Sirius was cleaning dishes when Adeline returned. Regulus was in the shower; Adeline slid behind Sirius, wrapping her arms around his middle.

"Hi," she said, pressing a kiss to his shoulder.

"Hi, yourself," he said, turning to press a proper kiss to her lips. "I noticed you slinking away earlier this evening. How was Lily's?"

Adeline shrugged. "It was fine. Dumbledore needed to speak to her and James, so I was kicked out."

Sirius turned, eyes wide. "Talk? Alone? About what?"

Adeline shrugged again. "I don't know. Why, you think it's something bad?"

"Well, it doesn't sound good, does it? Something that can't wait for our meeting tomorrow?"

"With Dumbledore, it really could be anything. Don't worry about it, love. Not until you know if there's something to worry about."

Sirius nodded, waving his wand to put away the dishes he'd just cleaned. "I'll floo James before bed; he'll tell me what's going on."

The shower turned off, and Regulus opened the bathroom door a couple of moment's later, wrapped in a towel. Adeline turned, filling a glass with water to give her something to do while she gave him some privacy to go into the guest room.

"Reg, put some clothes on, will you?" Sirius snapped, huffing. "My wife is here."

Regulus snorted. "Please, Delle should be so lucky to see what a real man looks like. You're getting a little flabby there, huh Sirius?"

Adeline rolled her eyes at Sirius, who's Auror training had kept him in peak condition. "It's still so weird. I'm a wife."

"Think about how Lily feels," Sirius said. "A wife and a mother. And James, a father!"

"That's the most concerning thing I've heard all year – James Potter is going to be a father?" Regulus said, incredulously. Adeline turned, seeing that he was fully dressed, and nodded. "I mean, and I've heard some really fucked up stuff this year, you know?"

Adeline ignored his theatrics, rolling her eyes again. "Yeah, they just found out. Just us, Remus and Peter know."

Sirius froze, his hand hovering in midair, holding a cup that he was about to put away into the cupboard. "Remus knows?"

"Lily and James told him last week, when he came home from his last mission with…" she trailed off, looking slyly at Regulus.

"With the werewolves," Regulus supplied, lazily. "No need to hide it, we all know."

"That damn Snape," Sirius growled. "I knew he was going to run right back to the Slytherin common room and run his mouth; the next time I see him, I'm going to show him what happens when he…"

"Oh shut up," Regulus drawled. "Snape didn't say anything – not that I have even the faintest idea how he knows. No, Fenrir Greyback is in Voldemort's pocket. He shared Lupin's secret ages ago. We know he's been traveling all over Europe, infiltrating groups and trying to get them over to your side."

"I don't trust him," Sirius said, finally putting the cup away. "He hasn't been around at all since graduation. He's always away on missions, doing Merlin knows what. I don't like that he knows Lily is pregnant. I can't even remember the last time I saw him."

"It must have been…our wedding? Can that possibly be right?"

"We barely see anyone anymore. When did you last see Mary or Alice? All I know, is that someone in our group is a spy, right Reg?"

Regulus nodded. "Voldemort kept that information locked down. But we knew we had someone on this inside; someone who was telling us your moves before you made them."

Adeline pulled a butterbeer from the fridge, pulling two out for Sirius and Regulus. She passed them over to the boys before sitting down on the armchair, pulling her feet underneath her. "You really think it could be Remus? He's always been so kind and…moral. He seems like the last person it could possibly be."

Sirius sat down next to Regulus. "I don't know. I just don't trust anyone right now. I barely trust myself, you know? What if I'm somehow spilling information without even realizing it? The only people I trust, fully, are the people sitting in this room, Lily and James. Nobody else. And trust me, I'm shocked that my brother is included in that list."

Regulus smirked, elbowing Sirius in the ribs. "Big mistake, brother. I only faked my death, not my allegiance."

The room fell into silence as everyone sipped their drinks. "So what do you think Dumbledore wanted?" Sirius asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

He and Regulus jumped into a lively discussion, citing all number of crazy theories for what Dumbledore needed from James and Lily – their theories getting wilder and wilder the more butterbeer they drank. As the talked, Adeline let her mind wander, thinking about Remus, Peter, Mary and Alice. Her heart sank as she realized that besides Regulus and Sirius, and James and Lily, she didn't completely trust anyone else either. Mary had been her very best friend, but ever since she and Sirius had begun their friendship, she and Mary had slowly drifted apart; Lily had slowly taken that spot for herself, without Adeline even realizing. Alice had always been one step out the door, waiting for Frank and waiting to be his wife. Peter and Remus had only become her friends through her relationship with Sirius. They all had their own priorities – their own things to worry about and protect. But James…James was Lily's husband and Sirius's best friend. The two people that she loved most in the world, loved and trusted James completely; which meant that she loved and trusted him completely. James and Lily were her's and Sirius's to protect; and they were James's and Lily's to protect.

Her mind wandered to Lily and James, and their baby. Adeline was scared; she was scared that they were bringing a child into a world where friends couldn't even trust friends anymore. Where people that just a year ago she would have trusted with her life have become closer to strangers than family. She couldn't even imagine how frightened Lily must be; as she thought, her hand wandered subconsciously to cradle her own stomach. She could only imagine how scared she would be if she had found out that she and Sirius were going to be parents.

"Delle?" Sirius touched her shoulder, shaking her out of her thoughts. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. She looked ridiculous, sitting there, cradling her stomach and staring off into space. "Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking about how everything has changed, you know?"

Regulus laughed, throwing his head back. His long black hair fell down his back, still damp from his shower. "Well, let me just say I never thought I'd be sitting in my brother's apartment, having a butterbeer with his wife. I mean, on the bingo board of my life, I never called that one."

"Bingo board?" Adeline asked, confused.

"It's a muggle game…each space is a different…you know what, it really doesn't matter," Regulus said, shaking his head. "The point is, I think we can all agree that life isn't turning out the way we expected it to."

"I'll drink to that," Sirius said, raising his bottle in cheers. They all clinked together, a drank.

888

Lily and James kept them waiting for three hours. Three hours during which Sirius opened butterbeer after butterbeer, trying to calm his anxiety. He kept a sober-up potion within easy reach, in case he needed to head out at a moment's notice.

Regulus was trying to keep him calm, certain that if something terrible had happened, Dumbledore would have floo'd them. Adeline echoed his sentiment, rubbing Sirius's shoulders while trying to hide how nervous she was, too.

Regulus tried to keep the conversation going, but quickly realized that Sirius tended to deal with his anxiety in silence. Adeline, however, humored him, filling the silence with her own idle chatter, never going within arm's reach of Sirius. His hands kept roaming, getting tangled in her hair and then rubbing up and down her arms.

Finally, after it felt like Adeline's stomach was going to explode with nerves, the floo lit up green. Sirius was on his feet, downing the sober-up potion, and grabbing his wand in one motion. Adeline copied him, pulling out her own wand; she noticed Regulus do the same across the coffee table.

James's head poked through the fireplace, but he didn't step through. "Hi, all. Can Lily and I come speak to you? We have some news to share."

"Of course," Adeline said immediately, dropping her wand. "Come, come. We're dying over here to know what's going on."

James smiled stiffly, and disappeared. Moments later, the grate lit green again, and Lily and James stepped through, one after the other. James ushered Lily forward, hand on her back, urging her to sit down. He took a seat next to her, folding his hands and looking up at Sirius, face pale. Lily's eyes were ringed with red.

Regulus, noticing the mood, stepped towards the guest room. "I'll just…give you some privacy."

"Stay, please," Lily said quietly, looking Regulus in the eye. "I'd like your opinion, if you don't mind."

Regulus, shocked, nodded. He sank back into his seat, eyebrows furrowed in pensive thought.

Sirius and Adeline sat next to him, across from Lily and James. Sirius grabbed Adeline's hand. "So," Sirius prompted, anxiously. "What's going on?"

James took Lily's hand into his lap, covering their joined hands with his second. "Dumbledore asked us to meet him to tell us that…" he took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "To tell us that Voldemort has learned of a prophecy. A prophecy that seems to indicate that our…that our…"

James cleared his throat, his voice becoming thick with emotion. Lily, sitting straight and leaning forward slightly, took over for him. "The prophecy seems to indicate that our baby is destined to kill Voldemort. Dumbledore wants us to go into hiding, immediately."

Stunned silence followed Lily's proclamation. Adeline's stomach fell out, all of the blood in her body rushed to her head, and she felt like she was going to black out. Sirius's grip on her hand tightened to the point of pain, but she didn't even realize.

When it became clear that neither Adeline or Sirius were going to speak, Regulus asked, "What part of the prophecy seems to mark your kid?"

"Well, Dumbledore didn't have the entire prophecy, but the part that he did have, the part that he believes was relayed to Voldemort, speaks about a child, with the power to vanquish the dark lord, born as the seventh month ends, to parents who have defied the dark lord three times," James said.

"Hmm," Regulus mused. "And your…child, is the only one who meets that description?"

Lily shook her head. "No. Alice and Frank…"

"Alice is pregnant, too?" Sirius interrupted. James nodded. "Did you know?" Sirius asked Adeline. She shook her head, stunned.

"And he knows that the prophecy was relayed to Voldemort with 100% certainty?" Regulus asked.

"He does. He wouldn't share how he knows, but I trust him," Lily said.

"So what do we do?" Sirius asked. "Where are we hiding you, what's the next step? What did Dumbledore say?"

"He wants us to cast the Fidelius charm on our cottage," Lily supplied.

Sirius nodded. "That makes sense. When is he doing it?"

James and Lily exchanged a glance. "Well, we had considered asking him. That's why it's taken us so long to come over. Only…did you know that Dumbledore was friends with Grindelwald? Did either of you know that?" James asked.

Adeline shook her head. "What do you mean?"

Lily sighed. "We've been having old Bathilda Bagshot over for tea, lately. She's lonely, I think, ever since her dog died last spring. She's been telling us all of these stories about Dumbledore, when he was younger. He grew up, you know, in Godric's Hollow. She's known him since he was just a boy. And apparently, her nephew is Gellert Grindelwald. They – Gellert and Dumbledore, I mean – had a…friendship, of some kind, for a summer after Dumbledore graduated from Hogwarts."

"It doesn't sit right with me," James said. "That he didn't tell us this. Besides, we want our Secret Keeper to be someone we both trust; someone we know would die rather than betray either of us. Dumbledore is a wonderful man, but he's not someone I trust with my life. So we wanted to ask you, Sirius, if you would do it for us."

Sirius sat frozen for a moment, before he nodded. "You know I will. I'd die before I let something happen to you."

"We know, Sirius," Lily placated. "But someone is spying in the Order. You lot are the only ones that I trust. James and I have been arguing for months, but I don't even trust Remus or Peter at the moment. James is insistent that neither of them would betray us, or the Order. Regulus, what do you think?"

Regulus started, looking up at Lily quickly. He'd been examining his fingernails, deep in thought. "I've already told Sirius and Delle that I wasn't able to find out any information about the spy. However, I think that you should trust your gut. If your gut is telling you not to trust them – don't. I heard a story just before I left of a family that was slaughtered in their own homes; turns out, their son had turned over to the Dark Lord's side, and had betrayed them because they wouldn't join him."

Adeline gasped, covering her mouth with her hands in shock. "That's awful."

Regulus nodded. "It is. I'm sure there were warning signs there, but nobody wants to believe that their own family will betray them, do they? Now, Sirius and I know better than that, but I still think it's important that you follow your gut. If your gut is telling you to hold Peter and Remus at arm's length, do it."

"Peter wouldn't have the guts to turn spy," Sirius snorted. "He worships us, Prongs. He'd shit himself if he came face to face with Snape without us, let alone Voldemort himself. No, I reckon if its anyone, its Remus."

Lily sighed, standing up. "I don't want to discuss this right now. Can we go do the spell now Sirius? You'll need to make sure that you fill in the others so they can at least come visit. Not much they can do with that information, can they? Besides, James is still going to go to work; I've already written by job and given my notice. Dumbledore thinks Voldemort will panic if both James and I suddenly disappear; that he'll know we know and act more rashly. It wouldn't be unusual for me to stop working, not if I'd found out I was pregnant."

"I'll come visit everyday,"Adeline promised, gathering Lily to her. She knew how much Lily was going to hate being in hiding. "I'm going to send a letter to Alice; she must be besides herself, as well. I'll send your love, okay?"

"Oh, let her tell you, would you?" Lily pressed. "She's only just found out about the baby, according to Dumbledore. And now, well…she must be overwhelmed. Let her come to you, okay?"

Adeline nodded. "Everything is going to be fine," she promised Lily. "We won't let anything happen to little Potter here."

She turned to press a kiss to Sirius's lips. "Be careful, love. And come straight home."

He saluted her. "Aye, aye, captain," he said mockingly. He gestured to Lily to step into the flames first, and James second. He turned to Adeline before he stepped through, smiling tightly, the nerves that he had hidden from James and Lily peaking through as he disappeared into the grate.