Oh, same as usual," Peter said, his eyes darting to the baby. "Do you want to hold him?" Lily asked, reading his expression. "Oh," Peter shook his head. "I'm no good with babies. He'd probably start crying when I held him." "Harry likes about everyone," Lily said, taking the baby from Emmeline. "Here, you never know, one day you might have a family of your own!" Peter gently took the baby in the nook of his arm and looked nervous. Harry grinned at Peter, reaching up to play with the folds of his robe. "He likes me!" Peter cheered. "Harry likes everyone," James said, putting his arm around Lily again. "Takes after his old man." "Then I guess we shouldn't get him anywhere near Snivellus!" Peter laughed, a bit too loudly. "Not my son," Lily said, giving James a warning glare. "He's going to be nice to everyone, isn't he, James?" "Oh," James coughed, and winked to Peter. "Yeah, of course." "We can only hope." "Albus!" James grinned and then faltered when he saw what his former headmaster was wearing. "Nice....hat." Dumbledore was sporting a red hat that was covered in blinking Christmas trees. His eyes twinkled as he swept over to the couple and Peter. "Peter, would you mind if I-" "Go ahead!" Peter said, nearly shoving the baby at Dumbledore, but not looking at him in the eye. "I-uh, have to get back to work anyways...see you guys later." And with that, he made his hasty exit out of the Auror offices. Dumbledore lifted the baby to his eye level and beamed. "A Gryffindor, we're hoping?" "He'd better be," James said, folding his arms over his chest. "My family has been in Gryffindor for ages." "We can only hope he doesn't get into as much trouble as you did, hm?" Dumbledore looked at James over his half-moon glasses. "He won't," Lily said, firmly. "I seem to remember your mother swearing the same thing when I first saw you as a baby, James," Dumbledore handed the baby back to his father while James laughed. Dumbledore had been a friend of James' grandfather, who had perished during the fight against Grindelwald. "Well, we can only hope that Lily is a better disciplinarian." "Professor McGonagall!" James and Lily exclaimed at the same time, only Lily's was excited, and James was more of the nervous sort. "I felt the need to prepare myself to whatever troublemaker I would be teaching in ten year's time," she said, and James handed her the baby. "I trust you've been putting the Kaltiainen method of Quidditch training?" "You mean that's a real method?" Lily gasped. "We have some promising students this year," McGonagall said, handing the baby to James. Lily thought that McGonagall was talking to her until she continued, "Some who can really handle the Quaffle." "Always Quidditch," Lily sighed, looking about the room. She found Remus by himself near a corner, speaking with Sturgis about something jovial. He looked up when she walked over, smiling. "Remus, do you want to take a walk?" Lily asked. "I need to talk to you about something." "Sure," Remus said, nodding his goodbye to Sturgis. "What about?" he asked as they walked into the empty hallways of the Auror offices. "Oh, you know," Lily said, putting her hands into her robe pockets. "I just haven't seen you in a while, I wondered what you've been up to." "Nothing much," Remus shrugged. "Working a lot. I really miss having you two around. When can you come out of hiding?" "Who knows," Lily sighed. "I'd love for you to be with Harry more. I worry what Sirius is teaching him." "Sirius isn't a bad godfather," Remus chortled. "You should hear how he brags about Harry. His office is plastered with pictures." "Oh!" Lily said, reaching into her jumper and handing Remus a picture. "This is for you." Remus smiled down at the picture of James, Lily, and Harry sitting on the floor in their living room, Harry playing with his toys, and James and Lily smiling happily. "I look horrid in it," Lily shook her head. "But I wanted to give you something to put up in your office." "Thank you," Remus said, quietly. "I envy Sirius, getting to go visit all the time." "We hear that Voldemort is done with us, mostly," Lily said, hopefully. "So maybe that means that more people can come visit?" "I hope so," Remus nodded. "He's so...adorable, isn't he?" "I can't get enough of him," Lily agreed, feeling as if the conversation was going the way she wanted it to. "So...ever think of starting your own?" "Please," Remus shook his head. "I wouldn't feel comfortable having children. Too dangerous for them." "But you'd make a great father," Lily tried. Remus stared at her for a long time before he sighed and his face slid into one of frustration. "Emmeline can't keep her mouth shut, can she?" he said, finally. "I told her not to tell anyone." "What's the problem?" Lily sighed. "Do you love her, or is it simply physical?" "I don't want to think about it," Remus said. "I like how it is now, and I don't want it to change." *** Two days after Christmas, James awoke to the sound of beeping. Gently rousing Lily and taking Harry from his crib, the three took a portkey to Dumbledore's office without any fuss. PS: That little blurb up there is not ment to be a cliffhanger. They heard a beep and left the house, and now they have to move.