Author's Note: Enjoy!
Lily had gone shopping with her mother and sister, and Harry had decided to go to Hermione's house for dinner. This left James home alone with Melody and Levi, which did not occur very often. They decided to go out to dinner at local restaurant that had has delicious burgers.
"How was school today Mel," James asked.
"Fine," said Mel. "Recess was kind of interesting though, you know my friend Hannah?"
"You've mentioned her," replied James.
"Well, in the school yard today her crush, Jacob, came over to us and asked her out," Melody squealed. "They even had their first hug!"
"First hug," James asked with a laugh. "Is that something you all get excited about?"
Melody rolled her eyes, "ugh, of course! It's a huge deal!"
"Uh huh," said James. He turned to his son, "what about you Levi? How was your school day?"
"Good," said Levi.
"What did you learn today," asked James.
Levi thought for a moment before shrugging, "I don't remember."
"Good to see where my tax money is going then," said James with an eye-roll.
"Mhm," said Levi, "can we get ice cream?"
James rolled his eyes again, "sure after dinner."
Lily was already home when the three of them came back from dinner. Melody and Levi went upstairs, leaving both Lily and James alone in the living room. "What did you do today," she asked him.
"Worked," he stated plainly. " After, I did take Mel and Levi to dinner. Did you know that middle schoolers get excited over hugging?"
Lily rolled her eyes, "I work with them, James, I know what they're all about. It's always 'Gavin hugged Kylie' or 'Raegan held hands with Tyler.'"
James gave her smirk, "well darling, will you hug me then, since that's all the rage?"
She returned his smirk, "I will do much more than that if you would like me to."
James placed a kiss on her lips, then another, and then another, until they heard someone entering the living room. "Hey m- EW!"
They broke apart and looked up to see Harry standing in front of them, his face pale and eyes wide. "Can you not do that in the living room," he asked, exasperated. "It is a public area of the house after all!"
He ran up the stairs and slammed his door shut. James looked over to Lily again, "after they go to bed, then?"
"Yep."
O
Marlene had barely spoken to Sirius since they had gone to lunch with Regulus and Adam three days ago. They had just put Christian to bed and now sat in the living room in total silence.
"Are you made at me," Sirius asked, looking over to her for one of the first times that evening. She did not look back at him, but the scowl on her face deepened.
"Oh I'm pissed at at you," she responded coldly. "Being honest, you're lucky you haven't slept on the couch for the last few nights."
"Uh huh. And tell me, what exactly are you pissed at me for," he asked her, annoyed.
She rolled her eyes, "the way you treated your brother, obviously."
"Got it," he said, "but let's not forget the way he treated me my entire life. He never had my back growing up, not even once. I'm done having his until he shows me he has mine, so no, I will not be the best man at his wedding."
"I thought you would be the bigger person-"
"When have I ever been the bigger person, Marlene? When," he asked, a tone of anger rising in his voice.
"I don't fucking know Sirius," she shouted, "I was hoping you would do something right for once in your damn life."
"Right, because marrying you and having Christian were both horrible mistakes on my part," he laughed coldly.
"That's not what I meant," she huffed. Suddenly she was shouting again, "your twisting my words, I fucking hate when you do that! I was just hoping that love for your brother would make you be not an asshole."
"My love for my brother, huh," he said. He was yelling back at her now, "the only person here who loves my brother is you! If you love him so much, why didn't you just marry him, then?"
Marlene looked taken aback, "He's gay Sirius! That's a pretty big hinder right there!"
"Was that the only thing stopping you? Would you rather have him than me," he asked, still shouting every word he spoke.
Marlene looked as though someone had slapped her across the face, "you know what, f-"
"-Mommy?"
They both looked behind them and saw Christian standing by the stairs, holding his teddy bear in one arm. He raised the other hand to his eye and rubbed it, whether he was rubbing away sleep or tears, Sirius was not sure. As she moved closer to the stairs, Marlene sent Sirius a glare before picking Christian up to carry him back to bed, "now you're sleeping on the couch."
O
Harry was searching through his locker when he felt someone tap him on his left shoulder. He grabbed the books he needed for next class period before turning around and being faced with Ron.
"Hey," Ron mumbled, looking down at his dirty black converses.
"Hi," said Harry, "what do you need?"
"I need help with this whole Hermione issue," said Ron, finally meeting Harry's eyes, "she won't talk to me."
"She said you aren't talking to her," Harry said, cocking one eyebrow.
"I guess we have been avoiding each other," mumbled Ron, looking back down at his shoes. "Do you know where I can find her later?"
"She has play rehearsal, so maybe the auditorium after school. Just be sure to get there early, so you aren't interrupting practice," said Harry.
"Thanks," said Ron.
"No problem," said Harry. "Let's get to chemistry."
They walked through the hallways together in small conversations, trying to catch up after not speaking to each other for several weeks. Ron suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked down the hallway towards a couple. It took Harry a moment to realize that it was Ron's sister, Ginny, kissing one of their classmates, Dean Thomas.
Ron pointed at them, a look of disgust on his face, "do you see that? Can you believe it?"
"No, I thought Dean was gay," said Harry, who could not help but feeling angry as well. He and Ginny had been talking a lot the past few weeks about his fight with Ron, and Harry was beginning to see how cool she actually was. She was funny, witty, and rather pretty, but he only felt angry because she was Ron's younger sister, right?
"Well clearly not," shouted Ron, alerting the couple of their presence.
"Hey Ron," mumbled Ginny, blushing to the same shade of her red hair.
"Hey! That's all you have to say to me," yelled Ron.
"What's your deal," asked Ginny, placing a hand on her hip.
"My deal is you making a show for everyone in the middle of school," yelled Ron.
"You were the only one watching," Ginny retorted. "Don't get mad at me that you can't land your own. It's not my fault that you're a sixteen year old prude, Ron!"
Anger grew on Ron's face, but he readjusted his bag on his shoulder before walking down the hallway. Harry looked at Ginny sympathetically, the anger on her face matched Ron's. Harry turned back, seeing Ron's figure getting smaller and smaller, so Harry sped after him.
O
Remus sat in the office space that they had just moved to the basement. He was on his laptop, browsing the internet when Dora walked in.
"Hey," she said, "what are you up to?"
"Just looking around," he said, turning his chair around so he was facing her.
She peered over him and looked at the screen, "browsing colleges?"
He looked up at her, "listen it may be a lot at once, but I want to finish my PhD. I stopped studying, so I could focus on paying off my debt before we got married, but I still want to complete it. I worked it out, and it will be a lot, but it is possible for me to finish by Christmas."
"By Christmas," she asked. "How many classes would you be taking?"
"A lot," said Remus, "it would be in both summer and fall."
"With work and the baby due in a few weeks? Are you sure you'll be able to handle all of that?"
Remus nodded, "it will be a lot of work, and a lot of sleepless nights, but I want to do this. I feel like if I don't finish it now I never will."
Dora nodded. "What do you think about it," Remus asked.
"Something tells me we won't be sleeping much anyways, so that shouldn't be much trouble," laughed Dora. "If you think that you can handle it, then do it."
"Are you sure," Remus asked, "what about the money? I'll probably have to take out a loan again."
"That may be an issue, but we can work that out. You've worked so hard for it already, you should complete it," Dora told him. She placed her hand on top of his shoulder, so Remus reached his own hand over and placed it on top of hers. "I believe in you."
Remus smiled," that's all I need."
O
"So you're going back to school now," James asked Remus at their weekly dinner. However, this one was different as the guys were at the Potter's house, while the girls were at the Black's house.
"Yeah," said Remus, "I start May sixteenth."
"Online or in person," asked Sirius.
"Both. Mostly online, but I have two classes I go in for once or twice a month each."
"Not bad," said James.
"Nah," said Remus, "I had to work around my work schedule and take in the fact that I would have to work around the schedule of a baby as well. My class schedule is a bit weird because of that, but it will get the job done."
"And you'll be done by Christmas," asked Sirius.
"Completely finished," said Remus. "I will probably have to wait until spring for the actual ceremony, but it should work out fine."
"Will you still teach or no," asked Sirius.
"I might apply for a job at a university after I graduate, but I'm not sure yet," Remus explained.
"Awe. Are you sad you won't have your work buddy anymore, Pads," asked James.
Sirius sighed, "if I am going to be totally honest with, I've been thinking about doing something different too."
"Like what," asked Remus.
"Chemical engineering," said Sirius. "I have always been interested in it, and I have my masters in chemistry. I think I may stay for another year or two before I do, if I even leave."
"Interesting," said James. "Not to completely change the topic, but why did our wives insist on a different location than us."
Sirius rolled his eyes, "probably my fault, I've been sleeping on the couch for the past week."
"What did you do," asked Remus with a laugh.
"We got into a fight about me storming away from my brother at lunch," said Sirius. He looked down to his hands, "I may have also insinuated that she's more in love with my brother, and that she should have just married him instead."
Both Remus's and James's mouths flew open. "Why would you say that," asked Remus, exasperated.
"I don't know," admitted Sirius, hiding his face in his hands. "I guess I was just angry, but Marlene has barely spoken to me all week!"
"I don't really think I blame her, Padfoot," said James.
"Yeah, yeah I fucked up," said Sirius. "What do I do to fix it?"
"Apologizing may be a good start," suggested James.
O
Monday morning, Sirius was sitting at the kitchen table with Marlene. They were as silent as they had been the last week while they sat across from each other, drinking their cups of coffee. Even without saying anything, Marlene did not hold back the grudge as she had been sending the Sirius the nastiest glares from across the table.
Sirius sighed, "I'm sorry."
"About what," she asked.
"I'm sorry that I said you were more in love with my brother than me," admitted Sirius. "And I'm sorry that I stormed out during our lunch with them."
"Don't apologize to me about storming out, apologize to Regulus. He looked hurt, Sirius, he wants a relationship with you."
"I know," sighed Sirius, "it's just hard to count on him to be on my side when he had always let me down in the past."
"Look at how many people in our lives that have let each other down but are still fine. Lily's and James's entire first part of them knowing each other was James constantly pissing Lily off. On top of that, with me and Lily being friends while you and James were, you pissed me off! Then Remus and Dora had one of the messiest break ups I have ever seen, so messy to the point I was surprised when they even got back together. Now look, they're married and having a kid. Not to mention the Remus walked out, even if for a few hours, when she told him. Everyone let's someone down eventually, but that doesn't mean they will always be like that. They may have changed, they may not have, but that doesn't mean you should never give them a shot."
Sirius nodded, "you're right. I'll call him later this week and apologize." He stood up and grabbed his bag and coat, "I'll see you after work."
Later that day, Sirius was doing a lab with his third period class when Remus walked in, his bag and jacket in his hands. "Do you mind keeping an eye on my class while they wait for the sub to get here," he asked Sirius.
"No problem," Sirius said. Remus turned to leave but Sirius called after him, "everything okay?"
Remus stuck his head back in the room, "everything's great. I'm about to become a dad."
Hope you enjoyed! Stay tuned for Teddy in the next chapter!