James had already left to finalize plans with Dumbledore when Lily woke up the next morning. Last night had ended early when Sirius had stormed out of the house with Remus eventually going after him. James wasn't much company afterwards. She had talked with Peter for a while, before he got the hint to go home. By the time he finally left, James had already gone to bed, without talking to her. At the time, she didn't think much of it, but it was unlike him to leave without saying goodbye.
After she got herself and Harry ready for a day at the park, she gathered him up. She opened the door to leave and there was Sirius. A little surprised to see him she didn't say anything.
"Um, hi Lil, is James home?" Sirius asked, shuffling his feet.
"No, he went to go meet Dumbledore. Again." She rolled her eyes at the thought of him going again to check on "the plan", as he called it.
"Oh, I was hoping to talk to him. I felt badly about how things went last night. I sort of acted before I thought. Anyways, I wanted to see if he was here but I guess not…" he trailed off.
"Well, come in, I think he should be home soon, or at least I hope so. Harry and I were going to go to the park before he got back." Lily grunted while switching Harry to her other hip. "We will wait with you and then James' can come with Harry and me to the park."
"Um, well, ok."
They went inside and sat down at the kitchen table. Sirius sat playing with Harry in his lap, while Lily got a picnic basket ready. She made sandwiches, and poured lemonade, and she even had time to make a batch of easy-swish brownies.
"Hey, are you interested in…" Sirius teased her, eyeing the closet.
"Sirius," she said, giving him a stern look, "no."
"C'mon, one last time?"
"I'm not sure," she said, giving in slightly.
"One. Last. Time."
"I don't know," Lily whined with her head to the side, and eyebrows scrunched.
"In, out, its done." Sirius said jumping up grinning. He left Harry in his chair, and grabbed her arm and pulled her to the closet.
When Lily came out she was laughing and smiling. She left the door open for Sirius to come through, still looking over her shoulder. Suddenly she stopped. Sirius who was still laughing turned to close the door and ran right in to her back.
"What in the bloody nine hells is going on?" James barked.
Lily seemed to be frozen in place, her eyes glazed. Sirius stepped in front of her to reason with James. Coming face to face with him seem to enrage James further. James just blasted on.
"What are you doing here? Did you not understand me last night?" He growled.
"James, it's not what it look--" Sirius tried to tell him.
"Not what it looks like, right?" he interrupted. "Well, I know what I see! My best friend? How could you?"
"You don't unde-" Sirius tried again.
"I don't understand? I don't understand! What is there to understand? I'm gone, and you think you can steal my family because you don't have one?" James roared. Sirius winced at what he said. " What? You aren't good enough for them, or is it the other way around? Not the way you want them to be, eh? My family look good? My family is just that. MINE! You think you can just sneak in when my back is turned? Because your family doesn't approve of you? You have to take mine? Find your own, make your own, I don't care."
"I came to apologize!" Sirius said indignantly.
"Well, it's not accepted, and neither are you."
"James, I-"
"Are you not listening, do you have fleas in your ears? If you do, pack 'em up and go, all of you!" James raged on.
"Maybe I have fleas, but at least I don't have ticks!" Sirius snarled at him, finally sick of trying to reason with him. "You seem to though, sucking all the thought from your head!"
"You are the one who has been here every time I turn around! Playing with my kid! Now I catch you with my wife? In a closet? When I was gone, you were right here "helping" her weren't you?"
"Can I expl-" Sirius furiously trying to talk, but James kept interrupting.
"Every damned second I'm gone, you're here, playing nice with MY wife. How could I have ever trusted you? I thought I could. And to think, I was going to trust you enough to be our secret-keeper! Everyone's probably right, all that gossip about you working for Voldemort. And what better way to get close to me than by my wife? I was going to put my future in your hands? How daft could I be?"
"You're being pretty damned daft now if you ask me," Sirius threw in there.
"Kiss off dogbreath," James started to say turning away form Sirius.
"Ok, I listened to your angst, now listen to me-" Sirius growled, and jerked James by the arm back around to face him.
"Listen here, I want you and your traitorous hide out!" James snarled at him, pointing at the door, not giving him the chance to talk.
"I swear your getting dumber in your years," Sirius moaned.
"I don't care what you think. Just run back to Voldemort and tell him it didn't work."
"You don't believe that tripe do you?" Sirius skeptically asked.
"Well why the hell shouldn't I? You haven't done anything to prove other wise."
"I haven't-" Sirius stuttered, too shocked to finish his sentence. He was laughing but not because it was funny, he couldn't believe James had said that. "You do don't you?"
James just stared at him with his eyebrow raised, challenging him to say something.
"All the years we've known each other and you're going to pull that on me? I'm not good enough for you, is that it? That IS it! I sneak around with your wife, I'm in cahoots with the big bad? I steal your child from you?" Sirius exploded. James simply rolled his eyes, more interested in anything else; he yawned.
"You know what-bugger off! You want to know why I was here so much? Here!" He walked over to the closet door and yanked it open. James just looked at him. Sirius grabbed his arm and jerked him over. "We made this for you. Lily and I did. So don't tell me I haven't been good to you; don't tell me I have never been there for you!"
James looked in awe over the Quidditch pitch that hid inside his closet. It had pretty emerald Astroturf with golden sand in all the right places, none of that cheap red dirt. The three goals were so high on each side that James cranked his head up to see the top. It was almost like being back at Hogwarts. His mouth dropped open. He hadn't expected anything like this; he truly believed that there was something going on between Sirius and Lily. He turned to apologize to Sirius but he was gone. However there was a cross-armed Lily.
