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On with the story!

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"Good evening James." An elderly voice spoke.

James opened his eyes slowly and tried to make out where he was this time.

"You're in the hospital wing at Hogwarts" The same voice spoke again, making James turn to his left, to see whose voice it was. Doing so his head felt like it'd been banged against a wall, causing him to groan, he then reached out for his glasses on the nightstand and turned his head slowly to the left again.

"I hear you have taken on fainting quite a lot."

James now saw that the voice belonged to Dumbledore. Confused, he opened his mouth but Dumbledore beat him to it and continued,

"And you're probably wondering what you're doing back here aren't you?" He asked, but didn't wait for James to answer "A man named Hagrid brought you here, he's the gamekeeper, you must remember him, a very tall and large man."

He paused and waited this time for James to respond, who simply looked at his old Headmaster as if he'd gone on a limb and dyed his hair bright blue, not quite getting what Dumbledore was saying .

"-He felt he was to blame for your state of unconsciousness, though Lily,"

James' body shifted in the bed, as did his facial expression to a pleased one

"tried to persuade both him and myself that it was in fact intirely you own fault" Dumbledore's eyes twinkled behind his glasses.

"Oh." Was all James could respond.

"You two always were like oil and water."

"Really? Were we that different?"

Dumbledore merely smiled once more, before changing the subject,

"I hear the mission did not go as planned."

James had been dreading telling Dumbledore what happened, telling him that he hadn't succeeded, that he'd failed him.

They sat there talking for at least two hours, both of them apologizing to the other, James for letting Dumbledore down and Dumbledore for sending James on such a mission and risking his life.

"When I came here this morning, McGonagall told me that you weren't to expected back for at least another –"

"I must have forgotten to tell you James, you've been here for a week. I just arrived myself." Albus cut him short.

James stared at him, "A week?"

"Yes, a week."

"As in seven days?" James inquired, still staring at Dumbledore.

"Yes James, full seven days,"

"So it's the 20th of December?"

"Correct," Dumbledore nodded, finally getting what James was so surprised about and smiled, "I've sent an owl to one of your friends, he will be coming to take you back home shortly."

James blinked his eyes rapidly a few times before opening his mouth to speak, but Dumbledore had already risen and told him that he'd talk to him after New Year's after wishing him a happy Christmas.

When Dumbledore was out of sight, James let out a breath that he'd automatically been holding. He slid down and lay now straight in the bed, some seconds past before he drew he covers up over his head and closed his eyes.

He lost track of time, for all he knew he had laid there for hours. Lost in his thoughts, he was disturbed by a familiar voice.

"A week wasn't enough for you?"

James shot up from under the covers and saw his old friend Remus stand at the foot of the bed.

"Remus! Long time no see. How have you been?" He asked as he gestured over to the chair by the bed.

"Well, pretty much the same as always," Remus answered making his way over to the chair and sitting down, "There was a full moon three days ago, so as you can guess I was a wreck, but I feel fine now." He nodded and went on "From what I hear, things didn't go as planned. What happened?"

"Agh," James answered, waving his hand dismissively, "We can talk about that later, what I want to know… is Lily mad at me?" He asked biting his lip

Remus paused and looked at him, "No.-"

"No?" James asked hopefully, a smile spreading over his face.

"You didn't let me finish… she's not so much mad as she is… well, she told Sirius and I that she was disappointed in you." Remus explained carefully.

"Disappointed?" James bent his head down and started ruffling his hair, with a perplexed look on his face, "That's worse than mad isn't it?"

"Yes… I believe so."

"Did she say anything else?" He turned to face his friend, with an optimistic look in his eyes.

"Nope,"

"Do you think she's my still my girlfriend?"

"Still? You guys broke up years ago…"

"Yes, still… we kissed in the rain. You know how romantic I can be-"

"I don't think you can take credit for making it rain, James" Remus cut in.

"Whatever, it was really romantic and we, well, went out for a few days… until she learned about the mission, I honestly forgot to tell her about it, and we had a big fight… I had decided on not going but after the fight I changed my mind and told Moody that I'd do the assignment. That same night she came to my apartment and apologized and we kissed and made up… and well you know," He winked at Remus, who simply rolled his eyes. "The next morning I left for two months-"

"Exactly, you left for two months. And you didn't leave her a note or nothing. She didn't know that you had told Dumbledore that you'd go when you left. You left her alone in your apartment… she found out by holding Peter by the neck up against the wall until he cracked. "

"I sent her a letter about it" James shot in defensively.

"Lily lives in a muggle neighbourhood." Remus said factly.

"So?" James asked dumbly.

"She doesn't want to stand out so she has all her owl mail delivered to a postoffice that sends her mail back to her via muggle postman. So it takes a few days for her to receive her wizarding mail." Remus told him.

James was dumbfounded but managed to ask "And was she mad?"

"Yes, back then she was rather mad. And since you weren't there to yell at, she used the rest of us."

The only thing James could come up with was a small "Ah,"

"But," Remus continued, "That anger faded, and she started to miss you."

"Really?" James' face lit up.

"Yes, and you know, she cried a lot. She didn't tell us but we knew… and that night she and Sirius drank a bit… and you know. James, seriously, you know both of them; they would never do anything behind your back."

"But,-"

"No buts James, you know this." Remus said firmly, a moment went by in silence and finally James nodded, closing his eyes, admitting that his friend was right.

"Did you know she's pregnant?" He asked Remus, with his eyes still closed.

He knew the answer to the question even though Remus remained silent and let out a small chuckle, "Figures…"

Saying so he spun out of the bed and continued "C'mon let's go."

Remus looked up at James with a bewildered look on his face. "Err, all right."

James quickly grabbed his belongings and various treats and 'Get better' cards he'd received from the current students at the school. It seemed he was still a legend at Hogwarts.

They strolled down the white grounds of Hogwarts in the direction of Hogsmeade.

"Why is it always you that bangs my head in the right direction?" James asked Remus, gently knocking his shoulder with his own and quickly added flashing a smile "No pun intended."

"Well, someone has to, right?" He replied with a shrug "That's like my role in the group."

"Yeah? What's mine?"

"Being the one that acts like an arse most of the time… but who in the end everyone can't help but love."

"Aw… that is so sweet!" James said in a fake high pitched voice as he pinched Remus' cheek and shook it slightly.

"I'd watch it if I were you…" Remus merely answered calmly as James let go.

"And why is that, sire?" James answered in a mock voice and gave a deep bend.

"Because I'm a wolf." It was now Remus' turn to flash a smile, showing his sharp teeth that reminded of fangs.

"Ooh, I'm so afraid of the big baddy wolf." James said in a girly voice and started to run, shortly followed by Remus.

When the pair arrived in Hogsmeade, Remus lifted up his wand and in seconds the Knight Bus came.

"Where to?" The driver asked as they entered the bus, Remus turned to James, waiting for him to answer.

"We're going to-?" He hinted.

"-to Lily's house, yes." James nodded looking out the window as he took a seat in the middle of the bus.

Remus told the driver the address and sat down beside his friend.

A smile appeared on Remus' face "And there you will…?" he enquired.

"Remus my darling," James put his arm around his friend's shoulder, "they don't call me James Potter just because it's my name" saying so he ran his other hand through his hair and adjusted his glasses before saying.

"-I'm going to win Lily back."

"Wow." Remus replied dryly.

"Yes I know," James said very coolly, not catching the irony.

"No, I didn't say 'Wow' in admiration… I meant 'Wow that must be the dumbest thing I've ever heard' '-They don't call me James Potter just because it's my name.-' Seriously James you can do better than that." Remus barely breathed out, now having fits of laughter and James quickly joined him.

"I guess you're right." He said after a while,

"As always," He nodded towards him and received a nod and a smile back.

"-But bottom line is I'm going to win her back."

The Knight Bus stopped suddenly.

Remus smiled "I like that plan," but the smile faded quickly as his eyes wandered to the front of the bus. "Although that could be a slight problem."

"Huh?" James who had been looking very intently at an old sleeping man sitting by the table behind theirs, wondering whether he really was asleep or if he had to alert the driver, turned his head to face Remus whose eyes still were fixed to the front of the Knight Bus, James followed his gaze and realized what he meant.

"I see your point." He said quietly.

The bus was dead silent for a second until a well-known voice filled the air from one of the four hooded beings who'd entered the bus.

The voice greeted James smugly "Hello again mister Potter."

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Dundundun... who might that voice belong to? REVIEW to find out...

-BK