Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Harry Potter. I am not associated with JK Rowling, Scholastic Inc, Bloombury, or Warner Bros. Entertainment. No copyright infringement is intended, as this is only for fun.

Author's Note: 30minutefics challenge fic. When I complain about badfic, this is the one that is going to be the one that people pitch in my face. ::wince:: I don't have details very good, but for a fic written in 30 minutes, it's not bad, yeah? Work with me here. If you read, please review.

Lily was making tea when Sirius apparated into the kitchen at Godric's Hollow. "Jesus H. Christ!" she breathed, one hand over her heart. The tea cups she had been carrying dropped to the floor in her shock, and lay in pieces at their feet. "Sirius Black, can't you apparate to the front porch and knock, like everybody else?"

"Well, I would have, but I didn't want to wait to see you," he explained. "I came as soon as I heard that you and James... got away and were all right. I just wanted to check on you for myself."

"As you can see, I'm fit to be tied, but none the worse for the wear," she said, giving a wan smile in return. "You can go up and see James, he's in his study," she said, pulling out her wand and fixing the teacups with a Reparo.

"Thank you," Sirius replied, exiting the kitchen and walking down the hallway to the closed door. He knocked, and was admitted when he heard a soft, "Come in."

The room was cozy, and instead of behind the desk, James was slumped over in one of the wing-backed chairs in front of the lit fireplace. "Sirius," he said in greeting.

"James," Sirius replied in a choked voice. He looked extraordinarily old for twenty-one. "I came as soon as I heard about it."

"What exactly, pray tell, did you hear?" James asked, motioning for Sirius to sit down across from him.

"Only that you two had escaped Death Eaters."

"Not how?" The question hung in the air. Sirius didn't know that he wanted to ask for the answer. How could it be good? Sirius mutely shook his head from side to side. "We were leaving Wormtail's – we'd gone for tea, and were late leaving – and, well, ambushed," he started to explain. "Although I use the term loosely, there were only three of them, masked and all. But they caught us unexpectedly and bound us and apparated us away before we even knew what was happening. They – wanted to know about the Order. They tortured me until I was pretty well unconscious, and not able to answer questions or refuse to do so any longer. They were going to torture Lily–" James broke off, one hand moving to cover his face, and Sirius tactfully took a moment to stare into the fire, waiting for his friend to go on.

"They were going to torture her, and... something happened. Somehow I managed to get my wand out and I incapacitated the two who were watching me, got myself untied while she was talking her way around it – God she is probably the most clever woman I know, Sirius!"

Sirius nodded in assent. He wasn't sure that he could make heads or tails of what James was saying, but it was an interesting tale, or at least one Dumbledore would like to hear later. "So then what happened?"

"I... used it."

"Used what?"

"Avada Kedavra."

Sirius was floored. That explained his anxiety. Crouch had authorized the use of Unforgiveables for aurors against Death Eaters, but James had vowed vehemently he would never use them. He placed himself above such things. He had also said that death was too good for any Death Eater – they all deserved to be brought in and face justice. "James..."

"I just did it. I didn't even think about it. I couldn't have, otherwise I mightn't have done it." His hazel eyes were tired behind the glasses, and there were spots of slight horror in the remembrance of his deed. "I had to protect her."

"You could've just grabbed her and apparated away... stunned the Death Eater..."

"Sirius, you don't understand. Lily's... pregnant. If I would've waited to do something else, then... who knows what else could have happened?" James had gone white to the lips since telling the story.

"Indeed," was all Sirius could think to say.

"I just... acted."

"How is this different from usual?" His tone had gone light and slightly joking again.

"Sirius, you have... no idea how it feels to have pointed your wand at someone, the words Avada Kedavra coming out of your mouth before you can think about them, and mean it – I mean, really have wanted them dead."

"No," Sirius said, properly admonished.

James sighed. "Hopefully you never will, either."

Silence ruled over the two friends for awhile, the only sound was the fire crackling in the grate. "So you and Lily are expecting, then?" Sirius said, daring to let a smile light his handsome features.

"Yeah. About July." A new shine seemed to come over James then, a prideful shine that Sirius suspected accompanied pending fatherhood.

"Let's go have some tea with Lily in the kitchen, then, and let me present my congratulations," Sirius suggested, standing, and holding out a hand to James. James clasped it, standing up, and they shook the other's hand fiercely, and pulled each other to embrace as brothers. "Prongs, I know you did the right thing."

It was still a moment that would haunt James until his death nearly a year and a half later.