A/N: Yeah, I know I shouldn't be starting on new projects. That's old news. But I'm going to pretend I don't know, okay? Because I've gotten this idea into my head and I can't seem to get it out, so... yeah...

Sirius has spoiled his children rotten and they're out of control. Still, he's happy with the life he's got and doesn't see how it could get better.

Remus Lupin has given up on Mr Right for Mr Right Now and can't seem to hold onto a job either.

Peter Pettigrew can barely support his daughter, and he feels he has no control over his life anymore.

James Potter is starting to suspect that his wife is hiding something from him. He's very right.

Severus Snape has it all figured out, thank you very much, and wouldn't dream of expecting more than what he's got.

Lucius Malfoy has his trophy wife, his well-paid job and his four kids. The only thing he doesn't have is his assistant…

Dan Snape has a little brother, but he doesn't know yet. And his boss is giving him… trouble.

When old friends and enemies meet after years apart, secrets will come out, old feelings will be revived, and lives will be changed for ever.

Chapter One

"Dream by night
Wish by day
Love begins this way.
Loving starts
When open hearts
Touch, and stay.
Sleep for now
Dreaming how
Lover's lives are planned.
Future songs
And flying dreams,
Hand in hand."

- Flying Dreams, Paul Williams

The sky was pissing down on Heathrow that night, and flights were being delayed because of a storm spanning the whole Western coast. Passengers for the states – families on holiday, young people on their first real adventure, angry businessmen – were checking their watches, complaining among each other, talking in cell phones and drinking expensive water out of plastic bottles.

A plane from Sweden landed on the wet asphalt. Tonight, ribbons of gold and silver danced over the black, glossy surface, created by the lights lining the runway. The rain made it impossible to see out through the airplane windows. The passengers getting off looked a bit subdued, probably from a combination of the late hour and the dull weather. Still their faces showed a range of emotion which spanned everything from apathy to annoyance to excitement. A pale youth dressed in a leather jacket was yawning widely, but his eyes were alert and taking in the environment with apparent curiosity. A man who was obviously his father was walking behind him, radiating aggressive indifference.

"Severus! Over here!" A tall, handsome man dressed in an Armani suit waved lazily at him, smiling a well-flossed, sparkling smile. Everything about him, from how he wore his blonde hair long and in a ponytail, to the carelessly unbuttoned collar of his shirt, told of someone respectable and very wealthy who nonetheless wanted to come off as trendy and a bit grunge, and preferably a bit younger too.

"Lucius," Severus said as a greeting, and even though he sounded rather formal there was warmth in his voice. He extended his hand to shake that of his friend, but Lucius would have none of it. He grabbed Severus by the wrist and pulled the shorter man into a hug, which Severus returned after a moment's paralysation, if still somewhat stiffly.

"Welcome back to England, old friend. And Danny! I haven't seen you since you were small enough to stuff into a backpack." He took the youth's hand and shook it, smiling once more a smile that made you look for the little trademark symbol that must be attached. The young man looked a bit sceptical, but nodded politely and said:

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr Malfoy. Father has told me a lot about you."

This was a lie, and for a short moment Lucius' smile grew shrewd. Dan was amazed to suddenly realise that this man wasn't nearly half as dumb as he made sure of. "Indeed?" the older man said, eyes flashing in amusement. "I am honoured to hear that, Severus."

"Oh, you know me," Severus replied gravely. "I've always been a man of many words."

Dan, who knew when he was being made fun of, rolled his eyes. "Can we get going? I don't want to stand here all night."

His father nodded his agreement and they went to collect their luggage. Later, on their way to Lucius' car, the tall man fixed his grey eyes on his friend, and this time his smile showed a bit of concern. "So… any woman in your life these days, Severus?"

Severus shot him a surprised look, and then his jaw set in annoyed grimace. "No," he said with finality. He had no woman and he needed no woman. Women lied; women cheated; women left you with a kid to take care of and got together with asshole cops with biceps for brains.

Lucius saw how tense his friend's back had suddenly become, and he also saw the warning look Dan was sending him. This was obviously still sensitive territory, and so he decided to back off. For now, at least.

"How're your kids?" Severus asked after a short pause, closing the subject of women with a bang.

"Oh, they're doing great," Lucius said, beaming with fatherly pride. "Arty is always busy, of course, running off with girls and working in bars and god knows what. I think he thinks he's rebelling. He's that age." Lucius grinned in Dan's direction; Artemis was just one year younger that Severus' son. Dan only arched his eyebrows slightly in return, opting for what he hoped was an icy silence.

"Anyway… Draco is doing really well at school, and he's talking about studying law." Lucius smiled at his friend, who returned the smile a bit wryly. Severus was a lawyer himself, and had a feeling that Lucius had mentioned him quite a lot to his children. "Gwen wants to study economics, to my great pleasure and my wife's great dismay. And Mellie is doing photo shoots already and wants nothing more than becoming a model." Lucius grimaced slightly. "That was Narcissa's idea, actually. I still think she's a bit too young. But the girl is pretty, and if this really is what she wants then I'm not going to stand in her way."

"And how's Narcissa?"

"Oh, you know her. Always running off to charity balls and spas and Paris and whatnot, using up all of my money and cheating blatantly." Lucius laughed, but even if his tone of voice was light and playful, his eyes were dead serious. Severus' eyes asked a silent question; he didn't want to say anything about it with his son present. Lucius shrugged and grimaced slightly, his whole body signalling 'later' at his friend. Apparently it wasn't something he wanted to explain with his friend's nineteen year old son listening either. Severus nodded that he'd understood. Yes, they'd certainly have to talk later. He didn't show it outwards, but Severus was deeply shocked. Lucius was the kind of person that expected perfection in everything, and that included his family. Severus didn't know what surprised him the most; that Narcissa was cheating or that Lucius hadn't gotten a divorce yet.

Lucius drove them to their new home in silence, and Severus was too tired to make any attempt at conversation. Dan had put on a couple of enormous headphones was listening to what he – probably for lack of better word – referred to as music. London was unusually empty for a Friday night, and it was apparent that summer was gone for good.

This was two years ago.

"Samantha Carrie Annabelle Pettigrew! Get the fuck down here!"

There was a groan from upstairs, and a teenage girl appeared in the doorway to her room. There was quite a lot of girl to go around; if she gained some pounds she would probably be classified as overweight, but as it was now she could probably be called buxom. She had blonde hair and blue eyes and was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt with the words 'Bite me' emblazoned over her large bosom.

Her father was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, looking absolutely furious, but in reality Peter was just very tired. There was going to be an argument. Again. With one over-worked adult, one teenage girl and almost no money in the house, arguments thrived like weeds in moist soil.

"I just got the phone bill! Forty-five pounds, Samantha! Where the hell do you suppose I should get that money from?" The words shot out of his mouth the moment she reached the ground floor.

Sam's face set in defiance. "There's nothing that says that it's only me! Why is it always my fault?"

Peter sighed impatiently. "Because I don't call anyone since I broke up with Toby."

"You do! I saw you call someone only yesterday!"

"Yes! My bloody work! The only one I ever phone is my boss, and if you look at the phone bill you can see that his number only has been registered three times! Whereas Michael's number has been registered twenty three times!"

Sam looked like she was about to argue back, but then her mutinous face softened into regret. "I'm sorry, dad. I just… forget about the time when I'm talking to him."

Peter sighed. "I'm sorry too, Sammy. I shouldn't be yelling at you. It's just…"

"I know, dad." She hugged him, and suddenly everything felt a lot better. He'd get the money, somehow. He could work some more overtime. "I'll try to be better," Samantha whispered, now sounding close to tears.

"I believe you," he said, even if she'd promised the same thing before. She was sixteen. She made mistakes. It wasn't her fault they didn't have any money. "Come on, sweetie, we don't have the complexion to cry prettily. Here." He wiped her eyes with a handkerchief. She smiled despite herself.

"Bloody faggot."

"Oh, shut it, you." He smiled back at her. "Come on now, dinner is ready."

She rolled her eyes. "The wonders of microwave cooking."

"Very funny."

"Are you really going to wear that the first day in your new school?" Sirius was looking anxiously at his daughter's skirt. There seemed to be a large part of it missing. Sarah shrugged indifferently and continued to apply mascara to her already long, black lashes.

"Yes."

"Isn't it a bit short?"

"Oh, come on dad. Everyone wears them."

"Okay. Fine then." Not that Sirius had seen any other girls with skirts quite as short as his youngest daughter's, but he supposed she knew better than him.

His oldest daughter stalked past, dressed in black pants and a black shirt. Her hair had been cut almost along her scalp. "You know, you don't look like a girl at all in that getup," Sirius said a bit plaintively.

"I know. That's the point." Jane slammed the door to her room after her. Sirius looked a bit confused.

"Is she angry?" he asked Olive, who was sitting by the door and reading a book, already fully clothed and waiting for his siblings.

"Not with you. But she's nervous because it's her first day, so she's angry with herself. She's like that." Olive sighed and looked up from his book. "I'm nervous too. What if they all hate me?"

"Why on earth should they?" Sirius asked, surprised.

"Because I'm wimp," Olive declared with a rather resigned smile.

"You're not!"

"Bet you I am." He shrugged. "It's okay. I'm used to it." Then he went back to reading.

Sirius stared at him, helpless. It was true that Olive was quite short and slim, and that he devoted most of his attention to reading. It just hadn't quite struck him before that kids could be spiteful and mean to him because of it. Looking at his son now, he was worried. Olive's curly auburn hair – from his mother – large eyes and rather feminine features weren't going to help him either. Damn. But it was at least better than with his twin. He might be worried that Olive was going to be teased, but he was certain David was going to be. He knew what cruel and intolerant little bastards kids were, because he had been the worst kind himself. They were going to butcher him. But David refused to listen. He didn't care, he said. Sirius was sure he would, later on. But by then it would be too late.

Sometimes he wished that he'd kept his artsy-fartsy, liberal friends to himself and not let them talk so much to his kids.

Remo walked past, and Sirius almost groaned. "Remo? Is that makeup you're wearing?"

His eldest son turned around and smiled, looking predatory and pleased with himself. "Yes, dad. Don't worry. I can take care. I'll take care of David too. There is nothing to worry about, really." His voice was smooth and reassuring, and Sirius caught himself believing what he said. Remo smiled and then turned to Sarah. "Are you done?"

Sarah applied the last of her lipstick and nodded. "All done."

"Good. Jane! Daisy! We need to go now."

Out came Jane again, looking less grim now, which was as close to happy as she usually came. David – or Daisy – came down the stairs, shining with happiness. The skirts swirled around his legs and the auburn curls bounced around his face, held back only barely by a green silk ribbon. He did look very pretty, but that wouldn't help him if the boys at school found out he was a boy as well. Of course, David said that when he was older, he was going to go through… surgery. And it worried Sirius a little bit, but as long as his son – or daughter – was happy…

In his heart of hearts, Sirius knew that he had spoiled his children rotten. But he also knew that when it came to the things that really mattered, things like the question of David, he was glad that he had decided to let them do as they pleased. Even though they were almost always at odds with the rest of the world, they were always strong together and within themselves, and he was sure that they would be able to cope.

Of course, since Sirius was a parent, he didn't know half of it. And his children reasoned that what he didn't know couldn't hurt him.

Remus closed the door after him, leaning against it and sighing. It was five in the morning. The apartment looked especially ugly in the mornings; the grey light was cruel toward the bare walls and cheap furniture. Sinking into an armchair and he grabbed some chips from a bowl. They disintegrated at his touch. Yuk. He was right on the verge between drunkenness and hangover and knew he ought to eat something if he didn't want to feel like shit very soon, but he didn't have the energy.

He had gone out to celebrate his new job. After having completely burnt himself out as a primary school teacher, he'd been working with directory enquiries just to be able to pay the bills. Now he'd managed to snatch a job as school psychologist at a secondary school by talking really fast and looking earnest and concerned.

The celebrating had resulted in a mild case of intoxication, which in turn resulted in sex of the average kind in a stranger's sofa. Remus had contemplated sleeping there, but decided that he would rather shoot himself than have to deal with the awkwardness of having breakfast with a total stranger whose only relationship to you was that you'd just exchanged body fluids. And so he had taken a cab home at half past four in the morning, and now he was nodding off in his living room, only to be awoken every thirty seconds by the cold morning light stabbing him in the eye.

Eventually he got up and crashed into bed. Thank god he wasn't going to start working tomorrow. He needed this job. If he hated it, fine, he'd just have to shut up and swallow. At least if you had a good job, it didn't seem to others like you were the complete lowlife you really knew you were.

It was that day again. One day, every year, Lily turned irritable and waspish, and eventually some small thing would make her go off like firework in a bonfire, then reduce her to tears for hours on end and eventually result in that she spent the rest of the day in bed with a horrible headache. There was no way of reasoning with her, no way of giving solace, and if James as much as kissed her she would chew his head off and have his balls for dinner. It had nothing to do with her menstrual cycle, and when he'd asked her about it on other days she just looked away and pretended not to have heard.

Also, sometimes she got mails marked 'Dan' from an unknown address, and when James had asked her about them she'd told him to mind his own business, and then she'd gotten a password for her laptop. And sometimes someone called, requesting to talk to Lily, refusing to tell James who he was. It was always from a cell phone, and presumably always the same cell, for the number was always private.

Was she cheating? But that didn't explain what happened to her every year on the 27th of August. And except for these rare occurrences, everything was… fine between them, as far as James could tell. They talked to each other, they had sex regularly, they solved most of their conflicts by dialogue and compromises, they went on romantic trips together from time to time... It didn't seem reasonable, if Lily was cheating, that nothing should be affected by it. No, James thought, it had to be something else. But what?

Yesterday, Lily had inserted a hundred pounds on Severus' account for her son's birthday. It seemed so clinical, so mechanical, to do it that way, but if she tried to send it by mail to Sweden it always got snagged by some underpaid post office worker. So she transferred the money and sent a mail postcard and loathed herself.

She had given birth to Dan – named Dandelion; she'd been a hippie and hadn't known better – when she was nineteen, during her and Severus' turbulent relationship. Then she'd met James Potter one day at town, and by some reason they had started talking. Last time she had seen him, he had been a teenage boy with far too much attitude who never wasted an opportunity to bully her boyfriend. Now it appeared he had grown up, and it had pleased her so much to see that change in him that she'd suggested they'd meet again. She didn't know, in the beginning, why she didn't tell him that she was still together with Severus, or about their child, but when their friendship turned into something more there was suddenly no way she could. Not without losing James. But of course she had to, eventually; she would have no other choice. She thought. But things wouldn't turn out quite like that.

She decided that it was best to tell Severus first, and so she did. As expected, all hell broke lose. He was crushed, and she was horrified and helpless, and he left with her son one night. He left a letter saying that he had filed for custody, and since she was the cheater and didn't stand a chance, she didn't even try. So she visited Severus every week, something that would, without fail, result in a heartrending row between them and herself fleeing in tears. And still she didn't know how to tell James about it; to lose him now on top of everything was more than she thought she could handle. Looking back at herself, years later, she saw an insecure and selfish young woman, and she wished she could go back in time give herself a good slap. That was back when she didn't talk to Tuney, resenting her for being the favourite daughter, and so the only one who could ever have listened and understood, and probably could've shaken some sense into her silly little head, wasn't there. And Lily knew she was to blame for that too.

Half a year later, Severus had declared that he had found a job in Sweden and was leaving. He was taking his son with him. Lily would curse herself every day of her life for years to come because she didn't say no, because she didn't refuse. As it was, she was so worn out from lying to James that she had actually agreed, thinking it would get easier now. As if her child leaving her would make anything better.

She became the absent mother who sent birthday and Christmas cards, money and occasional gifts. She became something she loathed, and her only consolation was Harry and James. But sooner or later, the secret would be out and James would leave her as well. And Harry would hate her – he must hate her – as badly as she hated herself.

Every year on the 27th of august, she was reminded of the life she had lost, and the life she would soon lose, and she was terrified.

A/N: I didn't realise that this was going to be so thoroughly depressing, but damn, it was. Oh, well. Things will get better, and there will be a fluffy and sugar-sweet happy ending, I promise. I'm trying to write some kind of cross between a TV drama and a romantic comedy, I think.

Also, incidentally, if some of the characters are similar to some characters that you've read about in other fics (and in some cases have the same names), both by me and another author, it's because they were invented by me and a friend of mine in... uh, let's say a shared mental space. It's all a bit complicated and... personal. Just try to accept it.