Happy Easter everyone!
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"Come on or we'll be late!"
Laughing, Remus watched as James pulled Sirius along with him; using his grip on the other to keep his own footing in the thick layer of snow. "You do realise the film won't start until three, right?"
"I can't blame them for wanting to get inside quickly, it really is quite cold," Lily's words were muffled beneath the scarf she'd wrapped around her nose and neck; almost hiding the entirety of her face as she'd pushed her long hair underneath the knitted cap Sirius had made for her.
"That's true, though they don“t seem to be too bothered by the temperature. I really hadn't expected any snow so near to Easter this year," he couldn't help but admit as the below freezing temperatures really didn't help with the lingering stiffness from the full moon just two days ago, but there was no need for her to know that.
"The weather forecast warned us there would be snow until halfway into April, which will include Easter this year," she pointed out to him, momentarily stumbling as she nearly missed the side walk ending underneath the layer of snow and he quickly reached out to steady her.
"You all right?" James called out to her, clearly having seen her stumble.
Not bothering with attempting to be heard through the thick scarf, she simply gave him a thumbs up and Remus had to stifle a laugh as their dark-haired companions blinked at the gesture as he knew they'd never be able to see it was a thumb she was raising in her thick gloves from that distance.
Lily seemed to realise the same thing and switched to waving; something both boys cheerfully returned before returning to curiously peeking into window displays as they walked along.
"Are they always like this when they enter the Muggle World?" She asked curiously as they followed behind in a more careful matter; even on a good day neither of them possessed James' quick reflexes or Sirius' uncanny grace.
"I think they are just excited to go to the cinema; even if Sirius has no idea which film we're going to see," he replied softly so the dog Animagus wouldn't be able to overhear them despite the still falling snow dampening their sounds.
"Sirius mentioned it being one of his favourite books; do you think he'll be disappointed by the changes they've made to the story?" adopting his soft tone automatically, Lily leaned in close.
"No, he'll love it," smiling at her reassuringly, Remus carefully stepped down from the side walk. "They both will, although you should probably prepare yourself for James to be insufferable once he's seen the rabbit. He's going to love that one and quote it endlessly."
"I would be surprised if he didn't like Thumper, though I have always liked Bambi more myself. What about you and Sirius?"
"Thumper," he readily admitted. "I'm not quite sure about Sirius, to be honest. In the book it's Bambi, but I have a suspicion he'll be rather fond of the skunk, too. He does have a habit of liking the underdog in a story."
"You don't say," glancing at her confused, any question he had in mind was interrupted by Sirius' sudden laugher; both of their attention drawn to their two dark-haired companions, the two having come to a stop before a toy store and were looking at the display curiously.
"Rem! You have to come see this."
"What're you looking at?" Coming up to his side, he looked into the display to see a large Lego display of a pirate ship; immediately understanding why the two were so delighted by the sight.
"It's quite ingenious how they managed to make something like that from little coloured blocks, isn't it?" The awe in Sirius' voice was unmistakable as he clearly took in the details.
"You can build a lot of things with those stones and they are really popular toys to Muggle children," Lily informed him before curiously taking in their twinkling eyes. "Do you two like pirates?"
"Don't get them started, they've dressed up as pirates for Easter last year and made Peter and me hunt down a treasury of chocolate eggs they'd hidden and enchanted. And all under sword point," he couldn't keep himself from laughing at her surprised face. "And then after that, they build a pirate ship and took us sailing at the lake and urging the Giant Squid to create stormy waves. You should have seen McGonagall's face!"
"I can imagine," giggling, Lily slid to James' free side to be able to look at the display more closely.
"Like you didn't have just as much fun as we did," James shot back, wrapping his free arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him as she shivered.
"Did you get into trouble for it?"
"No, we weren't actually breaking any rules and Sirius even got Professor M to briefly join us as she wanted to check out our work once she was done yelling at us," James laughed. "She even gave us twenty points for the detailed Transfiguration work we'd done as well as asked to keep the ship."
"Wait, the ship in a bottle that's on her shelf, you made that one?"
"She asked us to make it into something she could keep on her shelf and having seen such items in the shops of Rem's hometown before, I thought it would make a neat way to keep it," flushing at the incredulous look Lily shot him, Sirius shifted. "She liked it and indeed keeps it in her office."
"I've always wondered how they make those things, it seems magic the way they get the ships into the bottle," she admitted.
"We did use magic, but Muggles simply manipulate the masts with strings so they stand up straight after the ship's pushed through," James confided to her as he leaned closer. "Siri's asked one of the shop owners once as he was making one while we were visiting."
"I'm not surprised he would," smiling Lily squeezed his waist in return before pushing away again. "Shall we continue? It's too cold to stand still for too long."
"You're cold despite the Heating Charms?"
Cursing mentally as he really should have remembered to apply Heating Charms, Remus covertly glanced at Lily to gauge her reaction; relieved to see she appeared to have forgotten, too.
A faint smile crossed over Sirius' lips as he kindly took one hand from them both and moments later they were warmed considerably as the nonverbal spell took effect; the spell also having the effect of easing the soreness of Remus' muscles even more than the potions did.
"How...you can use wandless magic?" Surprised Lily loosened her scarf a little so it no longer covered her face as she was no longer quite as cold as before.
"All three of us can," James revealed, "Though Siri and Rem are better at it than I am."
"You are better at nonverbal magic than I am," Remus admitted, smiling when James shrugged as if it was unimportant what he could do.
"Who do you think would win a competition in nonverbal magic; me or Lil?"
"Lily," the answer came immediately and James reached for his heart as he mock gasped at his brother.
"You...you, how can you be so certain she'd win against me?"
"Because I've seen how well she does in class and know that if given time and practice, she'll surpass you easily," Sirius did little to hide his laughter but did pat his shoulder in comfort before turning back to Lily. "I am surprised to learn that you're not using wandless magic, though."
"Why?"
"Because you have an amazing control of your magic and from what I've heard, you've had that even before you received any training."
"Which would indicate that I should be able to use wandless magic, even after receiving proper training?"
"Especially after proper training as your magic would only become more focused the more you learn how to control it," James grumbled good heartedly. "I didn't think of that."
"I don't know any wandless magic, though."
"If you'd like, we could help you practice once we're back at school."
Nodding gratefully, Lily glanced at her watch; only to frown at it a moment later. "My watch's broken."
"It's nearly a quarter past two," Sirius informed her; having pulled out his brand new silver pocket watch once he noticed hers didn't work. "We should get a move on if we want to warm up a little before the film starts. Give me a moment."
He disappeared into the shop.
"Where's he going?"
"Probably buying a battery for your watch," James calmly informed her, shoving his hands deeper into his pockets as they waited for Sirius to return mere moments later with a small package he pocketed. "We can have a look at your watch once we're there, too, to determine if it's just the battery that needs replacing or if it's the watch itself that's broken."
"Sounds like a plan," agreeing they turned away from the shop and continued on their way to the cinema, relieving themselves of their hats and gloves before making their way to the ticket service.
"I've got this," James immediately declared before Sirius could even reach for his wallet.
"James..."
"Shush, it's your true coming of age present from the three of us," he grinned before happily skipping off to the ticket counter to purchase their tickets.
Gaping after him like a fish, Sirius' eyes narrowed and he turned to them suspiciously. "You knew he had something like this planned?"
"We might have known he wanted to do this today and as such, kept our agendas clear," smiling mischievous at his confusion, Lily pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "Since your birthday fell right on the start of our Easter holidays, we figured this might be the perfect occasion to go see this film. We originally planned to go on your birthday itself, but since Remus was sick we picked today instead."
"Does this mean I am finally going to learn which film the three of you demanded to go see right away despite it being in the middle of the week?"
"Yup," trying to hide a smile as his friend gave him a sharp look; having been the one to protest going out so soon after the full moon when they didn't truly have to and Remus was clearly sore, but he simply squeezed his hand reassuringly before taking his gloves and beanie from his so his hands would be free as James returned.
"I told you that you'd get your real present later in the week when Remus could be present, happy birthday," dropping a kiss against his temple, James pulled Sirius into his side before holding out his ticket to him; warm grey eyes widening in shock as he caught the name on the ticket.
"You...is this real?" He accepted the ticket almost reverently, staring down at it in disbelief.
"I did tell you it was playing during the Easter holidays and that it would be nice if we were to go see it all together. It's just an added benefit that your birthday falls in the same week," Lily's smile was brilliant as they watched Sirius nearly tackle James with a delighted cheer, laughing as she was pulled into a hug next.
Aware he would be next, Remus already braced himself; though it was proven to be unnecessary as even in his excitement Sirius didn't forget to be more careful than normally.
"Happy belated birthday, Siri," he murmured into the short dark hair before releasing his friend again so he could stare lovingly down at his ticket. "You're to pick any snack and drink you want, it's all on us."
"But..."
"No buts, you're not paying for anything today," cheerfully Lily linked arms with him to pull him to the small bar to choose something, cutting off any objections he might have. "After the film you can pick between three options of food, none of which you're allowed to pay even a pence of."
Remus shared a bemused smile with James. "I think the surprise succeeded quite well, don't you?"
"It did," they watched Lily pointing out various things for Sirius to make a choice from; noticing she was mostly summing up the less sugary candy to him as she obviously knew he didn't have much of a sweet tooth. "Though it took some work to get him to agree to actually go out. You played your part well."
Bright brown eyes turned to him. "How are you holding up?"
"I'm good, we're not exactly running around or anything and you and Pads took care to not let the wolf do anything overly active; even if I'm fairly sure Sirius had no idea why we insisted on that."
"He didn't, but since he's usually all for being on the careful side, it worked out well."
Catching James' expression, he suddenly found his breath catching momentarily by the sight. The look in James' shining eyes was one of pure love and happiness as he watched their two companions interact; and although Remus was quite used to seeing that kind of look directed at Sirius, he'd never before seen him look that way at Lily and it was clearer than ever before just how deeply his friend felt about the redhead for her to receive the same kind of look.
James didn't notice his sudden revelation as Sirius choose that moment to catch his attention with slightly panicked eyes and he quickly joined the two as it was clear he was overwhelmed by the choices presented to him.
It was the exact moment he needed to regain his bearings and let the realisation that this was likely the girl James would one day marry settle; making his way over to the others just moments later, but too late to help Lily prevent James from buying a little bit of everything.
But since he would also be the one paying for all the food, Remus knew it didn't really matter as he had money enough and any leftovers would find their way to Peter so their remaining friend didn't feel too left out at not having been able to join due to other obligations with his parents.
Cheerfully paying for the food, James smiled as Lily helpfully pulled out a bag for them to deposit everything in to make it easier to carry while she and Sirius carried their drinks to a nearby table.
"Let me see your watch," holding his hand out for the item, Lily unclasped it and dropped it into Sirius' waiting hands; watching interested as he exchanged the battery in mere moments and matched the time with his own pocket watch before turning it on again. "It was just the battery."
"I'm glad; I really should get a new one soon, though."
"Why would you need a new one?" Frowning, James reached out to pull his girlfriend's wrist closer so he could have a better look at her watch. "Didn't you get one on your birthday?"
"Why would I be getting a watch for my birthday?"
Remus couldn't help the small smile from spreading at the utter looks of confusion on his companions faces; immediately aware of what was causing the confusion. "Muggles don't give their children a watch when they come of age. It is solely a Wizarding tradition."
Both boys blinked before Sirius handed the watch back. "That won't do, we'll just have to give you a watch ourselves then."
"Is there a shop that sells nice watches anywhere around or should we just go to Wiseacre's?" Thoughtful brown eyes turned Lily's way as James immediately agreed with his brother. "What would you like better, a Muggle or Magical watch?"
"I'm not from a magical family so that tradition wouldn't apply to me, right?"
"Since you clearly didn't get one, it's up to us to ensure you do," Sirius waved her protest off. "The only question is if you'd like a Muggle watch or a Magical one."
His words made Remus remember the other had already realised long ago the importance the girl would get to James, having already accounted for the probability of her joining their family as early as their fifth year when he'd insisted the tag on his collar should read the Marauders as a group.
He wondered how his best friend could've known back then already Lily would change her mind about James and mused if he had missed something growing or if the other had just gotten lucky.
"What's the difference?" Lily didn't seem aware of his musings as she brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.
"A Muggle watch only shows the time while a Magical one can have all kinds of features," Remus explained amused, shoving his current thought pattern to the back of his mind. "They can show the temperature and some even show at which moment it's best to leave the house as they've got a build in weather forecast."
"That's...I'm not sure if that would be handy or just insane," laughing, she refastened her own beaten watch. "What kind of watches do you all have?"
"We've all got Muggle ones," Remus brushed his sleeve up a little to reveal the simple watch his father had bought him just a month earlier. "Pete and I have a wrist watch while those two received pocket watches."
Without having to be asked, both Sirius and James pulled out their identical silver pocket watches to show them to Lily; who leaned in curiously to be able to read the likewise near identical engravings inside.
"Are all Wizarding watches engraved?"
"It depends on the family; there are a few old Pure-Blood Houses who believe it's a must but most families these days don't follow the tradition," James admitted. "Since our parents both come from very old Houses, they went with engravings but gave it a personal touch."
"To our dear James, Happy seventeenth birthday, love Mum and Dad," she read James' engraving. "It is quite simple but very sweet and indeed personal."
Brushing her hand over the engraving she smiled. "Are you truly set on getting me a watch?"
"We are," their two dark-haired companions exclaimed in unison as they pocketed their watches again.
"Then I think I'd prefer something simple and Muggle like this."
"There's a clock shop nearby, we passed it on our way here so if you'd like, we could stop by there on our way back from the film to see if there's something to your liking there," Sirius suggested.
"We'll be travelling back that way to get to either of the three restaurants you can pick from so that would work well and would save us a trip to Diagon Alley," she didn't bother arguing, actually looking a little touched by Sirius' earlier words. "But first we're going to watch this film you've been wanting to see for so long."
Immediately a small almost shy smile spread over Sirius' lips as he seemed to realise something.
"What is it?"
"I'll have to meet up with Professor M once we return to school," he ducked his head down even as his smile spread. "I promised her back in third year that I'd come discuss the film with her once I'd seen it someday."
"When would you ever get into a situation to discuss Bambi with her?" Surprised, Remus turned fully to his best friend; not quite having realised he would've been discussing books with their Head of House.
"When she caught me missing class while I was occupied with reading Peter Pan," he admitted sheepishly.
"They've been exchanging book titles for years now and she's even loaned him some," James cheerfully informed them. "Those gingerbread cookies you like so much? The recipe for those came from the latest Mary Poppins book that came out some time ago and Professor M loaned him."
"Huh, I had no idea," marvelling at the mere memory of those delicious cookies made his mouth water.
"Weren't those star shaped in the book's recipe, though?" Sirius flushed and James tactfully patted his shoulder in comfort at Lily's words and while she tried to bite back a smile, Remus found it impossible not to laugh at the irony; knowing Sirius would never make star shaped cookies if he could help it and wasn't surprised he'd instead chosen the form of little gingerbread men.
"I've found her to be a little bit too obsessed with star shaped bakery goods for my taste, but the recipes themselves are quite good," Sirius softly admitted, shooting him a half hearted glare. "Anyway, the conversation turned to book to screen adaptations; which naturally led to a conversation about Disney films."
"Which led to you talking about Bambi?"
"Yes, apparently her father took her to the original release back when she was a little girl and she'd like to discuss the film and its changes from the book with me," he took a small sip from his drink. "It are actually quite fun discussions as she's read quite a lot of books and even recommended a few good ones to me."
"I do know the floating prank was inspirited by the first Mary Poppins book," pushing a lock of hair behind his ears, Remus smiled and leaned back in his chair when Lily's eyes widened in shocked realisation.
"The one where we were all lifted up to float half a meter above the ground when we frowned or looked angry?" Her eyes narrowed, "It was inspired by Mary Poppins?"
"We modified it a little because it seemed indecent to drug everyone with Giggle water so we instead made it so everyone would float whenever their moods went down," biting his lip, James shifted in his seat a little uncomfortable. "But yeah."
"I seem to remember that not everyone was affected by the prank, though, and always wondered why some weren't affected," the piercing green eyes looked half amused and half disapproving; though Remus had the strange feeling she wasn't actually all that mad and was instead trying to hide laughter.
"We excluded anyone who was afraid of heights," Sirius admitted. "It took quite a bit of research and practice on how to make the charm work in such a way that they'd not be affected; but in the end we managed to modify it so that anyone who showed genuine fear the moment their feet left the ground would immediately be returned back safely and released from the charm completely."
"That's quite ingenious and kind. What made you remember to take that into account?"
"Pete is afraid of heights as is Gideon," A small crack appeared in her stoic expression as a corner of her lips twitched at James' lingering unease; bursting into laughter the moment she met Sirius' amused eyes and James jumped in surprise.
"You're not mad?"
"I was never actually all that mad any time you boys pulled pranks; at last not since I've discovered why you truly pull them," she managed to answer once her laughter subsided. "But even back then I had to admit it was a funny prank and it certainly cheered people up a lot."
"Not the Slytherins, though," Remus couldn't help but point out. "There were several who kept floating constantly, all the while cursing us out."
"Mostly me and Sirius," now that he knew his girlfriend wasn't mad at him, James leaned back in his chair relaxed; throwing one arm around the back of her chair. "But most couldn't concentrate well enough to actually cast a real curse while floating."
"I still find it hard to believe you found inspiration for a prank in a children's book," shaking her head fondly she dropped the conversation as there was an announcement they could enter their viewing room, instead they quickly collected their belongings to make their way to good spots.
During the film, Remus and Lily both kept glancing at their companions to gauge their reactions; the red-head grinning every time the two boys laughed or responded to something that happened on screen.
It was hard not to laugh as both boys straightened during the meadow scene as the music began to change; anticipation and dread crossing their faces yet both boys still jumped at the sound of the first gunshot; clearly not recognising the sound like he and Lily did and both boys took a shaky breath as they realised what had happened at the second shot.
Hands automatically tangling together, they drew comfort from each other as the scene played out further before wet grey eyes momentarily met his own in a half glare before returning to the screen; making him realise he hadn't quite managed to hold in the laughter completely.
He caught Lily's eyes over their hunched forms, the girl mouthing to him that he was being insensitive; but since it was done with a barely concealed smile, he simply stuck out his tongue while at the same time rubbing a hand over Sirius' shoulder comfortingly as an apology as the sad scene played out further.
His apology was clearly accepted as Sirius briefly reached up with his free hand to squeeze his in return; eyes never leaving the screen though the two dark-haired boys' hands remained tangled for the remainder of the film even as Lily leaned her head against James' shoulder from his other side.
Both boys were smiling widely by the end of the film; so he knew it had been a hit and as he listened to them chat excitedly with Lily about what they'd seen as they gathered their belongings; he knew he'd been right in suspecting which characters they'd love.
"Where would you like to eat?" He asked once they'd redressed and applied Heating Charms again before making their way back outside. "You can pick between Italian, Chinese and Indian."
"Depends on where they have the most vegetables," a mischievous smile spread over Sirius' lips; making Remus shake his head fondly as he knew exactly what the other was aiming for and wasn't let down.
"Eating greens is a special treat. It makes long ears and great big feet," James beamed and leaned in between Sirius and Lily. "But it sure is awful stuff to eat."
Snorting, Lily rolled her eyes but Sirius slung an arm around his shoulder. "Bambi!"
"Noooo!" Whining James tried to shake him off but Sirius jumped onto his back instead; making the other stumble momentarily before managing to hoist him up properly. "I'm not Bambi."
"Yes you are," he exclaimed while wrapping his arms around his neck momentarily in a piggy back hug and kicking his legs out cheerfully before letting go again; landing gracefully on his feet like there was no slippery snow all around them as James let go of him again. "There's no denying it, even your Patronus confirms it and Lil's clearly your Faline."
"Because my Patronus is a doe?" Laughing, Lily rolled her eyes fondly as he nodded excitedly.
"Then...then, you're Flower!" James' mock glare didn't have the desired effect as Sirius simply shrugged.
"I can live with that," he looked thoughtful for a moment as a strong breeze made them all shiver despite the heating charms. "Does that mean I get to hibernate?"
"No hibernation for you," laughing Lily linked arms with him. "Does that make Remus Thumper?"
"Either that or friend Owl," mischievous eyes met his, "I'm leaning more towards friend Owl."
Turning to look at him, Lily gave him a thoughtful look and Remus shifted a little uncomfortable at what she was seeing. "Yes, I think you might be right there. But forest animals aside, you are supposed to pick a place to eat."
"How about Italian? That way our Thumper imitator can prevent too much obvious greenery if he'd like and we've got a wide array of choices for us all to pick something we like," squeaking out a laugh and ducking away from the swat James aimed at him, he grinned as the bespectacled boy slipped; though he did reach out to steady him.
"Fine by me," laughing at the boy's antics as James tried to use the opportunity to trap Sirius, Lily made sure to stay out of the way as the two roughhoused for a moment before resettling at their sides once James successfully trapped Sirius before pulling him in a hug.
"But first we're going to get you a watch to celebrate your coming of age, even if your birthday was a while ago," Sirius decided once James released him, slipping a gloved hand into Remus' as he seemed to sense the soreness was returning more thoroughly.
It wasn't really advisable for two men to walk hand in hand openly on the Muggle streets; but Remus was too comfortable to separate as Sirius' lingering closeness was both warm and helped and besides, it was too cold outside anyway for many people to be outside if they didn't have to be so he simply pulled him closer.
It didn't take long to find the shop Sirius had mentioned and before long a new watch had been bought. Their two dark-haired companions shared one of those special looks that meant an entire conversation took place in the blink of an eye; one Remus had long since given up hope of ever following once they were back outside but Lily still tried to decipher as she glanced between them curiously.
A moment later Sirius took the bag with the purchased watch from her and he and James skedaddled away from them, ignoring Lily's surprised exclaim.
"It's better just to wait them out when they're in such a mood," Remus settled against the wall, content to wait for the two to finish as he was fairly sure they were taking the watch to magically engrave it before officially handing it over.
Accepting his word for it, Lily pulled herself up on the low wall across of him; eyeing the two boys who were huddled close together several meters away from them. "As we're waiting anyway, how are you doing?"
"I'm fine, why'd you ask?" Shifting a little uncomfortable as he didn't think he'd given anything away, he tried not to break eye contact as piercing green eyes bore into him.
"Since you were sick Monday?" She raised an eyebrow as she broke eye contact to once more glance at the two boys. "It's why we didn't meet up to do this on Sirius' actual birthday, after all."
"Ah, I'm good again," clearing his throat he hoped he didn't flush as badly as he thought he did. "It seems that it was just a little stomach bug, probably caught it from Pete before the holidays started."
"Quite a few students have been sick lately," she readily agreed. "I'm happy you were feeling better in time so we could do this rather close to Sirius' birthday."
"I feel the same," looking up as their dark-haired companions returned, James grinned as he held out the bag to her.
"Happy belated birthday from the Marauders."
Rolling her eyes fondly, Lily accepted the bag and curiously pulled the watch out; turning it over to see the boys had indeed engraved it.
"Dear Lily, Happy seventeenth birthday and welcome to the family. Love, the Marauders," she let out a breathy laugh as she read the engraving; letting James take off her current watch so she could fasten the new one in place as she was too busy fighting back tears.
The moment he was done however, she pulled both dark-haired boys in a hug, nodding at Remus in gratitude before pulling James close to give him a kiss.
"So, Italian?" A flush had spread over James' cheeks as they separated a moment later, swatting at Sirius half-heartedly as he grinned.
"I think I'm in the mood for pizza," Sirius nodded.
"Sounds good to me, there's this place that just opened nearby that has these enormous pizzas so perhaps we could share if we're all interested in it."
"That depends on what kind you're getting," James pulled a face. "You like fish, don't you?"
"I do, especially anchovies on pizza," she acknowledged. "But I don't mind eating a different kind since none of you seem to like fish."
"I like fish well enough, but not on pizza," indicating to James and Remus, Sirius grinned. "It's those two who are the problem. Rem doesn't like any fish or meat overcooked and James simply won't eat fish of any kind unless it's salmon."
"Cooked or smoked salmon is all right," James admitted. "Any other kind of fish is just disgusting. I'm more for the cheese kinds."
"Then if everyone agrees, we could get one of the different kind of cheeses and a mozzarella and split it between the four of us so we all have the same pizzas," Sirius suggested and getting a ready agreement, the four of them made their way to the place Lily knew; spending a relaxing evening at the restaurant to eat pizza before closing off the afternoon with delicious ice creams.
After dinner, they brought Lily home; Remus officially meeting her parents for the first time as they were ushered in for drinks.
He was surprised to see James wasn't nervous at all to meet his girlfriend's parents as they took a seat on the couch before realising he must have met them already with how familiar they conversed.
He already knew Sirius had met them both before as he had approached Lily months ago for help with a plan of his involving his motorbike and she had brought him into contact with her father for it.
Eventually though, they said their goodbyes and promising to meet up with her after Easter again, left.
After Sirius Side-Along-Apparated them back to Potter Manor, Remus turned to James as they made their way up the front lane.
"When did you meet her parents?"
"Last Sunday," James said. "I met up with Lily to discuss the last details of Sirius' surprise since she knew the area and the viewing times; her parents came home during it. It was actually quite fun."
"So you weren't nervous at all?" Smiling as flush crept up James' cheeks, Remus bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.
"I didn't really get a chance to be, Victor and Anna are very nice and were quick to put me at ease," he smiled. "It also helped that I'd already heard stories from Sirius about them and they've met magical folks before so they weren't too confused when I said something they'd find weird. It truly was a nice, if somewhat surprising meeting."
"I'm glad it went well, it's quite serious to be meeting one's parents, after all."
"I would have had to at some point as I'm very set on marrying her some day," it was something he'd said several times in the past years, but this was the first time Remus was taking him seriously and he nodded.
"I better get an invite to the wedding," he threatened good-naturedly.
"Sure, you and Pete can be flower boys since Sirius already has the spot of best man," he slung an arm around Sirius' shoulder. "Right?"
"Right," Sirius agreed readily, eyes on the bundle of papers Lily's father had given him. "You'll have an autumn wedding, preferably right after graduation so you can move in together as soon as possible."
"It sounds like you've got their whole relationship thought out already," blinking as an almost guilty look crossed his face while James beamed, Remus narrowed his eyes. "What have you done?"
"He's giving us a house as a wedding present," James cheerfully informed him. "It's in Godric's Hollow but he won't let me see it yet."
"The purpose of a wedding present is that you're getting to see it at or after your wedding," it sounded like it was a discussion the two had had several times already so Remus simply raised an eyebrow. "I told Lily the same thing."
"That's...really serious," surprised by this development, Remus looked between the two. "She didn't care that you were pretty much talking about marriage despite only dating for almost four months now?"
"I did say it was a future plan," Sirius assured him quickly. "But as I'm selling the properties Uncle Alphard left me in his Will, I did need to get her opinion on the idea so I could hold it back for them regardless of how long it might take for them to be ready to get married."
"That sort of makes sense, but doesn't it put a lot of pressure on her?"
"Oh no, she laughed and told him that it better include a garden so we could grow our own vegetables one we're ready and have enough rooms for future children," the beam on James' face was nearly blinding and Sirius stifled a laugh at the presumably priceless expression on Remus' own face.
"You are bonkers, both of you," he paused. "No, all three of you are."
"You really should've known that by now," James simply patted his shoulder before taking the bundle of papers from Sirius.
"Oi."
"You can look at those tomorrow after we've dropped all of this off at Pete's," holding up the bag of left over candy from the cinema, James rolled the bundle up and stuffed it into his pocket. "Tonight there's games planned with Auntie Hope and Uncle Lyall."
"Your parents are staying with us?" Surprised Sirius looked up to Remus; making him smile.
"We'll stay until after Easter, actually," his mood soured slightly at the knowledge this was likely the last Easter he'd be able to spend with her but shook it off as he knew she wouldn't want him to linger on such dark thoughts.
"Are you sure you want that?" Grey eyes met his. "None of us would blame you if you'd prefer to spend the holidays with just your parents."
"I'm sure," smiling at the thoughtfulness in his friend, he smiled. "Mum's always wanted to celebrate Easter at the Manor and after she hopes the two of you will travel back home with us so you can watch last year's Doctor Who serial with her."
"If you're sure about us being there, then that sounds good," James admitted. "But don't be afraid to say no if you'd rather have we stayed back home."
"Thanks, but I'm sure. Mum loves watching television with you both and I know she's found a recipe for ginger cake she wants to make with you for some reason."
Chuckling at what was clearly an inside joke between them, Sirius nodded as he linked hands with James. "Sure, but any moment you'd prefer us gone, you're just to give a hint."
Nodding in agreement, both boys smiled.
"Good, then we can go play games and see what kind of treats our mothers have whipped up," pulling Sirius with him, James quickened his pace and Remus fondly rolled his eyes before following his companions so they could enjoy a nice evening of games.
