Author's Note: soo, we're fast-forwarding a bit...two years to be exact. Now, I want to say a bit about Sirius, but first let's talk about Remus... I think I'm going to be making some changes to his character...want to make him more...canon, I guess...but not totally...i mean, it's a fan fic..u dont have to..lol neway I just got thinkin about him b/c I had this reader allege that remus is coming off as a kinky sex machine (lol thank you so much for that 12th moon...really! lol) so yea...lol neway, so now on to Sirius...Until now, I've been a bit dissatisfied with my portrayal of Sirius. I mean, I think I made him somewhat 3D, but I feel like I wasn't accurately portraying him...so I thought since this story is taking a turn in its settings/mood (this was actually where I originally wanted to end Last Mile, and start the third part...) now would be a good time to do it. And I've thought of the perfect little thing that would make his transition b/w characters seem realistic. So, as we progress through the next few chapters, I want to say only this to the Sirius lovers: Please don't hurt me!!

Happy reading :)

Chapter 35: Lunch with the Potters

Dominique lay wake in bed. It was 1:35 a.m. And he still wasn't home. She sat up in bed and made up her mind; she would kill Crouch after this baby was born. She rubbed her stomach, which had been steadily expanding for the past six months. It was as if Crouch was punishing her for getting pregnant and taking off from work. He was giving Sirius extra hours, extra raids, and extra night shifts...when she needed him more than ever.

Dominique sighed as she laid back down. Pregnancy did not seem to suit her. Sure, she was aware of the hardships she would face, but God, she had a low threshold for pain. But it would be worth it in the end. They'd have their own baby. They had been trying for over a year. Even the Potters and the Longbottoms had beat them to it and had babies of their own. Well, in a few months, they'd have one too...

Suddenly, Dominique heard a cracking noise coming from downstairs. He was home. Finally.

Minutes later, Sirius appeared at the bedroom door.

"You're early..." Dominique said sarcastically, though there was a bit of truth to that statement. After all, there were plenty of times when he wouldn't come home until dawn.

"I'm sorry..." Sirius said, peeling off his cloak and dumping it on a chair. He walked up to Dominique and kissed her on the forehead. "Crouch wouldn't let me go until I finished the profiles on the Lestranges." He said with a note of bitterness in his voice.

"How long does it take to write up a dumb profile?" Dominique asked.

"Very long, especially if you're supposed to include photos of them and their household...I had to sneak into their house while they were out tonight, to take pictures of the inside of their house..."

"You broke into their home??" Dominique asked increduously.

"Crouch's orders..."

"Did you find anything that would suggest they're still working for Voldemort?"

"Not really..."

"What a waste then..."

Sirius sighed and nodded in agreement as he climbed into bed.

"By the way," Sirius said after a few moments, "Lily and James want to see us tomorrow for lunch."

"Why, what happened?"

"No idea, Lily said they'd tell us tomorrow..."

"Alright..."

"Well, good night then."

"night.."

"Where are you going, dear?"

"The Potters' house, mum..." Remus answered.

"How long will you be?"

Remus shrugged. "No idea...shouldn't be too long though...do you want me to get Emily?"

Mrs. Lupin nodded.

"Alright, I'll give her a call..." Remus replied, as he went to his mother's bedside and kissed her on the forehead. "And I'll try not to take too long..."

"Thank you, sweety.."

"No problem..."

Remus headed towards the living room and knelt by the fireplace. Sticking his head inside, and dropping the floo powder to the ground, he said "Chadsworth Place!"

"Remus! Hey!"

"Emily...hi..." Remus breathed, trying to overcome the fumes of the fireplace. "I have to go somewhere right now, and my mum wanted company...would you mind"-

"Of course not.." Emily replied with a smile. "I'd be more than happy to come...I'll be over in a few minutes..."

"Ah, thank you so much. You're the best, Emily..." Remus said. "Well, I should get going, I'll see you around..."

"Alright..take care, Remus.."

"You too..."

Remus pulled himself out of the fireplace and disapparated out of the living room. He instantly apparated outside the house of the Potters, Godric's Hollow. As Remus knocked on the door, he thought of Emily. She was so sweet and obliging, always ready to drop everything to help him or his mother out. When his father passed away months before, his mother had been overtaken by a bout of depression, which quickly took over her body and made her weak. She became paranoid, that she too might meet the same end as her husband...being poisoned. Remus sadly recalled the day they found out what had been making his father so sick...Several weeks before he fell ill, Mr. Lupin had received an anonymous letter, that simply read "bearers of the half-breed". Mr. Lupin, who merely assumed it was a joke from some bigoted fool, simply discarded the letter, and thought nothing of it. Little did he realize that the letter had been sealed with a poisonous potion, that when opened, immediately penetrated the skin, and slowly depleted the body until there was nothing left of it.

Remus missed his father terribly. Mr. Lupin was the one who did everything he could to make sure his son grew up normally. He was the one who homeschooled Remus between the time he dropped out of muggle school and the time he started at Hogwarts. His father was his role model...and now he was gone. But if Remus was feeling pain, he had no idea what his mother felt. Mr. Lupin's death hit her horribly, and Remus feared that she would never be the same. And now Emily Jackson, who lived nearby and had graduated from Hogwarts only this year and wanted to train to be a healer, spent most of her time with the Lupins, taking care of his mother, as Remus was busy working in his father's old job, at the publishing company. He absolutely hated it. It was the dullest work, but it was the only work he could find...

"Remus! Hey!"

Remus glanced up and saw Lily Potter standing at the doorway, holding baby Harry in her arms.

"Hi Lily"-

"Come on in!"

"Thanks..." Remus stepped inside, and as he entered the living room, he realized others were already there; James, Dominique, Sirius, Peter, Alice and Frank, to be exact. "Er...hey guys..." he said, smiling at all his friends.

"Moony! Good to see you!" James said, and grinning broadly he shook his friend's hand. "How's the publishing bit going?"

Remus sighed in response.

"Are they still boring you then?" James asked.

"Well, they decided to shake things up a bit..." Remus replied, "they've been harassing me this past week about writing a book.."

"Really, what kind of book?" Lily asked with her usual interest she displayed when she heard about books.

"My life as a werewolf..."

As Remus had expected, everyone but Lily burst into laughter. The latter seemed quite infuriated by everyone's insensitivity, and physically chastised the person nearest to her, James.

"Oww!" James exclaimed as he rubbed his arm where Lily hit him.
"I think that's interesting!" Lily said as she frowned at her husband.

Remus shook his head. "I'm with the others, Lily..I think it's ridiculous..."

"It is not"-

"I don't want to share my life with the world..."

"But you could help people better understand lycanthropy..."

"I'm not doing it...I'd feel like I'm being exploited or something.."

Lily rolled her eyes in response as she pulled a thick lock of her red hair out of Harry's mouth.

"That puts me in mind, Remus..." Frank started, "I think we're getting some leads on you dad's case..."

"Really? What'd you find?"

"Well...we're looking into this one bloke named Dolohov..."

"Dolohov?" Sirius cut in. "He sounds familiar..."

"Possible death eater..." Alice said.

Sirius nodded and Frank continued, "well, he's a suspect, because according to the director of Obscurus Books, he submitted his manuscripts to them a few weeks before your dad received that letter...and apparently, it had very anti-mixed blood, mixed breed sentiments expressed in it...so his book was rejected, and well..it was your dad who turned it down..."

"So this Dolohov guy killed my father because his book got turned down?" Remus asked calmly.

"We're not sure..." Frank said quickly. "It's quite possible...but we're still investigating...woops.." Baby Neville, who was being held by his father, managed to pull Frank's wand out of his pocket, and sent sparks flying in all directions.

Remus nodded. "So.." he said, turning to James and Lily, "what was it that you wanted to tell us?" he asked, wanting to change the subject.

The room suddenly fell silent, save for the gurgling noises that Harry and Neville made.

"Well..." James began, "a few days ago, Dumbledore gave us some unsettling news..."

"And we're only telling you guys, because we trust you all...hardly anyone knows about this..." Lily added in.

"...but we have reason to believe that Voldemort's after us, and Harry..." James finished.

Peter, who had been pouring himself tea, accidentally missed and poured all over his saucer at hearing the statement. The others only gaped at Lily and James.

"Why would Dumbledore think that?" Dominique asked suddenly.

Lily frowned. "Well...he had his sources...can't go into them...but he confirmed that in fact Voldemort wants us..."

"...So," James continued, "he wants us to go into hiding, but we're really not up for that...not just yet..."

"so we need all of you guys to keep our whereabouts hushed..." Lily said.

"Can we count on you guys to do that for us?" James asked. Everyone nodded in return, staring blankly at the Potters.

The rest of lunch went by very quietly. No one seemed able to think of a topic appropriate for conversation. Finding the awkward silence unbearable, James finally spoke up.

"So, Frank…" he started, turning to his friend, "I have some files I need to give to Anna…you won't be seeing her tomorrow, will you?"

"No, I don't think so…but I can stop by her office before the end of the day and drop them off, if you'd like…"

"That would be great…let me get the files now, before I forget…" James said as he got up and left the table.

"Wait a sec," Alice started, as she looked from Frank to Sirius, "why don't you just give them to Anna, Sirius?" she asked. "She told me she's going out to lunch with you tomorrow…"
"Er…yea, ok…" Sirius replied, "I can give them to her…"

Just then, James reentered the room, with several manila folders in his hands.

"Oy James, Sirius is going to give'em to Anna instead. He's seeing her tomorrow…" Frank said.

James nodded and handed the folders to Sirius. "Did Crouch put you guys together for tomorrow's raid?"

Sirius shook his head. "We're going out to lunch…wanted to discuss some stuff…"

James nodded again and glanced at Dominique, who was now stabbing at her potatoes with her fork. He smiled slightly. "Don't worry D," he said, "Anna's got nothing to you! Ow!" James turned to Lily. "That was my foot!"

Lily nodded. "I know…"

"So…" Dominique started, turning to Sirius, "were you ever planning on telling me about this Anna woman?"

"What's there to tell? She's just a work colleague…"

"I've never heard of her…"

"She joined after you took leave…"

"How old is she?"

"Eighteen, I think…just graduated from Hogwarts…"

"Really?"

"Er…yea…"

"Is she pretty?"

Sirius dropped his fork and knife onto the table. "What's with all the third degree??" he asked.

"I'm just asking if she's pretty!" Dominique retorted.

"D, calm yourself…" Lily cut in.

"Yea, really, D…she's not that pretty…" James offered. Lily however, rolled her eyes at him.

"James, you don't have to lie about how you feel. I don't care if you think she's pretty…" Lily said.

"Oh, well, in that case…she's an absolute fox"—

"Then what the hell does that make me?? Chopped liver??" Lily asked incredulously, startling Harry and Neville, both whom were fast asleep in the play pen by the table.

"I thought you said you were ok"—

"With you thinking she's pretty!!" Lily interjected, "Pretty! Not foxy!!"

"But she's nothing to you!!" James said quickly as he got up to tend to the babies. "I mean…really, she pales beside you, Lily. Anyway, she's a blond…a foxy blond is an absolute hound compared to a foxy redhead like yourself!"

"What's wrong with being blond??" Alice asked angrily.

"No, not you Alice!" James said quickly, "You're gorgeous"—

"Don't go looking at my wife!" Frank cut in.

James let out an exasperated groan as he picked Harry up and rocked him back and forth, trying calm him down. "I don't! I don't look at anyone's wives! Leave me alone!!"

"Oh that's right…you just look at the single girls!" Lily snapped.

"Ok, shut up, all of you!" Remus yelled. And everyone did shut up, including Harry and Neville.

Remus got up from his seat, tossing his napkin onto the table.

"Oh come on Moony, you don't have to leave," Sirius said at once, "just because Dominique's gone all jealous"—

"I'm leaving because you all are giving me a headache…" Remus interjected. "…and give James a break, he doesn't have eyes for anyone but Lily…" he muttered. He turned around, and before anyone could say anything, he disapparated out of the Potters' home.

Lunch continued in silence. As Dominique worked through her now mashed up potatoes, she thought of Remus's small burst he had before he took off. And she had been sulking about her miserable life…So she was pregnant, so Sirius had gotten busy with work, and possibly with attractive colleagues…She only had three more months to go until she had the baby…and Sirius was still attentive when he was at home…and after she had the baby, she would start back at work ASAP, and if this Anna woman had any ulterior motives for herself and Sirius, they would disappear when she met Dominique. There. Her life wasn't that bad…Poor Remus though, she thought. These past couple of years he had begun to look so tired and stressed. He always had a look of worry on his face, and if one looked very closely, one could see wisps of gray hair hiding amongst his light brown hair. It was hardly noticeable, 'but still…' Dominique reasoned, 'he's only twenty…he shouldn't look like that at twenty…'

"Oy, Dominique…" Lily started, in efforts to bring about some conversation, "I just remembered…I got a letter from Kierra…"

"Really? How is she?"

"She told me her brother and sister-in-law just had a baby girl! Her name's Nora! She sent me a picture too…" Lily said, as she extended a photo to Dominique.

Dominique took it and glanced down at it. The baby in the photo smiled at Dominique. She had bright blue eyes and had wisps of thin blond hair sticking out of her head.

"She's adorable…" Dominique said as she handed the photo back to Lily. "When was she born?"

"About a month ago…so she's about a year younger than Harry…"

"I miss Kierra…" Alice said suddenly.

"Me too…" Dominique replied.

"And she hasn't even visited since she moved..." Lily added.

"But you know, she's been really busy with work..." James reminded her. "Didn't they have her start teaching classes?"

Lily shrugged. "...but still...she can't be that busy...you know the real reason she isn't coming to visit is because of Remus..."

"Did she actually say that?" Sirius asked.

"No, but"-

"Then you don't know for sure"-

"Oh please," Lily interjected, "I know her better than she knows herself...she thinks that if she comes here, we're all going to hang out together, and either Remus will be there too, thus making her feel awkward, or he won't be there...and then she'd feel bad for leaving him out...so, to avoid all problems, she just doesn't come..."

"What's there to be awkward about?" Sirius asked irritably. "It's been two years, surely they're over each other..."

"That's the problem, Sirius..." Dominique replied. "It's been two years since they've even spoken...that's major awkwardnes right there..."

Sirius only shrugged as he took Harry from his father's arms and bounced him up and down in his lap. "Well, they're a couple of idiots then..."

Dominique rolled her eyes. "Yes, anyone who doesn't see things on the same wavelength as you is an idiot..."

Sirius stopped bouncing Harry, causing the baby to turn around to look curiously at his godfather, wondering why his ride stopped. "That's not true..." Sirius said at once.

"Yes, it is..."

"No, it's not"-
"Actually Padfoot, it kind of is..." James cut in as he smiled at his friend. "Don't get offended now..."

"I'm trying not to be..." Sirius replied as he turned his attention back to entertaining Harry.

"Hey, I think I'm going to head out now..." Peter said after a few moments as he got up from the table.

"So soon?" Lily asked. "But we've got dessert! And I made your favorite..treacle tart!"

Peter frowned slightly but shook his head. "I really need to go..."

"But you're off for the day, aren't you?" James asked. "Come on, Wormtail, stay a bit longer...help me break the ice that seems to be dominating the better part of this lunch party..." He glanced at Sirius and Dominique, only to see them glaring at each other.

Peter only smiled in return as he grabbed his briefcase. "Really wish I could," he said, "but I can't...need to go to a meeting...kind of an informal-outside of work-meeting.."

"Alright, you can go..." James said resignedly. "...but if we catch you at a death eaters meeting...we're not covering your butt in front of Dumbledore..."

Peter grinned broadly. "Got it..."

"Oh, take some tart though..." Lily said as she got up and headed to the kitchen. A minute later she came back with a small portion of treacle tart packaged up for Peter.

"Thanks Lily, you're the best!" Peter said as he took the dessert. "Well, I'll see you guys later!" and with that, Peter disapparated out of the room.

"So...how's that pregnancy going for you, D?" James asked as they worked their way through dessert.

"Killing me slowly..."

Lily and Alice bother smiled at her.

"Ah, the third trimester..." Lily said wistfully. "All you want to do is just die..."

"But don't worry," Alice said, "just three more months...you'll get there..."

"I just wish it were sooner than later..." Dominique said as she rubbed her stomach. "This is one aggressive baby...she kicks like mad..."

"Probably gets it from her daddy..." James said with a grin.

"Mmm...a female Sirius...that ought to be interesting..." Frank commented.

"I'm really not sure if I should be flattered or offended by you guys..." Sirius said casually.

"Honestly Padfoot, you've been pretty pissy lately...you're not even the one carrying the baby!" James exclaimed.

"How am I being pissy??" Sirius demanded.

James raised an eyebrow at his friend in return.

"Oh ok, that was a little pissy..." Sirius admitted.

"So.." Dominique said, turning her attention back to her female friends, "this whole labor thing...I was there when you guys had Harry and Neville...it looked horrible...is it really as bad as it looks?"

"Well, I don't know how it looked to you, but it was pretty painful..." Alice said. "It's like you're trying to push a watermelon out...only worse..."

"Yea, the whole time, I was just thinking 'oh my gosh' I am NEVER doing this again!" Lily said.

"Well, if you could do it again...and have another kid...would you?" Dominique asked.

Alice and Lily looked at each other. They both smiled and nodded.

"It's the most pain you'll probably ever go through...well except maybe if you get crucio-ed...but when it's all done, you forget about the indescribable pain, because you're overcome by indescribable happiness..." Lily replied.

Alice nodded in agreement. "It's a great feeling...when the healers put the baby in your arms...it's not something you're quick to forget..."

Dominique smiled slightly. "I'm just going to forget about everything else you said about labor, and think about the after-feelings..."

"You do that..." Lily replied.

"But like Dominique said...sooner than later would be great..." Sirius said. "I feel like a heavy weight will be lifted from us after the birth..."

Lily frowned slightly. "I can understand...pregnancy can be pretty trying for both parents...but, be careful what you wish for...it might just happen."

The lunch party fixed their attention on Lily, looking at her questioningly.

"Wisely, and slow, they stumble that run fast." Lily said solemnly. The others continued to look at her questioningly. She simply rolled her eyes and sighed. "Honestly...are Remus and I the only wizard and witch who read Shakespeare??" She asked exasperatedly.

"Probably..." James replied.
"That quote is from Romeo and Juliet"-

"Ah, the tragic love story where the two dolts kill themselves..." Sirius said.

Lily frowned at him. "You have no appreciation for fine literature..."

"...'cause it's boring..." Sirius replied with a grin. "so, preach on...what little lesson can we learn from the doomed lovebirds?"

"Well, their friar warned them with that line...if you try to move too quickly, you stumble..."

"I don't think there's anything we can do to expedite the pregnancy process..." Dominique said with a laugh.

"But you shouldn't wish to..." Lily said, "it's a natural process that lasts for nine months...just let it run its course..."

Dominique groaned. "Fine...we'll let it run its natural, hellish course...thank you Mrs. Potter, for that bit..."

"Yes, we'll always know who to go to when we need a shot of nature appreciation..." Sirius added.

After some time, both the Longbottoms and the Blacks took their leave. As Lily put a washing charm on the dishwasher, James peeked his head into the kitchen.

"Need some help?" he asked.

"Do you have to ask?" Lily replied with a grin as she tossed her husband his wand. "Clean the table would you?"

"Actually..." he said as he entered the kitchen, "I wanted to ask you..."

"Ah, I should've known..." Lily laughed. "What do you want?"

"Well...I was just thinking...I guess...with all this baby talk with Sirius and D...do you think...maybe...we could try to have another baby sometime?" James asked, looking at his wife with a mix of intimidation and hopefulness.

Lily dropped her own wand into the sink. "Are you serious??" she asked. "You...you want to have another baby? Now??"

"Oh no! Not now! Now is too soon...I mean with Harry and all...he's not even a year old yet...but maybe after that...after he hits his first birthday...we can start trying again? I mean...I'm an only child...I've always wanted siblings...Sirius was the closest thing I could get for a brother," he added, grinning sheepishly, "I just want Harry to have brothers and sisters...or one or the other...whatever we can get..."

Lily smiled slightly. "I agree...I want him to have siblings too..."

"So we can start trying then?" James asked, looking at her with a fresh fury of excitement as he smiled at her with his boyish grin.

Lily nodded. "When Harry gets a little older, when we don't have to tend to him every second of the day...which reminds me...he's unattended right now..."

"I'll take care of him..." James said as he headed for the door. "So we're having another kid then?"

"In a year or so..." Lily replied.

As James headed out the door, Lily fished her wand out of the sink and continued to clean the kitchen. So, they'd have another child... Soon, Lily was grinning as broadly as her husband as she swept the floor.