Return of James and Lily Potter

Chapter 3

James bit his nails nervously. He was desperate to see his best friends and the rest of the order, yet he was also extremely anxious. What if they thought it was a lie? I mean, seeing your best friend back from the dead after over a decade must be rather... frightening? James shook his head of his thoughts and turned to Dumbledore.

"Albus?" He started cautiously, looking both ways. "Why are we in front of the Black's Mansion?"

"This is the Orders meeting place. We exchange new information and leads here" Dumbledore gazed at the door.

Minutes passed and nobody said anything. Lily cast a scared look at James and back to Dumbledore, wondering what the silence was for. Eventually James cleared his throat loudly.

"Err.. Albus?"

Dumbledore jumped. "Oh, my apologies! I was just thinking about my wooly socks, they're rather warm I must admit.."

James rolled his eyes and muttered quietly, "Just as mad as I remember-"

Lily cut him off with a sharp jab in the ribs and he yelped loudly, rubbing his side.

"Lils!" He pouted at the redhead. "That hurt!"

Lily sighed at her husband. "Can we go in?"

"Yes, but first, your wands please" Dumbledore held out his hand and lily narrowed her eyes.

"Why do we need to give you our wands?" She asked suspiciously.

Dumbledore's expression suddenly became grave. "There is things in this house that may alert you to... ah, lose control"

Lily handed over her wand at once but James seemed reluctant. "What do you mean?"

Dumbledore met James' firm and staring eyes. "As you know, the Blacks were very against muggleborns, and as Lily is one-"

"I will not let them say anything about my wife!" James growled, his expression furious. Lily smiled a little to herself at how protective her husband was.

"James, there are curses and traps all around this house that could put Lily in harm! You must think sensibly!" Dumbledore's eyes gleamed with rare fury as his features hardened.

James shrunk back slightly. "I'm not a student anymore, you don't have to be rude..."

Lily laughed out loud and both men turned to her. "Oh, come on! It was funny, right? Right guys..?"

When her attempts at humour failed she just sighed. "James, hand in your bloody wand. Can we go in now?"

Dumbledore smiled. "Certainly"

---
Lily's POV

"Albus, why are we in a cupboard?"

James' voice floated towards me as I thought the same thing. Albus had shoved us in a cupboard as we walked into yet another empty room in the mansion.

"Sirius was coming towards this room, I had to push you in here" Dumbledore opened the cupboard door and we spilled out. "No, stay in the cupboard. I'm going to go get everybody's wands so they don't attack you when they see you. It will be quite the surprise"

I nodded understandingly as we were pushed back in the cupboard and the door was closed. Of course, if I had known I would be back years after my own death... Merlin, I don't know what I would do. Suddenly James shoved me in the little space we had. I breathed in the dust as I hissed at him, "stop shoving Potter!"

James chuckled lowly and I shivered as his mouth was beside my ear. "This is just like Hogwarts, eh Evans? Being in a cupboard with me?"

I snort but blush as well. "You're such a five year old!"

"That's why you love me" I felt James' breath on my neck and felt my face heat up.

"You're making me feel like I'm bloody fourteen, go away!" I roll my eyes.

"Our son is fourteen" James says suddenly. "I wonder if he has a girlfriend"

"I hope she's ginger" I smile at the thought of our son. "I hope she's not a pure blood snob. I mean I wouldn't mind but..."

"Nah, Harry would know better" James says as if he's known him forever. A sudden ache goes through my heart as I remember that we only had one year with our son. Just over a year. We never found out what his favourite subject was, if he would grow to be a good Quidditch player (James insisted he would), what his test results were, what he wanted to be when he was older. We never knew. But we will now, I'm sure of it. We'll spend so much time with him that we'll know everything a parent should about their child. It's like starting all over again. I turn to James in the dark, just being able to make out his hazel eyes, and press my lips to his.

Suddenly the cupboard door is wrenched open and light comes flooding in. "Why is it that whenever I see you two, you're always snogging in a cupboard?"

"PADFOOOOT!" James launches out of the cupboard onto Sirius and they hug tighter than imaginable.

"Sirius, Voldemort came for us and then we died and now we're suddenly alive again and wow you look old, do I look that old-" James was spluttering nonsense and Sirius was roaring with laughter.

"Chill, prongs, Albus told me everything!" Tears spring to Sirius' eyes. "I can't believe you're back.."

"Nor can I" James chuckles tearfully and I laugh softly, causing Sirius' attention to turn to me.

"Evansss!" He howls jokingly, seeming more like a teenager than the older man he is. He hugs me and that's when I notice the effect Azkaban has had on him. I can feel his ribs clearly and see his gaunt cheekbones. His normally silver, sparkling eyes are now a dull grey, his hair which was once fashionably messy is now tangled and badly kept, and despite his grin and excitable bouncing, he seems worn out, exhausted. I almost cry at the sight of him.

"What has Azkaban done to you?" I ask softly, tears filling my own eyes.

Sirius shakes his head wordlessly, showing that he doesn't want to talk about it, and turns back to James.

James POV

Lily says something quietly to Sirius and he looks away, shaking his head. I frown as I try to figure out what Lils just said. Lily has a massive heart and would never say anything to deliberately upset someone, no matter what they've done. I, on the other hand, don't think before I speak, and often end up causing arguments. Sirius turns to me, looking stressed.

"Thank you for taking care of our son" I pull him into a hug. "Lily and I appreciate it more than anything, honestly, I don't know what we'd do without you"

Sirius' face breaks into a grin again, making him look 20 years younger. "Harry's the best. I can't wait until you see him, he looks just like you, with Lily's eyes of course. He has your sense of humour though"

"I can't believe I've missed so many years of his life..." I trail off, feeling disappointed in myself.

Sirius scoffs. "Quit being a drama queen Prongsie! Now, tell me, what does Voldemort look like?"

Heyyy guys! I hope you like this chapter, I absolutely love Sirius. I also decided to make him act younger than he actually is, because that's just how I imagine his personality!:] I've also included a  tiny bit of Jily, so please tell me if you would like more or less!