James and Lily had never managed to avoid arguments. Since that fateful first encounter on the Hogwarts Express, until their wedding day, they had always been engaged in a dispute. Of course, the subject often changed, and their best friends speculated that arguing was now just a hobby of theirs (a sexual fetish if you asked Sirius Black). Where they once teased each other mercilessly, leading to slamming doors and four-hour flights around the Quidditch pitch, these disputes usually related to leaving the milk out, and were resolved as quickly as possible, with the trustworthy kiss-and-make-up technique.
Today's argument was a little different though, and it appeared to be backwards. Lily was now nearly 7 months pregnant, felt like a watermelon (looked like one two, Peter and Sirius would snigger behind her back) and had brought up the issue of Godparents. Naturally, her best and only female friend, Marlene McKinnon would be Godmother, which James wholeheartedly consented with.
"Excellent, so I'll owl Marlene, you owl Sirius and we'll let them know" Lily exclaimed, a brilliant smile on her face.
"All right, but who's going to let Remus know that he got Godfather"
"No one, moron, because Sirius is Godfather."
And thus the row began.
Everyone, from the newborn babies in Australia, to the nomadic monks in the Himalayas', knew that Sirius Black was James Potter's best friend. James Potter, knowing and loving (no matter how begrudgingly he admitted it) Sirius Black, knew quite plainly that he was the least responsible person in the world. Which his stubborn wife refused to understand.
"Evans, listen to me", he smirked as her eyes tightened, honing in on the use of her maiden-name, "you don't have to subject our baby to Sirius' brand of torture, just to please me. He's ruined enough Potter's."
"Potter", she snarled typically, settling into their usual routine, "this has nothing to do with pleasing you, you egotistical berk. I couldn't give a whit about your needs. Sirius is the best choice. He's Godfather, and that's final."
But the fact that he had woken up with her head in his crotch, suggested that she did in fact care about his needs, quite a lot. Besides, she would never willingly pick Sirius over Remus, she loved Remus! They were always claiming to have 'torrid affairs' while the others were at Order meetings. Remus was sensible; he had tutored first years, ironed everyone's clothes and always went to bed before midnight. (Of course, James purposely omitted the fact that Remus turned into a werewolf once a month, and was so exhausted that he needed every hour of sleep). James promptly pointed out the pros of Remus to Lily, smug over his impeding victory.
She protested, as always, "Sirius is responsible too!"
James broke into guffaws of laughter, collapsing on the ground in mirth.
"Oh yes, Sirius is plenty responsible. Remember the time in sixth year when he flooded the common room, sailed out on his mattress as though it was a ship and proclaimed himself as Sirius Black, captain of the seven seas?"
"I always wanted to be a pirate"
"You're a stubborn wench; they'd make you walk the plank for sure. Besides my potions essay was lost to his stupidity, I had to redo it. You seriously think this child could be a godfather to our precious, fragile baby" James sulked. The prospect of extra homework always resonated with Lily, who despite being quite studious, refused point-blank to redo any work. She had to sympathise and hear his reasoning now. James so loved winning.
"You donned an eye-patch, 'first mate Potter', and threw Remus' socks overboard. Besides, you didn't even do sixth year potions, you bloody liar. I don't think that you are mature enough to raise my baby, but I'm stuck with you aren't I?" She challenged.
An idea formed in his head, he would be triumphant yet.
"You wouldn't be stuck with me if Sirius had his way in third year. He tried to convince me I would have a better time with Eloïse Glimmer." James prayed that she wouldn't know who Glimmer was.
"Well I can see his point", Lily countered, determined to get her way.
"Are you saying you don't want to be with me, wife?"
"Oh Merlin no, James. But Glimmer, well she is pretty fit... for a one-hundred and four-year old."
Lily was well acquainted with the Marauders memory of the 104 year old country singer. On many occasions, Peter, Sirius and even James' beloved Remus would recount the vital life lesson that they learned in third year. James Potter could not handle his Muggle alcohol, despite the bravado he fronted. It seems, sneaking into Mr and Mrs Potter's New Years Eve soiree, while totally inebriated was not the best of ideas, particularly for thirteen year olds. While Peter had devoured an entire tray of vol-au-vents, and Remus had burst into an uncontrollable fit of giggles, James had taken one good look at the greying woman crooning out lyrics and declared himself 'madly in love with her'. This was merely moments before he had vomited at her feet, and found himself banned from Quidditch for the rest of the holidays.
To avoid his embarrassment, James proclaimed he was taking a shower and began to strut to the bathroom. In a bout of ridiculousness, he tossed his shirt aside, giving Lily an indecent view of his chest, winked, and slammed the door behind him. He had never claimed to be a gracious loser.
Of course, Lily knew that everything James said was true. Sirius Black was the life of the party, and favoured an evening of debauchery, to a quiet game of scrabble. But James didn't see Sirius' other side, they were manly blokes! Self-proclaimed manly blokes never acted sensitive together, because that was just wrong. Yet Lily knew Sirius, she had seen him broken and dejected, had seen him worried, and admired him for it.
Her stubborn husband seemed to forget that Sirius would shovel vegetables on to all the Marauder's plates at dinner, or that he always carried tissues in his pockets, like a parent would. Hell, her first properly civil encounter with Sirius proved he wasn't always a moron.
James had been sent to the hospital wing, on account of a stray bludger that walloped him in the back of his head. Sixteen year old Lily, who barely spoke to Potter out of class, had rushed from Arithmancy when she heard what had happened. On the edge of tears, she had asked Sirius, who sat by James' left-side, if he would be alright.
"Of course he will, Prongs is always alright."
"You know, you kind of look like a pansy sitting at his sickbed." She stated without thinking. Sirius had laughed and sent a jibe her way.
"I'm being serious, you look like his concerned boyfriend. Or a mother."
He poked her in the ribs. "Go away Evans"
"I bet you've sung him nursery rhymes, and held his hand" She giggled.
"Fuck off, Evans. Why are you here anyway?" He raised an eyebrow.
"I-I, well... I um.,, that is" Lily muttered, the blush rising on her cheeks.
"Oh you so love him" Sirius smirked as she tried to run away.
Of course, that wasn't solely why Lily needed Sirius to be Godfather. While she loved Remus, he could barely care for himself, unable to get a job due to his lycanthropy. And Peter, well Peter was a darling, but the boys cooking skills went as far as toast, and she didn't want her child to starve. No, the true reason she needed Sirius to be Godfather was because of a conversation they had, at midnight, on the roof of Gryffindor tower.
The roof had always been their place, hers and Sirius', where he would always offer her comfort and counsel. They sat there when James announced he was dating Millie Leonard, when Petunia uninvited her to the wedding, and when her mother died. There was only one time that they ever talked about Sirius, and it was one of the most significant moments of her life.
His friends hadn't seen him for days, and had no means of finding him ("the bloody tosser has the map"), but Lily knew where he would be. She crept out of bed, grabbed the cigarettes on her desk and went up to meet him. Sirius had already lit up a smoke, and offered her a drag, but she shook her head. As always, he called her a ninny, but his heart wasn't in it.
"It's probably for the best, you know"
"What is?"
"I can't have kids", he said minutes later.
"I wasn't aware that you were that eager, but of course you can. Find a bird, find a closet and away you go."
"No Evans, it's not about my lack of desirability, we both know I'm a heart-throb. I'm defective, I can't ever have kids."
She hadn't known what to say, so she just hugged him, and waited for him to go on.
"Yeah, well it's not like I'm exactly father material anyway. I don't even know if I want kids, it's just... Sometimes I look at James, and I get jealous. He's got the whole deal, y'know, a loving family, he's Head Boy, an obsessed bird dating him..."
"Oi, a very fit obsessed bird dating him" She grinned.
"- and one day you'll live in a house, surrounded by perfect children, and I'll just be that weird stranger that drunkenly owls at 2am because I've been arrested."
"Sirius Black, don't you dare think like that, ever. Firstly, no matter how much trouble you cause, I can guarantee that while I'm alive you will never get arrested. Even if I have to bust you out of the aurors hands, and hide you in my attic, you will not go to prison. Secondly, you will never be a stranger. That's just bloody mental. You'll always have a room in my house, with your ridiculous flying motorbike parked in the garage. You may not have children of your own, but you're going to corrupt mine anyway. You'll teach them to pick locks, and to transform into stags and dogs, and you'll tell them utterly inappropriate stories about your imaginary conquests, but they, and we, will love you so much."
About half an hour later, James came out of the shower, ready to end the fighting (and so ready to begin 'making up'). He told Lily that they could figure it out in the morning, but now they both needed their rest. She groaned, at her husband's one track mind, but she'd been thinking it too. Then he'd kissed her neck, and she had stopped thinking all together.
Hours later, when they were both thoroughly satisfied, Lily brought up the subject again.
"James you and I won't be enough for our child. I can feel it. I'm terrified we're not going to make it through this war, so scared that I can't even trust our friends and family. Our baby will need someone strong, who will love him unequivocally, someone who has our spirit."
He thought for a very moment, about not knowing his baby, about losing Lily, about dying. He thought of all these uncertainties, and noted that there was only one thing that did not need doubt, "Sirius will be Godfather."