Renata was more than likely unaware that James was so incredibly thankful of the idea that she was coming home with them after being released from hospital. She didn't know how quickly she had managed to throw his world upside down just by suggesting that she stop working for them. It had sent him into such a panic that his chest began aching and he could feel the drastic race of his heartbeat pounding in his chest. The mere idea of Renata leaving was enough to send James spiralling out of control and while he knew it wasn't healthy to depend on one person so much, he was so glad that he had convinced her to stay.

Not to mention, she said she would stay while using his name, the impact of both had left him speechless and still for several moments as he allowed one of the Healers to check over her. The feeling that he was felt was hard to describe, but it was familiar. It was similar to what he felt when Lily finally agreed to go on a date with him for the first time. It was the sensation of nerves swirling around in his stomach, chest, and head, and while it was nearly overwhelming, he openly invited it all because he liked the feeling of it. Each time she said "James" it was like winning the Quidditch House Cup in his youth, he felt accomplished.

However, as he sat there, he had to wonder if she addressed him by his name so that the Healer in the room wouldn't question anything or if it was a moment where she truly wanted to call him by his name rather than the formalities that she had fallen into. Of course, he received his answer shortly after Renata was released and allowed to go home. Soon after when they weren't surrounded by strangers, she fell right back into the routine of calling him "Mr Potter."

"If it bothers you so much, James, then why not say something?" Remus questioned after the lot had returned to the Potter flat. Renata had gone inside with Harry, hoping to fix the little boy a meal after such a long day. She asked if she could cook as it would help relax her, which James readily agreed to so he could have a moment to speak with Remus outside.

"I can't, Remus," James told him, " I mean, I want to, but at the same time, I don't want to. I want her to do it on her own."

Throughout his teenage years, James distinctly remembered being told that he came off as too strong when it came to his pursuits. Looking back on it, he was sure it practically counted as harassment when it came to showing his affections towards Lily. The way she had always told him to leave her alone or go away, it stuck with him, even after they started dating and even after they had gotten married.

He had been so anxious when it came to asking Lily to marry him because he didn't want to come across as pushy and when she hadn't delivered her answer right away, he believed that he had blown his chances right then and there.

When it came to Renata, James hadn't come to terms that he was falling for the woman as he never expected to be romantically interested in another woman after Lily's death. However, it was Remus and Sirius that noticed right away that James seemed to be trying to right all his wrongs when it came to developing a relationship with Renata. He wasn't jumping into his affections, slow with his approach, and incredibly respectful as he listened to everything that Renata said to him.

Maybe he didn't notice, but everything that he felt like he had done wrong with his relationship with Lily, he was making sure not to let history repeat itself.

"Well, at this rate, she may never do it simply because she might have it stuck in her head that she's supposed to address you as such," Remus pointed out. "Remember, you initially hired her to be Harry's nanny, it only, fortunately, turned out that she proved to be a wonderful friend as well. But she might be stuck in that mindset that she's only supposed to call you that. You could just ask her if she would feel comfortable calling you James."

"You don't think that would come across as too pushy?"

Remus wore a sympathetic look on his face as he realised just how afraid James was of making any sort of mistake that could jeopardise whatever it was that was developing between the two.

"James, you're not the same person you were back in school," Remus said in a reassuring tone, " you were great then, but you're even better now. You made a couple of mistakes back then, we all did, but you shouldn't let the fear of your past mistakes hold you back. You've learned from them, just apply it, not second-guess yourself."

It was quiet for a few seconds as the two men stood outside on the steps, they could hear Renata and Harry singing inside and laughing at whatever was taking place. A smile immediately formed on James' face that Remus couldn't ignore and he was just glad to see James finding some happiness because he was desperately in need of some.

"You should go inside," he told James, " sounds like they're having fun in there and you're missing out."

"You can come inside too, Moony," James said, "we'd love for you to stay for dinner. You don't come around as much and I know that you and Sirius-"

"It's not about Sirius," he interjected, " really, it's not. I'm just trying to do things on my own. I've been trying to find steady work. Things are different now that we're not part of the Order anymore and I don't want to be dependent on you or Sirius or anyone for money. Look, I was going to wait to tell you until the time came closer, but I'm going to be leaving soon."

"Leaving?!"

"It's not forever, it's only temporary. I'm going to be travelling back to a couple of the werewolf colonies and help out. They've been getting some funding and since not every werewolf has been given the luxury of being able to attend Hogwarts, I'm thinking about helping at various locations. You know, pass my education along. I didn't want to say anything in case it fell through but it seems looks like it'll be happening."

James didn't know what to say, he had to admit it was definitely not something he was expecting. Of course, he didn't want Remus to be far from home, but at the same time, he was happy for one of his brother's finding a calling. He knew that Remus had been struggling for quite some time and James wished that Remus didn't see it as a form of pity if people wanted to help him financially.

He couldn't even begin to imagine the stigma that came with lycanthropy, how society judged him so unfairly for something that was out of his control and was not his fault. James always felt a sense of guilt since he had grown up in a loving household that had plenty of financial resources. If he chose to, he would never have to work another day in his life and Harry could do the same with the fortune that had been left behind by James' father, Fleamont. But even before that, the Potter fortune had been established by one of James' ancestors, Linfred, who had been credit in history for his potion-making that was the basis for remedies such as Skele-Gro and the Pepperup Potion.

Then Fleamont Potter had taken the Potter fortune and quadrupled it when he created the Sleekeazy's Hair Potion. So James had grown up living a very comfortable lifestyle and he wanted to give that same life to Harry. And Sirius never had to struggle either as he had been given quite the sum of gold when his Uncle Alphard had passed away and left him everything in his will.

Remus didn't get that luxury.

"Well, if this is something you really want to do," he said, trying to sound as supportive as possible, " you know I support you and if you need anything while you're out there, all you have to do is ask, Moony."

"I know," Remus offered a faint smile, " and I've always appreciated that about you. But I think this will be good for me, you know? Helping others who didn't get the privileges I have. I remember going out there to gain support during the war and just seeing how some of them were living, it's incredibly shameful on the behalf of the Ministry. I'm assuming it was the whole reason why some of them turned to the other side to begin with. I'm hoping I can change that."

"If there is anyone that can do it, it's you. But are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner?"

"I'm good," he answered, " I think you all deserve a really relaxing night after the day we've had. Tell Renata and Harry I said goodnight and I promise I'll let you know when I'm heading out towards the first colony."

"Will you-"

"And I'll let Sirius know too," Remus continued as he started down the stairs, "I promise."

It was a bittersweet departure for James after Remus left, but he was happy for him and as he walked inside he found Harry and Renata dancing to some music that was playing on the Wizarding Wireless Network. Harry was in her arms, looking directly at Renata with a large grin on his face as Renata seemed to know the words to the song, singing it lightly to him as they swayed back and forth.

"From the marshy bogs of Queerditch
Grew a sport so fine and fair
In which each witch and wizard
Would take flight through the air.
We sit and watch in wonder
At each game the players play
And dream our team will reign supreme
Thus we cannot help but say..."

It wasn't a song that one would normally slow dance to, but Harry seemed to enjoy it just as much. James walked further into the room, but he didn't have the heart to interrupt the scene as he just leaned against the doorway and watched for a couple of minutes. From all the excitement of the day, paired with Renata's singing and the swaying, Harry ended up falling asleep before the meal was even finished cooking. As his head came to rest in between her shoulder and chest, Renata turned her head only to see that James had returned back inside, but Remus was not with him.

"Seems you have a Celestina Warbeck fan on your hands, Mr Potter," she said with a smile, "I think Molly will be pleased to hear that."

"I think he might have been a fan of your singing and dancing actually," James said as he finally brought himself to enter the room. "Although he's sound asleep right now."

She peered down and let out a light chuckle before making her way towards Harry's room to lay him down for the evening. She wasn't sure if he was going to stay asleep for the entire night but she could safely assume that he was going to at least get a decent nap in. As she went to lay him down, she had to pry each of his fingers off her shirt in order to get him to release her. He seemed set on holding onto her until she placed him down and replaced the grip with one of his teddy bears.

Remaining still for a few seconds more to ensure that he was asleep, Renata eventually made her way out of the room, carefully closing the door over before she saw James standing in front of her, holding his hand out for her to take.

"Care to join me in the hammock?" he asked. "Or are you looking to take a nap yourself?"

"No, I'm wide awake," she said walking over, unsure if she should take his hand or if he was just offering it in a playful manner. Deciding to take a risk, she did offer her own hand, slightly expecting him to jerk his hand back and start laughing, but instead, his fingers wrapped around her hand, encasing it in a comforting warmth.

Leading the way through the kitchen, Renata used her wand to adjusting all the cooking so that nothing dared to catch fire or burn before they made their way outside. They climbed into the hammock, James no longer needing help as he learned the art of balancing in it and sat across from one another.

"How are you feeling?" he questioned after they were both settled. "Are you feeling alright? Any pain?"

The Healers instructed Renata's "husband" to be aware if she started showing any symptoms or pain, just in case there was another underlying issue that they were unable to detect while she had been in their care.

"I'm fine," Renata answered, leaning her head back, " no pain or anything."

It was quiet for a couple of moments but just as James went to ask something else, Renata started talking again.

"Although something odd happened today, something that never happened before whenever I've fainted," she confessed, piquing James' interest right away as he looked directly at her. "I found myself in a memory, or at least, I think it was a memory."

"What was the memory?"

"I was back home, in this classroom that my mother set up for my brother and me-"

"Whoa, wait a second," James interrupted her, placing his hands up, " a classroom in your home? Am I hearing this correctly?"

Looking down at her hands, Renata started rubbing her thumb over the top of the other, wondering if she had made the right choice by bringing it up in the first place. It wasn't like it had meant anything and she was sure she was probably just adding fuel to a fire. From how the two were raised differently, Renata was sure that James was going to view the practices of her parents' teachings as wrong. But it was too late, she had already brought it up and James looked very curious for her to go on.

"Well, my mother believed our education was very important and she blamed the summer as an easy way for children to slack off. So she designed a classroom for Adelmo and me to work in during those times. She and my father would assign us work to keep us busy, there's nothing wrong with that."

Renata said one thing, but the look on her face said otherwise to James. Not that he found it right just to hear of a classroom being placed in their home when they were already attending regular schooling.

"But your parents, they took away your entire summer?" he asked. "That sounds a bit unhealthy. Everyone needs time off and children, children especially. You didn't go on any family holidays? Hang out with your friends outside of school?"

She looked away almost immediately and James knew that she couldn't come up with anything to defend that part of it. It didn't sound healthy at all, children being forced to work constantly on their academics. It sounded like the only break they had was when they went to sleep. As Renata remained quiet for a short while, James realised that she had been trying to tell him something and there he was only making her feel worse.

"You were saying before this, what about the memory? What did you remember?"

Dropping her hands down, Renata gave a shrug of her shoulders. "That's the bizarre thing, the memory ended so abruptly and painfully. I've never had that happen before. I was standing there, Adelmo and I were in trouble because we had snuck out of the classroom to play. My mother was scolding us as per usual and then...then there was this bright white light, it was blinding. Then I felt like my head was being cracked down the middle and then it just ended with me waking up in hospital."

Perhaps the best reaction for James was not to stare at her, but he couldn't help himself as he was left bewildered by what she had told him. None of what she said had sounded good and perhaps that was why she believed that she wasn't able to continue working for the family. It was something new that had happened during one of her blackouts and it didn't sound pleasant at all.

"Nothing like that happened when you were younger? None of the bright light or pain?" James asked her.

"No," she said, " nothing of the sort. Our parents were more of the verbal types, you know? A firm voice and Adelmo and I would go back to work. I don't ever recall there ever being a bright white light. There was the fireplace...but no windows and-"

"There were no windows in this classroom?"

Each little bit that she continued to confess was just making things worse in James' mind as he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"It was too distracting for us," Renata replied as if there was nothing wrong with it, "we wouldn't have been able to focus."

"Renata, that's a bit extre-"

James was fully prepared to tell her that her parents sounded like they were absolutely mental, however, they were interrupted by the loud hoot of an owl that was delivering the post. They glanced up to the great grey owl that presented Renata with a letter that it dropped in her lap. Their conversation seemed to be placed on hold as Renata opened up the letter and glanced over the response with a smile.

"It's from Molly," she said looking up at him as if everything she had just confessed to hadn't been said. " She wants to set up another playdate for the boys. Sounds fun, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," he responded quietly, " sounds great."