For some days after their disastrous encounter with Severus Prince's followers, they decided to lie low. They travelled through the less-travelled parts of Scotland, avoiding towns and villages but staying constantly on the move. The thought of going into another town made Lily nervous, and so she was just as happy to take a break. In fact, although she felt guilty about it, she thought that these last few days had been some of the best she had spent in 1743. Being around some of her favourite people for days straight, without the added anxiety of dealing with threatening strangers, had been wonderful.

Tonight, they were camped among rolling hills, next to a large lake that had been beautifully still when they arrived, but was now filled with ripples from the gentle rain. The four of them were huddled under their cloaks, which were enchanted to keep them dry. As a result, Lily found the rain quite peaceful.

It was dark and overcast enough that she didn't see the owl until it was nearly upon them. When she saw it flying for Cait, she pulled out her stolen wand, and the others quickly followed suit. But no wizard or witch descended upon them. Only the small owl, every single one of its feathers drenched, came out of the sky. It hooted angrily, as though the weather was their fault, before holding out its leg to Cait.

Cait took the letter off and read it.

"Dear Cait," she read. "This letter arrived for you on the night you left. I wasn't sure if you were coming back, but by now, it's clear that you're busy off on your own adventures. I hope my owl is able to find you, and that you are well, my dear friend. I miss you. Anne."

She opened a second letter, her eyes widening as she skimmed.

"What?" Sirius demanded.

"It's from Pascale Malfoy. Chère Mademoiselle Catherine-"

"English!" Sirius interrupted.

Cait rolled her eyes. "Dear Miss Catherine… there, Sirius, do you feel better now that you understand the greeting?"

"Keep reading," Sirius said.

Cait paused.

"What?"

"Translating is hard. Give me a second."

Sirius muttered something unkind, and Lily elbowed him.

"So Pascale Malfoy writes that she is unwilling to answer our questions in the form of a letter."

Sirius, James, and Lily groaned.

"But… here's where it gets interesting. She says she's teaching at Hogwarts this year, so if we would like to speak to her, we can visit her there. She's living in rooms just underneath the astronomy tower."

Sirius scoffed. "Oh, great. That makes things easy. Let's just waltz into Hogwarts and see this Malfoy witch. We can wave to Severus Prince on our way in-"

"Well, obviously we can't go," Cait said, folding the letter with an air of finality. "I know you want answers, but it would be stupid to go to Hogwarts when we're wanted criminals. It would be like a fly willingly walking into a spider's web, and oh, Merlin, why are you looking at each other like that?"

Lily started guiltily.

"You three can't want to go?" Cait asked.

"We want to know if we can go home," Sirius said.

Suddenly, Cait looked angry. "Oh, I see. So things are getting difficult, and now you all want to run away?"

"No," Lily said, putting a reassuring hand on her arm. "Not at all. But we want to go home eventually, after we make things better here."

Cait pressed her lips together, saying nothing.

"You knew we wanted to go home," James said carefully. "That's why we contacted Pascale Malfoy. That's why you helped us-"

"That was before," Cait said.

Lily didn't have to ask what she meant. Cait had helped them before they had fled the castle, before Cait had followed them. Now, Cait was a fugitive, and if they left her, she would be truly alone.

"Well, the solution seems obvious to me," Sirius said drily. "When we leave, you'll come with us. Then it doesn't matter when we leave."

Cait shook her head. "You make it sound so simple."

"You have nothing for you here," Sirius said with a shrug. "Your parents are dead. Your friend—Bertha, was it?—is dead. Your boyfriend ditched you-"

"Sirius," James muttered.

"-and yes, there's a war in 1978, but there's one here, too. Come with us. We like you. We want you to come along."

Cait, who had been looking steadily angrier, now looked flattered. "Coming from a people-hating person like you, that's high praise."

"Well?" Lily asked anxiously. "Will you come? We're not planning to leave right away," she added hurriedly. "But please, please say you'll come when we do."

Cait sighed. "As Sirius so kindly pointed out, there's little for me left here, and I'm a wanted criminal. I suppose I could try 1978. It can't be any worse than 1743."

It was funny, Lily thought, that they could all discuss changing times as easily as if they were trying on a garment, rather than a whole different life.

Lily hugged her tightly. "Great. So we'll go to Pascale Malfoy, and-"

"Oh, no. No, no, no. I didn't say that."

"We can do it," James said. "Sirius and I know some secret passages into the castle. All we have to do is sneak in at night, when the students are asleep… surely they won't have Severus Prince and his followers wandering through a castle full of students at night, right? They'll probably be in bed; they won't suspect a thing. We'll be in and out."

"In and out," Sirius agreed.

Cait bit her lip. "I still think it's stupid. But I don't suppose I can stop you from going, so I suppose that means I have to come along."

Sirius high fived James, earning him a strange look from Cait.

"Lily, can I talk to you for a moment?" she asked quietly. "Alone?"

Sirius and James protested, but Lily shushed them and walked with Cait further down the lake, the sound of rain hitting the water creating an effective sound barrier.

Cait put down her hood and turned her face up to the rain, a small smile crossing her face, before she turned back to Lily, her face damp.

"I love the rain," she said.

Lily waited. She knew Cait would tell her what she wanted to once she was ready.

"My period didn't come," Cait said, almost conversationally.

Lily felt her heart sink.

"I think I'm pregnant."

"What do you think Cait's being so secretive about?" James asked Sirius.

Sirius shrugged noncommittally. "Girl stuff?"

James sighed and sat beside him. As usual, whenever James was around, Sirius felt himself become hyperaware of his presence. James was close enough to touch.

"You're okay with going to see Pascale Malfoy?" James asked.

"Yeah."

Sirius thought longingly of home, with showers, and soft beds, and faster brooms. But mostly, he realized, he was feeling a longing for what he'd had before coming here; the hope of a future with James, without Lily in it.

"You're feeling ready to go home?" James asked, as if he had read his thoughts.

"I've always been ready to go home. The only reason I came here was because of you."

The words slipped out before Sirius could stop them, but he didn't care. He wanted James to know.

"Thanks, Padfoot. You're an amazing friend. The best."

Suddenly, Sirius was angry, because how was it fair that he could care so much for James, and James just couldn't see it? But no, James was staring down the lake with a sappy expression, his eyes fixed on Lily. And damn it, Sirius wanted to kiss that sappy expression off of his face, but he wasn't able to.

To add insult to injury, that was the moment when James decided to say, "Lily really is the best."

"Is she?" Sirius couldn't resist saying.

James finally tore his gaze away from Lily, which was difficult, Sirius was sure.

"Why don't you like her, Sirius?" James asked, sounding a bit hurt. Sirius couldn't imagine why, considering any insult was to Lily, rather than James.

"Oh, you know," Sirius said, floundering. "I think she's sort of… fake. I'm just worried she's using you. That she doesn't really like you that much."

James furrowed his brow. "Really? You still think that?"

"Well, sure."

"I don't know if you saw, but when we were attacked in that clearing… she stepped right between me and this wizard's wand, and-"

"Yes, very heroic," Sirius said with a grimace. "But Lily's the sort who would do that for anyone, isn't she?"

"Yes," James said, a bit dreamily.

"I just mean that I think that if she were really put to the test, she'd choose herself over you."

James clapped him on the back. "I guess we'll have to agree to disagree."

"Well, I mean, she chose Severus Prince over you before."

James sighed. "That's not the way I see it. Not at all. Look, Sirius, I don't know why you're so determined to hate her."

Sirius abruptly stood. Being close to James was becoming suffocating.

"Where are you going?" James asked.

"To piss."

"Sirius, don't be mad."

"I'm not mad!" Sirius bellowed. "I'm pissing!"

He stalked off over a hill, leaving James alone with the bloody owl, who was now hiding under James's cloak with him.

"It's Brian's?" asked Lily finally.

Cait snorted. "Of course. I wasn't sleeping with everyone at the castle, you know."

"What are you going to do?"

Cait hugged herself. "Oh, you know. I'll just keep going and hope for the best. Maybe 1978 is more accepting of mothers without husbands?"

Lily put an arm around her friend's shoulders. "Probably. But, regardless, you can stay with us."

Cait let out a watery laugh. "You really think James will want a mother and a screaming baby to live with you both?"

"If that mother is you, definitely." Lily said. "Can I tell the others?"

Cait hesitated. "As long as you think they won't be too judgmental."

"You're pregnant?" Sirius recoiled.

Next to him, James's jaw had dropped.

Cait rolled her eyes. "Don't worry; if I am, it's not contagious."

Sirius was shaking his head. "You can't come with us."

Lily stared at him, disbelieving. After assuring Cait that James and Sirius would be fine with her pregnancy, Sirius was choosing to be a complete ass.

"Excuse me?" Lily said icily.

"I mean to Hogwarts," Sirius clarified. "What if we get captured? You're right, Cait. It's a risk, and if you're expecting a baby…"

Cait's outrage softened. "That's remarkably kind of you."

"Is that why you don't want to go to Hogwarts?" Lily asked.

"No," Cait said. "I don't want to go because I think it's a stupid, dangerous plan."

James finally found his voice. "Maybe Sirius has the right idea. We should split up. Two of us should go; two of us should stay. That way, if something goes wrong, we're not all in prison."

Lily swallowed an instinctive protest. "You're right. That way, we at least have a chance at a rescue, if things go wrong."

James nodded. "So Sirius and I will go-"

"Hold on," Lily interrupted. "You and Sirius?"

"We know the castle's secret passages the best; if we get split up, we have the best chance of making it out. We both have working wands, and neither of us are pregnant."

Once again, Lily wanted to argue, but she had to admit that his argument made sense. Still, she couldn't help feeling a surge of bitterness towards herself for being stupid enough to get her wand broken.

"Fine," she said.

Before Sirius and James left that night, James pulled Cait aside.

"Cait… you know what Lily said about you two rescuing us if we get caught?"

Cait nodded.

"You can't let her," James said. "Please… if we're captured, please just do whatever it takes to figure out how to get back through the stones."

"Lily will never agree to that," Cait said carefully. "She would never leave you."

"Please, just do your best to keep her from coming to Hogwarts. Please. Will you promise?"

Cait sighed heavily. "I'll do what I can, but if Lily wants to follow you, I don't think I'll be able to stand in her way."

As far as promises went, this wasn't very reassuring, but James just nodded once. Then, he pulled her into a hug. She let out a squeak of surprise, before hugging him back quickly.

"You're a good friend to us. Thank you."

"Be careful," was all Cait said.

Next, he said goodbye to Lily, which was much harder. He was trying to be optimistic about this mission, but a part of him was very aware that this could be the last time he ever saw Lily. He had so many things he wanted to say to her, to tell her how she had made his life so much better, or how much he loved her. But that would feel too much like a permanent goodbye, and if Lily sensed that sort of goodbye, she would never let him leave.

She was gazing out across the lake, and when he sat beside her, he noticed that she tried to subtly wipe at some tears.

"Don't take any risks," Lily said. "In and out."

"Yes," James agreed.

He kissed her, a passionate kiss that spoke of all the things he couldn't allow himself to say. He could have kissed her forever, if not for Sirius.

"We do want to make it to the castle before sunrise," he called.

James pulled away. He gave Lily's forehead one more kiss before moving over to Sirius. He allowed himself one last look at Lily before they disapparated, and she gave him a small, sad smile.

"I love you," he shouted.

They disapparated before she could respond.