Author's Note: Hello. I'd like to thank those who reviewed the first chapter. I hope that you enjoy this one and keep coming back for more. I am leaving for a week on Sunday to go see my family. I'm sure I'll be writing on the 8+ hour train ride, so you can expect another chapter early in the week. Please review! =)

Chapter Two: Pick Me Up

The guest bathroom in the Lupins' home was conveniently attached to the guest bedroom. James was grateful that he didn't have to leave the bedroom at all. Remus' mother would leave meals outside of the door for him whenever they ate downstairs. Other than that, no one knocked or attempted to get him out of the room. The one exception was when Albus Dumbledore had shown up to speak with him. After about an hour, Remus convinced the professor to leave and told him that he'd receive a letter from James as soon as he felt up to it.

It wasn't that James didn't truly appreciate the Lupins and what they were doing for him in this time of need; he didn't want them to have to see him in the state he was in.

You look horrible, James, he thought to himself as he washed his hands and stared into the bathroom mirror.

"You look horrible, sir," the mirror piped up.

"Thanks," James croaked. He hadn't used his voice in days.

"You sound pretty bad, too," said the mirror. "You should take a shower."

"Bugger off." He turned off the faucet and splashed the water dripping off of his hands toward the mirror.

"Oy! You're crazy!"

He switched the light off and shut the door behind his. Eventually the mirror's stream of insults subsided into periodic grumbling and, finally, into silence.

Maybe I am going crazy... James thought as he flung himself onto the bed that he had been living in for the past two weeks. I need to get out of here... Then he thought about what the mirror had just said and decided that a shower would be the best course of action.

About an hour later, James was dressed properly, clean-shaven and he even smelled nice again. Standing, facing himself in a now very complimentary mirror, James checked his watch. "Three-thirty," he mumbled to himself. "Mrs. Lupin usually has dinner done around six... I'll just go for a bit of a walk."

"Have a nice walk," said the mirror.

"Thanks."

James opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. He was shocked at how stuffy the bedroom was in comparison with the hall and made a mental note to at least open the windows when he got back. No one seemed to be in the house as he descended the stairs and looked around, so he just went straight out the door and into the bright day.

The Lupins didn't live in a wizarding village like a lot of the people that James knew from school. Their house was on the outskirts of a muggle town that James didn't remember the name of. Deciding that the town was in walking distance-it was about two miles away-James set out, his hands shoved in the pockets of his pants, his eyes squinting to keep out the sunlight.

James made relatively good time. He counted each step to keep his mind from wandering to those subjects that he did not welcome into his mind. It helped him keep a great pace and by a quarter to five, he was wandering the streets of the muggle suburb.

Kids were playing games on their front lawns with their friends, men and women were mowing their lawns and working in their front gardens. It all seemed so...right, so normal. James smiled to himself when a beagle came running up to him from around the corner. The dog stopped and sniffed at him for a moment before rubbing against his leg. James knelt down and began to scratch behind the dogs ears.

"RUFUS! RUFUS WHERE DID YOU GO?!" James looked up in time to see a redhead rounding the corner. She'd obviously been running after the dog. As she came closer, having seen her pet with James on the sidewalk, James' breath caught in his throat. He knew this girl...

"There you are, boy," she said, slowing to a walk. "Don't you do that. I'm so sorry that he-Potter?"

"Evenin', Lily," he said, standing again with Rufus' leash in his hand. "I think your dog likes me."

Lily frowned. "Thanks for stopping him, I guess," she said slowly. "What are you doing here?"

James chuckled to himself because he knew what she was thinking. She was thinking that he had finally begun to stalk her. "I'm staying with Remus' family," he said. "They live outside of town."

"I know where Remus lives," she snapped.

James took a step back. "Whoa, sorry..."

Lily sighed angrily. "Just give me Rufus."

"You sure you can handle him?" She frowned and his smile disappeared. "Sorry..."

"I was carrying groceries, thank you very much, and he started to run because Mr. Johnston started up his lawn mower and it scared Rufus."

James nodded. "Would you like a hand? I can go grab your groceries if you'd like..."

Lily looked James up and down, one eyebrow raised. "We've been standing here for almost three minutes and you haven't asked me on a date," she pointed out. He nodded. "Should I be concerned." He shook his head. "Alright."

She turned and began walking back the way she came from. James and Rufus shared a look and then jogged to catch up with her. She was keeping a brisk pace. "So...how's your summer been so far?" he asked slowly.

"Alright," Lily answered. He could tell she was still waiting for him to do something inappropriate.

"Listen, Lily," he began. She cut him off with an impatient sigh.

"You know, James, I. Don't. Want. To go out. With. You. Stop. Trying." She tugged Rufus' leash from him as he stopped dead and continued on.

Running a hand through his hair unconsciously, James sighed sadly. He began to jog to catch up with Lily again. By the time he did so, she was already trying to balance all of her bags while trying to keep hold of Rufus' leash. James grabbed the four bags, two balanced in each arm, and said, "I wasn't going to ask you out."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Well then what were you going to say, Potter?" She said his surname with as much venom as she could muster at that moment, he could tell.

"I was going to apologize, actually," James said, following her up the sidewalk. "I want to say that I'm sorry for...well, for everything that I've ever done to you. It...it was just wrong of me to think that you'd want to date a loser who can, one, only ever talk about himself and Quidditch and, two, a loser who obviously can't take a hint. And a loser who makes it his business to torture your best friend because the loser's jealous that your best friend gets to spend so much time with you. I'm...I'm just really sorry for the past six years. I hope that you can forgive me, not that I expect you to anytime soon."

Lily slowed down and then eventually came to a halt. James turned to face her. "Are you being serious?" she asked skeptically.

"Yes," James said, looking her directly in the eye.

She was silent for a moment. James thought that she looked like a great internal battle was raging inside of her head. Finally, she looked up at him. "Apology accepted, James."

A genuine smile broke across his face for the first time in weeks. "Thank you."

She pointed to the house next to the one that they were standing in front of. "That's my house," she said. "I can take it from here if you've got somewhere to be."

"Nowhere to be for me," he said, his smile faltering a bit. "I can bring them inside for you."

"Thank you."

Lily led him through the sitting room and into the kitchen where he placed the four grocery bags onto the table. He began to unpack them as Lily unhooked Rufus' leash and sent him into the backyard. "You don't have to do that," she said awkwardly, taking frozen peas out of his hand and walking over to the freezer.

"Just trying to help," he said. "Where's your family?"

"My sister is on holiday with her fiancé and his family," Lily said, gathering the cereal boxes and heading over to the correct cabinet. "And my parents are on a second honeymoon in Italy. I've got the house to myself until next weekend."

"Must be lonely," James said, rocking back and forth from his heels to the balls of his feet.

"It's quite nice actually," Lily said. "It's peaceful." She finished putting away the groceries in silence. James wondered if he should excuse himself and head back to the Lupins'. It was nearly six o'clock. "So how has your summer been, then?" Lily finally spoke up, shaking him from his thoughts.

"Oh...uhm...hasn't gone so well," James said slowly, scratching the back of his head.

"Sorry," said Lily. "Why's that?"

"Do you get the Prophet here?" James asked after a moment, not wanting to actually say anything about it.

"No," Lily said. "Why? Has something happened in the wizarding world?"

"Yes," said James. He took a deep, steadying breath and let it out slowly. "My parents were murdered by a dark wizard." Immediately, tears began to sting his eyes. He held them back with every drop of strength he had.

"Oh...oh my...James..."

"Yeah," he breathed.

"Is that where all your new found perspective is coming from?" James nodded. "I'm so sorry... That's...it's horrible."

James nodded. "I suggest getting a subscription to the Prophet," he said, trying to push the specific thoughts of his parents from his mind. "Mr. Lupin has been talking a lot about what's been going on... I've been shut up in the guest room, but I can hear them through the door. Apparently muggles and muggleborns are in a lot of danger from this nutjob."

Lily nodded slowly. "I'll send in the order tonight," she said. "Is it just one guy?"

"Apparently he's got a bunch of equally crazy followers," James said. "I think Mr. Lupin said they called themselves the Death Eaters, or something like that. I'm not sure. I haven't been reading the paper much myself... In fact, this is the first time I've left that bedroom since the night I arrived there."

Lily looked like she didn't have a clue what to say, so James went on, "Sorry, I don't mean to scare you."

"No, no, it's quite alright," she said quickly. "It's just..." She bit her lip. "Why don't you stay for dinner? I'm making chicken and mashed potatoes and I have enough for both of us."

"Er... Yeah. Yeah, I'd love to."

It was nearly nine o'clock when James finally apparated into the field near Remus' house. As he was walking toward the Lupins' three young men were walking his way. He wasn't surprised to see Remus, but the short blonde and the tall black-haired young men gave him a shock. Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew...

"James! Where have you been?!" Remus shouted, rushing toward him.

"Hey," James said quietly. Sirius and Peter had hung back. "What are Sirius and Peter doing here?"

"I wrote them," Remus said. "I thought maybe...you know, if you had us all together it would cheer you up, convince you to get out of bed. Apparently I didn't need to..."

"Yeah...the mirror insulted me, so I decided a walk might clear my mind," James said as Sirius and Peter caught up to them. "I didn't think I'd be gone this long, but I ran into Lily Evans and we got to talking. I ended up having dinner with her."

"Nice, mate," Sirius said clapping him on the back.

"I'm sad, it doesn't mean my memory's been erased," James said, stepping away from Sirius' hand. Sirius bit his lip and glanced at Peter. "I still think what you did was ridiculously stupid and shortsighted. You're both idiots."

"Well said," Remus muttered. "Too nice, but well said."

"Having said that," James went on, "I suggest that you guys prepare thoroughly for court next week. If you don't end up in Azkaban we'll go to Diagon Alley and...and maybe things can get better between us all." He raised his eyebrows at Remus who nodded slowly.

With that, James turned toward the house and began to walk toward it. Remus nodded at the other two and followed James. "What did you do with them since I wasn't there?" James asked.

"We talked about what happened between wondering what in Merlin's name you were doing," Remus said. He chuckled to himself a little. "I think I'm ready to start talking to them again," he said. "I mean, it's been a couple of months...but I can't completely hate them with all they've done for me in the past."

"True..."

"But I can keep them dangling for a little while longer, can't I?"

James clapped Remus on the back. "That's my Remus."

"So what did you do at Lily's?" Remus asked suggestively.

"Very funny," James said quietly. He became more subdued. "We talked about what happened," he said. "She...she's just really easy to talk to. I don't really want to talk about it right now, though."

"Fair enough," said Remus.

"She's invited us both over on Monday night for dinner," James said. "What do you think?"

"I think that's a great idea," said Remus. "I'm glad you're getting out of the house...speaking of which, you need to write to Dumbledore." James nodded slowly. "Whenever you're ready," Remus added. Another nod.

The pair entered the house where the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies met them. Mrs. Lupin was waiting in the kitchen with a smile on her face and cookies on the table. James had a long night of apologies and thank you's ahead of him, but he was okay with that. He knew that Remus' parents would understand.

Professor Dumbledore:

To start off, I'd like to apologize for not seeing you when you were at the Lupins' home. I was extremely overwhelmed... I still am, really.

Anyway, whenever you're free, I'm ready to meet with you. Mr. Lupin wouldn't tell me what this is all about, but he said that it's important.

Hoping to hear from you soon,

James Potter