Chapter 36: And So Life Goes On
James and I attended the Prewett brothers' funeral with a majority of our fellow Order members. We sat in the back out of respect for the grieving family. It was a very nice service, although it was very sad. I felt a little bad because I realized I had been slightly distracted throughout most of the service, but it was James who pointed out that I was probably just trying to push the reality of what happened out of my mind. People deal with things like that differently.
But anyway, my distraction came by a family sitting up front because, I noticed, all of the children had flaming red hair. There were five of them, all boys from what I could tell. Two of them were seated on their parents lap, and the other three were sitting quietly in their chairs. I think the fact that the five boys were perfectly silent was part of what initially drew me to them, aside from their hair. I figured they had to be related to the Prewett brothers, as the oldest looked no older than seven.
I got my chance to meet them after the funeral. The two oldest were playing in the grass and their mother was having quite a time keeping them within her sight. I couldn't blame the poor boys; they had just sat still for over an hour.
"Bill! Charlie!" she called to them. "You need to stay where I can see you!"
Just then the two youngest (I assumed they were twins) began crying, and their mother's attention was quickly turned to them. She picked them both up and began looking for her husband.
"Arthur? Arthur!" He didn't seem to be anywhere in the near vicinity, so I thought I would offer a hand.
"Would you like me to hold one of your boys?" I asked as the babies' crying escalated.
A grateful look crossed her face. "Are you sure you don't mind, dear?"
"Of course not. You look as if you could use a bit of help," I answered.
She handed me one of the crying boys, and he stopped instantly to try and figure out who I was. And as soon as he stopped, his brother stopped.
The woman shook her head. "They're always like that," she said. "When one cries, the other one cries. When one stops, the other stops. It drives me near mental at times."
I smiled. "I'm sure it does. I'm Lily Potter, by the way."
"I'm Molly Weasley. That's George you're holding, and I've got his twin, Fred. They're eleven months old. Percy's sitting under the tree over there and he's three. Bill and Charlie are in the grass. They're seven and six, respectively." She pointed each of them out to me as she spoke.
"That's quite a bunch!" I exclaimed.
"Yes, they certainly keep my hands full," Molly replied. "But they're good boys."
"I was impressed that they remained so quiet inside," I said, a bit hesitantly as I wasn't sure of their relation to the Prewetts. "I've never seen five boys sit still for an hour."
A sad smile crossed Molly's face. "They understood that it wasn't a time to cause trouble for Arthur and me. Gideon and Fabian were my brothers."
"I'm so sorry," I said softly.
She gave a small shrug, and I got the distinct impression that she was trying very hard to seem nonchalant. "How did you know them?" she asked.
"I, erm, worked with them," I said carefully, not sure how much she knew about her brothers' work with the Order.
She opened her mouth to speak but wasn't given time to question me further as, right at that moment, her husband appeared beside her. We were introduced, and I handed over his son. A moment later James joined us, and I was still amazed that I got butterflies in my stomach when I introduced him as my husband. After four months I still wasn't used to it.
The four of us conversed for a short while, and then James and I decided to return home. We didn't want to impose any longer, and the Weasley boys were becoming rather restless.
James and I arrived home around four o'clock that afternoon. We were rather subdued upon our return, but we knew we were both thinking the same thing.
"This sucks," I sighed as I hung my coat in the front all closet. "All this dying and everything. It's everywhere." I took James' coat from him and hung it next to mine.
"I know," he said, rubbing my shoulders gently. He moved my hair out of the way and dropped a light kiss on my neck. "That's why we're fighting Voldemort, Lils, so he can't kill anyone anymore."
He moved into the kitchen and began searching the cupboards for something. He pulled down two teacups and continued his search.
"What are you looking for, love?" I asked after a few moments of watching him.
"The teapot," he answered. "I don't see it. Where did you put it?"
A small smirk tugged at my lips as I crossed the kitchen floor. "I don't believe it," I said in a slightly teasing manner. "James Potter is going to make tea? When was the last time he ever did anything besides eat in my kitchen?"
"I've done dishes loads of times!" he protested.
"Then how can you not know where the teapot is? You must have put it away the last time you did the dishes." I tried to look severe, but I failed miserably. I couldn't help but smile as he put on his wounded-puppy-dog expression.
"You must have moved it," he replied, his adorable hazel eyes looking as sad as possible.
"Mmm, I must have." I bent down to open a cupboard beneath the counter and located the teapot in less than two seconds. I straightened up and handed it to James.
"What was it doing down there?" he demanded, going over to the sink to fill it with water.
"James, that's where it's always been," I said condescendingly.
"No, it hasn't!"
I wrapped my arms around his waist and set my chin on his back. "Darling. Sweetheart. Love of my life. I put it there when we moved in, and that's been its home ever since."
He turned to face me and our eyes met. He opened his mouth to say something, but then he shut it again. I gave him a triumphant smile.
"Fine, you win," he conceded, "but I'm actually not quite sure what our argument was about in the first place."
"Me either, so I only want to win if I get you for a prize," I answered with a wink.
"I think I can arrange that." He kissed me gently. "But first, I must make tea."
"I'm surprised you know how to," I mused as he set the teapot on the stove. "And the Muggle way too, I'm impressed!"
"Bet you didn't know I could be so handy in the kitchen, did you?" he replied proudly. "The tea will be ready in no time."
I hesitated a moment, because I really hated to point out his error. I really, really did. He seemed so happy that he could make tea the Muggle way. Yet I couldn't help but giggle slightly as I told him what was wrong.
"Er, James, you might want to turn on the stove," I said as he began to walk away.
"What?" He stopped midstride to give me a questioning look.
"The water will never boil if you don't turn on the stove." I felt terrible at his crestfallen face, so I made up for it by covering it with kisses. "I still love you," I offered as I reached behind him to turn the dial.
"At least someone does," he replied forlornly, not looking at me and managing to look terribly downcast.
"Oh, honestly!" I exclaimed while rolling my eyes. "Be a little more melodramatic, would you?"
He immediately looked up at me and grinned. "I could be, but I think that would be overkill." A small sigh escaped my lips as his strong arms found their way around my waist and drew me close to him. "But for the record, I love you, too."
And a side note, off the record: snogging James Potter in the kitchen is more than worth any melodrama thrown my way.
xxxxx
It wasn't until several weeks later that we learned why Dumbledore had been rather late in arriving. He had gone to the Ministry to round up the Aurors in the Order, but he arrived to find hardly any Aurors there at all. Most of the ones on-duty (which was a substantial amount) had been sent off on a report of a long string of Muggle killings and many threats for more in Wales. A whopping grand total of four was left at the Ministry. None of them were in the Order, and that posed a bit of a problem. Dumbledore was faced with two choices: he could either bring those Aurors and try to contact the ones off-duty, or he could try his luck in locating the Order members in Wales. He decided on the former.
James' father had been one of those at the Ministry, and he was very helpful in contacting the off-duty Aurors that were Order members. Nevertheless, it took awhile for everyone to assemble. They came to our aide, and the rest is history.
Those not in the Order were given memory charms after the battle. We couldn't have them know of out secret organization whether they were Aurors or not. It was, simply, just too dangerous. Mr. Potter, just before receiving his memory charm, told James just how proud he was of him Although James just nodded and thanked him, I knew how much the comment meant to him. James idolized his father, and his approval was everything to him.
And so life went on.
It almost seemed cruel, really, that we got to live while others around us were dying, but there was nothing we could do about it.
The spring turned into summer, and both passed without very much incident in regards to Auror training and the Order. James and I both made the necessary advancements in Auror training, and we were engaged in a few skirmishes with some Death Eaters. Nothing too big happened, however, which I was rather glad of.
In our personal lives, however, there were a few events worth mentioning. One was that Drusa and Sirius were finally officially back together. That happened somewhere in June, I think. It really was rather a relief to find them snogging each other senseless in our guest bedroom when they were invited over. It seemed things were getting back to normal, and that was a much-needed feeling.
Another event worth mentioning occurred in mid-July. James and I were sitting in our living room, having a lovely chat, when Tave apparated right into our front hallway.
"Lily?" she called. "Are you home?"
"Yeah, I'm in here," I replied from my spot on the couch. She bounded into the living room excitedly, her eyes bright.
"Oh, hello, James. Sorry for just coming over without asking, but I just had to tell you two!" she exclaimed, coming to stand in front of James and me. She began bouncing on the tips of her toes, and I had to laugh. She looked like a little schoolgirl excited about something.
"Tell us what?" I demanded when she didn't continue. "You can't just-" I stopped short when a sparkle of light hit my eye. It was coming from a ring on her left hand…on the fourth finger of her left hand…"Ohmigod!" I exclaimed in one breath, jumping up from the couch. I grabbed her hand and a huge smile broke out over her face. "Are you…?"
She nodded. "Remus proposed to me last night! We're getting married, Lily!"
I let out an excited squeal as I hugged her. "Tave! You're getting married! I can hardly believe it!"
"So he finally asked, did he?" James said with an amused smile. "He's been carrying around that ring for weeks."
"And you didn't tell me?" I demanded. "James!"
"I'm not going to tell you something like that!" he protested. "You women talk about everything! You would have let it slip somehow, I know you would have!"
I knew he was right, but of course I wouldn't admit it. I just gave him The Look and turned back to Tave. "Well, what are you waiting for? We have to start planning!"
"I haven't told Drusa or Alice yet," she said. "But I'll go do that right now, and then we can."
"Of course! Go now! Invite them over here, and then we'll plan away!" I said, and with an excited nod, Tave disapparated.
I immediately heard a groan from behind me. I turned and raised an eyebrow at my husband, who was staring at me with a frantic look on his face.
"What?" I asked, completely clueless as to why he was giving me such a look.
"Four giggling girls? Here, while I'm here?" He looked more than terrified at the prospect.
"Oh, you poor thing," I said sarcastically, folding my arms across my chest. "Somehow I don't think you would have minded just over a year ago when we were back at Hogwarts."
"That was different! I'm a married man now," he replied. "I'm serious, Lily! There's nothing more terrifying to a guy than being stuck in a group of girls excited over something!"
I sat delicately on his lap and grinned. "I'll bet you can conquer that fear."
"Oh? How so?"
I planted a chaste kiss on his lips, but the look I gave him was far from innocent. "You find a way, Mr. Potter, and I'll make it well worth your effort."
A wicked smile spread across his features at my words. "Perhaps I will find a way, Mrs. Potter. I'll hold you to your end of the bargain."
"Deal."
xxxxx
True to his word, James did indeed survive the day with "four giggling girls". He stayed out of the way, mostly, but he was able to summon enough courage to offer us tea and lemonade.
"How ever did you train him so well?" Alice laughed. "Frank would have bolted right out of our house if the four of us were there."
"I believe it was Tave who once said that there are certain…incentives," I said delicately, but my meaning was picked up by all.
Our day was mostly filled by pointless chatter, as it had been awhile since we had all gotten together, but we did eventually decide on the color of the bridesmaids' dresses. They were going to be pale pink, even though Tave had never been one for pink.
"I'm not the one wearing the bloody dress," she shrugged when we asked. "All I really care about is my dress."
"Spoken like…yourself," I laughed. Tave was Tave, and that was that.
The girls left around nine o'clock that night, and James was waiting for me. He picked me up and began carrying me like a baby up the stairs to our bedroom.
"That was torture," he muttered as he began to plant kisses along my jaw line. "Terrible, that."
"And yet somehow you managed. I'm proud of you," I replied, rolling my eyes.
"You have to uphold your end of the bargain, darling," he reminded me. "You have to make it well worth my effort."
"With pleasure," I said with a grin, and I made a mental note to make bargains like that with James more often.
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A/N:wipes sweat off brow: Phew! This chapter was a beast to write, and even more of a beast to type up. Of course, to be completely honest, some of that had to do with my laziness. Yes, I will admit it. I have been terribly lazy when it comes to this story, and I apologize profusely to you guys. I've actually been writing several of the chapters that will be coming up later because, to me, they're much more interesting. So I can promise that later on the chapters will be coming faster! In the meantime, please hang in there. Please keep reviewing, because I absolutely love to get reviews! Thanks so much!
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