"Why can't I open my eyes?"

"I have a surprise for you!"

"A surprise?"

"Yes."

I didn't question him further as he led me though his house. It was a late Friday night and, as night was the only time we could be together, I had come to his apartment. As soon as I had entered, he had put his hands over my eyes and claimed to have a surprise.

"Is it much farther?"

"We're here. Are you ready?"

I smiled. "Yes, I am. Hurry up! I'm curious!"

He took his hands out of my eyes and I blinked. In front of me, in his very Gryffindor-fashion like living room, was the most horrendous couch I had seen during all my life. It had huge lilies all over it and it was of a horrid yellow.

"James? What is this?" I asked, bemused.

"Well, Sirius and I had to replace our last couch. And this one just caught my eye."

"Because…?" I asked, confused.

"Because it reminds me of you. It's my Lily-couch!"

I turned back slowly to stare him in the eyes. He had got to be kidding me. "James, I thought we had agreed on that black one! And the white curtains to match."

"I know we had… but Sirius and I decided to go for this one instead."

As I looked up at his eyes, I saw a blink of amusement in there. I raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"You're hiding something from me, aren't you?"

He looked very affronted. "Why would you think such thing, Tiger-Lily?"

"Yes, you are hiding something from me. You never call me Tiger-Lily unless you're lying."

"That's stupid, Lily. So, what did you think of our new couch?"

I turned around again to stare at it. "Honestly?"

"Please."

"It's the ugliest thing I have ever seen."

He laughed loudly. "And you are laughing because…?" I asked, turning around to look at him.

"I'm simply laughing. No reason behind it." He said.

I raised my eyebrow and was going to question him further when he attacked my mouth and walked me back onto said couch. At least it's comfy, I thought.

He started fumbling with my shirt and was going to take it off me when I stopped him. "What if Sirius comes in?"

He shrugged. "He won't mind."

"James!"

He laughed. "Sirius won't be sleeping home tonight."

"Uh-uh," I answered, suddenly very interested in taking off his clothes.

One hour later we were laying together in silence as he played with my hair. "I should be going."

"Already?" he asked as I stared up at his eyes.

"Yeah. It's late and I have a wedding tomorrow morning."

"You could spend the night here," he said.

I shook my head as I stood up, looking for my knickers and bra and starting to get dressed. James stood up and put his boxers on as well.

"It's the first time I'm with you this week, Lily. You could at least make an effort to spend more time with me."

I stood what I was doing to look at him. "I'm sorry, James. I just have been really busy and tired."

He didn't say anything, simply sighed. "Tell you what," I said, sitting next to him as I put my heels on. "I'll try to come tomorrow, okay? Just… don't get mad at me."

He smiled as he touched my neck with his fingers. "It's not about getting mad. I'm just saying we don't spend enough time together."

"I'm sorry," I said, kissing him one last time before getting up.

However, as I did so, he pulled me back down. "Wait, I have something for you," he said. "Wait here."

"Okay," I said, leaning back on the couch as I waited.

After some minutes he came back with an envelope on his hand. He sat back down and gave it to me.

As I open it, I noticed there were Quidditch tickets inside, for the Hollyhead Harpies/Tutshill Tornados' game. My team and his. I smiled.

"Quidditch, James?"

He nodded. "I haven't been to one in a while; besides, it'll be a good time to be with you outside a bedroom."

I decided to ignore what he meant with the last sentence and instead hugged him. "Great idea, love."

However, the envelope felt heavier than it should if it was simply carrying tickets to a game. Carefully, I took a better look inside; something shiny was in it as well. Pulling it off, I was even more surprised. "A key?"

"Yes," James said. "The key from this place."

I stared at it for a while, thinking if I should reject it or keep it. At last, I smiled.

"Thanks." I said. "I'll be sure to get you one, too."

James grinned. "Great."

"Anyway," I said. "I have to be going."

I stood up, kissed his lips lightly and finally walked to the door. As I reached it, however, I had to turn back. I noticed for the first time there was something different. The couch, the horrid yellow couch, was now the black one I had chosen. The curtains were the white ones I had chosen, and the living room was no longer red and gold.

I looked at James questioningly. He laughed.

"What happened to your living room?" I asked, bemused. "Where's that awful yellow, lily-full thing?"

"That?" he asked. "That was just a spell Sirius had put on the living room to show how little he liked the new decoration. It would go away as soon as someone had sex in it."

(…)

"Missing? How can he be missing?"

"Calm down, Lily. Think about little James!"

"I don't give a fuck about little James! I want to know about big James!"

Sirius breathed. "I know, Lily. I want to know more too."

After I had fainted, they had taken me to a St. Mungo's room where they woke me up and tried to make me drink something to calm me down. Being who I am, I completely refused the potion and instead turned immediately to Sirius. In the meanwhile, Alice, Dorcas and Emmeline had arrived to the hospital, but they had yet to say something. I suspected they were too shocked from realizing I was pregnant.

"How can he be missing?" I repeated, looking at Sirius and expecting him to tell me at any minute he was joking. "Where did he go? Why would anyone want him?"

Sirius shook his head and looked at the floor, and I knew instantly he was hiding something from me. "Lily… I'm not the right person to tell you anything about this. Really." He said.

"Then who is, Sirius? I don't get it! What did he go away for, anyway? Who could have him?" It seemed the only thing I could do at that moment was question. My mind was spinning with so many doubts; how could he be missing? If he only went away because of his bloody job…

"I think your last question was pretty obvious, Lily," Dorcas said, taking a step forward and speaking for the first time. "You can no longer ignore Volde-"

"Don't say the name!" both Mary and I shrieked at the same time.

Dorcas sighed. "Alright. Like I was saying, you can no longer ignore He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. It is obvious he has James."

I snorted. "Why the hell would he want James? As if he ever did anything to gain his attention." I said to. Then I stopped to think. What if…? "Unless…" I started, "unless I'm the reason for them to have him." I concluded, looking at them truly terrified. "Is that it? They want to keep them away from the mudblood?"

"Lily, that's not what this is about." Sirius said, reaching for my hand and grabbing it safely in his. "Believe me: if they have him, it's not because of you."

"What other thing could it be?" I said, tears in my eyes. "It's my fault if he's missing!"

Sirius smiled sadly and pulled me to a hug, making me cry at last. "Could you leave me alone with her, please?" he asked the others.

I didn't look to see if they had nodded, but they all left the room silently. "There are much bigger things in game then you being a muggle-born. And I can assure you that, if Vol—"

"Sirius!"

"I can assure that if he went for James, it was for so many more reasons."

We broke the hug and he cleaned my tears with his thumb. "I promise he'll be back. He's James Potter for Merlin's sake. He has a way to get out of anything," he whispered.

I smiled tearfully and sat in silence for some seconds. For some reason, I knew Sirius was hiding something from me. Maybe it was because of the fact that he and James were very similar, and that I always managed to find a way to know when James wasn't being truthful.

"What are you hiding from me, Sirius?" I asked, looking at him. "What do you know about James' whereabouts?"

He shook his head. "I told you I'm not the right person to tell you about this, Lily. Even if I know something more, I can't tell you."

"Sirius, take a good look at me! I'm desperate!"

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Well, you were fine when rejected him, weren't you?"

I picked the pillow in my bed and threw it at him. "Don't be such a jackass! I love him, alright? I have his child inside of me!"

"I must say I believe Ms. Evans to be right, Sirius." A calm voice said from the door. "She does have a right to know what's really happening."

I turned my head so quickly I even felt dizzy. There, in the door, was a man I hadn't seen since I had left Hogwarts; my ex-Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.

"Professor?" I asked, surprised.

He smiled. "Please, Lily, you're not at school anymore."

"Dumbledore?" Sirius asked, almost as surprised as me. "I'm sorry; I know you told me not to tell, but I had to."

The old man shook his head. "It's alright, Sirius. I believe she did have the right to know. Alice sent me an owl telling me they were coming here; I came as fast as I could."

I kept staring at them as Dumbledore walked to the chair beside my bed and sat down; Sirius stood where he was, sitting on my bed.

"First I must congratulate you, about the baby you're expecting," he said.

I made an effort not to snort. "It has brought me more trouble than anything else."

He smiled. "Life always brings us what we do not wish; but with time we realise what we didn't wish is exactly what we need," he told me. I quit trying to understand what he meant. "Moving on, I have to ask you not to worry about James more than necessary. He will come back safely, I can assure you."

I looked at him expressionless. "Where is he?" I asked, very directly.

Dumbledore sighed. "I can't tell you; but I was able to enter in contact with him this morning, and he says he managed to run away and is on his way back."

As he said that, it was as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. James was fine; he was coming back.

Sirius reacted more quickly than me to the news. "He's coming back?"

Dumbledore nodded carefully.

"But—I thought—I thought we were going after him?" Sirius asked, confused.

"Yes, we were. Thankfully, that will not be needed. The people who had him didn't know exactly who they were dealing with, although I don't see how anyone could not know who James Potter is."

As they spoke, I kept staring at them, confused. "Hello? I'm still here!" I said, making them look at me. Professor Dumbledore had stood up. "James is coming back? How come? What really happened? I don't get it!"

Dumbledore tapped my hand caringly. "Don't worry about that now, Lily. Worry about the child you have inside. I shall see you two soon. Goodbye."

And with that, he left, just as swiftly as he arrived. I turned to Sirius, and a sudden huge smile took over my features. Sirius was grinning just as madly as I was.

Jumping off bed, I jumped to Sirius and hugged him tightly. "He's coming back! He's coming back!" I yelled.

Sirius laughed that bark-like laugh I already recognised as his.

The door opened again and Mary, Alice, Dorcas and Emmeline came back in. "So," Dorcas asked as Sirius and I broke apart, still grinning. "Now that we know James is safe and secure, would you like explaining what the hell is going on between you two?"

I only smiled in answer, too happy to even bother thinking about that.

(…)

Some hours later I was released from St. Mungos, and Mary and I went back home. As we arrived, we sat on the couch in our living room in silence, going over what had happened during the day.

"Eventful day, wasn't it?" Mary said suddenly.

I looked at her and she looked at me, smiling. "One could say that."

"When do you think James is coming back?"

"Quickly, I hope."

"Lily, I've wanted to tell you something," she said, not facing me. "But I'm never sure when it's the right time to do so."

I sighed. "If it's bad, I don't want to know," I told her. "I have too many problems already."

Mary laughed quietly. "I don't think it to be bad," she said. "I think it's actually good."

"Go ahead, then," I told her.

"I have a boyfriend," she said.

I kept staring at her. "That's the news? Mary, you always have boyfriends."

She shook her head, smiling dreamily. "No, no. This time I have a boyfriend. Meaning, I really like him. And he likes me back."

I smiled. "Really? I'm proud of you!"

We both started laughing as I hugged her. "Who is he? Do I know him?"

She shook her head. "No, you don't. He works at Gringotts. He's name is Adam."

"I hope to be introduced to him soon."

Mary nodded. "As soon as this calms down a bit, yeah, I want you two to meet."

We were in silence again, as my mind went back to James disappearance and sudden reappearance. Sirius had admitted he was hiding something; even Dumbledore had denied telling me anything about where James was. I had never really thought about how many secrets he was keeping from me.

"Mary… do you know anything about where James went to that you're not telling me?"

She looked at me strangely. "Of course, not, Lily." Then she sighed. "But I noticed too, how everyone seemed to know something more."

It was my time to raise an eyebrow at her. "Everyone? What do you mean? I thought only Sirius and Dumbledore were hiding something."

She shook her head. "Didn't you see? Dorcas, Emmeline and Alice. They were so strange!"

That made me think. "You know what, now that I think about it, Dumbledore said Alice sent him a letter telling him 'they' were coming to see me. Meaning, she, Em and Dorcas."

We stood at each other for some minutes, in deep thought. "They're hiding something," I said aloud. "They know where James was. I mean, I haven't received any letter from James at some days now; they should know he was missing since then."

"And we haven't spoken to them in days. They were avoiding us," Mary said. "But— wait. Why would Sirius tell you today, precisely today, that James was missing?"

"Because he knew I was taking the baby today. He didn't tell me before because James probably told him I shouldn't get too stressed; but, as he knew I was going to take the baby he had to step in and stop me," I told her.

She nodded. "I think we owe Alice a visit," Mary said.

"I was thinking along the same lines."

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Author's note: here I am!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter; I was happy to see the number of reviewers (and readers) increasing.

So, let's talk about questions on the reviews. James as gone missing, but he managed to escape. Still, his fight isn't over; we all know what he has in common with Sirius, Alice and Frank, Emmeline, Dorcas and Dumbledore. But Lily doesn't know and she and Mary will try to find out. Oh well, there's a lot to come.

No, the fall didn't hurt little James, and yeah, Sirius saved the day! (everyone loves Sirius. xD)

Okay, I have to go now. Be nice and review, yes? xD

Love,

Hannah

Ps: let me tell you something interesting about James' animagus form. We all know James' animagus form is a stag. The interesting thing is that, in my language, if you call someone a stag, or a deer (which is said "veado" in portuguese), it means they're gay. interesting, isnt it?xD