Developments

"I'm getting huge," Lily said in exasperation as she ran her hand over her ever growing belly. James had been hearing this everyday for the past few months. It was now late May, and the baby seemed to be getting bigger everyday – which meant that Lily was getting bigger everyday. But James was not as stupid as to say something like that to his extremely hormonal wife – he would like to live to see his child born.

"You are not," he replied, not looking her in the eye as he began eating breakfast.

"Yes, I am," she insisted as she sat down next to James and started eating as well. Just as she was about to have her

fifth piece of bacon, she took a quick gasp of breath and put a protective hand over her swollen stomach.

"What's wrong?" James asked in a slightly panicking voice. Lily noticed that fear was etched in his hazel eyes.

"What's the matter?"

Lily couldn't help but give a small laugh. "The baby just kicked,"

His expression immediately changed from fear to happiness. "Really?"

"Yeah," she took James's hand and placed it on her belly. They were silent as they watched Lily's stomach, hoping that the baby would kick again. And it did.

"Did you feel that?" Lily asked excitedly.

"Yeah!"

"This is so exciting!" she said as she threw her arms around James.

"That's the first time he's kicked, right?"

"Yes," But then Lily put her hands on her hips and asked him, "And what makes you think it's a 'he'?"

"I just know," he replied quietly as he levitated their plates into the kitchen.

"So are you going to be crushed if we have a girl?" Lily's question sounded innocent enough, but James new better – one of her mood swings was just about to set in.

He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist so his hands rested on her enlarged belly. He bent his head and whispered, "You know that I don't care if we have a boy or a girl – as long as it's healthy."

Surprisingly, James's comment satisfied Lily. She turned around and lightly kissed his lips.

"You know, I've been thinking, I've got a Healer's appointment this evening...What if we find out the sex of the baby?"

"I thought you wanted it to be a surprise,"

"Well, I did, but if we find out what we're going to have, we can start getting the nursery ready and I know my mum has been bugging me about going shopping for the baby already...and we can start picking out names,"

He considered it for a moment before he said, "Alright, then let's find out,"

000

Sirius Black was sitting at his desk in the Auror department. Truth be told, he was hiding out from Moody because he had not finished a report that was due earlier this morning. Well, at least he was trying to finish it.

The nearly complete report was sitting on the desk. Sirius glanced around his cubicle, looking for inspiration when his eyes fell on a picture of him, James, Lily, and James's parents at James and Lily's wedding reception. Sadly, he remembered how, only a few months later, they had all been attacked by Death Eaters – and how Daniel and Marie Potter had not survived.

Yet something else came to his mind – something he had nearly forgotten.

He remembered the night that James's parents had died. Lily and James had everyone over to tell them that a little girl that Lily was taking care of at the hospital – Lindsay...something – was going to be living with them. Everyone had been thrilled, except Josefine. She had suddenly left to go to meet her Mum – at least that's what she said.

Sirius had never liked Josefine. Lily had always said it was because she had been in Slytherin when they were in school – but he thought it was more than that...she just wasn't ...trustworthy. And then he recalled something else. At Alice and Frank's wedding, Josefine had run off unexpectedly as well. But what had she done right before that?...Sirius was straining his brain to recall – he had been drinking quite a bit that night...

And then he remembered...Josefine had clutched her left forearm.

Suddenly, he jumped up from his desk and nearly ran into Moody's office.

"What's this about, Black?" Moody asked gruffly as Sirius walked into the office.

"I think I've got a new lead on a possible Death Eater."

"Who?" Moody asked as he closed the door with a wave of his wand.

"Josefine Anderson,"

"That name sounds familiar..."

"That's because she's engaged to Peter Pettigrew."

Moody sighed. "I can't give you a group of Aurors to run a proper mission...but say something to Potter and maybe a few other Order members and see what you can come up with. If you get enough information, then we'll start a formal investigation. I'll make a note to say something to Dumbledore, as well."

Sirius nodded and left the office.

It didn't take him long to find James, he was lounging back in his chair, tilting it back on two legs. As he came closer, Sirius noticed that his best friend was dictating a report to a quill that was speeding across his desk. But when James saw Sirius, he waved his wand toward the quill, which fell limp on the desk, and turned to his friend.

"What's up?" James asked.

"You know how we don't like Josefine?"

"Yeah,"

"Well, I've been thinking, what if she's a Death Eater?"

"What?"

"Just think about it...she could be with Peter just to get information about the Order, and Pete's not exactly the brightest star in the sky, so he's probably telling her a ton of stuff."

"So what do you wanna about it?"

"We can find out where Josefine lives, set up some kind of surveillance on her for a while, until we find something."

"Alright, Lily has another Healers appointment pretty soon, but we can start tonight,"

"Yeah, sounds good. Is it just a routine checkup?"

"Yeah, but we're going to find out the sex of the baby, so I really want to be at this one."

"I thought you guys were going to wait,"

"Yeah, so did I, but this morning, Lily said she wanted to know, so we're going to find out today."

"Well, good luck,"

"Thanks," James laughed as he looked at his watch. "Damn, I need to go now...I see you later,"

"See ya,"

000

A/N: Alright, so I was going to combine this chapter with the next, but I thought it would be too long...Anyway, hope you liked it and please review if you've got time.