Welcome to Chapter 3. I hope you all enjoy - there are a few gems in here from the old version, if you read that version let me know if you recognize them!

Disclaimer - I don't own Harry Potter

A Fresh Start for All

November 20th, 1981

As Lily laid an already sleeping Harry down for the night, she couldn't help the tears that fell from her eyes. Today she had said goodbye to the love of her life – the man she had thought she would spend the rest of her life with. The funeral itself was overwhelming – most of James' auror colleagues were on duty for the event. The many members of the press and public were kept outside of the little chapel at Godric's Hollow. Sirius and Remus stood by her side throughout the funeral, crying with her. Lily couldn't remember much more of it than that. She had been too focused on James' open casket. The affair itself was small and mostly consisted of those that had been in the Order. She was grateful that Augusta Longbottom had made it even though Alice couldn't. She had still yet to grieve the loss of her good friend, but in time she knew she would. Lily's sister Petunia even made an appearance in the back of the chapel. They didn't speak, but her presence meant the world to her.

More wine was in order for the night, and the first thing she did when she closed Harry's door was pour a large glass of it. She stared into the fire again. As she finished the glass, she realized she didn't want to sleep in a bed without James tonight, and fell into a restless sleep on the couch.

It was a beautiful, content evening. James was playing with Harry in their living room, making small harmless red and gold sparks and their laughs filled the air with joy.

James looked to her. "I love him so much, I still can't believe you made a human being."

She laughed. "We've been over this, James, it's just one of the many talents women have. But the flattery doesn't mean we're not still waiting a good long time until the next…"

Suddenly, Voldemort was there. Everything in the room changed. She took Harry and ran, but she didn't make it far. With a flash of green light, James was lifeless. His cold blank eyes stared into nothing.

"Now it's the child's turn, girl."

"Not Harry! Take me! Take me instead!" Voldemort simply shook his head and she began to run harder. The house they were in became an empty hallway. One that never seemed to end. Everything had happened so fast, yet she needed it to be over now.

"I don't want you, girl. I just want the boy." He had caught up with her. With a flash of green from his wand, the baby in her arms was dead. His eyes were just as lifeless as James' had been.

"Mistress? Mistress?"

A small voice jolted her awake. She was in a cold sweat. Tears poured down her face and a wave of nausea had hit her. "Oh my god it was a dream."

Daisy's large and concerned eyes focused on her. "Mistress, Daisy is sorry to wake yous up. But yous don't look good, Mistress."

Lily realized she didn't feel good, either. She ran to the bathroom and the house elf followed her. She was grateful she made it to the toilet before vomiting. "Thank you, Daisy. Fetch professor McGonagall if she's awake and bring her here."

Minerva was there shortly in a nightgown, and she went straight to business. She grabbed a washcloth and wet it with cold water for her forehead and held her hair back while she continued to dry heave and cry. Nothing was said between the two women until Lily had finished vomiting. Eventually, they both sat back on the cold bathroom floor.

"Minerva, does the pain ever go away?"

Minerva looked at her gently and simply said, "No, dear. But it does get easier with time. I promise."

December 3rd, 1981

"It's not much. But we can make it home." Sirius said to her as they walked into the door of their newly purchased Muggle home. As they had discussed, they looked into renovating the Stinchcombe home, but Lily decided that the knowledge a war would be coming someday made the unknown location of that home valuable. She was always one to think ahead.

The house they'd chosen to purchase was in the village of Ottery St. Catchpole, a home near the forest but still close enough that they could walk to town together. The Weasleys (Arthur was a friend of the Potters from James' ministry days and Molly was the sister of two of their friends that had passed away in the Order) lived close by as well as the Diggorys and Lovegoods. There were still plenty of Muggles, though. The house they had chosen had a beautiful front garden and was styled to look like a cottage. They had placed protection wards around the entire home – no one who wanted to harm them could come in. They had found that little gem in the Hogwarts restricted section during her weeks spent there.

"It's beautiful." Lily said to Sirius. The house was older – at least 200 years old. There was detailed woodwork etched between the white plaster walls. The layout was large but simple. They walked into a large living room with a beautiful chandelier. To the left was a dining room and a kitchen that stretched to the back of the house and onto a back patio. Beyond the living room was a large room with a beautiful staircase leading to the second floor tucked against the wall. There was a small alcove that Lily couldn't wait to turn into a playroom. Beyond that, in an addition from a hundred years ago, was a beautiful library that was perfect for Lily's incessant search for new information, including books they had recently purchased that hopefully held information on the war to come. The second floor contained 5 bedrooms. The original four that came with the house sat kitty-corner from one another. But the master bedroom was above the library – she would have her own bathroom and a circular staircase that led to a small hidden room in a tower above her bedroom. They had agreed since she was the only woman in the house that she should have the room with its own bathroom. Harry would have the room next to her, and Sirius the room across from him. It was everything they had wanted and more.

Her eyes began to well as she thought of her husband, and how much he would have loved it too.

"He would be so proud of how strong you have been." Sirius said, coming up behind her to hug her.

"When did you get so wise?" She wiped her tears and smiled at him. Her focus moved to the small toddler on his hip.

"Mama!"

Taking her son into her arms, a swell of emotion she hadn't allowed herself to feel until now came to her. She had shut down since after James' funeral to get through everything. But now they were finally home. And she could breathe. And she could focus on her son. On who he could become. "I want him to know he's a Potter, even if James isn't here to tell him."

December 5th, 1981

"If I go up and down those stairs one more time, I think the bottoms of my feet might peel off."

"Stop being so dramatic, Sirius." Lily said to her friend. He had "collapsed" on the couch in a faint. She had to admit that two days of moving had begun to take its toll on her as well and sat down next to him. "Daisy?"

With a soft pop, the younger of the Potter house elves appeared next to her. "Yes, Mistress?"

"Can you bring us some tea and biscuits? I think we need a short break."

"Think? Short? What are these words! Blasphemy! Make it a load of biscuits, Daisy."

Daisy giggled. A few soft pop's later, a full afternoon tea was set out for them.

"Now this is more like it!"

Lily smiled softly at her friend as they began to eat. The two of them watched Harry play with his toy stag and wolf. It had been two long days of moving. Thankfully, the house elves had done most of the runs to and from Hogwarts, Sirius' apartment, and Godric's Hollow. But the two of them had done the majority of the work putting everything away. Using magic had, without a doubt, made their lives easier but it was exhausting using magic all day. It's easy when you know where things go already. It's deciding where to put things that took them, well, Lily, forever.

"What do we have left?"

"Just the guest rooms and the secondary library above my bedroom. I want to put the books dealing with the darker magic we're researching up there so that they aren't available to anyone who walks in."

"Wood crall." Sirius said, his mouth full having just eaten a biscuit.

"I'm sorry, what?"

With a swallow, he repeated himself, "Good call. Those could be dangerous in the wrong hands."

"Don't I know it."

A comfortable silence fell between them. "Will you be going back to the aurors in the new year?"

Sirius looked at her, not expecting her question. "I think I just assumed I would, yea."

"Even with the stares?"

"Lil, I've been dealing with stares my whole life as a Black. Not as many as I get now, but I don't mind it so much. Plus, I've always gotten stares from the ladies." He gave her a sly wink. She gave him a firm shove with her feet. He dramatically balanced his tea in his hand. "Watch it, this is a new couch, you know!"

Two eye rolls later, she smiled. "I don't think I could do it. I am not one that can sit around the house all day, but I'm not sure what to do with him. I can't put him in a wizarding daycare because of his fame or put him in a Muggle daycare because of his magic. There's a flower shop that's got an open part-time job right now just down the street. It isn't healing, but I couldn't imagine myself working in the wizarding world right now. It's easily walking distance from here. And it would be so lovely to just have something to do with my time. Remus could watch over him while I work, but hopefully he'll be getting a job soon, so I feel like I'm between a rock and a hard place."

Sirius looked contemplative (for the first time in his life, surely), "We'll figure something out. We have before and we will now. We're a team now, Lil. If that means I have to take a few days off a month, so be it."

Their conversation was interrupted as they heard a knocking coming from the door. Lily got up to open it. She found a rosy cheeked Molly Weasley with a tray of what appeared to be still warm brownies.

"Hello, Lily! I know you moved in two days ago, but I wanted to give you some time to move in. I brought you brownies as a housewarming gift! May I come in?"

"Of course! Come in, come in!" Lily smiled as she took the tray of brownies to the kitchen. Sirius greeted Molly warmly. He hadn't been as good of friends with Arthur as James had been, but they were still acquaintances, so he'd met Molly before. Molly saw Harry and immediately rushed to pick him up. She loved children and her warmth made Lily smile.

"He's so cute!" Harry giggled in her arms as Molly cooed.

"Thank you so much." Lily kissed Harry on his still inflamed scab. "Would you like a tour of the house? You know, before Sirius messes it up?"

Molly laughed, a glimmer in her eyes. "Boys. What will we do? I'd love a tour."

"Hey. You do know I'm right here!" Sirius pouted. Molly chuckled and Lily began to shepherd them through the first floor.

Molly held Harry throughout the tour, and he soon fell asleep by the time they reached his room. Molly gently laid him down in his crib when they reached it, and noticed he was still clutching his plush stag and wolf. She felt her heart swell just a little and followed the others out the door of the nursery. They walked down the stairs and just as Molly was about to leave, she took a deep breath and spoke up. "Lily, Sirius, there was another reason why I came over. I wanted to offer you anything that Arthur or I could do for you. I know this time has to be hard for you and we'd like to do anything we can. Your sacrifice for the war was a great one, and one we feel we understand more than most. If you need anything just ask, really. Even if you just need someone to watch Harry, Merlin knows having one more at home won't make much of a difference at this point. I'd be more than willing," Molly said with a kind smile.

Lily and Sirius looked at each other. Sirius' eyes were filled with mirth, while Lily's were more cautious. "That's very kind of you, Molly. We really appreciate that. In fact," Sirius said, "Lily and I were just trying to figure out a problem that you just might be able to solve. Lily really wants to get a Muggle job. She loves working, but we can't leave Harry alone, and the wizarding world seems to have gone a little insane over everything that's happened, so she can't go back to St. Mungo's. Would you mind? We'd be willing to watch…. Err… some of your kids every once in a while."

Lily elbowed Sirius in the side. "Thank you so much for the offer, Molly. If you need time to mull it over, I completely understand. I'm sure Sirius didn't mean to take you up on it quite so quickly." She looked the older red-headed women in the eyes. "We really would appreciate it if you took care of Harry while Sirius and I were at work. I'd get a part time job, so it wouldn't be all day every day but more like for a few hours every other day. I just don't think I'd be able to sit at home all day with Harry. It was hard enough when there were two of us while we were in hiding. I love kids, but if I don't have something else to focus on I'd probably go crazy." Lily smiled sweetly. She tripped over her words, nervous they were taking advantage of the offer. "I'm sure you didn't expect us to take you up on your offer so quickly, but you honestly just presented it at the perfect time."

"Oh, I'd love to! It'd be no problem. It might give Ron someone to play with. The twins are already hyper all the time and are spending time with each other and Ginny is only a few months old so much of my attention goes to her. The other kids are much too old to be playing with a 20-month-old. And don't worry, I'll talk to the older kids who know who he is. No one will be judging him for what happened on Halloween." Molly gave the two young adults her motherly smile.

After Molly left, Sirius announced that he was going to Diagon Alley to pick up a new set of robes for work since she didn't really need him for the guest room work.

"Dinner's at five. And visit Remus while you're gone. See if his mind has changed."

Sirius nodded his head and said goodbye to Lily with a tight hug. "I'll do my best". He left the house and apparated to Remus' cottage first. This could take a while.

Remus sat alone at his cottage, reading another book. He'd largely isolated himself from his friends since Lily's return from the hospital. The most contact he'd had with Sirius was during a full moon that had been worse than almost any other full moon he'd experienced. When it was over, Sirius had left for Hogwarts with Lily. And the funeral had been so heavy, but he had made it. He had originally thought Lily and Harry would come here, but the more and more he thought about it… he needed this place to be his own. It would be too dangerous. 'James would be so disappointed in you' kept repeating in his head. He didn't deserve his friends. He couldn't even trust them. Of course, he was set up by Peter, but he should have trusted his instincts. Sirius was good, and he'd tried to get him a life term in Azkaban. He felt horrible. Lily had mentioned for him to move in with them once they got the new house, but he couldn't do so knowing that he was a terrible friend and, not to mention, a danger to her baby.

There was a knock at the door and Remus made no move to open it. After five minutes of furious pounding, the visitor gave up and unlocked the door magically. Remus continued to read. What kind of rude asshole lets himself in… "Remus? I know you're here. Don't try acting like you're not." Sirius's voice rang through his cottage.

"Sirius? I told you I didn't want visitors." Of course, he had been expecting for Sirius to ignore his request. It was Sirius after all.

"So? What's your point? I came to talk, and talk is what we'll do." Remus suddenly found himself without his book. He now unfortunately had no choice but to look up at Sirius. "Well. I'm waiting for an answer." Sirius continued impatiently.

Remus sighed. He didn't want to have to say it again. "Sirius, you are aware of my position on this. It is not safe for me to be living in that house with a baby. God knows what might happen if I get loose while I'm transformed and you two can't stop me. Maybe I'll move in when he's older, but I just can't let myself live there right now. I promise I'll be over often, but right now I'm planning on getting a Muggle job and hiding. If the world finds out that the Boy-Who-Lived and his mother were living with a werewolf… I just don't think you or Lily understand the consequences of that, Sirius. None of you ever will. If I'm discovered living with you, I'd get blamed for bad intentions towards a child. It's wizarding law since he isn't my own child. I could get put in Azkaban, and Azkaban does not treat werewolves kindly. Sirius the press will find you and when they do… it's best for all of us that I'm not there."

Sirius was silent. Remus had left out the part where he could go to Azkaban in his responses to Sirius' prodding after the funeral, in addition to the way the world would react to Remus's presence in his house. He and Lily had forgotten about the Anti-Werewolf Child-Protection Law of 1811. Part of him was surprised she had, but with the pace the last few weeks had gone for both of them, he couldn't blame her. Remus couldn't live with them. Sirius sighed deeply, regretting trying to make Remus move in with them so fervently and pushing a subject that obviously hurt Remus. "Well Remus, I don't know what to say. Just know that you'll always be welcome at the house. They can't get you for spending the day. We'd love your company. We have two guest rooms, so there's no excuse you can make on us not having space. And you know we love you to death. I mean, Harry just lost his father. Don't make him lose an Uncle as well." Remus smiled since he could tell from the inflection in Sirius' voice that the conversation wasn't really about Harry anymore, but he continued the conversation as if it were.

"How is Harry by the way?"

"Well, most people would assume that he'd stay the same, I mean, after all he is only a year and a few months old. But he hasn't. His demeanor has slowly been getting sadder. I mean, I think the kid is finally starting to get that he won't see his dad again. It's really sad Remus. Every time he sees Lily crying, he crawls to her or tries to get to her and cries as well and says 'Dada'. It hurts to watch. When I went outside to clean the driveway from snow the Muggle way for appearances yesterday, Harry was saying 'Dada! Dada!' since that used to be James's job and I guess he just assumed I was him."

Remus was quiet for a while, absorbing the information. "And Lily? How's she coping?"

"Well, better than I ever expected her to be. I can tell that she misses James so much, but I just don't know what to tell her. I think half the reason why she keeps trying to get you to come live with us is because you understand her so much better than I do. All I can do is make her laugh. I never really understood girls, Moony. I mean, you're not that much better, but you were friends with Lily two years before I was and in those developmental years… I guess it really counts. So, if you can't live with us, can you spend some time at the house? I mean Lily really needs someone who understands her. Not only that but she needs a job. She needs something to do every day that doesn't revolve around Harry. She needs something to keep her busy. Molly Weasley offered to watch him while she's at work. I'm just glad she's staying strong, glad she's focusing on what's best for Harry. I hope it will keep her out of the lows I know she has."

Remus wasn't shocked. First, over the fact that it was Sirius who was being the responsible and perceptive one. Once he got over that, he realized that in past times of tension, Lily was always the one that was working or cleaning or studying or doing something. There was no way that anyone could ever make her calm down. That's what makes Lily, Lily though. Without her 'workaholicness' she just wasn't herself. Now that James was dead, she probably felt like she had to fulfill the space of two parents in Harry's life. But she needed to realize that Harry had Sirius and himself as well. She wasn't alone. Sirius didn't get that though. He just realized that she was trying to work through a low feeling (which, in itself, was quite impressive since he was usually the least observant of them all). Remus knew Lily. And right now, Lily was compensating her happiness when she should know that Harry will be happy regardless.

"Why don't we get to the house then? I have a feeling that Lily and I are going to have a nice long chat." Sirius beamed.

"Sorry Remus, you're on your own on this one. Good news is Harry just went down for a nap. I'll tell you the address since you don't know where it is, but I need to go to Gringott's and then I need new robes. And you need to use the floo since apparition is too loud and some Muggle is too likely to hear until we get the wards up."

"Alright, Sirius." Sirius then told him the address and went to the door. He heard Remus leave and wished him luck mentally knowing that Lily was most likely waiting to ambush him.

He stood on the steps of the cottage finally getting the chance to think of what had happened in the last few days. It seemed that everything was going wrong compared to where he thought he'd be. He was now responsible for a child, living in a family environment, and famous for being released from Azkaban because he had no trial. Speaking of which, Fudge was irritating him more than ever. Somehow, he had maintained his job as Minister. Representing two seats on the Wizengamot now, he was hoping they could change that soon.

Sirius sighed once more as he apparated to Diagon Alley, wanting nothing more than to be able to go back in time.

Lily sat on the couch in the newly-minted playroom watching her son play with a set of blocks on the floor. He had woken up from his nap only an hour ago, quite hungry. After she fed him his favorite (mashed sweet potatoes and peas) she placed him on the new colorful carpet in the playroom to explore his new space. She beamed as Harry managed to make a block that he couldn't find float behind him and hit him in the back gently. She laughed as Harry turned around, confused as to what had hit him. Any concerns that the child had had were gone since he had found the block sitting directly behind his butt. Lily found it to be the most adorable things she had ever seen. Suddenly, she heard the fireplace begin to crackle. She held her breath and hoped that it was Remus.

A body flung out of the fireplace and began coughing. "Lily?" Remus said. Lily laughed at the ashy ball calling for her and picked up a very confused Harry.

"Remus! I'm glad to see you!" Lily grabbed her wand off of the side table. "Here let me help you, scourgify!" The ashy ball immediately turned into a clean Remus. "Honestly, you're the only wizard I know who isn't a Muggleborn that still has such trouble with the floo."

"Thank you, Lily," Remus said as he stood straighter, smiling softly at her.

"MOOEY!" Harry shouted as he was now able to see Remus's face. Remus smiled at the child and turned to Lily, explaining to her everything he had explained to Sirius.

"Remus you know that I don't care if you're a werewolf or not, but I don't want you to go to Azkaban. I'm sorry we tried to push you into this, Remus, but we love you and I sincerely hope that you can remain a constant influence in Harry's childhood. I need someone to balance out Sirius," she said as she tried to smile and make the situation better.

"Oh Lily. Good luck with that." The two laughed until Harry hiccupped. They began to laugh again, and Lily realized that she might just be able to live with the hand she had been dealt in life.

I hope you all enjoyed! I know this chapter changed scenes frequently, but that's how my mind works.

It wouldn't be a maurader-centric fic without a little hesitation and self-consciousness from Remus.

Thank you for all the reviews!

Writingblondie