It was a week later, and nothing had changed.

Well, maybe a little had.

Remus had stayed with them for the next few days, and Lily was growing increasingly worried about him. He slept on the couch at night, but by day he was in the backyard. He never talked, and he was still growing thinner. Lily hated seeing him like that, and begged him to come eat with them each night. But he never accepted, only coming inside to sleep.

Then one day, he disappeared.

"SIRIUS!" Lily screamed, entering the living room that morning. Sirius had simply apparated, too lazy to walk downstairs.

"What?" He muttered, running his hand through his shaggy hair.

"Lupin. He's gone!" She yelled, sinking to the floor. Sirius knelt next to her, putting his arm around her.

"He'll be back." He whispered in her ear. "I promise."

But it had been three days, and he still wasn't back. Lily was furious. She had decided to occupy her time with babysitting Paige, Sarah's daughter. Aden had taken up a full-time job at the bookstore, letting Lily stay home with Jaime. They would switch off once Aden gave birth.

Right now, Paige and Harry were playing in the living room. Lily had let Sarah into the fidelius charm (Not telling the exact details, of course) so she could babysit.

"Harry! Give it!" Paige said, and Lily walked into the playroom.

"No!" Harry yelped back. Lily walked in to the two kids fighting over Harry's stuffed owl.

"Guys, stop!" She said, a little harsher than her usual voice was. She sighed, then said it again, only less harsh.

Paige frowned at her and all of a sudden, the bird was in her hand. Harry yelped and flew backwards, his grip had been released.

"Harry you shouldn't let go so fast." Lily said, and Harry looked like he was going to cry. Lily sighed and sent the kids to opposite sides of the room to play.

The next day hadn't gotten much better for Lily. Paige was over again, and there was even more drama between her and Harry. Paige seemed to like stirring up trouble.

"Harry, that's my toy." She said. Harry glared at her, his bottom lip sticking out in a pout.

"No!" He said. He looked towards Lily, his face pleading. "Mama, it's mine?" He said this in a more questioning way, as though he didn't know what to believe.

"Yes Harry, it's yours. But let's let Paige play with it, okay?"

"No!" he tried to grab the toy from her, but Paige put it out of his reach. Her eyes, usually a bright hazel, seemed to flash a deep, brown-red color. But then they returned to their original hue before Lily could check, and she thought it might just be a reflection of Harry's red and blue-striped shirt.

The doorbell rang, and Lily heard Sirius open it.

"Hello!" Rang out Sarah's voice, and Paige stood up happily, her chocolate brown pigtails swinging back and forth. Her little ringlets bobbed up and down, and she tugged on one of the little pink bows.

"Bye Harry." She said, no sadness at all in her voice that little kids normally had when leaving. She turned to Lily, and hugged her around the legs. "Bye miss Lily!" She said, as her mom walked into the room.

"Hi Lily, thanks again for watching Paige." Sarah said. Her voice was buttery and soothing, and Paige clambered up onto her back.

"You're welcome." Lily smiled. "It's weird; they haven't been getting along very well recently."

"I've noticed these weird mood swings, it's unusual, and not like her at all."

"Well, she's probably just going through a phase. It'll get better soon."

"I sure hope so." Sarah said, bouncing Paige on her back. "Well, I better get back to work."

"Say hi to Aden for us!" Lily called, and then turned back to Harry. "Come on, I think you need a nap."

The next day, there was nothing.

No babysitting.

Harry was upstairs, napping quietly. Lily had Jaime in a little swing, and she was also asleep. Sirius was upstairs, writing about god-knows-what.

Lily didn't know what to do.

She tried to read The Prophet, but she couldn't get into it. She tried watching the television, but nothing seemed to get her attention. She didn't know what to do.

Then, the doorbell rang.

Lily jumped up, ready for company. Even if it was just the postman. She ran over to the door, and then stopped to smooth out her hair. She opened the door, ready for actual social interaction. And there stood Lupin. Right where he had stood the other night. Lily's mouth formed a perfect O of surprise, and he stepped inside. She shut the door behind him, and he rocked back and forth sheepishly.

"Lily," he started. "I'm s-"

He couldn't even get the words out before Lily started punching him fiercely.

"You complete arse!" She yelled, losing it. "How could you just leave me like that?"

"I-I had to." He muttered, while Lily continued to snack him. He dove over to the couch, and grabbed a pillow, trying to shield himself. It didn't work.

"You HAD to?" She yelled. "Yeah, no."

"I did!" He said, but not too harshly. He saw how worried Lily had been, behind the anger she was showing right now.

One of her punches landed hard in his stomach, and he fell backward.

Waaaaaay behind her anger.

"Okay, Lily, please just let me explain."

Lily huffed, crossing her arms. "You have a minute."

"Okay, well, it was the full moon a week ago, and I couldn't stay here! I'm sorry, but I couldn't put the kids in danger like that!"

Lily groaned, and sat down next to him. "You could have told me, you know."

"And let you try and stop me?"

"Maybe I was right."

"Naw." Lupin said. "I came back, didn't I?"

"That makes everything soo much better for you, doesn't it?" Lily said sarcastically.

"Not really." Lupin felt where Lily had punched him. "You can be seriously scary, you know that?"

Lily laughed and laid her head on his shoulder. "Yeah."

Sirius walked down the stairs, making sure not to wake the kids. "What's going on?" HE asked, looking down. "Wait-Moony?"

"Don't kill me, Lily already did." Remus put his hands up in surrender. He told Sirius his story, and Sirius gave him a death glare.

"You could have told us, you know."

"I've been told."

"Well, don't do it again." Sirius looked at Remus with wide eyes. "Promise?"

"Promise."

They all hoped the promise would last.

AN: OMGIZZLE. Three chapters in one day. Of course, this is just making up for chapters that aren't going to be posted over the week. Okay, and would you all be mad if I end up skipping months at a time? There's a really big part I need to get to, but it happens in about…two years -_-
Review review review! I write more when I get reviews…**winks** Xoxo.