Okay, I'm not going to give any excuses except my life has been utterly and obnoxiously stressful for the past few weeks, which is why there have been no updates.

So, as I know you all don't want to hear about my life, without further ado, I finally present the next chapter!

Part II: War Exigency

Lily held Logan in her lap as he quickly turned his head from side to side. She could tell he was enthralled by the various objects filling, and falling out of, the shelves in Albus Dumbledore's office at Hogwarts. His big blue eyes would look at the books and then the assorted instruments and cauldrons. But, it was when his eyes landed on Fawkes the phoenix, that Logan stopped squirming and just starred.

Dumbledore smiled at Logan, his eyes twinkling in a way that Lily remembered from Hogwarts. "He's growing quickly," he said in a far off voice, as if it was merely an introduction. "You two should be very proud. I wouldn't be surprised if he started to show signs of magic soon, even at such a young age."

"Oh, goody," James joked, turning to his son and gently running a hand over his short black locks. "Hopefully he won't turn my hair blue like I did to my father."

"Albus," Lily said. "I'm sure you didn't ask us here to talk about our son."

Their old headmaster nodded and ran a hand through his gray beard. Peering through his half-moon glasses, his expression became very grave. "Unfortunately, little Logan is not the main topic of our conversation," he said, placing his hands on his desk. "I am sure that you both have your suspicions as to how Voldemort learned of your locations and, James, your sudden switch – I have mine as well."

Lily felt James tense beside her and she turned to him. They had decided not to talk to Dumbledore about their ideas.

"That must wait for another day," Dumbledore added in the silence. "I have something more unfortunate to share with you."

"What could possibly be worse?" James asked in disbelief.

Dumbledore looked at his hands and then back to Lily and James. She was shocked to see a defeated look appear in his eye for a brief moment, before he hid it with his regular demeanor. She turned to James, but found he hadn't caught this, and then looked back to Dumbledore.

The old man breathed for a few moments, letting the pause add emphasis. "I have reason to believe we are fighting a battle there is no way we can win."

The room was met with a somber silence as James and Lily shared a look. Lily hugged Logan closer to herself and closed her eyes momentarily, before looking up at her old headmaster with a look of confusion. "Are you saying that we should give up?" she asked, not knowing why Dumbledore would think such a thing.

"On the contrary, no," he responded. He leaned across his desk. "Have either of you heard of horcruxes?"

Lily turned to James and could see that he had just as little knowledge of what Dumbledore was talking about as she did. She thought about her schooling, but could not remember her teachers ever teaching about something called a horcrux. Looking up at her old headmaster, she shook her head.

"I didn't think you would," he told them. "Only two professors at this school know about them, myself and Professor Slughorn. They were banned from being taught at Hogwarts years ago. You see, a horcrux is dark magic, very dark magic. It is where a wizard can hide his soul and retain immortality."

"And you think that Voldemort has made one of these…horcruxes?" James asked.

Dumbledore nodded, but spoke again. "My suspicions are that he's made more than one."

"How is he making them?" Lily found herself asking. She had never heard of horcruxes and they seemed to be the key to Voldemort's success. It was the reason why the Order would never defeat him.

Dumbledore leaned back into his chair. "In order to implant his soul into a horcrux, the caster must effectively split it, as I'm sure you two understand."

"He has to kill someone," James answered. "But, by now he could have an infinite number of horcruxes; he's killed so many people."

"Exactly, my boy, why I believe we must start now to destroy them," Dumbledore spoke gravelly. "My theories are that he has hidden some at Hogwarts, which I have begun looking for myself, but others are hidden throughout Britain. This is why I would like your help."

Lily nodded. "What can we do?"

Logan squirmed in her arms and she momentarily looked down at him. She gently stroked the tuft of black hair on his head and he calmed. Dumbledore was looking at James as he agreed with Lily that they would do whatever was needed to support the cause of destroying Voldemort.

"As you both are strong members in the Order, I will not ask for your assistance in finding them. Instead, I would like to ask if I may borrow your invisibility cloak when I go looking for them," he said softly.

Lily turned to James, as it was his cloak and therefore his decision, and found he was already nodding his head. "Of course, I'll bring it over straight away," James told the older wizard. "It hasn't be used since the end of my seventh year. It will be good for it to be useful once again."

Dumbledore smiled and his eyes had brightened. "Thank you, James," he said respectfully. "I am honored that you would trust to leave such an object in my possession."

"I would trust my own son in your possession," James told him without missing a beat.

"You will," Dumbledore smiled, looking at Logan. "But not for another ten years. That is if the ministry, or rather Lucius Malfoy, doesn't find a way to execute my departure before Logan starts his first year."

Logan giggled softly and toothlessly grinned. "That won't happen," Lily said, after the giggles subsided. "There are many more that would want you here than the minority that wants you gone."

Dumbledore bowed his head humbly. "Why thank you, Lily."

James stood from his seat and held his hand out for Dumbledore to shake. "I'll bring the cloak in the morning."

While shaking James's hand, Dumbledore raised his other hand to shake off his statement. "Oh, no need," he said. "You bring it when it is a convenient time for you. You don't need to rush it over, it is yours after all."

"I want my son to grow up in a world without Voldemort, and I will do anything to accomplish this," James insisted. "I want you to have the cloak so when you need it, it will already be with you."

"I suppose you are right," the older wizard consented, running his hand through his silver beard. "I just hope it doesn't end up being a mistake and when you need it, you don't have it."

James smiled. "It's not like you're taking our wands, Albus. A cloak won't save us."

Dumbledore nodded his head, a flicker of a smile on his face, but the gravity of the situation was apparent in his eyes. Lily could see the ounce of fear hiding behind the half-moon spectacles, the emotion Albus Dumbledore hid from the world so well.

"Thank you both. I would just like to ask you not to tell anyone about this," he said as they approached the fireplace. Both Lily and James nodded in agreement. Especially with a spy in their midst, they couldn't speak of horcruxes to anyone in the chance that Voldemort would find out they knew of his secret immortality. "I will see you two soon."

Lily nodded with a smile and James said, "Very soon," as they walked into the fireplace. Lily went first with Logan. She stepped out into their living room and felt her eyes widen when she noticed someone on the floor. Her heart started to beat quickly and she grabbed for her wand until she noticed who the person was. James walked out and had a similar reaction, except when he realized who it was, he walked toward him and shook his head.

"Sirius, why are you on my floor?" he asked curiously.

Sirius opened his eyes and smiled. "You have a very comfortable floor, Prongsie." His words were slightly slurred and his eyes were wandering the room.

James turned back and Lily could see he was concerned for his friend's wellbeing. He turned back. "You haven't called me Prongs since Hogwarts."

Blinking once, Sirius groaned. "Can't your best mate use an old nickname every once and a while?"

"You're drunk," James sighed, kneeling down beside Sirius. "What happened?"

Sirius glared at him, but Lily could tell he didn't mean it. "First off, Jamesie, I'm not drunk. Tipsy, maybe, but I'm not drunk."

"Okay, fine, but what happened?" James asked.

"Well, it was my day off from the Order so I thought I'd spend a day by myself seems as you were off with Dumbledore and the others were off doing their duties," he explained, still lying on the floor. "So, I found myself wandering in Diagon Alley, but then I got bored and went into Hogsmeade."

James nodded. "You ran into Madame Rosemerta, didn't you?"

"No," Sirius said. "Not until after. Guess what I did when I went into Hogsmeade."

Without giving James a chance to speak, Sirius lifted his arm. He held a small box in his long fingers, not having to open it for James and Lily to know what was inside. Lily's eyes widened, knowing exactly what would be inside the square, velvet box. James gently took it in his hands and opened it. A diamond engagement ring sparkled in the light.

"It's a beautiful ring, Siri," he said. "I don't see what your problem is."

Sirius's hand felt to the floor with a resounding smack. Logan looked up at Lily in confusion, wondering what his godfather was doing. Lily gently ran a hand through his hair while listening to Sirius's confession across the room.

"My problem is everything, James!" Sirius exclaimed, sitting up. "I'm been thinking about this for a while and it's…I can't lose her, I know that. I won't be able to handle it if what happened at Hogwarts happens, but then, it's a war. I feel selfish because I put myself in dangerous situations every day and I could die or worse, what if I revert back to my name?"

James placed his hands on Sirius's shoulders. "You won't," he insisted forcefully. "I know you won't; you aren't like that!"

"I know you know," Sirius cried out, emotion filling his voice. "But the rest of the world, all they see is my name! To them, I'm a pureblood Black, and I'll always be a pureblooded, muggle-hating Black," he spat. "For Merlin's sake, even McGonagall thought it at Hogwarts after the attack, do you remember?" James nodded, but Sirius continued anyway. "She, McGonagall of all people, insinuated that it was my fault – my fault – that Michelle was almost dead, like I had something to do with it!"

"Sirius," James said. "People have stupid prejudices–"

"Exactly!" Sirius stood up and threw his arms in the air. "If we get married, she'll take my name. She won't keep her own. I don't want to put her through all of that. I mean, the prejudices are right anyways. I just heard that my father died, probably of disappointment and shame because of Regulus's panicked leaving from the Death Eaters!"

He turned his back on James and his eyes landed on Lily and Logan. "You get married and you have kids," he whispered quietly. "My kids would be Blacks. They'd get taunted of by their classmates. My first days in Gryffindor were the worst days of my life. Everyone hated me except you, Remus, and Peter. Kids are ruthless and even Regulus, when he got to Hogwarts himself, was taunted in Slytherin because of me."

He wiped his face with his hands as a few tears had escaped his eyes. "I wouldn't wish being a Black on to anyone, but I can't lose her," he said, leaning against the wall. "I don't know what to do anymore."

"She doesn't care, Sirius," Lily said softly from her position with Logan. "She wouldn't care about all of that; all she cares about is you."

"I know," he nodded. "But I care because I know what will happen. I've been through it. I've had the name. I honestly don't know what to do."

James stood beside Sirius and stared at him in the eye for a few minutes. The room was silent. "Do you love her?" he asked.

Sirius looked up as if he thought his best friend was insane. "Of course! With all my heart," he said.

There was a momentary pause before James shrugged. "Then, I think you have your answer."

So, I hope that was worth the wait. I'll try to get another chapter up by or before next weekend because I've made you all wait forever for these last two.

Review! (I can honestly say reviews motivate me!)