The months slipped by yet the days still seemed to drag for everyone. Before they knew it, Christmas had passed and the New Year commenced. Life seemed to go on per usual. Remus started back at work in January, leaving Callie in the capable hands of James and Lily, who did not plan on working until after their baby had been born. By May, that time had come, and Remus got a frantic floo message at work from James, telling him that he had to get to the Hospital instantly.
Remus did not go to the Hospital when the message arrived, but instead went straight to the Potter's home. James and Lily had stayed at home longer than planned - clearly because they realized their lack of childcare, and were automatically relieved when Remus arrived at their home.
He did not want to go to Hospital, because they brought up nothing but bad memories for him: he visited Hospitals every week when he was a young child; his Mother had died in one and so had his Father and Lydia and nearly Callie. He couldn't bear to be with Lily and James while they were having the baby, which was why he offered to stay at home and look after Harry and Callie while they went to have the baby.
"Are you sure?" James asked, tying his shoes.
Remus nodded. "Absolutely - now you two get to the Hospital quickly and have your baby! Floo me as soon as it's over and I'll bring round Harry."
"Remus, are you sure you don't want to come?" Lily asked. Lily was not in as much pain as Lydia had been when she gave birth; her contractions and pain obviously was not as bad. She still looked calm and collected, the only difference being her cheeks flushed red and a look of concern on her face. "You can look after Harry and Callie in the corridor - the Hospital doesn't mind..."
"They'll be bored there," Remus reasoned. "Now go! And best of luck to you both."
Lily waddled over to Remus and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you for this - we'll try not to be too long."
"You don't really get much of a say in this - now go before I change my mind."
James smiled at him. "Thanks mate, this really means a lot to us."
With a flash of light they were gone, and Remus was promptly joined by two-year-old Harry, bounding into the Living Room, followed by eight month Callie, who was crawling very slowly after him.
"Where's Mummy and Daddy?" Harry asked.
"They've having their baby," Remus answered nonchalantly.
"Really?" Remus nodded. "Can I go?"
"Later," Remus dismissed. "Why don't you draw a picture for Mummy and Daddy when they get back?" Harry was three-years-old in three months, but had already developed as quickly as a three-year-old would. The young boy nodded, and with a click of his fingers, parchment and pens were summoned to him. Remus blinked at him. "How on earth were you able to do that?"
Harry clicked his fingers again. "Magic!"
It was advanced magic - especially for a two-year-old. Magic didn't normally show in children until they were five or six, not two. Then again, Harry was a very advanced young boy when it came to magic, and he was a Potter; he learned things quickly.
"Have Mummy and Daddy seen?"
"Daddy, not Mummy."
"What did Daddy say?"
"Not to tell Mummy?"
Remus didn't doubt that, and joined Harry and his daughter on the floor. Callie crawled towards Remus, and he pulled her onto his lap. She was still small but with almost a full head of brown hair. She giggled and wriggled in Remus' grasp, clapping her hands towards Harry.
"Am I having brother or sister?"
"I don't know Harry," Remus answered. "What do you want?"
"Brother; girls are silly." As if Callie could somehow comprehend him, she let out a low whine. "Not you Cal; you're special."
In return, she made a high-pitched accepting noise. Remus was amazed at how well the two young children connected and bonded with one another. Callie was still shuffling around in Remus' embrace, and pulled her whole body around so she was staring up at Remus. Her face broke out into a smile upon seeing him. She outstretched her hand and placed it on Remus' nose.
"Dada."
His heart almost stopped. Those were her first words. He started to laugh, and kissed Callie on the top of the head to praise her. "That's right! Dada! I'm Dada!" Remus congratulated. "Harry? Did you hear that? Callie just said her first words."
Harry was too enthralled in his drawing to notice, while Callie, however, the praise from her first words were all she was interested in. She began tapping on various parts of Remus' upper body and laughing, making various noises that could be interpreted as 'Dada' by her, but just a mixture of joyous sounds by Remus.
...
After being in labour only four hours, the lucky couple: James and Lily, were blessed with a beautiful baby boy. He was dark haired with light eyes, and already bore a slight resemblance to his Father. He was an easy birth; there were no complications and he was healthy: sure to live a long and successful life.
Lily was still exhausted after the pregnancy. Her red fringe stuck to the sweat on her forehead and her Hospital gown was in a mess. She didn't care much, though; she had just given birth to the most beautiful baby boy in the world, and there wasn't a prouder Mother on the Earth.
When Sirius received the honour of holding the youngest Potter child, he was eager to know what his name would be.
"Thomas," replied James confidently.
"Thomas?" Sirius repeated. "Thomas Potter?"
"Thomas Potter," Lily confirmed.
Sirius almost seemed to grimace at the concept of the child being called Thomas. "He doesn't look much like a Thomas."
"What does he look like, then?"
"A baby?" Sirius recommended. "Hmh... He looks like a Jack. Jack is a good name for him."
"Jack?" Lily reiterated. "Jack Potter?"
"Not so much," Sirius corrected. "A 'J' though, like James. What about Joshua? Or Joseph?"
"We discussed Joshua," James admitted. "But we preferred Thomas."
"Or Oliver," Lily added.
"Oliver's better than Thomas."
"And George."
"Oliver's better than George.
"A 'J' or an 'L' will be cute," Lily swooned. "What about... Jacob?"
"Jacob," James mused. "Yeah, I like Jacob. Jacob Potter, it has a nice tone. W do you think, Siriis? Is Jacob the right name for our son?"
"I approve," Sirius said, "Jacob what Potter?"
"We might not go for a middle name," Lily informed.
"Don't tease him, Lily," James scolded. "I suggested giving him the middle name Sirius."
Sirius was astounded, and almost dropped Jacob when he heard the news. Lily, realizing that, promptly took James off the elder man and locked him in her arms again. "Do - do you really mean that?"
"Of course," James smiled. "And we'll make Remus Jacob's Godfather."
Sirius almost took a double take. "That - that's such an honour. If I ever have children-"
"-I'll know it's the apocalypse," Lily smirked. He might have taken slight offence, but the shock of having a child named after him took him back. He had Harry as his Godson and Jacob named after him. He hadn't given James and Lily anything back, so what had he done to deserve this? When he asked Lily that question, she responded: "When we were in the coma for forty days, you looked after Harry for us, and you can never understand how grateful we are for that... I think this is the least we can do to repay you."
"That's - that's all I did?" Sirius asked, confused.
"As well as pledge an oath to save our lives," James added. "You've always been there for Lily, Harry and I, and because you're out best friend, this is just our way of saying thank you."
"I should be the one saying thank you," Sirius corrected.
James shook his head. "You've done enough, and I feel like I really owe you one."
"Owe him one?"
Of course, Lily would be none the wiser on what had happened just three months before the attack. Only he and James knew the full details, and it was a story Sirius was sure would haunt him for the rest of his living days: it was the day Marlene was killed.
There was a raging battle taking place at the time of Marlene's death, and it was also the time James and Lily defied Voldemort for the second time. Sirius was fighting an unknown Death Eater and behind him was Marlene. They were protecting each other's backs, and it was at that moment, Sirius realized just how much he loved that woman: he was willing to risk his life for her, and she was willing to do the same thing and trust him. They trusted each other immensely, they put the fate of their lives in the other's hand.
Marlene McKinnon was such a tremendous Witch, so talented that she defeated her Death Eater before Sirius did. The first thing she did was turn around to help Sirius vanquish the Death Eater before him, but for some reason, he didn't want her help.
"Go help someone else," Sirius demanded. "I'm doing fine on my own."
"Clearly," Marlene scoffed. "Come on Sirius; put a bit of effort into it."
Sirius hissed, "fuck off – I can – do this – myself."
Marlene stopped fighting. "Fine. Be like that, I was only offering my help."
"Well I don't need you."
It was then the fighting couple let their guard down, and it was then the Death Eater struck. Both Sirius and Marlene were caught off guard by the next hit. Marlene sensed it before Sirius, and if he had sensed it before she, perhaps things would have turned out differently. Marlene watched the Death Eater raise his wand towards Sirius, and in that moment, Marlene reacted.
"NO!"
She threw herself across Sirius' body, shielding him with her arms out wide. Before Sirius could grasp what was happening, a bright burst of green light shot out of from the opponent's wand, hitting Marlene square in the chest. She was facing Sirius at that time, and the last thing the woman saw were Sirius' grey eyes gazing into hers with love, watching the life drain out of them. The grey eyes she had trusted herself to forgive, forget and put faith in once more. He was responsible for her life just seconds ago, and now he had to watch that fail.
Her legs gave way but Sirius caught her under the arms. The war around him stopped and it was just him clutching Marlene McKinnon's dead body.
"No," Sirius murmured. "No Marlene, I'm sorry, I was only kidding; I do need you."
"Sirius."
"Marlene, stop fucking around... just... just get up. Please, for the love of Merlin get up. Please Marley, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry."
"Sirius."
Sirius felt a hand on his shoulder, trying to pull him away from the young girl's body, but alas, no force in the world could have made him release her from his arms. In his arms was one of the few people Sirius was sure he loved, and now there she was: dead.
"Come on Padfoot, we need to go."
"No," Sirius spat, the first tears rolling out his eyes. "I killed her James, I killed her."
"No you didn't, Padfoot – we need to leave now."
"She – she trusted me and – THAT SON OF A BITCH KILLED HER. He should have killed me, it shouldn't have been her, it should never be her."
It took James a few minutes to pull Sirius from Marlene's grasp, but by throwing his arms around his body, he managed to heave him up, Marlene's corpse still on the cold, wooden floor.
"We need to go before they come back," James hissed. "We shouldn't have stayed this long; Moody and Albus warned us not to."
"And if we had just listened to them Marlene wouldn't have been killed."
"No," James whispered. "No this isn't our fault. You need to get out of here now."
"I can't leave her!" Sirius cried. "Would you leave Lily?"
"This is completely different Padfoot-"
"-Would you leave Lily?"
James didn't answer for a moment. "No, no I wouldn't."
"What if the Death Eater's come and get her body? What if they do terrible, terrible things to it?"
"We have to go; they'll know we stayed. Take her body and hide it somewhere then."
"I'm taking it with me."
"No you're not," James growled. "Either come with me now or we'll be dead!"
"I'd rather be dead. I'd rather die in her arms, beside her than die in a bloody battle on my own. You can go, but I'm staying with Marlene."
"I'm not leaving you here! Come on Sirius, we have to go!"
James tried to pull Sirius up again, but Sirius knocked James down. With a scowl, James got out his wand and pulled Sirius away from Marlene.
"I'm sorry mate, but it's for your own good."
The two twenty-one-year-old men apparated from the scene and landed in Sirius' front room. When Sirius realized where they were, he launched himself at James, knocking him to the ground and straddled him.
"YOU BASTARD – YOU NEED TO TAKE ME BACK!"
"I can't," James cried. "I'm sorry."
Sirius stared at the face of his best friend who, at that point, Sirius was sure had betrayed him. He was ready to punch him, take out his anger on James but James had just saved his live. Sirius understood, that if James hadn't got him out of there and the Death Eaters had arrived, Sirius would have died and Marlene's death be for nothing. Instead, Sirius crawled off James and collapsed against the sofa, crying into his hands and shouting profanities at everyone and everything. James tried to be a supportive best friend, but there were no words to sympathise with the feeling of losing the person you love most in the world, and James prayed to Merlin, that night, that he would never experience what Sirius had gone through that day.
That was why James always thought he would owe Sirius, because he separated him from his love. James remembered the days Sirius and Marlene would 'casually date' in Hogwarts, and those days and nights he spent with her he had never been more happy. James couldn't imagine a life without Lily, and what Sirius had been put through was heartbreaking. It was impossible for James to imagine life without Lily, and without Harry and now, Jacob. It was completely ludicrous to imagine life without them, because a life without his family was a life not worth living.
...
Remus went to the Hospital to visit Lily the second night she was in there. Sirius was minding Callie for him, and that gave Remus a fine opportunity to visit his new Godson and best friends, who had been blessed with a second son.
"They're going to go to school together these two," James said with a grin. "Both going to be Gryffindor's – both of them causing havoc in the classrooms and with their Professor's."
"Callie's going to study hard for me in school," Remus stated. "Jacob on the other hand... Well, he's got your genes, hasn't he James? He's likely to be a mischievous little Gryffindor, causing havoc in the classrooms and with his Professor's."
"It would be so sweet if they got married," Lily gushed. "Then we'd be a proper family."
"I think me putting up with James for my life is bad enough, let alone making Callie suffer with your son."
"Cheers," said James.
"You know I'm joking, Prongs, you're like a brother to me and Lily, you're like a sister. I honestly don't know where I'd be without you both."
"Don't," James said, "you don't have to thank us."
"Are you serious? I don't know where I'd be without you! I – If it wasn't for you giving me your money, James, I would have been living on the street."
Lily shook her head. "No you wouldn't; you would be living with us."
"If you'd died though no one would have given me money!"
"Sirius would," James reminded.
"No," Remus differed. "No if the two of you died Sirius would blame it on me. I know you all thought I was the traitor – no, you don't have to apologise, Lily."
Lily began stammering. "Remus, I am so sorry."
"Don't," he insisted. "But I'd probably be homeless without your kindness. All you've done for me and Callie over the past few months has been tremendous and I can't thank you enough. Anything you ever need, I'll do it. I – I'll baby sit Harry and Jacob for you whenever you want – I'll even buy Harry his first drink in the Leaky Cauldron when he's seventeen – Jacob too for that matter. I just want you both to know how thankful I am for all the help you've given me these past three years; it's really meant a lot." Lily leaned over and hugged Remus. "I will pay you back – I promise that I shall."
"No you won't," James insisted. "Just don't count on us buying Callie a drink for her seventeenth; she's not drinking. Not ever."
Remus laughed when Lily released him. "I agree with you on that. She's not leaving home until she's thirty."
James chuckled and ran a hand through his untidy hair. "Goodness can you imagine that? Callie and Jacob being thirty? We're not even thirty yet and think of everything that we've done."
"Most of it revolved around Voldemort," Lily reminded. "Remus – can I take Jacob off you?" Remus accepted and Lily kissed the crown of Jacob's head. "And he is never coming back, so you are going to be safe my little Darling, safe and sound. Leave your Daddy to fight off the big, bad and scary men."
"And that's just your Uncle Sirius," Remus stated. "Speaking of Sirius, I think I'll go and relieve him of babysitting."
He kissed Lily on the cheek and clapped James on the arm. Once he was gone, James turned to Lily. "I hope to Merlin I never go through what that poor sod has."
"I hope Callie doesn't either," Lily agreed. "Poor girl – oh I do feel sorry for her. This just isn't fair."
"There's nothing that can be done about it now," James remarked. He too, kissed Lily, but he kissed his wife on the lips. "I'll put Jake in the cot, and you get some sleep."
"Who?" Lily asked.
"Jake, our baby."
"I remember his name being Jacob, never Jake."
James laughed. "Jake is just short for Jacob."
"If I wanted to call my son Jake, I would have written on his birth certificate Jake Sirius Potter, not Jacob Sirius Potter. His name is Jacob, not Jake."
James laughed and when he took Jacob from Lily, he kissed her on the lips. "Whatever you say my Darling. You blessed me with a son. If you want to call him Ermentrude I wouldn't care – and Elvendork I certainly would not care."
James went to put Jacob in his cot, and then he rejoined Lily by her bed. She settled down on the uncomfortable mattress and rested her eyes. "Giving birth to him was really hard. James, I don't think I want to go through with it again."
He frowned. "Never again?"
"Never again," she confirmed. She opened her eyes again, and sat back up. "I know we planned on having loads of kids, but giving birth hurts, James. I'd love to have a massive family as much as you do – I'd love to have a daughter with you, but it's too exhausting."
"Okay," James smiled and kissed Lily on the head. "I can't say that I'm not disappointed, because I am, but it's your decision. I don't mind; we're lucky with Harry and Jacob as it is. I love you, and if you're definite about not having any more babies, I'll get a vasectomy."
Lily laughed. "You don't need to do that – and do you even know what one really is?"
"Of course; there was a leaflet about it that I was reading when I was on the toilet earlier on when Remus got here. It stops you from producing babies, right?"
"Something like that," Lily said, "you don't have to get one, but thank you for offering. You never know, I might change my mind."
"Will you though?" James suspected.
"Ask me again in three years time," she proclaimed. "And we'll see if I've changed my mind."
James' suspicion was right; three years later, Lily never did agree to having children, but then again, when Lily brought it up, neither did James.