Gaining Comfort

Lily took a deep breath and looked around. She apparated out of Godric's hollow and found herself outside the Auror Headquarters in the Ministry of magic. She walked into the headquarters. A few aurors looked at her in rather suggestive ways but Lily was used to it. She couldn't believe April had just said that to her. They were supposed to be best friends and April was supposed to tell Lily whenever something annoyed her. And on top of that, Jenny and April talked about her, Lily, behind her own back! Her life was not perfect! She was about to knock on a door that had the italic surnames of those who occupied it when she heard someone call her name from behind.

"Lily, what are you doing here?" James asked with a look of pleasant surprise. Lily put her arms around James and hugged him tightly. James held her and glanced around.

"Get on with your work Martin." He said sternly. There was a sudden bustle and James looked at Lily. "Are you ok?" He asked gently. Lily nodded.

"Yeah, well no. I just had a bit of a talk with April." Lily said. "And she said some stuff that hurt me." James wiped away a tear that was threatening to fall down her face.

"Here, come with me. We can have more privacy in the office." James said. He opened the door that Lily had been about to knock on and they went in. There was one other auror in there. One of the three people that James shared an office with. He had fairly long black hair and tanned skin. He looked slightly Mediterranean but Lily wasn't totally sure. James led Lily to his desk and he sat on the desk top while Lily sat in his seat.

"What happened?" James asked.

"I don't know." Lily said. "We were coming home from Emma's school and then she just started on me, saying all this stuff about my life and how it's so perfect and all that. Then she started comparing us to Jenny and Remus and her and Sirius. She's just angry because she fell out with Sirius again. She's taking it out on me and I'm fed up with it. She always takes it out on me. Am I such an easy target?" Lily asked James. She looked at him for an answer.

"So that's why April didn't come in today." The other man muttered to himself. Lily and James glanced at him for a moment before returning their gaze to each other.

"No, you're not an easy target but you do have a tendency of letting April walk over you. Especially since the whole thing with Voldemort. I'm sure she'll apologize soon. But what's this about her and Sirius?" James asked with a frown.

"Oh yeah, she threw Sirius out again and told him she never wanted to see him again. No one can find him so Remus is going to look around." Lily muttered with a wave of her hand. James stood up and sighed.

"A week before Orion's birthday as well. They never time their arguments very well do they?" James asked. Lily sank into his chair and looked around miserably. James looked at her and sighed. "Look, Lily there's nothing you can do about any of this. April is just annoyed that's all. Just forget about it" James said.

"She's my best friend James, and the closest thing I have to a sister." Lily said.

"And even sisters fight occasionally, no matter how close they are. You of all people should know that" James said with a smile. Lily let out a weak smile.

"I wonder how Petunia is doing." Lily said nostalgically.

"I don't know but to cheer you up. I managed to get hold of some tickets to go and see...what was it?" James opened up a few of his drawers and let out a triumphant shout. He turned around holding some tickets. "I got tickets to see a musical called The Cabaret. It's at a muggle theatre so I thought you might enjoy it." James said with a smile. Lily couldn't help smiling.

"You want to go to a muggle theatre?" Lily asked.

"If it'll make you happy...and it sounded interesting. More interesting then that...Sound of music rubbish you like." James said as a joke. Lily swatted his arm. She stood up.

"Ok, when do we go?"

"Two weeks time. I tried to get as good as seats as possible." James said. Lily put her arms around James' neck.

"I knew it was a good idea to talk to you about this." Lily said. "Do you want to get some lunch?" James grinned.

"Hang on." James turned to the other man. "Have we got anything scheduled for later today."

"No, just a bit of paper work, since all the Death Eaters have been rounded up it's been going slowly. So go out to lunch, I don't want to see this love show all afternoon." He said with a slight smirk and not looking up.

"Who's he?" Lily whispered to James.

"Porter, this is my wife Lily. Lily, this is Porter."

"Michel Porter." He said looking up with a smile "Nice to-" He stopped slightly. "James you never said your wife was so fit!" He was looking at Lily with a slightly hungry and awed look like he wanted her himself. Lily smiled and turned to James.

"I like him." She said light-heartedly.

"She's mine Porter." James said. "I'm going to lunch. Come on Lily." James said with a grin. Lily smiled and let James stand up.

Remus apparated to Grimmauld Place. This was a last resort. He'd looked everywhere he could think of, even Sirius' old apartment. He'd given it's new tenants one hell of a shock when he'd arrived. Remus knew that Sirius hated this place more then any place in the world but it was worth a shot to see if he was here.

"Sirius!" Remus shouted through the house

"I'm not here" Sirius replied from upstairs. His speech seemed very slightly slurred. Remus went up the stairs and stopped as he saw a house elf walking down the stairs.

"Stupid blood traitor coming home after all these years expecting to be treated like a god. No blood traitors will I serve-" He muttered as he carried on down the stairs. Blood traitor. That's what the Black family had called Sirius. Remus carried on up the stairs and opened each door until he came to a room that had the faint smell of alcohol. Remus went in to find Sirius passed out on the bed. He held a half empty bottle of fire Whiskey in his hand and there was an abandoned glass on the floor. Remus sighed and went to the think black curtains. He opened them wide and coughed as thick clouds of dust flew out of them. He waved the clouds away and opened the window. Fresh air came in as well as sunlight. Sirius shifted and dropped the bottle of fire whiskey. Remus went over to pick it up and set it on the table with the abandoned glass.

"Sirius, get up." Remus said.

"No." He muttered into the pillow.

"Seriously, get up." Remus said. He pulled on the duvet and lifted it up, causing Sirius to roll off the bed. Sirius hit the floor with a thud and got to his feet.

"What is your problem Remus!" Sirius asked.

"You shouldn't be sulking away, if you want April back then you've got to work for it." Remus said.

"Work is too hard." Sirius replied as he flopped back on the bed.

"That's exactly why April's going to leave you." Remus said. Sirius' head shot up.

"What? Leave me?" Sirius asked. Remus took a deep breath.

"Jenny was round there earlier." Remus said, he sat on the bed next to Sirius. "April's through. She wants out." Sirius looked at Remus. He didn't want to believe it. It wasn't true, she didn't want out did she? Sirius reached for the Fire Whiskey but Remus moved it out of the way.

"Don't bury everything in a bottle. If you become addicted it'll be harder to win April back" Remus said.

"Who said I want to win her back, give me that bottle Remus!" Sirius said lunging for him. Remus jumped out of the way and Sirius crashed in a heap on the floor.

"Sirius, if you didn't want to win her bag, you wouldn't be going for the drink." Remus said. Sirius pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Hang on, why isn't April telling all this to Lily instead of Jenny?"

"They had a slight argument." Remus said. Sirius raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Really?" Sirius asked, "Over what?"

"I don't know, it's just what Jenny told me." Remus said. "Come on mate. Lets get you cleaned up." Remus put the bottle down and pulled Sirius to his feet. Sirius swayed slightly and Remus put an arm around him to support him.

"I don't want to do anything, let me drown in my misery for a while." Sirius said. "April wants to break up with me? I can't believe it. She can't do that. I love her more then life." He complained. Remus rolled his eyes and dragged Sirius to the bathroom. He put down the toilet lids and forced Sirius to sit on them.

"I didn't mean to hurt her like that. It's all my fault. Oh Merlin, she's gonna take the children and I'll never be able to see them again. Remus, please help me. I don't know what to do!" Sirius said miserably.

"Ok, I'll help you but first you need to clean yourself up then you need to get a job. April's the one bringing in all your money and you chare vaults." Remus said. "James and I will help you get her back, don't worry."

"But what if April still doesn't want me back?" Sirius asked in despair. Remus frowned.

"Don't think like that." Remus told Sirius. "Lily told me that April's just going through a depression. Apparently Post Natal depression can hit like, six months after someone's had a baby"

"That's impossibly." Sirius muttered.

"No it's not. April's as much human as you and me and it's possible for her to get depressed as well." Remus said testily.

"April's not human though." Sirius said with a gleam in his eyes.

"Of course she's human, she's not a devil."

"No, she's a goddess." Sirius said. "Everything about her-"

"Shut up Sirius, you're still slightly drunk I can tell. Just have a shower." Remus said impatiently.

"I want more fire whiskey, where's that stupid bottle?" Sirius asked, looking around. Remus went to Sirius and hit him round the face. It was enough to make Sirius pay attention to Remus.

"No more drink ok!" Remus said, "It's only going to hamper your attempts to get April."

"But she wants to split up. That woman drives me crazy, I'm through as well. If she's through with me, I'm through with her. I can always get someone else." Sirius said. He got up and left the room. Remus scowled. He decided to let Sirius go in hunt of a drink as he apparated to Lily and James' house. Jenny was sitting in the living room with Lily.

"So?" Jenny asked anxiously.

"He says he's also through." Remus said with a very deep frown. Lily let out a tired moan and Jenny let out a disappointed sigh.

"Dammit." Jenny said.

"They're just being stubborn" Lily said. "Where's James!" She said sounding frustrated. Emma ran in and hid behind Remus' legs.

"Uncle Remus help me" Remus looked at the door as Bo and Harry came running in.

"Emma!" Bo said. He ran for her on one side while Harry ran on the other side. Emma let out a scream and Remus picked her up.

"Uncle Remus!" Harry said looking annoyed.

"Dad!" Bo said. Remus chuckled.

"You're not allowed to do anything." Remus said. Harry looked to Lily to try and tell Remus to put Emma down. Lily gave him a gentle smile.

"Please." Bo begged.

"No, don't let go." Emma said hugging Remus' neck tightly.

"Don't worry Emma." Remus said.

"Mum!" Harry complained.

"Do as Remus said." Lily said. "What are we going to do about April and Sirius?" She said to Jenny and Remus

"I don't know" Remus said, "Sirius seemed really dejected and he wants to spend all his time drinking"

"And April's trying not to take out her anger on the children. I'm gonna offer to take the twins later. I'm scared for their safety" Jenny said.

"I'd take the other two but I somehow doubt April would let me." Lily said in slight despair. Jenny gave her a sympathetic look.

"I'm sure she won't stay angry with you for that long." Jenny said.

"Do you even remember the last time April and I fought?" Lily asked. Jenny frowned.

"But we had Padfoot to help that time." Jenny said.

"But you didn't have me." Remus said. "Lily, I'm sure April didn't mean what she said." Lily looked sceptical. She went to Remus and took Emma from him and returned to the sofa. Bo and Harry grinned at each other.

"Well, if she didn't, it seemed like she did." Lily said quietly. Emma leant her head against Lily's shoulder and watched Bo and Harry carefully. Their heads were together in whispers and they kept glancing at Emma. Emma held onto Lily tightly, in case something happened.

"Well what she said wasn't that bad was it?" Jenny asked.

"Well, not really but it was the way she said it." Lily said. "I just want to help her. You know, maybe look after the kids or to help her get over Sirius, if that is in fact what she wants to do." Lily said.

"I don't think she's thinking properly. Give her a few days to cool down before we try and talk about it again." Remus said.

"Good idea" Jenny said. "Remus, we should get going, it's nearing night." Jenny said.

"So?" Remus said. "Oh yeah, full moon."

"You forgot?" Lily asked, slightly amused. Remus shrugged innocently

"Can you blame me?" He asked.

"Yes." Lily said with her tongue out. Remus laughed.

"Come on Bo, we have to go." Remus said. Bo looked at him with a frown. He looked to Emma.

"Can I come?" Emma asked. "Is Bo turning into the doggy?"

"No, you can't come." Jenny said, "He might hurt you."

"No he not!" Emma said like it was ridiculous. Bo grinned at Emma, who smiled at him.

"Sorry Emma." Lily said, "You have to stay at home tonight, you have school tomorrow." Emma crossed her arms in annoyance. Lily stayed on the sofa.

"Ok, well we'll see you tomorrow then" Jenny said. Lily smiled.

"Yeah. Bye." Lily said, Remus and Jenny went to the fireplace and threw in a handful of Floo Powder. Bo disappeared in the flames. Remus went with him and Jenny apparated. Harry climbed onto the sofa next to Lily and looked at her.

"What's wrong with Aunt April?" Harry asked.

"Yes." Emma said to Lily. Emma looked at Lily while playing with a strand of Lily's hair.

"She's very upset at the moment." Lily said. "Hopefully she'll get better soon." Harry grinned.

"Does that mean uncle Sirius can stay?" Harry asked.

"No, Sirius is staying somewhere else for now." Harry frowned and Lily laughed gently.

"Are you hungry?" She asked.

"No" "Yes" Emma and Harry answered in that order. Lily rolled her eyes and gave Emma a kiss on the forehead. Emma laughed and hugged Lily. Harry grinned and hugged Lily as well.

"You and daddy must never fight." Emma said. Lily laughed.

"Don't worry we wont." Lily said. Emma looked into Lily's eyes. "We'll love each other for ever and ever and ever."

"Will you love me and Emma for ever and ever and ever?" Harry asked. Lily looked at Harry.

"What do you think?" Lily asked.

"No." Emma joked.

"That's right." Lily said laughing. Emma and Harry laughed. "No, your dad and I will love you two."

"Mummy." Emma said seriously. Lily made her face serious.

"Emma." Lily answered.

"Why do Uncle Sirius and Aunt April hate each other?" Emma asked.

"Will Rhia and Orion and Kaylee and Jess have to find new families?" Harry asked. Lily laughed.

"No, they won't have to find new families and April and Sirius don't have each other" Lily said.

"Then why do they fight?" Emma asked.

"Because they're upset" Lily answered.

"Did you ever hate Daddy?" Harry asked. Lily smiled and hugged Harry.

"Yes I did." Lily said.

"When?" Emma asked with an eager look on her face.

"When we went to school." Lily answered

"Why did you like him?" Harry asked

"Because he gave me a kiss." Lily said. Emma grinned.

"When?" Emma asked.

"When I was eighteen" Lily said. Emma's mouth opened.

"Eighteen!" Emma said in amazement

"Mummy, you're old!" Harry said. Lily laughed.

"I am not old." Lily said, "Compared to you I'm old."

"Mummy." Emma said again.

"Emma"

"Do you have a brother or sister?" Emma asked. Lily rolled her eyes.

"You're being nosy today aren't you?" Lily asked pinching Emma's nose. Emma laughed and hugged Lily tighter.

"So?" Harry asked.

"Yes I do have a sister. An evil sister like in Cinderella" Lily said. Harry leant against Lily like he was preparing for a story.

"Where did you go to school?" Harry asked. Lily smiled and began to tell her children all about Hogwarts. She was rather amused when they asked her questions like that. Lily told them everything from the dormitories, the hidden passages, the Lake outside with the giant squid and mermaids to the adventures that the Marauders had, the fun that she, April and Jenny had had. It took a while and after a while James came home and caught onto what Lily was talking about. Emma went over to James and soon the two children were asleep. James kissed the top of Emma's head.

"Any reason why you were talking about Hogwarts?" James asked. Lily shrugged, she felt quite tired herself. Harry was fast asleep in her arms. Lily brushed some of Harry's hair out of the way and looked at his scar.

"Lily, we couldn't help that, you know it." James said, noticing what his wife was doing.

"I know." Lily said. "You know, I think Harry and Emma will enjoy Hogwarts." James smiled.

"Who wouldn't?" James asked.

"As long as they're not troublemakers like you were then I don't mind what they do." Lily said.

"Hey!" James said, trying not to raise his voice to wake up Emma. "Come on, lets go upstairs and ditch the kids. I'm hungry." James said. Lily rolled her eyes. She stood up and lifted Harry. He was getting much heavier. James smiled at her. They put the children to bed. Lily waited for James on the landing. Lily suddenly got an idea. She was slightly upset that she wasn't talking to one of her friends but it didn't mean that because everyone was having trouble she had to have trouble in her relationship and James may be hungry but Lily didn't feel like eating. She disappeared into her bedroom as James came out of Emma's room.

"Lily?" James asked.

"Hang on a moment." Lily said. James looked at the door vaguely amused. "James."

"Yeah."

"Do you really want to eat?" Lily asked.

"Um, yeah?" James said uncertainly.

"Ok." Lily opened the door. James' mouth fell open. She had changed into her sleeping clothes...or so James thought, with the silk dressing gown that James had bought her years ago. He hadn't seen it since Harry had been conceived. "Now do you want to eat?" Lily asked, leaning an arm against the edge of the door frame.

"Food, no, you yes." James said quickly. Lily grinned as James attacked her with kisses. Lily laughed as she closed the door.

"Mummy" Orion said carefully the next weekend.

"Orion." April said as she got ready to go to work

"Where Daddy?" Orion asked.

"Yes, where Daddy and why I can't see Emma?" Rhia asked with her arms crossed.

"Daddy's moved out and you can't see Emma because she's busy."

"No she not. Bo tell me she's bored!" Rhia said.

"Rhia!" April snapped. Rhia started in surprise.

"Sorry." Rhia said quickly. April looked at Rhia. Jenny had taken the twins to look after for a while so it was the two oldest with April.

"Come here." April said to Rhia. Rhia rant o her and April picked her up in a hug. "Mummy and Daddy are having a few problems right now." April said.

"And why I can't see Emma?" Rhia asked.

"Because Lily and I are also having problems." April said. "But do you really want to see Emma?" Rhia nodded. April looked at Orion, who was crawling around under the table.

"Ok." April said, "I'll drop you off now." April had to admit that she missed having Lily to talk to. They'd ignored each other pretty much all week. Orion crawled out from under the table and sat on the floor.

"Mummy!" Orion shouted.

"Yes." April said.

"My birthday tomorrow" Orion said with a grin

"Yes I know." April said.

"Can Daddy come? And Jess and Kaylee?" Orion asked.

"Um...we'll see." April said. Orion grinned.

"Harry's house now!" He said. He got to his feet and ran to put on his shoes. Rhia wriggled free and went to put on her own shoes. April felt a fluttering feeling in her stomach. Oh god, time to face Lily. How was April going to apologise to Lily. Soon April was walking Orion and Rhia to Lily's house. She knocked on the door. Lily opened it and gave April a cold smile.

"Hello April." She said a bit formally.

"Um, the kids wanted to come over. Do you mind babysitting them?" April asked. Lily looked at April for a moment and opened the door wider to let Rhia and Orion in. She was about to close the door when April stopped her. "Lily, I'm sorry." April said. Lily looked at her.

"It's ok" Lily said quietly.

"No, I know you don't think it's ok. You're not ok with it Lily and I'm really sorry." April said.

"Stop searching my mind without permission." Lily said. "It gets irritating."

"Sorry. I won't do it again. It's a habit I need to cut." April said. Lily nodded.

"James told me to tell you if I saw you to get your ass down to Auror headquarters, they need you." Lily said before closing the door. April sighed, well she'd said sorry. She'd just have to wait for a while before Lily forgave her completely. April looked around before apparating to work.

Remus was getting fed up. He dragged Sirius from the bed and onto the floor with a thump. Sirius didn't seem to feel it and was out cold. Remus grabbed one of his legs and pulled him through the door and down the stairs, letting Sirius' head hit each one in an attempt to wake him up. But again, nothing. Remus managed to drag Sirius past the silently screaming portrait of Mrs. Black. Sirius was left by the door as Remus turned on the taps at the sink and let the sink fill up with cold water. When it was about four fifths full Remus muttered a spell to make it so cold that ice was forming on the top. Remus returned to Sirius and pulled him up with some effort. He pulled Sirius to the sink, his feet dragging against the floor.

"Bloody hell mate." Remus cursed, "Wouldn't hurt to lose some weight." When the reached the sink Remus held Sirius' face and thrust it through the thin ice on the water and into the freezing water.

"AH!!" Came the long shout from under the water. Remus held Sirius' head there for a few more seconds before releasing it. Sirius stood up straight and glared at Remus. "What the hell was that for!" Sirius asked

"I needed to wake you up. You've been pretty much passed out all week" Remus said sharply.

"Yeah, so what the hell was that for?"

"It's Orion's birthday tomorrow, and we're having a dinner at Lily's." Remus said.

"Will April be there?" Sirius asked.

"Does it matter? Orion is your one and only son Sirius." Remus said shortly. He was getting so sick of this argument between April and Sirius.

"So what are you doing here?" Sirius asked, rubbing his head with his hand.

"Making sure you're in a fit state to go tomorrow. How do you think it would look if you turned up at your son's party, half drunk, hung over, messy and without a present?" Remus asked. Sirius grunted a reply.

"So he's having a party?" Sirius asked.

"Lily's been so kind to host it and organise it for him. April's still in no proper state, our house is too far out of the way and even though Lily and April are still cold for one another, Lily and James are Orion's godparents." Remus said.

"So we're going shopping?" Sirius asked. Remus nodded and threw Sirius his cloak.

"Yes, I'm not letting you turn up at Orion's party without one. We're not stepping foot in Godric's Hollow until you have a wrapped present under your arm." Remus said.

"Yes sir." Sirius said groggily

A/N:-I am sitting here seething. One reviewer...Why?....Spillgirl...Why? why do you guess? now you know what's gonna happen....god, why? lol, anyway, onto the actual A/N. I need a bit of help for future storylines and stuff. I'm trying to involve you guys as much as i can with this story. So.....I've decided that i want a storyline that invovles Neville or Cho before HArry becomes 10. Now, it can be anything....also, some future and forwards planning for my next story..Beyond the End 2 (working title)...which is HArry's sixth year in this world....who do you want to fall through the veil at the DoM?? Do you still want it to be tht wud work...or Jenny...which wud also work...or Remus....that also works very well with my plan...hm....anyway, send me your ideas if you have n e. If you can't be bothered to think up storylines because you're a lazy arse like me....then sit back and read the rest of this story...if i wasn't the author, i'd do just that.