Part Seven:
Lily answered the door to his insistent pounding. She took one look at him and her hand flew to her mouth. "Merlin, what happened?"
"I just punched Fabian Prewett." Sirius growled. "Where's James?"
"You what?" Lily gawked at him. "What did he do?"
"I'm done with the Order!" Sirius fumed. "I refuse to be part of an organization that….that…" He was vaguely aware that he was still shaking with anger. "Where's James?"
"He, he's sleeping," Lily said, still shocked.
Sirius pushed past her. "PRONGS!"
There was a pounding on the stairs and James appeared wearing nothing more than a pair of sleep pants and his glasses. He pointed his wand at the door. "Are we under attack?"
"I don't think so," Lily said softly from where she still stood in the doorway. She glanced out into the street, then shut the door. Leaning against it, she looked up at her husband. "Sirius just attacked an Order member."
James blinked, lowering his wand. "What? Why?"
"He said…" Sirius continued to shake in anger, "He accused you of being a Death Eater."
James looked at him a minute, then threw back his head and laughed. After a minute, he had to grab the railing to steady himself, before finally falling onto the stair behind him, holding his stomach, and gasping for breath.
"It's not funny, Prongs!" Sirius exclaimed.
"Yes," James forced out between gasps. "Yes, it is." He put his head on the stairs and continued to laugh. After several moments, he wiped the tears from his eyes and straightened up. "How did anyone come up with that one? This theory has to be better than the one with Lily and Snivellus. Wait, let me guess. I went off the deep end and decided that I was going to worship Voldemort and offer up my Muggle-born wife as a human sacrifice. Or maybe I'm the one who is secretly in love with Snivellus. Oh! Or I'm not really me at all, but my evil twin, who killed off the real me and took my place."
"I didn't wait to hear the theory," Sirius told him angrily. He batted away Lily's hand as she tried to grab his face.
"Sirius, hold still." Lily successfully managed to keep him still and forced his head to tilt up towards the light. "You split your lip."
"Fabian looks worse," he told her proudly.
Lily sighed. "James?"
"Go get some ice. I'll talk to him." James pulled himself to his feet. "Padfoot, I know you're furious, and I'm really very touched that you stood up for me, but it was only a matter of time until someone threw my name into the ring. I mean, I heard the one about you, and the one about Lily, and there's one going around about Moony because he's so quiet and secretive. I can kind of see how that one started because he is hiding something, it's just not what everyone thinks. Reality is, everyone's got something about them that makes them a Death Eater candidate. Sooner or later someone was going to suspect me." He gestured towards the shabby furniture in the living room.
"There's absolutely no logical reasoning that supports the idea of James Potter the Death Eater." Sirius pouted, falling onto the sofa.
"Sure there is." James perched on the edge of a chair. "I'm a pure blood. I spent most of my Hogwarts career bullying kids who were weaker than me. Sound like anyone you know?"
"James, you weren't a bully," Sirius told him. James had always been his most loyal friend. It was James who opened his home to him when he had no place to go, James who risked his own neck to fix his greatest mistake, James who sat beside him in silent support as he worked through every painful moment of his life.
"Yes I was," James replied solemnly. "It's not something I'm proud of, and if I could go back and do things differently I would, but it is what it is. Although I've grown up, it doesn't take a lot of imagination to link the Hogwarts James Potter with people like the Malfoys and the Lestranges."
The kitchen door swung open and Lily appeared with a towel. "Here. Hold that on your lip. It'll help with the swelling." She passed him the makeshift ice pack and took a seat on the arm of James's chair. As Sirius obediently placed the towel on his lip, Lily turned to her husband. "Everything calm now?"
"Yeah. Sirius is going to apologize to Fabian in the morning," James replied.
"Like hell I am," Sirius growled.
Before James had a chance to respond, the front door opened, admitting a jubilant Remus and Catherine, both singing off key. "'I have my books, and my poetry to protect me…'" On the sight of the group clustered in the living room, they fell silent, and Remus shot them a questioning look.
Peter shuffled inside behind them, shutting the door. "Moony, mate, you're the worst singer I've ever heard…" he trailed off. "Are we interrupting something?"
"Are you bleeding?" Catherine asked, concerned.
"Cat, I'm fine. I just got into a fight with a stupid git," Sirius pointed at James, "Who I am not apologizing to."
James looked past him to Remus and Peter. "Apparently Fabian Prewett thinks I'm the spy." He explained. "Padfoot felt it necessary to defend my honor."
"You got into a fight with Fabian?" Peter looked at him like he was crazy. "In what world did that seem like a good idea? We're supposed to be on the same side."
"I don't know whose side Fabian is on," Sirius growled. "I'm on James's."
"Please tell me you aren't thinking of starting a rumor that Fabian Prewett is a Death Eater," Remus groaned.
Sirius glanced over at him. He hadn't thought of that one. That would serve Fabian right. Let him see what it was like to have everyone think you were conspiring with Voldemort. It was perfect justice. "Moony, I love you."
"Sorry, mate, I just want to be friends. It's not you. It's me." Remus replied.
"Although that does explain why he's dating a female Moony," Peter joked, jerking a thumb in Catherine's direction as he walked past them and joined the group in the living room. "Trust me. I just spent the whole evening with them. When you're trying to ignore how painful poetry readings are, you notice these things."
"I could have told you that, mate," James said.
Sirius ignored them. "I am not apologizing," he repeated. "Give me one good reason that I should. And 'because it's for the good of the Order' isn't a good reason."
James pushed his glasses up his nose, an earnest look on his face. "Please, Padfoot. I'm not asking you to understand, but it's really important to me. Please."
He thought about telling James that no amount of pleading would make him apologize, but they both knew that he'd do whatever James asked. He couldn't say 'no' to his best friend. Stupid friendship. Sirius crossed his arms across his chest. "Fine. I don't have to like it, though."
"Thank you." James stood. "And now if you'll all excuse me, it's cold and I want to go find a shirt."
"And then come back downstairs. I have to tell you what happened to Moony on the way to the reading. It's hilarious," Peter called after him. He stood and began making his way towards the kitchen.
"Oh, goody!" Lily beamed, climbing to her feet and following Peter. "I love your Remus stories. You know, I've missed this Peter. You seem happier than you have in a while. The poetry reading must not have been that bad."
"Nah, it wasn't the poetry reading. I just decided to take my life back," Peter remarked. The kitchen door swung shut behind them, cutting off Lily's response. A moment later, her laughter carried into the living room.
"If you'll excuse me for just a minute," Remus moved towards the kitchen, "I need to go protect my reputation."
"Good luck with that," Catherine called after him. She hesitated, then took a seat on the couch. "Sirius?"
"Yeah?" He didn't look up from where he was glaring at the coffee table.
"About earlier? I'm sorry." She held out a bag. "Truce?"
Earlier? He had no idea what she was talking about. He frowned, taking the bag she offered and pulling free a 78 Chateau Margaux. He looked over at her. "You hate French wines."
"You don't." She sighed. "I couldn't quite figure out how to say 'Sorry for yelling at you. I was just really scared and I didn't mean it and I'm glad you could trust me enough with your secret.' Remus suggested a peace offering. He helped pick it out. He said that was a particularly good year for that winery and that you'd like it."
Sirius studied the label, feeling a stupid smile tugging at his mouth. She'd gotten him a make-up present. It was cute, in that adorable girl way.
"All this wizard stuff is a little overwhelming," Catherine continued when he didn't speak, "But it's a part of you. I just wanted you to know that, well, that I love you, and that I'm okay with who you really are."
He didn't know how to respond to that. Had someone asked him what he honestly thought would happen to them this afternoon, he would have predicted she would end things by the weekend. There'd been a part of him that was just waiting for the other shoe to drop all day. He certainly hadn't anticipated this. Feeling far too much like a thirteen year old whose first crush just agreed to hold his hand between classes, he settled on, "Thanks." Sirius set the wine on the coffee table before holding out his hand to her. Feeling her fingers slide into his, he tugged her towards him and kissed her.
"Does that mean we're good?" She asked softly.
"We're good." He kissed her again, wrapping his arms around her and pushing her back on the couch.
From the direction of the stairs, someone cleared their throat. When neither of them acknowledged the newcomer, James's voice remarked, "Get a room."
Sirius didn't bother to look over at his friend. "Go away, Prongs."
~
