Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews. Wow! So many! As you can see, my fanfic has changed its tone somewhat… I don't know why.

Title: Role Reversal

Rating: PG

Spoilers: There aren't too many spoilers in chapters 1-12. The whole story has some spoilers, but how else do you write a fanfic? The chapter with major spoilers is "Old Friends".

Summary: James and Lily make a bet. Lily has to pull a bunch of pranks and James can't do any.

Disclaimer: I, of course, do not own Harry Potter or its characters. If you're reading this, you should already know whom it belongs to anyway.

Setting: This story is set in MWPP years. If you don't know what that means, you probably shouldn't be reading this fanfic.

!!! = setting change

italics= emphasis

italics= thoughts

-Harry Potter-

"Push!"

Lily screamed in pain.

"I see the head!"

"Just push one more time…"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

James exclaimed, "It's a boy! Yes!"

"Here you go, Mrs. Potter. A beautiful baby boy."

!!!

(AN: This is a few days after Harry's birth.)

"Sirius, we… we want you to be Harry's godfather," James said. He and Lily were in the nursery of their new home. Sirius had come over for a visit.

Sirius's eyes lit up. "Really?"

"Yes," Lily said.

"Wow."

The proud parents smiled. "I can't believe we're parents," Lily said. "And this is our baby."

They both looked down at their newborn son. "He definitely has your eyes," James said to his wife.

"And he looks like you, only smaller. Because you're a big baby."

"Hey! I resent that!"

"So what?"

"Um… Nothing."

"That's what I thought."

Sarah and Veronica came into the room then. "Oh, is that the baby?" Sarah cried.

"Yeah."

"Let me see." She got closer to get a better look at Harry James Potter. "Wow. Talk about family resemblance…"

Lily grinned.

"He really is a beautiful baby," Veronica said.

"Thanks. By the way, we've just told Sirius that he's Harry's godfather."

"Cool."

Veronica looked around. "Um, is he going to be here…?"

"Who, Remus?"

Veronica nodded.

"I think so," Lily replied. "Not sure when."

"Oh. Okay."

!!!

Remus Lupin appeared a few hours later at the Potters' house. He knocked on the door.

!!!

"Veronica, could you get the door, please?"

"Sure, Lily."

She headed to the front of the house. She opened the door and gasped.

!!!

"Hi."

"Hi," Veronica said. "You've come to see Harry." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yeah."

"Follow me." Veronica turned around and walked back to the room where the others were.

Remus sighed and closed the door before following her.

!!!

"He's kind of quiet for a baby," Remus said.

"A little," Lily responded.

"And I'm his godfather!" Sirius announced in excitement.

Remus turned to him. "That's great, Padfoot."

Sarah spoke up, "Sirius and I are going to live together. We want to get used to each other before getting married."

"Have you two decided on a date for the wedding yet?"

"No. It's not going to be for a while, though."

"I see."

Remus looked at Veronica, who was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. "Veronica, can I talk to you… in private?"

She looked up.

"Please?"

"Fine."

They exited the room.

!!!

"Veronica, it's been a year since we broke up."

Veronica looked away. "I know that."

"I hope you understand why I did what I did."

"I do. I don't like it, but I understand where you're coming from."

"Do you forgive me?"

"Of course I do. I was angry and sad for a while, but I think I'm okay with it now."

"Okay," Remus said, relieved that she wasn't angry with him. "So how've you been?"

"Fine. I have a boyfriend. His name is Gabriel." (AN: My friend said that name sounded feminine. Do you agree?)

"Oh." Remus looked uncomfortable. "How long have you two been together?"

"About two weeks."

There was a moment of silence. "Well, let's go back in and see the baby again," Remus suggested.

"Sure."

They walked back into the room to find two of their friends in an argument.

Sarah was saying, "Sirius, you want to buy a what?"

"A motorcycle," Sirius replied.

"Why?"

"Because. And a flying one, while I'm at it."

"Because why? And a flying one?"

"Yes, a flying one. Sarah, I really want this," Sirius whined.

"Sarah, just let him have it," James said.

"You stay out of this," she snapped. "Don't encourage him."

"Okay, okay." James held up his hands. "I surrender. Just don't hurt me."

Lily laughed. "Always the comedian."

"That's why you love me."

"How do you know?"

"What else is there?"

"Maybe I just married you for your looks."

"Well, that's still a pretty good reason."

"See? Right there. Being a clown again."

Sarah turned away from her friends' conversation and looked at her fiancé. "You really want this?"

"Yeah."

"But they're dangerous."

"I'll be careful. I promise. Besides, what am I going to run into, a flock of geese? Can I have it, please?"

"I don't know…"

"Please, please, please?" He got down on his knees, begging Sarah to let him have a motorcycle.

She sighed. "Fine."

Remus cleared his throat loudly, announcing to the others that he and Veronica had come back.

"Hi."

"Hi."

"Erm…"

"So you're getting a motorbike, Padfoot?"

"Looks like it."

Remus asked Lily and James, "Do you have anything to eat? I'm kind of hungry."

"Yeah, sure. Sarah, can you show him where the kitchen is?"

Sarah led Remus out of the room. Sirius started dancing around. "I'm a godfather! And I'm getting a motorcycle!"

The other three in the room laughed.

!!!

"How have you been, Remus?" Sarah asked, setting out some plates and getting some food out of the pantry.

"Okay. I haven't been able to find any work."

"No one will hire you?"

"No. And it's not fair. It's perfectly reasonable, just not fair," he said, biting into a piece of bread.

"I'm sorry."

"There's nothing for you to be sorry about."

Sarah glanced at him.

"Has Veronica told you about this what's-his-name… uh, Gabriel?" Remus asked, trying to act nonchalant.

"Yes," Sarah replied. "You miss her, don't you?" Sarah said kindly.

Remus closed his eyes briefly. "Who wouldn't? I wish she and I could be together again, but it can't happen."

"It'll be okay," Sarah reassured him.

"Somehow, I don't think so. I mean, I know she's not mad at me anymore, so I feel a little better, but there's still this big hole inside me that she used to fill. And now she's moved on, and it hurts inside. I know it was my decision to end things, but I just can't help feeling like this."

"Do you think of her a lot?"

"Every time I close my eyes, I see the hurt look in her blue eyes—the look that I put there when I told her we had to split up."

Sarah made a sympathetic noise. "That must hurt a lot."

"Yeah. But enough about me. How have you been?"

"Wonderful. Sirius can be hard to handle at times, but I've been doing it for years. Why? I'll never know."

Remus smiled. "Yeah, Padfoot is a little wild sometimes, but he's a good friend. He's not a complete idiot."

"Are you sure about that?"

They both laughed.

!!!

The six friends were staring at Harry, waiting for the baby to do something, when a knock was heard.

"James dear, would you get that?"

"Sure, darling." James left to answer the door.

"I think he moved!" Sirius said, pointing at the infant.

!!!

"Peter! What a pleasant surprise!"

"Hello, James," Peter said. "You told me to come visit sometime, so here I am. Is the baby here yet?"

"Yeah. Harry. He's in there with everyone else," he replied, pointing behind him. "Well, come in then."

Peter entered the house and followed James.

!!!

"Wormtail!" Sirius exclaimed. "You're here."

"Yep. Is that Harry?"

"Yeah. Come here and see," Lily said.

Peter stepped closer to the baby. "He looks a lot like you two."

!!!

Someone was knocking on the door. James counted everyone in the room, puzzled. I thought everyone was here already… (AN: If you've seen the episode The One With Rachel's Sister on Friends, then you'll know what I'm talking about.)

"We're certainly getting a lot of visitors today," Lily commented.

James went to see who could possibly be at the door. He opened it to find a tall man with blond hair and brown eyes. "Yes?"

"Is Veronica Kent here?"

"Oh. You must be… Gabriel, right?"

"Yes. Gabriel Anderson. So she is here?"

"Oh! Sorry. Come in."

!!!

"Gabriel!"

Remus looked up and saw Veronica hugging someone. Gabriel? Who is—? Oh…

The others gave him sympathetic looks as he stood up and went over to the newcomer. Veronica looked apprehensively between the two men.

"Hi," Remus said, "I'm Remus. Nice to meet you." He shook the man's hand.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Author's Note: This story is not even about what it was originally about anymore… Eh. I don't care. I just had to continue writing about the characters' futures.