Chapter 31: Bacon and Eggs

Dorcas walked up to the Potter Manner and knocked on the door. She hoped Remus wasn't there. She didn't feel like confronting him. She knew she was being stupid, but he had hurt her and she didn't want to forgive him yet.

The door opened revealing Karen.

"Hey," she greeted.

"Hey, how's Lily?" Dorcas asked stepping into the house.

"She's better. She had a nightmare a couple days ago, but she seems better now," Karen told her. "I worry about her."

"I know you do, but it's Lily. She'll make a come back, she always does," Dorcas paused before continuing. "Where are James and Sirius?"

"They're still at Auror training. I got out early for good behavior," Karen bragged.

"You? Good behavior? That's a laugh," Dorcas smiled as Karen glared at her.

"Karen, is someone at the door?" Lily asked walking into the room.

"Hey there, Lily-flower!" Dorcas said making her way over to Lily and giving her a hug.

"Hey, Dorky," Lily hugged her tightly.

"I missed you. You have to tell me everything that's happened while I was away."

"You've been gone for a couple of days. I don't think you missed that much."

"Sure I have. Did anything happen with you and James?" Dorcas made a kissing face.

"No," Lily laughed pushing her face away.

Dorcas rolled her eyes she couldn't understand how Lily could be so stubborn when she was in love with James. They were always meant to be together. No matter what happened, Dorcas knew that in the end they would be together.

"I don't know why you insist on asking that question," Karen said. "You know she's going to be stubborn and right at the last minute, like right before we go into a life threatening battle, admit her feelings for James."

"I will not!" Lily shouted while Dorcas laughed. She hadn't been with her friends in so long. It was good to be back together again. Just joking and having fun.

"So you go back to Healer training tomorrow. How do you feel about that?" Dorcas asked.

"It will be good to get back to work instead of sitting around the house all day," Lily told her. "I can't believe it's almost been a week already."

"I can't believe you and James haven't shagged yet," Karen stated from the couch.

Lily glared at her.

Just then the door opened and Sirius walked in.

"You!" he pointed an accusing finger at Karen. "You left us behind!"

"Is it my fault you messed up?" Karen asked lazily.

"You still left," Sirius grumbled.

Lily rolled her eyes and moved to sit on the couch. As she did so James came in wearing a dark black cloak. Lily screamed and backed away from the couch.

Karen shot up immediately. "Lily, it's ok. It's just James."

She screamed again as James came forward to try and help.

"Lily, shush, it's alright," Dorcas cooed touching her arm. "You're safe. No one's going to hurt you."

"Get rid of that damn thing, James!" Karen snapped at him. He threw the cloak away and continued toward Lily.

"Lily, it's alright, it's just me," James tried to soothed her. "No one's going to hurt you."

Lily seemed to come back to herself now that the cloak was gone, but her hands still shook.

James pulled her to his chest and stroked her hair. "It's going to be ok. No one's going to hurt you ever again. I promise."

Dorcas felt like she was looking in on something private. Karen and Sirius must have been thinking the same thing because they had started to back into the kitchen. Dorcas slowly followed them. She sighed when she reached the door and slipped inside the kitchen.

"Well, that was awkward," Sirius mumbled.

"James should have known better than to bring that cloak in here," Karen ranted. "Lily's already having nightmares and that's just going to make it worse."

"Don't blame this on James," Sirius defended his friend. "It's not his fault she had a nervous breakdown."

"Ok, first of all it was not a nervous breakdown," Karen amended. "Lily's not a pureblood. She has more to fear than any of us. She needs time to get over being tortured."

"She's right," Dorcas put in. "I don't know what happened at the Malfoy Manner, but whatever it was, it broke her. Lily's one of the strongest people I know. She couldn't have been hurt easily, not by Death Eaters anyway."

The kitchen door opened and James appeared. "She's in bed."

"Is she ok?" Dorcas asked.

"She's better."

"What the heck were you thinking?" Karen snapped. "You knew she was having nightmares and you wore that black cloak anyway!"

"I'm sorry alright. I didn't know she would react that way when she saw the cloak," James explained. "Otherwise I won't have worn it."

Karen rolled her eyes.

"It's not his fault," Dorcas reasoned. "Lily just needs time. She'll be better soon. Having her cooped up in this house hasn't helped either. She doesn't like being cooped up any more than you would like it."

"She's right," someone said from the doorway.

They all turned around to see Remus standing in the doorway. Dorcas looked at him for a moment before meeting his eyes. He was looking right at her, but she looked away. She didn't want to see him right now.

"Lily will need time to get over what she's been through," Remus told them.

"She was tortured more than I was," James explained. "Bellatrix had her fun that's for sure."

"Would it be ok if I spent the night to help look after Lily?" Dorcas asked.

"Yeah, I have more than enough room. Ginkgo!" James called.

"Yes, master?" the old house asked as soon as he appeared.

"Would you fix Dorcas a room, please?" James asked kindly.

"Of course, master," he bowed before leaving.

"Thank you, James," Dorcas couldn't help herself. She threw her arms around James' neck and hugged him tightly. He had done so much for Lily and she just didn't know how to thank him. James stood there patting her back awkwardly.

"You're welcome, I think," James said.

Dorcas turned and walked past Remus not even bothering to look at him.

"What's going on with you and Dorky?" Sirius asked as soon as she left.

"What?!" Remus shifted from foot to foot. He didn't like lying to his best friends, but he didn't want to talk about this.

"What's going on between you two?" Sirius repeated. "It's pretty obvious."

"Nothing's going on, Sirius," Remus replied rolling his eyes.

"Why?"

"You know why," Remus narrowed his eyes at Sirius. He knew what Sirius was going to say.

"I told you, she's not going to care."

"When did you tell him this?" James asked.

"A while back."

"And you went to him for advice?" James asked incredulity. "You should have come to me."

"I should have, but I didn't," Remus sighed. "I better get back to my flat. See you guys tomorrow."

"You wanna come over for breakfast tomorrow?" Karen asked.

"Yeah, what time?" Remus asked.

"Around nine," Karen suggested.

"Alright."

Dorcas walked down the stairs in her Pjs. She opened the door to the kitchen and saw everyone sitting at the table. Lily was sitting at the end of the table; James had pulled up a stool and was sitting in between her and Remus. Karen was sitting on Sirius' lap at the other end; Remus was sitting in between James and Sirius. Dorcas felt very exposed in her silk shorts and top. She thanked Merlin she put a bra on.

"Hello sleepyhead," Karen greeted her smiling.

Dorcas smiled, but cursed Karen a thousand times over because the only seat left was across from Remus.

"I expected you to be up earlier," Lily smiled.

"No one could ever beat you in getting up in the morning," Dorcas reminded her. "You were always the first up in the morning."

"I guess I was."

"Oh I think the eggs and bacon are done," Karen hopped up.

She put them on a big plate and walked back over. "Lily helped me with the spells so hopefully these won't taste so bad. What do you want, eggs, bacon, or both?"

"Eggs."

"Bacon."

Dorcas and Remus looked at each other before Dorcas turned back to Karen. "You know, eggs are better for you and they don't have commitment issues."

"Well, bacon's not clingy."

"Eggs don't lie to people and break their hearts."

"Bacon understands that some people have to do things and don't resent them."

"Yeah, well, eggs don't sleep with someone and leave them the next day!"

Dorcas got up and stormed out of the kitchen before anyone could say anything. Remus stood up and walked out the back door without a word.

A/N: Ok so what do you think? Do you think Remus was a bit much in this chapter? I don't know if I got him right. Review and tell me what you think!