A/N: so a reviewer reminded me what I forgot to mention in the 1st A/N, was that yes, I realize that the Longbottoms were tortured after the potters were murdered, but I needed the potters to have a reason to go into hiding much earlier. The timeline of events are screwed up here a bit, but the prophecy was made awhile ago, before Harry and Neville were born, but Snape didn't hear all of it. So the Longbottoms were tortured because they knew the prophecy early on. Dumbledore didn't know if they caved in or not (since they went insane) so he's taking measures to protect the Potters and Neville. In the original timeline, they put the Fidilus charm over the potter house 3 days before Halloween, and, well, that's obviously not going to work for what I had in mind. So I took a little bit of liberty to manipulate things a bit. Hope you don't mind ;) So just assume that things in my story are on a different timeline.

So anyway, here's the 4th chapter. I don't own HP.

One month later:

Sirius didn't like to think of himself as a problem solver; in fact, he tended to cause most of the problems he came in contact with. And that was fine. He was used to it. So it was a bit strange when one day, he flooed over to his best friend's house to find him and his wife at opposite ends of the room, looking murderous. The atmosphere was so tense he was starting to feel suffocated. Lily was doing the dishes, but she was scrubbing them with a malice, her eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared muttering curses, looking occasionally at her husband with something just shy of contempt.

James was sitting at his desk in the living room, writing harshly with quill and parchment. Frustration and anger were prominent features in his expression, his normally smooth eyebrows were so furrowed that they almost touched, and he was squinting hard at the paper he was attacking with a fury. He was stubbornly not looking in Lily's direction. They were both so preoccupied in their anger that they didn't notice Sirius come in. Only little 4 ½ month old Harry looked up when his godfather step out of the fireplace and mutter, "Isedo," to rid himself of the ashes. As soon as he saw Sirius, his face split into a wide grin and he dropped the block he was holding and held out his arms to him, wanting to be held.

"Padfoo'!" the little baby cried happily, glad to see a friendly face amidst all of this tension. Sirius happily obliged, holding his godson close as Harry cooed and played wt Sirius's longish hair. James and Lily didn't even notice. He sighed. His best friends really needed to start paying more attention. Harry would let almost anyone pick him up, and if Sirius had evil intentions, he could have easily kidnapped their son. He cleared his throat loudly to get their attention. There was no response from either of them; they were still off in their own little worlds. Sirius was getting really frustrated now.

"Oy!" he shouted, which finally got the reaction he wanted. Lily was so startled she dropped the dish she was holding, and James jumped up quickly, his wand out. When he saw that it was just Sirius, he sunk with relief back in his chair. Lily sighed and muttered 'Reparo' at the broken dishes.

"Sirius," James exclaimed. "You scared the living daylights out of us. Don't sneak up like that!"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I wasn't sneaking," he explained. "I flooed over here like I normally do." He looked harshly at his two friends. "You know if I had been so inclined, I could have just taken off with Harry, and you two wouldn't have even noticed a thing. What's with you guys?"

Their reaction was immediate. James huffed and turned his chair around and Lily frowned and went back to scrubbing dishes with anger.

"Ask him," Lily huffed.

"Ask her," James growled.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "You two aren't speaking again? You know, the last time you two weren't talking, it was when James accidently lit your hair on fire in our sixth year." He flopped down on a chair bouncing Harry up in the air, much to his squealing delight, and then he settled Harry back down in his lap. "You know, being cooped up in one house together is doing wonders for your marriage."

Lily opened his mouth as though to say something, but seemed to think better of it and closed her mouth, pursing her lips as though if she didn't keep them tightly shut, she would say something she'd regret. She continued her never-ending glare at James, dishes forgotten. James promptly ignored her.

Sirius was getting frustrated. He glared at both of them. "Will someone please tell me what is going on?"

Lily sighed and rested against the kitchen counter. She tore her angry gaze away from James and looked at Sirius. "James and I got into a disagreement."

Sirius snorted. "No duh," he muttered. Lily's eyes narrowed, but otherwise her face bore no expression that she had heard his comment.

"James wanted to take Harry flying on his Cleansweep in broad daylight-"

"Under the invisibility cloak!" James interrupted.

"-where anyone could see them," Lily finished like James hadn't said a word.

"No one would see us!" James exclaimed.

"You can't guarantee that!" Lily nearly shouted.

"Yes I can!" James yelled, standing abruptly from his seat.

"You can't!" Lily cried. Her voice caught in her throat, and she looked startled, but she quickly turned around, hiding her face.

Sirius looked at the husband and wife with an expression mixed between alarm, relief and mild amusement. "That's what you two are arguing about? Jeez, you had me worried for a minute. I thought it was something serious." (Sirius chuckled at his own joke.) Then he heard Lily sobbing quietly, and his face took on a look of realization. "But that's not all, is it?" he asked quietly, though he already knew the answer.

James, recognizing what was happening, rushed over to his wife's side, taking her shoulders and gently turning her to face him.

"Lily," he said softly. "Lily, if it means that much to you, I will stay in the house. No risks for me or Harry." He kissed her forehead and held her close. "I'm just tired of being cooped up all the time. Lily I love you, but the tension in this house is like a ticking time bomb. You know how I am just sitting still, not knowing. This lack of information is killing me!"

Lily looked up at James, all traces of anger gone from her watery eyes. Sirius felt as though he was intruding on something private, so he stayed seated, not looking at his best friend or his wife. Instead he focused his attention on Harry, who was still in his lap and smiling happily up at his godfather.

"I know James," Lily said, wiping the tears off of her face and pulling away from her husband. "But nothing in the world is more important to me than yours and Harry's safety. I'm sorry you're frustrated, hell, I am too, but my priority is you two. I know you'll be safe, but you tend to have this hero complex when it comes to the safety of others." James opened his mouth to protest, but Lily held up her hand. "Let me finish. That's why you and Sirius became Auror's, to save people. I am so incredibly proud of you, but sometimes I worry that you won't come home at night. You're a brave man, James," she said, and put her hand on his cheek. "That is one of the many reasons why I love you. You have only the best intentions. But I'm worried that if you find something that's dangerous, you'll do something impulsive and get yourself killed. And I can't deal with that; I'd lose myself if something were to happen to you. And then who'd look after Harry?"

Sirius cleared his throat. The two lovers broke out of their stare and seemed to suddenly realize that he was still there. "I would," Sirius answered. Lily and James looked confused.

"You would what?" Lily asked.

"I would look after Harry," he explained. "I am his godfather after all. And I know this doesn't concern me, but I've got an idea that will suit both of your needs. Now James already gets to go out once a month to help Remus with his transformations, but your marriage is suffering because James is a prat has to be in the know. And his so called 'hero complex'" Sirius made quotations with his fingers, "is keeping you two apart. And I can't stand to see my favorite couple torn apart!"

James raised his eyebrows. "Your "favorite couple?" Since when have we been your "favorite couple?" You always say that every time you see us snogging or making "lovie dovie eyes" at each other you throw up in your mouth."

Sirius waved his hand as if insulted by James' comment. "Well that's 'cause you're my best friend. I want to see you catch a snitch or play a prank, not eat Lily's face off." James and Lily both blushed severely at this.

"Sirius, as much as we appreciate your advice," Lily said sarcastically, (James snorted, but tried to cover it up as a cough) her light humor partially returning to her voice, "I think James and I should deal with our own marital problems."

Sirius put Harry back on the ground and stood up, his hands raised. "Just hear me out," he urged. He turned to James, whose face was full of hope that he would be able to get out of the house for a few hours as a person, not a stag.

"You hate being cooped up, unable to contribute anything useful to the Order, or even able to stretch your legs a bit, right?"

James nodded, annoyed that his friend was bringing this up. "Yeah," he said. "Your point?" But Sirius held up his hand for James to wait and turned to Lily.

"You don't like the idea of Jamsie putting himself in danger because of his saving people thing, right?" James raised his eyebrows.

"Saving people thing?" But Lily just nodded.

"Yes," she said. Sirius threw up his hands.

"Then it's simple!" he exclaimed. "You compromise!" He turned to Lily. "James can go out under the invisibility cloak with me, Remus and Peter for a boys night every once in awhile to somewhere of your choice, and in return, James stays out of trouble that involves the Order and we make sure of it."

This time, it was Lily who snorted. "First off Sirius, I didn't even know you knew the meaning of the word 'compromise.' And secondly, how can I trust that you four won't do something stupid? I'm not an idiot, I went to school with you four."

Sirius smiled devilishly in remembrance. "And yet you married one of us. And don't worry! James and I only did the stupid stuff when Remus and Peter weren't with us. Lily, this is Remus Lupin we are talking about. He won't let us do anything to risk James' cover."

Lily huffed and crossed her arms. "You are grown men. You shouldn't need a chaperone." Both Sirius and James laughed loudly.

"You do realize who you're talking to, right?" James asked smugly. He turned to Sirius. "And I think it's a great idea. A boy's night!"

Lily scowled at the two men. "Of course you would," she said curtly. "This is exactly what you wanted." Then she rounded on Sirius. "You're supposed to be our Secret Keeper. You know that this could blow any chance we had of a secret."

Sirius looked hurt. "I'm James' best friend too."

"And as such, you should be going to all lengths to protect him!"

Sirius snarled. "I am going to every length to protect him and you! This has nothing to do with that!"

"This has everything to do with that!"

Sirius sighed. "Lily, I promise we'll be careful." When she didn't respond, the animagus continued. "You James and Harry mean the world to me. I would not do anything to jeopardize your family's safety. You guys, Remus and Peter are my only family left. James will be completely safe, I promise." He smiled cheekily. "Plus, we're not kids anymore. We are adult wizards, fully capable of defending ourselves. James needs a break."

James, who had said absolutely nothing during their banter (he found it best if they just nuked it out until they were tired) took his wife's hand. "He's right Lily. We can handle a lot."

Lily sighed. "I know," she said to James. To Sirius she said, "We care about you too Padfoot. You have done so much for us, and we appreciate your sacrifices immensely. And I know you four are fully capable wizards, I just don't want any of you to get hurt."

"We can make it up to you," James rushed. Lily raised an eyebrow.

"And how exactly would you do that?"

"How about this," Sirius proposed. "How about in addition to you choosing where we go and what time we have to bring James back, your dear husband also has to complete whatever chores you assign him prior to the boy's night. It will be just like summer at your house, eh Jamsie?"

James shot his best friend a look that clearly said "Oh, you will so pay for that," but Sirius just grinned back at him. Then he turned to his wife and gave her his most practiced winning smile, and nodded through clenched teeth.

"Of course," he said his jaw tight. "Whatever you want, Lil's."

This time, it was Lily's turn to smile smugly. "Whatever I want, huh? Meaning you'll be on diaper duty? Midnight teething? Highchair cleanup? Oh, I could get used to that." She looked closely at James and Sirius as if to detect lies or falsehood in their expressions. She apparently didn't see anything, because she looked away, a thoughtful expression on her face. Finally, after a few agonizing seconds for James and Sirius (who was very much missing his best friend and their adventures) Lily turned back to them.

"I'll think about it," she said. That was all they needed to hear.

"Where do you think she'll send us first," James asked as he and Sirius were in the kitchen feeding Harry his squashed peas. Harry, who detested peas with all of his little heart kept his mouth firmly closed. For the past ten minutes the two men had been trying to get a spoonful of peas into his mouth while Lily was in the shower. So far, they were failing miserably.

"Who cares!" Sirius exclaimed as he was changing the colors on Harry's bib, trying to make the infant laugh so that he would open his mouth. Nothing was happening so far. "It's a boys night for the first time in months! Moony and Wormtail will be ecstatic!"

At the mention of his other uncles, Harry's face lit up, and he smiled widely and said, "Moo'y?" As soon as he spoke, James managed to get a spoonful of the hated vegetable past his son's lips. Harry stared at his father with such a sad and betrayed look on his little face that it tugged at James' heartstrings, but as Harry spat the peas back out he remembered the struggle he had gone through in the last ten minutes to get him to eat that green mush and all sympathy for his son's situation evaporated. Instead, James just scowled and resumed his efforts.

"I'm not sure that this is such a good idea," he said. Sirius looked confused.

"What, the peas?" James shook his head.

"No, the leaving," he sighed. "What if Lily is right and we do get caught? What will happen then?"

"We'll fight our way out as usual," Sirius said quickly. He didn't want James to get any second thoughts. "Like we said, we aren't kids anymore. We're just as trained as those Death Eaters. We can fight our way out of any situation. We will be fine."

James considered this, the spoonful of peas still hanging in the air by his son's face. Sirius did have a point; they were both Auror's. They were specially trained for catching dark wizards. They had escaped from Voldemort himself three times before. They should be fine.

"You're right," he admitted. "I'm just being ridiculous. I'll try and talk Lily into it some more tonight."

Sirius grinned and slapped his friend on the back. "That's the spirit. Trust me Jamsie, you'll be outta here in no time!"

A/N: Sorry the post was so late. I know I promised a week, but all I had planned for this chapter was the first few paragraphs. I figured that the rest would flow naturally, but it didn't (at least at first) Thanks to all of those who favorited/followed. It means a lot to me. Now, if those people could just review, that will probably make my week (and then next chapter come a little sooner.) I'll probably edit this chapter again eventually, since I wasn't so happy how it turned out. Just warning you ahead of time. So ya, have a nice day.