This can be read as either a standalone, but it's mostly a sequel for Bea Writes' My Heart Is Whenever You Are (which is actually My Heart Is Wherever You Are). Quick context: Hermione was Harry's nanny, and she fell in love with his famous cricketer single daddy, James Potter. Lily and James are still friendly, and there are no hard feelings between them. They just fell out of love. Hermione and James are getting married soon.


"Your food is in the fridge, Harry's is on the counter, and you know where his toys are, he doesn't need to take a bath before bed if he doesn't want to, but don't forget to read him his favourite storybook and give him a chocolate biscuit or else he'll make your night a living hell," James rambled, ticking things off on his fingers.

Remus, fortunately, listened as patiently as he could without rolling his eyes. He knew James too well by now to stop him in the middle of his lecture—even though James had been talking nonstop for the past thirteen minutes and forty seconds. Remus subtly glanced at the watch on his wrist to confirm the time. Yes. Thirteen minutes and fifty seconds now.

"...and Harry chooses his pyjamas himself because he says he's a big boy now—or at least that's what I think he's saying, so you just have to open the cupboard door for him. Don't let him climb up on the shelves though, I don't want him falling out of it if you're not paying attention…"

Remus pursed his lips and silently tapped his foot. As the captain, James's motivational speeches before every cricket match they played usually lasted between three to ten minutes based on how strong of an opponent they were facing. This speech had gone way past ten minutes now, and Remus was getting tired.

Where was Hermione when you needed her?

As if Remus had summoned her telepathically, the young brunette walked into the living room with Harry perched on her right hip. He was tugging on her curls and babbling away excitedly, while Hermione was smiling and making the same babbling sounds back at him.

James was talking about the electrical sockets of all things when Remus interrupted him by exclaiming, "There's Harry! Wonderful! Time to go, James!"

James opened his mouth, but before he could say something, Remus yanked Harry out of Hermione's arms, tossed James's jacket at his head, and forced him towards the door. "Have fun shopping for your wedding, mate. I'll handle Harry—and if I can't, I'll call you."

"You have our numb—"

Chuckling, Hermione wrapped her fingers around James's bicep and stopped him before he could start rambling again. "Yes, James, Remus, who has known you since you were in school together, has your number—in fact, he's memorised it too. He knows everything about you because he's Remus Lupin, your best friend. Or did you forget that for some reason?"

Hermione was laying it on thick, but because James was pretty thickheaded when it came to matters that concerned her or Harry, Remus let her speak. James's cheeks tinged pink as he glanced at Hermione and then at Remus. He ducked his head and rubbed the back of his neck before muttering, "Alright, I get it. I'm being a bit cautious…"

"A bit?" Remus couldn't help but ask sarcastically.

James shot him a half-hearted glare, but his shoulders slumped forward. "Okay, fine, a lot. It's just…" He glanced at Harry, who was happily playing with Remus's sleeve and ignoring the adults in the room. "I don't know why, but I feel…weird about leaving him today."

"James, mate, you've let me babysit him so many times before," Remus pointed out. "What's the issue this time?"

"I'm not sure." When Hermione entwined her fingers with his, James murmured, "I think it's because we're planning our wedding but Harry's not actually included in it. Do you think he's mad at me for that?"

Remus stared at James, wondering if he should be amused or worried for how sensitive James was about this subject—something that Harry didn't even care for because he was barely two years old. Finally, he chose to calmly push James out the door and say, "If you start crying like a wuss, I'll take your pictures and send them straight to Regulus. Then you'll have to pay him to stop the pictures from getting splashed all over social media."

"You are so mean," James grumbled, but he tried to discreetly rub his eyes (and failed). "Fine, we're going, right, Mione?"

"Are you sure? If you want, we could take Harry with us so you don't feel—"

"No, he'll be fine with Remus." James then leaned in and tried to kiss Harry but ended up getting slapped by the boy instead. Hermione sniggered, disguising it with a loud cough, while James glared at her and rubbed his cheek. "Let's go before he starts crying."

"Be good for Uncle Remy, okay, Harry?" Hermione cooed, leaning forward and offering Harry her cheek. "Can you give Mine a kissy pwease?"

Babbling, Harry leapt forward, wrapping his tiny arms around Hermione's neck before smacking his lips loudly against her cheek, slathering it with spit. Instead of being disgusted, Hermione laughed and blew a raspberry against his tummy, making him laugh. She pulled back and smiled at the boy. "Say bye bye, Harry."

"Buh-buh," Harry squeaked, closing and opening his fist, his own version of a wave.

"Aww, he's so cute!" James sobbed, his face resembling that of an overexcited golden retriever. "Sure he didn't let me kiss him, but he's so cute!"

"Let's go, James," Hermione said with a laugh, finally managing to drag him outside. James didn't stop waving at Harry until they had climbed into the car and driven halfway down the road.

Remus said lightly, "Your daddy's an idiot, but don't tell him that."

"I'yut!"

"No one's going to understand that thankfully, so I'm safe for now." Remus couldn't help but smile and kiss the top of Harry's head. The boy smelt like baby powder and milk, along with a scent that was just Harry. Fresh and sweet. Innocent. Pure.

He was still busy sniffing Harry like a creep when a car stopped near the entrance and the driver climbed out. Harry squealed, "Mama," and tried to leap out of Remus's arms. Remus barely stopped him from faceplanting on the ground.

Dressed in a designer dress made entirely of sequins and bright yellow bows, Lily Evans—formerly Mrs James Potter—beamed at them and waved excitedly as she jogged over. "Harry! Remus! Hi!"

Remus carefully lowered a giggling Harry to the ground and steadied him before allowing him to stumble towards Lily, who stood a few feet away with her thin arms outstretched. She crouched on the cobblestone path, not bothering to pull her dress up, and laughed when Harry threw himself onto her lap. She swung him up and whirled him around. "My baby! Did you miss Mummy? Oh, Mummy missed you so much! Yes, she did!"

Remus's heart melted at the sight of Lily peppering kisses all over Harry's chubby cheeks. Truth be told, he'd always had a small crush on the woman even when she had been married to James, and his feelings only grew every time she interacted with her baby. He had never allowed himself the luxury of imagining himself being more than friends with her, but it was his subconscious mind that often haunted his dreams with images of Lily and him locked in a passionate embrace.

Lily then glanced up at Remus and grinned, her teeth almost blinding in the sunlight. "Hi, Remus."

"H-hi, Lily," Remus said, trying not to make a fool of himself. His teammates knew him as the calmest man on and off the field, but drop a beaming Lily Evans in front of him and watch him become a drooling mess. He cleared his throat and tried to sound more confident. "What are you doing here?"

"Is that how you welcome everyone? I have to say I'm not impressed," Lily stated, but her twinkling eyes and smile gave her away. She laughed at him and walked over to his side, Harry balanced on her hip, to give Remus a one-armed hug.

Remus's knees almost gave out at the glorious, glorious scent of her floral shampoo. Her long red locks framed her face, tickling his neck when she tucked her head under his chin. Harry babbled happily and smacked Remus's chest with his closed fists.

"Harry thinks you should invite me inside," Lily stated, pulling away from him. She looked at him pointedly when he didn't react to her statement—he was too busy mentally screaming like a prepubescent girl with her first crush. Lily cleared her throat and asked, "Remus?"

Remus shook his head to clear it before nodding fervently. "Yes, of course, please come in, yes, please."

Lily chuckled and walked into the house, and Remus trailed after her like a lost puppy. Strolling into the living room, Lily sat down in the armchair, placing Harry on her lap. He climbed onto her shoulders and tried to use them like a springboard.

Remus quickly rushed over to catch him before he could fall down. "Be careful, Junior. Your daddy will kill me if you get hurt on my watch."

"You can sit down, Remus. Harry's fine," Lily said gently, placing her hand on his arm when he didn't move from his spot.

Remus's face warmed at her small action, but he thankfully kept his mouth shut as he shuffled back to the sofa. He kept his eyes trained on Harry, who was now slipping and sliding down Lily's bare legs like they were his own personal slide. Of course, Remus tried not to sneak a peek at all that skin on display—and failed miserably. Still, he pretended he was keeping an eye on Harry and not imagining his long fingers wrapping around Lily's calves and sliding up the back of her knees and under the hem of her short dress.

"...Remus?" Lily leaned forward, waving her hand in his face, and Remus caught a glimpse of her pastel pink bra.

Oh, hell no. This was not happening. He was not getting a boner in front of Harry. Nope. No way.

"Remus, did you hear me?" Lily cocked a brow at him and pulled Harry up onto her lap again so he could slide back down.

"Sorry, no, I was looking at Harry." And your legs, he added silently.

"I was just saying that Hermione asked me if I could help you with Harry today. So, I'm here to keep you both company." Lily smiled at him. "You don't have to be so…stiff, you know? You can relax. Everything's fine. I'm not going to bite..."

Remus tried to smile and relax his shoulders, but the realisation that he had never actually been alone with Lily before had just crossed his mind. They had known each other since they were in school together, but James and Sirius had always been there as buffers. And now they were not.

Remus's heart was beating so loud that he feared Lily could hear it. He had never been so nervous, not even during the Cricket World Cup. If only his teammates could see him now…

"Wheeeee!" Harry squealed and flailed his arms as he rolled down Lily's legs again. He fell onto his back and laughed. "Wemy, loo'!"

Remus smiled at Harry and nodded. "Looks like you're having fun, huh?"

"Fu-hn!" Harry repeated, clapping his little hands before getting distracted by something under the sofa. Crawling over, he shoved his hand underneath and pulled out a chocolate wrapper. "Wemy, loo'!"

Remus bent to take it from him, but Harry had other ideas. He shoved the wrapper into his mouth and tried to swallow it without warning.

"Oh, no, Harry, spit it out!" Lily cried, jumping to her feet and hurrying to crouch down beside him. Remus got onto his knees too, focussing on getting the plastic wrapper out of Harry's mouth before he could choke on it.

But no matter how hard they both tried, Harry was adamant about not loosening his jaw. He clenched his teeth shut, baring them at Remus in a feral grin.

Lily was getting frantic; she wrung her hands and pleaded with Harry to open his mouth, but to no avail.

Remus composed himself and cupped Harry's jaw. Looking the boy firmly in the eyes, he said calmly, "Open your mouth, Harry."

"Nuh," Harry mumbled through the wrapper.

"Harry, I'm not joking." Remus kept his tone calm and patient no matter how terrified he was at the moment. Lily was already crying, and Remus couldn't bear to see her so panicked.

Harry must have realised how tense the situation was, for he slowly loosened his jaw enough for Remus to push his fingers inside and grab the plastic wrapper. Scrunching it up into a ball, he shoved it inside his pocket and dragged Harry into a fierce hug. He buried his face in Harry's black hair and mumbled, "Don't scare us like that, please…"

Lily quickly joined the hug by wrapping her arms around them both and crying in relief. Remus almost had a heart attack at how easily he could see down her dress, but he reminded himself that he was a gentleman—but fuck…her tits are so close…

Harry wriggled in between them and blinked up at Remus curiously. "Wemy? Mama? Sad?"

"No, we're not sad, we're happy that you're safe," Lily explained through her tears. She beamed down at him as she wiped her face before picking him up. "Let's go do something fun, yeah? Uncle Remus, are you coming?"

Remus swallowed and nodded quickly. There was no way he wasn't keeping a close eye on them both. He couldn't let anything bad happen to either of them. He wouldn't be able to bear it.

When he got to his feet, he suddenly found himself looking down at Lily, who hadn't moved from her spot. She was too close to him. Her chest brushed against his as she gazed up at him, a strange emotion in her eyes. Harry whined and tugged on her hair, demanding she pay him some attention, but Lily didn't look away from Remus.

Remus cleared his throat, his face heating up at her perusal. "Uh…Lily? You okay?"

Lily bit her lower lip and ducked her head for a second before glancing back up at him. She swallowed and whispered, "Thank you, Remus…"

"F-for what?" His mind was blank.

"For keeping a cool head while I was panicking like a bloody chicken," she muttered, her cheeks turning pink. She licked her dry lips, forcing Remus's eyes to narrow in on the action. "It's just that…I haven't handled Harry in such a dangerous situation before. I don't know what I would have done if I didn't have you. So thank you for being here."

Remus chuckled and dropped his chin to his chest. "Honestly, Lily? You're giving me too much credit. I was scared shitless."

"Shitless!" Harry echoed with a huge grin.

Lily paled and her eyes widened. "Remus!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Remus raised his hands in defence and ended up accidentally pressing his palms over her tits. She blushed deep red while he stammered out another apology, "Shit, shit, sorry—sorry, I can't—I didn't mean—"

"Shit!" Harry repeated, still grinning up at Remus. His usually innocent green eyes were now filled with mischief. "Shit, shit, shit!"

"Oh, fu—"

"Don't say it!" Lily cried, raising one hand and clapping it over his mouth.

Remus whimpered. Her soft, smooth hand was on his face (well, technically, his mouth), and he had just groped her in front of her child; he could now easily see her wrapping her fingers around his long, hard—

"Harry, baby, Uncle Remy made a mistake and said sorry, so we're not going to repeat the bad word, okay?" Lily told Harry, who frowned but nodded his acceptance. She kissed his forehead before looking up at Remus. "And Uncle Remy promises he won't say the bad words again, right?"

"Yeah, I promise," Remus said quickly. "Just don't tell your daddy or Mine, okay?"

"Oo-kay, Wemy," Harry chorused and then wriggled on Lily's lip, asking to be put down.

Lily lowered him to the ground and watched him walk toward his playmat in the corner of the room. He climbed into the large box full of toys and rummaged around for something.

Remus took the opportunity to apologise to Lily again. "I really am sorry, Lily."

"What for?"

"For…touching you…inappropriately," he whispered shyly.

Lily didn't meet his gaze when she whispered, "It's fine, I didn't mind it."

Before Remus could make heads or tails of her vague statement, Harry fell out of the box with his toy bat and ball in hand. He shook himself like a wet dog before getting up and grinning. "Wemy, Mama, pway cwickee!"

Lily hurried to Harry's side. "You want to play cricket, baby?"

"Ye-ahs!" Harry cheered and shoved the bat into Lily's hand. "Mama, bat, Wemy, bool."

"Kiddo, I'm not a bowler, I'm a batsman," Remus said with a chuckle, stepping forward to take the bat from Lily.

She was about to hand it over when Harry scrunched his nose up and wailed, "Mama, bat! Mama, bat!"

"Okay, okay, I'll bat," Lily said quickly to calm him down. She raised her hands to tie her hair up in a high bun. She crouched down to hold the bat to the ground as it was too small for her, and her arse jutted out to the side. "I'm ready, Remus."

Remus's mouth watered at the way her skin shone in the sunlight streaming through the floor-length windows. He swallowed and mentally thanked Harry for getting Lily to stand like that. The only thing better than Lily batting in a short dress would be if she was batting while wearing his jersey. God, the sight would be both heavenly and torturous.

"Wemy, bool," Harry demanded, crouching down like he had seen them do while playing on the field. His diapered bottom touched the ground, but it didn't deter him from his amateurish stance.

Remus was tempted to correct him, but he didn't. Instead, he swung his arm back and let the ball fly.

Lily squealed and ducked, dropping the bat. "Remus! Slower!"

"Sorry," Remus said, laughing when she narrowed her eyes at him. "I'll go slower this time, yeah?"

She squinted at him suspiciously before picking up her bat again.

Remus rolled the ball towards her so slowly that Lily threw the bat down and glared at him. She growled, "Remus John Lupin. You can go a bit faster than that."

To his horror, he blurted out, "I'll go as fast as you want."

Lily's eyes widened, and a soft blush blossomed over her cheeks. She mumbled something, hiding behind the few strands of hair that had fallen out of her bun, and crouched again to bat.

Before Remus could bowl to her, Harry harrumphed and stormed over as best as he could. "Wemy bool wong! Me!"

Remus grinned sheepishly and handed the plastic ball to the boy, who scowled at Lily before throwing the ball as hard as he could. Unfortunately, his arm couldn't generate enough power and the ball only bounced a few times before coming to a stop near Lily's bat. Still, Lily cried out dramatically and swung the bat at the ball, hitting it towards the wall. "Yay, look, Harry, I hit a four!"

"Fowh!" Harry pushed Remus's legs, gesturing at him to get the ball.

Remus pretended to sigh before running after the ball. He tossed it at Harry, who giggled when he couldn't catch it in time. Remus chuckled and picked up the ball to hand it to Harry again. "Try again, mate."

"Oo-kay!" Harry nodded seriously before turning to Lily. "Mama, wedy!"

"Yes, I'm ready," Lily called out and waited patiently for another slow ball.

This time, Harry's fingers slipped as he was throwing the ball, and it flew at Lily's head instead. She blinked, startled, when it bounced off her forehead. Remus burst into laughter at her expression, and Harry soon joined him. Lily pretended to glare at them both, but she started laughing too.

When Remus stepped forward and cupped her face, her laughter trailed off and her breath hitched audibly. Her eyes began to widen when he leaned in closer…and closer…

Remus, for his part, hadn't realised exactly what he was doing until Lily's soft breath wafted to his nose. He'd only wanted to check her forehead to make sure she wasn't injured, something every cricketer had learnt to do, but now that they were so close that Remus could count the freckles dusting her cheeks, he couldn't move.

Lily gazed at him with something akin to hope in her eyes and her lips parted. "Remus," she whispered, "what are you doing?"

Remus's mouth was dry. He tried to say something, to tell her the truth of why he was so close to her that he could taste her on his tongue, but then, the distance between them closed. Remus didn't know who made the first move, but all he could feel was her soft lips moving over his and her sequined dress under his broad hands.

The kiss had barely lasted ten seconds when Harry suddenly tugged on his trousers and demanded, "No kissy, Wemy! Pway!"

Remus jumped away from Lily as if she had burnt him. Shit. He had just kissed Lily. His best friend's ex-wife. Harry's mother. Shit, shit, shit.

"Mama, ba-hd wahd!" Harry announced, pointing up at him with a huge grin.

"Yes, baby, Uncle Remus said a bad word again," Lily said pointedly, crossing her arms and staring at him with her eyebrow cocked. "How about you go play with your toys and I'll scold Uncle Remus for saying it. Okay?"

"Hehehe, okay," Harry said, covering his mouth with his hand as he giggled before he toddled toward his box, already forgetting about them.

Remus licked his lips to wet them but ended up tasting Lily on his tongue instead. His face warmed at the reminder that they had just kissed. He coughed and shoved his hands into his pockets before ducking his head. "I-I'm sorry, Lily, I shouldn't h-have…we shouldn't have done th-that. I-It's wrong and—"

"Why is it wrong?" Lily asked a bit too loudly. Glancing at Harry, who was happily playing with his stuffed animals, she lowered her tone when she repeated her question.

Remus tried to come up with a lie, but the truth slipped out instead. "You're James's ex-wife."

"So?"

"You guys recently got divorced, and Harry's so young—James would be so mad at me for even looking at you wrong, and I don't think it would be right if we…"

"Are you single, Remus?"

Remus choked but managed a weak, "Yes."

"Do you find me attractive?" Lily was looking him straight in the eyes, and Remus couldn't stop himself.

"Very." Oh, this was so embarrassing. Thank God Sirius wasn't here to make fun of him.

"Do you want to go out with me?" Again with the assertiveness. God, Lily was so hot when she took charge like that. He wanted to scoop her up in his arms and snog her senseless. Would she lead him through the kiss too, or would she rather give up the control for once?

"Y-yes," Remus squeaked and cleared his throat to sound more manly—though there was nothing manly about this situation. He was freaking out more than he had when he'd first hit a six in a T20 international match. "Yes."

Nodding, Lily said, "Very well then. After James and Hermione get back home, we'll go out for dinner. Okay?"

"Okay," Remus mumbled, his heart fluttering in his chest when she reached down to take his hand in hers. He gave her fingers a shy squeeze, which made her smile at him.

As Lily led him towards Harry, who was rolling on the floor on top of his stuffed toys, Remus thought, Maybe this won't be so bad. Just maybe James won't mind.


Feliz Aniversário, Bea. Você é uma velha e minha vela. It makes complete scents. Don't make me use Google Translate for the pun.