written for the lilyjames_fest community on Live Journal

I don't own Harry Potter

Lily had known what she was getting into when she'd agreed to go on that first date with James Potter. Or, at least, she thought she had known. She had recognized that what James did, Sirius, Remus, and Peter did as well. But, somehow, she had failed to recognize that the line that wasn't to be crossed was, as Sirius had put it, negotiable.

She hadn't been surprised – not really, anyway – when the other three Marauders had mysteriously managed to get a table right next to Lily and James' table in the Three Broomsticks on their first date. James had ruffled his hair and smiled nervously, apologising to Lily for his friends' stalker-esque behaviour before getting up, storming over to the trio, and returning with a old bit of parchment clutched firmly in his hand. He'd smiled a secret sort of smile that Lily hadn't quite understood as he tucked it into his robes and sat back down.

But, if Lily thought that Peter, Sirius, and Remus would let off as she and James became more serious in their relationship, she was wrong. If anything, their insistence to be around the couple grew at the year progressed and continued after they'd graduated and left Hogwarts. Lily feared it was because they didn't approve, that they were taking every measure they could to prevent her from spending quality time with James, lest she break his heart. But, James assured her, they just wanted her to know that they accepted her, that they counted her as one of them.

Slowly, Lily began to accept this, though she wasn't sure what particular event – if any –proved James' claim.

Perhaps it was Sirius' reaction to her and James' engagement. ("Prongs finally did it!" he'd exclaimed, picking her up and twirling her around. "Now you're really going to be in the family.")

It might have been Remus' quiet assurances that she hadn't broken and tamed James, that he really was happier with her than he'd ever been pranking.

Or maybe it'd been when Peter had smiled broadly and rested his hand on her abdomen, saying "A baby Marauder? What could be better? We're so glad it was, you, Lily."

It could have been all the times she'd scolded them for their messes or drunken adventures or all the times rolled her eyes at their exuberant Quidditch talk. It could have been how they took turns staying with her, quietly –or sometimes loudly – comforting her while she was pregnant and unable to join James on his missions for the Order. It could've been their presence at St Mungo's during Harry's birth or how they spoiled him rotten from the moment they first laid eyes on the baby.

But, Lily realised, as she sat in James arms, holding Harry against her chest and looking at the three men in their living room, in marrying James, she had gained so much more than just a set of rowdy men. She'd gained a family.