Chapter 24

The new parents had a blast with Adam; they couldn't get enough of him. Their friends paid daily visits; they were equally excited to be with Adam. They were all at the Blacks'. "The first baby in the gang!" Genevieve grinned at Bo as she rocked Adam in her arms.

"My first godchild!" Lily beamed.

"You mean, our first godchild." James said, very proud of the opportunity. Lily nodded and kissed him.

Bo beamed at her friends "You have no idea how tired I am. And with The Order on my mind…" Bo moaned.

James approached them with 'The Daily Prophet' and stated angrily "More death eaters! More attacks on innocent people! We need to fight back."

Remus, who heard James comments, came into the living room and said "And what do you expect to do, James? You don't think they'll retaliate too? They'll hurt the ones closest to you."

James threw the newspaper on a sofa and said "I should warn Mum and Dad. I advise you all to do the same." and left the living room. Lily was worried about him and ran after him.

Sirius quietly added "He's right, Moony. We have to fight back no matter what."

Remus was angry. "Is it worth risking your family and friends' life for that? For a risk getting killed?" S

irius' face reddened "I'll do anything for you all! Anything! I though you knew that. We risk our asses for each other." He said, rather hurt. There was a pause.

"Sirius is right. We have to live our lives as usual, but fight back when we're attacked. We can't be their dummies." Natalie said, breaking the ice.

"That's the reason we signed up for it, right?" Frank said. Some nodded and the others were quiet.

Lily met up with James out of the house. "James! Merlin, it's cold outside! Come in!" James had his back turned to her.

She walked over to him and said "You're right about warning your parents, but you didn't have to storm out like that. Sometimes you have disagreements with someone, but that doesn't mean you should be mad at them, or at least, not like that. James, please let's go inside, I forgot my coat in the house."

James gazed at her and sighed "You'd probably do the same as me, right? Fight back?"

Lily nodded "Of course I would." James wrapped his arm around her and led her inside.

When James and Lily entered the house, Bo walked over to them and hugged them. "That was an ugly issue to discuss. It's depressing us already. James, your mum sent you a letter; I guess she knew you were here." She handed it to James and led them back to the living room. They sat down with their friends. Remus sent James an apologetic look and James grinned. He opened the letter and read it. As he read it, his happy look turned to a worried one.

"What happened?" Alice asked.

James folded the letter and said "Mum needs to see me. It's about dad."

"Well, go then! And tell us what happened!" Sirius urged him. James nodded, and along with Lily disapparated to the Potter's house.

When they arrived, they found the house ruined, glasses smashed, furniture ripped to pieces and Grace Potter sobbing on the floor. "Mum! What happened?" James asked while picking her up from the ground. Lily wiped her tears and caressed her cheek.

Grace calmed down and sniffed "Death Eaters. They barged in here and demanded we join that bastard Voldemort. We refused and ordered them out of the house." She choked on her tears.

James and Lily shared a look as Grace went on "And Henry and I tried to fight them, but one of them killed him. My Henry!" Grace resumed sobbing. James was stunned and angry; he lost his father in a terrible way. His eyes hardened and he began to weep. James and Lily hugged her tight.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry…" Lily went on and cried.

After for what seemed hours, James and Lily helped Grace fix and clean the house. James left them to go upstairs to see Henry's body. Walking up the stairs, he spotted him. Henry Potter was found on the corridor floor, bloody and with numerous fractures. James kneeled down to him and picked his upper body to his chest and cried.

At night, then their friends left and Adam was asleep, Sirius and Bo were curled up in their bed. He had his arm around her and was silent. His face was fixed upon the ceiling and his mouth was pursed.

Bo looked at him worriedly "What is it?"

He snapped out of it and answered her "I worry sometimes. About you, Adam, our friends. I just hope that everything will turn out alright in the end." Sirius heard his owl screeching by their bedroom window. He got out of bed and opened the window to take the letter from the owl. He turned back to his wife and opened the envelope "I wonder who sent a letter at this time of night." He got into bed and revealed the letter:

'The Potters were attacked by Death Eaters. James' father was murdered by one of them. He is devastated. I don't know what to do to help. I'm grieving for him too.

Lily.'

The couple looked at each other. "You have to go to him, Sirius. We'll be fine." She said when she got a look from him. Sirius knew she was right; he was James' best friend.

"If anything happens, let me know. I'll be back as soon as I can." Sirius said. He got up from bed, changed clothes and disapparated.

Arriving at the Potters, Sirius was surprised: the house he once lived in wasn't the same; it was ruined. He looked around the first floor and saw that it was empty. He went upstairs to James' old room. Some of the walls had holes in them, and the wallpaper was peeling off. His bed wasn't whole, but ripped apart. He spotted him sitting on the floor, with his head in his hands. He came closer to him and said "I'm sorry, mate." James gasped and turned around to see him. James got up and hugged his best friend.

He parted from him and said "I bet Lily told you."

Sirius nodded "Does Natalie know?"

James replied "Lily's owling her now."

"How's Mum?" Sirius asked.

James shook his head "She's having a hard time with it. It's only a matter of time." They spent the next two hours talking and reminiscing experiences with Henry. Lily later on joined them and tried to comfort James.

James and Lily wanted to go to sleep. Sirius bade them farewell and comforted Grace as well. He disapparated back to home. When he arrived, he startled Bo. She woke up abruptly and took out her wand in defense. She calmed down when she noticed it was him. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm jumpy lately. Well, you can imagine know why."

Sirius smiled "I understand, honey." He changed clothes and got into bed, and with that the couple slept a peaceful sleep, that is until Adam woke up crying.