Magic

27: Their Story [AU]

Harry ran toward his mother as fast as his short legs would carry him. He almost tripped as he reached her and tugged on the hem of her shirt. 

"Mummy. Mummy!" Harry called, pushing back his glasses. 

Lily Potter smiled at her four year old son and set down her paperwork. "What is it, love?"

"Do you love Daddy?" Harry asked, his eyes beginning to water.

Lily's heart melted as she stood and picked up Harry into her arms. "Of course I do. Why would you ask that?" 

"Uncle Padfoot says you don't. Uncle Padfoot says you thought he was a git and a tosser." Harry repeated, a smile beginning to appear on his face. 

Lily's eye twitched. She made a mental note to slap Sirius multiple times next time she saw him. "Don't say that, Harry. Those words are for rude people like Sirius."

"Sorry Mummy." Harry said, hanging his head. "But why did you think Daddy was a meanie?"

Lily laughed and set Harry down on the ground. "Well-"

However, she was interrupted by a loud crack. 

"Honey, I'm home!" Sirius called from the front yard. 

Harry screamed happily and ran out the door to throw his arms around his favorite uncle. Lily, however, rolled her eyes in annoyance. 

Sirius entered the Potter home with Harry hugging his leg. "Hello, Evans!"

"Sirius!" Lily said, her voice laced with false enthusiasm. She motioned for Harry to let go of him, stood on her tip toes, and threw her arms around his neck. 

"Listen, Black," she hissed in his ear. "Tell my son another story and swear in front of him again and I swear I will tell Marlene about the incident from sixth year."

She felt his body tense, and smirked in triumph. 

"Glad to see you, Lily. Did you lose weight? You look lovely." Sirius rambled, looking at her warily once she released him. 

"Harry, love, why don't you go upstairs and play with your sister?" 

"Yes, Mummy."

The two waited until his footsteps faded before sitting down. Lily played with the ends of her hair for a moment. 

"How's James?" Sirius asked, breaking the silence. 

"He's fine, I think. He's finally beginning to accept that Peter is in Azkaban." Lily replied, her hands shaking. "Do you want some coffee? Tea? Pumpkin juice? Butterbeer? Anything?"

Lily stood up abruptly and rushed toward the kitchen. 

"Lily." Sirius called. "Stop."

Lily sighed and stopped in her tracks. 

"You're hiding something."

She spun on her heel. There was a long silence between them as they stared into each other's eyes. Finally, Lily blinked and sat back down. 

"Harry asked me if I hated James today." she commented. "He said you told him I used to call him a git and a tosser."

Sirius let out a bark like laugh. "I was surprised when I first saw you holding his hand and smiling."

Lily grinned. "Well, he was too adorable to resist. I couldn't help it."

Sirius snorted. "What made you like that idiot in the first place?"

Lily looked up at the ceiling and chewed her lip in thought. "Oh! I know...it was the day you made him wear one of your leather jackets."

The two burst out in laughter and couldn't stop until they both had tears rolling down their cheeks. When they finally stopped laughing, Sirius sighed happily. 

"I made him learn how to play a guitar Moony had Transfigured from a cushion." 

Lily cocked her head to the side. "I never understood how he did that."

"I still think he stole it from Filch's cabinet of confiscated items."

Lily pushed her hair back. "You made him recite that stupid poem you wrote that compared girls to bludgers."

Sirius laughed. "Right! I wanted him to look ridiculous in front of you because it was the day before Slughorn's Valentine's Day party."

"Yeah, so you made him wear your leather jacket over his Quidditch jersey and tied his tie around his head. I don't quite remember the words of the poem but I think it said that girls' emotional ranges were more violent than a cursed bludger during a storm."

"And then he started playing the guitar and broke one of the strings!" 

Lily giggled, and her mind went back to that moment. 

James sat before her, his legs crossed as he sat before her on the ground. He looked up at her in embarrassment as a guitar string snapped. 

"Sorry, Sirius threatened to tell you something embarrassing about me if I didn't do this."

Lily laughed and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. She looked at his Quidditch jersey, leather jacket, and awkwardly placed tie. 

"I think you would have been less embarrassed if he had told me your secret." she said, laughing again. 

James shook his head rapidly, thrusting the tie back and forth. "No! I mean...you can't ever find out. You'd...you'd...never speak to me again."

Lily's eyes widened, and her heart beat wildly in her chest. She cursed herself for secretly wanting his secret to be about her. "Unless you murdered someone, I think I'll be okay. Come on, you can tell me anything. We're friends."

She added the last part to convince herself. 

"Friends." James laughed shakily. "Yeah, friends. I love you, Lily. I love you a lot."

"What?" Lily asked, her heart beginning to race. She felt her face turning redder by the second. 

"Yeah, I love you. Because you're my best friend, right? And I can tell you anything. And I can say I love you because you're my best friend and I love you."

James seemed to regret having ever existed and looked at the guitar longingly, wishing he could slam his head into it. 

Lily stifled a laugh and said, "I love you too, James."

But it seemed to mean more to her as just a joke, and somehow she thought that loving him made a lot of other things make sense. 

Sirius laughed again, bringing her back into reality. "He confessed his love to you in the worst way possible afterward, right?"

Lily nodded, smiling at the thought. "He tried after that, too, but in the end he said he was gay and in love with you."

"Were you heartbroken?" he smirked. 

She shook her head. "He's a terrible liar."

"Oh come on, I'm hot! It's possible!"

The door opened, and James Potter stepped in. He grinned at the two, and Sirius saw that there were two bags in his hands. 

Lily's eyes widened, and she rushed to him happily. She hugged him tightly, and James glanced at her stomach slightly. 

Sirius gasped, and squinted his eyes at the labels on the bags. "No bloody way!"