A/N: I'm not entirely sure the song fits, but I think it should fairly well. If someone can come up with a better suggestion, put it in a review and if I concur, I'll change it. Enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 9: Breaking, Renewal and Beginning of Ties
Song: One Thing
By: Finger Eleven
-Lily's POV-
Sirius and Lily had been instructed by Dumbledore to wait outside the gates at 7:30 p.m. with the address written down to allow the other Order members in. It was about 7:20 when they walked out, leaving the others in the house to finish preparing everything. They had gone out that day and bought a few dozen chairs for the members of the Order to use. They were just finishing setting them up now. Lily decided that she might as well chat with Sirius while waiting for the others to come.
"How do you like the new living arrangements so far?" Lily asked Sirius before he had a chance to pose his own question.
"Well enough, I suppose. There's much more space to spread out in. I love the quidditch pitch and the game room. How about you? You enjoy your new house?"
"Only TONS! Can you believe the size of the library they gave me? I mean us? It's huge! I could spend days in there and not even find every book! I looked through what types of sections there were and noticed a section of muggle books; biographies, romance novels and a lot of others that I'm sure would make you laugh with some of their theories. Not to mention, the huge bedroom. Our closet is as big as Madam Malkin's shop." Lily replied enthusiastically. Sirius chuckled at the comment about their closet; the closets were huge.
"I'm glad you like it. It was nice of you guys to invite us here."
"Oh, it's no better than you inviting all of us to live in your flat after graduation. That was nice as well, considering you could have done anything with that space. Besides, I don't think James would survive a day without plotting pranks with you on Remus and the others. We'd both miss you, although I think James would miss you more than I would; not that we're not good friends as well, I just think that-" Sirius cut her off there.
"I understand. No need for you to ramble on and on about how good of friends we are; I know James would miss me more than you, we've been friends longer. Don't fret, I'm not offended."
"Wow, Sirius Black being mature instead of making a sarcastic comment. I think this is the start of something beautiful; a third grown-up in the house. Remus will be so thrilled!"
"What about Frank and Alice? They're certainly grown-ups."
"That's different; they've always been that way. Remus and I did have to grow up, just not as much as the rest of you. We did it more discreetly and a lot sooner; but we did have to."
"Well, that's a well kept secret. Lily Potter and Remus Lupin weren't mature their whole lives. I think I shall go into shock soon, what with this new revelation and my sudden maturity, it's amazing I haven't passed out from all the excitement." Sirius said with mock-wonder and amazement in his voice.
"Oh, bugger off. You know, I thought you were growing up, but maybe I was wrong. Oh well, you're always good for a laugh; or to laugh at." Lily said, causing Sirius to glare at her. They were stopped from any further exchange of witty-banter by the arrival of Dumbledore and the Order. Dumbledore greeted them quickly then began scanning the members one by one for spells, potions, or harmful intent. Once they had been checked, Dumbledore sent them to Lily and Sirius to read the address whereupon they looked at the mansion and began walking towards the door which was being opened by James. Lily and Sirius began chatting again lightly, ignoring people for the most part, until they were interrupted by a woman greeting Sirius. She was average height with dark blonde hair and heavily lidded eyes that were beautiful on her; unlike her sisters. She walked up and lightly punched Sirius on the arm.
"What's the deal with you being here, Sirius?" asked the woman, a playful smile on her lips. "Its real work and adult situations, I thought you'd be clear across town by now. Almost didn't believe Dumbledore when he said you'd be here."
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the old blood-traitor in arms. It's been a while, Andy. How're Ted and Young Tonks? I still can't believe you named her Nymphadora." When Lily looked at the woman, she recognized her as none other than Sirius' cousin, Andromeda Tonks, who had also been blown off the family tree because she married a muggle.
"Their fine; and don't call her Tonks, you'll only encourage her. Nymphadora is a perfectly lovely name."
"I still say they gave you too many pain potions for you to properly name a child, as was proven when you chose Nymphadora. I don't blame her for hating it. How've you been though? Been keeping in touch with the family lately?"
"I've been fine. I'm kind of looking for work right now, not sure if I want to work in the magical or muggle world. I'm leaning towards magical, of course, but there's always the option if I must. And you know very well that I don't keep in contact with the family. The last time I've spoken to anyone but you from my genetic family was the day I announced I had married Ted; since then any attempt they've had at talking to me, I've ignored entirely."
"Well then, you should go inside. You'll have quite the little shock, you will. Oh, and by the way, ask for Rose; she'll fill you in, and I'm sorry in advance for what you'll find out."
Andy walked away with a suspicious look on her face, glancing back at Sirius a few times.
"Why didn't you just tell her you'd gotten married and Regulus had left the family as well?" Lily inquired, striking up another conversation.
"Because she's got a nasty temper, that one, and I'll be damned if I'm gonna be the one she blows up at. Let her talk to Rose, she won't yell at a person she's never met before; even if it is her favorite cousins wife. Or even Regulus, she never did yell at him."
"You're cruel, did you know that? Sending a potential explosion at your wife; you should be ashamed of yourself."
"Hey, it's like I said. She won't blow up at a person she's not met before."
"Whatever. There's only a few left and my presence isn't required here, so I'm gonna go in and play interference just in case Andy goes for Regulus." With that, Lily left for the mansion. She walked up to the house and the door was opened, once again, by James.
"Hey, what're you doing here? There're still people out there." James asked when he saw Lily at the door.
"Sirius sent Andromeda to talk to Rose without giving out vital pieces of information." She didn't need to elaborate any further, as James had known Andy for a while and knew what would happen when said information was found out.
"Best hurry then; I saw Rose leading her over to Regulus and Andy had that falsely polite look on her face that she generally wore after we'd pranked her and a teacher was talking to one of us about something or other, thus postponing her ability to retaliate. She'll be pissed off right about now."
James had to answer the door again, so Lily walked over to Regulus without wasting any time.
"Regulus," Lily hissed, "be on the look-out. Andy's here and she just found out about your recent family goings-on. Sirius neglected to tell her anything then sent her in to talk to Rose. I think she's about to get over her scruples against yelling at you."
"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind; although she never did get upset at me…" but Regulus was cut off by the arrival of said cousin.
"Oh, I got mad at you alright; I just took it out on Sirius. He was a much better target as he never got upset and he didn't go to Aunt Walburga when he got yelled at; unlike some people I know."
"Hello Andy," Regulus said, trying desperately to be cheery. "How've you been recently? How's that lovely daughter of yours, Nymphadora?"
"Trying to suck up, huh? Well, I see how it is. Just leave your favorite cousin out of everything just because she's old and married." Andy said, trying to lay a guilt trip on Regulus for leaving her out; it appeared to Lily that Andy had in fact not gotten over her hesitation of yelling at Regulus.
"You're not old; well, not that old at any rate," Regulus added that last bit to let Andy know he wasn't falling for her guilt. Lily recognized the type of conversational dancing they were doing; she'd seen Sirius chat in a similar way with Andy a few years back. "But, just so we're up front about anything, I'm getting married as well."
"Yes, I know. Sirius' lovely wife has filled me in. How'd he marry someone like her, anyway?"
"Nobody knows; they just work well together and she seems to love him." Regulus said with a joking note in his voice. "But, I'm marrying Holly in January; that is if we can wait that long. We've been dating for nearly two years now and we both of us want to get married sooner than January. Ah well, I'll let you know all the same when we set the final date for or if we decide to elope in the heat of the moment some night."
"Very well; I suppose you've somewhat redeemed yourself. I might just have to team up with Remus and James to get you both back later. How've you been Lily? I didn't' get the chance to speak with you outside."
"Oh, I'm well enough. Just to be sure; you do know that James and I got married, right?"
"Oh yes, I knew that. Wasn't much of a surprise either, if truth be told."
"Alright, and just to make doubly sure, you know that Remus married Rina and Frank married Alice and that we're all living here together?"
"Yes, I got quite a bit of information out of Rose before seeking out Regulus. I also heard that Peter is moving in with some girl. Who'd a thought that little Peter would find someone?"
"I'm going to have to talk to Rose about who she tells what," Regulus said all of a sudden. "She should be more careful, what with angry cousins on the warpath and whatnot."
"Oh give it up; it's your own damn fault that you didn't tell me anything. Besides, you can't talk to her now the meeting is starting."
They all walked into the dining hall where people were starting to get settled. They were all sitting in the third row of chairs; James was waving them over. They all went to sit down and Andy made sure she stepped on Sirius' foot as she passed, gesturing to James and Remus that she wanted a word after the meeting. Dumbledore began the same way he usually did; with the induction of new members. Andy was one of these new members and she 'accidentally' stepped on Sirius foot twice more; once when she went up and once when she came back to her seat.
After the inductions, of which there were 5 total, Dumbledore went on to talk about their most recent information. Next he asked if anyone had information to add; McGonagall stood up again.
"Yes Albus; we've been monitoring Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape as you requested and we have some reports to give. Lucius Malfoy has been seen with known Death Eaters as well as others suspected of bearing the mark. He has been sighted at several raids and placed at many murders; this is all to be expected, of course, as we already knew he was a confirmed supporter. What's new, though, is that we've confirmed that Narcissa Malfoy does not in fact have a Dark Mark and we have not placed her with any Death Eaters or at any attacks. We have overheard some conversations between the two through various methods and have heard Lucius practically ordering her to take the mark, but she refuses him as though he's offering her a sweet. As for Severus, he has recently been confirmed as a Death Eater. We've seen him at raids and witnesses have notified the authorities of strange curses that act like the ones he was always making up at Hogwarts. He has also been spotted quite frequently with Lucius and Bellatrix Lestrange; another confirmed Death Eater. We still believe him to be brewing unknown potions for You-Know-Who."
"Thank you Minerva. I had hoped we would be wrong about Severus, but alas, there is naught we can do about it. Please continue your surveillance of Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Snape, it could provide us with key information. Now then, does anyone else have information to provide?"
"Yes Albus. We've got more of the Aurors in the office thinking about supporting Voldemort; we keep close track of who's leaning towards the dark, but we can't do anything until they're open about their support."
"Thank you Alastor. Has anybody got any more reports? No? Very well, then I would like to inform you all about our meeting place. This home belongs to James and Lily Potter and they have graciously allowed us the use of their home for our future meetings. You will all need to add your names to the list on the table in the kitchen, as they need your names for you to keep access to their home. From this point forward, you can continue to apparate; however I must ask that you not abuse that. The Potters have informed me that they would be more than happy to have any of you here at any time, but I do not wish for their privacy to be infringed upon. They also tell me it won't be necessary for the circuit of food as they have obtained two house elves that are very capable of making the refreshments. That is all, please make your way to the kitchen for some dinner and add your name to the list while you're there."
Everybody got up to leave and eat. Sirius left with them, Lily saw, as did Frank, Alice, Peter and Rose. The rest stayed to chat with Andy about her first meeting among other things.
"So, how'd you enjoy the meeting Andy?" Remus inquired.
"Screw the small-talk, what'd you want to talk about?" James asked bluntly.
"About pranking Sirius. We haven't gotten to since I left Hogwarts; those were always my favorite pranks to pull, the ones getting Sirius. Maybe we can walk and talk; I'd like a tour of your house, if you don't mind."
"Of course not," they began walking towards the stairs leading up to the sixth floor. "So," began Lily, "the sixth floor is mine and James'. Below that on the fifth is Sirius and Rose, fourth is Remus and Rina, third is Frank and Alice, and second is Regulus and Holly." They walked up and showed Andy floors 2-6. When they were done, they walked to the bottom-most basement and showed her their Potions Lab. They then showed her their game room; though refrained from the revealing of the passages, which only those inhabiting the house got to know about for now. Back on the first floor, they showed her about and once they were in Lily's office, their last stop, they began discussing a prank on Sirius.
"I haven't seen the bloke in a few years, what would be a good prank?" Andy inquired.
"Oh, not much; he's stopped being phased by pranks; all he does is try to get even." Remus answered.
"We'll just have to think of something then, won't we? What about…" James trailed off, drawing into his own thoughts.
"We'd better get back; a tour can only last so long. Maybe you should reconsider the prank, Andy, it won't do much good." Remus said, proving to be logical once again.
"You old fuddy-duddy; you always have to be the mature one, don't you?" Andy said, sounding a little frustrated at Remus.
They all walked back into the kitchen and go some food. Andy sought out Sirius, planning on finding some stuff out about him for use later on. The crowd slowly began dissipating and soon all that were left besides the group of friends were Dumbledore, McGonagall, Moody and Andy.
-James' POV-
"Potter, Evans…" Moody began, but was interrupted by James.
"Moody, you know very well her name's Potter now; you walked her down the aisle for crying out loud!"
"Of course I know that Potter, I'm not daft. I'm just not going to be calling out Potter in the office and have both of you show up. She's still Evans at work; same for Smith and Pearl. As I was saying; Potter, Evans, Black, Pearl, Longbottom, Smith and Pettigrew, you'll start work on Monday. We have a mission for you seven; I'll be leading the group. We'll be going to Bulgaria; there's news of heavy Death Eater recruiting there. We'll be going to check out someone named Igor Karkaroff; he's supposedly the main recruiter, which means we take him down at all costs upon confirmation of his position. We leave at 7:00 a.m.; don't even bother apparating to work, I'll just come here. Got it?" Moody barked out their orders in his gruff voice.
"Yes sir!" they all shouted in reply; every one of them grinning at the prospect of their first mission out of training.
"Good; I'll be going now. See you lot Monday." Moody left after that, heading for the front door.
"So, professors, would you like anything more to eat or drink? Or perhaps a tour; Professor Dumbledore's already seen the place but I could show you around Professor McGonagall." Lily suggested.
"Call me Minerva, dear, and that would be lovely I think. Let's see this house of yours. I hear you have a wonderful library."
"Oh yes…" Lily's voice trailed off as she left the room with McGonagall.
"So, Albus, how's the school doing?" Remus inquired, starting up a conversation.
"Fantastically, I must say, although we are short a couple professors this year. Professor Slughorn has decided to retire as have Professor's Philips and Sinistra; the Divination professor not the Astronomy. I've got an interview with a Miss Sybil Trelawney tomorrow for the Divination post; she's the great-granddaughter of Cassandra Trelawney, although truth be told I don't think she's got the gift. I'm considering just dropping the subject. I have to find a Defense teacher, Potions as well."
"Well, Professor Dumbledore, I'm looking for a job. I could take over Defense; I was fairly good at that." Andromeda spoke up.
"Really, that would be most helpful. And I do believe that you got 'Outandings' in your Defense O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. I thank you; I'll owl you the start of term information and your schedule. You will, of course, be given your own living quarters. I believe you have a daughter, correct?" Andy nodded. "Very well, we'll make sure you have a spare room for her in your quarters as well."
"Thank you Professor, but there's also the business of my husband being a muggle."
"Ah yes, the anti-muggle charms. Those can be overcome by a simple counter-charm performed on the person in question. It shan't be a problem, my dear."
"Wonderful!" Andy exclaimed. "I can't wait to start; I always wanted to go back to Hogwarts after I left."
"Most do, most do. Well, I still have to find a Potions Professor. I don't suppose any of you has the sudden urge to teach?"
"Sorry professor, I think we're all happy with our current career choices." Sirius replied for them all, everyone nodded in agreement; all but one. James didn't think anyone else saw Regulus looking off into space with a contemplative expression adorning his face; it only lasted a second before Regulus shook his head and it was gone, but James had seen it and he had the feeling that they would be hearing more about this topic later on.
"Yes, I thought so. Then there's the business of a school nurse. Poppy Pomfrey was supposed to stay, but she's considering going to St. Mungo's to work; she's not sure children are who she wants to work on for the rest of her career and I'm not sure I blame her. But, on to more pleasant things; I hear you have a pool table. I used to be fairly good at the game; anyone fancy a game or two?" Dumbledore asked, sounding suddenly enthusiastic at the prospect of a game.
They all agreed and headed down to the game room. They were going to play teams; James and Sirius vs. Dumbledore and Andy. Dumbledore broke and claimed stripes for him and Andy. They played a rather quick game, as everyone was fairly good. Dumbledore got in four balls before he missed. In the end, Dumbledore and Andy won. They traded partners for a second game; James and Andy vs. Sirius and Dumbledore. This time James and Andy won. They traded again for a third game; James and Dumbledore vs. Andy and Sirius. They were playing when Lily walked in with McGonagall, having finished the tour. The others had started to play other games while the pool games went on. Regulus and Frank were playing air-hockey; Alice, Rina, Rose and Holly were playing darts, and apparently Peter had left after the first game of pool had been finished; he claimed it was getting late.
They continued playing for a good while; McGonagall and Lily joined the games of pool for some team cut-throat. James saw Regulus pull Dumbledore aside for a moment in-between games; though he wasn't positive about what was being said, he had a fairly good idea it was about a certain job. When they finally finished playing, it was getting on to be about 11:00. The Professors left for Hogwarts when they saw the time. Andy, however, stayed a while longer.
"Why not play some cards? We could play some poker; you lot never were that good." Andy suggested.
"You don't want to go home, do you?" asked Regulus, sounding extremely amused.
"Not particularly, Ted doesn't often have the energy to look after Nymphadora alone; but he did tonight and I want to enjoy being in the company of other adults for a while. Ted's at work all day and when he comes home he spends time with Nymphadora, understandable of course, but then when she's in bed he's to tired to do anything himself. I just want some grown-up time. So, what about those cards?" she asked with a smile.
"I'm in," said James.
"Me too," said Sirius. The others all nodded their agreement as well so they went to the dining room to play. James went to fetch a deck of muggle cards. They played for a few hours; Five-Card Draw, Texas Hold 'Em, Whist, Michigan Rummy and so on. James and Sirius had been very interested in muggle card games a few years back, so they knew a lot.
People started getting tired and going to bed, so before long the game was down to Andy, James, Sirius and Regulus. Sirius, Regulus and Andy began talking about how they hated their genetic family and how they're glad they'd been taken off the tapestry. They also talked about how they knew that Snape had to be a Death Eater and how they'd always hated him and known him to be and evil git. It was almost four in the morning before Andy finally left for home. James just decided to leave the cards on the table for the 'night' and go to bed. Sirius and Regulus went up as well. When James dropped into bed, he tried to not wake Lily up but was unsuccessful.
"What t-t-time is it?" she managed to yawn out.
"It's four-thirty, love, just go back to sleep." James replied.
"You're just coming up to bed? Andy must really be desperate for adult conversation if she thinks she'll find it with you three at four in the morning." She smirked at James, trying not to laugh at his look of fake-outrage. "Oh, come now, you know I'm joking; at least about you. Get some rest; we were going to do…something…later on. I can't remember what. This is an un-godly hour, you know."
"That it is. I tried to be quiet. Let's get some sleep, eh love?" James fell asleep immediately when his head hit the pillow.
-Rose's POV-
It was now Tuesday afternoon and Rose was at St. Mungo's. They had gone on their mission yesterday and everything seemed fine. They had gotten in and had visual confirmation, a dark mark on the left forearm, that Karkaroff is a Death Eater. They had gone to arrest him when he began shooting off different curses at them; all of them rather nasty. They had gotten out quickly, but James had managed to stun Karkaroff and take him along via portkey. Rose was now sitting in her bed awaiting approval to go.
She had been hit with a strong boil curse; they'd taken what seemed like forever to remove. The nurse came in and told her where she could find the others at. She walked to the next room where she saw Sirius sitting up in his bed waiting for her.
"Hello love. How're you?" he asked.
"Well enough; they finally got the boils to go away. How are you?"
"They say that the cuts should heal well, possibly without any scars." Sirius had been hit with a whipping hex on the back; probably why he wasn't lying down. "I don't suppose you know where the others are, do you? They wouldn't tell me anything."
"Lily and James were both ok, but I'm told they were fretting so much that the nurses banned them from entering the hospital to visit us. Peter was also alright, but he went home to Claudia. Frank and Alice are in another ward; they were both hit with Crucio, but nothing major came of it. They're just fairly weak right now. And Moody, well he got the worst. It seems Snape has been sharing his curses with the other spineless gits. Karkaroff sent some spell directly at Moody's face; it, well it cut out his eye."
"What? What do you mean it cut out his eye?"
"Just what I said; it cut out his left eye. They're going to give him a replacement, but they can't heal it."
"Those bloody bastards! They had to take his eye as well, didn't they? Not enough that they took his leg and part of his nose, is it? No! They have to cut out his eye!"
"Calm down. They say he'll heal fine and that he can leave today as well. They're debating letting you out today; your cuts are mostly healed but there's still some chance for infection."
"That's just an excuse; they want to keep me and my sunny personality here as long as they can for their own entertainment. I hate hospitals. You remember there was hardly a week that went by where one of us wasn't in the hospital wing?"
"Yeah, I remember; if it wasn't James with a quidditch injury, then it was you with some hex from Snivellus and if it wasn't that Remus had his 'furry little problem' or one of you had gotten into a fight. By the end of the year, you lot were on a first name basis with the nurses; the good old days." Rose said all of this with a wistful expression on her face.
They continued to chat for a while until the nurse came in and gave him clearance to leave. They went to check on Frank and Alice next, only to find they'd been laced with a pepper-up potion and given permission to leave. Rose decided they should go check on Moody, so they walked to where he was being held. When they saw the eye that he'd been given to replace his old one, they barely contained their amusement.
The rather large blue eye was spinning around in the socket. Moody looked up at them with his normal eye and grunted for a greeting.
"So, how are you doing Moody?" Alice asked.
"Well enough. This eye is better than my old one. It gets a 360 degree view and it can see through anything; including invisibility cloaks. Potter'll have a hard time sneaking in late now."
"Well, so long as you're satisfied." Rose said rather awkwardly, obviously confused about the situation.
"You know, we've got to give you a proper nickname to go along with that eye." Sirius began. "What about Blue, or Spinner? No, I've got it! It's positively brilliant!"
"Just spit it out Black before I have them remove you to the nutter's ward." Moody said.
"Hold on to your knickers; Mad-Eye. It's perfect. It fits and it's funny."
"Oh, yeah, it's really funny, Sirius," Frank said sarcastically. "A man loses his eye and all you can do is come up with humorous nicknames. By the way, has anyone ever noted the irony of your name, Sirius? Because I've noticed, just the tiniest bit, that you're not very serious." Frank finished, again with sarcasm in his voice.
"Oh, it's been noted many times. Usually by professors or the more mature students; but you're not the first with that train of thought." Rose answered.
They chatted idly with Moody for a while until they heard shouting down the hallway.
"I suppose we should have informed James of our release; I'll be right back." Sirius left to collect an irate James before he was permanently banned from the hospital.
They returned a few minutes later, Lily walking behind them and chuckling to herself. They filled the two in on their health and then talked some more with Moody. They were about to leave when, "I'd better see you lot at the office tomorrow." They all glanced at Moody before nodding resignedly and leaving.
-Regulus' POV-
It had been a week since the Order meeting. Regulus had talked to Holly and they'd made a decision. He had just sent a letter to Dumbledore so now all they had to do was tell everyone else. They went downstairs to the living room and found everyone watching TV. Regulus went and stood in front of the TV. Sirius and James grumbled, but Lily and Remus noticed he had something to say so Remus shut the TV off. Holly came and stood next to him. He looked at everyone and decided he was as ready as he'd ever get.
"I've decided to take the Potions position and Head of Slytherin at Hogwarts and Holly is going with to be the school Nurse." He had decided that being blunt was the best way to go about it.
"That's sudden. Since when did you want to teach?" Sirius asked.
"I've been thinking about it since Dumbledore told us he was looking for professors a week ago. I talked with Holly and she said that she was interested in the Nurse position so we decided to take up the posts this year. We actually have to be there two weeks before term starts. We're going to go for a year and see how we like it before committing to long term." Regulus replied. He looked around again and saw that everyone was smiling. "What's going on? What's with all the smiles? Are you that eager to get rid of us?"
"No, it's just that, you sound so determined to do this. Plus, none of us ever thought you'd be a teacher; Remus yes, but not you. We're just shocked is all; happy, but shocked nonetheless." Lily answered.
"Whatever. We're happy with our decision; we hope you all are."
"We are; we're going to miss you both though." Rose said. "It'll be weird not having my favorite brother-in-law around."
"I'm your only brother-in-law, Rose." Regulus replied cockily.
"Not true; my sister eloped with some bloke so now I have two brother-in-laws." She stuck her tongue out at him as a sign of victory.
"We're all happy for you though, you guys. We're glad you've chosen something you'll enjoy." Alice contributed.
"Thanks. We'll miss you too. Maybe you can come and stay at Hogwarts every so often. 'The Marauders: Round Two'. I can see McGonagall's face now. We can come back for breaks, as well."
"Excellent. Well then, get out," Sirius said with a pretend serious face.
"We will, in about two week's time. Until then, you'll just have to suffer through our company," Holly said.
"Drat; there goes the neighborhood." James joked.
"Oh yeah, because you lot are a real high-class bunch. I trust you'll keep up the besmirching of our good name whilst we're away, Sirius." Regulus said, turning to his brother.
"Oh yes; and I assume you'll properly annoy Andy for the rest of us, won't you?" Sirius said, also looking at his brother.
"Of course, what kind of Marauder would I be if I didn't prank somebody; the students are out-of-bounds and the other professors wouldn't take to kindly to the pranks, but I expect to be in an all out Prank War with Andy by the time Halloween comes 'round.
"Good, good. If you need any tips, just call the helpline." Remus said.
"Will do; now then, what were you all watching before we came in?" Regulus asked.
They turned back to the TV and continued watching the movie. They passed the rest of the afternoon in peace.
The next two weeks seemed to fly by for everyone. The day came, though, when Regulus and Holly had to leave for Hogwarts. They did so with some joking, laughing and some long good-byes. They apparated to Hogwarts and went to Dumbledore's office to find out their quarters so they could get settled in.
-James' POV-
After Regulus and Holly left, not too much changed. They would firecall each other every other day or so to keep in touch. Everyone went about their business as usual. At work at the Auror Office, a lot had been going on. Everyone had started calling Moody 'Mad-Eye', for one thing.
One morning in mid-October, James walked into the kitchen and saw Lily waiting on her breakfast.
"Morning love, how are you?" he inquired.
"Morning, I'm good. How are you?"
"I'm fine. Work today ought to be interesting. We've got that case to start on; I can't wait to get started. I wonder who's going to be our project leader; we generally have Mad-Eye."
"Oh, I'm sure it doesn't matter who we've got…" Lily suddenly stopped talking and put her hand to her mouth. She got up and ran. James had gotten up to follow her and found her bent over the toilet throwing up. He went and pulled her hair back behind her head. When she was done, he grabbed a wash cloth and wet it with cold water for her forehead.
"What's this then? Are you getting sick love?" he questioned his wife.
"I don't know. I threw-up yesterday morning as well, but then I felt fine so I shrugged it off. Maybe I have a cold. I'll be fine though; I feel better already. We'd better get going or we'll be late for work." Lily attempted getting up, but James held her down where she was.
"Oh, no you don't; you're not going to work if you're sick. You're going to stay home and when I get back this afternoon I'm taking you to a healer. And don't bother arguing because it will get you nowhere." James said, cutting off Lily's attempt at an argument. "I'll tell Mad-Eye your ill and he'll just have to deal with it. Now then, up you go. I'll get you settled into bed before I leave."
James began to help Lily up. Once she was standing, he walked with her up the stairs. When they got to the third floor, they heard noises so they paused. It seemed Lily wasn't the only one who was sick. Frank came out of the bedroom a few moments later.
"Why haven't you guys left yet; you're going to be late."
"Lily's sick so I'm getting her settled in upstairs before I go. I'm taking her to St. Mungo's after work."
"Really, Alice is sick as well. Maybe they caught colds or something. I've got Alice settled in already; I'll tell Mad-Eye where you are. We'll be joining you at the hospital later, by the way."
Frank began walking down the stairs to get a quick breakfast before apparating to work.
"That's odd, Alice being sick as well. I hope Rose is all right. She was looking under the weather yesterday morning. I guess we'll find out shortly, won't we?" Lily said, heading for the stairs.
When they got to the fifth floor, James went over and knocked on Sirius and Rose's bedroom door. He was told to come in by an irritated sounding Sirius. When James entered, he saw Rose lying down and Sirius running about frantically looking for something.
"Padfoot, you look like a chicken with its head cut off. What's up?"
"Rose is ill and I can't find any of the potions we usually keep stocked for nausea."
"What's in the water; I mean really. Lily and Alice are both sick as well. I can't stay long; Lily's waiting by the steps for me. We're all heading to the hospital this evening after work; care to join us and find out what this mysterious bug is?"
"Sure. Rose, I'm sorry but I can't find the potion and I've got to go."
"That's all right dear; I'm feeling much better anyhow. Go to work and I'll see you later." Sirius went over and kissed Rose on the cheek before heading down the stairs as well.
James went back out to the hall to see Lily sitting on the last set of stairs. "Are you all right Lily?" James asked.
"I just got a little tired. Come here would you." He walked over and she took his hand for some balance. They walked up the last set of stairs and he got her settled in their bed. He kissed her good-bye before apparating away. He got to work and went over to talk to the others.
"What's the deal with them being sick all at once?" James asked his friends. "I mean, if it is the flu, wouldn't we all have it?"
"Good question mate, but I don't know. Anyway, since the girls are gone Mad-Eye assigned us to work on the case with you. Your dad's the group leader. It shouldn't take us to long to do and then we can go home to take care of the girls," Sirius said.
They went and found James' dad and when he inquired as to the girls' whereabouts he was informed of what had gone on that morning. He just smiled and told them to get their gear ready for the task at hand. James was intrigued by his fathers smile. He wondered what his father knew that he didn't, but got to work as he was instructed.
When they had finished their task, they were sent home. They all apparated to the house and walked in to see the girls watching soap operas in the living room.
"It's all that's on during the day." Lily said to the comment about what was on. They were all ready so they went back outside to apparate; the guys insisted upon side-along apparating their wives so they wouldn't get to tired. They had left a note on the table for Remus and Rina who weren't home yet. They got to St. Mungo's and asked the woman at the front desk where to go. She instructed them towards the first floor. James asked if she was sure when he saw that that was the Creature Induced Injury ward, but she assured him that was where they needed to go.
They went up and the guys were put into a waiting room while the girls were taken to separate rooms. Some nurses came to take each of them to their wives about ten minutes later. James followed the nurse to see what was wrong with Lily; the damn nurse wouldn't say, she only smiled at him.
James walked into the room and saw Lily sitting on a bed smiling as well with a healer standing over her. The healer stopped talking and turned to James when he entered.
"Well, Mrs. Potter, do you want to tell him or shall I?" the healer asked Lily.
"I'd like to." Lily turned her now solemn face upon James once again. "James, there are going to be some big changes around the house. I'm not allowed to have alcohol for the next nine months, I'll have to stop work in four months, and I'm going to gain a lot of weight."
James began to smile. He knew what this meant and he was ecstatic. He walked over to Lily and hugged her tightly. He pulled back, kissed her forehead and then looked to her for confirmation.
"James, you're going to be a father." She smiled at him again and he returned the look with an amount of happiness that could only be rivaled by the day he'd married Lily.
"This is wonderful! Is it a boy or a girl? It doesn't matter, in any case. As long as it's healthy and it can play quidditch and it's smart like you, nothing matters."
"It's a boy, James, a healthy baby boy. He's due in mid-July."
"A boy; excellent. He'll be wonderful. I can't wait to tell everyone. They're not going to believe this!"
"Oh, I have a feeling they will. James, darling, put two and two together; Alice and Rose were having the same problems and they were sent to the same place. I get the feeling that our house is going to be rather noisy in nine months."
James paused for a moment then grinned. He thought about how wonderful it would be having three children in the house at the same time; noisy, but wonderful.
-Sirius' POV-
Sirius followed the nurse to Rose's room. He went in and saw her talking to the doctor. When she saw him, she gave a faint smile then her face turned serious.
"What is it?" he asked, slightly worried by his wife's behavior. She usually tried to put a positive spin on everything.
"Oh, nothing bad; it's actually a wonderful thing. Sirius, you're going to be a father; twice over."
"What? What does twice over mean?"
"It means that we're having twins, dear. A boy and a girl; they're due in June." A grin now adorned her face, and Sirius quickly joined in. He went over to her and kissed her passionately. "You know what this means? You'll have to find a new drinking buddy for a while; maybe James, I get the feeling he'll be on the market for one as well."
Sirius chuckled. It all made sense now. He wasn't going to be the only father in the house.
"I can't wait to tell the others. Twins! This is great. The Marauders shall take over Hogwarts once again through a second generation! McGonagall will be depressed for days when she finds out about the four young ones joining her ranks in eleven years."
Rose laughed at that; Sirius was glad that he could make her laugh. He was thrilled at the prospect of fatherhood. He was looking forward to the day his children would be born. He chuckled again when he thought back to the name of the ward; 'Creature Induced Injuries'. That was a hilarious bit of wording, that was.
-Frank's POV-
Frank had had his suspicions about what could be going on this morning; he didn't want to get his hopes up though, just in case it was the flu or something. He and Alice had talked about wanting children a while ago and a month or so ago they had decided that they wanted to try and have children. Frank felt overjoyed at the prospect of it happening so soon.
As he followed the nurse to the room, he smiled at the thought of children running about the house. When the door opened, Alice smiled at him and he was filled with elation. He ran over to her and held her in his arms for a while. When he remembered where they were and that they could celebrate later, he turned and looked at the healer for information about the pregnancy.
He was bursting with joy at the prospect of becoming a father. He loved Alice with all his heart and he wouldn't want to do this with anyone else. They would probably tell the others soon, as they were trying for this they wanted to share it with the world.
-Regulus' POV-
It was now Halloween and Regulus and Holly were going back to the mansion for a Halloween Party. They flooed in through the kitchen and were greeted by some members of the Order who had also come. He went and sought out his brother first; besides, Sirius would probably be with the others anyway. He found them all sitting in the living room chatting with a few Order members. He noticed that Lily, Alice and Rose were drinking Pumpkin Juice and all the others were drinking at least butterbeer. He walked over and gave Sirius a quick hug.
"How've you been?" Regulus asked Sirius.
"Absolutely splendid, yourself?"
"Couldn't be better." He decided he'd better be a little quiet about the last part, so he whispered into Sirius' ear, "is there a reason that those three," he gestured to Lily, Rose and Alice, "are drinking pumpkin juice and not something stronger?"
"Yes, why don't you ask them though; they've been dying to tell you."
Regulus turned to the three women and gestured towards their glasses. They glanced at each other then nodded. All at once, they said, "We're pregnant."
He smiled and walked over to them, giving them each a hug. "When are they due? What are they going to be? And have you chosen names yet? Congratulations, by the way."
"A boy in July," Lily said.
"Same," said Alice.
"A boy and a girl in June," said Rose.
"Twins? That's fantastic! I'm going to be an uncle. Just think a niece and a nephew in my class someday. That ought to be fun." He smiled and gave each of them another hug before going around and clapping each father-to-be on the back. "You lot must be excited."
"Of course we are. Remus here has been trying his damnedest to get Rina pregnant." Remus blushed furiously when James said this causing all the guys to chuckle; Remus was bout to say something when James continued. "Oh Remus, did you think this house had an ounce of privacy, what with eight people living here? It's nothing to be embarrassed of." Remus, on the other hand, appeared to think it was something to be embarrassed about.
"So, James, how'd your parents take the news? They smother you with congratulations?" Regulus said, smoothly changing the topic.
"We haven't officially told them yet; I mean, my dad had his suspicions when he heard Lily had morning sickness, but we haven't told them definitely yet. We were planning on doing so tonight, making an announcement about all three at once. We're quite curious to see McGonagall's reaction. We've started betting on what she'll do. I say she's going to look at us trying to figure out when somebody's going to say 'April Fools'."
"I think she's going to make some sarcastic comment about the downfall of the reputation of her Gryffindors," Frank put in.
"No, no, no, she's going to get up and walk away, muttering under her breath about how the brewers of Headache Potions will be seeing a lot of her for years to come." That was Remus' opinion.
"I still say she's going to stare at us confusedly for a moment before swooning, then when she comes round she's going to be muttering about 'I thought I'd got rid of them, they were all gone and only one came back, what happened to my peaceful world'." Sirius said, miming McGonagall's voice perfectly on the last part.
"Well, I say," began Regulus, "that she's not going to do any of that. She's going to turn to Lily, Rose and Alice and say something along the lines of 'I hope to Merlin that your influence over your children is stronger than that of your husbands' and then she'll glare at you all as though you've done something terribly wrong and her mouth will thin to a slit. What's the bet, anyway?"
"Whoever guesses her reaction most accurately will be given a cask of firewhisky, paid for by the others of course." James responded, grinning devilishly.
"That sounds reasonable; I'm in." Regulus said, checking to make sure he had enough money to go fourths on a cask of liquor. "Where's Peter at?"
"He's with Claudia. I swear, he spends more and more time with her. Pretty soon we'll be reduced to getting a Christmas card if we're lucky. I suppose it's just him moving on with life, but I hate to see him going a separate way from us. We've known him forever and a day." Remus replied, sounding slightly saddened by Peter's absence.
"Cheer up mate; we get to see McGonagall's reaction soon. It's almost time for dinner; let's go tell everyone to make their way to the dining hall in about five minutes." Frank tried to get Remus' mind off of their absent friend.
They all got up and went to the dining hall, informing those they saw on the way that they should follow and inform the others that dinner was ready. Everyone was finally sat down at the table ten minutes later.
"Alright, before dinner is served, we have some announcements," James said, standing up. He was joined by the other five this pertained to and then continues. "The six of us have recently been informed of spectacular events to come. I'll start with mine and Lily's announcement. Lily is pregnant." Everyone smiled and said quick congratulations. McGonagall, who had just taken a drink of water, spluttered slightly.
"Now, Frank and I also have some news to share. I'm also pregnant, due about the same time as Lily." More clapping and congratulations greeted that announcement. McGonagall was now pinching her nose.
"And…" Sirius began, but was cut off by McGonagall.
"Oh Merlin, not you two as well; you two are sure to procreate a troublemaker."
"Close, Lady McGonagall, very close. However, you are off by just a little bit. We're having twins!" Everyone laughed at that and offered their congratulations to Sirius and Rose. McGonagall began swaying slightly in her chair.
"Good Merlin, I thought I'd rid myself of troublemakers. Lily, Rose, Alice, I hope your prepared to teach these children how to behave better than their fathers. I'll need a keg of headache potion if they're anything like their fathers. Merlin help us."
The guys looked at each other and Sirius shrugged saying, "I guess that means we all pay for it and all drink it. Works for me."
They then ate a wonderful dinner followed by Mrs. Weasleys bread pudding and treacle tart for dessert. Once they were done eating, people went down to the game room to chat and occupy themselves. Regulus got a chance to talk to some of the other people there at this time. He had short conversations with many people; the Weasleys, Mad-Eye (the name had spread beyond the Ministry now), Mr. and Mrs. Potter, Mrs. Longbottom, Andy and Ted, Mr. and Mrs. Stone, and some of Rina's brothers. It was an eventful night, all in all. What with the announcements and the games and the conversation, the party was still in full swing way into the wee hours of the morning. The teachers from Hogwarts were coming and going; they were taking shifts at the castle watching over the feast. Dumbledore came for a spell at around 10:00, thoroughly beating James at a game of pool, before leaving again to check on the castle. When the party finally did end, at five in the morning, everything was left as it was to be cleaned up another time. Regulus and Holly said their good-byes and left for Hogwarts and a few hours sleep before the day would begin.
-Remus' POV-
It was late November when Remus received the news of his own impending fatherhood. He was overjoyed, but he had some very real fears. He was afraid that his children would be werewolves, but he didn't know for sure. He had to find out though; his mind wouldn't let him be until he had. So, that's why Remus found himself flooing to Dumbledore's office one Saturday afternoon. He stepped through the flames and saw Dumbledore drinking some tea at his desk.
"Hello Remus," Dumbledore greeted without looking up. "What can I do for you?"
"Sir, I've got something on my mind and I was hoping you could answer some questions for me."
"Oh yes, and what might those be? I don't pretend to be omniscient, but I shall try my best to be of assistance."
"Well sir, we recently found out that Rina's pregnant and…"
"And you were wondering if your children would have lycanthropy like you? Yes, yes, I thought you might come in asking such a question soon. As far as I know, Remus, lycanthropy is not hereditary. I've studied some muggle sciences and the lycanthropy cell is what they would call a recessive gene; meaning that the dominant gene, the one not bearing lycanthropy, will overpower it and the children will not be werewolves. That will also be true of your grandchildren, should you have any. Is that all, Remus?"
"Yes sir, for now. Thank you for putting my mind at ease. I think I'll go and chat with Regulus for a while."
Remus walked down to the Potions room in the dungeons. When he got to the classroom, he saw it was deserted; no surprise there, he thought, it's a Saturday. He kept walking until he got to the office, which was also empty. He went to the next door, a private chamber meant for the brewing of more dangerous potions by the professor out of the students' way. He found Regulus there, working on what appeared to be a very strong love potion; Ammortentia.
"What, has Holly started to doubt your relationship so much that you need a love potion?" Remus asked when Regulus stopped to consult a book.
"Oh yes, how do you think I got her to go out with me in the first place," Regulus replied with a smirk on his face. "No, it's for my seventh years; they're starting on powerful potions that affect peoples' wills. They've already seen a potion that replicates the Imperius, but it's time for them to learn what obsessive love can do to a mind."
"I remember that lesson. Slughorn was serious for the first time about how obsessive love is now way to live, for either party."
"Yes, I'm going to do something similar with the introduction. I've not got many in my N.E.W.T. class, but those that did make it are excellent students; nearly as good as Lily, one of them. But anyway, what did you come for? Not that I'm not glad for the company."
"I had some questions to ask Dumbledore. Rina's pregnant and I wanted to make sure that lycanthropy isn't hereditary."
"Congratulations; I assume you found out that it wasn't, otherwise you'd be frantic with worry. So then, when's the little Lupin going to be joining us?"
"August; I can't wait. This is weird, all of us getting married and having kids. It's almost like we're growing up."
"Oh no, not growing up, anything but that," Regulus gave a dramatic sigh and added an ingredient to his potion.
"How're Holly and Andy?"
"Holly's well. She enjoys the job a lot; she likes to mock the different injuries with me when she gets back. Maybe if you stay long enough, you'll get to here her recap some fretful story about just how they came to be injured. Andy's fine; like I said, we're at war. She's gotten me a couple times, but I always get her back. Just yesterday she put a charm on me that put me in and Opera costume and another that made it so I could only talk in song. It was quite amusing, really; my students got a kick out of it at any rate. I'm planning on a similar wardrobe malfunction Monday at breakfast. Something along the lines of inappropriate school attire, shall we say. Ted and Tonks are well; Ted has quit his job because he can't get there to easily so he spends his days taking care of Tonks. I think he's learning to appreciate why Andy was so anxious to get some grown-up conversation."
"Well, I would to. Talking to a six-year-old all day would get rather boring. Especially when there's only one; if there's two or more, they tend to entertain each other."
Holly walked in then, with a smile on her face.
"Hello Regulus, Remus. Regulus, I've got a good one. Jones, sixth year fellow; he's rather tall, Gryffindor; he was hit with a boil curse on his privates," both men flinched at that, causing Holly to laugh. "He says it was some Slytherin trying to faze him for the upcoming match. He really didn't want me to try and heal it; he even asked if I'd just teach him the spell so he could do it himself. Very shy that one. I eventually coaxed him into letting me do my job. When he had dropped his drawers, his girlfriend walked in and demanded she be told what was happening. He pulled his pants back up and started running out, shouting back that he'd just let them heal on their own. His girlfriend chased after him, still trying to find out what was happening. She finally managed to get him back in an hour later; he was blushing such a shade of red, I just can't describe it. Anyway, that was the highlight of my day. How about you; how was your day?"
"Well enough; I've just been brewing some Ammortentia for the seventh years."
"Just as long as you don't use any; and, Remus, to what do we owe this pleasure?"
"I was just talking to Dumbledore about something. By the way, Rina's due in August. A boy, the healer said."
"That's wonderful, give her my regards; the others as well. How're the other three getting along with their first month? Puking themselves silly every morning?"
"Yes, James and Sirius keep trying to convince them to just take off the whole pregnancy and stay at home, but to no avail. Frank realized after the first try it was pointless; he's given up arguing with Alice over it. They're doing well though. Looking forward to the summer; you two will be coming back during the winter break, right?"
"Yes; Poppy had agreed to come to the school for the entire break and since Regulus doesn't have any classes, you can count on us for the whole time."
"Wonderful, I'll tell the others. I'd best be going; I'll see you guys in a couple weeks or so. 'Bye." Remus then went to Regulus' office and flooed from there back to the kitchen where he was greeted by Tinker and Dabble. He sat down and had some tea, thinking on just how happy he was that his son wouldn't be a werewolf as well.
-Regulus' POV-
It was a few days before Christmas and Regulus and Holly had returned from Hogwarts. They had the next three weeks off of work; however, everyone else only had a few days off work. Regulus and Holly were just going to hang out and do stuff together while everyone else was at work. They wouldn't have to much time alone though. Remus and Rina worked from 3:00 in the afternoon until 11:00. Lily, James, Sirius, Rose, Frank and Alice worked from 8:00 in the morning until 4:00. Peter was also on a night shift in the Auror department so he wasn't seen much by any of their group.
When Regulus and Holly walked through the fireplace in the sitting room, they were greeted by silence. It was mid-day on a Monday, so most of their friends would still be at work. Remus and Rina should be home though, so Holly and Regulus split up to see if they could find them anywhere. As it turned out, they were still asleep. Regulus was about to wake them up when Holly stopped him; she told him to just let them sleep.
They went back downstairs and into the kitchen for some lunch. Tinker made them some sandwiches and they began eating. By the time they were done, Remus had walked into the kitchen yawning.
"What're you doing home so early Sirius? I thought you worked until four. What, did you piss Mad-Eye off again?"
"Yeah, he got rather upset when I suddenly changed into my brother so he sent me home." Regulus answered. Remus spun around and paused in mid-yawn and did a double-take.
"Sorry Regulus, you look a lot like Sirius with your hair growing out like it is; besides, all I saw was your back and I'm still half-asleep. We had a long night. Just as we were about to leave, a case came in that they needed our help on so we stayed. We didn't get home until 3:00. They gave us today off as 'recompense'."
"Sucks to be you, doesn't it. Hey, I've been wondering, what do you do on the nights of the full-moon?"
"I work during the day then go home before the sun sets to take my potion. Since we have all this space now, I can run around in the back yard with the others. You should join us; there's a full moon day after Christmas. We have off work that day so we don't have to deal with rushing about to get back in time."
"Great. That sounds like fun."
"Oh yeah, great fun," Remus said sarcastically.
"You know what I mean, Remus."
"Whatever. So, Holly, what interesting cases have entered your ward since I was last there?"
Holly went on to describe some of the funnier cases. Remus burst out laughing when he was told about how a Gryffindor had jinxed a Slytherin to talk like a valley-girl for a week and how Holly couldn't get the charm off, it could only be removed by it's caster, and the kid wouldn't be bothered to remove I until he was satisfied the Slytherin had learned their lesson. They chatted for a while and Rina eventually joined them. They talked about their jobs, what was going on with the others, and all sorts of things.
They quickly lost track of time, so they were very surprised when their Auror friends walked through the door and greeted them. After dinner, they watched a movie and played some cards until they all had to go to bed.
-Sirius' POV-
"It's Christmas! Wake up you lazy bums, wake up!" Sirius was running around the house waking everyone up from their peaceful slumber. He went to each bedroom door and pounded on it and yelled until he received some sign that the inhibitors were awake. When he got up to Lily and James' door, he pounded and yelled but to no avail. He tried to open the door, but it was locked so he tried an Alohamora. When that didn't work he started knocking and shouting again. After about twenty minutes of this, Sirius decided to bring in the back-up. He went and got Regulus, Remus and Frank who were all angry with him for waking them up so rudely.
"Oh get over it. It's not like you never get to sleep. Now then, I can't get Lily and James up; they've locked their door and they're not responding to the racket. Here's what we do…"
"We let them sleep as they so obviously want to. Just like we wanted to but were stopped from doing by you, you moron," Regulus glared at his brother.
"Come on, you know the rules. The last Marauder up on Christmas gets pranked."
"He's only the last one up because he was smart enough to use spells to defend his bedroom against you. We should have done the same." Frank sounded miffed with the cause of his early consciousness.
"Come on now, we can't change tradition now. I seem to remember Sirius being the one pranked last year; that's why he got up so early, he didn't want to be the one we awoke. I say a carefully placed bucket of ice water would do fine. Let's get it over with so Sirius will let us get our coffee." Remus added his bit, trying to keep the peace between the different sides with logic.
"Fine, but if he does this next year to, he's going to find himself in the pool," Regulus threatened.
The four made their way to the door only to have it opened by Lily before they could get to it.
"Morning you guys. What's with the devious look on Sirius' face?"
"Why'd you guys use spells on your room?"
"We're not stupid, that's why. James and I knew you'd be the one up early this year after what happened last year. We also knew that you would try to wake everyone up with you, so we put on a silencing spell around the whole room. The locking charms were because of the inevitable break-in; we wanted our peace and quiet. You three," she gestured to Remus, Regulus and Frank, "would do well to remember that next year." She walked away after closing and locking the door again.
She went to the stairs and walked down, shortly followed by the guys who had given up on waking James.
-Lily's POV-
James came down a half-hour after Lily had. Once he was down there with some coffee and a donut, they moved to the living room to open gifts. They spent the morning in the sitting room chatting, eating, opening presents and watching TV. When lunch time came, the guys ate quickly. When they were done, they went outside for a snowball war. Holly joined in to make an even number. They split into teams of two and began enchanting snowballs to chase their targets and throwing them at each other.
After the war, which Sirius and James won, they went in and had some hot chocolate. They spent the afternoon preparing for the Christmas party they were going to be having for the Order and their other friends and family. Around six, people started apparating and flooing in.
The party was wonderful! The house was full of people celebrating the holidays. Everyone form the order was there along with some of their parents and friends from work. Some of the Hogwarts staff was there as well. They found out that Molly Weasley was pregnant and due in March; apparently they hadn't wanted to share it with everyone like the younger couples had. There were children there as well; though not to many. The Weasley children; Bill (8), Charlie (6), Percy (3) and Fred and George (8 months); were there, as was Andy's daughter; Nymphadora, a.k.a. Tonks, (6).
Lily walked over to talk with Andy and Dumbledore. They were talking about something so Lily just stood to the right of Andy and waited.
"She's been waking up with different eye and hair colors, Albus. I know that can't be normal; do you know of anything that could be causing this, Holly says she's perfectly healthy. I don't know what to do. Today she woke up with red hair and green eyes and she seemed to be a lot taller."
"Do you know what a Metamorphmagus is?" Andy shook her head. "It's a rare type of witch or wizard who can change their appearance at will. I believe that that is what young Nymphadora is. She hasn't gained control of the ability yet, so she changes with her mood. This morning she woke up excited for Christmas, so my best guess is that until she learns how to control it she'll keep changing with her stronger emotions. I would suggest finding some books on the matter so that you can help her hone the ability."
"Thanks Albus. It's just so strange to see her walking all over the place but with different features than she was born with."
"That's completely understandably, my dear."
"Andy," they both turned when Lily spoke up. "I couldn't help but overhear. I think there are some books on Metamorphmagi in our library. I ran across them while I was looking for something else one day. I'll show you where they are later on."
"Thanks Lily. That would be a big help. Can we go take a look now?" When Lily nodded, they began walking to the library. On the way, Andy grabbed Tonks to bring her with. Tonks got very upset, which was obvious by the way her hair changed from red to black and her eyes from wide and green to grey slits. Andy didn't take any notice, though; she just kept walking determinedly towards the library. "Nymphadora, I want you to sit there and mind your manners. Aunt Lily is going to show us some books on how you're changing your appearance." Tonks huffed and sat back in her chair and glared at her mother.
"I was playing tag with Bill and Charlie. I was winning, too. Why'd you have to drag me here so that you could look in some stupid books? And why do you insist upon calling me Nymphadora? I hate that name."
"Because, that's your name and there's nothing wrong with it. I want you to learn to control this ability, so you'll pay attention to what's going on. You got that?"
"Fine. But as soon as we're done I'm going to play with Bill and Charlie again."
"Fine."
Lily watched all of this with great amusement. She almost laughed when Tonks complained about her name.
"Find it amusing, do you? I used to as well. You just wait, pretty soon you'll have your own to deal with; you won't be laughing quite so much when the day comes where you have to tell them to stop doing something that you used to love doing. It's no fun; I feel like a hypocrite whenever I tell her not to do something." She whispered this last bit, not wanting Tonks to overhear; "most of the time, I just want to let her keep doing whatever it is but then my instincts kick in and I start telling her off. It sucks being the adult."
Lily chuckled some more then brought Andy to the spot where the books she'd found were. They took the three books down off of the shelves and started to skim through them. They found some techniques to teach children with the ability. They spent a few minutes just looking, and then decided to get back to the party. Andy shrunk the books and put them in her pocket.
"Alright Nymphadora, you can go back to play now." As soon as she heard this, Tonks' hair changed to a bright shade of pink and her eyes became blue and wide once again. "Oh, for the love of Merlin; it's going to take her forever to learn how to control this. We'll have to start the second we get home, if she's to have any kind of control by the time she goes to Hogwarts."
"Oh, she'll catch on quick enough I'm sure. If she's still having trouble though, she can come to Camp Lily during the day once I have off. They're making me stop working after four months; so in mid-February Rose, Alice and I will have a lot of free time. Rina doesn't have to leave until her sixth month because she's not in danger as much on her job, mostly deals with muggles. We could work with her on it. Ted could come by as well; keep track of her once we get to big to move." Andy chuckled at that.
"That'd be great, Lily. Thanks for the books too, I'll read them and send them back with Ted on the first day at Camp Lily. You know, I think you're going to be a great mum. Kids just seem to like you; you're so lucky. Your kid probably won't scream 'till all hours of the night."
"Gosh I hope not. I know that's part of it, but I happen to enjoy sleeping." They were back in the living room now, still chatting about motherhood. "I can't believe that in a couple months time, I'll be done working for eleven years. I can't imagine going to work and missing anything, so that's already been decided. I've offered to watch the other children as well, after the first few months of course, but Rose, Alice and Rina want to be there as well."
"I know how you feel. It was weird for the first few weeks of maternity leave, not going into work every day, but you get used to it before the baby's even born. And then, when the baby is born, it's like a full time job that you don't get paid for. But it's worth it. I'm going to find Ted and talk with him about this whole Metamorphosing thing. I'll see you later, alright?"
"Yeah, good luck with the books."
Andy walked away to find Ted and tell him about the new developments. Lily walked around and chatted with people she knew from various places. The party went on late into the night, but not as late as at Halloween. When everyone was gone, the inhibitors of the house all went to bed for a good nights rest.
-Alice's POV-
It was now New Year's Day. They had stayed up all night and were now sleeping off the effects from their rather long day. They had to recuperate though, and soon; Regulus and Holly's wedding was in two days! They were getting married here at the house, but they still had tons to do. Tomorrow they were having their separate parties for Holly and Regulus. Alice woke up and found herself on the couch with Frank. They had fallen asleep in the living room, it seemed; too tired to go up to their room.
She lifted Frank's head off her shoulder gently so she could get up without waking him. She got off the couch, but stepped carefully as other people had fallen asleep in the living room as well. Lily and James were on the other couch, Sirius was asleep in an armchair with Rose curled up in his lap, Remus and Rina were asleep in armchairs next to each other, and holly and Regulus were asleep on the floor. She walked into the kitchen and had some orange juice while she waited for Tinker to make her breakfast.
Tinker came out with breakfast for everyone; eggs, bacon, toast, oatmeal and sausage. She put some heating charms on the food so that it'd stay hot until everyone had woken up. Alice began eating while she thought about various things. She had decided to stay home and raise her and Frank's son instead of going back to work. She hoped Frank would choose to take some time off as well; they had more than enough money to be getting on with, they could afford a break.
She knew that the others were thinking the same thing; Lily wanted James at home, Rina wanted Remus to stay, and Rose wanted Sirius to help her out. But the guys just weren't catching the hints, or if they were they were doing a good job of disguising their understanding. They all wanted their husbands to be a part of the children's lives instead of being told about it over dinner.
The others started waking up and coming in to eat. Once breakfast was over, they went out to the garden to start clearing it of snow with heating charms. They were going to have the ceremony outdoors, so they had to be prepared. They would clear out the snow and put glamours of plants and flowers where they would be if it were spring. During the ceremony, they would have warming charms around the entire garden and if it was snowing they planned on putting a clear, temporary ceiling over the hedges.
They finished the clearing out and decorating by mid afternoon, taking a break for lunch around noon. When they were done, they all had a snowball fight on the quidditch pitch that lasted a couple hours. Alice noticed that every time a snowball came towards Lily, James would jump in front of it so she wouldn't get hit. The first time she saw this, she started laughing; after the second, she used it against him and started chucking snowballs towards Lily so James would jump in front of them. Lily had sat down by now and was laughing her arse off at James taking all the hits; everyone had caught on by now and they were also throwing the snowballs so James would jump in front of them.
They went in and had some cocoa in the sitting room by the fireplace. There were other fireplaces, but this one was still decorated for Christmas and it was the largest; thus giving off the most heat. They talked and after a while it was time for dinner. They ate in the kitchen then went to watch a movie; The Grinch That Stole Christmas. Sirius, James, Remus, Regulus and Frank sang along to the songs, as they had watched it before they knew the lyrics and enjoyed them.
Alice began to think about Peter. He hadn't been to visit much lately and every time they aw him at work he had some reason to be elsewhere. The only time they really saw him was at Order meetings, and he didn't stay once they were done. She was curious about the sudden change, but she guessed that he was moving on; sad as that might be, the splitting up of friends, it had to happen sometime.
-Peter's POV-
Peter had slowly been separating himself from his friends, if one could even call them that anymore. He stopped going to their house as often, brushed them off at work and didn't stick around at Order meetings. He was spending most of his time with Claudia now; he loved her greatly.
She had made the observation that his friends didn't really like him and that he shouldn't spend so much time with them, so he had begun distancing himself. He had almost no contact with them now, and he was surprisingly happy. He didn't miss their company all that much; well, not all the time. When he did, he'd talk to Claudia and she would reassure him that he'd made the right choice.
It was the fifth of January and he decided that he would write two letters today. One to his old friends and one to Dumbledore; he went to his desk and began composing the letters after telling Claudia of his plan.
Dumbledore,
I have a request to make. I would like to withdraw myself from the Order. I have decided I do not wish to be in unnecessary danger from something I'm not positive about. I understand if you need to modify my memory or have me take an oath of some sort; I am willing to do so. I'm sorry if I'm letting you down, but I can't do this anymore.
My decision is final; I will not be persuaded otherwise. Please let me know when we can meet and take care of this bit of business.
I thank you for your time and effort.
Sincerely,
Peter Pettigrew
Now that that was done, Peter sent it off with Claudia's owl so that he could send the other with his. This was going to be a little more difficult to write; how did one break off an eight year friendship? He would have to word it very carefully.
To: Marauders and their wives
Guys, I know this is going to sound strange; well, maybe not. I can't continue our friendship.
Claudia has shown me that I mean nothing to you all, and I must say that, looking back, I agree. I never had any importance with you. I have asked Dumbledore to remove me from the Order as well, so this shall be the last contact between us.
I wish you to know that, though I'm ending our friendship, I do still have fond memories of past times and hope you will as well. Much has happened since we left school and I've realized it's time for another.
I wish you all well; but be warned, any attempt at contact will be ignored.
I'm sorry to part ways in a letter, but this is the best way I could think of. Also know that I am not under any spells or curses or the influence of potions; this is of my own will and desire.
Your Old Friend,
Peter Pettigrew
(Wormtail, no more)
Peter sealed the envelope and tied it to his owl's leg and sent it off to his once good friends. He went and sat down on the couch in his living room. He thought about what he'd just done and was glad that he'd done it; very glad indeed.
A/N: What will the Marauders reaction be? What will happen with their jobs? I guess you'll just have to read the next chapter to find out, won't you. I thought about continuing the chapter to include a recap of the wedding and the receiving of the letters, but then I thought I'd just put those in with the next chapter because thirty pages is long enough. Hope you liked it. When I was referring to the song in The Grinch I meant the one you're a mean one, mister Grinch; that one. My dad and sister get back today, so I won't have as much time to write. The next chapter should be out in a few days, I already know what I want to happen. It shouldn't be as long as this one, but you never know. I wanted Peter gone from the story, at least temporarily. He might make an appearance in the later years, but for now he's history. Reviews are welcome as always.