"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!" Lily yelped. She ran down the stairs with just a towel wrapped around her to the phone. She was still soaking wet, and nearly slipped on the wooden floor of the kitchen. "Hello?"
"Hello, is Lily there?"
"Yes, this is she," Lily muttered, trying to straighten her towel.
"Hello, Lily! It's Mason."
"Oh, hi Mason. What's up?" Lily said.
"I was going to talk to you about that promotion we've been discussing. Is - this a bad time?"
"Er - slightly," Lily said.
"Well, we can just discuss it when you get to work then."
"That's fine. I'll see you in two hours," Lily said, and she ran back up the stairs and continued getting ready.
Everything was basically back to normal. Lily had gone to Hogwarts for a brief while to discuss the happenings with Dumbledore. Dumbledore exceptionally understood, and Lily was somewhat comforted, even though Dumbledore had given her no definite answers. Now, five months later, Lily accepted the fact that there was a hole in her past that she would have to get past. The Ministry and a group of witches and wizards that worked for Dumbledore were doing as much background information as they could on Tom Riddle - as he was now the prime suspect for Lord Voldemort.
Aurors were now given special privileges on their Death Eater hunts - privileges to use the Unforgivable curses. James had been made an official Auror, and he was at work more in the evenings than during the day. Sirius had quit the Ministry - his uncle was furious with Sirius's performance, and Sirius had had enough of it. He went to work for James's father conducting potions for the hospital. Remus had also gotten a job with Sirius, mainly because Harold Potter had shown sympathy towards Remus. Remus had not had a job in several months, and it was beginning to show. His robes were becoming less and less formal, and he wasn't taking too much care of himself health-wise.
"No way was she a ten, mate! Did you not see her legs? They were like little stubs! Maybe an eight, but not a ten!" Sirius's voice sounded from the front door. Lily finished drying her hair and went downstairs.
"Yeah, she was a little short," James said, "but did you see - oh!" James stopped speaking when he saw Lily with his hands over his chest. "Hi Lil!"
"Yes, James? Were you going to finish that sentence? What did Sirius supposedly see?" Lily smirked.
"Er... Nothing," James said. "We were just -"
"Rating the women we saw on the streets out of ten," Sirius shrugged and finished James's words. "Geez, Sirius! You're such a six!" Lily said, rolling her eyes.
"A six? I'm a six? If I'm a six, then James is a four or a five!" Sirius said, glaring at Lily.
"Nah - James is a nine!"
"Ha! See, Sirius?" James said, grinning. "I'm a - wait... Only a nine?" he said, turning to Lily.
"Yup. Just a nine," Lily said casually.
"Why not a ten?"
"You? A ten? No! Remus is a ten!"
"What?" Sirius and James both said together.
"He is!"
"Ok, I understand how you could rate James and Remus - but what about me?" Sirius complained. "You've never even been with me!"
"Er - I guess you have a point," Lily said, knowing what was coming next, "but c'mon, Sirius! It's you!"
"What's wrong with me?"
"You're too fast!"
"Like hell! Care to give it a try?" Sirius said.
Lily glanced over at James, who looked quite excited. "If you say so."
"Okay," Sirius said. He actually looked nervous. He walked over to Lily and positioned himself in front of her. He pulled her close and put one hand on the side of her face before pulling her into a deep, romantic kiss. Lily let herself fall into Sirius's warmth for a moment, before Sirius pulled away.
"Well? Was that a six?" Sirius asked.
Lily placed one finger over her bottom lip and stared at Sirius for a moment. "Er... well, I guess you're not that bad... Nine."
"Ah - hell no!" James said. "If he's a nine them I'm a ten!"
He embraced Lily a pulled her into one of the most satisfying kisses she'd ever received from James.
"Well," Lily said, breathing a little deeper. "I guess it's safe to promote you a little... Nine and a half."
"That's not fair! You can't change it!" Sirius complained.
"She changed it for you," James chuckled.
"That's because she's never kissed me before! Now I get to even it out!" Sirius said. He pulled Lily right up against him and kissed her again - a lot more tongue than the first time.
Lily closed her eyes and nodded. "Nine and a half," she whispered.
"No! If Sirius is nine and a half then I'm a ten!" James complained. Lily giggled.
"If you two want to sort it out further than you'll have to do it without me - and God knows where that will lead," she said. "I have to go to the bathroom quickly, and then I'm leaving for work."
Lily ran upstairs and to the bathroom. James and Sirius both stood in the hall, lost for words.
"Damn, James!" Sirius said, with a short whistle. "Lily is a flaming good kisser!"
"I know!" James said, and the two friends grinned.
"Jeez... Almost as good as Da - er, um. Yeah, nothing," Sirius said, blushing.
"No, not nothing!" James said, grinning wider. You said Almost as good as someone! Da... Da... er... Dar? Darlene!"
"No!" Sirius said immediately and looked away from James.
"Yeah! Black has found himself a bitch!"
"No! It's... it's not like that," Sirius said quietly.
"So this isn't like all the other women you've 'handled' - not your average shag doll, eh?" James joked.
"C'mon, James! Give me a break - she's... It's different with her," Sirius said seriously.
"Shit... How long have you two been together?"
"About five months," Sirius said.
"Brilliant! Padfoot's finally is settling down with a pup!" James said, and he gave Sirius a friendly slap on the back.
Lily arrived at work a little earlier than she thought she would. She quickly checked in and headed to Mason's office. She knocked on the door quickly and entered. Mason was standing next to the fireplace that had the head of another man in it.
"Just one moment, Lily. You can have a seat at the desk there," Mason said before turning back to the man in the fire.
"So you'll get this done, Hendron?" the man said slyly. He glanced at Lily and looked back at Mason.
"Yes, yes! Consider it done, Mr. Malfoy," Mason said before the man vanished from the fire. "Ah ha! Lily - right on time! I could not wait to talk to you about this promotion,"
"Me neither," Lily said.
"Shame we couldn't have discussed it two hours ago... Would've made my job a little bit easier... But you were busy so there isn't anything wrong with this settlement," Mason said. "So - about this promotion. The head of the board is quite pleased with the employee report I handed in on your performance, and they think that a good promotion is in order. I agreed, so it made the decision unanimous. So, we will be offering you a new job as the head nurse in our department, but we first have to see if you'll be able to cope with the conditions.
"Being the head nurse will be little different from your job you hold now. It'll take a little more dedication - not that you haven't shown more than enough - a little more time, and a little more effort. We're going to give you three weeks of this job with a thorough evaluation, and then we'll see from there if you pass the test."
"Sounds great! So this will just be more hours and a tougher position?" Lily asked.
"Exactly that. Yes, agreed?"
"Agreed!"

***

After one month of stressful hours at the hospital, it was nearly time to finish Lily's evaluations. Halloween came, and Lily was facing her one night off she had had in an entire month.
"Do we really have to do this?" James asked as he filled another bowl with Muggle candies. "There are plenty of other Muggle houses on Godric's Hollow - why can't we just leave the brats be?"
"Brats? James! If I'm not mistaken, we were planning on having three children of our own one day. Are you going to call our own kids brats?" Lily snapped.
"No!" James sighed. "I meant the Muggle kids! They've all got their stereotypes for witches and wizards - they dress up like hags! Muggle kids are brats!"
"Nice save - though not exactly the response I was looking for," Lily smiled.
"Yeah, well, live and learn," James grinned. "Okay - it's dark, and we haven't heard one knock on that door for fifteen minutes! Let's go upstairs now, please?"
"Ok! Fine!" Lily said. "You're losing a lot of patience, Mr. Potter!"
"That is because, my dear," James said as he picked Lily up off her feet, "you haven't exactly been here... for a month!"
"So I guess I have some making up to do," Lily giggled as James carried her up the stairs.
"Oh yeah! A hell of a lot of making up! I've been here every night with Remus and Sirius - and they aren't exactly much fun when it comes to what I'm thinking," James winked.
"Alright... Let me see," Lily said as James settled her on the bed. "Where were we?"
"Ha! Like I can remember from one month ago! Let's start... fresh," James said.
"If you say so, Mr. Potter," Lily said in an extremely seductive voice that made James grin wider than ever.

November 8th, 1979...

"Ugh... Just a minute!" Lily called from the bathroom. She wiped her mouth quickly with a wet cloth and looked into the mirror.
'That can't be too good,' she thought. She finished up in the bathroom and went downstairs to greet Mr. Potter.
"Lily, darling, wonderful to see you," Harold said. "Er - are you feeling alright?"
"Oh, yes, I'm fine. I'm going to be leaving for work in a few minutes, um, were you looking for James?" Lily asked, placing one hand gently over her stomach to stop the pain she was feeling.
"Well, yes, actually, I was. But it isn't too important - I was just dropping by so we could talk later," Harold said.
"That's fine."
"Alright, well, I'd better be leaving now. Oh - and Lily?"
"Yes, Harold?"
"If you need anything - anything at all - I'm here to help," Harold said.
"Thank you, Harold," Lily said.
Lily worked harder than she ever had on her last day of the evaluation (which had been extended). When she had finished up, she went to Mason's office like she had been instructed and waited on the couch in the corner.
Mason arrived a few minutes later with a wide smile on his face. He closed the door and sat down in the seat next to Lily. "Well, I've been noticing how well you've been working during the evaluation... er... champagne?"
"No, thank you," Lily said.
"Suit yourself!" Mason said and he summoned himself a glassful. "Anyways, I've been noticing your capabilities under the stressful new work, and I think that keeping your job like this might be an advantage for the hospital."
"Oh my gosh, that's great!" said Lily.
"Yes, but there is just one thing that needs to be sorted out," Mason said and he put down his champagne.
"What's that?"
"Well... In order for me to give you a chance, you would have to give us a chance."
Lily stared at Mason with a confused expression. "I... I don't understand..."
Mason leaned over to Lily and smiled. "Of course you do! I know that you been paining for this to happen," he said and he put his hand on Lily's thigh and kissed her.
Lily leaned back right away. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Relax, Lily! Calm down!"
Lily stood up and shook her head. "I have no idea what you're trying to pull, but -"
"Lil!" Mason said. He stood up and walked towards her. "Just relax... let it happen," he said smoothly. He grabbed her arm - and Lily lifted her hand and smacked his face with all the strength she could muster.
"Don't you dare touch me!" she shouted. "I am not interested in you, I never have been, and I never will be!"
"Lil! Don't hide your feelings -"
"I don't have feelings for you, okay? I'm married, I'm happy, and I - I'm pregnant!" she screamed.
The colour slipped from Mason's face and his smile flickered. "You're... you're..."
"Stay away from me!" Lily shouted, and she Disapparated before he could say another word. She Apparated back home and ran into the bedroom and lay down on the bed, sobbing.

{Author's Note: Thank you, everyone, for all the reviews. I couldn't be more pleased with the amount of feedback I'm getting.
I apologize for the length of the chapters - they're growing steadily longer and longer, and. well, there's not much I can do about it without cutting out the content.
Someone asked if Krystle is a legal Animagus, and the answer is yes, although even if she weren't, it would not affect the story much.
Thank you, again, for reading, and I will update shortly.
--Shay.}