Immature 4
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Sirius leaps out of the library hearth in great haste and strips off all the wet items of clothing sticking uncomfortably to him. He is left wearing nothing but his snitch underwear. He thinks for a while of staying in this state of uncover, but is terrified of what might be if ever his mother saw his as such. "Kreacher!" he yells. "Fetch me my jammies! The red one that mother hates! And light a fire when you get here! I'm in the library!"
Kreacher tumbles in a few minutes later to find his young master only partially visible behind a rather large stack of dusty, old books. The young, newly instated house-elf of the Black manor approaches and places the nightclothes in front of Sirius. Sirius looks up from a particularly thick book and grabs them immediately. "Light the fire," Sirius demands as he puts on his favorite pajamas. "Leave when you're done."
Sirius plops back down on a chair and leans over another book. He turns the pages, not exactly sure where to look or what to look for. "Bloody… ugh… dark magic… nothing useful… unforgiv—no… bugger!" He shuffles through book after book, not really finding anything. His hands and eyes get tired after a while. He might as well rest a bit and put his head down on the hard table, onto which, incidentally, Regulus is trying to climb and—
"Waaaaaaaahhh!"
Sirius opens his eyes with a start. His brother is on his back on the floor, crying. Regulus, unfortunately, is a bit of a crybaby. Sirius runs to him and picks him up. "Oh, Merlin, aren't you heavy… Kreacher!" Sirius looks about to collapse under the weight of his almost-four-year-old little brother. Truly, his spine is bent at a rather awkward angle as Regulus wriggles in his thin arms. "Stop crying, little Lus, you don't want to disturb father." Sirius, without knowing it himself, is surprisingly soothing. Regulus quiets down. "He's probably having an evil little meeting with his evil little friends. You remember Mr. Nott? Oh, we hate him, don't we, Lus-Lus? Yes, we do."
Regulus sniffs and wipes his eyes with the back of his hand. "We do," he says tearfully.
"Don't worry. When you're a little bit older, I'll take you with me to visit the Potters. Over there, Regulus-lus, grown-ups give you candy because they think you deserve it, not to shut you up. And when they smile at you, their teeth show because they smile really wide… because they mean it, you know. They let you play with anyone you want. Me and James and Remus and Peter are friends with a muggle from across the street, you know. It's wonderful. I'll introduce you to her. She and James are getting married soon—oh! Bugger!"
Sirius now remembers exactly what he is doing in the library at—he squints up at the creepy-looking grandfather clock given to them by his equally creepy-looking uncle—eleven o'clock in the evening. Kreacher appears in the doorway and sees the two boys. "Kreacher will take the young master," he grumbles and does so. "Night-night," Regulus mouths at him over Kreacher's crooked little shoulder. Sirius waves to his brother as he is carried away and out of the library.
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James has been up since five o'clock in the morning. The rising sun is casting a nice, golden glow over the snow outside the living room window of the Potter household. This can only mean that it is now around seven-thirty. Winter, James reckons, slows the sun down. Either that, or the sun thinks that this is its chance to slack off a bit. James does not know why the sun would think that.
But then, James Potter does not know a lot of things. For one thing, he has absolutely no idea why his best friend had run off last night in a sudden fit after he was told of James's first kiss. It is the reason, of course, behind James's waking up so early. He is now sitting in front of the fireplace, patiently waiting. He does not, however, have to wait any longer.
"I've been waiting for over two hours, Sirius. Tell me." James knows that he has never been this anxious in his life.
Sirius brushes off a considerable amount of ash from his hair and face. "Erm… you'd better sit down, James."
James does not like this. Not at all. Sitting down is never good. Sitting down is what grown-ups do when something bad has happened.
Sirius sits beside him. They look at each other for a long moment before James decides that he cannot take it anymore. "Sirius!" he yells in a whisper. Generally, James is not allowed to yell inside the house. He imagines that he is even less allowed to yell inside the house when everyone else is still sleeping. "Tell me now! Now!"
Sirius does not know how to go about divulging such an important matter to his best friend, so he goes about it the best way that he can. Sirius is quite known for his pure, raw bluntness. "Lily is pregnant."
James stares at Sirius, dumbstruck. He sputters and tries to talk as Sirius moves to the kitchen. James follows him. "You… you mean… like… a baby? But… I… how… Lily's tummy is going to explode? That's what happens… right? Oh. Merlin and Agrippa… What… what am I going to do? Wait… I don't… what does it mean? Sirius, I don't understand! Bugger!"
Sirius wishes that this had never happened. They are too young. What are James and Lily going to do with a baby? Sirius thinks that the best thing to do would be to donate it. Museums and the like usually take donations. He is sure that they would gladly accept.
He hands James a rather large slab of chocolate. "Remus told me that he eats chocolate when he's upset. It makes him feel better. Eat that."
James nods and does as he is told. Meanwhile, Sirius explains. "Yes, James, Lily is going to have a baby."
"How?"
"I don't know. Didn't you say something about her stomach exploding?"
"Yeah… but…" James swallows, "just by kissing?"
"Yes," Sirius tells him matter-of-factly. "How do you think your mum got pregnant? And mine? And everyone else's mum? What else could they do other than kiss?"
James realizes with horror that Lily is pregnant. He wonders if she knows yet. Oh, he is in so much trouble, and he doesn't even understand why.
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Remus stands stiffly in front of James and Lily. "Er…" he says.
Beside him, Peter hands over a brown book. Remus looks at the cover. Quidditch in a Nutshell. He wonders how that is going to help before he looks up. "Right. Lift your pinkies, please. Entwine them. Good. You are now married."
Sirius claps. Peter also claps. Remus does not know what he is supposed to do, but he knows that he does not wish to clap. "So… Lily's pregnant?" he asks for what he could only assume to be the bajillionth time that day.
"Yes," James says. "That's why we had to get married today. Now we have to leave."
"You mean like… elope?" Lily asks.
"Yes," James tells her, even though he does not exactly know what 'elope' means.
Lily looks worried. "I don't think we should. I… I'm confused."
"I don't think Lily's pregnant," Remus says to no one in particular.
Sirius glares at Remus. "I researched all night!" he snaps. He is, however, not telling the truth. He gave up an hour before midnight. He is, however, sure that Lily is pregnant, and so it makes no difference. Remus shakes his head, still not sated.
"Why do you have to… elope… James?" Peter asks. "Couldn't you just tell your mum and dad? They'll understand. Anyway, you're donating the baby, so it's okay."
James thinks about this. He looks at Lily tenderly and hugs her. "Let's tell them, Lily."
"Okay, James. I'd like that."
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Mr. and Mrs. Potter are sitting around the dining room table with James.
Across the street, Mr. and Mrs. Evans are sitting on Lily's bed, where she is sobbing quietly into her pillow.
Lily and James are terrified. What has happened between them is even worse than that time when Lily had talked back to her uncle, or when James had almost burned the whole kitchen with his father's wand. They are probably going to be grounded for life, and are never going to see each other again. James thinks that he is about to cry. He would hate it if he never saw his wife ever again. He decides that if that is the case, then he will hand Lily over to Remus. They can read books together and eat caramel popcorn. James swears that he is not going to be bitter about it. He deserves that for getting Lily pregnant.
Lily and James look up in bewilderment after a few seconds have passed. They are both wondering, at such a critical time like this, exactly what it is their parents find to be incredibly funny.
James knows that his parents have gone mad when he hears his mother snort. I am so upset, he thinks, before he brings his hands to his face and cries.
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A/N: So I forgot about the chocolate last chapter, but I've made up for that by including the chocolate and Regulus here.
I wish there was some other way to express gratitude for reviews. I'm getting a bit repetitive with the thank you's and all. But anyway, thank you. Very much. :-) Really, thank you.
How was this chapter, then?
