James couldn't help but think that Summer was flying past. After Minnie's wedding especially it seemed that time was picking up pace and things were going rather speedily. He didn't like it. He had this odd sense of wanting to drag his feet and slow things down, as though time were cheating him of something that he couldn't get back once it was gone by. But then again there was the old adage that time flies when you're having fun and there was quite a lot of fun being had in between the busier times. 

Things were getting back to normal, too, it seemed, after all of the tumult that had been caused by Regulus Black's disappearance and Sirius's arrest and Merlin's beard was that a welcome turn, at least.

Sirius had gotten the job at Spiller's Records in Cardiff and he bragged about it quite a lot to anyone who would listen, wearing a t-shirt with the shop's logo emblazoned across his chest under his leather jacket with his ripped up jeans and heavy black boots. "My uniform is better than yours," he said to James with a shit-eating grin one morning when he was over pestering the Potters at breakfast before going to work as James was getting ready to go in for his hours in Underhill's office.

"Mine at least doesn't have bean sauce all down the front," James answered.

"What?" Sirius looked down. "Mother fffluffer," he said, eyes meeting Dora's as he swore and catching himself just in time.

"I'll get it, dear," Dora said and she did some quick cleaning spells to siphon off the spilled beans.

The full moon would be coming early in August, landing on Peter's birthday, so that the Marauders decided to do it up right and have a good old fashioned camp out for the night, out behind the old Dumbledore property like they used to do. This set Sirius into Event Planning Mode and he was excitedly begging off "fundage" from James as he purchased supplies for what he was calling The Most Brilliant Camping Adventure Ever In The History of the Entire Universe And Beyond.

"Haven't we already had the Most Brilliant Camping Adventure Ever in the History of the Entire Universe And Beyond?" James asked, forking over a handful of galleons like it was pocket change. "I distinctly remember you using that phrase once before, in like fourth or fifth year."

Sirius shook his head, "No. No. This is in the history of the universe. That one was the Most Brilliant Camping Adventure in the History of All Time and Then Some. Entirely different."

"You're mad," James said.

"Barking," Sirius answered, nodding.

And Sirius wasn't the only one begging off galleons from James. Lily was, too. She'd found an incredible amount of joy in feeding random people out on the streets of London and she regularly was coming up short on expenses when her and James were at the grocery or out to lunch themselves because she'd spent her money on things she gave away - blankets or shoes or sandwiches, flashlights and socks.

"It's like she's adopted the entire city," James said to Remus one night. "She's mum to the whole of London."

Remus laughed, "You need to hurry up and make her a mum for real."

"I'm trying," James said, shaking his head.

Which was the one thing that was not going quickly at all. Despite how many times they tried - and bloody hell they were trying every chance they got, it seemed - they still had not gotten pregnant. 

One night, the last night of July, James and Lily lay in bed staring at the ceiling. They'd planned to try again that night, but both of them were just honestly quite bored of it and were putting off getting started, their heads next to one another on the pillows, their fingers twined together, listening to each other's steady breathing in the dark.

"I know we talked about it once already but, d'you reckon there could be something... you know... wrong?" Lily asked quietly.

James was silent for a long moment. Then, "I don't know. Maybe." 

"It's probably me."

"You?" James looked at her.

Lily didn't answer. She wasn't sure she dared to.

James asked, "Are you talking about the rubbish about being a jinx again?"

Lily closed her eyes. 

"Lily. You aren't a jinx." James's voice was firm. "Surely, after all the good things that've happened to us, you don't think that."

"What good things, James?"

"What good things?" he laughed. "Lily. We're married. We have this beautiful home, we have a cat named Roger. Every one of my dreams have come true. Every one."

"Yes but --"

"No buts. Everything I've ever wanted."

Lily curled into James and wrapped her arm around his chest, pulling herself closer into him, laying her head against him so she could hear his heart thumping inside of him and she whispered, "Except for Harry."

James kissed her head.

"Maybe we should see a mediwitch about it."

James shifted uncomfortably. "A mediwitch?"

"Yes, to check that everything is in proper working order," Lily explained.

James blinked up at the ceiling.

"Don't you think?"

"I think we work just fine," James said.

Lily said, "Then why aren't we getting pregnant?"

"I dunno."

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

James was quiet. "I dunno," he said after an extraordinarily long pause.

"I think we should. Be checked. Then we'll know."

"How the fuck do they check something like that?" Sirius demanded. He was standing stocking records into the wood bins that held the inventory of Spillers. James was sitting on a stool he'd pulled out from behind the counter, which spun a little bit, and he was twisting left-to-right-left-to-right-left-to-right as he watched Sirius work. "Stick their wand up your --"

"I doubt they stick their wands anywhere," James interrupted. He paused, stopping spinning. "I hope not anyway."

"I mean how else?"

"I think it's like... some sort of a scan or something, like how they do x-rays maybe. Or a potion." James shrugged.

Sirius raised an eyebrow.

James resumed spinning on the stool.

"Hey what are you getting Peter?" Sirius asked, "For his birthday?"

"Dunno," James said. "Lily will probably pick out something and put both our names on it. What're you getting him?"

"Can she put all three of our names?"

James laughed.

"Reckon he'd like a record?"

"Does Peter like music?"

"I dunno. Not really."

"I don't think he'd like a record."

Sirius shrugged and went on stocking the bins. 

James looked around, still spinning on the stool. "It always this quiet in here?"

"Nah. It's early." Sirius pulled his pocket watch out of his leather jacket pocket and looked at it. "Not even half ten. See, people who like records don't generally get up until after half ten."

"Why half ten?"

"Much later and you miss breakfast."

"Sensible."

James paused his spinning and started flicking through records. "I also got Peter a ticket to the World Cup."

Sirius looked up from the records he was stocking, eyebrow raised.

"Yes I got one for you, too. And Remus. And Lily." James said, "It doesn't really count as a birthday present. Since we're all going."

"You got us all tickets when we went to see Freddie Mercury."

"Yeah, but we all know that the rest of us were mostly only there to watch you watch Freddie."

"Fair."

James held up a record. "I like this one." It was Billy Joel - The Stranger. 

Sirius considered James a second, then nodded, "Yes, yes. I can see that. Vienna is very you." Sirius held out his hand and James handed him the record. Sirius tore the wrap off and ducked behind the counter. The record that was playing on the overhead stopped and the Billy Joel started playing. Sirius dropped the sleeve on the counter as Movin' Out started and James turned back to the bins. 

"Anthony works in the grocery store, savin' his pennies for someday..."

"See," Sirius was saying as he came back 'round the counter, Billy Joel's voice filling the shop, "I feel like I sort of owe Wormy a good gift for once. I've always been shit at even remembering his birthday and this year I finally bloody remember it, but it's on the full moon so it only half counts that I remember it. However - I can make it count by not only remembering and celebrating but by getting him the Best Birthday Gift Ever - T-M - except I don't know what the bloody Best Birthday Gift Ever is for a rat like Peter."

James shrugged.

"I mean what does Peter like? Besides food? I don't wanna get him food. I always get him candy or some shit and honestly, that can't be all Pete's into." Sirius opened the next box of records he was meant to be putting away. He looked at James. "We're really shitty friends if we don't even know what he wants for his birthday."

"You're shittier than I am, you live with the bloke."

"You lived with him for seven years."

"Yeah."

"So we're equally shitty."

"We're equally shitty," James nodded. 

Sirius sighed.

The bell over the door jangled and Sirius looked up. A guy in a leather jacket and jeans nearly identical to Sirius's entered and Sirius nodded a greeting, the guy nodded back, then slid into place at the nearest bin and started flicking through the albums.

"See?" Sirius held up his watch to James. "Half ten."

James laughed.

Overhead, Billy Joel's voice echoed. "You may never understand how the stranger is inspired... but he isn't always evil and he is not always wrong... though you drown in good intentions..."

James smirked, "You could get him a maze."

"Or one of those plastic balls for running about the house."

"A tail warmer."

Sirius looked at the shopper, who had rounded the bins and was nearly directly beside Sirius now. "Oi, what do you get a rat for his birthday?"

The guy didn't even look up. "Cheese."

"Ah but see, that's food and I always get him food."

The shopper glanced at Sirius with confusion.

James grinned. "He's really fond of his pet rat."

The shopper looked at James, then slowly turned back to the records.

James sat next to Lily in the waiting room of a small clinic in at St. Mungo's later that day, trying very hard not to make eye contact with any of the other blokes in the room. He stared down at his knees. "Oughtn't they have... y'know... private waiting areas?" he asked quietly.

Lily was looking at a magazine. "Private waiting areas?"

"Yeah," he whispered. He looked at her and nearly met eyes with a guy across the room, so he looked down again quickly, "I feel like everyone is staring at me."

"Staring at you because you're acting like a nutter?" Lily asked, lowering the magazine to look at him.

"No because they all know I'm about to go wank into a cup."

Lily laughed, "Nobody here cares, Potter."

"Shhh!"

"What?"

"Don't say my name, bloody hell, this is embarrassing enough without everyone knowing who we are!" James's voice was a loud stage whisper, "We should have code names. You can be Josie and I'll be Enrique and --"

A mediwitch with a clipboard stepped into the waiting room and loudly called out, "James and Lily Potter?"

James groaned and leaned forward, covering his face as Lily laughed and stood up, rolling the magazine and hitting James playfully on the shoulder. "C'mon, Enrique. Time to go wank into a cup."

James leaped to his feet and scrambled past the mediwitch as Lily laughed and followed after, smirking at the perplexed look on the mediwitch's face as she ushered them into the examination room.

An hour and a half later, James pushed his way into the exam room Lily was waiting in. She was sitting on the edge of the little bed on top of a layer of crinkly sanitary paper, her stocking feet hanging above the ground. James sidled in and sank into a plastic chair next to the bed. 

"How'd it go, Enrique?" Lily asked.

James shook his head.

"Tough times?"

"Dark and trying times, yes." James ran his hands through his hair. "How about you?"

"I mean, it wasn't pleasant, but examinations rarely are."

"I'd take the NEWTs twelve times over before I'd do that in there again."

Lily laughed. "But it's over now and we'll know in a few minutes."

"Yeah."

"At least the results are faster being at a wizarding hospital. Muggles would have to wait weeks for results, you know."

James was staring at a plastic model of a uterus with a plastic baby tucked inside of it, sitting on the shelf. He looked at Lily. "What if we find out something we don't want to hear?" he asked.

"We'll figure it out," Lily answered. Besides, she thought, she knew it would work out in the end - this was mostly her over-thinking, right? She already knew they would have a baby eventually... She already knew because she'd seen him, hadn't she? She'd already seen Harry...

But a little voice in her head whispered quietly - sure he looked like James but he could have had a surrogate mother couldn't he? It could still be you there's something wrong with. It could still be you, jinxing everything, couldn't it?

James's sneakers squeaked a little as his knee bobbed nervously.

The door opened then and a mediwizard with salt and peper hair stepped inside, holding the clipboard, and he smiled at them. "James and Lily Potter?" he asked.

"Yes, that's us," Lily answered, sitting up urgently. James looked up.

The mediwizard glanced at his board, then took a deep breath and closed the door.