I do not own Harry Potter.
A/N: This is for Season V of the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition, round #10
Team & Position: Caerphilly Catapults, Beater 1.
Base Prompt: Each position has been assigned the top hit from a different decade. Interpret these however you wish. Beater 1: 1960's: Theme From 'A Summer Place' — Percy Faith
Optional Prompts:
9. (emotion) fear
11. (dialogue) "This couldn't have happened at a worse time."
"James! Open the door!" Sirius shouted as he pounded on the front door of a small cottage located in Godric's Hollow. "Come on, James, Lily! I can see lights on in there, and I know you're home!" Sirius banged on the door a couple more times for good measure before sitting on the doorstep with a huff.
Five minutes later, Sirius heard someone moving behind the door and stood up to face it once again. As he raised a hand to knock on it, it flew open, revealing James standing there looking angry, his wand trained on Sirius.
"What're you doing here, Sirius?" James asked coldly. "If that's who you even are."
"C'mon, James, tonight was our planned night out. I've been looking forward to this for weeks. So grab your coat—I see you already have your wand—and let's go out as we planned." Sirius started walking into the cottage, but a sharp jab from James' wand forced Sirius to take a step back.
"You're right that Sirius and I had plans, but prove that it's you." The cold tone in James' voice caused Sirius to raise an eyebrow.
"And how do you want me to do that?" Sirius asked.
"Tell me something that only you and I would know."
"My nickname is Padfoot, and I'm a member of the Marauders," Sirius replied instantly.
James looked torn on whether he should accept this as proof or not. Sirius, seeing James' indecision, took a look around to see if anyone was watching the confrontation. With an empty street behind him, he quickly shifted into his Animagus form and back again. "There, happy?" Sirius asked, a bit peeved at his friend.
The relief on James' face was evident. He quickly reached out and grabbed Sirius into a hug before dragging him inside the cottage. "You have no idea how good it is to see you, Sirius. The war hasn't been going well, and we lost the Prewett Twins to someone under Polyjuice. We're just lucky that they were able to get the word out that the Death Eaters were employing new tactics."
Sirius blanched. If he could no longer trust his friends…. No, they could and would get through this. "So, what's the plan, then?" Sirius asked through his daze.
"When someone shows up, we have to challenge their identity. Moody said we shouldn't use codewords in case someone overhears or is interrogated under Veritaserum. Instead, the pair should verify using information that only the two would know, and the same questions should never be reused," James said in explanation. The pair moved into the Living Room, sitting down before James continued, "It's actually a good thing you stopped by, the plan is to institute this at the next Order meeting. Now you know and can be prepared."
Sirius could only nod in response. The two sat in silence for a few minutes.
"So," Sirius said. He paused for a moment trying to find something to say. "Where's Lily, then?"
"Upstairs taking a nap."
"Have either of you gotten out at all?"
"You know how things are right now. With Lily pregnant and the rise in activity of You-Know-Who's minions… it just isn't safe out there."
Sirius gave himself a mental shake. "The two of you have been cooped up here for how long?"
"A few months. Why?"
"Well, I think you and Lily could use a vacation."
"I'm not taking my pregnant wife out there for fun, Sirius," James objected.
Sirius chuckled to himself. "I'm not thinking about you going out there for a vacation. I'm thinking about bringing the vacation to you!"
"And how do you propose to do that?"
"I assume that you haven't gotten any worse at Transfiguration in the last few months?" James gave Sirius a look telling him to get on with it. With a wave of Sirius' wand, one of the lounge chairs in the room turned into a beach chair. "I think that the two of us could turn your Living Room into a remote, tropical paradise, like the one your parents took us to years ago."
James stared at Sirius like he had gone crazy—well, crazier. Not hearing any dissent, Sirius transfigured another of the chairs into a beach chair. "I'll start on making a place for water and waves," Sirius said. "You turn the carpet or couch into some sand."
Seeing Sirius move over to the fireplace and building a small area to hold water, James took a steadying breath. "Lily is going to kill me," he muttered before doing as Sirius suggested.
Lily woke from her nap. Even in the haze from just waking up, something seemed off, but she couldn't quite tell what. Everything in the room seemed to be in the correct place. There were muffled sounds of conversation coming from downstairs. There was also the faint sound of water breaking on the beach, a sound that caused Lily to frown. She couldn't think of any reason why she should hear that inside her home.
Getting to her feet, an act she hated to admit was far more difficult than she liked, she made her way to the bedroom door. Upon opening it, the sounds of the waves grew louder and the conversation less muffled. She could make out the voices of her husband, James, and his best friend, Sirius. A small smile grew on her face as she remembered that the two had planned to go out tonight. It would seem that James, as protective as ever, didn't want to leave her home alone and instead talked Sirius into a night in. The waves were still confusing, though.
Reaching the top of the stairs, a bright light shining from the Living Room caused her to squint. A few moments later and her eyes had adjusted. The sound of waves crashing now made much more sense. Down below, in a pool around the fireplace was a mass of water. It looked like it had been charmed to have waves that hit the side of their enclosure. Surrounding that pool was a bunch of sand, upon which sat three beach chairs. James and Sirius were both leaning back in theirs, facing the water with their backs to her. Above it all was a luminous globe, giving off enough light to make it seem like the Living Room was sunlit.
As the two hadn't noticed her, she started making her way down the stairs quietly, listening to the pair reminisce about some of their exploits back at Hogwarts. She was waiting for the perfect moment to interrupt the story and announce her presence.
"You ran down the stairs after him in just your underclothes! How could you possibly think that was a good idea?" Sirius joked.
"Well, I wasn't exactly thinking, was I? And if I recall correctly, you followed me down while dressed the same!"
"But, I made it look good," Sirius said with a hand wave. "So, there we were, fighting down in the common room when I tackled you to the ground."
"Oh, no. I don't think so," James said, interrupting Sirius with a laugh. "I know for a fact that I was the one who tackled you. I know this because I was the one sitting on top of you when Lily came into the common room."
"Oh, yeah. You looked up and saw her there, went as white as a ghost, and said—"
"This couldn't have happened at a worse time," Lily said.
The two froze upon hearing Lily's voice. In a synchronized movement, they both turned their heads to look at her.
"Ah, hello, Lily," Sirius said as the first one to regain his equilibrium. "Would you care to join us for a day at the beach? We made a seat for you and everything."
"Which of you two's bright idea was this?" A look of pride shone on Sirius' face. Seeing it, Lily muttered, "I should have known."
James defended himself saying, "Sirius, don't take all the credit. I'm the one that transfigured the sand from the couch and carpet."
Lily turned a withering eye on James. "Do you have any idea how hard it will be to clean this up, let alone the cost of replacing the furniture if it doesn't get put back together correctly?" James was cowering under her glare before she gave a half-hearted sigh. "Still, what's done is done." She lowered herself gently onto the last beach chair before leaning back. "Sirius, could you be a dear and get me something to drink?"
Taking the opportunity to get away from Lily while she was angry, Sirius appeared to disapparate out of the Living Room. James stared at Sirius' seat with a look of betrayal before standing up and walking behind Lily's chair. He reached down and began massaging her shoulders and neck. "I'm sorry, Lily. I didn't really think this all the way through," he said in apology.
"Honestly, James, I'm not that mad. The two of you did a great job, and a little bit of relaxation is just what we needed."
A short time later, Sirius walked back into the Living Room holding two drinks with a third floating behind him. "Your pumpkin juice, milady," Sirius said with a mock bow. She smiled at him as he moved back to his seat, setting the two other drinks on the ground between his and James' chairs.
Taking a sip, Lily relaxed further into James' ministrations. "Don't let me stop your story time."
The two men shared a look before Sirius continued, "I believe we were at Lily entering the common room to see James sitting on me while both of us were in our underclothes. James had just stated that this was the worst time possible for this to happen. This was, of course, proven when McGonagall entered the common room."
With that, the tales of Hogwarts antics continued with the three friends sitting on a private beach, enjoying each other's company for a precious few hours of relief from the war.