Trouble (The Marauders Era» Sirius Black Fanfiction) *Editing*

21» Eavesdropping

Chapter Twenty-One

Eavesdropping

<A miss is as good as a mile>

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Remus and Peter were picked up by their families not long after Sirius and James left, but Lily stayed with Thea for the night. The next day, the two went on a picnic with Aunt Ali to try and calm her down. She was still panicked about the gnomes, but the girl's continually reassured her that they were pretty sure they wouldn't come back.

"I still don't trust that chubby nervous boy," Aunt Ali said. "The gnomes might've gotten to him."

That evening Lily and Thea said their goodbyes to her and took a cab to Godric's Hallow. The village was quaint, children playing outside and people tending to their blooming gardens.

"There!" Thea said, leaning forward in the seat so the cab driver could see what house she was pointing at. "That's it! That's the house from the picture that Sirius gave me."

In her hand she held a photograph of James and Sirius standing in front of a cobblestone cottage. Sirius stood still with both his hands in his pockets while James was waving with one hand, a lopsided grin on his face.

"Thank you!" Lily said as the cab driver helped the girls pull their trunks out of the car. Thea paid him and he left just as James leapt out of the front door with a huge smile on his face.

"You're here!" he said. He jogged over and took Lily's trunk from her hands. "Safe drive?"

"We didn't annoy the cab driver too much," Lily said with a laugh. Sirius appeared in the open doorway and began walking over to them. He gave Thea a smirk and held out his hand. She dropped the handle of her trunk in his open hand, causing him to roll his eyes.

"Shall we?" James said, then led the group into the house.

Inside it was comfy and modest. Pictures covered the walls; James as a giggling chubby baby, James in a highchair with a chocolate frog on his head, James as a toddler giving a toothy smile and sporting a big bruised lump on his forehead, the caption underneath reading "James' first ride on a broom". A large dresser in the hallway had many more pictures of James, including several with him and an elderly couple. One was James as a young boy, a broomstick in hand, dirt smeared all over his sweaty face where a big smile was planted, the couple on either side of him, their arms proudly wrapped around his shoulders. In the middle of the dresser was a large picture with the elderly couple, James and Sirius in front of the cottage, all waving and smiling pleasantly. Thea recognized it as being similar to the one Sirius had on the wall next to his bed in the boys dormitory at Hogwarts.

"Are they here?" a woman's voice rang out from another room.

"They're here, mum," James called back, looking down at Lily with a small smile.

An old woman walked into the hallway, a pleasant grin on her face. She seemed too old to be James' mother, but she had his hazel eyes, his nose, and his face shape. She was on the shorter side with her hair pulled into a fashionable bun, streaks of black hair peaking through the gray. She had distinct laugh lines around her mouth and eyes, and an old white cat circled around her feet.

"Oh hush, you," the woman said as the cat meowed loudly up at her. She picked up the cat and held the purring fluff ball in her arms. "I'm so glad to meet you ladies. My name is Euphemia. I'm James' mother."