Eight years later

London

"To Moony," James said, lifting his glass, "the newest addition to the Hogwarts teaching staff."

"And the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher the school will ever see!" Sirius added.

They all raised their glasses and toasted a blushing Remus.

"Thanks, everyone," Remus said, smiling widely. "Really."

"So, when do you head off to start shagging seventh years?" Sirius asked loudly. Marlene smacked her husband in the back of the head. Three years married and she still hadn't managed to domestic him one bit, James thought, smiling at the pair.

"What?" Sirius asked, feigning innocence. Marlene rolled her eyes.

"Right, well, I'll let Dumbledore know he should never let Sirius near the school, or trust any of his recommendations," Remus joked.

"Recommended you, didn't I?" Sirius responded immediately. "Or are there some things you'd like to confess, dear Remus?"

Remus just laughed along with everyone else.

"Anyway," James said. "That was the emptiest threat I've ever heard. You've already brought us on board for substituting for you during the full moon."

Sirius nodded happily, right up until Marlene spoke. "Where Sirius will be an excellent example for the students," she said, eyeing her husband. He nodded seriously at her, and then tossed a wink to James. Marlene caught it, as Sirius meant her to. She shook her head in mock despair.

James glanced over at Dorcas, who was sitting at the table with a little black haired toddler in her lap. They seemed to be holding an extremely serious conversation. James doubted very much that either could understand what the other was saying. He caught Dorcas' eye and smiled at her.

"Please tell me you aren't barking up that tree again," Sirius said from beside him. Marlene had gone over to join Dorcas and the baby.

"What?" James asked.

"Godfather to Cordelia or not, I think Mar would murder you if you messed Dorcas around again," Sirius said bracingly.

James shook his head. "No, I wasn't thinking that. I heard she's seeing Dirk Cresswell," he said.

Sirius nodded. "Sound like they're getting pretty serious," he replied, watching James out of the corner of his eye.

James smiled. "Good," he said. "He's a decent bloke." He looked at Sirius. "You figure he can make her happy?" he asked.

Sirius nodded. "Yeah," he responded. "Marlene says she seems . . ." he shrugged, trailing off.

"Better than when she was with me?" James suggested.

Sirius smiled apologetically. "Something like that."

"That's good," James said. "I want her to be happy." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "I'm still hoping that we'll manage to be friends someday, you know?"

Sirius nodded. "Yeah." He smiled. "You sorted it out well enough with Marlene," he said positively.

James looked at him sideways. "Marlene and I dated for approximately ten minutes while we were in school. Dorcas and I were together for years."

"I'm just saying," Sirius shrugged. "There's always hope."

"I suppose," James agreed, watching the girls dote on his goddaughter. He glanced at his friend. For all his jokes, Sirius had turned out to be an excellent father. And Marlene just glowed as a mum.

Washington

"Harry, come on," Logan shouted from the doorway to Harry's bedroom. "We've got Market today, and you know Eric hates it when we're late."

"Lea' me 'lone" Harry mumbled, rolling over and pulling the covers over his head.

"It's not a nightmare, Harry," she said bracingly. "You really do live on a farm. And we've got more than a two hour drive before we even get to Seattle, and then we have to set up for the Sunday market."

"Go 'way," Harry grumbled, dragging a pillow over his head to try to block out the sound. He was asleep again before the door snicked shut.

It felt like no more than seconds had passed before he was dragged roughly out of bed.

"Whaaaa? Whazzit?" he tried, looking around him. Oh no, oh no, no, no, he thought, as Eric hefted him over his shoulder in a fireman's lift. "I'm up," he shouted. "Eric, Eric, I'm up."

The bulky farmer did not respond. He carried Harry past his mother and sister, out the door, and out to the edge of the river that ran through the property.

"Really, Eric, I'm up, you don't have to –" he quit speaking because it was suddenly vital that he hold his breath. Eric had dumped him unceremoniously into the freezing water.

"That wasn't," Harry said, spluttering, "necessary at all. I would have gotten up."

Eric shrugged unsympathetically. "Should have taken your sister's wakeup call as the gift it was." He shook his head. "You're coddled, the pair of you."

"It's six a.m." Harry responded indignantly. "On a Saturday."

Eric just looked at him.

"Right," Harry said, shivering. "I'll go get ready."

He stomped onto the porch. Opening the door, he stopped at his mother's look.

He widened his eyes. "You can't possibly want me to stay out here until I'm dry," he pleaded.

"Of course not," she laughed. "Go around back. You're sister will bring you a towel and you can hang the wet clothes on the rail."

Grumbling, he headed around to the back of the house. Logan met him there with the promised towel.

"You could have warned me," he said, grumpily.

Logan just shrugged. "I'm not your keeper. I did you a favor trying to wake you up before Eric took it upon himself. You're the one that told me to go away."

Harry scowled. "It's not like a meant it. I was asleep!"

Logan faked an incredulous look. "Sleeping? On a Saturday morning? Harry what world do you live in?"

Harry groaned. "One day," he said in a slightly wistful tone.

Logan laughed. "You're going to be that college freshman who fails out because he can't bring himself to get up before noon."

Harry shook his head. "3:00. In my dream world, no one has to get up before 3:00 in the afternoon."

"Four more years, buckaroo," she said. "And then no more farm." She glanced around. "Can you really tell me you won't miss it?"

Harry shrugged. "I'd miss the people. And some of the animals," he laughed at her look. "I'm sorry. I forgot your whole 'people are animals too' bit."

She raised an eyebrow. "While I think it's true that some people are animals, I think you meant my whole 'animals are people too' bit, which I don't think is something I've ever actually said," she correctly primly.

Harry did a fairly accurate imitation of her voice. "Mom, we can't eat Buttercup. What are we, cannibals?"

She rolled her eyes. "I was eight, Harry," she said. "And anyway, I loved that cow."

"Grandpa Jack told you not to name the beef," Harry reminded her.

"I know," she sighed. Then she grinned at him. "It was actually kind of nice to see his old methods utilized this morning." She continued grinning despite Harry's irritated look. "I'm glad Eric stayed on to run the farm after Grandpa Jack passed away. I'm glad we didn't have to leave," she said.

Harry nodded, glancing around. "Yeah, I guess I would miss it."

She smiled. "Just not the hours?"

"Definitely not the hours," he agreed.

London

"So," Sirius asked in a casual tone, "any birds caught your eye lately."

James rolled his eyes. "It remarkable, really, how you've managed to keep your one track mind despite being married with children."

Sirius grinned. "Married with child, James," he corrected. "Last I looked, Cor was definitely just the one baby."

James laughed. "Fair play to you."

"You might think you've succeeded in distracting me, but you would be entirely wrong," Sirius commented. "I'm still waiting for an answer."

James shrugged. "There's plenty of women have caught my eye, but I'm sticking to my philosophy on dating."

Sirius nodded. "I believe the Americans call it 'nail and bail'," he said. When James glared at him, he shrugged unapologetically. "What? 'Shag and leave' doesn't have the same ring to it." He looked thoughtful. "There really is something pleasing about a good rhyme."

James scowled at him. "I do not 'shag and leave'." At Sirius's looked, James groaned. "Or 'nail and bail' if you prefer," he said. "I just . . ." he shrugged.

"Stick with one night stands?" Sirius offered.

"Choose girls that know the rules," James said through clenched teeth.

Sirius pondered the phrase. "The rules being that it's all shagging and no commitment?" he clarified.

James stared up at the ceiling. He was beginning to see the utility of prayer. "I suppose you could say that."

"Right," Sirius grinned. "And I have. My point is, are there any particular birds that have caught your eye lately?"

James shrugged. "No," he said shortly.

Sirius shook his head. "Listen, mate, you're really in the best position you'll ever be in. I mean, you're an auror, which is basically a straight in. And you're just about the perfect age. You can date – or shag – women from twenty to fifty without it seeming off at all." He put his hands on James' shoulders, shaking them. "If you don't take advantage of the situation, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."

James raised both brows. "Are you trying to tell me you regret not taking advantage of it?" James asked, jerking his head toward Marlene and the baby.

Sirius looked ready to hit him. "Of course not! Best mate or no, another comment like that and I'll have to rearrange your face."

James held up both hands. "I'm not the one going on about regretting not shagging all the birds between the ages of twenty and fifty," James said.

Sirius paused. "I could see how you might misinterpret that," he said fairly. "I meant it more in a . . ." he shrugged. "I guess, I'm happy now, and I'd like to see you and Remus the same." His eyes widened dramatically. "Merlin, I've become a woman," he said in a shocked voice.

James laughed as he watched Sirius wander off, shaking his head and mumbling to himself.

Washington

"So," Lily began, taking advantage of Eric and Harry having gone off to grab lunch. "Your brother mentioned that you and Chris broke up."

Logan shrugged. "Yeah."

Lily gave her a look. Enough time as a mom, and she had learned a whole vocabulary of looks. This one was what Lily thought of as her "please elaborate" look.

Logan sighed. "I dunno. We just didn't fit, you know. I mean, first of all, I'm only fourteen, so . . ." she shrugged again, "it's not like dating is really a necessity." Lily did a mental happy dance. "Plus, he just wasn't . . . driven enough."

Lily raised both eyebrows. "Oh?"

Logan gave her a half smile. "I know, right?" she said, tucking he hair behind her ear. "His band might actually make it, but it's just not particularly worthwhile, is it?"

Lily smiled, silently thanking whatever powers gave her a daughter who didn't think being a rockstar was worthwhile.

"I like music as much as the next person," Logan said, "but it doesn't really do anyone any real good."

"Well," said Lily, putting on her best patronizing mom tone, "lets save the firefighters and doctors for when you're a bit older, shall we?"

Logan laughed. She glanced over at Harry and Eric as they approached. "At least even Chris was better than Jessica Mathers," she said, raising her voice to ensure that her brother would hear.

Lily sighed. These two could never resist teasing each other.

Harry gave her a look. "There was nothing wrong with Jessica," he said.

Logan rolled her eyes. "More importantly," she said, "there was nothing right with her. You could have done as well with a blond life-size doll." She laughed. "Come to think of it, Lazlo could probably procure one for you," she said, referring to Harry's best friend.

Lily caught Eric's eye and looked away, trying to choke down her laugh.

Harry snorted. "I'd tell him you said that, but I'd probably just end up with a creepy doll for Christmas." He shook his head.

Logan grinned. "But it would seem so familiar after the last three months with Jessica Mathers," she said sweetly.

"Logan," Lily chastised.

Logan tucked her hair behind her ear. "Sorry," she mumbled. "Jessica Mathers has very pretty hair," she added grudgingly.

Harry laughed. "You realize that you're only adding to your point that there was nothing to recommend her right? I mean, if the only good thing you say about her is that she has pretty hair . . ."

Logan looked like she was racking her brain. "She hasn't actually failed a class yet," she tried. "Though, come to think of it, she might be cheating to get her mediocre grades. I'm fairly sure I say Laz with an essay that had her name on it."

Harry considered. "Yeah," he said finally, "I could see that I guess." He grinned. "It was a dark time in my life."

Logan laughed. Glancing at her mom, she smiled in a fair imitation of innocence. "But she would make an excellent beauty queen," she said, nodding sincerely.

Lily just shook her head.

Sorry, I know this is a lot of exposition, but I feel like it's necessary to get the characters where they need to be. Now I bet you can understand why I was so tempted to end where I had planned and then just do a separate fic. It's a much quicker way to get between point A and point C (point C being where GrowingHope and Kablooshky get their wishes granted). Hopefully the journey through B hasn't been too boring.

-Naj