O0o0O

"Tell me again." Lily started to ask Sirius. "Why we aren't going to tell the rest of the Order about this 'mission?'"

"Because." Sirius replied. "They'll change everything, like teachers do. As a matter of fact, some of them actually were, are or are going to be teachers."

"Wasn't it just a week ago that you were saying that the Order was like your family, and saying that they were a hundred times better than your blood relatives was the understatement of the year?"

"Yeah, I was, but according to Wormtail, Prongs and Moony, kids with normal families don't always like everything about them, and I guess this would be one of those times."

"Wow, Sirius, for once, you actually proved me wrong… Sort of."

Sirius grinned. "I guess when somebody I love is in danger, I sort of would do anything to get them back to safety, even become sensible."

"Yeah." Lily looked up at the sunset.

"Oh and by the way, I'm really sorry I cut your honeymoon short."

"Yeah, it's okay. I'm friends with Taryn too, remember?"

"Yeah, but I like her more than you."

"Oh yeah?" Lily stood up.

"Yeah!" Sirius stood up as well. "Wanna make somethin' out of it?"

"Yeah!" Lily shoved him, a smile coming onto her face.

Sirius shoved her back, grinning now. "Think you're so tough?"

"Tougher than you at least." Lily shot back at her husband's best friend, who was now giving her exaggerated dirty looks.

What would have turned out to be a hilariously fake fight was interrupted by Remus coming out into the backyard and calling them in for supper, "James attempted to make supper. He'll be disappointed if y'all don't come try it."

Sirius laughed, pushing past Lily and following Remus back inside. Lily, though, stayed back to finish watching the sunset.

When James realized that his wife wasn't coming inside for the supper he had made, he came outside to her. "Hey honey. Anything wrong?" He asked, lying down next to her on the soft grass.

"Other than Taryn being in danger? No."

"Not hungry?"

"Not really."

"Want me to stay out here with you 'til you want to go to sleep? Remus is letting us use the guest room, and Sirius is sleeping on the couch…"

When Lily didn't answer, James rolled over to see why she was silent, and saw that the reason was that she had fallen asleep. "Good night honey." He whispered, picking her up and carrying her inside.

O0o0O

Lily yawned, sitting up and crawling out of bed, careful not to wake up James. She walked out of the room, barely making a sound, and walked downstairs. It was still dark outside, but the sun would be coming up soon.

She could hear muttering coming out of the living room, and went there to see what it was. When she saw it was Sirius, she moved closer, but when she saw why he was talking, and whom he was talking to, she took a few steps back, not wanting to disturb him. He was talking to a picture of Taryn.

"I miss you Tar'. I can't stand to think about how you might be dead before I get to you, and it feels worse than it would if I knew that I was in severe risk of death. I'm not sure how long it's been before I told you this, but you're all I want and all I need. Just stay alive for me, okay?

"Because the second I get you back, I'm gonna get us reservations for that restaurant you like so much, and I'm going to propose, and everybody's going to clap, and we'll get married. We'll have children too, and you can name them whatever you want. You can do whatever you want Taryn." Sirius sighed, putting the picture face down on the coffee table next to the couch and lying back on the couch.

A few seconds after Sirius stopped talking, Lily decided it was safe to come into the room and say Hello. "Hey." She said quietly, sitting down on the edge of the couch.

"How much did you hear?" Sirius asked, looking up at the ceiling.

"Everything after 'I miss you Tar'."

"The last time I said it?"

"Yes." Lily was also avoiding eye contact. "Don't worry. Tomorrow, we're going to save her, no matter what it takes."

"I hope so." Sirius sighed, sitting up and looking at Lily. "Night is a strange thing. Sometimes it's really good, and you have the chance to rest, to relax, to be with Taryn, but it's also a really quiet time, and when there are problems in my life, then it always becomes time to actually think about things, and… Well, it gets depressing, you know?"

"I know, Sirius. Sometimes you just have to remember that other people can understand, that you just have to give them a chance." Lily sighed, picking up his left hand and looking at his wrist. "And then this would happen less often. I'm sure Taryn doesn't want you hurting yourself because of her. Promise me you'll never do that again?"

"Promise. Cross my heart and hope to die."

"Good, because if you do, I'll be watching you like a hawk from then on."

O0o0O

"Good morning." James yawned, coming downstairs.

Sirius was drinking coffee on the couch, reading the Daily Prophet, and Lily was drinking coffee by the coffee table, waiting impatiently for Sirius to finish reading.

"Good morning." Lily said, not taking her eyes off of the paper in Sirius's hand.

"I see you two woke up early."

"No, honey. You woke up late."

"Early for me." James said sitting down next to Lily.

"Done!" Sirius said, tossing the Prophet to Lily, who started reading immediately after she caught it.

"Did you check if Remus was awake yet on your way downstairs?" Lily asked, not taking her eyes off of the paper.

"Yeah. He's still sleeping."

"That ironic. He usually sleeps three hours a day. I know. He was telling me yesterday while we were waiting for you to come." Sirius said.

"How interesting." James said sarcastically.

"You need some coffee." Sirius said, holding out his mug.

"Er, no thanks, mate." James pushed it away, standing up. "I'm gonna go wake up Moony."

"Have fun with th-th-th-th… SHIT!" Lily explained, terrified.

James raised an eyebrow. "Have fun with shit?"

"Lina!"

"Lina?" James asked confusedly.

"Lina!" Sirius exclaimed, looking over at Lily.

"Who the hell is Lina?" James practically screamed.

"Taryn's niece." Lily explained.

"Yeah and?"

"She wasn't there either when I was looking for Taryn…" Sirius said.

"Which means they have both of them?" James asked.

"Either that or there's a little kid alone in that house…." Remus said, coming downstairs, apparently having overheard the conversation.

"And neither are good, are they?" James asked.

"No." Remus, Lily and Sirius agreed in unison.

O0o0O

17 days people! Aren't you all excited! I'm going to go to a midnight party and get the book then? Any of you going to Spellbound 2005? I wish I could go, but my mom wouldn't let me.

I'm going to half to wait a bit more than I had planned between chapters now because I have a contest entry to work on, and swimming started this week. I've also got to clean my room, and see if I can finish rereading the series twice before the book comes out. It really wouldn't be much of a problem if I weren't so lazy and computer-obsessed.

Toodles!