A/N: Hello. I know it's been a while, but I won't bore you with excuses. It's here now and that's all that matters. I want to thank those of you who've alerted and reviewed; it's nice to be seen.

Chapter Two:

James Potter, now Paxton Deere, was just putting the last dish away from breakfast when the bird swooped in from the outside window. Almost before it crossed the windowsill, James had his wand out and the owl was lying stunned on the kitchen table.

"Pansy!" James yelled.

Ten seconds later, Lily Potter – or, as she had been called for nearly five years, Pansy Deere – came charging into the kitchen, her wand out and face flushed. "What? What's wrong?" she started, and then her eyes fell on the stunned owl. "Really, Pax, was that necessary?"

James blushed a little under his dark brown hair. "How did it find us?" he avoided.

Lily approached the disgruntled owl carefully. "Probably because it's from Albus."

James immediately felt guilty. He should have known the only person powerful enough to one, find their carefully-warded house, and two, perform the charm necessary to let an owl find the house, meant them no harm. If you could consider keeping them away from their son…but that was water under the bridge now. "What does it say?"

Lily removed the scroll from the poor, but now awake, owl and tapped it lightly with her wand to unlock it. She cleared her throat softly before reading aloud:

"'Dear Pansy and Paxton, I hope this letter finds you well. I hope the owl is in good health,'" Lily looked up for a second to see the embarrassed expression on her husband's face and give herself time to marvel at Dumbledore's omniscience. "'And now that the pleasantries are complete, I wonder if I might ask a favor of the both of you?

"'Professor McGonagall recently informed me that she wishes to take a year long sabbatical to recover from her injuries obtained by last year's -- incident involving Hogwarts's former Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. As Minerva has not had a vacation in almost three decades, I, of course, agreed. But I do digress.

"'I seem to find myself without a transfiguration professor. Is there any chance I might have the honor of welcoming back one of Hogwarts's finest transfiguration students? Are you willing to teach, Paxton, my boy?'"

Lily stopped reading for a moment to say, "Well, that was unexpected. Who'd've thought Albus Dumbledore would ever ask the ringleader of the worst pranksters in the history of Hogwarts back to teach?"

"Hey!" James defended, "We were the best pranksters in Hogwarts's history! And Sirius – " he stopped mid-sentence. It had been less than five weeks since James had watched his best friend fall behind the veil in the Department of Mysteries and it hurt too much to remember. He coughed and changed the subject. "Is that all he wrote?"

Lily glanced down. "No, there's a bit more." She looked back up to see if her comforting talents were needed, but James just gave her that I'm-fine-so-finish-reading-whatever-that-batty-old-headmaster-wrote look. She shrugged and continued:

"'As for you, Pansy, I was wondering if you were willing to share your extensive knowledge of defensive magic with the next generation of bright, young minds.'"

"HAH!"James laughed, interrupting Lily before she could continue. "Looks like I'm not the only one going back!"

Lily wanted very much to slap her love on the shoulder, but she held back. "Wait, let him finish. Maybe he just wants me to help recruit members for the Order."

"Yeah, right? Want to bet?"

Lily decided she didn't. She had a terrible suspicion James Potter was correct. Not that she let him see it. No, James's head was just as big as it had always been, covered in messy black hair or not. She opted to finishing the letter instead.

"'Would you be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year, Pansy?' Don't say it, James Potter!" Lily ordered, quite forgetting to use James's alias. She didn't often slip, but James knew that when she did, he'd better keep his mouth shut, so he did. "'You would, of course, be in the prime position to train the future members of the Order of the Phoenix, if you so choose. I look forward to your responses soon.

"'Sincerely,

"'Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.'"

Lily put down the letter.

"Well?" she asked after a few moments of silent contemplation. "Are we saying yes or no?"

James opened his mouth but instead of his deep baritone, they heard a loud crash and a silence that could only come from embarrassed children.

James looked at his wife. "It's your turn."

Lily sighed and said, "It's always my turn."