Disclaimer I do not own Harry Potter and everything recognisable belongs to J K Rowling.

Casey's Request - In the very beginning you had Lily wondering which Quidditch team Harry would have supported: Bulgaria, like Damien and Sirius or Ireland like James. I think it could be a really cute, sweet oneshot of us finding out.

This one is dedicated to you Casey! I hope you like it!

(This takes place after Darkness Within and before A Part of Me.)

Which Team?

The sound of cauldrons bubbling frantically, filled the otherwise silent chamber. Every once in a while, the tinkle of a scalpel or knife being put down on the marble worktops would ring in the air. Lily let out a contented sigh, she loved this; it was partly why she loved being a Potions mistress. Working in a lab, brewing potions would always give her the peace and quiet she sometimes yearned. The sound of the potions bubbling away and the different aromas mixed in the air would always leave her feeling strangely blissful.

Today, however, she felt that inner happiness elevated to new levels. She glanced sideways, taking care not to look away from her cauldron for too long, and silently relished the sight of the dark haired boy standing there, concentrating on his own cauldron.

Lily smiled, not being able to help it and looked back at her cauldron, adding in the last of the boomslang skin and mixing it. She had been very surprised when Harry had joined her in their home lab this morning, asking her if she wanted any help with brewing potions. As there was only a fortnight left before the start of term, Lily was going through her usual routine of brewing up large batches of potions, both for classes and her own private collection. She always made sure her staff quarters were fully stocked.

Lily had been quick to say yes, wanting any excuse to spend time with her son. Since then, Harry had worked alongside her in relative silence, only talking when prompted by Lily. It had taken her a while but Lily finally began to accept that this was what Harry was like. He wasn't talkative, like Damien. He didn't chat non stop about anything and everything. He answered when questioned and sometimes carried the conversation but only if it was about a topic he liked. Sadly, Lily realised she didn't have many topics to discuss with her eldest son, none that would hold his interest for very long.

She glanced again at him, studying the way he was working, the sleeves of his blue shirt rolled up, cutting the ginger root as finely as she had ever seen anyone cut before. She watched as Harry's skilled fingers worked on the ginger root, the knife in his hand sliced through the root, cutting the pieces with practised precision.

Lily's eyes were still on Harry's hands when they suddenly stopped.

"You can stop staring. I won't mess it up."

Lily looked up and met Harry's eyes. Lily blinked back at him, startled at being caught staring.

"I wasn't looking to check if you were doing it right." she explained with a shake of her head.

A smile flitted over Harry's face.

"So what's with all the staring?" he asked.

"You knew that I was looking at you?" Lily asked, with surprise. She didn't think she was that obvious. She had been stealing glances at him but he didn't show any signs of noticing.

"Of course." Harry replied, resuming his job of cutting up the ginger root. "I can always tell when there are eyes on me."

Lily smiled bashfully, reaching over to add in more ingredients to her Polyjuice Potion.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." she said. "It's just, I couldn't help but watch you. You work with such a natural ease." she praised.

A smile came to Harry's face again and he chuckled quietly before dropping the sliced ginger root into the bubbling cauldron.

"Maybe that's because I can make this potion in my sleep." he supplied.

"It's not just this potion." Lily said. "I remember watching you when you were in my class. You showed such an aptitude for potions, I almost died with pride." she smiled.

Harry didn't say anything but his expression changed at the mention of his time at Hogwarts. Lily noticed, mentally berating herself. Harry hated any reminder of his forced attendance at Hogwarts. She knew it was because Harry still suffered regret for his treatment of her and James back then. No matter how many times she and James had tried talking to Harry, tried telling him that they harboured no ill feelings against him or blamed him at all for what he said and did to them, Harry continued to feel guilty.

Lily focused back on her potion, following the awkward silence that met her words. She extinguished the fire under her cauldron, allowing the potion to cool before she could fill the numerous vials with it.

She walked over to the cupboard, pulling it open to take out empty vials. She walked back to her workstation, glancing quickly at Harry, as he added the last ingredient, Scarab Beetle, to his 'Wit-Sharpening' Potion.

"We're almost done." she said, hoping to keep the conversation going.

Harry nodded, looking only at the cauldron, mixing the potion counter clockwise.

"Thanks for helping, Harry. It would have taken me forever to get both done." Lily said, sincerely.

Harry looked over at her and nodded again.

" A job shared." he said with a small smile.

"Is a job halved." Lily finished with a smile of her own.

Harry extinguished the flame under his cauldron as well and stepped back.

"Do you actually use this at Hogwarts?" he asked, gesturing to the potion he had just brewed.

"It's for demonstration purposes mostly." Lily explained. "But sometimes Poppy can prescribe it for a student if they have taken ill before exams and need a helping hand to catch up."

Harry smirked, raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe the Headmaster ought to take a vial every now and again." he suggested. "It might help the clueless bast-"

"Harry!" Lily admonished, disapprovingly.

Harry quietened for a moment before gathering up the supplies to tidy up.

"It wouldn't hurt the staff either." he added mischievously.

Lily turned to him with a raised eyebrow and a hand on her hip.

"Except you, of course, mum." Harry corrected, with a nod at her.

Lily turned back to set out the vials, preparing to start filling them. Before she could touch the first vial, the doors to the lab smashed open and two wizards hurried inside.

"Harry! There you are!"

Lily and Harry both looked up at Damien's voice and saw Sirius and Damien hurry towards them.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked, his green eyes narrowed at his brother.

The thirteen year old came to rest before Harry, Sirius by his side.

"You have to settle this for us," Damien started. "If you cast Rictusempra on someone who isn't ticklish, would the spell have any effect?"

Harry stared at Damien in surprise and then looked around at Sirius.

"You're kidding me, right?" Harry said.

"See, I think it would still work but Uncle Siri keeps arguing that the spell would be useless, cause the target doesn't get ticklish, so it wouldn't work." Damien explained. "We figured you should get the deciding vote, so what do you think?"

"Yeah, Harry. Tell him how wrong he is." Sirius added, gesturing at Damien.

Harry shook his head.

"Do you two have nothing else to do than to argue over something as silly and irrelevant as this?" he asked.

"Just tell us what you think!" Damien said.

"Yes, the spell would still work since it doesn't matter if you are ticklish or not." Harry answered with a sigh. "The spell would still be highly unpleasant on someone who is not ticklish as on someone who is. But really, who in their right mind would cast Rictusempra anyway. It's not a battle curse."

"Oh, we know that," Sirius said, "we got into an argument and Damien threatened me with Rictusempra and I told him I wasn't ticklish so his attack would be a waste of time." He looked at Damien and then back at Harry. "I guess I was wrong." he admitted quietly.

Without warning, he leapt to the side, rolled across the floor and ducked behind the worktop.

"You can't get me! Ha Ha!" he yelled at Damien.

Damien stayed where he was, sharing a look with Harry.

"Yeah, moment's past, uncle Siri." he said dryly. "I don't want to attack you anymore."

Sirius peeked from behind the workstation before standing up, fixing his robes.

"I thought so." he muttered, walking back to join the two boys.

Harry looked from Damien to Lily, who was filling up her vials and trying hard not to laugh. Really, laughter only encouraged Sirius. Harry shook his head picking up his own set of vials, preparing to fill and cork his potion.

"I got another question for you, Harry." Sirius said, pulling up a stool beside Harry and taking a seat. "You know the Tarantallegra curse?"

"Yeah." Harry answered slowly.

"Well, I was thinking the other day, do you reckon a wizard cast Tarantallegra on a muggle and that's how the jig was invented?"

Harry didn't say anything and for a brief moment just stared at Sirius. He turned and began filling up his vials, without answering.

"I know what you're thinking," Sirius started.

"Believe me, you don't." Harry said, making Damien giggle with laughter.

"No, but if you just think about it, how on earth could anyone dance like that without magic being involved?"

"Good God!" Harry muttered.

"It is something to consider." Sirius said, nodding at his own powers of deduction.

Lily was trying, really hard, not to laugh at both Sirius' words and Harry's expression but it was too difficult to keep a straight face.

Before Sirius could ask any more questions, the doors to the lab opened again and another two wizards came running inside.

"Lily!" James gasped, Remus by his side.

"What's wrong with you?" Lily asked, still smiling.

"We have a...situation, upstairs." James said, flustered.

Lily eyed him suspiciously, her smile fading fast.

"What sort of a situation?"

James and Remus shared a look, both men fidgeting.

"Well, see it all started out with the best of intentions." James started explaining. "I figured since you were busy and it was coming up for lunch time and Padfoot and Moony are here," he threw Sirius a particularly nasty look, "I thought I would make some lunch, you know, for you and the boys and Mr Hungry Starvingston over there!" he gestured to Sirius who only grinned in acknowledgement.

"Okay," Lily prompted, "and?"

James blushed and dropped his gaze.

"And somehow, I don't know how exactly, but I flooded the kitchen."

"What?" Lily yelled.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what happened!" James replied. "I can't get the water to stop!"

"What on earth were you trying to do?" Lily asked, stepping away from her workstation, walking around it to reach James.

"Wash the vegetables." James replied innocently.

"Yeah, while they were still in the basket, on the other side of the kitchen." Remus chuckled.

James turned to him incredulously.

"Damn it, Moony! I told you to keep that part out!"

Lily shook her head at them.

"I swear, men never grow up!" she grumbled.

"That's what makes us precious." Sirius added from across the lab.

Lily turned and snapped her fingers at him.

"You, out of my lab before you break something!"

Sirius just grinned at her, tilting the stool back so it was balancing on it's two back legs only.

"Aw, see, that is exactly how you would speak to a child." he remarked.

"Um, Lily?" James called for her attention. "The kitchen is still...um...leaking."

"Flooding is probably a better word." Remus put in helpfully.

Lily let out an annoyed sigh.

"Do me a favour, never try to cook for me again." Lily said, turning to pull out her wand. She met Harry's amused stare.

"Could you bottle these for me?" she asked him, gesturing to the Polyjuice Potion and the empty vials.

"Sure." Harry replied.

Relieved that Lily was heading upstairs to fix his mess, James smiled at last.

"Thanks Lily! What would I do without you?" he asked, giving her a pacifying kiss on the cheek.

Lily just glared at him.

"Fall over, a lot!" she answered.

Sirius chuckled, even Harry and Damien were laughing, stealing glances at their parents. Lily took out her wand, making her way over to the door. James turned from her and looked over at Sirius, sitting comfortably next to Harry.

"So, what were you lot doing?" he asked, partly to distract them from him being reprimanded by his wife.

"Trying to figure out if Irish jig dancers are really under the Tarantallegra curse." Harry answered, while filling up his vials.

Remus snorted.

"That sounds like something Sirius would say."

Harry gave him a pointed look, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh," Remus said in understanding. He turned to look at Sirius. "What is wrong with you?" he asked.

"What?" Sirius asked, looking around at everyone with a confused expression. "It's a perfectly legitimate question and one that begs an answer."

Harry just shook his head again, trying to concentrate on his job.

Remus turned to face James.

"I blame you!" he said.

"Me? What have I done?" James asked with surprise.

"If you didn't insist on supporting the National Team of Ireland, Padfoot wouldn't find the need to insult the Irish." Remus explained.

James pulled a face at him, shaking his head.

"He's not my fault." he defended.

"Yeah, and I don't insult the Irish!" Sirius said. "I would never do that! I'm part Irish!" he announced.

Remus frowned at him.

"No you're not, Sirius."

"No, I'm not." Sirius confessed. "But I wish I was."

"So you could jig?" Damien asked with a smirk.

"Yep!" Sirius laughed.

Lily had reached the door by the point the conversation turned to James supporting Ireland. She paused next to the door, her hand still on the door knob. She turned to look back at the group of boys and men. She watched Harry as he continued filling the vials, but his eyes would dart from the vial to either Damien or Sirius, smiling and chuckling along with them.

She suddenly remembered a day last year, back when she still believed she had lost her first born, back to the time she used to wonder about what life would have been like if her Harry was still alive and living with them. She remembered all too clearly reading the late night letter from James, reminding her to tell Damien he had World Cup tickets for Bulgaria and Ireland. She had wondered which team Harry would have supported, Bulgaria like his brother and Godfather or Ireland like his father?

At that point in her life, Lily never imagined she would actually get to find out the answer. She hurried away from the door, walking a few steps towards Harry.

"I have a question for you too, Harry." she said, bringing not only Harry's but everyone's attention to her. Unable to stop smiling, Lily asked, "Out of Bulgaria and Ireland, which team do you support?"

Harry was surprised at the question and the rest were shocked that Lily asked a Quidditch related question. James and Sirius looked from Lily to Harry in astonishment. But the surprise wore off just as quick when they realised what the question was.

"Yeah, good question, Lily." Sirius said, winking at her. "Who do you support?" he asked Harry.

"Yeah, Harry." James prompted. "Which one?"

Harry turned from Sirius and looked back at his mum.

"What made you ask?" he questioned, obviously trying to figure out why she would care.

Lily shrugged, still smiling.

"I'm just curious." she answered. "There's always such arguments in this house when it comes to these two teams. James supports Ireland while Damien supports Bulgaria." She looked intently at Harry. "Who do you support?"

Harry didn't answer right away. He looked from James to Damien.

"I support Bulgaria too!" Sirius pointed out. "Bloody amazing team they are!"

Harry looked to Remus.

"I don't support either!" Remus laughed. "I'm an England fan through and through!"

"Forget about him!" James said, playfully waving a hand in front of Remus. "Who do you support between Ireland and Bulgaria?" he asked Harry.

Harry looked back at Lily.

"I..." he looked back at James and Damien. "I would have to say...Ireland."

James punched the air with his fist.

"Yes! Yes!" he breathed out dramatically. "Good choice, Harry!" he laughed with joy.

"Wait, wait," Damien waved his hands. "He obviously didn't understand the question." he turned to his brother again. "Harry, B-U-L-G-A-R-I-A! You know, the amazing team with Krum? Dimitrov? Ivanova? Zograf?"

Harry just smirked at him.

"I know who they are, Damy."

"Doubt it!" Sirius exclaimed. "If you knew them, you would choose them!"

"Oh, come off it!" James said, "You don't care about the team, be honest! You and Damy only support Bulgaria because their team mascot are a bunch of Veelas!"

Sirius pretended to look affronted.

"That is...! okay, a little true, but not completely!" he argued.

James, Damien and Sirius started one of their arguments, playfully bashing each others team. Harry filled the last of his vials and moved over to his mum's cauldron, to empty it as well. That was when he noticed Lily making her way over to the door. He caught a glance of her face and immediately saw the tears in her eyes.

"Mum?" Harry called out to her, making her stop.

Lily brushed her hand over her moist eyes and turned to look at Harry, but failed to hide the glistening tears completely. Harry hurried over to her.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Lily shook her head, trying valiantly to stop the tears.

"I'm fine, it's...it's nothing, really." she said. When Harry didn't look convinced, she elaborated. "These are happy tears." she smiled.

Harry looked confused.

"Cause I picked Ireland?" he asked uncertainly.

Lily laughed, shaking her head.

"No, because you're here to make a choice at all." she said in a quiet voice.

Harry didn't say anything but his expression changed, showing he understood maybe a fraction of what Lily was feeling. Lily reached out, touching Harry's cheek, cupping his face lovingly in her hand.

She moved away just as quickly, wiping her eyes dry, and hurried out the door. Harry watched her go for a moment before moving back to the cauldron, filling up the vials with Polyjuice Potion, just as his mum had asked him to.

The rest hadn't noticed Lily and Harry talking and were still hurling verbal abuse at each others teams.

"All right! Enough!" Remus cut in, stopping them. "No more! Let's just go upstairs and help Lily clear up the mess."

James, Sirius and Damien moved to the door, still bickering amongst themselves. Remus trailed behind them but instead of following them out the door, he lingered next to Harry, waiting for the rest to leave. Once the other three disappeared from view, Remus turned to Harry.

"Now that everyone is gone, tell me, why Ireland?"

Harry glanced up, midway of filling up the vials.

"What do you mean?"

Remus smiled, picking up an empty vial and filling it up, helping Harry.

"For someone who isn't that into Quidditch, you made a very quick decision between two teams." he said. "If I had to guess, I would say you've never even seen Bulgaria or Ireland play. If anything, I thought you would answer you don't support either team." His blue eyes studied the smirking boy. "So, why Ireland?"

Harry looked up at him, shrugging.

"I figured Bulgaria already had two supporters. I chose Ireland because dad needs someone to back him up." he smiled at Remus. "Besides, if I told them I haven't seen any Quidditch matches, let alone National games with teams like Ireland and Bulgaria, they would have made me watch every game ever played and I would have ended up killing myself."

Remus laughed. That sounded about right. He knew James would use the pensieve and make Harry watch all the games he missed out on. Sirius and Damien would do the same.

He looked up at Harry, as the boy began clearing away the workstation, having emptied the cauldron. He found it endearing how Harry, in his own way, was trying to show affection for his dad by choosing the same team as him.

He couldn't wait to tell James.

xxx