James sat down in an overstuffed chair while Lily paced in front of him. She didn't seem to have anything to say, which made him a bit nervous that it would be something serious.
"Lily?" She looked up. "I'm just trying to figure out the best way to say this," she admitted.
"Did something happen with the sl-, uh, Snape?" He knew Lily would notice his misspoken attempt to call Severus Snape 'slimeball', but she luckily didn't mention it.
She sat down on the table and fisted the extra cloth of her robes. "James, do you remember how you promised that no matter what you would always be there for me?"
He nodded. "I didn't think that would include you attacking me with an illegal curse after cheating on me. No one really prepares for that, you know?"
Lily blushed and reached out, taking James's hand into her own and looking deep into his eyes with her own emerald orbs. "James, this is serious!"
"Okay, okay." He held up his hands in a 'whatever you say' gesture. "What's on your mind that is so important, Lillian?"
"James… you remember how we ended up… sleeping together just a bit before we 'split up'?"
He blushed and tried to fight back the memories of that night where he'd given up more than he'd gotten in return. After all, it wasn't Lily swearing 'forever' in the heat of the moment.
"I remember."
"Do you remember whether or not we… used protection?" She stared at him with a deep passion, throwing her long, red hair over her shoulder.
James's eyebrows met in the middle and he pursed his lips. "I should say we did! Even then we realized that we're only kids, Lily. We could never handle a child!"
Lillian's face turned bright, bright red and she started 'strangling' her robe. "James… we might have to. I'm… three weeks late. And Severus and I haven't slept together."
"… Excuse me!"
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Remus nuzzled into Lucius's neck, purring more like a cat than a werewolf does. "Me sweepy," he muttered, pulling a blanket off of the couch in the abandoned room and covering their combined forms.
"Then sleep." Lucius tried not to sound exasperated with his boyfriend, he really tried. It had surprised him just how self-preserving the Gryfendor was.
His puppy was very easy when it came to the kissy-kissy and even some of the minor gropey-gropey. Then smack! He had not expected his seemingly-harmless boyfriend to hit him, but it was no surprise, really.
Actually, Remus probably had the right idea, he thought to himself idly. It wouldn't really do for Remus to see him without any coverings.
The werewolf could probably ignore the tattoos on his back, shoulders, chest, and the one on his thigh, but there were some things that he probably wouldn't be able to ignore.
"How am I going to be able to tell you?" he whispered softly, running his fingers through the soft, light red-brown hair. "You're the best thing that's ever happened in my miserable bloody life."
His arm started to burn and twinge a little as he scratched lovingly behind a cute, elfin ear. 'How am I ever going to be able to tell you how badly I have to betray you?'
Blood of a werewolf. That is what they wanted for his initiation. Sedated with silver and sliced with a dagger was the only way to get it, and they wanted Remus's blood.
Of course, Lucius had been seconds from telling them to go screw themselves and get over it, but his father, looming over him and leaning threateningly on his twisted birch cane, hadn't made that an option.
So Lucius had taken the cowards' way out and chosen to allow them his lover's safety instead of his own. 'Remus….' He ran a finger down the aristocratic nose and traced the pink Cupid's bow.
'I guess I can't put this off any longer.' He pulled a thin, metal chain out of his pocket, flicking the crescent-moon charm. 'How ironic that a moon charm would be made of silver. Blaspheme to the werewolves.'
He doubled up the chain and slipped it around his lover's wrist, despite Remus's tugging to get away from the burning sensation. "Lucy? Hurts."
"It's all right, puppy." Remus twisted and writhed, pulling away from him. Lucius frowned and smacked him lightly in the face. "It's going to be okay."
Remus felt pain shooting through his whole arm. "Please, no!" The skin was starting to turn red like an allergic reaction or a rash. His honey eyes opened wide as Lucius pulled out a sharp silver dagger.
The blonde pulled his red hand up and forced the blade into his hand, closing the fingers around it and cutting the palm. "What are you doing? Please, stop it!"
"Your blood. Werewolf blood. Just a few more drops and it'll all be over, Remus." Lucius pulled out a vial and collected the sweet, crimson liquid. "That's all it takes, my love. Enough."
He quickly pulled out his wand and stopped the blood from flowing. "What did you do, Lucy? Why… did you hurt me? Silver…."
Lucius pulled him close and ripped the chain off, throwing it far away from them. "I had to do this, Remus. Never again… I'll never do it again. Forgive me, my Remus."
"No-o!" The werewolf pouted and pulled away from him. "You hurt me!" he accused, angrily. He was crying and scooted away from the still bloody weapon.
"What in the world is wrong with you, Lucy? What were you trying to do?"
He sighed and put his head in his hands. "Remus, I had to get your blood. They told me I had to. I couldn't tell them that I wouldn't do it. Try to understand, Remus."
"But who would want me hurt? What good is… werewolf blood unless you're trying to spread lupercallia? And that wouldn't do anyone any good – it's dangerous!"
The blonde shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe that's why they wanted it…. I wouldn't put it past them to want to make an army of werewolves."
"Who, Lucy! Please? Why would you hurt me like this when you claimed to love me?"
"I do love you, Remus. Tell me, would you rather I have died? Puppy, they wanted to kill me if I wouldn't give them werewolf blood. …damn Deatheaters."
Remus flushed. "Lucius… you're not… getting involved with them are you? I know a lot of Slytherins are, but you… aren't like them, right? Lucy? I don't like this chain of events at all."
"Believe me that I don't either. But I have a family name to live up to, Remus! I mean, you don't know my father. I dare you to tell that man no. You wouldn't be able to do it."
"I would at least try before slicing up my werewolf lover! People who would want my blood, Lucius, won't be satisfied with one dose. They probably just wanted to see whether or not they would be able to get you to do it. Obviously they won!"
He burst into tears and Lucius touched his cheek gently. Only to receive a firm slap in the face. "Don't you dare touch me! I… I thought you were different then the other people you surround yourself with."
The werewolf wiped his eyes with his cloak, glaring at it like he blamed the cloth for the tears that soaked it. "You're worse than they are. At least they know they're jerks and don't bother to lie about it."
Lucius wasn't sure what to say to comfort the werewolf but he started to feel himself getting angry that Remus wasn't forgiving him, even though he knew he didn't really deserve the other male's forgiveness.
"I wouldn't get so proud if I were you, puppy. You can't really think you know me well enough to say that I've lied to you. It's not my fault you're easy and think that one date is enough to mean love."
Not at all to his surprise, Remus hit him again before storming out the door, only stopping long enough to curse his ears to bleed for a week. Lucius just wiped some of the blood away and fingered the cap of the vial still in his hands.
'Glass is such a fragile thing,' he thought blandly. It was hard to believe that the sloshing crimson fluid was what had caused the slow destruction of his life, but that's all it was. It was the blood, not him. Lucius thought, insistently, 'it wasn't my fault.'
He stood up and a dark smirk crossed his features. He didn't even care about the blood trickling from his ears down onto his robes. There were other Slytherins better at spells than he was, and they were sure to help him if they knew who had cursed him and why.
Maybe even Severus would have a soft spot for someone who hurt 'that damn werewolf'. He'd never really asked what kind of stick Snape had up his arse concerning Remus J. Lupin.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Sirius stared at James with his mouth agape, catching flies. "W-what in the seven rings of Hell are you talking about, Jamie? Lily is pregnant? With your child? I thought she was dating Snape!"
"Well you can't always know that you're pregnant the second it happens. For goodness's sake, Sirius, this isn't her fault, or mine! It just happened. We didn't think she would get pregnant, Sirius."
He grabbed at Sirius's robes and sat down in front of the chair on his knees. "Please, you aren't angry, are you Siri? I certianly didn't want something like this to happen."
Sirius shoved him away and crossed his arms, almost looming over the bowing boy. He wasn't actually trying to take anything out on James - he knew he wasn't perfect either - but he was angry at the situation in general.
"Dammit!" he cursed, slamming a fist down on the poor arm of the chair. "I just can't believe this!" Sirius reached out and put a hand in James's hair, noticing with a sad mind that James flinched, afraid that his boyfriend might get angry and lash out at him.
"Jamie, I just want you to know that I'm not mad at you. I know it was an accident, but you know that she's going to want you to take responsibility for this, right? That means child support and visitation and whatever-the-hell else she's going to want out of you."
The glasses-wearer sighed. "You think I don't know that? She wouldn't have even mentioned it to me if she didn't want me to take care of the baby... and likely of her."
Sirius almost responded by telling James just where Lily could shove her 'I need you, Jamie' act, but the Gods were on the side of making him a gentleman, cough, and Remus burst through the door before he could get a peep out.
Luckly, James's Seeker reflexes made him fast enough to catch the sobbing werewolf who threw himself at his chest.
"Remus? What's wrong, Moony? You okay?" The amber-haired teen shook his head and started hiccuping as he tried to talk. "Calm down, Moony. Breathe."
Finally, Remus was calm enough to talk to them, the crying stopped though he was strangling a poor pillow to death.
"L-Lucius... he's a deatheater! He put s-silver on me and it hurt. He cut me and took my blood. Make it stop, Padfoot." Sobbing, the werewolf shoved his bleeding arm out towards his friend. James gasped at the red of the skin as Sirius used a minor charm to heal up the wound.
"God, Remus, I'm so sorry for you. You broke up with him, yes?"
He nodded and half-shoved James out of his way and joined him on Sirius's lap. For the normal person, the weight of two teenagers on his lap would be too much, but the dog animagus had no problem with them because of how much he loved his two friends.
"I'm scared, guys. I think that Lucius is going to come after me again. I was able to fight him off once, but a second time? I probably couldn't even make him flinch! He's going to hurt me."
The two lovers joined efforts, despite their recent argument, to comfort their malnourished friend. After a long bit of discussion about how they would get that double-crossing, bastard Slytherin back for every bit of pain they had inflicted on Remus, the exhausted, tear-stained wolf-pup finally fell asleep.
Patting James on the thigh, Sirius got him to stand up and carried Remus up to bed. Peter was sitting on his bed, bent suspiciously over a peice of parchament. When the two had made Peter promise to look out for the pup, Sirius and James sat on the Potter boy's bed. A silence spell was placed on the curtains.
"This is an interesting development. I never thought... Snape might be a snarky git, but I figured that Lucius actually liked Remus. Fun, cute, strong... what are we going to do, Siri? I mean, Remus might really get hurt. I've heard about the deatheaters! They don't care about anyone but themselves. If they want more werewolf blood, they might actually kill him."
"I know." The two cuddled together half-heartedly, both Remus's predicament and Lily's announcement weighing on their hearts. "Jamie? Are you really planning to let that bitch get away with this? It's pointless! If Snivilus wants her so bad, he can be her baby's father. You can't seriously plan to support her and that kid, too!"
James flushed. "Siri, he's my child, too. I could never just forget that Lily is going to have my baby! This isn't something I want, God knows I want to be with you, Sirius, but I can't just abandon her and the kid. Don't you understand? For all I know, Snape hates me more than he loves Lily. What if he abandons her and she'll have to do this all on her own? I have a bit more heart than that, Siri!" he snapped, broken-hearted.
His lover placed his hand on his neck and slid it up, causing James to raise his head. He and Siruis kissed, softly, and Sirius's tongue slipped, smoothly, past his lips. James moaned and clutched for him despirately, fisting his hands in the other's black robes.
Finally, they pulled away, tears shining in their eyes. "I love you, Sirius! But I can't do this to Lily. I loved her once, Paddy. And she's going to need me. Please... if only just for a little while, you have to let me go. I have to take care of her. She's going to be the mother of the Potter heir! Even if I didn't want to at least know my child, my parents would never let me not do this."
"And what of me? Is it because I'm the Black heir? A male? Or because I'm not having your brat?"
Expectedly, James slapped him across the face. "I don't care if you're mad at me, Siri. Hit me back! Yell at me! But don't insult my unborn child..."
He burst into tears and Sirius hugged him as tightly as he could, ignoring the sting in his cheek. "I love you, Jamie. I love you. Please, don't leave me." Usually, the dog animagus would never be caught crying, especially over a 'betty', but even a play-boy like he was couldn't stand the thought of losing his soul-mate.
"Look, Siri. When Remus wakes up, he's going to need someone. I just... want you to look out for him for me. He's my other best friend, right? I want you both involved in my life as much as you can be. I love you, too, Siri, but please give me some time. At least let me know my kid."
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Nine-and-a-half months later
"Isn't he a beaut, Siri?" James asked, holding up his newborn baby for his friend and true love to see. Sirius smiled a bit tensly and reached out for little Harold James.
"Hello, Harry. ... I still can't believe that you named him after your father. Is that some thing in your family? Every person is either James Harold or Harold James?"
The spectacled man laughed. "No, no. He can pick whatever name he wants for his child. I'm James Vincent after all, and Gramps wasn't a 'Vincent'."
Sirius laughed and sat down in the rocking chair, cooing lightly at the little baby in his arms. "He looks just like you, Jamie. Just like a littler version of you. So cute."
James blushed at the round-about way of complementing him. "He is so beautiful. I would never have believed that I would have a son."
A heavy silence rested between them. "Have you seen hide or hair of Snivilus, lately? Undoubtedly, he's been poking his over-sized nose around, right?"
"Believe it or not, no. From what little Lily said to me about him, he was more pissed than he could have possibly been when he found out that 'his girl' was pregnant with my kid. I haven't actually seen him once since. But that's okay. I never want him to see my baby boy. My Harry."
Three sharp knocks sounded on the door. "Come on in, Remus! It's just me and Jamie!" The werewolf walked gracefully into the room and smiled down at the bundle in his boyfriend's lap.
"He's so cute, Jamie! Always knew that you would breed well." He leaned up and kissed James on the cheek in congradulations. His delicate smile was as elegant as always but they could both see the same pain still behind his eyes. Sirius was always good to him, but he knew that, somewhere, Lucius still had his werewolf blood.
"You alright, Moony?"
"Of course! Just a little overwhelmed. I can't believe that Jamie was the first of us to have a cub! Or a Prong-let. Heh, Prong-let. That's what we're going to call him now, he he he." He pressed a quick kiss to Sirius's lips. "I'm going to go talk to the proud mother. Have fun, boys."
James waited until they were alone before crying. "I still can't believe how things turned out. It just seems wrong. I love my son, more than anything, but I want you, Siri. I don't want you to resent me or my boy. I know that he's going to love his Uncle Paddy."
"Just don't expect me to play 'horsie'. Only one Potter gets to ride this handsome bitch!" The two laughed lightly. "In all seriousness, Jamie, why did you say you wanted me to be his godfather? I love him already because he's a part of you, but would Lily ever let this happen? No doubt she wants me as far away from your baby as possible."
"Fuck Lily!" he stated, sharply, violently. Sirius looked up surprised. He had, of course, heard his bad language before, but he could barely believe that he would ever speak that way in front of his little boy. "She can complain all she wants to, but I will never let anyone else have my boy should something happen to us. She wants her muggle sisiter to be the godmother! I won't have it! Not because she's a muggle, you understand; because she isn't you."
"Love... What do you think is going to happen to you?"
"I don't know. I don't know; I can't say. I'm not supposed to tell you. Dumbledore says that it would put us all in danger if I told you. But I'm so scared. Siri... if I tell you, you can't tell anyone!"
The Black heir handed his friend back his child before hugging them both. "I'm your best friend, Jamie. I would never do anything to put you in danger."
"Siri, he thinks that the deatheaters are going to come after us! He wants us to go into hiding soon. I don't really know why. Something about that nut-case Hufflepuff, Syble. Sirius, he wants us to pick a secret keeper. This is that serious. And I'm so scared. I want someone that I trust to protect my family!"
"James... I..."
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
Well, I think we all know pretty much how this ends. So! I guess this is the end... Wow! I never actually thought I would reach it! But I'm pretty proud of myself, now! I've been working on this update forever; I doubt any of my original readers are still even interested. But, whatever. Please, enjoy the update! Bye!