Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to the brilliant J.K. Rowling, not me.

Author's Note: This is my second attempt at writing. I am a huge Lily/James fan but I have an inkling that Harry gets his stubborn need to protect the ones he loves from him father. This is my attempt at showing both that stubborn/protective-ness and the close bond that I believe Lily and Sirius shared.

Lily-bean and her Padfoot

"UGH!" Lily huffed! "Who does he think he is?"

Only a few hours ago, Lily had been the happiest woman in the world. She had the most amazing boyfriend a girl could ask for, friends who had slowly become her family over the years, and a passion for her healing job at St. Mungo's. A girl couldn't ask for anything more. However, James Potter had taken it upon himself to ruin one of those perfect aspects of her life.

That man had a stubborn-ness in him to rival her own but that was what she loved most about him. He never backed down to her unless he truly believed it was for the best. She always knew that he was genuine in his feelings towards her and that made her feel more comfortable in love than she ever could have imagined. But this time he'd crossed a line.

The war was raging on against Voldemort and his Death Eaters, and James, ever the protector, had taken it upon himself to "protect" Lily in any way he could think of. The Marauder's and Lily had all been members of the Order of the Phoenix from the moment they left Hogwarts a year ago. And since that time, the five of them had made quite a name for themselves among the Death Eaters. So much so, that James had become one of the Dark Lord's number one targets.

It was because of this that James had ended it with Lily only a short time ago. He told her he felt that it was for the best and he was only doing to "protect her." He had said that he feared Voldemort would use her to try and get to him and he could not stand to put her in danger any longer. He loved her but could no longer see her in the hopes of keeping her alive. As the shock of his words wore off, Lily had gone to the only place that she knew no one would be able to find her: The park she used to go play at before she started at Hogwarts.

Or, at least, that was the plan.

"Lily-bean?"

Of all the people to find her, she should have known Sirius would be one clever enough to figure it out.

"How did you find me?" She had only mentioned this place once to Sirius and she had thought it had been in passing. She never expected him to be able to recall that conversation when she chose this place from her past to run to. After her parents died in her sixth year at Hogwarts, she had tried not to mention this town or any memories associated with it in hopes to keep the pain of losing her family at bay.

"You think I don't know you inside and out? That I don't listen when you talk? Especially when it's something that I know causes you a pain you try to avoid at all costs. I knew you would pick the one place that James would never even begin to imagine you would go to, when he climbs off his high horse, that is."

Sirius had always had a special relationship with Lily. When she had started warming up to James in their seventh year, Sirius could see it before even she or James noticed the change in her attitude and had been there to talk to her whenever the idea of giving into her feelings had seemed too terrifying to comprehend. They had found in those discussions that they were more similar than either one had ever anticipated and, as a result, had become like siblings. He was her protective older brother and she was the younger sister that he adored more than anything.

"Who's to say I'll be forgiving when he realizes what a mistake he's made?" she countered.

"Lily, are we really going to regress back to the beginning of 7th year? You love James and he loves you. You're going to get married and have lots of babies and grow old together. Why would you want to leave that behind just because James is a stubborn arse? A quality that I happen to know you love most about him."

Sometimes it absolutely shocked her how well he knew her. She knew it had to be difficult for him sometimes, being both of their best friends. It could not be easy feeling an obligation to comfort both sides of an argument. Although sometimes it was easier for him to choose than she might imagine. James was absolutely idiotic in Sirius' mind to say good-bye to Lily because he thought it would protect her from Voldemort and his stooges but James wouldn't hear it. In his mind, he was doing exactly what needed to be done.

"You think this is what I want? I had every intention of marrying that stubborn arse and making lots of babies with him. But he's changed his mind. He clearly only enjoyed the 7 year chase and now he's bored with me. So let him go off and be the hero! I DON'T NEED HIM!"

And she burst into tears. Just saying the words that she knew were the biggest lie she ever told pushed her over the edge.

Sirius quickly ran to her side and held her in his arms. He knew this would be a difficult task, getting the two people he loved most in the world back together again. But it was also something that he knew only he could accomplish.

"I will tell you one thing," she stated between sobs. "No son of mine will ever be that stupid! No son of mine will ever think that leaving the woman he loves will protect her from evil!"

"Of course he won't, Lily. Because you will always make sure that your children know the power of love over evil. And James does too; he's just so scared of losing you that he thinks this is easier. He will come around! He loves you too much to be without you for long."

"Oh really, well then why hasn't he asked me to marry him yet? Huh? We've been together for almost 2 years now and he's never even mentioned marriage. I think about it constantly, but he's never once even hinted at it."

"You think he doesn't think about it? That he hasn't planned out his entire life with you? Lily, he has names picked out for the 3 children that he wants to have with you! He wants them all to have your fiery red hair and green eyes! He wants it so badly that it scares him to think that this war might prevent that from happening. I know him better than he knows himself and I can tell you that this whole thing is him truly thinking this is what's best for you. He won't talk to me or Moony and Wormtail. He's shut himself away from the world because he can't face a world without you in it."

"Well that's his own fault, isn't it? He had me and I wasn't going anywhere! I was in it for the long haul and he just bailed. I –"

"I didn't bail!" The voice that spoke took Lily completely by surprise. James had appeared out of nowhere and she wondered exactly how much he had heard. "I did what I truly thought was best for the both of us. This war scares the hell out of me, Lily! The thought of losing you because a Death Eater thought it would cause me to surrender scares the living daylights out of me because it would work and they know it and I know it!"

"James, that doesn't matter because I can take care of myself! You think it doesn't scare me that you seem to be the number one target for the Death Eaters? I am a part of the Order just like you! I can on Death Eaters just as well as you! I'm not some helpless woman who needs a man to protect her!"

"I know that but I can't help but want to keep you safe! If anything were to happen to you I wouldn't be able to go on! I need you Lily! More than words can describe! I was going to propose to you but then all these missions kept popping up and things kept getting in the way and I chickened out because of how dangerous things seem to be getting! It just seemed easier to run and hide from something so amazing than to stick around and take the chance that the war would ruin it in one fell swoop. But it only took me about 3 seconds after you ran from me to realize that it is more than worth the risk! I want to marry you! I want to have kids with you, even if it means bringing them into a dangerous war, because love is the one thing that will win out in the end. It will be Voldemort's downfall. I just know it! Please forgive me, Lily! I can't live without you!"

"James, you know I love you too! But you can't just run and hide every time you get scared! I need you to be able to commit to me and promise me that you aren't going to run again!"

All James needed to hear was her saying she loved him. As soon as those words were out of her mouth, he was closing the distance between them and as soon as he did he attached his lips to hers and put all the passion he could muster into it. She tried to push away but he held her tight and eventually she gave into the passion and returned it with everything she had in her. In that moment she knew that he really had learned that love would conquer all and that everything would be ok. It was in that moment that she knew that Sirius had put this whole scene into action.

When they broke the kiss, she turned and gave him a knowing look. "You knew he was listening the whole time, didn't you?"

"Of course! I wasn't subtle in my leaving to come find you. I knew if he figured out what I was doing, he would follow me! I knew if he heard how much you were hurting and that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with him that he would fold like a house of cards in the wind. He had no clue that I was manipulating him but it worked and that is all that truly matters! Now you two crazy kids go and have a make-up romp in the sack!" And with that he was gone.

Both of them would be eternally grateful for his plotting. Because of their Padfoot, they were able to work out their differences and the rest was history.

Please review! I would love to hear what you all think!