Disclaimer: I own nothing of Harry Potter but my love for the books.
"God, Sirius, quit it!" cried Lily when she came to the balcony and saw him with a cigarette in his hand. "You know that is going to kill you, how many times do I have to tell you?"
"Evans, I swear it, if you weren't fucking my best friend I'd be the one killing you," replied Sirius, smirking in the same way he did whenever she told him off.
"She's not just fucking me Padfoot! She's my girlfriend for Merlin's sake!" shouted James from inside the apartment they shared.
"Yeah, I know Prongs. But that doesn't mean I can't hear you screaming in…" Lily smacked him before he could finish the sentence. "Come on Evans, lose it."
Lily glared at him but said nothing. She already knew Sirius was as stubborn as her own boyfriend.
"Besides," Remus said, leaning on the glass window that led to the balcony, "it's not like we are going to live to see it kill him, right?"
Sirius eyed Remus and lightly smiled at him, offering him his pack of cigarettes. Remus took one and lighted it with his wand.
Remus regretted his words as he saw tears forming in Lily's eyes. "Oh Merlin, I didn't –no, what I meant…"
"Shit Moony, you are supposed to be the sensible one!" howled James.
"Leave it, Remus, I know what you are saying and I know that you might be right. But I try not to think about it, you know? It's depressing as hell and it's not as if it will take us somewhere," Lily told them, tears now wetting her face but nonetheless glaring at Remus and the cigarette he was holding.
"Oh come on, guys! You made her cry!" James was already wrapping his arms around her girlfriend.
"Sorry, Lils." Sirius whispered. "I know you worry about me, but trust me, I'm perfectly fine and I'm not planning on getting killed –or in any case letting any of us get killed any time soon," Sirius said lighting yet another cigarette. He was not fine at all. None of them were, but they put a brave face for themselves and for everyone around them. They had to. Their side could not afford being weak when Voldemort's side was getting stronger by the minute.
Lily let go of James and hugged Sirius and whispered in his ear, "Please Sirius, we need you. James needs you."
"I know Evans, I'm not letting you get rid of me so easily," he replied softly to her ear. James watched the exchange with a smile on his face. Had he seen this very same scene a few years ago, when Lily still didn't even spare him a glance, he would have killed his best friend with his bare hands. But so much had happened in the last years –befriending Lily, actually going out with her and later being able to call her his girlfriend, graduating Hogwarts, joining the Order and the Aurors and fighting this terrible, terrible war that was going on, that the sight of his girlfriend and his best friend hugging was actually reassuring. Dumbledore had told them, the day they left school, that the only way to fight this war was staying close to their friends and believing in themselves, and James was positively sure that the Headmaster was right.
James decided it was time to go back inside so that Lily could calm down. "Come on love, I'll make some tea." He told Lily, taking her hand and guiding her to the kitchen.
Remus and Sirius were left alone in the balcony, in a comfortable silence that Sirius eventually broke. "You meant what you say, right Moony? About not living to see it kill us."
"Yeah, dunno. I mean, with everything that's going on, I can't bring myself to care about anything else. I know it's a bad habit and I know that I'll have to quit it once this is all over, but really, can you blame me for not caring?" Remus answered softly. Sirius looked at him with a sympathetic smile.
"I know what you mean. I don't know how or when this is going to end. We might as well enjoy something while we still can, right?"