A/N: What, you don't like it? Please, review!

Chapter Two: Lily, James and Harry

"I think you should switch."
"What?" The man blinked. "Why?"
"I am the obvious choice. You should switch to someone less likely." James laughed and Sirius didn't understand. "I don't find anything about this funny, James!" he hissed. James just smiled and shook his head.
"Nothing about this is funny, Sirius," he said. "I'm just laughing because I never thought I'd see this day."
"What day?" Sirius asked, his anger subsiding.

"The day that I discovered that Sirius Black was afraid. I thought you weren't afraid of anything." Sirius sighed and sank down in a deep armchair.

"I do not deny it. I am afraid. But I'm not afraid for the reasons you may think."
"Oh?" James seemed interested. "You aren't afraid for your life?" Sirius smiled a sad smile.

"No, James," he said. "I'd gladly die for you any day of the week. Except Saturdays… I usually have something planed on Saturdays." The two men grinned.

"Then what are you afraid of, if not for your own life? Is it pain? Is it torture?"

"Yes and no," Sirius replied. "I do not fear death, James. I'll welcome it with open arms when it comes to take me. I do not fear torture either, not from the Dark Lord anyway, for nothing he can throw at me would be more painful than the knowledge of my own betrayal to you, James. My best friend. However, that's what I'm afraid of. Betraying you and Lily and Harry. James, I am afraid to lose you!" James sighed at the words of his best friend.

"It's hard times, my friend. If you feel that you cannot help us, that this responsibility is too great for your shoulders, than yes. I suppose we should switch."
"Please, James," said Sirius. "I feel as if I've let you down. Understand that I would go through hell to protect you and your family. I just fear that my connection to you is so well-known that Voldemort and his followers will figure it out. And I'm afraid that I'm not strong enough to take what they do to me. Though I vow to be loyal to you, James, I know that under immense torture, one can do many things he is not proud of." James looked at his feet in silence for a moment and then looked up at his friend. His brown eyes bored into Sirius's soul.

"You should know more than me," he said quietly.

"Sharon was… Sharon was…"

"Sharon was wonderful." James turned to the window and watched the leaves fall from the trees into the crisp fall wind. The air was moist and fresh, seeing as there had just been a storm a few hours ago, and it left the scent of damp leaves floating on the breeze. Sirius joined James by the window.

"She was more than wonderful. She was spectacular. And I let her down. James, I let her down!" Sirius shut his eyes tight, trying desperately to dry his tears before they even came. "I remember the first words she ever said to me…"

"And those were?"

" 'Did you know your shoe's untied?' And right after she said it, I tripped. Would you believe it? Ever since then, she called me her clumsy little puppy dog." James laughed.

"Puppy dog!" he cried. "Hardly!"

"I know," Sirius sighed. "But she was Sharon, and every word uttered from her lips is special to me. And I try to remember every little thing about her. She was trying on her wedding dress when they came, you know. I was waiting in the living room. She claimed it's bad luck for the groom to see the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding."
"Oh Sirius," James put an arm around his friend, consolingly.

"There was a crash…"

"Sirius, stop."
"The door was locked, I couldn't warn her."

"Sirius, this is doing you no good." But despite James's efforts, the memory overwhelmed Sirius.
"They threw me on the couch and demanded where she was. She must have heard them because she was dead quiet in her room. I told them she was out grocery shopping. They demanded to know where you were, James. Asking all these questions… I told them I'd lost contact with you…"
"Sirius, we've been through this…"

"They didn't believe me. I tried to run, I tried to defend myself and my fiancé, but they overpowered me. I still have the scars…" Sirius was looking blankly at a leaf on a branch out the window. It broke off and fell to the ground. "Finally, I don't think she could take my screams any more. I could hear her creek the door open. She was sneaking up behind them, I could hear her. Isn't it funny how when all you can feel is pain, the only things you hear or see are the small things? They discovered her and demanded to know who she was. She ran back into her room and locked the door, casting various spells on it to make sure they couldn't get in. They asked me for the key and the counter curses. I wouldn't tell them… They asked me again…"

"Sirius, go out and get a drink…" James went through his wallet. "It's on me."
"No, James," Sirius shook his head and smiled, snapping out of his horrible nightmare. "Thanks for the thought, but I think I'll just stay here with you." James frowned.

"You're sure about that?"

"Yes, I'm sure," he replied.

"James?" James closed his eyes as he heard the soft, melodious voice of that red-haired beauty. He turned to face his wife.

"Lily…" She was holding their son, who seemed to be flailing and crying.

"I can't get him to be quiet. He won't eat, he has a fresh diaper, and he won't sleep." James held out his arms.

"Give him to me," he said and took the young child. The babe's eyes were shut tight and he didn't seem to want to open them. "Shh, Harry. Calm down." At his father's voice, the infant lifted his lids to reveal two bright emeralds. As he saw his father, he stopped crying and looked at him for a moment. James smiled and as he did so and his son imitated him. The boy let out a small laugh as he grabbed at his father's glasses and put them on his own face.

"He's truly your son. He looks just like you," Lily said, shaking her head.

"He has your eyes," James replied looking deep into the bright eyes of his son and then into the jaded eyes of his wife.

"He has your glasses," Lily returned with a laugh. James walked over to Lily and put his arm around her. As Lily's head bent over the infant in her husband's arm, the young child grabbed at his mother's hair. Sirius smiled.

"How can anyone bare to destroy a family as happy as this?" he asked, sadly. Lily gave him a warm understanding smile that made Sirius feel slightly happier. She was good at that. She could warm someone's heart just by an expression on her face that let them know she understood.

"How could anyone break the heart of a generous man like you?" She always knew what to say, too. "You have been very good to us, Sirius. I appreciate it very much."

"I am sure no one in the world has better friends than I," Sirius smiled. "I think I will take you up on that drink, James." James smiled, sadly and reached into his pocket and pulled out a couple galleons. As he handed Sirius the money, he whispered.

"Sharon was a great woman, Sirius. But remember, you didn't kill her. And if you don't want this burden that we've placed on your shoulders, I can ask Remus to…" but Sirius was shaking his head.

"I suspect something from him, James," he muttered. "There's a spy among us and all I can say is it isn't me." James's eyes grew wide.

"Surely you aren't saying what I think you're saying! Remus would never…" James trailed off and shook his head to clear the thought from it. The friends were both silent for a moment. Suddenly, Sirius had an idea.

"Peter!" he cried. "No one would suspect our old Wormtail!"

"Peter? Peter…" James thought about the proposition for a moment. "He blends into the crowd extremely well… he wouldn't be thought of as a threat to our enemies. They wouldn't think he knew anything… They'd think he was harmless… What do you think Lily?" James's wife nodded.

"Whatever you think is best, James."

"Yes, Peter it is, then!" James decided. "I will tell him!" Sirius smiled.

"Thank you, James," he said. "And… forgive me."

"Always, Padfoot, always," James patted Sirius on the back with a grin. They embraced and Sirius kissed Lily on the cheek and ruffled Harry's unruly hair before he left. It was the last time he saw the entire family alive.

The memory of Harry as a boy in James's arms warmed Sirius's heart. When he had heard what Peter had done, he hadn't expected to find any of them alive. Lily's smile would remain forever emblazoned on Sirius's mind. She could always cheer him up with that smile. Even in death.