Most characters are J.K. Rowling's property. Beth, Marcus and some other minor characters are mine.

"The kitchens are clean," James announced as he and Sirius stepped out into the living room. "No, actually they're bloody pristine. Almost done, Lily?"

"Yes," I said as I flicked my wand to close the paint can and lift the protective tarp from two of the couches awkwardly pushed together in the middle of the living room.

Sirius collapsed on one of the couches and looked towards Beth, her Windex-soaked newspaper making squeaking sounds as she rubbed the window. "Aren't you finished yet, babe?" he called to her.

"It's slower without magic for us mere muggles," Beth pointed out to him as she crunched up the sodden newspaper and dropped it in a bag we were using to collect rubbish. She looked appraisingly at the tall windows, her hands on her hips. The light from the window lit the edges of her curly brown hair to a golden hue and outlined her slim body. "These windows are really nice without those ugly curtains and grime obscuring them."

Sirius patted the spot next to him and Beth dropped on the couch. He scooped her close to his side and kissed her quickly. James came to me and pulled me over to the second couch.

It was still early, our first full day in our new flat. Sirius and James had finished cleaning out both kitchens, grimy work even with magic, while Beth and I had tackled the large living room. As I directed the paintbrushes and rollers to spread a pale yellow paint on the smudged walls, Beth had scrubbed the windows until they sparkled. The results were dramatic. The June morning sunlight splashed through the clean windows, warming the old hardwood floors and causing a glow to the fresh colour on the walls. The kitchen counters and shelves now actually looked sanitary enough for food to reside there. Grocery shopping was next on our to-do list. James had run out earlier and bought us apples, crackers and cookies and we ate them as we took a break.

"We need to buy some firecrackers for the 4th of July," Beth poked Sirius in the shoulder.

"Why not buy them for the 1st of July? It'll be here sooner," Sirius leaned back lazily, stretching his arms and then wrapping one around her shoulder, his other hand resting palm down on her leg.

Beth gave him a mock glare. "Don't play dumb. It's too easy to believe," she told him acerbically. Sirius grinned and shook his head at her at the easy gibe. "We need firecrackers to celebrate America's Independence Day," she clarified. Sirius watched her with a gleam in his eyes.

"Why don't you call it that then?" James snorted. "It's the 4th of July all around the world, but you're from the only country that gives a shit." He carefully wiped a spot of paint from my cheek. I smiled at him as his fingers continued to caress my face long after the spot was gone.

"True," Beth smiled. "I guess we call it that because all Americans know what that day means. Even though no one around here cares, that doesn't mean I can't celebrate when I'm away from home. And you can celebrate with me," she informed Sirius.

"Why should we help you celebrate your country leaving us?" Sirius said. "We could use those taxes you cheapskates didn't want to cough up."

"I'll bet England would still like to collect taxes from all its former colonies," Beth said.

"Hell, yeah," Sirius agreed. "Here, we should call the 4th of July Selfish Yank Day."

"Or the day Britain got rid of its' citizens with the least class and the most crass," James put in helpfully.

"Who think they run the world—" Sirius said.

"Are loud as hell," James continued rapid -fire.

"And yet ignorant of everything going on outside of their borders," Sirius scoffed.

"Hog all the petrol," James added.

"Not to mention chocolate," Sirius raised an eyebrow at Beth. Beth was an avowed chocoholic, though you'd never know by looking at her slender figure.

"Hey," Beth bristled. "I believe my country is being maligned unfairly."

I watched Beth with an inward smile, ready to jump in and back her if necessary. She'd seen James and Sirius tag-team before, but they'd never done it to her. Sirius was gentler with her than he'd been with anyone. It was actually cute to see how sweet and protective he was with Beth. ("Cute?" James had sounded outraged when I voiced my sentiments to him. "Don't even think of letting Sirius hear you say that.")

"Wow, wait to fight dirty, Beth." Sirius laughed as he squeezed her. "This kind of debate needs no rationale or politically correct statements. Just have at it."

Beth frowned at him. "Fine. Despite the whining of the rest of the world for the U.S. to quit using its clout, anytime anything happens anywhere, they come screaming to us for help. Not only do we pour billions of U.S. dollars into foreign aid each year, U.S. citizens give more per capita to people outside of the U.S. than anyone in the world. We're exceedingly generous and we rarely get credit for that." She paused and shrugged. "But we use way too much gasoline. And we're perversely proud that we're loud and a bit boorish." She turned to shoot an aggrieved look at Sirius. "Oh, and fuck you for mocking my chocolate addiction."

"Any time." Sirius' smile was blatant. Beth tried to squelch a smile and her cheeks pinkened as he stared at her but I noticed her hand moved to curl over his thigh proprietarily.

"As long as you admit that much, I'm good." James yawned. I elbowed him unsympathetically. He'd kept both of us up for hours last night to-how did he put it? Oh yeah, "celebrate that we were finally living together". James isn't the most patient wizard, although when I tell him that he reminds me that he waited a hell of a long time for me.

This is a big step for us. Technically, Beth and I are sharing one flat and Sirius and James are roommates in the place next door. At least that's what I told my parents when I had gone home for a week with Beth in tow after finishing at Hogwarts. Realistically, that arrangement never stood a chance. Before we'd even put down the deposits, James had decided to "temporarily" open the wall between the two flats, giving the place a large, irregular shaped living area with mismatched furniture. From there it was easy for James to bring me into his bedroom and shift Sirius to Beth's (not that Sirius needed persuading). I was pretty sure James is counting on our living together to not be temporary in the least, although Beth and Sirius are only playing house for the summer.

And then there was the money. James wanted to pay for the rent for both flats, and there I drew the line. "I'm paying my own rent," I had huffed at him adamantly when he informed me that he'd told the muggle landlord to send both bills to him. "Beth will help."

James had looked annoyed. "Why won't you let me pay for you? It'll be hard for you with that miniscule paycheck to afford this rent and it's cheap for me."

It's true my new position won't pay much. I start work as an assistant technician in a Potions Lab the Wednesday after we moved to our new place. I didn't care. I was so excited to actually get paid to do what I loved that I would have signed on for a fraction of my wages. Beth was similarly happy. She had found a paid internship position in the Information Systems department of British Airways. She would receive college credit as well as draw a salary. She will be working with computers, her true passion. Beth had assured me she can cover her half of the rent and though we knew that after food and other necessities we'd have very little to spend on entertainment and clothes, we were fine with that.

"Because," I told James gently knowing he would have an easier time calming down if I was composed. "I want to be independent, James. This might be the only time in my life that I get to stand on my own two feet. Once I'm married, of course I'll share everything—expenses and income, the good and the bad- with my husband."

A muscle twitched in James' jaw. "You mean, once we're married," he corrected brusquely.

I smiled at him. He seemed to take that as an assent and he'd looked mollified, hauling me into his arms. "You win for now, Lil," he whispered, his breath warm in my ear. My heart speeded up when I felt his arms tighten around me and I pressed up closer against him. "You'll let me take you out to dinner at least, yeah?"

I nodded, nestling my head against his shoulder. "Okay." James always made me feel protected and safe. It was easy to rely on him. But I wanted to know I could rely on me too. "Just not every night," I cautioned, knowing how James' crafty mind worked.

I felt the rumble of James' chuckle. "You may change your mind. You'll be burning off plenty of calories with me every night."

I snapped back to the present as Sirius continued his anti-U.S. rant to Beth. "If the States hadn't won independence, you might have been living here and I could have met you sooner."

"Or I might not have been born," Beth pointed out. "I'm a typical American mutt. My Scandinavian mother and German-Irish-whatever father probably wouldn't have met. My mom's ancestors only went over to the States when the U.S. government was giving away land in the West to anyone who would live on it."

"In that case, I'll help you celebrate," Sirius kissed Beth hard and quick. "I wouldn't like a world without you in it."

James made a gagging noise at Sirius as Beth smiled at him tenderly. "There's another problem with you Yanks," James told Beth. "Your tolerance level for swarmy flattery is way too high. It's sickening to let him get away with shite like that." James was ecstatic that Sirius was openly crazy about Beth. It gave him plenty of fodder to harass Sirius with which James decided was only fair seeing how Sirius had tormented James for months, no make that years, about his feelings for me.

Sirius grinned at James. "You taught me everything I know about complimenting girls."

"Shit," James said. "When did you start listening to me?"

"I don't," Sirius said. "You drone on so long that sometimes some of it just sticks."

"Are all your ancestors from England and western Europe, Sirius?" Beth asked. "Since you're a pureblood, you must have good records of your family lineage."

"Yeah, I come from centuries of English and French arsehole wizards that look down their noses at anyone not in their fucked-up, semi-incestuous little world," Sirius overly enunciated his version of the Queen's English accent.

"The Potter family also," James shook his head. "It's kind of disgusting how many cousins have married each other in my family tree."

"It's past time you brought some new blood into your family," Beth said to James, but she looked at me archly.

"So it's my job to fix centuries of inter-marrying Potters?" I laughed.

Sirius nodded solemnly. "Somebody has to do it this generation. Hell, look at James. There's no saying how warped his kid will be if his wife is another pureblood from their family tree."

"It's true, Lily," James told me, his face serious though his eyes gleamed from behind his glasses. "The entire wizard world will thank you if you'll save us from another generation of in-bred Potters. A child with my blood and yours will set it all right again."

I giggled as James bent down and nuzzled my neck, torn between giddiness and panic. James has always been ahead of me in our relationship. He's fond of reminding me that he started caring about me two years before I even looked at him. It's true. I never disliked Potter, but for the first six years I knew him, I thought he was full of himself and immature. All those times he'd asked me out, I dismissed him out of hand. Until the beginning of our seventh year when we worked together as Head Boy and Head Girl and I really got to know him. He's sweet and caring and loyal and funny and smart and everything I hadn't realized when all I'd noticed about him were his pranks on fellow classmates and his monumentally huge ego.

When I finally agreed to go out with James, our relationship moved so fast it made my head spin. There were sparks between us that just ignited when we touched. Still, no matter how hard I fell for him, he stayed ahead of me. He seduced me so quickly yet tenderly, my feelings swung between buoyancy and panic. He told me he loved me first. He even figured out I loved him before I knew. (Although to be fair, I knew deep down inside. I just hadn't admitted it to him yet. Or to myself. And he only knew because I was able to perform a spell that only worked if you loved the person you were using it to protect. So, really I knew first.) I finally thought I caught up to him when I felt ready to move in with him after graduating from Hogwarts. Now he's galloped ahead of me again, ready to marry and procreate half-blood kids even though we're barely out of school.

"What about Sirius? Who is going to save his family?" I said to distract James from naming our future prodigy.

"They're way past redemption," James said matter of factly. "Sirius and Regulus are proof of that."

"I can't argue with that," Sirius said caustically. But I noticed his eyes rested on Beth with a yearning look. Poor Sirius. I realize how lucky James and I are when I see him with Beth. They have a limited time together thanks to this horrible wizard war. All I have to worry about is reining James in a bit.

After a couple more hours of cleaning and painting the bedrooms and bathrooms, we went out to lunch at an inexpensive Chinese restaurant near our flat. Beth tried to teach Sirius and James how to use chopsticks. "No, put your thumb here," she patiently put her hand over Sirius' and guided it back into position.

"I'll starve eating like this," James moaned as he dropped another piece of pork just as it was almost to his lips.

I fished his pork up with my chopsticks and brought it to his mouth. He obligingly opened it again and then chewed with relish. "Mmmm, it's good when it finally gets here."

"Do you two have any plans for Wednesday when Beth and I start our new jobs?" I asked curiously. James and Sirius had talked for months about fighting the war against Voldemort, but I wasn't sure exactly when they intended to do that.

"We're going to meet up with some of the Order of the Phoenix to strategize," Sirius said. "They're going to show us their plans and get us up to date on the war."

"Already?" I was a bit surprised. I hadn't realized this would happen so fast. "We just finished at Hogwarts a week ago."

"Of course," James looked at me askance. "You know how important every recruit is. Voldemort isn't waiting around to further his cause. We can't either."

I nodded, but fear caused me to drop my eyes. The thought of James out there fighting, in danger, was quite frankly, terrifying. I was part of the Order also, but since I had a day job, I would most likely be less on the front lines of the battles than he and Sirius.

"I can hardly wait to do something," Sirius' voice was a mix of frustration and excitement. "I'm tired of hearing about all the shite Voldemort is pulling and feeling helpless at Hogwarts."

James grinned at him and their eyes met with an unspoken message. I knew in a flash that not only would James and Sirius not shy away from trouble with Voldemort, they would actively seek it out.

Beth and I shared our own look, far more troubled than our boyfriends'. Of course, I knew we couldn't play it safe in this war. Still, James and Sirius seemed to think they were invulnerable, as if nothing would touch them and that unnerved me even more.

"Not to sound like a clingy girlfriend," I started cautiously. "But—James, you will be careful, won't you? I mean, as much as you are able to be, given we're in a war."

"I like it when you worry about me," James smiled down at me. His eyes were bright behind his lenses. "I promise I'll watch my back, Lil. Sirius and I always look out for each other too."

Sirius nodded. "Voldy's not going to know what hit him by the time we're finished with him," he promised grimly. "Neither will his minions. I can hardly wait to take on Rosier, Avery, Bellatrix and her even darker half, Wilkes-"

"Sirius!" Beth interrupted, her eyes round. "How many wizards are you planning to personally take down?"

"More than that," Sirius said coldly. "One of the problems with fighting the Death Eaters is there are many others that we don't know who they are. The cowardly bastards don't show their allegiance with Voldemort. They skulk around, terrorizing and murdering muggles and muggle-born witches and wizards." He turned to her, his eyes suddenly blazing. "This is why I'm much more worried about you than me, Beth. They're not hunting down pureblood wizards."

"Maybe not yet," I put in. "But they will if you two get in their way. They're not against murdering purebloods who oppose them."

"We can handle them," James promised grimly. He had the nerve to not look the slightest bit rattled.

"Cocky bastards," I muttered under my breath. James heard and his lips angled up.

James rubbed my back reassuringly. "We're going to win this, Lil." His harsh tone belied the soothing feel of his hand on my back. "We're going to defeat Voldemort no matter what it takes."

I didn't tell him that was exactly what I was afraid of—what it would take to stop Voldemort.