Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter!

warnings: slight adult themes.

Chapter 7

Insufferable

'Pa'foo! Jay! Wake up! Wake up!' Harry's voice came from somewhere not far from my face, waking me up with a startle. I opened my eyes groggily and, slightly confused, slowly focused on the little black-haired boy. He had apparently opened the door by himself and was eyeing me mischievously with those green eyes of his.

That was strange. He'd never woken me up before, he usually did that to Sirius not to me... Pa'foo! Jay! Wake up! His words rang strangely in my head. Padfoot and Jay.

It was then that I realised it wasn't my bedroom and, with a sudden jolt of happiness, I felt someone else's body laying beside mine. Sirius. Oh dear.

Flickers of memories from the previous night came back to me like colourful fireworks, spreading a content warmth inside of me. Sirius's face was turned on the other side, his dishevelled dark hair sticking up in all directions. I softly kissed his bare shoulder, momentarily forgetting the inquisitive eyes of the little child standing beside the bed. Harry grinned at me for a moment then ran away squealing excited.

'Mama! Dada! Pa'foo n' Jay kiss kiss!' I heard him loudly saying to his parents. I groaned. Harry knew very few words... so why did he have to rightly know "kiss"?

I had not intended to find myself in said situation, at all. Well, I hadn't intended to kiss Sirius and do whatever we did after that, either. Why did I have to be so rash? We'd barely sorted out our differences...how would Sirius behave now? Was he really that interested in me or had it only been because of the excitement of the chase?

Chase. I visualised a tiger chasing a deer. Was I the deer? No, I'd always been more of a...cat. Tiger against tiger? Nah, Sirius is a dog, I thought. Even worse than that then, cat vs. dog.

'What, Harry?' James confusedly asked from somewhere in the house, effectively putting an end to my idiotic thoughts.

'Pa'foo n' Jay kiss kiss!' the little boy repeated with a giggle. I should have Silencioed him with Sirius's wand while I had the chance. Too late, now.

I hurriedly hid myself under the blankets when someone approached and opened the door widely.

One. Two. Thr-

'Jemma? What are you doing in Padfoot's bed?' James's voice asked sounding very amused.

'Go away, James,' I mumbled uncovering my head and sending him an annoyed glare. He started howling with laughter at me so loudly that Sirius finally woke up.

'What are you laughing for, mate?' Sirius yawned stretching his arms, eyes still closed. He hadn't acknowledged my presence, yet.

'He's laughing at us, Sirius,' I said with a snort, James laughter ringing in my ears.

He'd done a double turn on the bed then looked at me in wonder, a sappy smile plastered all over his face. That was comforting.

'Hey,' I greeted him, feeling more and more confident that I - we - hadn't done a mistake.

'I thought it'd been a dream,' he whispered at me in wonder, caressing my cheek lightly. His grey eyes were shining brightly. He was happy. Thank goodness.

James's laughter suddenly stopped. He was watching Sirius incredulously. He must have caught that love-struck expression, too, I thought.

'No way! I can't believe it!' James exclaimed loudly, 'Lily! Come here pl-'

SLAM! The door shut in front of his face all of a sudden.

'What the hell, woman!' he shouted affronted at his wife.

'Leave them alone, you prat!' came Lily's response. She'd been the one to magic the door close.

'Thank you, Lily!' I said loudly. She laughed lightly in reply while dragging James away from there.

I turned my eyes to Sirius, who hadn't yet lost that funny dreamy expression and was still looking adoringly at me.

'I don't really fancy leaving the bed at all, you know?' I sighed giving him a light kiss.

He grinned. 'Yeah, it's pretty comfortable, eh?' he said casually turning on his back. His eyes staring at the white ceiling. 'I don't want to face Prongs, actually,' he continued with a frown, 'He's going to be insufferable for the next three years or so.'


Sirius's prediction revealed itself true as soon as I entered the kitchen for breakfast. The clock above the sink read 10.15 am while the sun shining outside seemed to announce a beautiful day on the making. The TV was on, yet none of the Potters were watching it, clearly preferring Home Gossip (me) today. James was munching his cereals while Lily'd been trying to feed Harry with some kind of mushy fruity food that the child seemed to dislike a lot. All three of them (yes, even Harry!) were sending me knowing smiles which I tried to ignore while brewing my morning coffee.

The aroma quickly filled the room, making me feel more comfortable and calm. It happened - and still happens - when I smell something familiar, something that still speaks of home.

'How are you today, Jemma? Slept well?' Lily asked me diverted. Was she going to pick on me, too?

'Er, yeah...well,' I mumbled sitting down at the table, a cup of strong coffee in my hand.

'Where's Padfoot?' asked James innocently while mixing some more cereals in his bowl.

'Er, still in the shower,' I answered awkwardly picking at a slice of bread.

'Pa'foo n' Jay kiss kiss!' Harry suddenly said clapping his hands together. James and Lily burst out laughing.

That was when Sirius came in, hair still wet, eyeing James and Lily with a suspicious look. 'What are you laughing for?' he asked.

'Pa'foo n' Jay kiss kiss!' Harry repeated giggling, very much enjoying everyone attention. Sirius couldn't hide a huge smile but kept silent. He poured some of the coffee I'd just prepared and sat beside me, smirking satisfied.

'So?' James asked.

'So what?' Sirius scoffed at him.

'Fleas gone?' Lily put in with a chuckle.

'Yeah,' Sirius said lightly buttering his toast, 'Everything's perfect.'

James seemed to hide a huge grin. 'How was the shower, Padfoot?' he asked, 'Was it cold enough?'

'It was enjoyable,' he replied casually, apparently not willing to appear embarrassed in front of his best mate. I tried unsuccessfully to hide my face behind the cup, instead and let out a hysterical giggle, who turned their attention to me in an second.

'What have you got to say, Jemma?' James asked me.

'Me? Nothing!' I squealed.

He didn't seem willing to letting us go so quickly. 'How come Harry and I found you two in the same bed?' he pressed on.

'That's not your business, Potter' I shot back at him. Sirius nodded his head in agreement.

'She's worse than I thought,' James told Lily in an under tone. I looked at him warily.

'I told you so. She was in Sirius's bed, not vice versa!' she replied jokingly, giving me a look that said 'No offence intended'. This was getting too uncomfortable already.

'True,' James went on unabashedly, 'That's a feat on its own. Yet, I wonder what Padfoot's planning to do now and that's definitely my business.'

'What d'you mean?' asked Sirius quickly, eyeing his friend with a frown.

'You owe me thirty Galleons,' he replied with a winning smile, 'If my guess is correct, you've just lost your End Of Seventh Year Bet, my friend.' Lily rolled her eyes in understanding and shook her head smiling.

I glanced at each one of them with a questioning look.

'Which bet?', I asked. Nobody had answered at first then Sirius sighed heavily and began explaining. 'It was on our last day at Hogwarts. Everyone was talking about the future and stuff like that when Prongs here swore to me he would marry Lily by the end of that year. So I bet him I'd never - well, this is embarrassing - willingly fall for a girl, instead. If I'd lost, I'd have had to give him thirty Galleons.'

He beamed at me, then faced James with a smirk. 'I'm glad to have lost,' he said calmly. 'I promise I'll give you the gold as soon as we get back to 1981.'

'Incredible,' James said, his mouth agape.


A/N: Chap 7 done! This story is turning out longer than I expected...there will be 2/3 more chapters before the Back to the Past part...can't wait for that myself!

If you're liking this story please REVIEW! If you don't please REVIEW and let me know why. English isn't my first language -unfortunately- and I'm trying really hard here to do the best I can for this story to work. I'm writing for myself as well as you guys so, please, just a one word comment will benefit all of us!

Lots of Love to all my reviewers,

JemmadA