Remus, Sirius, and Stell sat quietly on the carpet, surrounded by piles of papers and heaps of broken quills, books and maps. They were each studying separate documents, lost in concentration, and only occasionally coming out of their reveries to copy something down or pick up their wands and whisper a word or two.
Remus was furiously scratching something out on his parchment. Sirius kept rifling back and forth through the pages of a large leather-bound book which kept emitting clouds of foul smelling greenish dust. Stell was mumbling something under her breath over and over, her face screwed up in frustration. Her wand was half-heartedly glowing and occasionally giving off small clouds of deep purple smoke. Jabbing it fiercely at a map, she was continually referring to a large scroll and was becoming more and more fed up with each try.
When at last a particularly violent jab managed to set the map on fire, Stell angrily threw her wand to the ground, stamping at the growing flames and sending the scroll flying. With a great sigh, Remus looked up from his notes and flicked his wand, dousing the fire.
"I don't know how you stand it!" Stell exclaimed, sitting back down and retrieving the scroll which had just narrowly missed Sirius's left ear.
"I haven't been to a single meeting and I'm completely fed up with this tracking down Voldemort's followers rubbish! It's going nowhere and I can't…" She said, grabbing her wand and jabbing at the map again, "get… (jab) this…(jab) stupid, bloody, spell to work!"
"Calm down," Sirius said in a bored voice.
Looking sullen Stell stalked out of the room, mumbling something about going to find something to eat.
"Maybe you're being a bit harsh, mate," Remus suggested lightly. "This is brand new for her, and it was you anyway who suggested she be in the Order."
"I didn't suggest- Oh, never mind, look, the point is, she's got to get used to it if she's going to work for the Order. She can't just stop ever time she runs into a tiny little problem!"
"You did, too, at first," Remus reminded him.
"I suppose… I'm just stressed out at the moment and I didn't want to be interrupted," Sirius said, sighing and stretching.
"I wouldn't mind a break, myself," Remus said, laying his paper aside. Sirius shrugged and slammed his book shut. It coughed up another putrid cloud of greenish filth.
"Can't you make that thing stop?" Stell asked bitterly, returning.
"Er… no. I've tried… maybe Remus can," Sirius said, offering the book to him.
"Sure, I'll give it a go."
"Hey, Stell, I'm sorry. I'm just stressed about all this work," Sirius said, reaching for her hand.
"Me too," she admitted sitting beside him on the couch, "I can't wait for the first meeting."
"Oh, I wouldn't look forward to it too much, if I were you. They're awfully dull."
"Oh well, another thing that I can't look forward too," Stell said, standing and packing up her things. "I'm going to call it a day. See you tomorrow."
She walked carefully to the fireplace and with a quick dust of floo powder she was gone. "Let her go," Remus said, grabbing Sirius's arm as he stood to follow. "She just needs to cool off a bit, she'll be fine."
Nodding, Sirius returned to his place by the coffee table and picked up another sheet and began scanning it. No sooner had he begun to get back into the rare focused state that he'd been in before, when, with a loud pop, another interruption appeared, perched on the edge of the ragged sofa.
"James, mate, what're you doing?" he exclaimed. Remus had leapt off the couch in surprise, dropping the book and sending another cloud of noxious green particles swirling around the room. Looking flustered, James picked himself up and dusted off his worn cloak.
"This is your day off, James! What are you doing here?" Remus asked, moving some papers aside to make room for James on the couch.
James, however, would not sit down. "I have a very important announcement!" he exclaimed. "I'm a- I mean, I'll- I wanted to yell too, I mean tell you, that I've… Well, that is to say I will…"
"Whoa! Whoa! Slow down, mate! What is it you're trying to say?" Sirius asked, leading James over to a chair and pushing him into it.
"Well I…" but James seemed to have lost track of what he was saying, "Remus? You're here too?" he asked.
"Er… yeah. Why?" Remus said, with a sidelong glance at Sirius.
"Is there anyone else here?" James asked, looking suspiciously at the grandfather clock in the corner as though Peter Pettigrew might suddenly leap out of it.
"No," Sirius said, giving Remus a look that clearly showed that he thought James had lost his mind.
"Good, I just wanted to tell two you, I mean you two first. I think… If anyone else was here I'd probably… But then again, I'm not sure I could do this twice…"
"Well that's pretty clear," Sirius muttered.
"Look, Prongs, what is it that you're trying to say?" Remus asked gently.
"I… I… Lily's told me… we… she… I'm going to…" but James didn't seem to be able to manage anymore. With a gasp he wrung his hands together, momentarily closing his eyes, and then looking at his friends as if begging them to understand.
"Do you think we should call a healer?" Sirius asked, looking very confused.
Remus, however, was smiling slightly. "No, I don't think so…"
Picking up a goblet of pumpkin juice, Remus turned to James. Stirring the drink twice with his wand, Remus handed it to him. "This is a calming draught, here, drink it."
James gulped the contents of the cup and seemed to settle down slightly. "Now, slowly… What are you getting at?" Remus asked.
"Lily's, well, she's… We're going to be…" James mumbled something very quietly.
"Sorry?" Sirius said, looking more concerned with every word. Remus, though, seemed to have understood.
He thumped James on the back, looking almost as excited as James did. "Congratulations! I thought maybe… I had a feeling… Oh wow! That's really amazing!"
"What?" Sirius asked, sounding rather annoyed now.
Remus opened his mouth to explain, but James, who seemed heartened by Remus's enthusiasm held up his hand to say that he would clarify. "I'm going to be a… a father," he said.
Sirius gaped at him in astonishment. "But… but, you… surely you don't- you're much too-" He now seemed to be as speechless as James had been.
"I think this calls for a couple of firewhiskeys!" Remus said, leaping to his feet.
Sirius still looked utterly aghast. "I- you're not- you don't want…"
"I'm… I'm really happy, and excited," James said, still looking rather shocked himself.
"But aren't you…?"
"Well, yeah, I'm a bit nervous, too. But, hey… I've always wanted… I mean I guess I… Well, I don't know… I'm really, really, really, happy!" James said.
Sirius smiled, "I… guess I can understand that."
Looking incredibly happy and still as though he hadn't quite gotten over the astonishment, James stood again and started pacing the room. "A kid? Me? Can you imagine me as a dad?" He laughed, as though he found the idea utterly hilarious and ludicrous. "But, really… It's amazing isn't it?"
Sirius was watching him, nodding where necessary and still attempting to fully comprehend the concept that his best friend was going to be a parent. "When?" he at last managed to gasp.
"Dunno… Didn't think to ask! Uh… Summer I suppose… June maybe…" This thought seemed to open up a whole new field of possibilities for James and he went back to pacing.
Remus returned with the smoking drinks and managed to force one into James's hand. "Do you realize what this means?" James asked incredulously as he took a long gulp. He laughed nervously, still acting as though the idea were completely out of his grasp.
"Do you think it'll be a girl or a boy?" The three were silent for a moment, considering this incredible revelation. Occasionally James and Sirius exchanged quick astonished and amazed looks.
"Could be… could be either," Remus said at last. "There's a spell, to find out… But I suppose it's too early to tell yet."
"Hmmmm, yeah…" James said vaguely, still lost in thought. "Maybe I should tell my parents… Oh, Merlin's beard! What do you think they'll say?" he exclaimed, suddenly alert again.
"I don't know. They'll be pleased, won't they?" Sirius said.
"Well, yeah, I guess… But… But, what do I say? How do I tell them?" James gasped, completely flustered once more.
"Well, it's just me but I think you might want to start with 'Lily and I are going to have a kid, so-"
"What am I doing!" James exclaimed suddenly, interrupting Sirius and slamming his drink down on the table. "I'm pregnant! I can't drink this stuff!"
"Lily is pregnant, mate, not you," Sirius explained patiently.
"But Lily's my wife!" James exclaimed, standing up, "And I've got to tell my parents!" He grabbed his wand and disapparated with a loud crack.
"That was eventful," Sirius said turning to Remus with a somewhat befuddled look on his face, "What do you suppose has gotten into him? What's he all worked up over?"
"Well," Remus said thoughtfully, "I'm no expert, but I think it might have something to do with the fact that his wife's going to have a baby."
A/N: It's the long awaited first appearance of Harry Potter! Hope you enjoyed... I know I haven't updated in forever but I've had and will have limited internet access this summer. This will probably be the last update of the summer, but never fear! Come September I, your faithful updater, will have (hopefully) WEEKLY updates. Yay! So surprise me with lots of reviews when I come back in the fall, k? J
Anyways, as to this chapter, I know the beginning probably seems a bit ooc for Sirius, but I'm trying to sort of show how as we get more and more into the war against Voldemort, the stress is affecting everyone.