Dandelions

~63~

Sorry haven't posted: been actually injured. on crutches for two weeks cuz of a hip injury. not to mention i've actually been depressed making it all worse. haven't had much motivation to do anything so apologizes if this is bad. enjoy.

Days went by, turning into months and they'd still not told anyone about Peter. It was now the beginning of October and Sirius, James, Harper, and Remus all were sitting down at the Potter manor waiting for Dumbledore to arrive so they could tell him about Peter being the rat of the group. "Mom and dad are in the hospital now, dragon pox apparently.. I'm terrified." James said as he played with his hands, Sirius looked up and placed his hand on top of his best mates, "I'm sorry mate." Harper knew it would be extremely hard for not only James, but Sirius too. They were practically his parents as well and she knew that he was still in a loss from his brother, who was missing. A crack was heard outside, meaning Dumbledore had just arrived. Remus practically jumped out of his seat to let the man inside, but the three other sat in utter silence. Could Peter really be the rat? Their fellow Marauder, best mate, and practically one of their brothers? "Good evening, I think a congratulations are in order for the Mr. and Mrs. Black." Harper looked up and smiled at him.

"Thank you, professor. Sit down, I'll pour you some tea, yes?" She said before hurrying over to pour everyone tea, as they all waited for him to arrive. Dumbledore walked over to the now empty seat next to James and said, "Yes, Yes thank you." Harper passed around the cups before sitting on Sirius's lap, now that Dumbledore had taken her seat. She felt Sirius shift and it made her silently laugh before James began to explain the situation. Remus seemed awfully quiet and most hurt by the situation, as he was always closest to Pete while the other two were closest to one another. "I see. Thank you, I will do everything I can to inform the rest of the Order to keep an eye out. Now where is Mrs.Potter? I'd like to speak to you all about something." With a nod, James walked upstairs to go find his wife while the others sat in silence. Harper observed Dumbledore, who sat in his chair with a smile smile like a war wasn't going on at that moment. The stairs were heard and the couple appeared in the doorway. "What can I do for you, professor?" Lily asked.

"Please, please call me Albus. All of you." Dumbledore laughed before taking a sip of his tea and signaling for the two to come sit down, so they did. Waiting impatiently for the man to speak, Sirius placed his hands on Harper's shoulders and began to massage her, sensing she was also tense. The older man began to explain that there was a prophecy about a child being born at end of July and how they'd all need to be put into safe houses. "I-I.. Harper are you pregnant?" Remus asked the girl who shook her head violently, "No. Lily?" Lily looked at everyone and shrugged with a nervous look on her face. Luckily, since the Potter's had been trying for kids they'd had pregnancy tests upstairs - so the two girls ran up to see if either of them were pregnant. Harper did her's first and Lily second before returning downstairs and waiting for the lines to pop up. Dumbledore made pleasant conversation as a way to almost ease the nerves, which was working until Lily said it was time to check. Harper looked at her's first, negative.

Sirius and her both let sigh's of reliefs out as they hadn't talked about kids and what they wanted yet. "I-I'm positive." Lily said after a moment, making everyone turn to look at the girl who was smiling at James. The boy leaped out of his chair and hugged her so tightly, she turned as red as her hair before screaming, "I can't breathe!" Congratulations were thrown around towards them, but they knew it wasn't the greatest news because of the prophecy. James looked to the older man and said, "S-someone wants to hurt our baby?" Harper held onto Sirius's hand as Dumbledore explained about how the safe houses would supposedly keep them safe from Voldemort and his followers, and to not let anyone else know who their secret keeper is. Harper didn't even have to think about it before whispering, "Remus. He's ours." Dumbledore turned to Remus who nodded, "Of course I'll do it. Anything for the Black family." Sirius smiled at him before turning to James and Lily who were whispering about who they would choose as their own.

"We've decided on having Sirius." Lily smiled and turned to the boy who nodded and agreed to it. "Isn't that a bit obvious?" Remus asked, taking a sip of his tea. "That's true, Mr.Lupin. If Sirius is up for the challenge though, then he should be allowed." Harper looked at her husband who stared back down at her, "Anything for my best mate and his wife." James shot a smile at his friend before walking Dumbledore out as he wanted to deal with the Peter situation. Once he left and the group sat together, they all talked about Lily's pregnancy and of Peter. "Marlene called godmother. Sirius deserves to be Godfather." James said as if it were obvious, Harper noticed Remus deflate a small bit as the other boy was always first choice. Leaning over, she whispered into his ear, "You'll be our child's, don't worry Remmy." The boy smiled thankfully before winking at her and turning back to the conversation. Lily spoke about how she just knew it would be a boy while James and Sirius both highly disagreed, saying it would be a girl. "We'll go to St.Mungo's tomorrow and have you checked, yeah? Make sure the baby is truly okay and there" Harper smiled before hugging her best friend.

Sirius knocked his drink over and stood up with a terrified look on his face, "Marlene. She'll kill us all if you don't tell her right now. Go write to her." Now everyone else looked scared at the thought of the girl finding out last. Lily and James both scrambled to get parchment and their quill while Remus thought of ways to tell her she didn't find out last, though she did. Harper smiled as the two wrote their letter before announcing her and Sirius were going to leave, causing everyone to say their goodbyes. Sirius apparated them home, and the two sat down on the couch together. "I can't believe it's Pete." Sirius said, running his hands up and down the girls arm. "Yeah. Doesn't seem like something he'd ever do back in first year. This is upsetting so let's change the subject, yeah? We don't know for sure that it's him." Sirius let out a small nod before laying down, Harper now laying on top of his chest. "W-we haven't talked about having kids.. Do you.. You know still want to have kids with me?" Sirius asked her. Harper let out a scoff and rolled her eyes at him.

"Of course I still want kids with you. I just want to do it when we're ready. Bloody hell, Siri, I want to wait until Lily and James's child is born." Sirius nodded in agreement and grinned from ear to ear, "What do you want to name our first one?" Harper laughed and turned to look up at him and he now stared down at her. She had to think about it for a second as she wasn't honestly sure what she wanted. Then one name hit her as this person had always been important to the two, "For a boy what Regulus? In honor of your brother. Regulus James Black." Sirius let out a bark like laugh at the thought of his son's middle name being James, after his best mate but said, "Yeah. Remus is the godfather and what about Lily godmother?" Harper's smile fell for a second as she thought through her choice of godparents. "I love Lily but she's usually chosen by us.. How about Narcissa? Oh, don't give me that look!" As soon as Narcissa's name came out of her mouth, Sirius's eyes practically came out of his head. "Are you sure.. We can trust her? Shes married to a death eater."

Harper nodded and smiled, "I trust her with my life." This seemed to make the decision a little more easy, as they picked their godparents for the first future baby. "Come, I'm starving and there's a nice muggle dinner not too far." The two got off the couch and hurried down to Sirius's motorcycle, which they both now enjoyed and cherished more then most things. Harper climbed on the back of him and held on tight to him and he took off. Her brown hair flowed in the autumn air and she finally felt free. Free of the war, free of the drama, and free of the stresses of the Order. Now it was just her, Sirius, and the motorcycle driving. She let out a scream of excitement, followed by Sirius doing the same. "I LOVE YOU!" Sirius yelled.