A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing! Enjoy!

This chapter is dedicated to LogicalRaven!

I don't own Harry Potter.

Almost Paradise

Two days after Dana left, Lily and James were having breakfast together in their kitchen. Harry was sitting in his highchair, refusing to eat the baby food that Lily attempted to give him.

"Come on, Harry, you like pears. Mmm, yummy mashed pears."

"Way to talk it up, Lil. I'm sure nothing sounds more appetizing than something that's been mashed," James said, making a face. "Just deal with it for now, champ. In a few months, you'll have teeth, and we'll be able to give you real food."

"James!" Lily exclaimed. "Don't make him think that it's okay to turn it down. This is real food."

"To the manufacturers, maybe," James grinned. He laughed at the look on his wife's face. "Okay, okay, I'll try to be more helpful. Come on, Harry, let's eat a bit of this. You don't want to be hungry all day because you skipped breakfast."

Lily stood to clear the table while James took over feeding the baby. He managed to get a few more spoonfuls of the baby food into Harry's mouth, which he decided to label a success. He wiped his hands, hoping that he hadn't gotten any baby food onto his Hogwarts robes.

"What are your plans for today?" he asked as he stood up.

"I'm going to take Harry to visit Remus," she replied.

"Is he up for visitors?" James asked.

"I think so," Lily replied. "Dana was over there every day for a week. If he's not used to visitors by now, he has more problems than I want to think about."

"Yeah, but, Lil, that was Dana. She's different."

"Different how?" Lily asked, turning from the sink to face James.

"She . . . Well, she's been there. She knows what he's going through."

"And I can't be sympathetic?"

"No, that's not what I meant."

"What did you mean, then?"

James sighed. "Just be careful, okay? Remus is in a really bad place right now, and when he gets like that . . . Sirius yells and smashes things, Peter panics and runs to hide behind his parents, and I try to pretend it's not happening, but Remus just gets quiet. You don't know what's going through his head, and, in reality, you probably don't want to know. He's . . . Just be careful, Lil."

"I'll be careful, I promise. You worry too much," Lily smiled crossing to kiss his cheek. "I love you, James."

He smiled at the unexpected affectionate gesture, and pulled her close to kiss her lips. "I love you, too."

Harry squealed, and his parents broke apart. James gave him an exasperated look.

"You really know how to ruin a moment, don't you?" he asked.

Lily laughed. "Doesn't Sirius always say that about you? Maybe it's genetic."

"Well, we're going to train it out of Harry, then," James grinned. He lifted the baby up, swinging him through the air. Harry gave a squeal of delight, and began to laugh as James tickled him.

"Dadadadada," he chanted.

James laughed, and kissed his cheek. "Well, at least we're that far. Can you try for 'Daddy' again?"

"Dadadada," Harry said again, laughing as James made faces at him.

"I think we should be impressed with that much," Lily smiled. "He's only seven months old."

James tossed him up in the air again, then gave him to Lily. "I need to get to work."

"Thanks for shaking him around for me before you leave," Lily laughed. "If he's throwing up his breakfast in ten minutes, I'll send you a Howler."

"I'll be waiting for it," James grinned. He kissed Harry's cheek and Lily's lips. "I'll see you both tonight. Say hello to Remus for me."

"I will," Lily promised. She touched his cheek. "Be nice to the kids today."

"I'm nice to them every day," James grinned. "See you tonight."

He left, softly closing the door behind him. Lily looked back at the baby in her arms.

"Well, Harry, what do you say to a visit to Uncle Remus?" she asked.

Harry bounced in her arms, smiling and babbling to himself. Lily smiled and kissed his cheek.

"I'll take that as approval. Okay, let's get ourselves all cleaned up, and we'll go over."

"Now, listen," Lily said to Harry as she walked up Remus's front walk carrying the baby, "Uncle Remus is very sad right now because Aunt Laura died. So he might not play with you as much as he usually does, okay? But you can't be sad or mad at him, because he's still trying to get over being very sad. So you just be your usual adorable self, and I'm sure you'll help him feel better. Would you like to help Uncle Remus feel better?"

Harry began babbling in baby talk again, and Lily smiled. She never ceased to be amazed at his observance of the rules of conversation. Even if his end didn't make sense to her yet, he knew when he should begin talking.

"You're a better conversationalist than many adults," she smiled. She kissed his cheek, and knocked on Remus's door.

It was only a moment before the door opened, revealing Remus. He looked more haggard than Lily had ever seen him, including the days following his full moon transformations. She swallowed the gasp that wanted to cross her lips, and smiled instead.

"Hello, Remus," she said.

"Lily," he said dully, opening the door wider. "Come in."

"Thanks," Lily said, stepping into the house. "Harry was just telling me how much he wanted to see you, so I thought we'd stop over for a visit."

"Harry doesn't talk yet," Remus said with a ghost of a smile. He looked at the baby, who was tangling his fist in his mother's hair, and felt his heart swell. Dana was right – he adored this baby, and Harry deserved to know that.

"But he makes his wishes know," she countered. She pulled Harry's fingers from her hair, and bounced him on her hip. "Didn't you want to visit Uncle Remus, Harry?"

"Rererere," he said, reaching out to Remus.

Remus smiled, really smiled, and reached out to take the baby from his mother's arms. "So you wanted to see me, did you, Harry?"

"Rererere," Harry said again, bouncing in Remus's arms.

Remus smiled, and began tickling the baby. Harry shrieked with laughter.

"See?" Lily smiled. "I told you he wanted to see you."

"Come in and sit down," Remus said, carrying the baby into the living room. "Do you want something to drink?"

"No, I'm fine," Lily replied, following her host. "We just finished breakfast."

Remus nodded. "What about you, Harry? Can I offer you something?"

Harry began to babble at Remus, who smiled at his baby talk. Lily smiled at the sight of them together as she sat down. She had been worried about Remus at first sight, but it would appear that Harry was just the thing to help him over his depression.

Remus settled himself on the floor with the baby, and began playing with him. Lily watched them from the couch, unwilling to break the moment by forcing Remus to talk. If he wanted to talk to her, he would. She was willing to wait until he was ready.

As it turned out, Remus was not ready to talk that day. Nor the next, nor the day after that. Lily went faithfully each day with Harry, hoping to be as much help to her friend as she could. But she quickly realized that Harry was far more help than she could ever be.

It was Harry that Remus gave his rare smiles to. It was Harry that made his eyes light up. It was Harry that brought out the shadows of the Remus they had known since Hogwarts. It helped that Harry adored all his uncles, and was very willing to spend time playing with Remus.

And for the next weeks, that was what happened. Each morning, Lily would pack up her small son, and take him to visit his uncle Remus. While Remus and Harry played, Lily would tidy up the house and cook meals that would keep for several days. She did any household task that she could find undone, trying to help Remus in that way. She hoped that he appreciated her efforts, but she was sure that it was Harry that he truly appreciated. She was just glad to have found a way to help her friend overcome this seemingly insurmountable sorrow.

"How's it going with Remus?" Dana asked, her head firmly planted in Lily's fire.

"Okay, I suppose," Lily replied. "He doesn't want to talk about anything, but he loves playing with Harry. I take him over every day, and the first thing Remus does is to take Harry from me. He plays with the baby, and I basically take care of his house. But he hasn't really talked to me at all."

"Do you think that Harry's helping him?"

"He seems to be," Lily said slowly. "Harry's pretty much the only one who can get him to smile."

"Babies have a special power over adults, don't they?" Dana smiled. "I think you're doing exactly the right thing, Lils."

"Really? I'm just worried that I'm not doing enough."

"He knows you're there," Dana said. "When he's ready to talk, you'll be ready to listen, and he knows that. For now, I think it's enough."

"It's going to have to be," Lily replied. "I don't know what else to do."

Olivia walked through the corridors of the Auror department, searching for her partner. They had finally reached the point of not being the newest Aurors, and could walk through the halls without fear of being forced into menial labor by the older, more experience Aurors. All of the members of their induction class loved moving through the Ministry with their heads held high.

"Good morning, Olivia," Frank Longbottom greeted her with a cheerful smile. "It's nice to see you out of your office."

Olivia smiled at him, knowing that he knew exactly why she had spent the previous months hiding. "It's lovely to be able to escape," she said.

"Are you looking for work to do?" Frank asked with a mischievous smile. "I'm sure I could find some filing for you . . ."

"Don't make me hex you, Longbottom," Olivia laughed. "I'm looking for Sirius. Have you seen him?"

"I think he was in the lounge," Frank replied. He leaned slightly closer to her, lowering his voice. "Do you have new orders from Moody?"

"No, I just wanted to talk to him about a report we were writing together," Olivia said, making the story up with out batting an eye. "You said he was in the lounge?"

"Yes, the last time I saw him."

"Great. Thanks, Frank." She started to turn away, then turned back to face her coworker. "How's Neville doing?"

"Great," Frank replied, his face breaking out into a beaming smile. "He's picking up some words – well, maybe not actual words, but sounds that have some meaning to them. He's a great little guy."

"He's a sweetheart," Olivia smiled. "Give him a kiss for me."

"I will," Frank replied. "Good luck finding Sirius."

"Thanks," Olivia smiled. She turned again, and made her way toward the lounge.

She reached the room she had been looking for, and pulled the door open. Sirius was seated at one of the tables with several other Aurors, talking and laughing. Olivia smiled, feeling a bit of exasperation. With all that was happening in their world, one would think that the Aurors would be out battling Death Eaters, not chatting in their office. Shaking her head, she made her way over to join them.

"Hi, Liv," Sirius grinned. "What's new?"

"Can we talk?" Olivia asked.

"Sure," Sirius replied, turning serious at once. "Come on, let's go back to our office."

Another perk of no longer being the "new Aurors" meant that they had been reassigned to better, larger offices. Each partnership had been granted their own office, meaning that Sirius and Olivia now shared one between the two of them. They had spent their first day just sitting in the office, loving the sight of only two desks, each with only one owner.

They made their way through the maze of the department to their office, and Sirius opened the door. He held it for Olivia, her murmured her thanks as she passed him.

"What's going on?" he asked as he came in behind her, shutting the door.

"We need to talk," Olivia said without preamble.

"Did something happen?" Sirius asked, his face turning chalky white. "Have you heard something? Is it James and Lily?"

"No, no! Let me speak, and I'll explain."

Sirius sat down on his desk and looked at her expectantly. "Okay. Explain."

"First, as far as I know, James and Lily are fine," Olivia stated. "This doesn't have anything to do with work or the war."

"Okay," Sirius said, nodding in agreement.

"I wanted – Sirius, we need to talk about us, and about what happened between us that day in the hospital."

"Ah," Sirius said, clasping his hands together. "Right. That."

"Yes, that," Olivia said. She glanced at the door as though expecting it to open. "We've discussed our private life here way too many times in the past, and we've been caught almost every time. Do you think we could get together tonight to talk?"

"Sure," Sirius said at once. "Why don't you come over after work? We'll have dinner, and discuss everything."

Olivia smiled. "That sounds perfect."

"Good. I'll see you at seven, then?"

"Seven it is."

There was a knock at the door, then it pushed open. John, Olivia's older brother, stuck his head into the office.

"Livie, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure, John," she said. She turned to look at Sirius. "So, are we set, then?"

"Completely," Sirius replied.

"Good. I'll talk to you later."

As soon as the door closed behind Olivia, Sirius opened a desk drawer and pulled out his mirror.

"James!" he called into the mirror.

James's face appeared within an instant. "Can we make this quick, Padfoot? My next class is about to start."

"It's going to be tonight," Sirius said without preamble.

James rolled his eyes. "Okay, not that quick. What is going to be tonight?"

"Liv's coming over to discuss our relationship."

"Whoa." James clearly sat down hard. "Are you ready for this?"

"I think so," Sirius said nervously.

"You have the ring, right?"

"It's at home."

"Good. And you know what you're going to say?"

Sirius pulled out a parchment that contained the speech James had written for him. "I don't know, Prongs. It's . . ."

"It's a good speech!" James exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know, but it's . . . I would never say this stuff. You would."

"Hey, you wanted a speech, and I gave you a speech. And, I might add, it's an excellent speech. Sure to win any girl's heart."

Sirius sighed. "If you're sure."

"I'm sure." A bell rang in the distance. "Listen, Sirius, I've got to get to class. Can we talk later?"

"Sure."

"Good. If I don't get a chance to talk to you before you and Liv get together, good luck!"

"Thanks, Prongs."

"You're welcome."

James's face faded from the mirror, leaving Sirius alone in his office. He put the mirror down on his desk, and leaned back in his chair, breathing deeply to calm himself down. How was he ever going to live through this?

Sirius left as soon as his shift ended, eager to get home and prepare for Olivia's arrival. He stopped at their favorite Chinese restaurant and ordered all the foods he and Olivia had loved when they were dating. Then he Apparated home to clean his flat before the food arrived.

Upon arrival, he looked around his flat critically. In his opinion, it looked fine. However, he wasn't sure how a woman would see it. He was tempted to call Lily to come over to help, but changed his mind. He didn't want to involve her, fearing that she would get too excited. She had been hoping that he and Olivia would get back together since the day they had broken up. While Sirius, too, hoped for that outcome, and knew that Lily needed something to be happy about, he didn't want to get her hopes up, just in case it didn't turn out the way he was hoping.

He knew that Lily had been spending a lot of time with Remus recently; although her visits had been wonderfully therapeutic for Remus, they were draining the sparkle out of Lily. She was giving so much to him that she was neglecting herself. Sirius and James had discussed this on several occasions, but hadn't been able to find a way to make her stop. Even though they and Peter went quite often to visit Remus, Lily seemed to feel that he still needed her. While Sirius couldn't deny that Lily seemed to be able to help Remus more than the others did, he also wanted her to be more careful with herself.

After several minutes of internal debate, he decided to go ahead without her assistance. He began using the household spells that he had avoided recently, cleaning everything in sight. He finally felt that his home was presentable, and made his way into the bathroom for a quick shower.

He had just stepped out of the shower when the food appeared on his table. When he left the bathroom half-dressed, drying his hair on a towel, he saw everything waiting for him. He grinned.

"Perfect timing," he observed. He glanced at the clock on the mantel. "Liv will be here in fifteen minutes. I'd better get dressed."

At precisely seven, Sirius was ready to receive his guest. He had set the table, even lighting candles to accompany the meal. The food was in serving dishes, ready to be eaten, and a bottle of Olivia's favorite wine was uncorked, ready to be poured into their glasses. He himself was dressed nicely and wearing the cologne she had bought him for Christmas one year.

Olivia arrived at five after seven, also dressed far nicer than she had been earlier that day. She smiled at Sirius, and looked around with wide eyes.

"Wow," she said. "It looks really nice in here."

"Thanks," Sirius smiled. He leaned down to kiss her cheek, but paused, looking in her eyes. "Is this okay?"

"Yes," she breathed.

Sirius smiled, and kissed her cheek, letting his lips linger longer than was necessary. Olivia didn't move or breathe until he had straightened up again. She fought the urge to pull his head down for a proper kiss, and smiled at him.

"Do I smell Chinese?"

"You certainly do," Sirius grinned.

Olivia crossed to the table, and looked at all he had set out. "Sirius, this is fantastic!"

He grinned. "I had hoped you'd like it."

"These are all my favorites." She looked up at him with a glowing smile. "But you knew that. They're your favorites, too."

"Yeah," Sirius smiled. "Shall we eat first, or talk first?"

"Let's eat before the food gets cold."

"All right."

They sat down together, and Olivia looked around admiringly again.

"I can't believe you even have candles out for this."

Sirius grinned. "Only the best for you."

She made a face. "If you don't kill the mushy routine, I'm out the door. If I wanted to date James, I would."

"I think Lily might have a problem with that," Sirius laughed.

"Yeah, probably," Olivia grinned. "Just calm down, okay? Be Sirius."

"I think I can do that," Sirius replied.

They both relaxed over their food, chatting of the thousand small events that made up their day. They discussed Remus, and their continued concern for him.

"I know I shouldn't say it, but I'm really worried about him," Sirius said. "I'm afraid he's only clinging to his sanity by a thread."

"From what Lily's said, Harry seems to really be helping him," Olivia offered.

"Yeah," Sirius agreed. "Harry is pretty much the only thing he's willing to talk about when I see him. I can't get him to open up about Laura at all."

"He hasn't been talking to Lily or me about her, either," Olivia said, biting her lip. "What about James and Peter? Have they had any luck?"

"No," Sirius sighed. He shook his head. "It's sort of scary, you know? I mean, Remus has always been one to keep things to himself. I think he looks at it as some sort of weakness to share his problems . . . or maybe it's just that he got so used to it over the years. I mean, his greatest problem and his greatest secret are one in the same. He's not used to sharing or looking to others for help."

"But he needs help," Olivia said, her eyes wide with concern.

"He'll be okay," Sirius said firmly, trying to convince both of them. "He's been through terrible things in the past. I'm sure he can get through this, too."

"He doesn't really have much choice," Olivia sighed.

They finished eating, and cleaned up together. Once the last dish had been put away, Sirius looked intently at Olivia.

"Well, I suppose we can't put it off any longer, can we?" he asked.

"No, I suppose not," Olivia agreed.

"Come on, let's go talk in the living room," Sirius said, taking her hand to lead her out of the kitchen.

They sat down together on the sofa, and Olivia gave him a nervous smile.

"Can I start?" she asked.

"If you'd like," Sirius agreed. The diamond ring he had purchased earlier that week was burning a hole in his pocket, but he had to know how she felt before he proposed marriage. If she said that she didn't want anything to do with him anymore, the ring was going to be returned to the store.

"Sirius, I love you," she said without preamble. "I've always loved you . . . I never stopped, even when we were broken up."

Sirius's eyes widened. He had definitely thought it would take them longer to get to this point. "Are you sure you want to tell me this?" he asked.

"Positive," she said. "After all that's happened, after all that we've seen, after Aidan and Laura . . . Sirius, I've been acting like we have all the time in the world, but that just isn't true. Anything could happen to either of us at any time – especially since we're Aurors. I can't . . . I can't handle the idea of losing you without telling you this. So, I love you, and I want to try to make it work between us again."

"Olivia," Sirius began.

"Wait," she said, putting a finger over his lips. "I'm not through."

"Sorry," he smiled.

She drew a deep breath. "I know that we broke up before because I thought that I didn't want to wait for you anymore. Well, I was wrong. I want to wait now."

"Wait?" Sirius repeated, all the words that James had taught him racing out his mind. "What do you mean?"

"I told you that I wanted to get married, and I wouldn't take no for an answer. Well, I've changed my mind on that. I will take no for an answer – in fact, I want to put off getting married."

"You don't want to get married?" Sirius frowned, not sure if he was happy or sad with this turn of events.

"Oh, I do – someday. But not now." She smiled, and ran her hand over his cheek. "Sirius, we've just managed to find our way back to one another. Why would we want to rush into marriage now? We have time to wait. Just as long as we're together, I'm happy." She paused, fear creeping into her eyes. "You do want to give us another try, don't you?"

As a response, Sirius leaned forward, capturing her lips with his. He kissed her for several moments, loving the feel of her in his arms again. While he kissed her, he let his view of their new relationship fall into the proper perspective. They weren't going to get married – not yet anyway. He'd just put the ring into a drawer, waiting for the appropriate time to make its appearance. Because, this time, he wasn't going to settle for anything less than forever with her.

"Yes, I want to give us another try" he whispered as he pulled away. "I love you, too, Olivia."

She smiled, and kissed him again.

When they finally pulled apart, Sirius pulled Olivia close to him, cuddling her against his chest. He kissed the top of her head, and ran his fingers through her hair.

"So, what are we going to do now?" he asked.

"Can we go back to the way we were?" she asked. "Can we start dating again?"

"I'd love that," Sirius grinned. His smile faded slightly. "What's your family going to say, Liv? They all hate me."

"They'll come around," she said stoically. "Anyway, it's not their decision. I'm not a little girl anymore, and they can't tell me who I'm allowed to date."

"Can we put off telling them for awhile?"

Olivia giggled. "If you want."

"Good," he smiled. "I just want to enjoy this for awhile before your brother starts trying to hex me at work."

She giggled again, then sobered. "Sirius, what are we going to tell Remus?"

"Remus?"

"Yes, Remus. He's just lost the love of his life. How are we going to tell him that we're back together? It's sort of like rubbing his face in it, don't you think?"

"I think he'll be able to handle it," Sirius said uncertainly. "But . . . maybe we should just keep this to ourselves for now. Not tell anyone. At least until Remus starts to be a bit more like himself. What do you think?"

"Good idea," Olivia said, obviously relieved. She smiled, and kissed Sirius's cheek. "A secret relationship is very romantic, don't you think?"

Sirius bent his head to kiss her lips. "I think it's going to be brilliant."

James walked home from work slowly, his very stride showing his preoccupation. He was worried about his wife.

Lily had dedicated herself selflessly to helping Remus, but it wasn't helping her at all. She wasn't allowing herself to grieve for her friend, and the bottled up feelings were starting to take their toll. She had become jumpy, snapped at anyone who bothered her, and would cry at the slightest provocation. James only wanted to help her, but he wasn't sure how. He had a plan, but he wasn't sure what she'd make of his idea.

He opened the door, and stepped into the house. He could hear Harry giggling, and Lily's voice rising and falling as she spoke to him.

"Lily?" he called. "Harry?"

"Hi, James!" Lily called. "We're in the living room!"

James made his way through the house to the living room, where Lily and Harry were sitting on the floor, playing with Harry's stuffed lion. As he entered the room, Harry gave a glad cry, and reached his arms up to his father.

"Hi, Harry!" James grinned. He swept the baby up into his arms, kissing his cheek. He looked down at Lily with a smile. "How was your day? Did you go see Remus?"

"This morning," she replied. "Peter was there, so we didn't stay long."

"Good," James replied. "I think Remus really appreciates Peter's visits. I know he can't get away that often."

Lily nodded. "I wanted to leave them alone for awhile."

James extended a hand to help her to her feet. "So what did you and Harry do today?"

"Not much," Lily admitted with a smile. "We read some books and played with some toys, didn't we, sweetheart?" She tickled Harry's tummy, and he laughed again.

"Darling, I have a suggestion," James said slowly. "I'm not sure what you'll think of it, but it's sort of too late to change it."

"What are you talking about, James?"

James drew a deep breath. "We're going away."

"What?" Lily exclaimed. "James, what are you talking about?"

"I've booked us a vacation to Greece," James said in a rush. "We leave in two weeks, when the students are off for Easter. All the arrangements have been made, so you just have to show up with luggage in hand."

"James!" Lily yelled. "How could you just do that without talking to me?"

"I thought you needed to get away for awhile," James said. He put Harry down on the floor; the baby crawled over to his lion again, putting its paws in his mouth.

"I don't need to get away!" Lily yelled, her eyes snapping fire. "I'm perfectly fine here! Did you even consider that I might have commitments?"

"You always tell me about everything you're planning," James said. "All you've done recently is babysit Remus, and it's not doing you any good."

"But it's doing Remus plenty of good," Lily countered. "He needs us, James! This isn't the time to just up and leave him!"

"He's going to be fine," James replied soothingly. "He has Peter, Sirius and Olivia right here, and I'm sure that Dana could come over in a pinch. He'll be all right without us for a week."

"Just a week?" Lily said warily.

"Just a week," James repeated. "I've reserved us a hotel right on the beach for the entire week. We need to introduce Harry to the beach, Lil. We've never taken him before."

Lily smiled in spite of herself. "He will love it, won't he?"

"Yes," James smiled, seeing her anger melt. "And I chose Greece because . . . I thought that the Canaries were a little too obvious."

"Obvious?"

"Everyone knows that we love to vacation there," James explained. "I didn't want to give the Death Eaters our address, if you will."

Lily nodded slowly. "Are you sure this is a good idea, James? I mean, aside from leaving Remus – which I'm not excited about – we're going to have to be really careful about the Death Eaters."

"We'll be careful," James assured her, drawing her close. "Don't worry, love. Everything is going to be fine."

The next day, Lily informed Remus of their vacation plans. He didn't respond for a long time; he merely looked down at the baby in his lap. When he finally did speak, it was still without lifting his eyes.

"That sounds wonderful," he said. "I'm sure you'll have a great time."

"Remus . . . if you want me to stay, I will."

He looked up at her, his eyes still haunted by the pain and sorrow of the past month. "Stay?" he repeated. "Lily, do you really think I would be so selfish as to cheat you out of a trip to Greece with your husband and son?"

"I – Remus, I didn't mean . . ."

"Lily, you have been a fantastic friend," he said slowly. "You have stayed by my side through some awful days. Because of you and Harry, I've been able to fight my way back. After all you've done for me, how could I ask for more?"

She reached out to touch his cheek. "Listen to me, Remus. Friends can never ask for too much. I will always be here for you. Anything you need – just ask. I'll do anything I can for you."

Tears filled his eyes as he smiled sadly at her. "I know. You are one of the most genuine, truly sweet people I've ever known." He took her hand in his. "My life is better for having you in it."

She smiled, blinking back tears. "And mine is for having you in it."

"Go to Greece, Lily," he said with a smile. "Go to Greece and have a lovely time. Jump in the waves for me."

She grinned. "I'll bring some sand back for you."

"Oh, this is heaven," Lily sighed, opening the doors that led to their hotel room balcony. She stepped outside, and watched the surf roll in across the beach, then turned to James with a glowing smile. "I'm so glad you had this idea – and that you forced me into coming."

James grinned as he joined her, carrying Harry. "How else was I going to get you here?"

Lily smiled as she leaned up to kiss his cheek. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Lily grabbed Harry's hands. "Look, Harry! That's the ocean! What do you think of it?"

Harry began babbling again, and James smiled. "I think he wants to go down to play in the sand."

"Yes, let's go!" Lily agreed.

They walked back into the room to change into their bathing suits and gather up the toys that their friends had sent for Harry to use in the sand. Lily was sure that their friends had been almost as excited as they were about the trip – and more than a little envious. Peter, in particular, had told them several times that he didn't want to know any more about it. James had laughed, declaring that he was just jealous, and gave him more information.

Once they were dressed, slathered in sunscreen, and had everything packed up, they went down to the beach. Lily kicked off her flip-flops at once, sinking her toes into the sand.

"Oh, this is wonderful!" she exclaimed. "James, why don't we live at the beach?"

"You want to buy a house here?" he laughed.

"Could we?"

"We'll have to talk about it," James laughed. "Where should we set ourselves up?"

They selected a patch of sand, and laid out their blankets, beach chairs and sand toys. James spent several minutes working the large umbrella into the sand, finally opening it to cast shade over them.

"Will that keep you from getting burned?" he asked Lily with a smile.

"Hopefully," she replied. "Okay, Harry, it looks like we're ready. What do you think of the sand?"

She put the baby down on the sand, which he promptly dug his small fists into. He giggled as he waved his hands, tossing sand everywhere. Then he flopped backward, lying down on the beach, still giggling.

"I think he likes it," James grinned. "Shall we take him down to the water?"

"Sure," Lily agreed.

James picked the baby up, and they went down to the water's edge together.

"Look at the ocean, Harry!" James exclaimed. "Isn't it nice? Do you want to touch the water?"

He leaned down to dip Harry's toes into the water. Harry gave a shriek, then kicked his feet against the waves the rolled in around them. James laughed, and dipped him lower so that he could put his hands into the water.

"He loves it," Lily grinned.

"Of course he does," James replied. "He's a Potter. How could he not?"

They had spent three perfect days at the beach, letting Harry discover all the wonders of the sand and ocean. The baby loved the beach more each day, and began crying when they took him inside to clean up for dinner.

"I can't get over how much he loves this," Lily said as she played in the sand with Harry.

"I know," James grinned. "I would say we should have brought him ages ago, but, really, I'm glad we waited until he was old enough to sit up."

Lily giggled. "Yeah, I think his fun factor would have been considerably lower if the only thing he could do in the sand was lie in one place and look around."

"We'll have to bring him back," James observed. "Maybe not always to Greece, but we'll have to take him to the beach every year."

"We could go to a different beach every year," Lily offered. "That way we'd get to see most of the world."

"Ah, that sounds like an ulterior motive," James smiled.

"We all need to have fun," she replied defensively.

"Fair enough," James grinned.

Mumbled words reached Lily's ears, and she looked up. "Did you say something?"

"Fair enough," James repeated.

"No, something else . . . It almost sounded like –"

"DUCK!" James yelled.

Lily slammed herself to the ground, pulling Harry down with her. When she had righted herself again, she could see James with his wand drawn.

"What just happened?"

"A curse just went over your head," James said shakily. "Do you have your wand down here?"

"In that bag . . ."

"Get it."

"How could they have found us?" Lily exclaimed as she struggled to pull out her wand while she clutched Harry to her chest.

"I don't know – I don't think that's really the point – stupefy!"

James's stunner hit its mark; a masked Death Eater fell to the ground fifteen feet from them. Lily drew her wand and began searching the surrounding area with her eyes.

"Where are they?"

"I think they're hiding along those dunes," James said tensely. "Lil, take Harry back to the hotel."

"James, I'm not leaving you here by yourself!"

"I can defend myself – just get Harry out of here!"

"What if they're already in our room? What then?"

"Crucio!"

James gasped, and jumped in front of Lily, taking the curse for her. He yelled in pain, and Lily dove around him, still clinging to her baby.

"Stupefy!" she yelled.

The curse was lifted from James as another Death Eater fell. James clambered back to his feet.

"Thanks."

"Do you see why I don't want to leave you?"

"Do you see why I want you to?"

Two more Death Eaters emerged from the sand dunes that James had pointed out as their hiding place. James and Lily immediately went into fighting mode, and began hurling hexes at their adversaries. The Death Eaters responded in kind; for several moments, confused battle reined. Others on the beach noticed what was going on, and began gathering to watch. Lily looked at them in agony. They were likely Muggles. How could they defend themselves? She wanted to scream at them to get away, but there just wasn't time.

"Imperius!"

Lily gasped and jumped out of the way of the Unforgivable Curse. She was shocked by the new body that threw itself between her and the curse, deflecting it away before hurling another curse at the Death Eater.

"What?" she gasped. "How? Who?"

The new figure turned to give her a grin.

"What, you thought that Dumbledore would let you bring Harry Potter to Greece without undercover protection?"

"Sirius," Lily gasped.

"Take that baby and get out of here!" Sirius commanded as another curse flew toward them. "The other Aurors are on their way. Go back to the hotel!"

"But what if -?"

"Believe me, after the number of protective charms I've put on your room, you'll be lucky to get in. Go, Lils, go!"

Pops sounded all around her as Aurors appeared. Realizing that James and Sirius would be fine, Lily raced back to the hotel with Harry in her arms. She didn't stop running until they had made it to their room.

"Oh, God, Harry," she moaned, burying her face in his small body. "Thank God you're all right. Thank God Sirius was here. Thank God Dumbledore's keeping an eye on things." She kissed Harry's face again and again. "You are one lucky little boy, Harry Potter. You have some of the greatest wizards of the age looking out for you. As long as we have Dumbledore on our side, you'll always be safe. Always."