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Thanks to the following reviewers: Freja Lercke-Falkenborg, Kates Masters Sister, Kates Master, lostindreams1001, boodles, LYNNLY, grannyHPfan, Tai Greywing, Lady-Mearle, Saphra, not a geek freak and HeyLookTheSnitch.
A/N: Hey everyone!
Well the last week has been hectic. And that takes the award for understatement of the millennium. First essay deadline was today. Writing has ground to a standstill. I'm hoping it'll pick up soon.
So This Is readers: Okay I'm well aware that you're all sharpening your pitchforks, but I still have a very good excuse.
Anyone who has been to fictionpress over the weekend will know that they've finally caught up with fanfiction and got their new and improved layout and features (stuff like private messaging, hit counters, better search etc) which fanfiction has enjoyed for about a year already. So the site has been down all weekend, hence my lack of postage.
And then there is the added problem of actually not having FINISHED the chapter, but I'm working on that. I promise it'll be up soon. In the meantime I'm taking refuge in my room and asking my housemates to post food through the window. I fear your wrath that much!
Anyway, on with the chapter.
"Happy Halloween kiddies!" Jenny cheered bouncing into the living room with a bottle of butterbeer. She plopped happily onto the sofa next to Remus.
"Cheers," her husband said smiling. Everyone in the room toasted at the same time that the intercom buzzed. Remus got up to answer it.
"This has got to be my favourite time of year!" Jenny said beaming. "Remember at Hogwarts on Halloween? We'd have the feast. And all the pumpkin decorations and the bats…"
"Better if we were coming back from Honeydukes the afternoon before," James put in. Lily grinned at the memories.
"I preferred Christmas," she said. "Halloween was great but Christmas means snow!"
"That was fun," Jenny agreed as Remus reappeared.
"Who was it?" Jenny asked. "Trick of treaters?" Remus was smiling.
"It's Peter," he said. "He says he's sorry he's late."
As soon as he said it, the doorbell buzzed and Remus went to answer it. He returned a minute later with Peter trailing.
"Hey Wormtail! Where have you been hiding?" James asked happily.
"I've been around," Peter shrugged before taking stock of everyone in the room. "Where's Sirius?"
Lily and James exchanged worried glances.
"He's been going out a lot," Lily said, not needing to finish the statement. The truth was Sirius had been coming back drunk for the last few nights.
"No surprises," Jenny said. "We always knew this time of year would be hard for him without Tash. And it doesn't help that it's Christmas soon either."
"I'm confused," Peter said.
"Next week would have been their four year anniversary," Lily explained. Peter gave an 'oh' of understanding.
"Do you still remember your anniversary?" Jenny asked Lily. "Or is your wedding the one that sticks in your head now?"
"Nope I still remember," Lily said smiling at James. "Its one of those dates that sticks."
"The one date that sticks in my mind forever," Jenny said reminiscing. "Is the first of September 1973."
"What happened then?" Remus asked. Lily and James cringed. They remembered all too well.
"It was the first time James asked Lily out," Jenny said with an evil grin on her face. "That was a very eventful train journey…"
FLASHBACK
"Hello children!" came a bitter sounding voice from the door. Jenny looked up from her potions book and Crystel and Sandra stopped gossiping to stare. Lily looked up from The Standard Book of Spells Grade 5. The laugh that appeared immediately was eclipsed by a sense of foreboding at the look on the speakers face. Tash was lugging her trunk into the compartment, red in the face, though not from exhaustion.
"Tash," Lily said slowly. "What happened to your face?"
Tash stopped shoving her trunk in the overhead rack and glared at everyone.
"What does it look like?" she asked. "I was thick enough to go out the other day without suncream on!"
"Ouch," Crystel winced.
"No shit," Tash said flinging herself next to Jenny, who scooted away quickly from her homicidal looking friend. "Jenny do you have anything that would help?"
"Maybe," Jenny said slowly, inching away from Tash and making to stand up to get her trunk down. "I'll just look for you."
And she dived headfirst into her trunk.
"Oh and I had words with Black," Tash spat.
"Which one?" Crystel asked. "The Marauder or the budding Death Eater?"
"The budding Death Eater," Tash enlightened everyone, flumping back into her seat and scowling. "She laughed at my face so I conjured a swarm of bees to follow her around the train."
"Don't worry about it, the girl is a bitch," Sandra said kindly.
"Amen sister," Crystel agreed.
"Well well well, I've found myself five beautiful angels!"
"Oh God…" Lily muttered to herself as the voice erupted into a joyful shout.
"HEY PRONGS! I FOUND YOUR LILY FLOWER!"
Everyone groaned as Sirius Black himself bounced into the compartment and squished up next to Tash, whose red face morphed into fury. Lily felt the book in her hands shake and she realised that she was exerting so much pressure that the spine was starting to bend.
"Black, I am not Potter's flower!" she hissed between her teeth. "And we'd appreciate it if you left the compartment!"
"Now why would you want me to do that?" Sirius asked innocently, before turning to the seething blonde on his right hand side.
"Hey Tash…woah!" Sirius blinked and unconsciously moved backwards so he could get a better view of Tash's complexion. His face shifted to a smirk.
"Honestly dear I know I'm hot, but you don't need to go red at the sight of my handsome face."
Tash blinked as though she had been hit in the face by a heavy object. Then she burst out laughing.
"You? Handsome? Sure…and Snape decided to wash his hair over the summer did he?!"
Jenny, Crystel and Sandra snorted. Lily glared at Sirius before spotting movement outside their compartment door. James and Remus had appeared and were watching Tash roll around on the floor with intense amusement. Remus was raising his eyebrows at Tash, and James was openly checking Lily out. When she turned to snarl at him, his hand jumped to his hair.
"What the hell do you three want?" she asked.
"Four," Sirius pointed out. "Peter's at the back, but you can't see him."
Sure enough, Peter was peering around James's broad form, trying to get a look in the compartment.
"Think I've found something Tash," Jenny said, reappearing from her trunk, with a potion in tact. She apparently had not noticed the arrival of the other three Marauders because the second she caught sight of Remus colour flooded to her cheeks and she dived back into her trunk for cover.
"Jenny? My face?" Tash asked hopefully. Without a word, Jenny pulled out a flask of potion. She had obviously been busy over the summer, as Lily could hear the clink of potion bottles in the bottom of her trunk. Tash accepted the bottle and drained it. Immediately she clapped her hands over her ears as though she had a splitting headache.
"Ow! Ow! OW! JENNY!" she wailed. "What the hell is in that?!"
"What's wrong?" Jenny asked, terrified that her potion had gone horribly wrong.
"She's dying!" Sirius cried dramatically. "Someone call a healer!"
"BRAIN FREEZE!" Tash spluttered, clutching her head as though worried that it was suddenly going to take off from her shoulders.
"Jenny what did you do to her?" Lily asked with a worried expression on her face.
"Don't worry," Jenny said, looking visibly more relaxed now that she knew that all Tash had was brain freeze and not something life threatening. "It's supposed to do that."
Tash glared, something which was hard for her to pull off when her eyes were streaming from pain.
"So now that the crisis is over," James said. "How are you ladies this beautiful morning?"
"We were fine until you walked in Potter," Lily snarled. "What do you want anyway? Going to regale us with your latest Quidditch tales? Isn't it obvious that no one gives a damn?"
James flashed Lily a charming grin.
"Actually Evans I came to ask if you want to go to the first Hogsmeade weekend with me?"
Lily blinked slowly, her mouth practically hanging open. Everyone in the compartment was staring at her unsure of how she was going to react. Even Tash had uncovered her ears in anticipation. Lily was struggling to process the information. The most arrogant boy in the whole year wanted to go out with her? When he could easily get any girl he wanted. This had to be a joke.
Slowly Lily managed to close her mouth and snort at James.
"That's a good one Potter. How long did it take you to come up with that joke? Come on, say the punch line and then you can leave."
Tash was struggling to contain her laughter at the look on James's face. Jenny however was exchanging sly smiles with Crystel. Sandra was focusing on Lily's face, though this could have been because Sirius was winking at her.
"Um…Evans there was no punch line," James said, slightly thrown off by Lily's response. Lily raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
"So this isn't a joke?" she asked slowly. James shook his head. Lily quickly pinched herself to make sure that it wasn't all just a bizarre dream.
"So let me get this straight," she said rubbing the spot on her arm that she had pinched. "You, James human-god-extraordinaire Potter, want to go out with me?" she turned to look at her friends. "Am I the only one who thinks that there is something wrong with this picture?"
"No I don't see anything wrong with it," Jenny smirked. Lily gave her friend an evil look and turned to Tash, who was stuffing her face with chocolate now that she had got over her brain freeze.
"Don't worry Lily, I for one think there's plenty wrong with this picture," Tash said once she had swallowed. "For a start, Black's ugly face is painted on the canvas."
"What? My face isn't ugly!" Sirius said aghast. Tash ignored him and carried on as though she had not been interrupted.
"And second of all Lily I have no idea what hope Potter thinks he could have of getting you to go out with him. You're far too good for him."
James's face flickered to hurt for a second, but as soon as it happened Lily saw it disappear and he was glaring instead at his fellow chaser.
"Watch it Marquand," he said. "Else the Quaffle might just slip from my grasp next practise and go somewhere close to your face."
"Oooh I'm shaking in my flip flops Potter," Tash said sarcastically, pretending to tremble. "Jenny's goldfish are scarier than you!"
All the girls in the compartment snorted in laughter.
"Hard luck Prongsie!" Sirius said happily clapping James on his back. "My turn now."
"Your turn?" Lily asked. "What on Earth makes you think that any of us would want to date you?"
Sirius ignored her, his eyes focusing instead on Sandra.
"Hope? You fancy meeting up after the feast?" Sirius asked, giving Sandra the charming smile that normally won any girls heart. Sandra however shook her head.
"Sorry Black," she said. "I have a previous engagement that I plan to make."
"Really?" Sirius asked, pulling the most adorable puppy eyes and pout that he could. "Not even for ten minutes?" Sandra shook her head.
"Maybe another time," she said. Sirius shrugged.
"Your loss," he said.
"'oo shuck bwack!" Tash said through a mouthful of chocolate. At everyone's quizzical looks she swallowed and tried again.
"You suck Black," Tash said clearly. Sirius quirked his eyebrows at her.
"Well then as I am apparently lacking an accomplice tonight, why don't you do me the pleasure of accompanying me Natasha?"
"Sure Black," Tash nodded. Sirius looked hopefully at her. "When Pettigrew gets a date and when Filch bathes Mrs Norris then maybe, yes I will consider disappearing to a broom closet with you. But sadly, Pettigrew will never get a date and Filch will probably eat Mrs Norris before bathing her. So that isn't going to happen anytime soon."
Peter was looking remarkably upset by Tash's blunt but honest words. Sirius however got an evil smile and subtly nudged the door of the compartment open with his foot. He then spoke loudly enough for the whole train to hear.
"Was that a declaration of love I heard from you Tash?"
Tash choked on her chocolate frog. Jenny reappeared from her trunk and slapped her on the back, causing Tash to fly headfirst into the table. When she had finally cleared her airways she gave a disbelieving snort.
"No! Absolutely not! Never in a million years!"
"Yes it was!" Sirius sang.
"No it wasn't!" Tash retorted, going red in the face again.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Sirius chanted irritably.
"No! No! No!" Tash said stamping her foot.
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"Non"
"Oui!"
"Nein!"
"Ja!"
"No!"
"Sim!"
"No!"
"Si!"
"Neit!"
"Da darling!"
Tash had apparently run out of languages and so turned instead to see her friends trying to hide their grins. Even Lily was laughing at their childish behaviour.
"Just…just…just…" Tash spluttered. James and Peter were laughing at Tash's inability to articulate a sentence. Sirius was smirking in triumph.
"So Evans…" James finally managed to gasp out. "Are you quite sure you don't want to…"
"Get out!" Lily and Tash screamed at the same time, Lily seething and Tash apparently having regained her voice.
"Yowch!" Peter winced, grasping his ears at the volume.
"I think that was a yes to both of us Prongs," Sirius said happily. "Knew they wouldn't last lo…"
"GET OUT! GET OUT!" Lily shrieked as Tash pulled out her wand and shot a tickling charm at Sirius, who pulled out his own wand and deflected it so fast that they barely had time to register it. Sandra shrieked and dived out of the way of the oncoming spell as Lily and Tash advanced on the four boys.
"Come near us again and tickling is the last thing you'll have to put up with!" Lily threatened. Tash hissed at Sirius who was backing away with the rest of the Marauders down the corridor. From the compartments, people began sticking their heads out of the doors to get a better view.
"Nice kitty," Sirius said slowly, holding up his hands in protection. Tash snarled and raised her wand again.
It was no surprise when the train finally arrived at Hogwarts that the Marauders, Lily and Tash emerged covered head to foot in luminous paint, accompanied by bright colour changing glitter.
END FLASHBACK
"Nice way to start your Prefect career Lily," Jenny said. "By hexing the Marauders."
"They started it!" Lily retorted.
"Did not!" James and Peter said together. Remus shrugged.
"We did sort of," he said. "We were all terrors really."
"You were teenage boys," Jenny said. "Of course you were!"
Lily smiled but still looked worried as she realised that one of the Marauders was still missing.
"Do you think Sirius is okay?" she asked. "I really thought he was getting better about…well Tash."
"It'll take time," Jenny said. "It still hurts you doesn't it Lily?"
Lily nodded truthfully, remembering that Tash wasn't the only one that she had lost recently.
"Its just going to take time for him to get over how he feels," James said, but there was a note of hopefulness in his voice.
It was heartbreaking therefore, when Lily and James returned to their flat later that night to find Sirius passed out on the sofa with a bottle of firewhiskey on the table. Whatever he was feeling, it wasn't going to go away soon.
OOO
"I see a little sillouetto of a man. Scaramouch! Scaramouch! Will you do the Fandango?"
"Will you please get a move on Sirius?!" James yelled, banging on the door of the bathroom. It was two weeks since Halloween and it had not been easy on anyone. There had been another attack, this time Dorcas Meadowes had been the victim. The aurors had arrived on the scene but she was already dead. Voldemort was the prime suspect.
Outside work, things were not improving for Lily and James. Sirius was continuing to go out and come back to the flat drunk. And on top of everything, James was worried to see that Lily had become very sick over the last week, and he was even more concerned when Lily refused to take time off work to get better.
"Okay! Okay!" Sirius replied through the door. "Please don't shout! It hurts my head!"
James rolled his eyes and proceeded to magically iron the creases out of his robes.
"Thunderbolt and lightening! Very very fri…"
"Stop singing mate!" James groaned, accidentally poking his robes with his wand causing them to catch fire. Cursing he extinguished the flames.
"Bit early for a barbecue isn't it?" Lily asked, appearing from the bedroom looking tired and dishevelled. She was carrying her robes under her arm.
"Galileo! Galileo!"
"STOP SINGING!" Lily screamed at the door.
"Sorry!"
Lily flopped into a chair rubbing her temples. Apollo bolted out from underneath her seat hissing.
"What's wrong?" James asked, turning away from his singed robes to look at his wife in concern.
"I didn't get much sleep last night," Lily grumbled. "You know, on account of the fact that Sirius came dancing into our bedroom at one o clock. Why may I ask?"
"He was drunk again," James said grimly. Lily sighed in understanding as Sirius exited the bathroom looking like he had been through a tornado. James headed for the door, but before he could take three steps, Lily had shot ahead of him looking green.
"What's up with Tiger Lily?" Sirius asked.
"You woke her up when you came back last night," James said, conjuring himself a mug of strong coffee. Sirius went back to looking gloomily at his toast.
"Lily are you okay?" James asked, knocking gently on the bathroom door.
"I'm okay," Lily replied quickly, before drowning out the sound by running the taps.
"She's been like this for the last week," James fretted.
"Like what?" Sirius asked cluelessly.
"You know," James said in exasperation. "I think she's ill. I keep telling her to take time off work but she won't listen. She keeps insisting everything's fine."
Sirius was listening vaguely but deep in the back of his mind something stirred him to listen. Then a thought emerged. A wild crazy glorious thought that made him smile. He looked over at James who was still repairing his damaged robes.
"I don't know, maybe it's just the pressure of work and everything, but she's been a bit short tempered…mate are you smiling?"
James was staring at Sirius, who was now grinning, a Dumbledore-like twinkle dancing in his eyes. James suddenly felt very out of place. This was the first time he had seen Sirius smile properly since Tash had died.
"You really don't have a clue do you Prongs?" Sirius asked.
"A clue about what?" James asked. Sirius beamed irritatingly, grabbed his toast and stood up.
"I'm going to visit Jen and Moony," he announced, and before James could get another word out of him he had shoved the toast in his mouth and disapperated.
Lily stuck her head around the bathroom door at the sound of Sirius's abrupt departure.
"Where did Sirius go?" she asked. James frowned.
"To see Moony and Jen," he said. "And get this. He was smiling."
Lily fully emerged from the bathroom, her robes unbuttoned, and her hair still dishevelled. But her eyes which had been exhausted a minute ago, were wide awake at her husbands words.
"What? Smiling smiling?" she asked. "As in pre Tash dying smiling?"
"Yeah," James nodded. "And I don't know about you, but I'm scared."
OOO
Knock! Knock!
"Come in!" Jenny called. Sirius bounded into the flat, still swallowing the last of his toast. He had dripped strawberry jam down his robes but he hadn't noticed. Jenny stood up straight from where she was magically filling the dog bowls and blinked at him as though she couldn't believe her eyes,
"Sirius?" she asked.
"Hey Jen!" Sirius said happily, as Alaska bounded over to him and began to lick the jam off his robes. "I think I figured something out…Hey Moony!"
Remus had just appeared from the bathroom and was staring at Sirius as though he couldn't believe how happy he looked. Having spent the last three months looking fairly depressed twenty four seven it was a shock to see him look so abruptly cheerful, especially when Alaska was dangerously close to knocking him over to get at the splatters of strawberry jam adorning his robes.
"I'm hallucinating," Jenny said shaking her head. "Right, no more chocolate ice cream before bed."
"Right I got out of the bathroom this morning," Sirius ploughed on before anyone could interrupt, fending off Alaska as he spoke. "And before James can reach the bathroom, Lily pushes past him because she felt sick."
"She's feeling sick?" Jenny asked frowning. Sirius nodded.
"She's been like this for the last week," he told them. "Anyway I'm starting to see a pattern. She's only feeling sick in the mornings or when someone's been cooking fried food. The smell sets her off."
"So?" Remus asked. Jenny on the other hand gasped and her eyes went wide and sparkly with hope.
"You don't think…?" she breathed.
"Could be!" Sirius grinned.
"I'll see what I can fish up from her," Jenny promised. "Don't say anything for now!"
And she rushed off to the bathroom with Sirius's infectious grin on her face.
"Am I missing something?" Remus asked. Sirius beamed at his friend.
"Well Moony, unless I am very much mistaken," he said wisely. "I believe that Lily and James are about to become parents!"
OOO
The very same day, late in the evening, miles away, in the little village of Hogsmeade, Professor Albus Dumbledore was turning to leave the room of the Hogs Head pub, when he heard a hoarse rattling voice, speaking those fateful words which would shape the rest of this story as we know it.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches…born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies…and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have the power the Dark Lord knows not…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…"
A/N: Ooh yes, and just when things were looking up I dangle that ominous little verse over your heads! Haha! I'm totally evil!
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Next Chapter: Jenny confronts Lily and an Order Meeting provides some very interesting discussions and an unwelcome guest.
May Stardust fall in your dreams!