AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay everyone here's the next chapter! Yay, I guess! :) Enjoy, all standard disclaimers apply (I'm not in the note-y mood now) But thanks for checking this out! Read it, review it, and most importantly, enjoy it!

~Teller

Sirius Black pulled into his garage and turned off his magical motorcycle with a flick of his wand. He got off the motorcycle and, whistling, hung his leather jacket up on a hook just inside the door. He conjured himself a cup of tea, and sat down to read the Daily Prophet.

A sentence into the first article he became bored.

"Perhaps I could go visit Peter," he mused, stroking his black beard with the air of a great intellect. He stood to reclaim his jacket and helmet, but a sudden movement out of the corner of his eye made him stop and turn.

The flames in his fireplace had turned a bright green, and were at least his height. A tall, slender figure appeared in it, and someone with hair so red for an instant Sirius thought it was on fire fell out of the fireplace, and collapsed on the ground, sobbing incoherently.

"Lily!" Sirius gasped, and rushed to her. He rolled her over, and saw that she clutched a screaming Harry in her arms. He took Harry from her and shook her shoulder. "Lily!" He repeated. No response. Sirius paled, and hugged Harry to him tightly. He waved his wand and conjured a large crib for Harry, then lifted Lily to the green couch. He hurried to get a wet compress for her forehead, and sponged it gently, cradling her head in his lap. After a few moments, Lily's eyelids fluttered, and she opened her eyes, meeting Sirius's own brown ones.

"James?" She asked, reaching a hand up to Sirius's face. She blinked again, and her eyes focused on Sirius. Suddenly she began to cry, huge tears trickling out of her eyes. She sat up and put her head in her hands, and rocked back and forth, sobbing James' name out in in great gasps. Sirius was terrified. He put a hand out and rubbed Lily's back gently, making shushing noises like his mother used to. Lily looked up suddenly and looked around wildly.

"Harry! Where's Harry?" She demanded, fear prominent in her eyes. Sirius gestured to the crib, where the child had fallen asleep.

"He's in the crib," he said quietly. Lily stood and rushed to her son. Upon seeing that he was safe and unharmed, she sighed in relief and touched a hand to his forehead. It seemed he was missing something . . . besides a father . . . tears began seeping out of her eyes again.

"Lily . . . what's wrong? What happened?" Sirius asked, enveloping her in a tight hug. Lily took a huge, shuddering gasp.

"It was - him - Voldemort - he came - James said he'd hold him off, so I - I took Harry and we - we came here." She said, still crying. Sirius paled, and all the laughter left his eyes.

"Peter," he growled. Lily burst into sobs again, and Sirius' anger swelled. "That traitorous rat-bastard! He -" Sirius' anger prevented him even from speaking coherently, and a stream of curses and violent oaths streamed from his lips in a language Lily didn't even want to comprehend.

"I'll kill him!" Sirius shouted, taking his wand and beginning to storm out the door.

"Sirius - no! Please, stay here with Harry and I! Please -" she said, holding her hands out. "We need you here with us more than Peter needs what's coming to him." Sirius glared at the door, but forced himself to relax his grip on his wand.

"Very well," he said tightly. "I'll stay here with you two."

"thank you Sirius, thank you!" Lily said, cradeling Harry in her arms again. He was awake, and seemed unperturbed by the evening's previous events. He played with his mother's auburn hair, twisting it in his tiny, chubby hands. "What should we do?" She asked helplessly. Sirius frowned.

"He'll be able to find you here. We should . . . go to Dumbledore." Lily nodded, and felt tears well up in her eyes again.

I will not cry, she thought firmly. For the sake of Harry, I will not cry.

An hour later, Sirius and a man named Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, sat in a large, circular office.

"Thank you for taking them in, Albus," Sirius said solemnly. Dumbledore nodded, his face no less solemn.

"Voldemort and Peter Pettigrew are still on the loose. The Ministry's Hit-Wizards are closing in on Peter, but we have no idea where Voldemort may be." Sirius nodded, and anger flooded his face.

"We were betrayed," he hissed through his teeth. Dumbledore's aged face grew even more solemn. Sirius had told him all about the change James had made made from making him the Secret-Keeper of the Fidelius Charm to Peter, who turned out to be a henchman of Voldemort's.

"Yes, betrayed. But we cannot change the past! We all loose people we love. Keep your wits about you, Sirius, they will be needed. Remus cannot come now, the timing makes it difficult for him -" he glanced out the window at the full moon and shook his head. "Lily and Harry will depend on you, Sirius." Sirius nodded, and stood to leave the room and watch over Lily, who was fast asleep in Dumbledore's bedroom with Harry close to her side. Dumbledore sighed, and looked out the window again at the full moon.

The next day, the following article appeared in the Daily Prophet:

MURDERER PETTIGREW CAPTURED TODAY

This morning at two thirty, trained Ministry Hit Wizards closed in on the runaway Peter Pettigrew, who has been found guilty of conspiracy, treason, and the assisted murder of James Potter. The large, balding man was cornered in a Muggle Alley in Edinburgh. He was disarmed and successfully taken prisoner with the all time low record of only three Muggles noticing and requiring Memory Charms. He was taken into custody at the Ministry Of Magic Headquarters, but before he could be questioned was killed. It was assumed that the Dark Lord was involved with Pettigrew's death as the Dark Mark was found smoking on his left arm shortly after his decease. Furthur investigations will be made by both Aurors and the Experimental Charms Committee.

Lily set the paper down, her hands shaking. She still had not quite gotten over the previous night's events. She fingered her wedding ring, and felt the tears welling up in her eyes again. She took a deep breath and looked up at the enchanted Great Hall ceiling. The blue sky cheered her somewhat.

I can get over this, she thought. I lost my grandparents, my mother, my father, and my brother, and I got over it. I can get over James. It will take time and healing, but I can do it. All I need is Harry, Sirius, and Remus. We'll be fine. Harry chortled from his place on the floor, and Lily bent to pick him up. He beamed at her, and reached for her coffee.

"Harry, don't --" But it was too late, the tea cup had been upended upon the newspaper. People in the black-and-white wizarding pictures opened their mouths in silent screams and fled for the safety of the picture borders. Lily watched them with amusement and began to laugh. Harry looked at her with wide green eyes, slightly confused, and promptly went cross-eyed. Lily laughed even harder; she didn't know why but for some reason this was so funny to her, and soon she was doubled over with peals of hysterical laughter, tears rolling down her face. Harry, seeing the tears, patted his mother's head for comfort. Unfortunately, this only made her laugh harder. She pulled air through her lungs in great, gasping breaths, and the air tore at her throat with saw-edged blades. She began to cough, and reached for her coffee cup -- only to realize its contents had been spilled across the paper. She began to laugh again.

"Good lord, she's gone insane!" A voice from the double doors of the Great Hall said. Lily looked up and saw Sirius, smiling, heading over to her. He saw the spilled coffee and the concerned Harry, and shook his head. He patted Lily's ruby hair.

"Now, now, Lily, it's all right." Suddenly Lily stopped laughing, and looked up at Sirius with wide green eyes. Sirius, finding himself confronted with two identical emerald stares, took a slight step back. Lily took another huge breath of air and smiled shakily at Sirius.

"You okay?" He asked. Lily nodded, smiling.
"Surprisingly, Sirius, I think I am . . ."

A pearly white figure peered in through the window, and saw Lily, Sirius, and baby Harry sitting at the breakfast table, all smiling and laughing with the ease of healing. The figure grinned, and brushed a few ghostly strands of dark hair out of foggy eyes. He turned, put his transparent hands in invisible pockets, and continued patrolling the Hogwarts lawn, whistling silently.