Marauders - Always - Part One

Macho Macho Man

One thing which Lily and Sirius discovered rather quickly about morning sickness was that some mornings Lily didn't feel it much at all - and it was on those mornings which Sirius felt it enough for them both. One such morning was 31 October 1979, when Sirius knelt beside the loo in the Potter Cottage, Lily stroking his back and whispering apologies to him as he suffered the side effects of her pregnancy for her.

That morning had started off rather rough to begin with - Sirius had been having terrible dreams ever since his fight with Regulus's Portrait and the whole incident with Peter having the Grindelwald book debacle. Remus had been up half the night with Sirius already, which was why when the morning sickness started at about half five, Sirius went to Lily instead of waking Remus up.

Remus had popped by the cottage to check on Sirius and also to have he and Lily look over the smart black suit and tie he'd donned - his costume for Halloween being James Bond had been Sirius's idea, after all, and as Remus was on his way to muggle art class he really needed to be sure his costume was properly accessorized and get an opinion on how it looked.

"Brilliant," Sirius had said through his gagging.

"You look very handsome," Lily had agreed.

Remus had flushed, thanked them both, and reminded them of the annual Halloween party that would be celebrated that night at the flat in East London. Sirius had given him a thumbs-up even as he threw up. "We'll be there," Lily promised.

When Sirius had finally balanced out long enough to brush his teeth, he and Lily lay on the carpet in her fancy little powder room, head to head. "How are you dressing tonight?" Lily asked.

Sirius grinned, "The construction worker from the Village People." He raised his arms and flapped them in the motions of the Y.M.C.A., eyes sparkling as he did so.

"Well that will be quite the sight," laughed Lily.

"Nearly as quite as Remus being the cowboy." Sirius wagged his eyebrows.

"How in the lands did you talk him into doing that?!"

Sirius snickered, "He doesn't know he's doing it yet."

"Ah, well, that explains it - he's not."

"He will!" Sirius argued. "I'll tell him all the benefits of being a cowboy." His mouth twisted into an evil little smirk. "And what, my flower, are you going as?"

Lily turned her head to whisper the answer directly into Sirius's ear.

Sirius laughed, "Oh Merlin's tap dancing testicles! Prongs'll be over the moon! Shall you even bother coming to the soiree? He's going to be ready to take you the moment he sees you."

"We'll be there, don't you worry your pretty-haired-head," Lily promised again.

Sirius snickered, "You will be. James's physical body will be. But James mentally will be somewhere else entirely."

Remus had arrived to the uni a bit earlier and was sitting in the quad by the art mural, eating a biscuit and having a cup of tea, which he had very discreetly magicked when no one was looking. All around him, students in interesting costumes bustled about, and he sat drawing them as he watched the happenings of the seating area.

Suddenly a cup of coffee was placed before him and the bench shifted slightly as Lula sat down beside him, holding her own coffee. "Hey," she said quietly.

"Hi," he murmured, keeping his eyes carefully trained on his sketchbook.

Lula was quiet, watching the pencil scratching across the page. She was dressed like a Grecian maiden with the laurel and a white dress that was loose but thin and Remus couldn't help but think that it had been selected especially for the ease with which she could remove it when it was time to model at the class in just a little under an hour. He swallowed back the nerves that rose up in him and concentrated all the harder on the sketches.