A/N: Thank you for reading and reviewing, and for your patience! You're all the best! Enjoy!

I don't own Harry Potter.

Coming to Terms

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to welcome our newest Aurors to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I am certain that they will serve us well in times of battle and in times of peace, and will do their best to uphold the law as it has been written. Congratulations to you all, and welcome to our department."

Barty Crouch, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, sat down to thunderous applause. Laura made a face. Dana, who saw the look on Laura's face, bit her lips to keep from laughing.

Lily smiled at the exchange between her two friends, and took her husband's arm. James looked down at her with a smile. Studying the faces of all her friends, Lily was certain that they were as proud of Sirius and Olivia as she was. Finally, after all their hard work, they were about to become Aurors. Even though she had had to take yet another day off work to attend their induction ceremony, Lily wouldn't have missed it for anything. After the sorrowful events of the earlier part of the week, a celebration was a welcome change.

The ceremony continued as Moody made his way up to the podium, limping heavily. The last battle, the one that had taken Mr. Potter's life, had cost Moody one of his legs. He was obviously still adjusting to walking on the wooden one that had been fashioned for him. Because physical ability was a vital part of his work, he had every reason to be bitter. Looking at him, it was obvious that he was not. His face shone with pride as he looked first at the new Aurors, then at the audience.

Olivia watched the man who had taught her everything she knew about battle make his halting progress across the stage. She knew that his job had been his life from his first day of Auror training on. He loved what he did, and she was certain that, given the chance, he would change nothing. Even his new disability, a souvenir of his work, could not deter his enthusiasm for his work. That in itself was an inspiration to her.

Was she the only one who felt this way? She looked from Moody to the Auror trainees who sat with her, knowing that these were her new colleagues in the professional world. There were so few of them – only fifteen. Fifteen remained of the fifty who had begun the program together after graduation from Hogwarts. Fifteen had made it through the rigorous training program. Fifteen had passed the inspections Moody and Frank Longbottom had devised. Fifteen had been proven worthy. Yes, they all had been touched by Moody's dedication, and they all now shared in some part of it. All fifteen would give their lives to defend their world.

Olivia glanced down the row, past every face until Sirius's came into focus. He, too, was watching Moody. She couldn't help noticing that her former boyfriend looked incredibly handsome in his new Auror robes. She bit her lips, trying to fight the sigh that wanted to escape. As much as she hated to admit it, even in her thoughts, she still loved him. She supposed that a part of her always would. She looked away from him, forcing her thoughts to safer ground. They were not meant to be, and that was that. She needed to get over him, to move on with her life.

"In recent years, our world has come in contact with an evil that at times seems unstoppable," Moody said, his voice uncharacteristically soft. "It had been through the dedication of soldiers such as those you see before you that we have been able to fight the battle for as long as we have. Many have fallen over the course of the war, and many more will follow them to a premature grave. Yet they all profess a desire to rid our world of dark magic, and they all stand behind those words with some of the bravest actions I have ever seen.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to recognize our new Aurors," Moody growled, his usual demeanor returning. "I have trained them all since they joined the program, and can confidently say that I trust them to defend me in a battle situation, provided that they practice constant vigilance."

Sirius grinned, a bit grateful that Moody had moved away from his emotional words. His oft-repeated mantra of "constant vigilance" brought all their thoughts to safer, happier ground. And he had to admit that the advice of "constant vigilance" had its benefits. It had saved his life more than once.

Still trying to keep himself from ill-timed laughter, he looked across at Olivia, wanting to see if she found their mentor's word choice as entertaining as he did. She was staring straight at Moody as if hanging on his every word. She wasn't looking at Sirius, trying to catch his eye as she might have, once upon a time. He blinked, realizing that she was no longer his to stare at. He shook his head slightly, and searched the audience for Rebecca. She was sitting alone, looking straight at him. He smiled at her, and received a beaming smile in return.

"All the young men and women you see here before you have passed through their training with great success, and are ready to begin their careers," Moody continued. "For the first year of their careers, they are required to work with a mentor, who will help them adapt to life as Aurors. Each new Auror will now be introduced with his or her mentor."

A ripple of emotion went through the new Aurors. They had all been waiting eagerly for notification of their mentors, whose identity remained a mystery until the ceremony. Both Olivia and Sirius were silently thankful that they had names at the beginning of the alphabet; they wouldn't have to wait much longer to learn their mentors' identities.

Moody took out a piece of parchment, and smoothed it out on the podium. "Auror Olivia Alexander; mentor, Frank Longbottom."

Olivia beamed as she stood to her feet. This was it; she was now an Auror! And Frank Longbottom would be her mentor. With his guidance, she would learn so much. She would be able to advance in the ranks, perhaps even becoming a top Auror. Frank grinned at her as he shook her hand, obviously infected by her excitement and enthusiasm.

While she applauded Olivia, Lily leaned over to James. "I wouldn't think Frank would want to take a mentee, since he's in charge of training and does so much for the Order."

James's jaw clenched. "He normally doesn't," he replied. "Olivia's mentor was supposed to be my dad."

"Oh," Lily said, feeling as though she had been slapped. She reached down to take his hand, lacing her fingers through his. "I didn't know."

"No, he wanted to keep it a secret. They don't find out who their mentors are until now."

"Oh," Lily said again.

She forced her attention back to the ceremony just in time to hear Moody call Sirius's name.

"Auror Sirius Black; mentor John Alexander."

Sirius felt the bottom drop out of his stomach as he heard his mentor's name. He fought to keep himself from closing his eyes as he stepped forward to greet his new adviser. They had assigned him to Olivia's brother, even knowing all that had happened between them? He was in for a rough year. Still, though, he was now an Auror. If he, Sirius Black, member of a family of dark wizards, could manage to become an Auror, he certainly could survive a year of having his former girlfriend's older brother as his mentor.

Lily just managed to stop her jaw from dropping, and began applauding her friend. Moody had assigned Olivia's brother as Sirius's mentor? Had he completely lost his mind? She looked at John, who would have obviously known of his new assignment to work with Sirius long before Sirius discovered it today.

John was looking at Sirius with what James called the "Auror mask." His face was completely void of discernable emotion. Sirius, on the other hand, was looking at his new mentor with a bit of trepidation. Even so, Lily could see the defiant glint in Sirius's eyes. He would prove himself a worthy Auror despite what John might think of him. He wouldn't let a difficult situation keep him from attaining his dream.

After the ceremony, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement threw a party to welcome the new Aurors. Laura grinned as she looked around the ballroom.

"Well, I will give the department credit," she said, her eyes taking in the lavish decorations and extensive tables of food. "They certainly know how to throw a party."

"That they do," Olivia said as she joined them. The beaming smile she had been wearing during the ceremony was still firmly in place.

"Congratulations, Liv!" Lily exclaimed, throwing her arms around her friend.

"Thanks," Olivia grinned.

As soon as Lily released her, Dana and Laura hugged her, followed by James, Remus, Peter and Aidan. She beamed, accepting congratulations from them all.

"I can't believe we've actually made it," she said. "It's been a long, difficult road, but I'm glad to be here."

"I always knew you could do it," James grinned. "After the way you managed to lead our Quidditch team to winning the Cup during seventh year, I'm sure you can do anything you put your mind to."

Olivia laughed, and waved her hand. "That was a group effort."

"But it was your determination that motivated the group," James countered.

She flushed, a bit uncomfortable with the praise, and changed the subject. "I still can't believe that Frank Longbottom is my mentor!"

"Does it make you nervous?" Dana asked.

"Sort of. I mean, I know him, which is good, but I also know how tough he is on his students, which isn't good. But we'll see how it goes. Most of the new Aurors are meeting with their mentors right now, but he said we'd meet later, since he has some official duties to attend to. I'm not sure if the suspense will kill me or not!" She giggled. "Shall we get something to eat, then?"

"Sure."

As they made their way toward the tables laden with food, Dana grabbed Lily's arm.

"Does that mean that Sirius is meeting with John right now?"

"I suppose," Lily said reluctantly.

Dana bit her lower lip. "I hope they both make it out alive."

"Right," John said. "We need to discuss our relationship for the next year. Now, I've never been a mentor before, so I'm going to base this on the way things worked between my mentor and I my first year."

"All right," Sirius said. He was waiting for John to start berating him for not wanting to marry his sister. He would rather get that part over with sooner rather than later.

"We'll going to set up professional goals for you to achieve this year, and we'll meet once a week to discuss your progress toward achieving them. During our meetings, we'll also discuss any difficulties or odd cases you've encountered. I've been an Auror for awhile now, so I'm sure I'll be able to offer you advice if you need it."

"Okay," Sirius said, still apprehensive.

"I think that's about it for right now," John said. "We'll set up meeting times on a week-by-week basis; you never know when something crazy will happen or a crisis will arise to disrupt our schedules. We'll set up your goals during our third meeting. I want you to get a feel for the profession before we do that."

"Okay," Sirius said again.

"Now, there should be good food at this party. Let's get over there before it's gone."

So they weren't going to even approach the issue? Sirius felt uneasy leaving it untouched. "John, wait."

"You have a question?"

"Sort of. About me and Olivia –"

John held up his hand to stop the flow of words. "Don't. Here we are both Aurors. Emotions and love lives are irrelevant to our work. That will be your first goal. You have to leave your personal life and anything that has happened to you outside of work at home. None of it comes to work with you. Understand? I am John Alexander and you are Sirius Black. We are two Aurors who work together, and who have a mentor-mentee relationship. As far as our current relationship goes, you never dated my sister, nor did you break her heart. Our personal feelings stay in a different realm.

"Now that we've cleared that up, let's get to the party."

Sirius blinked, and followed him to the ballroom. He hoped that John had meant what he had said. Judging by the comment about Sirius breaking Olivia's heart, he clearly had not forgiven him for not marrying her. He hoped that his mentor would be able to take his own advice, and leave his personal feelings outside of their working relationship.

As soon as he stepped into the ballroom, Rebecca threw herself at Sirius.

"Congratulations!" she exclaimed, standing on tiptoe to kiss him. "I've never been so proud of you!"

"Thanks," Sirius said with a grin, pulling her close to kiss her again. "Thanks for coming, too. It means a lot to me that you're here."

"Where else would I be?" she laughed. "I was so excited to see you up there. You looked so tall and so powerful."

Sirius grinned again. "What, not handsome?"

"You know you're gorgeous," she said dismissively. "I refuse to feed your ego anymore."

"Fine," Sirius laughed. "Let's go find my friends, shall we? It's definitely time that you met them. I should have introduced you long ago."

"I met some of them the night that I met you in the Three Broomsticks."

Sirius laughed. "Can you remember even one of their names?"

"James," she said defensively.

"Cheating," Sirius laughed. "You can't use him."

"And why not?"

"Well, first, he's my best mate, so I talk about him all the time. And second, we were just at his dad's funeral, so his name is right there in your mind."

She sighed, a hurt expression creeping into her eyes. "You know, you could have introduced me to them at the funeral. They were all there."

"Rebecca, you know I couldn't do that," Sirius sighed. "It was an awful day. I didn't want them to meet you there. Then they'd always associate you with James's dad's funeral." He smiled, and touched her cheek. "And, you, sweetheart, should never been associated with anything negative or sad."

She smiled, and put her small hand over his hand on her face. "All right. I forgive you. But I do want to meet them."

"Good," he said, taking her hand in his. "I know they want to meet you, too."

They crossed the room hand-in-hand, walking toward James and Lily, who were talking quietly to one another. James noticed them approaching first, and nudged Lily, nodding in their direction. Once Lily recognized Sirius, she gave them a glowing smile. Sirius dropped Rebecca's hand as they reached their friends, and grinned at them, preparing for the hug he knew would be forthcoming from Lily.

"Congratulations!" Lily exclaimed, throwing herself into Sirius's open arms.

Sirius grinned, hugging her close. "Thanks, Little Flower. I can't believe you took a day off work to come to this!"

Lily laughed. "Oh, yes, a day away from so much. Since I told Dorcas that I'm pregnant, she won't let me do anything fun!"

"And by that she means anything dangerous or stupid," James grinned. "Congratulations, Padfoot. I know my dad would be proud of you."

"Thanks," Sirius said, shaking James's hand. "That means a lot to me."

James nodded. "It's true. He was so excited for you."

Sirius smiled, and blinked quickly. He couldn't cry. Not again. Not here. Not now. He smiled instead, and took Rebecca's hand, pulling her forward.

"Rebecca, this is James Potter, who has been my best friend since I was eleven years old – in fact, he's more my brother than anything else. And this is his wife, Lily, who is also one of my best friends." He grinned. "I guess you could call her my favorite sister-in-law."

"He only says that because I feed him," Lily smiled, shaking Rebecca's hand. "It's wonderful to finally meet you, Rebecca."

"And you," Rebecca replied. "I feel like I know you both already, with all that Sirius has told me about you."

"Well, that can be good or bad," James laughed, taking her hand. "From what I can see, you've made Sirius very happy. I hope he's doing the same for you."

"Oh, he is," Rebecca replied, looking up at Sirius with adoring eyes. "He's a very special person."

In that moment, both Lily and James realized that Rebecca was clearly in love with Sirius. They glanced at one another, both a bit alarmed, neither knowing how Sirius felt about this sweet girl who had found her way into his life.

"Sirius! Congratulations!"

Remus, Laura and Peter approached, and Sirius began the introductions again. While Laura and Lily talked to Rebecca, James grabbed Sirius's arm.

"We need to talk soon, all right?" he asked.

Sirius nodded, his eyes betraying nothing. "Yeah, we do."

"Sirius!"

Sirius looked up, and saw Dana and Aidan coming toward him. He smiled, and waved them over, wanting to introduce them to Rebecca. It wasn't until they had reached him that he realized that they weren't alone.

Olivia was with them. He sucked in his breath quickly. This could be a very awkward situation.

"Rebecca, these are my other friends," he said, trying to speak quickly. "This is Dana, who has been one of our group since Hogwarts, and her husband, Aidan, who was dragged into this mess because of her. And this is Olivia, who has also been with us from the beginning, and is now one of my coworkers."

"It's so nice to meet you all," Rebecca said, shaking all their hands. "Sirius talks about you all so much."

Peter quickly turned his laugh into a cough. James and Remus looked at him, beams of understanding passing between the three of them. Did Sirius truly talk about all of them? Judging by her lack of reaction, Rebecca didn't know very much about Olivia. And judging by Olivia's narrowed eyes as she looked at the younger girl, it was only a matter of time before she erupted in anger.

Lily paced around the first floor of the house, going from room to room as she waited for James to come home from work. He had taken to coming home earlier in the days since his father had died, and she had rearranged her schedule accordingly so that she could arrive home around the same time. Today he was later than usual. She wasn't exactly worried, but she was anxious to talk to him.

True to his opinions immediately following the attack, James had thrown himself back into everyday life. Lily knew that Professor Dumbledore had told him to take off all the time he wanted, but she also knew that he didn't want to take time off. He honestly felt that the best way to heal was to stay busy.

She happened to disagree. She knew that he needed time to think about what had happened, and to adjust to it. And she knew just the way to help him do that.

A pop sounded in the living room, signaling that James had come home. She smiled, and left the kitchen to greet him.

"James, I have an idea."

"Hello to you, too," James grinned, putting his schoolbag down on the floor. "My day was fine, thanks. How was yours?"

In truth, his day had been fine. Everyone had been wonderfully nice to him at school since his father's death. His students had, naturally, heard what had happened, and had been unusually studious. Several of his fifth year girls had gone together to purchase a floral arrangement for him. Although the last thing he needed was more flowers, he appreciated the gesture. Many of the other teachers had given him cards telling them that they would always been available to talk. Even Snape had ignored him recently, a welcome change from the usual evil looks and taunts he threw at James.

Even so, going to work, teaching, wasn't the same as it had been. He had over a hundred essays to grade, but couldn't motive himself to do it. Ever since his father had died, all his desire to work had disappeared. As much as he loved his job, he couldn't seem to reclaim his passion for it.

Lily giggled. "Hi. My day was fine."

He winked at her, and sat down on the couch, looking at her expectantly.

"I believe you said you have idea?"

Lily nodded, clutching her hands together in a nervous gesture. She wasn't sure how he would take this idea. "Well, the Easter holidays are coming up," she said. "And I know that you have time off work while the students are on their break."

"Thank goodness," James grinned. "I'm going to need the time to get myself in order. The number of essays I'll have to mark is staggering."

"Well," Lily said, crossing the room to stand behind him, "I was thinking that you might like a change of scenery while you mark those papers."

"What are you talking about?"

She leaned down from behind the sofa, and ran her fingers through his hair. "I was thinking that maybe I could take some time off work, and the two of us could get away for awhile. You know, we never really did much to celebrate our first anniversary, so I thought we could celebrate it a little late with a second honeymoon."

James turned his head to look up at her. "What?"

"We loved the Canary Islands before," Lily said. "What do you say we go back?"

"You're serious about this?"

"Very serious. I think it would be good for both of us, don't you?" She kept moving her fingers through his hair. "We could just relax, and forget about everything except each other. You know, it could be the last chance we have for awhile to be alone together."

James closed his eyes, letting her fingers continue to massage his head. He could already hear the ocean in his mind and see Lily lying on the beach next to him. "Yes," he murmured. "It would definitely do us good."

"Are you saying yes?" She had never dreamed that it would be so easy to convince him to go.

He opened his eyes, and smiled at her. "I'm saying yes."

He sat upright, and kissed her. She responded instantly, kissing him back. He smiled against her lips, and rose up onto his knees on the couch. Putting his arms around her waist, he lifted her over the back of the couch, pulling her down onto him.

"James!" she exclaimed as she fell on top of him, sending both of them sprawling across the couch.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked with concern.

"No," she said, ignoring the bruises that she was sure were forming all over her body where it had been dragged across the top of the furniture. "Did I hurt you? I'm not as light as I used to be, you know."

James laughed. "You're not that heavy."

She made a face. "Wait until you see me in a bathing suit."

He smiled, and kissed her again. "I love you, Lil. You're gorgeous, and you always will be. I can't wait to see you in a bathing suit."

But before he could see his wife model her swimsuit, James had important business to attend to with his friend. He and Sirius had agreed on a day and time to meet to discuss all the changes that were taking place in Sirius's life. At the appointed time, James Apparated to what had once been their shared flat.

When he arrived, Remus and Peter were already seated in the living room. James raised his eyebrows.

"Hey, guys," he said.

"Hey," they replied in unison.

"Good, James is here," Sirius said, coming in from the kitchen. He tossed each of his friends a butterbeer. "We can get started."

"I would have come sooner if I had known you were calling together a tribunal," James said, sitting down and opening his drink. "I didn't think punctuality was all that important today."

"Punctuality is always important," Sirius replied, taking his own seat. He glanced around at his friends. "All right, so we're here to discuss my screwed up love life."

James grinned. "Are we running this like an official meeting? If so, we'd better start by taking attendance."

"Sod off, Potter," Sirius grinned. "We're going to start by making sure that everyone is up to speed."

"Well, from what I've observed, you and Rebecca have been together for quite awhile," Peter said. "Personally, I'm impressed. You generally don't stay with girls this long. I guess your long-term relationship with Olivia really did affect you positively."

Sirius smiled painfully. "Ah, Wormtail. Well, yes, I have been with Rebecca for a while. And, as with most relationships, ours has progressed in many ways . . ."

James's eyes lit with understanding. "You're shagging her, aren't you?"

Sirius nodded. "I am."

James ran his hand through his hair. "How long?"

"Since – since the day your dad died."

James shook his head. "Is that the only way you know to deal with tragedy?"

"What are you talking about?"

"The night that Dana's dad died, you shagged Olivia."

Sirius's head snapped back a bit, and his eyes widened. "Did I? How do you remember that if I don't?"

"Because I was with Lily at the girls' flat that night. You and Olivia were there, too, obviously – Lily and I left pretty quickly, but it was still the most uncomfortable moment of our friendship."

Sirius laughed. "Yeah, I do remember that now. You guys didn't have to actually leave the flat."

"Yeah, we really wanted to hang around and listen," James said, his face disgusted.

"Let's focus on the present, please," Remus interrupted. "Sirius is far from through with the confessions for tonight."

Sirius grinned. "Moony became my confessor last week, so this is a bit of a repeat for him." He drew a deep breath. "Well, here goes. Rebecca told me that she loves me."

"Yeah, I knew that," Peter said at once.

"Me, too," James agreed.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked. "You only met her for about an hour, and I know she wasn't confessing her deepest feelings to you – or to your wife, James."

"No, she didn't have to say anything," James said. "It was written all over her face."

"The way she looked at you – it was very obvious," Peter added.

Sirius's eyes looked ready to pop out of his head. "Do you think that Olivia saw it?"

"Unless she's blind, yes," Remus said.

"Why so worried about Olivia?" James asked. "I mean, Padfoot, that relationship is over. Done. Olivia is your past. Rebecca is your present, as well as your indefinite future."

Sirius dropped his head down into his hands. "You're an arse, Potter."

James sighed. "You still love Olivia, don't you?"

Sirius looked up. "I don't know! I don't know who I love and who I don't!"

Peter exhaled. "So, you're shagging Rebecca even though you may not love her?"

"I care about her," Sirius said defensively.

"But, Sirius, if she loves you, don't you think you're doing her a disservice by shagging her? I mean, I'm sure she thinks that you love her as much as she loves you," James said.

"Do you think so?" Sirius frowned. "I've never actually said the words."

"If you're shagging her, I'm not sure you'd need to," Peter said hesitantly. "Don't girls take that as a sign of how you feel or something?"

Sirius dropped his head down into his hands.

"Look, Sirius, don't you remember seventh year, when one of your many girlfriends left you because she wanted more than a snogging buddy?" Remus said.

"Yeah," Sirius said, looking up with a frown. "I don't see what that has to do with this, though."

"It's the same effect," Remus said. "You always cared about the girls, but never as much as they cared about you – not until Olivia, at any rate. You kept them around, used them as snogging buddies, then got rid of them. Right now, you care about Rebecca, but not as much as she cares about you. You're keeping her around for a shagging buddy."

Sirius flinched. "If I wanted a shagging buddy, it wouldn't be her. I'd take up with one of the girls at the Academy – believe me, she's offered. I'd sleep with her whenever I wanted, but our relationship would be just that – meaningless shagging. At least, that's the way she outlined it when she told me what she wanted from me."

"Some girl actually offered you that?" Peter asked in shock.

"Ages ago," Sirius said dismissively. "It was right after Olivia and I broke up."

"And you're just now telling us?" James asked.

Sirius shrugged. "It seemed irrelevant. I wasn't about to take her up on it. I'd like a bit more than a shagging buddy, thank you very much," he finished, giving Remus a pointed look.

Remus held up his hands. "I'm just saying that that's what it looks like to the casual observer."

"You're more than a casual observer, and you know it," Sirius said. "All of you are. You're my friends. You're involved."

"Sadly, we are," James grinned.

"So, advise me," Sirius said. "What should I do?"

"The first thing you need to do is to decide what you want," James said. "Then go from there."

"Decide what I want?"

"You need to choose," Remus said. "Would you rather be with Olivia or Rebecca?"

"Oh, man."

"Remember," Peter added. "You know that Rebecca wants you, so no matter what you do, you have to be careful about her feelings. And, you're not sure if Olivia wants you, so if you choose her, you have to be careful of yours."

Lily took her favorite sundress out of her closet, holding it up and looking at it critically. Would it still fit her? She held it up against her body, sighing as she smoothed it over her stomach.

"You know, you really are limiting my wardrobe," she said, running her hand over her curved stomach. "Can't you wait until we get back from the Canary Islands to grow more? If you could try to tuck yourself up to be smaller until we get back, I'd appreciate that, too."

"Talking to yourself is a sign of insanity, you know."

Lily screamed and jumped, clutching her dress tightly against her body. She whirled around to see Olivia standing in her bedroom doorway. "Olivia! You scared me to death!"

"You're still standing," Olivia said dismissively. "Who were you talking to?"

"The baby."

Olivia grinned, and crossed the room to touch Lily's abdomen. "Do we have a name yet?"

"Either Brenna or Harry," Lily said.

"Those are great names," Olivia said quietly, knowing that they honored the baby's fallen grandparents. She blinked, and looked away from Lily's serene face.

Lily smiled. "Thanks. But somehow I doubt that you came all the way over here to discuss baby names."

"No," Olivia admitted. "And, I might add that you are nearly impossible to find! Why aren't you at work? You know I hate dealing with your guard dog!"

"I've told you before, she's harmless," Lily laughed. "James and I are leaving for Spain tomorrow. I took today off to pack. Although, judging by the way that nothing I own will fit me anymore, I took today off to shop. Why aren't you at work?"

"I'm a new Auror, so I get the most bizarre shifts known to man. Today I'm working from four in the afternoon till midnight."

"Well, that's fun," Lily said sarcastically. "But if you went to the Prophet to look for me, braving our secretary, I'm guessing you weren't just in the mood for idle chit-chat."

Olivia shook her head. "I need to talk to you, Lils."

"All right," Lily said, sitting down on the bed. "What's on your mind?"

"Sirius." She sighed, and ran her hands over her face. "He's shagging Rebecca, isn't he?"

Lily's eyes widened. "Liv . . ."

Olivia nodded. "I thought so. I could see the way that she was looking at him during the induction party. She's in love with him. She was looking at him like she belongs to him completely – and, knowing Sirius's reputation, that can only mean one thing."

Lily shook her head. "You're not giving Sirius enough credit."

"Not giving him enough credit?" Olivia exploded, her calm demeanor gone. "I dated him, Lil! I know what he's all about!"

"Liv, you just referenced his reputation. He and James had pretty much the same reputation at Hogwarts, and we both know how wrong everyone was about them. Yes, they had lots of girlfriends, but they weren't shagging them."

"We're out of Hogwarts now," Olivia replied. "And can you honestly tell me that he's not shagging this girl?"

Lily sighed, wishing she had never asked James how his conversation with Sirius had gone. Then maybe she would be able to honestly claim ignorance. "No, I can't."

Olivia's face fell. "He is shagging her?"

Lily nodded slowly. "That's what he told James."

Without warning, Olivia burst into tears. Lily was off the bed in an instant, pulling her into a comforting hug.

"Oh, Liv," she sighed. "It's going to be all right."

"How, exactly?" Olivia sobbed. "I still love him, Lils! My God! I love him so much! I never wanted to break up with him! I wanted us to be together forever. But he didn't want that then, and he clearly doesn't now!"

Lily remained silent, hugging her friend tightly. She didn't know what to say. She had never been in this position. She had never lost the man she loved to another woman.

"Does he love her?"

"What?"

"What did James say?" Olivia sniffed. "Or Sirius himself, for that matter. You two have always been close. What did he tell you? Does he love her?"

"I don't know," Lily said honestly. "But I know that he does care about her a lot."

Olivia pulled away from Lily, and wiped angrily at her tears. "Then it's time for me to get over him."

"How do you intend to do that?" Lily said, hating that she and James were leaving in the morning. Olivia clearly needed her.

"Do you remember when he first started dating that whore, and I said I was going to find a new man?"

"Yes," Lily said, ignoring the insult to Rebecca. "You dated quite a few different men, as I recall."

"Yes," Olivia acknowledged. "Now it's time to find a permanent one."

"What?"

"If he can fall in love again, so can I," she said stubbornly. "I'm going to find someone who will love me as much as Sirius did."

"Liv . . ."

"No," Olivia said quickly. "He's going to love me even more than Sirius did. He's going to want to marry me."

"You're going to find someone to marry?" Lily asked nervously.

Olivia looked at her with wide-eyed innocence. "Isn't that what everyone's looking for, Lily?"

Lily sucked in her breath quickly. "But if that someone isn't Sirius?"

"He doesn't want me," Olivia said, blinking quickly to hide her tears. "So I'm going to find someone who does."

"But if you still love Sirius . . ."

"I'm sure I can love someone else just as much."

"But, Liv, if you think that Sirius is the one for you . . ."

Olivia smiled sadly. "Lils, I know you believe that there's one perfect person out there for everyone. I did, too. But I don't anymore. I think that you can love many different people at many different points in your life. I loved Sirius for a long time. But he doesn't love me anymore. So, it's time for me to find someone else to love." She smiled her sad smile again. "And maybe you're right. Maybe there is one specific person for everyone. If that's the truth, then Sirius clearly isn't the one for me, not if he's fallen out of love with me. I need to stop wasting my time wishing that I was still with him, and to find the one I'm meant to be with."

She gave Lily a triumphant smile. Lily tried to smile back, but failed. Her emotions were swirling around almost as much as Olivia's. Should she tell her friend that Sirius could still love her? That he wasn't sure of his own feelings?

No, she couldn't. She'd only get Olivia's hopes up, and if Sirius decided that Rebecca was the love of his life, Olivia would have her heart broken again. Lily couldn't do that to her. She held her tongue, and prayed that her friends would work everything out. Whether they ended up together or apart, she only wanted both of them to be happy.