Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter stuff!!!
Okay, here goes chapter two. I don't really know what to expect from you guys as I put both of these chapters up together! So yea! Anyway this chapter has a little fluff in it but it's leading up to a point in the next chapter and I got a little bit of the mushy stuff out of the way!! lol!! So read on and tell me what you think!!!
Chapter Two
They didn't make it home till the sun was rising. They had all but managed to take care of everything at Edgar Place when the muggles started showing up, asking questions. It had taken the better part of two hours to get them all to leave and then they had had to deal with the memory charms for the neighboring families.
"That was a long night," Mo said curling up on the couch in James and Lily's family room.
"Budge up," Sirius muttered pushing her over so he could squeeze between her and the couch. Once he had settled there with his arms around her he yawned and said, "We're crashing here tonight, mate."
"This morning," Mo corrected sleepily.
"No problem," James said with an answering yawn. "Lils will make us breakfast in a few hours."
Mo chuckled, "Go to bed James."
"Going," James replied and disappeared from the room.
A few hours later Sirius was dragged from sleep by the smell of bacon and coffee. However tired he might have been he wasn't exhausted enough to turn down food. Making sure he didn't wake Mo, he trudged into the kitchen rubbing his eyes.
"I just started breakfast Sirius," Lily said when he walked in. "You can sleep for a little bit more if you want."
He grunted, "Already up. Coffee ready? "
"Uh huh," Lily said sighing heavily when Harry started crying from the other room. "Can you get it? I have to see about Harry. Poor James looked dead on his feet last night."
"Yeah," Sirius replied grabbing a mug off the counter. "You're not kidding."
"It's alright. I got him," Mo said coming into the kitchen. Harry was on her shoulder, his cheeks red and tear stained and his lip pushed out in a pout. He hiccoughed a few times as if to show that he could be upset again if the situation presented itself.
"You two are going to spoil him," Lily said turning back to the breakfast. "He's not even a year old and he already knows which buttons to push, and who's to push I might add."
Sirius grinned and took Harry from his wife, "He's just hungry is all. Don't blame you mate. This mean lady been starving you to death?"
Harry gurgled a response and squealed happily when Sirius tickled his stomach.
Lily rolled her eyes, "You wait till you have your own and he's hungry every four hours. I finally got him sleeping through the night."
"Poor thing," James said putting on a fake pout as he came into the kitchen. He kissed her cheek and grinned, "Although I agree that sleep is definitely a precious commodity around here."
"Ah well that only lasts a few years, right?" Mo said and nuzzled Harry's nose over her husband's shoulder. "Might as well enjoy it while it lasts. He won't be little forever."
James smiled, "That's when you convince the wife that it's time for another one."
Lily raised an eyebrow and eyed him suspiciously, "Don't get any big ideas Potter. If you think I'm going through that again anytime soon, you're wrong."
Sirius laughed, "Aw c'mon it couldn't have been that bad."
"No for about the first five months its not," Lily agreed. "Minus the morning sickness. But then you start looking like a balloon and you feel like you're waddling everywhere. Then there's the back pain and my feet were so swollen up, you can't imagine."
"And she looked absolutely beautiful," James said seriously.
Lily shook her head, "He kept telling me that but I never felt that way."
Mo laughed, "You glowed. I can't wait to have ā Oh really can't you people give us a moment's peace?"
Bobbing good-naturedly in the fireplace was Elphias Doge's head, "So sorry Mo. I do hope I haven't caught you at a, er, bad time?"
Mo rolled her eyes, "Never mind. What's going on this time?"
"Meeting for the Order at noon today," he replied. "Dumbledore didn't say that it was urgent but it was implied. Big news I'm thinking."
"If he's assembling the whole Order it should be," Lily murmured. "Would you like some breakfast Elphias?"
"No thanks Lily, already ate," Elphias bobbed his head. "See you there."
"Goodbye," James said and with a 'pop' Elphias' head disappeared and the fire went out.
"Wonder what's up," Lily said putting bacon and eggs on four plates. "Dumbledore usually gives us a warning before he plans a meeting like this."
"I dunno," Sirius said trading Lily Harry for a plate. "But whatever it is, I have feeling it's not going to be the best news we've heard all day."
"Merlin this place is even creepy during the day," Mo muttered when they all appeared on the sidewalk outside an old gray house that to passersby wasn't visible. It was tiny with cracked windows, peeling paint, and plant life that seemed to have a life of its own. Needless to say, Number 34 Breakstone Boulevard was not a welcoming sight.
"Yeah," Lily agreed hefting Harry up higher on her hip. "But you have to say that no one suspects anything around here. The neighbors are either drunks, homeless, or not home."
"Well at least you're honest," James laughed.
"There's Moony," Sirius said and waved cheerily to his friend in the window.
"I wonder if he brought Caroline," Mo said starting towards the house. "I feel so bad. I haven't seen her in ages."
Her question was answered as Caroline flung her arms around her when they came in the door, "Mo, Sirius! Oh I've missed you guys! James and Lil- Oh my gosh! Harry's getting so big! Can I hold him?"
Lily passed her son off with a grin and laughed when Caroline toted him off, "C'mon guys. Meeting's in here."
They all followed Caroline into a huge room that was warmly furnished but held only a long, gleaming, chestnut table with mismatched chairs places around it, a small bar that at the moment showed only signs of water and butterbeer, a small group of people, and another door which they could only speculate as to where it went.
"Oh there's little Harry," Andromeda Black cooed upon seeing the little boy. When she made a face at him he giggled in her face and she rolled her eyes, "Oh man, he looks just like James."
James grinned, "He better."
"Hey guys," Remus said entering the room behind them.
Sirius turned with a grin, "Where'd you disappear to? I though we'd scared you off."
Remus smiled and Mo thought how tired he looked. There were bags beginning to form beneath his eyes and his face looked to have aged slightly in only the few years they had been out of school. His beautiful blonde hair that Mo loved was starting to thin and he looked decidedly thinner.
"I was just unpacking my things," Remus told them. "I just went back to finish up so I wouldn't have to worry about it later."
"That's our Rem," James grinned. "Always the sensible one."
Mo smiled but wondered why Remus hadn't told them he needed a place to stay. She shrugged mentally; she was good at getting stuff out of him. She'd worry about it later.
"Hello James, Sirius," a voice squeaked from the crowd of people in the room.
A rat faced, pallid, little man scurried forward to greet them. Peter Pettigrew's black eyes twitched nervously as he offered a half smile, "I haven't seen much of you guys lately."
"Load of work lately mate," Sirius replied. "Voldemort's been having a holiday around London it seems."
"Y-yes so it would seem," Peter said rubbing at his nose fretfully.
"Do you ever thing about taking a break?" Caroline asked Peter frowning. "You seem awfully tense. Maybe Dumbledore should give you some time off or something."
"No, no," Peter assured her. "I'm fine, just a little worn out is all."
"Right," James said and turned to shout at a red haired woman who was in the middle of a conversation with a small, excitable man named Dedalus Diggle. "Hey Trev, get over here."
The woman smiled and held up a finger as she promptly cut her conversation with Dedalus. Her voice held a slight Irish lilt to it when she spoke to them, "Good morning to you. Haven't seen you guys in a while."
"Trevina McKinnon I'd like you to meet my wife Lily and Caroline has our son Harry around here somewhere," James said looking absently around the room.
"Oh I've met Harry already," Trevina laughed. "Such a sweet little boy and it's a pleasure to meet you Lily."
"Most of the time he's sweet," Lily said somberly but smiled and shook her hand.
"Is your brother here, Trev?" Mo asked looking around for Finn McKinnon.
"Yeah," Trevina responded. "His wife Glenna just joined the Order so you'll most likely see them some time while you're here."
"That's good," Mo said and frowned at Trevina. "How are you doing? You guys been holding up okay after last night?"
"Yeah," she replied with a sigh. "It was tough for Finn. Glenna just found out that she's pregnant with a boy. Finn's so sad that Mum and Dad won't get to meet him. They're going to name him Aidan after Dad."
"That's sweet," Lily said.
As the conversation drifted to other things and more people came to say hello Mo decided to steal a few minutes with Remus.
"Sirius I'll be right back," she whispered. "I need to talk to Rem about something."
"Kay," Sirius replied and frowned at his friend. "Reckon something's wrong with him?"
Mo grinned loving that Sirius could read her mind, "I don't know, but I plan to find out."
"Go easy on him," Sirius said and kissed her lightly. "Hurry back."
"I'll try," Mo said and turned away as she hunted the room for Remus. When she spotted him he was with Caroline and Harry. Caroline was beaming and the sight of her and Harry seemed to have cheered Remus up considerably.
Happy to see him happy she went over to them, "Can I steal Rem away for minute Caroline? I want to talk to him about something before the meeting starts."
"Sure," Caroline said and frowned. "Is it serious."
"No," Mo said offering a smile but refusing to explain further.
Mo hooked her arm through Remus's and they walked out of the room. "There's an empty room we can talk in over here," he said. "If you want privacy I mean."
"It's alright," Mo said stopping so she could look at him. "The hallway is fine."
"What's going on Mo?" he asked.
"I wanted to ask you the same question. You don't look like yourself Rem and why didn't you tell Sirius and me that you needed a place to stay?"
Remus sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Is it that obvious?"
"Well that depends on what 'it' is," she replied.
"I lost another job," he said after a moment's silence. "I managed to keep it a secret but considering I have to leave once a month, someone finally caught on."
"Oh Remus. I'm so sorry."
"Don't be," he smiled sadly. "I'm used to it by now."
"So why didn't you come to us? Sirius said he hadn't seen you in forever and we were both wondering what you were up to."
Remus shrugged and started pacing, "I don't know. I guess I was ashamed after losing my fourth job this year. It's hard taking charity off people, Mo. Asking you and Sirius to take me in again fought my pride pretty hard this time."
"And won it would seem," Mo said and sighed. "Rem you know we don't care."
He winced, "I know. But you had just gotten married and I ā I just didn't want to intrude."
Mo grinned despite herself, "You know Sirius and I aren't shy. You wouldn't have been intruding on anything."
"I know that too," Remus said and his smile almost cleared away the hopelessness in his eyes. "But then Caroline said she was staying here because her landlord was selling the apartments and she asked me to stay with her."
"And you did," Mo stated mostly to herself. What she saw in his eyes at the mention of Caroline had her wondering, "Remus, you love her."
"Yeah," Remus said and sighed. "Always have, but I don't know what to do about it."
"Ask her to marry you."
The pain in his eyes flared brightly before he struggled to cover it up, "I can't."
"Listen Remus I know what you're thinking and she doesn't care," she said. "Caroline loves you despite that you're a werewolf."
"I can't ask anyone to take on the responsibility of loving me," he said almost savagely.
Mo felt tears burn at the corner of her eyes, "You don't have to ask. Not her, not any of us. We love you anyway Remus and it's not a responsibility."
"I'm better off alone."
The despair in his eyes was too much for her to handle, "Don't do this to yourself Remus. Don't beat yourself up over something you can't change. I've seen how Caroline looks at you and the fact that you're a werewolf has nothing to do with it. There's nothing but love for you in her eyes. You're enough for her. She doesn't care what you are. Can't you see that?"
"Ever since Dumbledore let me into Hogwarts I've had friends, I've had girlfriends, but as soon as they found out what I was they turned me away. Probably went running to their friends to tell them about the werewolf," Remus told her and looked her in the eye. "James and Sirius are the only friends that stuck with me and if it hadn't been for them I probably wouldn't have survived all those years. Then came Lily. She always understood and never treated me any different for it."
He paused with a sigh and ran his hand through his hair, "But then you and Caroline came into the picture and I found out what true friends really were. There was you, beautiful and carefree and, I know you realized this but, everything that was ever meant for Sirius. The day you told me you know I was a werewolf I couldn't believe that you still wanted to be around me. It amazed me that someone like you cared for me. And then there was Caroline. Where do I start with her? She was perfect. Beautiful, smart, and sweet. I fell in love with her years ago but never had the courage to tell her about it, well about what I was anyway. When I finally told her she cried and I was so scared that it was because she was scared."
When he broke off Mo took his hand, "She knew already, didn't she? And already loved you."
"Yeah," Remus said. "But I can't make her live with what I am for the rest of her life."
"Does she know you love her?"
"Of course I do," Caroline said from behind them.
"Caroline Iā"Remus stopped talking, whirling around to face her.
"You are being selfish," she replied and gave a warning look to Mo when she opened her mouth. "How can you love all of us like you do and think that we don't love you in return?"
Both Remus and Mo were staring at her in shock.
"Sounds pretty selfish to me. What do you think Prongs," Sirius said following Caroline out into the hallway.
"Yeah I agree, mate. Lils?"
"Definitely," she replied while Harry babbled a response as well.
Remus could only stand and stare at all his friends while Mo beamed at them all beside him.
"See I told you Rem," Mo stated happily. "It doesn't matter...to any of us. Don't you have something to ask Caroline?"
Remus looked at her with round eyes and caught the glitter in her eyes. He didn't like being railroaded into things and in this case he was pretty sure he had. But when she smiled encouragingly at him he found that this time he didn't care.
Taking a deep breath he turned to Caroline, "I don't have much to give you right now but what I've got is yours..."
"Oh god," Caroline breathed and tears sparkled beautifully in her eyes.
"It's taking all of my courage to say this to you and in hopes that you want it as much as I do," he continued.
"Hurry up already," she choked through the tears as Remus knelt in front of her.
This time a real grin spread across his face, "Will you marry me?"
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" Caroline sobbed and flung her arms around Remus. "Of course I will. How could you think I wouldn't?"
Remus held on to her tight, hoping against hope that he hadn't just dreamed all of this, "I don't know."
"Hey love birds," Andromeda stuck her head out into the hallway. "Dumbledore just got here and wants to start the meeting."
"Okay," Mo said and wiped away her own tears. "We'll be there in a minute."
Andromeda smiled and rolled her eyes as she disappeared back inside the room.
Caroline sniffed holding on to Remus, "I love you guys. This has to be one of the best days of my life."
"I get to be his best man!" Sirius shouted and had James chasing after him into the meeting room.
Isn't that just like Sirius and James...even after they get out of school!! lol!! Guys never grow up...hehe...jkjk!! Well there went another chapter!!! Yay I'm so excited for this story and the third that will follow it!! I'm really hoping it will all fall together!! Anywho, please please please review and tell me what you think of it so far!!! I'll give you a kiss from Remus or Sirius...ur pick!!! lol
Well I must be off!! Ta luvs!!!
X.x.Katie.x.X
