November

James tugged Lily towards him with his free hand, the other poised a wand ready to shoot off a spell at a moments notice. She took a deep breath and then stole a quick glance at James. She passed him a smile, the contact made her feel more at ease than before.

"Focus," he whispered, but stole a kiss anyway. They could barely see in front, the night was that dark. The pair stumbled blindly through the forest, reminiscent of mission she went on where she got the bruises. This time, however, she felt much more confident. James and her worked like a well oiled machine together.

"How much further?" Her voice was barely more than a breath, but James was so close that he could hear her.

"Not much." He gripped her tightly before he withdrew his invisibility cloak out of his pocket before draping it around the two of them. In order to effectively hid themselves, Lily had to practically climb atop him and he had to curl his body into a question mark around her. "The camp should be up here soon enough."

It was just the two of them here, but back ups were planted all around the forest at varying distances, one patronus is all it would take to summon them. In silence they continued their journey, it was then the tents came into view. They looked like tiny canvas shelters, but they both knew inside they were much bigger and fully furnished. Right now the encampment seemed deserted, there were no obvious signs of inhabitants, but they both knew not to take it for granted.

"I'll cast a disillusionment charm, you take the cloak."

"I don't think we should split up." In this close of a proximity she could make out his features clearly.

"It'll be fine." He touched her cheek, and then leaned in for another kiss before he cast the spell. The split apart and walked slowly, quietly, away from each other. However, it was only a few moments before they heard a loud noise from behind them.

"We should make an example out of you," a man said. Lily whipped around and saw a foreboding figure holding onto the arm of a woman. As she wriggled under gaze she saw a golden braid be tossed aside, Alice.

"Do it, you won't scare anyone, you'll just make us hate you even more."

The man pulled his hand back and slapped her hard across the face. Where was Frank? They were supposed to stick together, had someone else grabbed him? Before Lily could react a flash of light hit the man, sending him stumbling backward. Lily threw back her hood and issued a stunning spell.

"You dare try to harm him, mudblood?" A hooded figure called out.

In that moment Alice was released and he man issued him a sneer. Lily remembered his face from that night after the disastrous dinner, Lord Voldemort. "Lily!" James shouted as rushed toward her, in a split second he issued a shield spell to protect both of them. It was so strong it nearly knocked her on the feet. While he held off the Dark Wizard, Lily lifted her wand into the air and shouted, " Expecto Patronum."

"I'm not a dementor, however evil you may think I am." By now he released Alice, she stumbled to her feet after being thrown to the ground. She then reached into her boot and drew out her wand. At the moment in time, Order Members from the woods began to appear. There were only six but, as assumed earlier, the encampment was basically empty besides Voldemort and a two other hooded individuals. "You must think you are so smart, well you won't be laughing in the future." Before they could raise their wands the three individuals cast apparated out of the forest and the tents disappeared.

At home James expected Lily to immediately go to the bathroom for a shower taking her clothes with her. Even before they were married she used to be very open with her body, now it was something that she kept hidden, especially after missions. That night, though, as soon as she came in the door she placed hands on either side of James' face and pulled him in for a kiss. When she leaned away, her eyes seeming to brighten even though moments before she seemed weary.

James could tell what she was saying by her facial expression and body language. As they walked to the bedroom they were a tangle of limbs and a mess of clothing. He cast a spell to turn on the light as the quickly removed everything that separated them. Lily shook out her hair as she stood in front of him in her final layer. He only had boxers on when she pressed her body against his.

"Are you sure, I don't have-"

She cut him off with desperate kiss before pulling away. "I need this, okay?"

He didn't answer, just pulled them on the bed in a heap. Laughter escaped from their mouths as the recalled a similar memory. They threw aside the remaining articles and lost themselves in each other. For a few moments everything around them was unimportant, nothing mattered except for that moment. It was then they forgot the trials of today, the horror of seeing Alice with the Dark Lord...Only the two of them mattered.

Afterwards they laid in bed for a period of time with the only the sheet covering them. Lily looked at James, who had his eyes closed, glasses thrown aside. "I love you." She let her hand linger on his shoulder before leaning against him.

Unlike James and Lily, it was not until three days later that Frank and Alice got the opportunity to be alone and actually have enough time to talk. She was sitting at the kitchen table, bent over a file folder, quill hovering over a piece of parchment.

"Alice, I brought dinner," he called out. She heard the clattering of keys in the glass bowls, as they were one of the few that actual bothered with them. "Are fish and chips okay?" he asked and set them down on the counter before pulling a few plates of the cupboard.

"Yeah," she muttered.

"The report can wait." He walked over and placed his hands on his shoulders, giving them a good rub before he bent down to plant a kiss on her cheek. "When did you last eat?"

"Don't worry about me," she said.

He rolled his eyes and lifted his hands to levitate the plates over to the table. "Do you want something to drink?"

"No." She sighed and swept the papers into the file together, before she muttered a spell to send it into the living room. "The only thing we have is water, we need to go shopping."

"How about something a bit a stronger?" With a few swishes of his hand and a few whispers of a spell a bottle of wine and two glasses appeared, then filled quickly.

"You know me well." She laughed as she took the glass of white wine, sipping it.

"Hard day?" he asked.

"I should ask you the same thing, didn't you spend it with James and his partner in crime?"

"And Peter," he sighed. "Then we had Fabian." He shook his head and let out a laugh before he took his own drink. "How was the office?"

"Frustrating, we're still trying to bust LeStrange, but there hasn't been a break."

"We have to be careful." He picked up a piece of fish to eat and Alice followed his lead, eating several chips at once. "They're not just dangerous, they're spiteful."

"You don't think the whole department knows that." She leaned back in the chair and picked up the plate to continue eating. By the rate she did this, Frank could tell that she hadn't eaten all day, most likely too consumed in her work.

"Well, Dumbledore wants the Order to be more discreet with our work. The Death Eaters are getting more dangerous, they're not just killing people, they're torturing them." He shook his head and looked up at his wife. The plate had dropped, half empty by now, and she was now wiping her hands.

"For one night, let's forget about this. You're home early and don't have to leave until eight tomorrow, I don't have to leave until nine..." She smiled at him, leaning forward.

There chairs weren't far away, Frank moved his legs so he could better face her and reached out to tuck the hair obscuring her face from his behind her ear. As much as he wouldn't to just forget for a few moments, he knew reentering reality would hit, hard. Although, at times like this it was a painful reminder of just how young they were. He was nearly three years out of school, her two. "I just can't. Honestly, I should go downstairs and have a talk with Gideon-"

He was cut off by Alice. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him close enough for a kiss. He immediately pushed her away. She looked up at him with wide eyes, mouth open in shock. "I'm sorry, you took me by surprise…" His wife could never be described as bold. Sweet, thoughtful, intelligent… He wondered the amount of courage she had to muster in order to do that. Other couples did similar actions without a second thought.

"One night is all I'm asking," she said slowly. "I've been up to my ears in reports, todays the first day in two months I haven't deflected curses or sorted through threatening letters…"

They finished eating in silence and Alice got to her feet to collect the plates. Frank stopped her as he took them from her and set them on the table. "You're right, let's go to bed." He got to his feet and looked at his wife, once more brushing her hair away from her face.

"Bed? It's much too early for sleeping."

Frank laughed, and then pulled her in for a tight embrace. "I think you've spent too much time around Lily, you've inherited her cheek."

"Well, you haven't spent nearly enough time with James, you need to work on saying what you-"

Frank released her and in a split second he threw her over his shoulder as she let out a squeal. "What were you saying?"

"Put me down!" She thumped on his back before he twirled her around a bit and then wandered in the direction of the bedroom. Halfway there he sit her back on the ground and she swayed about, using his arm to steady her. "Honestly, Frank."

"You like being spontaneous, why can't I?"

Alice shook her head and grabbed his hand, pulling him inside their bedroom and shutting the door behind them.

December

Lily swallowed harshly as she stood in front of the mirror. Her hands were shaking and she felt like she was going to throw up as she flashed back to less than a year ago. She hadn't had her period in a month. Yesterday, she went to the same Healer from her earlier pregnancy, but the results hadn't come yet.

"Lily?" James called from the doorway. "Are you about ready?"

"Yes," she lied, even though she didn't even have her dress on. Her hair fell loose and there wasn't a stitch of makeup on.

"Are you coming then?"

Using her wand, she acciod the dress and quickly stepped in. It was the same one she wore to her wedding and the last Christmas party, but this one wasn't for wizards it was a benefit dinner that every employee at the clinic was supposed to attend. "I'm ready!" she shouted as she tightened the ankle strap of her high heels.

"Is something the matter?" he asked.

"No."

"Are you sure?" He held up an envelope. "It's from the Healer's office."

Lily took it from him, her hand shaking even more. "I don't know for sure yet, but this is supposed to let me know-us know-if I'm pregnant again."

"How long?"

"I started suspecting when I didn't get my period two weeks ago." She clutched the paper tightly. "The results weren't supposed to come this quickly, can you open it?" The letter nearly fluttered to the floor as she wasn't able to hold. James put one arm her, a hand resting firmly on her shoulder. With the free arm he grabbed the letter and muttered a spell to open it. Clumsily he extracted the paper and unfolded it to look at the test results. His eyes got wide and a smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Yes." The paper feel to the ground as Lily threw her arms around him, burying her head in his chest. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, I think."

He didn't say anything, just pressed a kiss on top of her head before leading her out in the living room. They put on coats and scarves, doing their best to obscure their wands from plain sight without putting them in danger of being broken. With nothing else said they walked out of the building. Instead of apparating they took a cab to the hall where the dinner was supposed to, Lily took the lead on this and instructed James to keep quiet. While he was much better than Sirius, his interactions with muggles still left much to be desired.

By the time they arrived the building was packed full. Lily linked her arms with James as they entered. For a few moments they did not look like the too young married couple. For once James looked his age, as he was clean shaven in a well fitting suit, minus the tie though.

"Lily!"

Across the room the red-head spotted Edith, holding on to a bored looking man's arm. She tugged him towards the couple eagerly. "So this is the mystery husband we all have been dying to meet?"

"James Potter." He extended a hand towards both of them. "Pleased to meet you."

"It really is, Lily you didn't tell me he was such a catch." Edith laughed then turned to her date. "This is Warren, he works at the Police Station."

At those words James tensed a bit, but kept an expression of charm on his face. "Why don't we find our table we'll be sitting at." Lily looked up at James before she quickly tugged him away before Warren could get a good look at him.

"It's not like there's a warrant for my arrest," James muttered under his breath. "Relax."

Lily passed him a look that said, if you didn't try to evade the police in the first place, then we wouldn't have this problem. His response was guiding them towards the table where they were designated to seat. As they pulled apart they took a seat at the table. After the news tonight, Lily didn't really want to be out with everyone. She wanted a night alone with James to just revel in the happiness for a while longer before reality it. It would be a few more months before she was in the clear, before she could tell anyone the news. In the meantime she would have to hope that she could carry this baby.

"Lily," James said as he laid a hand on her shoulder.

As she looked up she saw Adrian with a petite blonde woman hanging on to his shoulder. "Good evening," he greeted before extending a hand to her first, then to James. "Nice to see you again."

"I apologize, but I need a refresher," James admitted.

"Oh, we were never formally introduced. My name is Adrian Graham, this is Pippa."

"I work at the hospital that partners with the Emergency clinic," she informed her, "I"m a nurse."

"I'm a receptionist and this is my husband, James." At that she reached for him, curling an arm around his side.

"A receptionist, the way Adrian talked about you I would have thought you were a nurse."

"She might as well be," James chimed in. Pippa gave him a strange look, but Adrian's expression was unreadable. "I get myself into enough scrapes when I go...er, hiking and she's always the one that patches me up."

"I see." Pippa's smile was strained as she pulled Adrian to sit across from her. Soon enough other people came to the table and made conversation easier. Edith and Angie were enough entertainment, as were the other doctors that came along. All of them were glad to finally meet James and Lily could see the surprise on their face.

One benefit that came from him being a pureblood was that he had had manners drilled in at a young age. Small talk was something he mastered long ago and most everyone found his wit charming. At times like this Lily found herself reminded why she fell in love with him. That mischievous glint in his eye, his crooked grin and easy confidence.

"Would you care to dance?" James asked after the dessert had been delivered and eaten.

"I thought you'd never ask."

He grabbed her and led her out to the dance floor. Despite the band playing an upbeat song, she draped one hand over his shoulder and he crooked one around her waist as they clasped their hands to. Whenever they danced, years seemed to drift away from them and she was reminded of the Christmas balls. He spun her around and she was taken back to their days at Hogwarts. They could only stay young for so long, however. Soon enough the music would stop and they would have to face the world.