"I got here as soon as I could," As he sat down, Sirius ruffled James's messy black hair, making him look like a rather irritated owl. His blue eyes were unusually serious, but, obviously, Sirius'd be worried if they weren't. Lily cried out in terror and tried o struggle away, but Remus kept a firm grip on her to keep her from moving.

"Lily, you're supposed to be resting!" he said, casting a worried glance at James. She'd only started struggling after James's walked in. He might be tired, but he still had half a brain to think with, and two and two did add up to four. What could he have done that was so awful? As far as Remus knew, James had been at the apocethary all night for the midnight sale.

"Remus," said Sirius, with an extremely meaningful glance at his friend. Remus raised an eyebrow.

"Don't we have to go pick up… the thing for your mum?" Sirius said, dark blue eyes sending a plain message to Remus. Either he decided to leave the two alone, or he desperately wanted to eavesdrop. Remus squeezed Lily's shoulder, and turned.

"I believe you're right. Come on then," he said. Lily began to cry, and Remus turned for split second before Sirius caught a hold of his robes and gave them a sharp tug. Regretfully, Remus followed his friend outside.

"Don't you dare come near me!" whimpered Lily, sounding for the very first time in her life extremely terrified. James opened his mouth, but her cries drowned out the beginning o a word in his throat. He waited patiently until she had cried herself into silence. Without a single word calmly reached over and stroked her coppery red hair. With his ohter hand he took out a handkerchief and wiped away her tears.. As she turned hurt, bottle green eyes on him, he found he couldn't meet them.

"Why?" she whispered in a small voice, the voice of a child who's just discovered that life isn't always fair. He looked at the floor, feeling wretched for reducing the woman he loved o this state. He tried, and forced himself to raise his head and look into his eyes, feeling that they could stare right into his soul. What showed was a mixture. Terror. Upset. Disappointment. And a feeling that has no description, the feeling that you've been betrayed by the one person in the world that you trust, an the feeling that your entire world will be turned upside-down, and that you'll have no control over it. Helplessness.

"James!" she said desperately. He stared at her blankly or a second, and got up.

"So you're going to leave, is that it?" she asked in a choked voice, as he turned her back on her. "Run away and distance yourself from your problems. You can't do this!"

He turned to look at her, again, that same blank stare. She let out a choked whimper, and stared back willing him to b the man she thought she knew, just for a moment. He turned his back on her, and as he slipped the slot of the door closed, and retreated down the hallway, lily felt her heart breaking in two.

*

"Ah, Dr. McCarthy? We've got Mrs. Potter's results back, if you'd like to review them!"Aidan McCarthy frowned as Mags handed him a checklist, and scanned it. Blood pressure, slightly higher than normal. Urine, showing no signs o drugs. No broken bones… ah, what's this? A certainly rare case. A patient rarely came in with severe neck injuries and left pregnant. He wondered if he should tell her sooner, or later.

"Excuse me, are you Dr. Mc McCarthy?" McCarthy looked up and nodded, slipping the small checklist into his pocket. A slightly distressed looking young man stood at the doorway, ringing his hands.

"That's me. May I ask what your name is?"

"Ah, potter, James Potter. I believe you're my wife's doctor?" panic had begun to set in on James as soon as he'd left the room. Death Eaters rarely left a job half finished. Frankly, he'd begun be fret that they'd attack her then and there in her weakened state.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, I've got good news for you," Aidan McCarthy started. James held up a hand to stop him, and impterrupted.

"Listen, doctor, I'd appreciate it very much if you kept a close eye on Lily. I'm afraid she might be in danger, especially like that. I'm sorry, but I have to hurry," James began to walk away quickly, feeling more and more guilty and heavy hearted at every step.

"MR POTTER!" shouted McCarthy after him. "THE NEWS, THE GOOD NEWS! YOUR WIFE IS PREGNANT!"