31 July 1980, 3:48 AM
Sirius was sleeping when the phone rang. He was conscious of the sound, but it wasn't until the third ring that he registered what it was. It had been Lily's brilliant idea that everyone in the Order should get a muggle telephone. Messing with them would never even occur to Voldemort, which meant that they would always have an open channel to communicate. Magic folk would much rather use any other mean of communication before the telephone, so this was the first time that the phone in the flat had ever rung.
Sirius jumped out of bed, disregarding Remus' leg over his knee and getting tangled up in the sheets. He ran towards the phone that was in the kitchen and picked it up.
"Hello?" he panted.
"Finally! I've been trying to reach you on the mirror for half an hour!" It was James' voice coming through the speaker. Sirius looked over the counter and saw the small piece of mirror he and James used for getting in touch. He was about to explain how he had left it in the kitchen when he recognised the background noise over James' end.
"Are you in Mungo's? What's-" colour began to drain from his face even before he finished the sentence. Calls from hospitals were never good.
"Everyone's fine," James replied quickly and Sirius breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm just freaking out because Lily's in labour and I couldn't reach any of you!"
"What!?" he cried into the mouthpiece. "Now? She's having the baby now?"
"Yes, Padfoot! And I couldn't get in touch with you or Wormtail. You don't know if he's out or something, do you?"
Sirius hadn't talked to Peter since the last meeting on Sunday, but he hadn't said anything about a new mission.
"Not that I'm aware. He must be asleep. Do you want us to check on him before going to Mungo's?"
"No, it's alright. I'll send him an owl and he'll come when he sees it. What I need you both to do is come here immediately because I'm freaking out and it's making Lily freak out and I freak out even more and-"
If Sirius didn't interrupt him, James would ramble on and on and on. "OK, got it, we'll be there in five minutes."
James snorted on the other side. "Yeah, right. If you can wake the mummy and drag him here in less than 10 minutes I'll name my second child after you."
A smile drew on Sirius' face. "Is that a bet, Prongs?"
"You bet it's a bet."
And without replying, Sirius put down the phone and checked his watch: 3:51.
Sirius rushed into their bedroom and went straight to Remus. He ineffectively shook him by the foot –even if it never worked Sirius would never stop trying. Seeing as they didn't have much time, Sirius grabbed his wand from under his pillow, summoned a pair of pot lids from the kitchen and made them start banging against each other over the sleeping man on the bed.
It took Remus almost a full minute to finally react to the noise, and by that time Sirius was already half dressed.
"What the hell, Sirius!" Remus moaned and buried himself deeper under the sheets.
With a flick of his wand, Sirius made the noise stopped.
"Baby Potter's on the way," he announced while tying his hair in a messy bun.
"Merlin! Now?" he tried to rub the sleep from his eyes with the heels of his hands, but it didn't work. "I was hoping Lily's sensible genes would make the baby arrive at a reasonable hour, but I guess the Potter genes are stronger than we suspected. We are doomed."
"Oh, Moony, don't be grumpy." Sirius crawled over the bed to where Remus was barely sitting up and kissed him. "Be happy, yeah?"
Sirius stepped over him to get to the wardrobe next to Remus' side of the bed.
"I'm sorry, I am happy," Remus apologised. "It's just so early!"
"I know, you can complain about it to Lily later, or to the baby in a few years." He put on a shirt and grabbed a pair of trousers and a shirt from Remus' side of the wardrobe. "Now, get dressed, we're leaving in…" he looked at his watch, "three minutes."
Remus caught the clothes Sirius threw at him. "Three minutes? That's specific."
"Yes, it is," was all Sirius said about it. "Now, seriously, put on your trousers or you're coming in your pants." He stopped for a second to consider what he had just said and added, "Ok, that didn't sound too good."
Remus smirked while he pulled the trousers over both leg. "I don't know what you're talking about. I thought it sounded great."
"Later, Lupin. Now I need you in those trousers."
"Sir, yes, sir," Remus replied as he crept out of the bed and started buttoning his shirt.
31 July 1980, 4:01 AM
James alternated between looking at his watch and looking at the hallway that stretched to his right. A small smile began to grow on his lips: Sirius only had a few seconds to arrive if he wanted to win, and he probably wouldn't make it.
"Yes!" he exclaimed as the longest hand on his watch went over the number twelve.
Less than a minute later he heard them, and a few seconds after that he saw them. Sirius emerged from behind the corner of the hallway, running as if followed by a troll. His hand was wrapped around Remus' hand, who managed to keep up his pace, even though all the evidence pointed to him still being asleep.
Sirius' momentum was such that he couldn't stop and ended up colliding with James, whose reflexes were not at their best at four in the morning. Of course, Remus didn't stop either, so they ended being a three-man pile of limbs on the floor. A couple of nurses, all dressed in yellow, looked at them disapprovingly.
"Did we make it on time?" Sirius inquired as he helped James get on his feet.
"I'm afraid you lost for just a few seconds," James replied amused and Sirius checked his own watch.
"Argh, Merlin's balls!" Sirius protested. "But we were in the building before the ten minutes expired, then. That's got to count for something! At least a middle name?"
"Hmm," the bespectacled man mused. "I'll think about it." James regarded Remus, who was on the brink of falling asleep on his feet. "I must say, though, I'm impressed you managed to bring him here in only a few minutes."
"And he's even fully clothed!" Sirius added excitedly as he ruffled Remus' already dishevelled hair affectionately.
"I feel like you're mocking me, but I'm honestly not awake enough to care," Remus commented with his eyes closed. He opened them slowly and saw James' face clearly for the first time since they had arrived. He looked tired, with bags under his eyes that were amplified by his glasses, and even though he was wearing a pair of jeans, the t-shirt he had on was one Remus and Sirius knew he wore to bed. Despite everything, he had a gigantic grin on his face and his eyes were shiny with excitement. Remus couldn't help but smile himself. "How's Lily?" he asked.
"She's fine, nervous I suppose, but fine. She's in there," he pointed with his head towards the room on his right (number 307)," but the healer told me to step outside."
Sirius was mesmerised by the door to Lily's room. "I can't believe he's gonna be born today, it's insane!"
"You tell me?" James chuckled. "We were sleeping and suddenly Lily grabs my arm. I literally jumped out of bed, holding my wand and screaming. We weren't expecting him until next week."
"Maybe he's eager to come out and meet his godfather Padfoot," Sirius proposed.
James laughed, "Yeah, I'm sure that's it."
The door to room 307 opened quietly, and a man with small glasses and grey hair appeared wearing the customary lime green robes of healers. From inside the room came the sound of Lily's quick breathing and a nurse talking softly.
"Who's the father?" the healer asked to the three men outside the door.
"Me!" James almost shrieked. "That's me," he added, trying to sound relaxed but failing terribly.
"Come in," the man instructed.
James started to sweat immediately. As he approached the door he noticed that Sirius and Remus were following him. The healer extended his arm to stop the both of them.
"Just the father."
Sirius and Remus looked at each other and then at James, as if asking him whether to do as they were told or not.
James swallowed. "I'll be fine. You wait here and see if Peter shows up."
Remus nodded and put his hand on James' shoulder, giving him a soft but firm squeeze. "Good luck, mate," he smiled warmly and walked over to the seats on the other side of the hallway.
Sirius grabbed his arm and pulled him into a tight hug, "Congratulations, Prongs."
"Thanks." James had a knot in his throat and could hardly speak. He nodded appreciatively to his friends and went into the room with the healer. As soon as the door was closed, all the sounds from inside disappeared.
31 July 1980, 5:28 AM
Remus' head was buried against Sirius' shoulder. Mouth slightly open, eyes completely closed: sleeping. Sirius could not sleep, but he sat there with his head tilted a little to the right so as to rest on top of Remus'. Not sleeping and having no one there to talk to (Remus was asleep, Peter was probably also asleep but in his bed, James hadn't come out of the room going in and Lily was having a baby) gave him time to ponder.
Remus' sleeping habits were odd. What made them that way was not a collection of weird characteristics, but rather the lack thereof. When it came to sleep, Remus Lupin was inconsistent, unpredictable. Sometimes he could doze off anywhere, anytime: there was no surface too hard, no nook too small, no room too noisy or bright for him to fall asleep. Other times he couldn't get a wink of sleep, no matter how comfortable his bed was or how tired he felt. The year after they left Hogwarts he had spent a whole week without even a nap. Half the time he woke up before dawn, and the other half he slept through lunch, and there was no way of predicting what he would do on any given day. There was only one constant in the way that Remus slept: he was almost impossible to wake up.
Peter was almost as hard to wake up as Remus, so it was no surprise that he hadn't heard any of their attempts to communicate. But still, what if there was something wrong? He should've checked on him. He still could. It would only take him half an hour to get to the hospital's lobby, apparate to an alley near Peter's, knock on his door and drag him back to the maternity wing. But James had been in the room for a while now, and that only meant that he could be walking out of there with a baby wrapped in his arms. Sirius should've checked on Peter the moment James followed the healer, and then Peter would already be there with them. But now it was too late, because James was going to come out of room 307 holding Harry in a matter of seconds, wasn't he? And Sirius wasn't going to miss that.
Because he was the godfather. The realness of Harry hit him like stunning spell. He was no longer Lily's bump. He was an actual human being, and Sirius was his godfather. It was not just a theory anymore, he would have to do something about it. He would have to take care of Harry –obviously not as much as Lily or James, but still. Who had the brilliant idea of making Sirius Black responsible for another life when he could barely handle his own?
He might've started hyperventilating if Remus hadn't choose that particular moment to stir next to him and bury his face deeper into the crook of his neck. "I'm awake," he announced in a raspy voice, distracting Sirius from his contemplations.
"Welcome back to the world of the living," Sirius replied and planted a soft kiss on top of his head.
"Sorry about the nap," he apologised.
"S'alright."
Remus sat up straight and stretched his arms up to the ceiling with a big yawn. He looked at Sirius and frowned with concern. "You're worried."
Sirius looked back at him. "How do you do that? It's spooky when you read my mind. I should've paid more attention to those Occlumency classes."
"Don't be ridiculous. You're a perfectly adequate Occlumens." Sirius' eyebrows rose as he heard the word 'adequate', but Remus ignored them. "Your thoughts are not that easy to suss out, but your feelings on the other hand… I don't need Legilimency to work them out, Padfoot," Remus explained with a fond smile. After a few moments he added, "You will be a great godfather, you shouldn't worry."
"But I'm rubbish at taking care of things," Sirius moaned, feeling childish as he expressed what had been going through his mind since the moment James had asked him to be Harry's godfather.
Remus shook his head enthusiastically. "That's not true. You are great at taking care of things that matter to you. Look at your bike! You've had it for… four years now? There's not a scratch on her, and Merlin knows that poor thing has gone through everything." Remus studied Sirius' face, who didn't seem convinced, so he went on. "Or your broom. You've had it since second year and it's as good as new. And you refuse to change it for a new model because you don't want to hurt her feelings." Remus couldn't help but smile at that last comment.
"But those are things, Moony. Harry is a human being!"
"What about me, then?" Remus offered. "I know technically speaking I'm not human-" he joked, and it earned him a punch in the arm, but it was worth it just to see Sirius relax a bit. "But you do take good care of me. If you can handle me you'll do great with Harry. Trust me."
Sirius looked down at his feet for a few moments before deciding to take Remus' comfort. He was right, after all: if he could take care of a werewolf he should have no problems taking care of a baby. He looked back at Remus and took his hand. "Thank you."
"Any time," he replied.
31 July 1980, 6:34 AM
Peter finally arrived. He must have taken a shower, because his hair was still wet, but he was already sweating with the effort of running all the way to the maternity wing. He looked a bit of a mess, really, but the beautiful bouquet of flowers in his right hand more than made up for it.
Remus and Sirius were immersed in conversation, glancing frequently at room 307. For the last hour they had been looking up every time they heard footsteps and it was never Peter, so they had stopped doing it altogether and now that Peter was really there they didn't notice his arrival.
"Is he born yet?" Peter's voice made Sirius and Remus jump in their seats.
"Merlin, Pete!" Sirius clutched his chest in a dramatic gesture.
"We were beginning to think you might never come," Remus commented once his pulse had steadied.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I only saw the letters James sent when I woke up," Peter apologised. Focusing on Sirius, he added, "Why didn't you come wake me up?"
"What!?" Sirius asked with exaggerated outrage. "I already had to wake up this one," he poked Remus in the ribs. "Do I look like a bloody alarm clock to both of you? Do I have numbers in my face and hands sprouting from my nose?"
Peter had the decency to look sorry, but Remus didn't even try to suppress a chuckle.
"Yeah, you laugh, Lupin. We'll see who's sleeping in the couch tonight," Sirius threatened.
"Sorry," Remus said, though he didn't look it.
"I swear you two could sleep through Ragnarok. I don't know how you do it."
"We had to adapt, didn't we?" Peter explained matter-of-factly, "Otherwise we wouldn't get a wink of sleep back at Hogwarts with your and James' snoring."
"I do not snore!" Sirius said scandalised.
Peter snorted, "Yeah, right."
"Tell him, Moony!" Sirius stared straight into Remus' green eyes.
What Peter was saying was absolutely true: Sirius and James did snore and it was unbearably loud. Remus had to sleep with two or three pillows over his head the first year at Hogwarts. Around third year both him and Peter got used to the noise and became abnormally heavy sleepers, so they didn't have any more trouble with their roommates' snoring. "You do-" Remus started to reply, but he sensed a warning in Sirius's steely gaze and he decided it wasn't worth getting kicked out of bed, "not snore, Sirius," he finished. "I don't know what Peter's talking about," he added as reinforcement.
Sirius sat there with a complacent smile on his face, "See, Wormtail?"
Peter rolled his eyes and looked at Remus, who mouthed an apologetic "he does" to him. Peter shook his head in mocked disappointment and mouthed "henpecked" back at Remus. He considered the accusation for a few moments, looked at Sirius (who was oblivious to his friends' silent conversation) and shrugged in resigned agreement.
"You didn't answer me before," Peter changed the subject, "is he or isn't he born?"
"Not yet."
"I'm beginning to worry," Remus added. "Is it supposed to take this long?"
"I don't know, I think it can. But James should've at least come out and say that everything was alright, unless…"
"Of course everything's fine, don't be daft," Peter said at once. "It can take a long time for a baby to be born."
"And how do you know?" Sirius asked suspiciously.
"My birth took eighteen hours," he explained. When both his friends looked at him confused he added, "Mum liked to remind me of the fact whenever she was angry. Eighteen hours I suffered! Eighteen! And for this!" This last he said in a high pitched voice that both boys knew to be an exact imitation of Mrs Pettigrew.
They all cackled.
Suddenly a door was opened. It wasn't room 307, but 326, down the corridor. A tall young man came out mildly confused and looked their way.
"I can't believe it!" he said as a smile drew on his sleepy face. He approached the three men sitting across from room 307.
"Frank!" Remus recognised him first and stood up to greet him.
"What are you doing here? Is Neville-" Peter started to ask but Frank answered before he finished the question.
"Last night."
He was tired but ecstatic, just the way James had looked.
"Congratulations!" exclaimed Sirius and hugged him. The other two boys did the same.
"Is Harry here already, then?" Frank asked.
"He's in the process of being born, I believe," Remus replied.
"We arrived at four and then James went into the room and we hadn't heard anything since," Sirius continued.
"Yeah, well, it can take a few hours. I'm sure everything's fine," he smiled reassuringly.
"So, how's Alice doing?" Sirius asked.
"She's great. Exhausted. She's sleeping now. I wanted to get some sugar quills before she wakes up, so I'd better get going."
The three of them nodded.
"I'll check on you later if mum hasn't come yet –you know what she's like. Alice will be thrilled to know Lily's here as well. Which room did you say you were?"
"307," Remus answered.
"Right, we're in 326 if you need anything."
"Thanks," Sirius nodded.
Frank waved at them goodbye and disappear around the corner of the hallway.
31 July 1980, 7:27 AM
The three boys were talking excitedly about recent meetings and missions, and so they didn't noticed the door of room 307 being gently opened.
James Potter leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed against his chest. "I see you three are very entertained out here and I don't have the heart to interrupt." He tried to keep his smile under control but it was all over his face.
Sirius, Remus and Peter stopped talking at once and looked up. They didn't say anything but their eyes were wide with expectation.
"Oh? You're done talking?" he teased them. "In that case I've got someone in here who would love to meet you."
"Where's the little fawn?" Sirius asked as he entered the room. He talked softly so as to not disturb the baby.
Lily was half sitting on a high bed with impeccable white sheets. Her hair was wet with sweat and was up in a ponytail. She looked exhausted, but happier than ever, which was saying quite a lot. "Hey, guys!" she greeted them with a smile that went all the way up to her eyes.
In her arms there was a small blanket and wrapped inside it was the smallest human being any of them had ever seen. His face was turned against Lily's belly, so the only thing that was visible was a mop of black hair.
Sirius approached the bed and hugged Lily, taking care not to squeeze the baby. He kissed her on the cheek and with an arm still around her he looked at his godson. "Well done, Mrs Potter. That is one beautiful baby."
She nodded courteously, "Why, thank you Mr Black. I have to admit I've had some help from my husband, thought." She winked at James and her smile turned even brighter.
Sirius also looked at James. He stood up, walked towards his friend and gave him a bone-crunching hug. "You're one lucky bastard, Prongs," he told him, "and you bloody well deserve it."
James chuckled against Sirius' back, but then his laughter stopped and his grip on Sirius became tighter. When they broke apart he was smiling, but he looked miserable.
"What's wrong?" Sirius inquired.
"Mum and dad," James said. "I keep wishing they were here."
"Yeah, me too," Sirius said as he squeezed James' arm.
"They were so excited," James confided. "They would've been great grandparents."
"The best," Sirius agreed, and pulled James into another hug.
Meanwhile, Remus and Peter had approached Lily and Harry. Peter put the flowers in a vase next to the bed and with the use of his wand filled it with water.
"They're beautiful, Wormy, thank you," Lily said with a warm smile as the shortest man bent over to kiss her head.
"You deserve nothing less," Peter told her.
Remus inched closer to take a look of Harry. "I have to agree with Sirius, he is beautiful."
"Thank you, Remus."
"So, how are you feeling?" Peter asked Lily as he sat down on an armchair on the right side of the bed.
"Happy. Exhausted," she replied, before laughing and adding, "So, so hungry."
"Well, I can help you with that," Remus said as he fished for something in his pocket. He finally took out a small chocolate bar and gave it to Lily.
"Cheers, Remus!" she exclaimed as she proceeded to open it.
"How is it that you always have chocolate in your pockets but it's never melted?" Peter asked, examining the chocolate from his seat.
"Well…" Remus started to say and a grin appeared on his face. "I managed to cast a permanent modified freezing charm on the pocket, so it's always cool."
"He basically has a mini-fridge in his trousers," Sirius elaborated.
"Really?" Peter asked.
"Uh-huh, see?" Remus opened the pocket. Peter stretched his hand and put it inside the pocket.
"Oi, careful with what you do with that hand in there," Sirius warned him from the other side of the room and both Peter and Remus rolled their eyes.
"Wow, I'm gonna need you to teach me that charm," Peter told Remus once his hand was out of the pocket and getting warmer by the second.
"Sure."
"That's impressive," James admitted, pushing the memory of his parents to the back of his mind, if only for a little while.
"Thank you," Remus bowed his head in appreciation.
31 July 1980, 10:34 AM
For the past couple of hours they had been talking non-stop, catching up with each other's lives. Little Harry was still sleeping in her mother's arms. Lily was half-sitting on the bed and leaning on James, who sat next to her pillow and played absentmindedly with her hair. Peter was close to the window, even though he had already finished his cigarette. Sirius was on the arm of the armchair, where Remus was sitting with his head resting on top of his lap.
After James told a particularly funny story that left them with tears of laughter in their eyes, they stopped talking for a few minutes, just enjoying each other's company.
"These moments when we're happy and together make me a little sad," Remus said quietly. It hadn't been his intention to say that out loud. It was what had been going through his mind at that moment and it had slipped. He immediately regretted speaking because he could already feel the mood in the room shifting.
"How come?" James asked confused.
Remus didn't answer immediately. He tried to collect his thoughts so that they would make sense. "They make me think about all those times when were not –happy or together, I mean–," he paused, "and how many those are nowadays in comparison to the good ones."
They all knew what he was talking about, because they felt like that too, but they didn't want to admit it.
"All the more reason to enjoy them," Sirius pointed out while he brushed Remus' hair with his fingers.
"Yeah, leave being sad for the sad moments," Peter added. "Like you said, we've got enough of those."
James didn't say anything, because Remus had nailed what he was feeling but couldn't put into words.
"You're right," Remus finally said, straightening in the chair. "It's just… I hate what the war is doing to us."
The war was wreaking havoc all through the magical community, but they all knew that was not what Remus was talking about. Sometimes it felt awfully personal, like the war was targeting the five of them specifically. They supposed most people must've felt like that and it was an oddly selfish and self-centred thing to feel, but they couldn't help it. They were always away on some mission for the Order, and when they weren't they were probably planning the next one or hiding because of the last. It was actually a wonder that they were all together that day to receive Harry. The five of them could only meet up once a month –twice if they were lucky, which they rarely were. And when their missions did allow for all of them to get together they realised that they couldn't say all that they wanted to say because they were always dancing around secrets, things that they couldn't tell the rest because it would be safer if they didn't know. They found themselves looking at the past more often than at the future, because it seemed like the good days were already behind them. But sometimes the past hurt too. Both of James' parents were killed in a Death Eater's attack. Lily's father and Remus' mother were two amongst the thousands of muggles killed for associating with wizards and witches. Peter's little sister was just a few floors away, in the Spell Damage ward, and nobody could say if she was going to get better. Sirius' brother had disappeared, and even though there was no body to bury, they all knew he was dead; Sirius wouldn't admit it, but the news had shattered him. The five of them had become hardened –they would've lost their minds if they hadn't. They all knew exactly what Remus meant when he talked about what the war was doing to them.
Remus shook his head energetically and improvised a weak smile. "I'm sorry. Don't listen to me. I slept too little and I'm still not over the last moon; that's never a good combination."
They all smiled in sympathy and tried to keep on talking normally, but it was as if a fog had settled in the room, making everything feel hazy.
31 July 1980, 11:06 AM
A small owl came in through the window and perched itself on top of Peter's shoulder. He took the letter from its leg and the owl left, though not before punishing his lack of treats with a bite.
"Bloody bird," Peter muttered as he sucked the blood from the small wound in his hand. He inspected the envelope. "Moony, for you."
Remus stood up and walked over to where Peter was. Sirius took the opportunity to slide down onto the chair, leaving both his legs hanging over the armrest.
Remus took the letter and read it. It was short, so it didn't take him much time.
"Dumbledore?" Sirius guessed after seeing the look of unease on his face.
"Yeah," Remus answered unenthusiastically. "I should probably go."
Peter checked his watch, "Me too. I was supposed to meet Caradoc and the twins like an hour ago."
Harry had been sleeping since the moment they came in and they didn't want to be the ones to wake him up, so they just looked at him one last time, and that was enough to illuminate their faces. They took turns to hug and congratulate James and Lily and then they said goodbye to Sirius –Peter with a hug and Remus with a kiss.
"Will I see you tonight?" Sirius asked.
"I expect so," Remus replied. "I'll let you know otherwise."
Sirius nodded.
Remus and Peter were already leaving when James remembered something and called out.
"Wormtail, will you do me a favour and tell Gid that he owes me those 5 Galleons?"
Peter looked at him confused but just told him "Sure" and then both he and Remus were gone.
Lily turned to her left to look at her husband, "What's with the 5 Galleons?"
James chuckled, "Gideon said he hoped Harry had red hair because it would be a step closer for the redheads to dominate the magical community –don't ask. I told him my hair is too stubborn not to be hereditary. We placed a bet and now I am 5 Galleons richer."
Lily couldn't help but grin, "Well, anyone who bets against the stubbornness of James Potter's hair is a fool."
The three of them chuckled, but James realised that Sirius' laughter had died far too quickly and that his face had adopted a grim expression that James knew meant something wasn't right.
"What's wrong?" he asked concerned. Lily turned to Sirius to see what James was talking about.
"Dumbledore wants Remus to infiltrate a werewolf pack."
"What?!" Lily's voice was almost a shriek. "That's insane!"
"What did Remus say?" James asked alarmed.
"'No', of course!" Sirius replied, and James and Lily relaxed a little. "But the old man keeps trying to convince him and I'm afraid he might succeed."
"It's suicide if he agrees! You've seen how they live there." James was getting frantic. They had seen a werewolf pack once during a mission together. They were everything society expected them to be and worse. They were brutal.
"You think he doesn't know that? They'll eat him alive. Literally." Sirius took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "He doesn't want to do it, and he knows all the reasons why he shouldn't, but you know how he's with Dumbledore. He says 'jump', he asks 'how high?'. He's trying to convince himself that if he's asking it's because it needs to be done."
"It's not fair on Remus. Dumbledore let him go to school and now it's like he owns his soul." Lily was outraged, and she was right. Dumbledore had allowed him to go to Hogwarts even though he was a werewolf and since then Remus always felt the need to pay that favour back.
"Tell me about it," Sirius remarked bitterly. He didn't like Dumbledore much. Sirius despised secrets, and the old man had way too many. "Lily, will you please try to talk some sense into him?" he asked. "Maybe he'll listen to you."
Lily didn't think Remus would listen to her if he didn't listen to Sirius, but she had to try. "Sure, I'll see what I can do."
31 July 1980, 12:19 PM
Sirius stayed with James, Lily and little Harry for a little while longer. There seemed to be a tacit agreement that they would not talk about missions or the war or anything bad. None of them needed to hear about such things. Instead, they turned to reminiscing about their years at Hogwarts.
"Merlin's pants, I've forgotten about that!" Sirius managed to say despite laughing uncontrollably. He wiped away the tears gathering in his eyes. "How could I ever forget that?!"
James had just told Lily about one time in sixth year when the four boys had been relaxing near the lake. Since there was no one near, Sirius had turned into a dog and was merrily running around. Suddenly, he noticed a cat near the greenhouses. His dog instincts hijacked his brain and he started to chase the cat. The three other boys realised what was happening and hurried after Sirius to stop him. Peter was the first one to realise that the cat was McGonagall. Lucky for them, they hadn't called Sirius by his name, and as soon as McGonagall transformed back to her human form, Remus made some story about the dog following them from Hogsmeade and she never learned Sirius was an Animagus.
Lily was howling with laughter while trying not to wake up Harry. "I'm sure McGonagall hasn't forgotten."
"I'm sure she hasn't. You should've seen her face, love," James agreed.
The three of them were still talking when a severe looking nurse dressed in soft yellow robes entered the room. She instructed Lily to drink a small vial of purplish potion and then asked if she could take Harry away so that she could sleep.
"Oh, can I stay with him for a few more minutes?" Lily pleaded.
"Fine," the woman said, although she clearly didn't think it was the best thing to do, "but you will need to sleep eventually, Mrs Potter."
The nurse threw a disapproving look towards Sirius, who smiled sheepishly at her.
Lily felt a little like a chastised child and her only reply was a polite "Yes, ma'am."
When the nurse had left, Sirius stood up from the armchair and remarked, "I think she was subtly telling me to leave."
"You don't have to," Lily told him.
"Nah, I know. But maybe it wouldn't be so bad for you two to get some sleep while you still can," he joked.
As if to prove him right, Lily and James both yawned.
"Okay, maybe it's not a terrible idea," James agreed.
"Just let me know if anything happens, and send an owl as soon as you're out of Mungo's so I can drop by at your home, yeah?"
Both of them nodded. Sirius went around the bed and grabbed James in a tight hug. Then he leaned over to kiss Lily's cheek and take a last look at Harry before leaving. His smile was broad and bright, but there was a quiet sadness underneath.
"Every time something good happens I feel like it might be the last good thing that will ever happen to us, you know?" Sirius confessed without taking his eyes away from Harry. Finally, he looked up at James and then at Lily. "What if this is it? What if Harry's our last good thing?"
James' hand came to rest on his shoulder, "He won't be."
Lily looked at Sirius and gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile.
"I'm sure you're right," he said, even though he didn't sound convinced.
Sirius brushed Harry's hair before kissing him softly on the top of his head and getting out of room 307.
A/N: This wasn't written as a sequel to my other piece "Bad News". However, I think they work very nicely together, so if you liked "Our Last Good Thing" you should definitely check it out. And of course, reviews are always appreciated :)