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Chapter 3

Found Here

March 1988

Sirius stepped into the Potter's familiar living room, "I've done something, and need to get it off my chest before I break -" the silver rimmed glasses he'd bought a few months ago after he caught himself squinting at case files, fell to the floor and crunched beneath the heel of his boot. His pounding headache doubled his annoyance, "Fucking hell!"

"Sirius!" Lily admonished, shutting the book she'd started with a thud and jumping up from her winged-back armchair to grab the swaying briefcase that was cutting into his pointer finger. It was no shock to see Sirius come through her and James's floo so late; he was always there in his free time. Lily didn't even know why he'd bought a second residence in London when he had a perfectly good bed and was guaranteed breakfast and cuddles from his niece and nephew in the morning if he crashed over at their place.

His gaze swept around the room, then landed back onto her. It was well past midnight, he was surprised Lily was still up, but he wasn't so tired that he couldn't sense the two sleeping children upstairs or hear James popping open a beer in the kitchen. "You said I couldn't curse with the kids around. Are they hiding, Lils?" He dropped the full stack of files in his arms unceremoniously onto the coffee table.

She swatted his shoulder, "Oh, hush, you. It's become a force of habit for me by now." Her green eyes took in his disheveled hair and crinkled uniform. Lily sighed, Sirius overworked himself too much for her liking, "I'm going to fix you up a plate."

"- No, Lils -"

Lily shook her head, her short red hair brushing against her purple cardigan covered shoulders, "You're tired, and I know you never eat when you're under stress, so you must be starving."

As James waltzed in, he handed Lily one of the beer bottles in his grasp, and she pecked his cheek in return. "Honestly, mate, you've got to stop fighting with her over food. If it doesn't work for Harry and Daisy, it won't work for you. They're far cuter."

James passed him a beer and spread out on the auburn sofa, his fingers reaching up to adjust his square-rimmed glasses. "Now spill, it's been too long since you've done something, Pads. Should I floo Moony? Will he get a kick out of this?"

Sirius began to pace, "No, he'll be disappointed and I can't take that tonight. I'll tell him tomorrow once I've slept on it and before the Daily Prophet gets the issue out."

Elbows on knees, hands clasped loosely, James frowned as his brown eyes followed his best friend's purposeful walk, "Sirius, you're worrying me. What happened?"

Lily hurried into the room with a plate full of steaming Chinese takeout. She carefully closed the door, uttered a silencing charm and took a seat. "You know you can tell us anything, Sirius. Maybe it'll help if you start from the beginning."

Sirius sat opposite them and ran his hands through his hair in building vexation. The tone of his voice, heavy, he did as Lily suggested, "Prongs, you remember that Greengrass girl from last month?" He ignored the plate of food; his appetite suddenly vanished.

James nodded, confusion clear on his face, "Sure," he glanced at his wife, "I brought her to St. Mungo's and you checked her vitals."

Lily's face brightened, "Oh, Daphne? She was a curious thing, the dear. Asked about everything, but did so, so quietly that I had to strain to hear her. I think she was trying to distract herself in the only nice way she knew how to in public." Her hand reached for James's. "I saw her little sister regularly because of her blood curse. Terrible what happened. At least Daphne got to go home with people she knew, even if it was the Malfoys." She shook her sadness away and regarded Sirius's troubled aura, "Is she alright?"

Sirius stared at his outstretched hands, "Her rotten parents, Merlin rest their fucking souls, left instructions for my cousin to organize a betrothal agreement for the lass. Their conditions were stupidly specific and extremely well cast." His fists clenched, "For the last two hours I've been trying to undo the spells, but they used blood magic, the dirty snakes."

James took a swig of beer, "What are the conditions?" He wasn't yet able to tell where Sirius was going with the girl's story, but he could feel the anxiety rolling off him, so he figured it was best to let him beat around the bush.

Sirius sorted through the papers on the table before finding the section within the Greengrass Will where Daphne's future was decided for her, "The wizard must belong to one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, and a formal, binding contract must be signed by the end of next week. If these terms aren't met, Daphne's magical core will be removed, and her memory will be stripped of our world."

Lily's gasped sharply, "Were they made out of tin? How could they do this to their child?"

James put a comforting arm around her, a rare spark of hatred flashing in his eyes, "These people would do anything to preserve their blood status, Lily. Insane, doesn't even begin to cover it."

Her worry building, Lily caught Sirius's attention, "Has it already been decided what's going to happen to Daphne? Who is she paired with?"

Sirius exhaled at once, his whole body was tense, "Yes, Miss Greengrass will be betrothed to a respectable, pureblood wizard belonging to the Sacred Twenty-Eight."

James harrumphed loudly, though he became intrigued, "I doubted there were any left. Who's the bastard your snobby cousin chose?" In James's defense, his parents were ostracized from the 'purest of pure' community which they had, for some time, already stubbornly avoided; and James readily distanced himself even further by adopting most of Lily's muggle-born traditions. James was out of the loop, so to say, while Sirius, well - he liked to rial up the pureblood bigoted ninnies as he watched them try to get back into his good graces.

Sirius's gaze dropped, and his hands clasped tightly together, but his silence alone was enough for the realization to dawn on them.

James choked on his beer and began to cough up a fit. "No! I don't believe it! Why in Godric's name would you condemn yourself to such a thing, Padfoot!?" He jumped up, his beer spaying heavy drops on the legal documents and Lily swiftly placed them on the floor to prevent a catastrophe from happening.

"Who else is there!?" Sirius growled out, his foot tapping up a storm as he tried to make James see his reasoning, "Everyone's in Azkaban, mentally disturbed or already taken."

"She's the same age as Harry," James said in monotone perceptiveness, dropping back to the sofa.

Sirius looked sick, "Don't you think I know that?" He whispered out. "Don't you think I feel shitty enough as it is already? I spent the entire day thinking about this mess, and I still don't know if I'm doing the right thing or not."

"I think you're making the right choice, Sirius." A soft, but powerful voice spoke up. Lily was smiling.

Sirius blinked as though his mind couldn't process what she'd just said, and James just stared at his wife before, "Are you drunk?"

"No, you absolute toerag." Lily flicked his forehead, and directed her focus onto her suffering friend, "It is all quite sudden. If I didn't know about this world and its traditions, I would think you were pulling one on me - but there are more pros than cons."

"Are there?' Sirius fired back at her. "Cause I've made a list if you'd care to see - "

Lily shushed him. She was a bit tipsy, sure, but that didn't mean she wasn't capable of comforting a friend, "Yes, there are. Daphne won't go to a muggle orphanage, and she'll be in safe hands with you, Sirius. Now, the only time sensitive thing is signing the contract. After that, and this is the best part - you're completely free to focus on your work because Daphne is young and -" She paused and smirked, "no more having to find annoying gala dates weeks in advance because you technically won't be single."

Sirius sat back folding his arms and almost hesitantly, as if he didn't want to jinx anything, nodded, "You're right." He didn't add his usual witty remark; instead, he nervously ran his fingers through his hair before a small smile pulled at his lips, "Bloody hell, no more witches throwing themselves at me."

"We can only hope for that, Padfoot." James chuckled, his wife assuaged his previous displeasure.

A pleased grin spread on Lily's face; her efforts were delivering their desired effect, "It's great because, and I say this with no offense to you, Sirius, you're not the marrying type. With the hours you work, you haven't had a steady girlfriend since - I don't even remember. But hopefully, you'll be ready to commit to Daphne when she comes of age, rather than catching bad guys. And I'll get some peace of mind knowing that there'll be someone else looking out for you along with me."

Nodding along, but slightly knackered himself, James eagerly gave his own advice, "Before that though, you might want to bring Daphne around here so that she doesn't end up with a stick up her arse. Better yet, she might get sorted into Gryffindor. I'd love to see old Lucy's face if that happened."

"James! He can't groom his future wife!" Lily hit the back of his head and James yelped, grabbing at his hair with a disgruntled look.

Lily's eyes narrowed, though her threat was an empty one. She tucked her hair behind her ear and gained a thoughtful expression, "I know Narcissa has a boy Harry's age. Perhaps I could organize something between them so that Daphne can get to know us."

"What about the Weasleys? Should we include the whole gang, Lily? Make things less awkward?" James added hopefully.

Gently frowning at first, an admiring smile appeared on Lily's flushed face a second later, "That's a great idea, Jamie, but they are a rowdy bunch. Might be a much. We don't want to scare the girl off from the beginning."

Sirius, overwhelmed by the support he was receiving from the two people whose opinions he valued above everyone else's, marveled at how lucky he was. He cleared his throat, "You two are the best, have I mentioned that?"

James and Lily, having been deeply immersed in their whimsical, proper intentioned planning, turned their attention onto him with matching grins.

"We're family, mate. You can't get rid of us - no matter what you do."

Lily teared up, making her green eyes gleam in the dim lit room. She hurried over to Sirius and gave him a warm hug which he returned gladly. "James's right. We love you, Padfoot. Everything will be alright, you'll see." She straightened and levitated the forgotten plate of food over to him, "Now eat, you silly dog. Don't think you get to leave here on an empty stomach."

James burst out laughing, and Sirius winked towards the maternal witch as he grabbed the hovering fork, "Wouldn't dream of it, Mrs. Potter."

Little Note: I just started writing this story, so I apologize that I don't have more chapters to upload all at once for you guys. If you've enjoyed thus far, you'll have to be patient with me going forward.

Thank you for reading. Let me know what you think.