Hello again. make sure to review. thanks for those who did last time!

disclaimer: why even ask... its Jo Rowlings... not mine!

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Let's put it this way. The dining room of the Potter Manor, is not just a dining room... it's an entire restaurant... Or as big as one at least... with house-elves popping in and out to refill a special something during dinner. Lily was in awe.

'This is a beautiful dining room.' She said in a light, casual voice.

'Thank you Lily, the house-elves keep every room maintained. And don't be surprised if you get lost... I suggest calling Fran. She's our head elf... she'll show you the right way.' Mrs. Potter explained to Michelle, Lily, and Harry, since they've never been inside the monstrous house.

'Okay.' Michelle said excitedly.

'Oh, and you each have your own rooms... James can show you guys the guest ones... or I guess, now they can just be yours... Now, Sirius is your girlfriend, Faye... I think, is she coming?' Tammy explained, then asked Sirius.

James was too busy making sure his mum was alright... she seemed a bit peppy.

'Yes. She'll be coming sometime Christmas day.' Sirius told her.

'Great... great... Oh, James guess what!' James looked at her questioningly. 'I'm off this entire Christmas break!' Tammy said, turning to her son with wide and excited eyes.

James put on a fake smile. 'Great... but I thought that you were supposed to be with dad on his retreat thing.' He said to her looking confused and a little worried.

'Your dad insisted that I take a break.' She told him lightly, ignoring his eyes.

'He told you that? John 'Work-o-holic' Potter told you that!' James asked in a low tone, and made sure that nobody was really listening to their conversation. He looked around and Harry, Remus, and Sirius were all talking together, and Lily and Michelle were talking in some giggly-excited voice.

Tammy stopped smiling and looked at him sternly. 'Yes, you father did. He just said I should take some time off. And this is the end of this conversation.' Tammy insisted.

'Alright.' James said, letting the subject drop.

'So, you girls want to go shopping tomorrow?' Tammy asked Michelle and Lily, changing the subject.

Michelle and Lily looked at each other and smiled widely. 'Sure...' They said simultaneously.

'Great... There is this wonderful little town a few blocks down that we can visit... I assume the boys will find something to do on their own.' Tammy said looking at the boys to see if this was a problem.

'We'll be fine.' Remus spoke up.

'Amazing. James, is there anything you need? Or anyone else for that matter?' She asked them.

'Nope.' James said, then he pushed his plate away, signalling that he was finished eating. The plate disappeared on account of the house-elves expertise. He turned down his desert plate too.

'Prongs, you're not hungry?' Sirius asked as he saw this.

'Not really... just a little tired.' James said, but Sirius saw straight through this, and knew that something was wrong.

'Why don't you show the girls and Harry where their rooms will be, honey?' Tammy suggested.

'When they're done eating I will...' James said to her.

'I'm done.' Lily said to him, pushing her plate away like James did and watching it disappear, along with a dish of desert.

'Me too.' Michelle and Harry said together, and they followed Lily's lead.

'Well, I'll give you the grand tour then...' James said, pulling off an act and linking Lily's arm with his.

'Please do, Mr. Potter...' Lily said with a laugh.

He brought them into the entrance hall again, and instead of going down the hallway, he went up a fancy set of stairs.

'This is where all the bedrooms are... and there are forty two of them... so, you get the point of why my mum is concerned with your directional skills. There are many twists and turns and a whole lot of hallways... so prepare yourselves.' James said as they reached the top of the stairs.

'This is my room.' James said, as they reached the fifth doorway of the second hallway. On his door was a gold plate that said, 'James' on it. Below that, someone must've taken a knife and carved 'Prongs' too... it was very badly written, and most likely made by Sirius when he was bored.

'And then, Remus is on the right of me, Sirius on his right, and Peter on his right... but we'll eventually take his out. Harry, you can be on my left.' James explained to them, and due to their awestruck faces, he could tell they were impressed.

'Lily, you're across from me, diagonal from Harry. Michelle, you can be across from Moony, or next to Lily... whichever way you want to look at it. Uhh... any questions?' James asked them kind-of awkwardly.

'Not really...' Lily said to him.

'Well, you can look in your rooms if you want.' James said with a smile.

'Ok.' They all said, and they walked into their designated rooms. They were surprised to find that the room was their... dream rooms. It was exactly how they would've wanted it to look like.

James walked into Lily's. 'Do you like it? Mum charmed all of them to make it so that the room is whatever the person wants it to look like.' James told her with an even larger smile.

'It's so neat... Those are some impressive charms.' Lily said looking around. She felt insignificant in this house. She never knew that James was this wealthy... you wouldn't know if you just looked at him normally.

'Yeah. It was nice to grow up here... but kind of lonely.' James told her.

'Are you ever lonely anymore?' She asked him.

'Never... Sirius is always here.' James explained.

'Oh, I see... this is amazing.' Lily said. She hugged him tightly, and he responded by putting his hands on her waist and looking into her eyes. He was a considerable amount taller than her, so he had to lean down to kiss her.

'Come on lovebirds... you still wanna show us the tour don't you, James?' Michelle said, standing in the doorway of Lily's room. Harry was with her.

'Sorry.' Lily said, straightening her blouse and smirking at James. He took her hand, and went on to show them the rest of the house, including the game room, kitchens, and the passage way to the Quidditch Pitch.

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It was late at night, and everyone was sitting in the living room, which by the way, was lavishly decorated in antiques and expensive furniture. The boys and Mrs. Potter all comfortably jumped onto the leather couches, while Lily and Michelle felt they might break them if they did.

Lily sat next to James, who put his arm around her and she relaxed into his chest. Sirius sat next to Tammy, and Remus, Michelle, and Harry sat down on the same couch together.

Soon, Tammy was entertaining the crowd by telling stories of what James and Sirius used to do when they were first years, and were at the Potter Manor.

She was laughing really hard and said, 'And then... get this, and then... Sirius starts crying because he can't find out which way to the bathroom. He was too -' She took a breath and giggled again. 'He was too scared to ask me where it was, and there James is going 'Sirius are you alright?' because Sirius was dancing around, trying to hold it in.' Tammy ended her short story and she was laughing at the memory.

James, Remus, Harry, and the girls were rolling on the floor, by the look on Sirius' horrified face.

'I was not crying... I was sweating... out of my eyeballs.' Sirius told them, trying to get them to shutup.

'No, mate... I believe it was sobbing, after you wet yourself.' James said between breaths.

'I never wet myself, liar! And, I do recall you wailing when you thought you broom was stolen, but really Moony and I just hid it from you.' Sirius said, glaring at James, and thanking God that Faye wasn't here to listen to these stories... James had a weakness... Lily was present.

'That would've never happened if you two hadn't stolen my broom! You'd be mad too if you thought your brand new Sparrow101 was taken in the middle of the night!' James said to Sirius... knowing that this was now war.

'Ok... no I have a better one! The look on all of your faces when John came out with his Invisibility Cloak, and seeing only his head. That was priceless.' Tammy said, getting both of the boys.

'That's happened to me before...' Harry spoke up, laughing.

'When?' James asked him, getting off the subject before his mum really embarassed him.

'I inherited your Invisibility Cloak, and I was in Hogsmeade when I wasn't supposed to be, and Malfoy caught me when the Cloak snagged and came off my head.' Harry said, smiling at the memory.

'How come you weren't supposed to be in Hogsmeade?' Lily asked him.

'Oh, the Dursley's didn't sign my form... so I just snuck in.' Harry said shrugging.

'Now, that is my godson!' Sirius said, punching Harry playfully on the arm.

Tammy smiled at Sirius interacting with Harry... he was definitely James and Lily's son, and quite handsome too.

'Nice one... Did you get caught?' James asked him.

'Almost by Snape... but Moony saved me.' Harry said smiling at Remus who was smiling.

'Well, I think the girls and I should get to bed... we'll wake up early to go shopping!' Tammy said, standing up and giving all the boys a hug and a kiss. Lily and Michelle followed her lead, and they gave their boyfriends a kiss goodnight. Lily ruffled Harry's hair.

'Goodnight.' She and Michelle said, and they ran up to the rooms that James showed them before... they surprisingly, didn't get lost.

'Six in the morning girls! Goodnight...' Tammy told them happily. She gave them a hug each and went to her own room, which was on the first floor, one below the rest of them.

'Goodnight Tammy.' They called out.

'This is such a cool house.' Michelle commented to Lily.

'I know... can you believe it. There are bathrooms attached to our rooms! Can you believe it?' Lilyrepeated excitedly.

'It's so neat. I'm so tired... Goodnight Lils. See you in the morning!' Michelle said to Lily and then going into her room.

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Meanwhile, the boys were all still on the couches talking.

'Did you notice anything... different with mum?' James asked Remus and Sirius.

'Not really, did you?' Remus asked him.

'She seemed too... I don't know, loose? She normally isn't so excited and talkative.' James told them.

'Yeah, I sort-of noticed it... but it's probably just because the girls are here, and you know, she might get bored with just us here and is happy to have girls to talk to for once.' Sirius reassured him.

'I get that... but she is off work all break... she never takes that much off, even for Christmas. I think I'm going to go and ask her about it...' James said thoughtfully. He got up and made his way to his mum's room.

When he got there he knocked lightly.

'Yeah? Come on in...' Said a voice from inside.

He opened it to see his mum in bed, reading a book.

'Something up James?' She asked, moving her legs so that he could sit at the end of her bed.

'Uhh... not really, but I was just wondering, if you're okay... I mean, is dad alright. Why have you taken off so much for Christmas... and you seemed excited today, which isn't a bad thing... just unusual. Is everything alright?' James asked her in a concerned voice.

Tammy should've known her son would catch on quick. He was too sharp for his own good. 'James...' She said to him, trying to pretend nothing was wrong.

'Mum, tell me...' James said, now knowing something definitely was wrong. 'Is dad okay?' He asked her.

Tammy smiled. 'Dad's fine... but...' She told him with a sad smile.

'What's wrong mum? What's happened?' He asked her quickly.

Tammy smiled again. She knew she would have to tell him sometime. 'James...'

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CLIFFHANGER! AHHHHH! Sorryyyy! lol.

anyways, review asap:) :)

-WG