Disclaimer: None of it is mine. JK is the genius, not me (this time...)

A/N: So here's part two... are you excited yet? Fabulous. Enjoy!

These Days—based on the song by Rascal Flatts
by: bella'amor

Sirius sat in a booth in the corner of the Three Broomsticks, sipping a warm mulled mead and drumming his fingers impatiently on the table. He was dressed in a set of sharp black robes which accentuated his mysterious, dark eyes, and hid the fact that his wand was drawn underneath the table. The fact that his eyes were carefully scanning the crowd, yet looking casual at the same time cemented the picture of constant vigilance that was Sirius Black.

As he drained the last of the mead from his glass, Madame Rosmerta, the barmaid, approached the table with a broad grin. "Finished already? Surely your date hasn't stood you up?" Her grin shifted to a concerned yet curious expression.

"Nah, Rosie, I'm meeting James. We had plans… Bloody bastard is fifteen minutes late, though."

Rosmerta let out a charming laugh, before turning away. She called over her shoulder, "I reckon he's paying you back for most of seventh year!" She winked, and returned to the bar to get him another mead.

Sirius sat back in his seat a little as the door to the pub opened and James stepped in. As the door swung shut again, an ominous crack of thunder shattered visions of a warm, sweet spring day. Sirius watched James as he walked back to their usual table. Something was off, he thought. James was missing his swagger. Sitting down, he greeted a concerned Sirius.

"Hey, mate, sorry I'm late. I ran into an old friend…" Sirius's eyes widened.

"Who?"

James fidgeted a bit, before confessing.

"It was Lily, and she was just as gorgeous as she was the day she left."

Sirius's eyebrows shot up.

"You ran into Lily? As in Lily Evans? Bloody hell mate, no wonder you look like misery on feet. Merlin. Lily Evans." He shook his head, disbelieving. "So? How is she?"

"She's married." James's head hit the table with a thud. "She has a husband who is not me."

Sirius heaved a sigh. He could see that they wouldn't be getting much done today, and that was bad. The Dearborn case was important to both the Order and the Ministry, and the longer it took them to find something, the less likely it was that they would find anything.

"Mate, Remus told us she was married. He told us when she wrote him," here, he made a noise of slight disgust, "two months ago."

James lifted his head off the table, and looked around for Madame Rosmerta, saying, "Yeah, but it's one thing hearing it from Moony. Hearing it come from her mouth was ten thousand times worse. She's married! And not to me! Dammit, Sirius, how did that happen? How did I arse up so badly that she got married in Morocco, two months after she left me? What in Merlin's name did I do that she would go and marry a bloody Irish Quidditch captain? I was quidditch captain too… she hated the sport when I played, and now she's given up her dream and become a mediwitch, just so she could travel around with Darren." He said the name in high-pitched voice, mocking it to the best extent that he could at that particular moment.

James would have kept on his tirade about Lily and Darren had Sirius not interrupted sharply.

"James. Stop it. She's a grown woman now, and you weren't what she thought she needed. You can't change the past, and we don't have time to whine about it. We have got to finish this case soon. You need to forget about Lily Evans and all of her hypocritical foolishness. Because that's what she is, to have left you—a fool. We all know it, now stop implying it. We are Aurors, James. Aurors. We didn't get here by wallowing in self pity. It's time to move on, and it's time to find Caradoc Dearborn. We'll find you another girl someday. If we don't, you can always turn in your wand and become a priest. Are you with me?" With his last words, Sirius eyed James imploringly.

James's face had hardened throughout Sirius's speech, and he let out a fervent, "Yes." He looked down quickly, before muttering, "Thanks, Padfoot."

Sirius stuck out his hand, and the two did their special secret handshake, which they had developed the summer after second year. As they were finishing, Madame Rosmerta arrived at the table carrying two firewhiskys.

"It looked like you were having an intense discussion over here. Everything all right, James?"

James smiled charmingly at the barmaid, heartened by Sirius's pep-talk.

"Brilliant, thanks Rosie. Thanks for the firewhiskys."

She inclined her head in acknowledgement as she headed towards a group of noisy Hogwarts third years.

The two young Aurors downed their whiskeys, stood up, and strode towards the door. James pulled a galleon from his pocket and tossed it across the bar to cover their nearly-forgotten tab.

>- O>-

Lily hurried through the sudden downpour, her head down and the hood of her cloak pulled tight over her now-frizzy scarlet curls. She was late as well. That afternoon she was supposed to meet Darren at the Hog's Head… a place that was not quite as classy as the Three Broomsticks—the pub she usually frequented. As she neared the entrance to the inn, she decided that she really didn't want to go in there—not anymore.

In accordance with her sudden decision, she stopped walking, turned on the spot, and apparated to their newest flat in London. She would tell him that the rain was ruining her hair. He always believed those sorts of excuses, as that was the type of girl he had dated before Lily.

For some reason, as Lily climbed the stairs to their flat, she was on the verge of tears. She looked around quickly, before fumbling with her wand, and tapping the magical locks open.

The flat wasn't quite as secure as she would have liked, because Darren didn't have time to open too many difficult locks. Ever since his team had beat Puddlemere United a few weeks back, the magical paparazzi had been clamoring to catch the famed captain's every move. Much to Lily's dismay, they were also intent upon capturing him in a nonexistent moment of infidelity. Not surprisingly, they had been unsuccessful, and all the more persistent.

Lily stumbled slightly over the threshold and tossed her cloak on the ground, collapsing onto a soft white leather couch. With a deep sigh, she closed her eyes.

"What is wrong with me?" she muttered to herself, covering her face with her hands. "I should be in the Hog's Head right now, with Darren. Darren, my husband."

She opened her eyes and slowly looked around the room, as if familiarizing herself with her surroundings. Her eyes stopped on her dark cloak, pooled on the floor. It was like a cancer spot on her clean white carpet. She stood up slowly and, walking over to the cloak, bent down to pick it up. Anal retentiveness had always been one of her stronger traits, and now was no exception.

As she opened the closet to hang it up, her eyes slid unthinkingly up to the top shelf, resting on a plain black box. She stared at it a moment, then hung up her cloak. As she made to close the door, she caught sight of the box again.

Slowly, hesitantly, she reached up to the top shelf and pulled it down. She walked back to the couch, but stayed standing. When she finally did sit, she opted for the carpet instead.

She found that she could not tear her gaze from the box. She set it in front of her robotically. Still staring, she rested her hand on the lid.

If she opened that box, happiness and misery, memories and fears would accost her. She would be plunged into an icy bath of reality. An icy bath of regret, telling her all that she had left behind. She would see all of her old friends—the ones who she had run away from when everything had gotten too grisly. They were the ones who had stayed to fight. They were the ones who had stayed to die. They were also the ones who knew she was a coward. If she opened that box, she would not be able to deny any longer the feelings that had been threatening to overtake her for four months. If she opened that box, she would release a myriad of emotions that were perhaps better oppressed.

As she pulled the lid off, she felt distinctly like Pandora.

A/N: well? what'd ya think? I know one way you can tell me... ;) ha, anyway, after this, there should be one more quick update, but then you'll prolly have to wait ages and ages. I will finish it though, so never lose heart! I so dont want school to start...