A/N: Thanks for all the comments on the last chapter

A/N: Thanks for all the comments on the last chapter. I'm glad you all approve of Sirius and Mary getting engaged. And in this update, Lily has some exciting news. And I think you can all guess what that means! Enjoy and please don't forget to leave a review when you drop by. Thanks! –Mara

Chapter Fifty-Two

Over the next two months, the Order didn't have much to do. Even their presumed spy seemed to have suspended his duties for the time being. Although admittedly, that was probably because Moody used every Order meeting to claim that he was making progress on tracking down the traitor. Whether this development was actually true or not, the spy did seem to deem Moody's threat worthy enough to remain invisible, at least for now.

Most things happening these days were happy. There was Sirius and Mary's engagement that had taken many people by surprise, but everyone was pleased to hear that they were taking their relationship to the next level. Almost everyone, with the exception of Sirius's parents. They sent them an owl the morning after Sirius and Mary had announced their engagement; a death threat which was not only directed at Mary, but Sirius as well. This didn't seem to impress him a lot, though. He simply shrugged and said he didn't understand why his parents were bothering to threaten them at all since their only son was already dead, before casting Incendio on the letter and getting back to reading the Daily Prophet like nothing had happened.

Meanwhile, Sirius and James had become trainees at the Auror Office at the Ministry. They were now working for the Auror Ray Matthews, a broad-shouldered and tall man with wild white hair, amber-colored cat-like eyes and more scars in his face than Moody. He looked quite intimidating, but according to Moody and Zabini, Matthews was a good man and a skilled teacher.

Mary and her teammate Ching-Lu had won the challenge with their classmates and were now the official interns at the Spell Damage-department. Pierce was still acting as strict as ever, although he had asked them over for dinner a few weeks ago and they had learnt that outside the walls of St.Mungo's, thier mentor was actually a very nice man with a dry sense of humor.

And last but not least, Frank and Alice Longbottom had announced they were expecting a child. They would have liked to keep the pregnancy a secret until they had passed the critical three months border, but when Moody started to suspect that they were hiding something from the Order and threatened to set up a personal investigation, Alice decided it was better to share the happy news instead.

So despite the constant threat of Voldemort and his Death Eaters, the end of the year 1979 looked very promising. On a snowy December night, Mary was sitting behind her desk to recite some spells she had learned at work. She had scribbled down the incantations on some parchment and was trying to use them correctly. Easier said than done, because her cat Coco was lying stretched out on top of her notes and there wasn't anyone to practice the spells on. Sirius was at James' with Remus, Peter, Frank, Fabian and Gideon and Lily was off visiting her parents. The only other person in the room was Brice – who was studying a complicated-looking cipher – and Mary seriously doubted her friend would be willing to let Mary use her to practise a fever dimishing spell.

She sighed, put her wand down and took a sip of her juice before reaching out to stroke Coco. The cat purred contently at her touch and turned on its back, almost knocking a candlestick over in the process. Mary put the stick aside and tickled Coco's belly. Her engagement ring was twinkling in the candlelight and she smiled. She continued to move her ring finger around so the ring kept sparkling until she heard someone heave an impatient sigh. Mary looked up and noticed that Brice was watching her. "That ring isn't going to disappear when you're not admiring it every five minutes, you know."

Mary grinned foolishly. "I'm sorry, but I'm still having trouble to believe it."

Brice magically refilled her glass with Firewhiskey and smiled. "You're not the only one. Sirius Black getting married… Who would have thought?"

"Not me," Mary said, fiddling with her engagement ring. She desisted doing this at once when she saw her friend's amused look. "Sorry," she muttered. "I just can't help thinking that this is all a dream and I'm about to wake up."

Brice lifted an eyebrow. "A dream that's lasted over two months?"

"I see your point."

"I can see where you're coming from, though," Brice said thoughtfully. "Sirius isn't exactly the type of guy you'd expect to get married."

"Yeah, maybe… But I think Regulus's death..."

Brice shrugged. "Whether it was the death of his brother or not, I think I owe you an apology."

"What are you talking about?"

Brice took a sip of whiskey. "You remember that talk we and Lily had the day you and Sirius moved in together? When I said that he would never choose you over his friends?"

"Yes," Mary replied as she picked up Coco and put the cat down on her lap.

"Well…" Her friend paused and looked like she was choosing her words carefully. "I never expected Sirius to become this attached to a girl. That has got something to do with me, because I dated him in our fifth year when he was everything but considerate with a girl's feelings. I know that it's different with you, but I guess I've always been bummed that I haven't been that girl to him."

"But-"

"-Now don't get me wrong: you guys belong together and I want to be with Remus. In fact, I cannot picture myself with any other guy, but I don't know… I suppose that deep down inside, I would have liked to be that girl who manages to tame the infamous womaniser Sirius Black."

Mary tickled Coco behind the ears. "You're forgetting that Sirius has grown up a lot during that final year at Hogwarts. If I would have gone out with him in our sixth year – and remember: back then I would have preferred pickling rat brains over a date with Sirius Black -, I'm sure he would have treated me exactly the same way." She snorted. "And all his other 315 conquests."

Brice burst out laughing. "Lordy, you're still remembering that conversation?"

Mary smiled. "How could I forget? That was the first time I really stared into his eyes. I got lost in them at once. Oh those eyes…" She sighed dreamily. "You could seriously drown by looking into those pools of grey, did you know that?"

Brice smiled. "Yeah, the guy has a mesmerizing set of eyes, I give you that."

They looked up when they heard a soft knock on the door. Mary shot her a puzzled look and put Coco down on the floor. "Who could that be?"

Brice frowned. "The guys are all at James's place and Lily is visiting her parents. I have no idea… Better be prepared, I say."

They picked up their wands and quietly approached the front door. Brice aimed her wand at the doorway and Mary cast Alohomora on it, so that her other could immediately cast a jinx if their guest turned out to be an enemy. The door swung open and their mystery guest got revealed, but it wasn't a Death Eater. It was Lily. "Hi," thier redheaded friend said quietly before frowning at the hostile welcoming committee. "What are you doing?"

"Security reasons," Brice muttered and Mary pulled Lily inside so she could close and magically seal the door behind them. When she walked back into the room, Lily had sat down across Brice. She was stroking Coco, who had jumped back on top of the desk.

"What do you want to drink, Lil?" Mary asked.

"I've got Firewhiskey," Brice suggested, holding up the bottle.

"Er... I prefer something non-alcoholic, if that's okay," Lily replied.

"How about some apple juice?"

"Yeah, sure. Thanks."

Mary had only just put down a glass of apple juice in front of Lily and sat down herself when Brice asked: "So why are you here, Lil? I thought you were staying over at your parents house tonight."

"I was, but something happened," Lily said. "And I just had to come here to eh… find out for sure."

Mary and Brice shot Lily a curious look, expecting her to clarify what she was talking about. When she didn't say anything else, the others exchanged confused glances before Brice asked: "What happened?"

Lily didn't reply immediately and stared at the table for a moment. Mary noticed that her friend was fiddling with her wedding ring and she couldn't help but smile and shoot another look at her engagement ring. Her mind got pulled back to the present when Lily finally reached down to get something from her bag. She got back up and carefully placed a plastic and elongated object on the table.

Brice stared at it, looking clueless. "What in Merlin's name is that?"

Mary did know what the object was, but she wasn't any less surprised than Brice. "A pregnancy test?"

Lily nodded, still reticent, and a wide eyed Brice picked up the pregnancy test and started to study it closely. "This…" she said eventually with an incredulous look on her face. "Is what Muggles use to check whether they're pregnant or not?"

"This is a test you can do on your own, but you can also visit a doctor and let him determine the pregnancy for you," Mary explained before shooting a careful look at Lily. "Lil, are you sure that…?"

Her best friend sighed and opened a small hole on the other side of the pregnancy test to reveal a small piece of paper with two bright pink lines. "See?" she said quietly.

Mary rubbed her nose. "Oh."

"Yes, but that's why I came to see you. I mean, these tests… They can be inaccurate, right?"

Lily sounded hopeful, but Mary shrugged and said: "Technically, yes… But how are you feeling?"

"Ehm… I should have gotten my period by now and I sometimes feel nauseated in the morning."

Mary nodded. "Alright… And have you been feverish lately? Or experienced any dizziness?"

"Yes, but haven't you?"

"Not in combination with your other symptoms," Mary replied calmly. "It looks like you're pregnant to me, but I think you should schedule an appointment with a Healer at the St.Mungo's Obstretics Department as soon as possible."

"But isn't there anything you can do?" Lily pleaded.

Mary shot her a look. "I can do a magical pregnancy test right here if you like, but that is not my area of expertise, so I still advise you to consult-"

"-Oh Mare, stop being a Healer for a minute and just be my friend, will you?" Lily snapped before adding: "Sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"That's okay," Mary smiled before she got up and walked into the kitchen to prepare the test. After she had opened one of the kitchen cabinets to grab some valerian roots, oatstaw, red raspberry leafs and rose hips and started to mix the ingredients in a small bowl, she heard Brice ask: "Why are you so afraid of being pregnant?"

"I'm only twenty years old, Brice. I consider myself rather young to become a mother," Lily said quietly, looking down at Coco who was nestling on her lap.

"My mum was twenty when she had me," Mary called from the kitchen. "And she never regretted becoming a parent at that age."

"Hmmm," Lily replied thoughtfully and focused on stroking a now loudly purring Coco.

Mary returned to the room with a bowl of greenish pulp. She put her chair down in front of Lily, who arched her eyebrows when she looked at the odd-looking mixture in the bowl. "I should have known not to be asking you for a potion."

Mary laughed. "It's not a potion, you daft cow! It's an ointment." When her friend's sceptical expression didn't soften, she rolled her eyes. "For your information: according to Pierce, my salves are excellent."

"Alright then," Lily said before putting Coco back onto the table. "What are you going to do?"

"I'll rub this ointment onto the inside of your wrist, cast a pregnancy detecting spell on it and wait for five minutes. And then we shall know."

Lily nodded. "Okay, let's do it." She handed out her arm, and after Mary had put some of the ointment on it, she reached for her wand to cast Gravitocernus on Lily's wrist. The pulp lit up to a bright orange for a moment before turning back to its original green.

"Wow, it felt very hot for a second. And now?"

"Now we wait," Mary said as she tried to keep Lily's wrist level. "Just keep it in this position."

Brice had been watching the process closely. "So Lily, haven't you and James been careful enough?" she asked, shooting her a curious look.

Lily shrugged. "Most of the time we are, but sometimes we just kind of… You know?"

Mary nodded. "But if you turned out to be pregnant… Honestly, that shouldn't be so bad, right? I mean, you're a married woman. Now if I got pregnant-"

"-You're engaged! You're practically married."

Mary shot an amused look at Brice and said: "Fine. If Brice got pregnant, now that could get a little problematic."

Lily giggled madly. "I'm just imagining Remus's face when he finds out Brice is carrying his child."

Brice chuckled. "I'd say he'll be fleeing the building faster than a Nimbus 1500 at top speed. How do you think James will take it?"

Lily's smile faded quickly. "I don't know… Is it time yet?"

"Almost," Mary said.

"What wil happen after those five minutes?"

"I will remove the ointment and if you're not pregnant: there's nothing to see. However, if you are, the salve will have left a blue mark on your wrist."

Lily shot her a look. "And that means what, that I'm going to have a boy?"

Mary smiled. "This test doesn't determine the sex of the baby. It's merely a confirmation of the pregnancy. But we'll find out soon enough. It is time."

She grabbed a table cloth and – as Brice leaned in a little closer - gently wiped off the ointment on Lily's wrist. Nothing but a light blue mark remained behind. Mary looked up and met Lily's shocked gaze. "I guess that means you're pregnant. Congratulations."

Mary hugged her friend close and smiled when she whispered into her ear: "What am I going to do? What is James going to say?"

Mary grinned. "That's what we're about to find out. I think we should pay the guys a little visit."

Lily bit her lip. "You really think so?"

Brice nodded after she had also hugged Lily. "He has the right to know and celebrate this with you."

"Celebrate?" Lily said, rolling her eyes. "Okay, let's apparate to our hallway. Wait, are pregnant women allowed to apparate?"

"They are," Mary replied with twinkling eyes. "But it'll be rather disastrous if you splinch yourself. So you better keep those three D's in mind, Lil."

Lily shot her the infamous glare that used to scare James out of his wits before she disapparated with a loud pop. Mary and Brice grinned at each other before they followed suit. They apparated right behind Lily in the hallway and they could hear loud male voices and dance music come out of the living room. "What are they doing in there anyway?" Brice whispered curiously.

"No need to whisper, I should think," Lily replied chuckling before adding: "And I have no idea, but let's find out."

She opened the door and Mary and Brice walked in behind her. The three of them ran in on a scene they did not expect. The guys – all in different stages of undressing - were sitting at a large table and seemed to be playing a game of poker. Several bottles of butterbeer, mead and Firewhiskey were standing on the messy table. None of the guys had noticed that the girls standing in the room who were watching them with open mouths. Apparently Frank had lost the last game, because James and Gideon were encouraging him to pull off his pants. "Alright, alright! I'll do it," Frank laughed and he was about to pull them off when his eyes fell on the girls. "Oh. Hello!"

The guys looked around as one and fel silent. For a few seconds, all that could be heard was the loud music coming from the stereo, until Peter and Gideon quickly reached for their shirts, whereas Sirius and James looked merely surprised but didn't bother to put on any of their missing clothes.

Brice was cackling madly and leaned in closer to Mary and Lily. "This is what we've been mssing out on? Merlin's Beard, we should have dropped by ages ago!"

Mary giggled, but Lily decided that she shouldn't waste any time. "James, do you have a moment?"

James frowned at her. "What, now?"

"Yes, it's urgent."

James got up at once, momentarily forgetting that he was wearing just a shirt and no pants or socks. "Who died?"

"No one," Lily said quickly. "But I really need to speak with you. In private."

"Oh, alright," James said, looking confused as he got up and said: "You lads carry on without me."

"Don't forget these!" a grinning Remus called before chucking James's pants at him.

After James and Lily had left the room, Brice pulled a slightly hesitant Mary along to the remaining half-naked guys at the table and said cheerfully: "So you were playing strip poker? Shouldn't you play that game with men and women?"

"Yup," Frank replied cheerfully. "That said, you girls wanna join in?"

"Eh…" a protesting Remus started, but Brice laughed as she sat down in James's seat. "Nah, I don't really know the game, but I'd like to watch."

Frank winked at her and started to hand out the cards while Mary walked over to a spare seat next to Sirius and Peter. She noticed that Sirius was wearing nothing more than his boxers and socks and lifted an eyebrow. "Bad luck?"

"Bad cards," he replied darkly.

"Looks like I dropped by just in time, then."

Sirius grinned and reached for her hand to pull her down. "That depends on how you look at it, doesn't it?"

Mary felt herself go red and avoided his eyes as she helped herself to a Butterbeer. Peter had been watching her for a while and asked: "Do you know how to play poker, Mary?"

She shook her head and sipped her butterbeer. "Not really."

"Because I really wouldn't mind seeing you lose some clothing," he added cheekily.

Mary was so stunned – did Peter actually just say that? – that she choked on her drink and Sirius chucked a couple of poker chips at Peter's head. "Shut up, Wormtail." He pulled Mary on his lap and put his arms around her possessively. "I will not tolerate you talking to my future wife like this."

Mary laughed and gave him a kiss before she looked over at Peter. "Seriously Pete, what has gotten into you?"

Peter shrugged and said nothing as he started to arrange his cards. But when Mary looked up, she met Fabian's eyes; he winked at her and mouthed "Firewhiskey". Mary giggled. Sirius shot her a curious look, but she was now overhearing Gideon asking Brice about the reason for them dropping by.

"It's like Lily said," Brice was saying. "She urgently needed to talk to James."

"Urgent enough to disturb our weekly poker night?" Gideon asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Didn't I just say that?" she countered indignantly.

"Relax Brice," Remus intervened calmly as he reached for her hand. "All Gideon is saying that we would like to know what this is all about."

Brice smiled at him. "Well, that's something between the two of them, isn't it?"

"I suppose so," Remus said. "But I mean, it's not like she's pregnant or anything."

Mary stiffened in her seat. Remus had just interpreted the situation correctly and didn't even seem to realize it. She shifted uncomfortably and was terrified Brice would give away Lily's secret, but her friend didn't seem to be the least intimidated by her boyfriend's curious stare. "No," she lied with a serene expression on her face. "Now can we just go back to the game? I'd like to see what all the fuss is about."

Remus shrugged and the other guys picked up their cards to continue the game. Mary heaved a relieved sigh, but then she noticed that Sirius hadn't arranged his cards, but was staring at her. She had a slight suspicion that he had been doing this for a while and she was sitting on his lap, so he must have felt her stiffen when Remus mentioned the pregnancy. Mary finally dared to look up and in that one second that they were looking at each other, his suspicions seemed to be confirmed. He looked utterly perplexed and Mary silently begged him to remain quiet. A dazed-looking Sirius nodded and picked up his cards, but he didn't even seem to realize that he was holding a Full House in his hands.

Luckily for him, that was the moment that James and Lily entered the room. Mary noticed that her eyes were red; it was obvious that she had been crying. Mary shot her friend a worried look; did this mean that James didn't want the baby? Lily quickly soothed her concern by smiling and cocking her head over at James. When Mary looked at him, she couldn't help but smile. James was looking just as happy as he had been on his wedding day; he was wearing that same blissful grin like he could not believe his luck.

Lily softly squeezed his hand and asked: "Do you want to… Or shall I?"

James grinned at her before looking at the others. His gaze seemed to linger on Sirius for a moment, as if he guessed that his best mate already knew what he was going to say. James smiled when he noticed that Sirius was giving him a tiny wink. He cleared his throat and said: "We… Merlin, I'm so happy I can hardly find the words to describe what I'm feeling right now. Lily just told me that eh… That we're expecting a eh-"

"I'm pregnant!" Lily finished their announcement for him.

For a moment, nobody moved at all. Most of the guys stared at Lily with their mouths hanging wide open, until Frank jumped up and pulled James into a tight embrace while he boomed: "James is going to be a dad! James is going to be a dad!" Everyone stood up after this and congratulated the expecting couple. When Mary was hugging James, she heard an amused Remus accusing Brice of lying to him.

"Well, I didn't have much choice, now did I?" she replied with a guilty expression on her face.

"I know, I understand," Remus chuckled and he kissed her on the forehead. "I just had no idea I was spoiling Lily's big news."

Mary witnessed them and the others talking animatedly with a broad smile on her face. There was no doubt about it: this was a series of fortunate events. No Order-disappearances or deaths, her and Sirius's engagement, their promising-looking careers, Alice's pregnancy and now James and Lily who were also expecting their first child. It was making her remember their carefree years at Hogwarts. Back then, they had been blissfully oblivious to all the terrors of their current world. And now (with the engagement and pregnancies) it was quite hard to think about the dangers of the war. For one blessed moment on this cold Winter night, Voldemort and his Death Eaters seemed like a million miles away.

End of Update