The Arrivals , A slow Burn Romance [ Edited Version 2022 ]

Part 19 : Exposed

Lily and James were in their room. The other people in the house could hear Lily's footsteps pound as she paced across the floor, berating James. There were wet tears dotted in her eyes; her cheeks and nose red from anger. James was looking mindlessly ahead of him, seeming to barely notice the frustration that covered Lily's face.

"What is this? What the hell is this, James? I trusted you," she said, shaking. James grabbed her arm in an attempt to calm her down.

"Let go of me. Don't you dare touch me!"

Sirius's voice was muffled as he knocked on their door. "Is everything alright here? Are you guys okay?" They continued to fight, ignoring anyone attempting to get into the room.

"I did everything for you and our son!" Lily screamed, which led to a pervasive silence all around the house.

Harry was terrified when his mother got like this, so he promptly left the house with Ron. He did not want to deal with the fight that was taking place; it hurt him to see his parents argue like this."

"The girls emerged from Hermione's room quietly about thirty minutes after the shouting match ended. To everyone in the house, it appeared that James had made an unforgivable mistake. Hermione and Ginny whispered among themselves, wondering the cause of Lily's outburst."

Silently, the two girls sat down with Sirius in the living room to inquire about what had happened between Lily and James. Before they could utter a word, they heard hurried steps rushing down the stairs, soon followed by more yelling. They snuck to see what was happening and witnessed James with packed bags heading to the doorway. As James rushed to leave they heard Lily expressing her undying happiness of never seeing him again vehemently. Sirius's eyes went dark, his heart was beating very fast. He smoked his cigar as he placed a hand over his forehead, trying to control his headache.

Ginny quietly served coffee after a few minutes to settle everything down, and gently asked Sirius about what going on and offered Hermione's and her help.

"It's so genuine of you, Ginny, to try to help. Every time you prove to me that Harry chose the right person, dear," he turned his eyes towards the girls with grief, "but I am afraid nothing can help James's case."

Both witches stared at each other in shock. It seemed as though Sirius was very depressed about this."

Hermione asked, "What did James do?"

Sirius rose from his seat, started to walk across the room, and gently studied the pictures on the frames hanging over the fireplace.

"I wasn't very comfortable with James reuniting with his old mates... The ones who were infamous in the years after the First Wizarding War."

Unsure of what Sirius meant, Ginny wanted to clarify what he meant by "infamous" friends. She asked, "They became Death Eaters?"

He turned to correct to her.

"Womanizers."

He took a puff from his cigar before adding, "They were nothing but scum. They destroyed their families and spent most of their days at brothels and pubs, drinking and courting every witch that crossed their way."

He managed to sit at his place again and continued, "James met them at the pitch when it was rented by the Weasley's, I warned him to not take them as a friends, but he didn't listen to me; instead he spent every night with them after getting done with Harry's training."

"But, Sirius, haven't you noticed any difference in his behavior?" the redhead asked, furrowing her brows.