paint me chaos

James Potter, Sirius Black, and Lily Evans

James held his wand tightly in his hand. "Who is it?"

"It's Voldemort," came the answer. "I'm here to kill you, Potter... Open the door or I'll blast. You've been warned."

He sighed, half-relieved, half-exasperated. "You're not Voldemort."

"Ooh, don't you use my name lightly like that! No! You're not worthy!" The man at the door paused. "Because you're Potter, and I'll kill you, vermin!"

"Sirius," James said very seriously, kicking the door. "Not funny, mate. What's your Animagus form?"

"A ssssnake..."

"Padfoot!"

"Kidding!" Sirius said hastily. "Big black dog, looks like a Grim. Also known as Padfoot."

James opened the door. Sure enough, he found himself face-to-face with a grinning Sirius, who came in, took off his shoes, and hopped onto the couch. James joined him, sitting his old armchair, and Sirius leaned in.

"When'd you get so serious, mate? You're starting to sound like Moony!"

He waved a hand and frowned. "Well, if you'd been told a million times to stay put because ole Voldemort is off to kill you, you wouldn't be exactly jumping for joy, Padfoot," James pointed out.

"Still," Sirius said, propping up on his elbows and smirking, "You'd better be careful, Jamesie. Else you'll have a nose in a novel instead of a Quidditch magazine in no time."

"I'd like to see that," said a female voice, and Lily-clad-with-baby-Harry came down the stairs. "Sirius. Why're you here?"

Sirius pouted at her. "Hey! You said I was welcome to invite myself at any time, Lily dear."

"Yes," Lily retorted, with a roll of her eyes, "but I didn't say you could prop your smelly feet on my cushions."

"You want me to take off my socks, then?" Sirius challenged.

Lily put baby Harry in his high chair and crossed her arms at him, and then at James. "Potter, if you can't control Black, I'll kick him out."

Sirius's jaw dropped. "Wow, you're starting to sound like old Lily."

"Old Lily?" Lily scoffed. "You're making me sound so bloody old, Black!"

"Old Lily," James intervened, "as in 'the one we went to school with', Lily-Flower. Chill."

Lily sighed and kicked Sirius. "Move," she ordered. "Don't want your sweaty socks shoved halfway down my face."

"Variation," Sirius shot. He turned to James. "Why'd you call me here?"

"You called him here?" Lily bristled at her husband.

"You blamed the wrong person," James replied cheekily, looking at her with innocent hazel eyes. "I was, er, bored."

"Bored," she repeated.

"Yeah!" Sirius exclaimed; both of his friends turned to stare at him. He smiled sheepishly. "Yeah! He said he wanted company, that he was going mad... Or something! I wasn't listening too closely, so... Point is, I show up, and now you two are fighting over who invited me over?"

"Actually," Lily pointed out, "I do not doubt that James invited you over anymore."

"So we're not fighting," James completed.

"Anyway," Sirius drummed his fingers on his thigh, "what kind of entertainment do you require from me? Circus tricks? Changing into an Animagus? Pranks? Joke-telling-"

"Don't tell me you're going to tell another lame joke," Lily muttered.

"Splendid idea! How about the one about the hag, the goblin, and the vampire?"

There was suddenly a horrid smell in the room, and then the three of them heard a cry. When Lily turned, she saw that it was Harry, his face scrunched up. Needless to say, he did not look very happy. She went to the high chair; when she approached, the smell got worse. Picking him up, she shoved him into Sirius's lap.

"This," she said with a smirk, "will be what you'll do to entertain us. Right, James?"

James grinned at Sirius's nose wrinkling. "'Course, Lily! Padfoot, you'll, er, perform your... godfather's duties."

Sirius decided to research when exactly children were old enough for potty-training. He made a face and sniffed; Sirius gagged. Glaring at James and Lily, he said, "Oh, bloody... You've got me, fine. Now where're the nappies?"

"Bathroom," Lily said cheerfully. "Come back only when you've finished. Don't get it too messy."

Sirius groaned. "I feel like Kreacher," he muttered.

Only when Sirius had come back to his flat did James and Lily realise that they had not worried over the war for an entire day; for a bit of time, they had contented themselves with just being normal young people: a mother, a father, and a godfather joking and taking care of their child.

For a bit of time, they had felt safe, a rarity in this imperfect world at war.