"Will you tell James and Lily that we're all healthy?" Loralei asked Sirius a week after Snow was born.

He nodded. "Of course."

"If I write a letter will you give it to them as well?"

"Yes." He paused. "And you'll let me visit?"

She nodded. "Whenever you want as long as you take care not to be seen coming here." She said, rocking her baby in her arms. "I can't risk her. I can't risk the Weasley's."

Sirius nodded. "I understand."

Loralei looked up at Sirius sadly. "And I don't want to jump back into this like nothing happened. Something happened. You left me alone. You didn't even try to fight me on this."

"I was trying to protect you." He said. "It wasn't like you weren't furious about my choices."

"I was furious because slowly I was left on my own." Loralei told him. "If it wasn't for Katie and the Weasley's I'd be much worse off."

"I thought you wanted me gone."

"And I thought you wanted to be a part of the baby's life. Not come in right when she's about to be born." Loralei told him. "It's going to take some time for me to trust you again."

"But I'm allowed to see Snow?"

"You're allowed to see Snow." Loralei agreed.

"I don't want to fight."

"I don't want to fight either." Loralei said softly. "But I think we're going to need to be very honest with each other."

Sirius nodded. "I'm sorry that I kept my distance...before he left, Remus was telling me if you needed any help. I was going to come in if you needed help...but you seemed fine."

"I always seem fine." Loralei told him. "I had no choice but to be."

"I thought you didn't need me." Sirius told her.

"I don't need you. That doesn't mean I don't want you." Loralei replied. "Isn't that what all relationships are. I can live without you. You can live without me. These last eight months proved it. That doesn't mean we wanted to."

"I didn't want to." He told her. "I had to stop myself from coming over, or going home."

Loralei nodded, not really knowing how to reply. "We'll get through this. We have to."

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Loralei just wanted a full night's sleep. It had been three weeks, and if she had to juggle this with a job she would go insane from lack of sleep. Four o'clock feedings. Changing Snow's diaper. It drove her crazy. She knew it would be worse than babysitting for a few days. She could handle a couple nights of this...but weeks...she could feel herself going insane.

Sirius came over one evening, the moment he got there, Loralei gave Snow to him and announced she was going to take a shower.

An hour later, Sirius found her asleep on her bed in her towel. He pulled a blanket over her body before walking to the baby's room. Molly was there with Ron. She had just announced she was pregnant and they would be expecting another baby in the summer.

"Loralei's asleep?" Molly asked.

Sirius nodded. "She's really tired, huh?"

Molly nodded. "That's how it always is. I'm lucky. Arthur and I take turns so we have equal days of being unable to sleep."

"Did she really plan to do this on her own?" Sirius asked softly.

Molly shook her head. "She would have never done it on her own. We wouldn't have let her. She's a part of our family."

Sirius just nodded.

"Why did you leave her?"

"What's right is not always easy." He replied. "I had to keep her and the baby safe. I couldn't change the choices I made, so I left. The target on her back could be smaller. She may be a Potter, but she's been out of the loop for a while. Everyone seems to know that she doesn't know what is going on in the Order. She's all but left it."

"You hurt you."

"She hurt me too." Sirius replied. "She made me choose."

"You hurt each other." Molly replied. "You both thought you were doing the right thing, so it's going to be even harder to get over because neither of you will ever be able to understand the other's side."

"So then, how is this going to end?"

Molly shrugged. "That depends on you two. No one's going to know how this ends." She sighed. "But, knowing the two of you, you'll make it though."

"You really think so?"

Molly nodded. "Now, it's going to take a lot of work, and it'll be hard."

"I'm willing to do it if she is."

"Trust me. She is."

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Loralei woke up after some much needed sleep, and froze. There was no crying. Snow was still asleep. What magic is this? Loralei got dressed in pajamas before brushing her teeth and hair before pulling it back into a bun. Loralei didn't want to cut it off, but Snow would reach for it with her little fingers. And pull.

When Loralei checked the nursery. Ron's crib was empty, but he usually was awake before Snow. Snow's cradle was empty as well. Molly sometimes did pick up Snow, but she usually woke Loralei up at the same time.

Loralei's heart dropped, before she ran down the creaky stairs. "Molly! Molly! Do you have Snow? Do you know where she-" She cut herself off, seeing Sirius asleep in an armchair with Snow sleeping peacefully in his arms.

Loralei stopped and looked at the father and daughter sleeping.

Molly walked into the living room with Rob bouncing on her hip. "He fell asleep here. I didn't have the heart to wake him up this morning. But he also thought you needed a full night's sleep. I didn't think that was too bad of an idea."

"Thank you." Loralei said just as Snow started to cry. "She must be hungry."

"I don't think he can help with that." Molly said.

Loralei laughed. "No, don't think so."

Loralei walked towards the sleeping father and the groggy child. She picked up the baby before sitting on the couch and unbuttoning her pajama shirt so Snow could nurse.

"Believe it or not, Percy was more fussy than Snow." Molly told her.

"Merlin, I'm sorry." Loralei told her. "I only had him for at most a day or two. He always wanted his mom. So cute."

Molly laughed. "I have good boys."

"And I have a good girl." Loralei said. "Maybe Ron and Snow will be best friends when they grow up."

Just then two pairs of legs came running down the stairs. Loralei already knew it was the twins. They had turned three just days before Snow was born. They were very curious about the little baby.

"Auntie Lore!" They cried as they ran towards Loralei. This was something that happened nearly every morning. They would try to play with the infant and wonder why she didn't have tuffs of ginger hair like their brother.

"Get breakfast and then you can play with her after you eat." Loralei told them before they could ask.

They pouted standing in front of her.

"Go." She told them.

"Okay..." They slowly walked towards the kitchen with their heads down and their shoulders hunched over. Loralei laughed quietly and shook her head.

Loralei heard a sharp intake of breath from Sirius, he was waking up.

"How's it going sleeping beauty?" Loralei teased.

"Good morning." He said sleepily.

"You didn't have to sleep here." She told him.

"I want to." He told her. "You needed to sleep."

Loralei smiled. "Well next time you don't have to sleep in a chair. My bed is big enough for two."

Sirius smiled, a bit surprised. "Thank you."

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When Fred and George played with Snow. Well not very well. It mostly consisted of her laying on a mat and them dangling toys above her, trying to get her to do more than just look at them and maybe reach for the toy. Usually after a while they just surround her with toys.

"I can't believe it." Sirius shook his head.

"What?" Loralei asked.

"She's not even a month old and she's already surrounded by boys." Sirius said.

Loralei laughed. "It's going to drive you crazy isn't it?"

"You have no idea. She's a baby."

"She's not going to be a baby forever." Loralei told him. "I bet she's going to date one day."

"Stop." Sirius covered his ears.

"Kiss people."

"Stop."

"Maybe even play spin the bottle."

"Stop it. Stop it." He repeated.

"I bet she's even going to have sex one day."

"Stop!" He hit her lightly as she laughed, doubling over on herself.

For that moment it felt like nothing had changed from before he left. It was like it was supposed to be. Joking around with not a care. But it couldn't last. It wouldn't last. Nothing ever lasted during a war.

A/N: Hey guys! Happy chapter this week! I'm not going to be updating on March 14th because I will be out of town for Spring Break looking at colleges and such. Yay for growing up, right? Is anyone else terrified of their future? Because I swear time is moving too quickly and I'm not going to have time to get everything done.

IMPORTANT: I would also like to announce that since this story is coming to an end (muahahahha) I'm going to be writing a sequel. I'm just working out the outline now, but I think you faithful readers would like to know what I'm planning!

.7: Thank you? Haha.

Blue Luver5000: Yes! And I already love her. I have such a plan for her. Thank you for your review!

Dauntless14: They are kinda/sorta back together! They still have work to do, but they're back. The reason she cut him out was because she was straight up trying to protect herself and the baby since if he died, she wouldn't be able to cope and she knew that. That and she also was worried about if someone found out that he's the "secret keeper" they'd go after Snow since she's his baby and all this stuff. Like in this chapter, she's fine with him coming around as long as no one knows he is. Snow's got to come first.

Griffinclaw: ME TOO ISN'T IT TERRIBLE? No worries! Yes! As written above! You know I can't answer those other questions! But they all will be visited later in the story, don't worry.

Please review! They make me super happy!

Kat