Proper Life

Sirius blinked several times as he looked hazily around the familiar kitchen. Then he laughed so raucously it immediately had the others shaking off their own bouts of drowsiness.

"Merlin Lily, what did you put in this tea?"

She gave a faint, distracted sort of smile, all of them still peering about like they were so sure they were missing something.

James finally got up from the table and stretched uncomfortably. He felt like he'd been sitting down for days like some long History of Magic class, but there was just something off about this house putting him ill at ease. He began pacing his home, trying to identify it, eyes coming to rest in the living room. There was still no change, the furniture sat innocently in its respected place, the fireplace was empty, and wet for some reason, as if someone had put it out in a hurry. There was an odd snag in the carpet he hadn't seen before, but really that could have happened anytime.

Still not being able to shake this off, he crept upstairs to Harry's room and was unsurprised the others were behind him, they'd always banded together for a lesser problem than this inexplicable feeling.

His son was right where he should be, resting in his crib, eyes awake and following the mobile hung above his bed, that was missing an ornament for some reason. He crossed over and fingered where a rat once was, but a broomstick now dangling in place, eyes sweeping the room for other anomalies.

Remus muttered the revelio spell behind him as Lily crossed the room to where they kept the Invisibility Cloak. The magic revealed nothing, but their eyes flashed with worry when their secret compartment was empty.

James picked up his infant without a second thought and passed him to Lily, they all kept close to each other and around him in the following silence.

"You guys feel that, right?" Sirius finally spoke up. "Like-"

"Like an itch, in the brain," Remus agreed.

It made no sense, as far as they knew they'd just been having an early morning tea when this settled in. Lily certainly hadn't poisoned the drink, so what was this?

"Let's ah, let's go see," James stuttered for some reason, his brain feeling like it was being constricted in his skull, vision even blurring out of focus for a moment before he finished even more urgently, "Peter. I want to check on him."

"Good idea," Sirius said in relief at once, that urge having been building in him this whole time too.

Remus and Lily exchanged a look. There was definitely something in them saying to do this as well, a ghost of a feeling they should understand beyond all reason, but their minds were on others. Lily's was hovering over Severus in a way she hadn't in years, but in that moment she wished she could go talk to him. Remus wanted to pop up to Hogwarts and go see Dumbledore, but that wasn't exactly a casual thing he did outside of Order meetings.

None of them felt like splitting up, but they were trying their hardest to tell themselves to fight off these strange gut feelings that connected to nothing and keep going with their lives, so Lily tucked their baby back into James' arms and escorted them to the fireplace. A quick kiss on the cheek and a douse of green powder and the two were off. Not having any idea where to start herself, Lily and Remus walked to the boundary of the Potter's home and the two went on their way without incident.

The sign of the Hogsehead creaked above them, and the two exchanged another wordless but aghast look. Neither had spoken of this place, but for some reason it had been on both of their minds when they'd pictured coming to visit Dumbledore here. Trying to shake their minds free of these odd notions more with every step, they casually stepped through Hogsmeade towards The Three Broomsticks, a more common destination.

"Rosmerta," he hailed down the pretty barmaid, who flashed the two a welcoming smile and bustled right over. It was a Monday morning, the school year was in full swing, so there weren't many patrons around.

They had a few moments of casual greetings and the two ordered drinks before Lily politely slipped in, "would you mind terribly sending an owl to Dumbledore to come have a drink down here? We'd like a chat with him."

She didn't seem at all perplexed by the request, it was common enough lately for old students of his to do this, and an easy way for Order members to meet with him in public covertly.

The headmaster arrived just as the sun had fully peaked over the far off mountains, painting the whole place in a warm gold light that should have felt soothing without a shadow to cast in the familiar place. The turbulent of emotions that erupted in the pair upon his arrival made even less sense than the unease they couldn't shake of this place, as if bad news lurked somewhere it certainly hadn't before.

"Lily, Remus," he greeted them with his usual spirited air, drawing a chair and not even noticing their eyes lingering on his right hand which of course looked perfectly normal. "What can I do for you two? You do know you didn't have to come in person, Gideon explained everything."

"What did Gideon-" Remus began in confusion, but Lily had hardly heard him she was so focused. "We were wondering, Professor, if you had any, ah, news on another front." She gave a covert glance to Madam Romserta, but she seemed to have chosen this moment to excuse herself to the back, there was no one else here. Still she couldn't shake the urge to distrust the place and refused to go up to a privet room that would only make her feel more vulnerable. "Death Eater's, and, well, who may be among their ranks as of late?"

Dumbledore stapled his fingers as he appraised the pair, sharp blue eyes seeking the same questions they were. "Rumors," he finally said. "I can guarantee you nothing more. Is there someone in particular you'd like me to keep an ear out for?"

Lily swallowed, the name couldn't pass her lips. She suddenly didn't even know what she was doing here, and looked to Remus for help who was already loosing the thread of whatever thoughts had taken him here. It was like a dream they'd been struck with, and the longer they tried to cling to it the more it turned to smoke in front of them.

"Just, just worried about, certain happenings of late," Remus finally answered.

Dumbledore nodded calmly, face somber and gentle as he smiled openly at the pair. "I understand, of course. I was warned against bringing in another lot of members so young, the pressure was sure to get to us all. We must trust each other though. If we only seek the dark that's all that will be left."

Remus watched the old face with no reason in the world not to take comfort, just like always, but there was still a gut feeling, a vague buzzing along his brain that was just the slightest bit harder to ignore. He looked to Lily for an answer, who seemed no more sure of where to go from here than him.

"Surprise!"

Sirius and James both startled upon the loud entrance, James clutching his infant almost painfully tight to him in a sudden urge of irrational fear and protection. Then the light flashed on, their ears adjusted to the scream they'd heard, and Sirius' face broke into a comically wide, and genuinely surprised smile.

"It's my birthday?"

Peter came jogging up to them laughing heavily. "What's the matter with you, have you ever forgotten such a thing? Course it is, why do you think I've been avoiding you lot the past fortnight, getting all this ready!"

The two looked around bemused at several old friends and even a few Order members. They tried to force themselves to relax, but neither felt like they could even tuck their wand away.

Peter just rolled his eyes at the two and muttered they'd been apart for too long, handing them each a drink and promising it wasn't spiked with an impish grin they'd known all their life.

"What's the matter? Don't you trust me?" The question was made in jest, followed by a laugh they had no reason not to believe.

Sirius took the drink with one hand and stuffed his wand in his pocket in confusion for the whole thing, and his eyes widened in surprise when he pulled something else out. Stamped across the front was a single sentence in unfamiliar handwriting, but with a very familiar shaped g that couldn't be from Lily. He could hardly focus on what it said, as he heard just behind his ear, as if from a long forgotten dream, a voice he'd swear he never heard before but should instantly know whisper to him, 'I'm sorry Sirius. I'll fix this.'

HPHPHPHP

This was more of an interlude, the next chapter is the real 'start.'

Just as an early question now, though it won't come into play until chapter five at the earliest, what pairings are you guys hoping to see in this? There's a poll on my profile, and the results will surprisingly alter quite a bit come the end. You'll see what I mean in time...., but now it's all up to you.

Warning you guys that it will skip right to Harry's first year, and you'll get puzzle pieces over the next seven chapters of what transpired over the skipped ten years. Hope you enjoy!