Disclaimer: It's all JK Rowling's.

Author's Note: Ahh! Sorry it took so long to update! I was sure to have it up by 6pm my time at the latest, but I stayed late at work and...well suffice it to say, I apologize for my tardiness.

I'm not going to post replies to all the reviewers right now as I really HAVE to get back to the story since I have this thing in the back of my head that I need to write! (Which means, perhaps another update before the night is through!) That isn't to say that I haven't read all your reviews at least three times each! Thank you ever so much.

Oh, and I find this chapter a bit...fluffy? I'll let you be the judge of that.

Enjoy!

Chapter 7- Serendipity

Mrs Potter took the photo album and opened it to the first page. The picture was that beige colour old pictures have the tendency to be, but the young man in the picture was still waving at them. James relaxed, leaned his head back and let his memory present him with the pictures he had long ago learned by heart.

"This is Edgar – James' father – at about James' age right now. It was taken moments before he noticed me." James, in his mind, saw his younger father, an exact replica of himself except for his longer face and his eyebrow ridge protruded slightly more than his own, and in his mind, he was smiling and waving at whoever had been holding the camera. "You see, back in the days that I went to Hogwarts, the Triwizard Tournament was still happening, although not was strong as it was in earlier days. To me, however, I had calculated it and turning seventeen was all about being able to submit my name. That specific year, the tourney was being held at Hogwarts and, naturally, Ed thought he'd for sure be the one who would have the chance to represent our school. The only competitor – Albus Dumbledore," she paused, then added as an afterthought, "you might know him, well he also happened to be quite chummy with Ed, though he's always been the reclusive type…Anyway, Albus is another story that in itself takes the better half of the night to tell.

"Edgar Potter never was picked. Fate is funny that way, I suppose, and it was my name the goblet spewed out! Well, you can imagine how surprised and shocked Ed was, what with being the best reputed and promising young wizard Hogwarts had ever seen! But, because of that – here I am shaking hands with our headmaster as he congratulated me – Ed, the Edgar Potter, noticed me, little Gwendy, as my friends called me, for the first time." James' thought drifted from here…

His father had always stopped here and described the first time he had "laid eyes on my precious jewel," as he said it, then would proceed to list all the things he had found unattractive in her. He had explained to James, when the young curious boy had inquired why they got married if he disliked (for 'hate' was a seldom used word with James at that age) his Mum so much. James' memory, instead of showing a photo of his mother taming a hippogriff in order to find her way out of the Forbidden Forest (which from the voice he heard in the background, was where she was in her story), showed him his father's smiling face a twinkle in his hazel eyes, grey hair flecked with white. "James," his father shook his head the way adults do when they are cornered into trying to explain something to a child they know won't understand until much later in their life. "Back then," his memory said to him, "I was jealous because the goblet picked her over me. I didn't actually find her eyes too big or her hair to be ugly, I just did what any young man does to a girl who just beat him – I let out my jealousy that way. Don't look at me like that," he laughed, "one day, you'll understand." He laughed again at his private joke. "O yes, one day you'll see."

"And you still accepted? After all that, you still agreed to date him?" Lily's amusingly outraged voice broke his thoughts away from his father. James smiled. His mother had most likely just finished recounting how his father had unceremoniously asked her out.

In his father's words: "She was sitting there with her prissy dress and I walked up to her and said, "Gwendolyn, I don't like you but since there's no one left for me to ask, I'm just going to take you to the ball, alright?" She stared at me for a while, probably disgusted by me, but you see, back in those days, witches didn't really have a choice in the matter. Yes, yes they were allowed to work and whatnot, but wizards had a difficult time accepting that movement. So she looked at me and said back, "Not that I like you either, but obviously, I have no choice, as there is still no one left for me to go with either." And then…"

"I said to him, "The lack of feelings between us is not an excuse to act rudely. You will act like a gentleman," and he nodded and walked off." James opened his eyes to see his mother smiling at him. "Naturally, we went to the ball together, and he did act like a gentleman. And a good thing, too, because you see, I was picked champion for a reason!" She kept staring at James, smiling foolishly as though he had just spilled pumpkin juice all over the front of his shirt. She read his mind, for just as he was about to raise his eyebrow questioningly, she said, "You remind me so much of your father, James."

Lily turned and looked at him then mumbled, "But he probably could never act a gentleman." His mother giggled, James protested with a "HEY!" that was way too high pitched for his usual voice, after which Lily shoved his arm. "Don't deny it, Potter. I, for one, have never heard of you being a gentleman, or any of your friends at that."

James shrugged. He knew it was playful banter, but he wasn't really in the mood. "Er – right. I'm going to go up to bed now, unless you two ladies need me?" He wanted to get away from them both for a while. The memory of his father talking to him had been too vivid, had hit too close to home, and he wanted nothing more than to be left alone. He felt bad as soon as the words left his mouth. His mother had so wanted for him to be there. He hadn't known a moment ago, but now he was sure, just by the look on her face. "I could stay for a while longer, if you'd like."

James heard Lily turn her attention to his mother expectantly. She probably knew that his mother had been disappointed that James had attempted to leave so suddenly, women always knew what others felt, it's like they were all legilimens masters or something, There was silence. James knew what this meant. It meant his mother would never forcefully keep him here when she knew he wanted to get away.

"We would both greatly appreciate your company, James." Lily spoke, but James had the slightest inkling it hadn't been from her. Not entirely from her. His caught his mother sending an appreciative gaze towards the young girl beside him. But something else happened at that moment, something that hadn't happened to him in the longest time. His cheeks burned from it, his eyes grew timid, and his hands got all sweaty. James Potter was blushing. But why? Why would he be blushing? Lily had only said what his mother had intended to say but hadn't been quite able to say. It wasn't like Lily had just started singing about how deeply she fancied him, but…just to have her say that she would appreciate his company; that made all the difference to him. She could have just said something like "Just stay, Potter, be a man" or something along those lines. But she had used sophisticated speech, a level tone, an even pitch, words that involved her own feelings rather than directing the attention towards only him or his mother. Lily had included herself.

"That evening," she continued as though the interruption hadn't even occurred, leaning in towards Lily to show her the picture of Ed and Gwendy all dressed up, arms hooked together, "Edgar treated me with utmost respect and sincerity." James focused on the picture. He had this one in his memory as well, but he wanted in on the story now, wanted to include himself the way Lily and his mother were. His mother's dark hair had been pulled back into an elegant twist and her fringe had also been pulled back but pinned back in a way that made them create a large bump near her forehead. She had two strands that weren't quite curled hanging before her ears. She looked like a lady. James admitted to himself long ago that his mother had been a fair maiden during her youth,

His father looked, once again, exactly like James did. He was not strikingly handsome, not the same way James subconsciously thought Sirius was, but rather the softness of his eyes and his unruly hair made him appeal to people as a…well, a true gentleman.

"We danced, we ate, we talked and danced at the same time and noticed that there were little things that we did that seemed so natural. Simple things, really, like when he laughed, Ed's nostrils flared and when I pointed it out to him, he wasn't bashful. Rather, he smiled and told me I was the first to point it out to him. Another simple gesture that piqued our curiosity in one another was when he took me out on the dance floor. His hand rested on the small of my back and with his other hand, he had taken mine and when we walked out there, we both smiled at each other. Now, I didn't know the reason why he was smiling, but I do know that I smiled because it had always been a dream of mine to be led onto a dance floor in such a manner and Ed had done it without even knowing." She settled her gaze on the picture, stroking the corners lightly with her aged hand. "Simple happenstances of serendipity such as those are not meant to be neglected or casually written off as gentlemanliness and ladylike manners. They occurred to grasp our attention. And it did.

"Naturally, James' father easily slipped into friendly mode and we soon built a relationship together that was based on respect and friendship. We married a few years out of Hogwarts and had been next to inseparable since our wedding day." She smiled at James, who immediately caught the tears welling up in her eyes and turned to Lily.

"Did you ever regret…?" Lily trailed off. James was not quite sure where she was going with this, but redirected his eyes to his mother's face. A sly grin worked its way stealthily into her eyes.

"There were times where I'd wish I'd sent Ed to Antarctica on a hexed broom, but never have I regretted any moment of my life. You see, at my age, you have learned to accept your life and all the little quirks and accidents and mistakes that contributed to it. Whenever there is something that rubs me the wrong way, I just smile and say, 'all is as meant to be'."

James nodded in agreement. He had phrased it differently in his mind though, saying that 'fate is inevitable'. It actually made up his life motto, along with the added 'but you get to choose whether you want fate to catch you from the back, or if you want to meet it face to face'. It was a certain intuition he had, always needing to run at the danger he sensed approaching rather than turn around and look for cover. Sort of like this bestial instinct flaring up inside of him.

Lily also seemed to be considering Mrs Potter's words, and when James turned to her, Lily nodded her head. "It makes sense," she said, "but sometimes, it's just so…pointless to… Sometimes you want to convince yourself that nothing's wrong with the picture you are faced with, but you can't because you know that..That things could be so much better if one little event had or hadn't happened." James watched as she gathered her knees and pulled them close to her chest. She was concentrating on the fire, most likely in attempts to block out whatever demons were crawling out of her memory.

Mrs Potter crawled over to Lily and began stroking her back. "Dear child," she said as Lily visibly struggled to keep her emotions under control. "It takes time to let it all settle in. You learn to accept, you can't just accept it as soon as it happened. Take our argument as an example." She swallowed back something James was convinced he recognized as her own personal pride. "I was shocked that you had spoken to me in that manner. It was not your place as a youth in my home to speak to me as you did. I was almost outraged to the point of asking you to leave, but I didn't. Instead, I moped around in my room until James came, and when he did, I realised that all that you had said to me was true. I resented you for saying it because I did not want anyone telling me what it was I was doing wrong with my life and my son's. And I promised myself when James walked out after lunch that I was going to work hard to break out of the habits I had hidden behind." James didn't realise he was staring at his mother, but when she directed her gaze towards him for a few seconds, he understood. He understood that that had not only been a way to comfort Lily, but also an attempt to bring James to a new page with her. His smile, though unsure whether she had caught it, was his way of showing her that he had caught the message.

Lily cried for a little while, not as much as she had that other night, but she cried nonetheless. James watched, slightly less uncomfortable than what he had been during that time. His mother was reassuring her and he inwardly praised her for being so…motherly. That's what he realised Lily needed all along, a parental figure, someone to help her through the ordeal that was most likely just now hitting her squarely in the face. After all, during the school year, Lily didn't get to see her parents, so even if they died during that time, she probably didn't fully comprehend that they were not at home sitting in the lounge nibbling on cookies (or whatever the Evans's did with their free time). At least, not until she realised that she would be going home to an empty house. Come to think of it, she hadn't exactly been at home yet, either, which made James feel a tad uneasy. She should go to take whatever memories she wanted and decide whether or not she preferred staying with him and his mother.

"Thank you," Lily said to Mrs Potter, though she only shrugged it off with a wave of her hand.

"That's what I'm here for, dear. Whenever you need me, I'm here for you." James watched on as she smiled at Lily, taking her thumb to wipe a tear off her cheek. Lily smiled her appreciation.

His mother backed away, winking at James, and returned to her own seat. James looked at her innocently and she began flailing her arms in a persistent way. He rolled his eyes at her, knowing full well what she wanted him to do.

And he did it.

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder in a friendly sort of way, tightening his grip on her far shoulder. "That goes for me too." She stared at him as though expecting him to burst out laughing. But he didn't, he was being genuinely serious. After the suspicion subsided from her face, James squeezed her shoulder and found himself whispering, "Welcome to the Potters."

At that moment, he wasn't sure if she had heard him. He also wasn't sure whether he really wanted her to have heard him.

Ah, there it is. Chapter 7. I find that James is being a prick right now (to me, not to you guys or Lily or anything) and he wants to say or do something, but he won't tell me what! GRRR It angers me, honestly. Maybe he'll reveal it for 8?