"What are you doing?"
Lily had expected that question when she walked into his bedroom unannounced, but now couldn't help but snicker at his alarmed expression as she lifted part of the comforter and crawled in beside him, leaning against the headboard.
"I think that is rather obvious, isn't it?"
"Not really," Sirius raised an eyebrow as he closed his book, and inched away from her while placing it on the night-stand.
"Can't you tell? I'm crawling into bed with you."
"That much I actually got, what I don't understand is why you are doing that."
"I'm upset with James and I really want to talk about it."
"Which results in you crawling in bed with me?"
"I knew you'd understand," Lily patted the pillow beside her and Sirius stared at her for a long moment before he sighed and grabbed a few pillows from the chair beside his bed.
"If you think I am going to braid your hair while you pour out your heart to me, you are mistaken," he grumbled as he indicated she should lean forward so he could push a few of the pillows behind her.
"That's all right, you can just paint my nails," already she felt better and they'd not even truly talked yet. She'd been right in assuming that he'd make her feel better and she leaned back into the pillows comfortably.
"Something tells me this is entirely inappropriate," Sirius finished making a nest for himself.
"Well, if it makes you feel better we could always pretend to be siblings. That way it wouldn't be," Lily snickered as Sirius tossed a plaid at her while curling up in one himself and pulling the blankets up over their legs for extra warmth.
"All right, I assume the dinner didn't go well, then?"
"It was a fiasco," Lily let him change the subject without argument, not sure if he'd even heard her while settling.
"What happened?"
"Petunia's fiancé is a rude git and so full of himself I'm surprised he didn't float up," Lily complained.
"If he's such a stuck up prick, then why are you upset with James?"
"Because he took the bait and ridiculed the guy."
"James ridiculed him? What did the guy say to annoy James?"
"Vernon."
"What?" Sirius looked at her confused.
"The oaf's name is Vernon. Vernon Dursley. And he was boasting about his car, which caused James to speak about his top of the market racing broom," she sighed, "Eventually they left in anger."
"So they just left you with the bill while they were the ones to invite you?"
"That's not the point," she waved his scandalised expression off.
"Fine, but that still doesn't explain why you're mad at James. So he and this Vernon didn't get off well, is that really such a bad thing?"
"He rose to the bait while he should've kept his mouth shut and been the better man," Lily ran a frustrated hand through her hair.
"And be ridiculed unfairly? You should know by now that James isn't the type to let people walk over him, especially not bullies. And from what I hear so far, that is exactly what this Vernon sounds like."
"He is," Lily admitted. "Nagged about everything, from the table cloth and the food to the plates. But that doesn't mean James had to enter in a bigger stick sort of contest with him."
"Because he would win?" Sirius teased.
"Because he could have been considerate of my sister´s feelings. He ridiculed Vernon before Petunia's eyes and exaggerated about his wealth!"
"The same Petunia who's been treating you horribly since you were a child and who apparently did nothing to stop her boyfriend..."
"Fiancé," Lily corrected him with a sigh, still unwilling to believe her sister was engaged to that prick.
"Fiancé, sorry, from picking on a younger guy, who by the way in the Muggle world is still considered a minor, and making her own sister feel bad?"
"Y-yes..."
"The same sister who's cruel letters left you crying in the common room on multiple occasions at night and publicly humiliated you in front of your friends? That's the one James should have been considerate of?"
"If you put it like that..."
"I do, because quite frankly I'd like to give her a piece of my mind and I wouldn't be held back by trying to consider your feelings, which James obviously did try or he'd have made the guy pay," Sirius shifted."And I doubt he exaggerated as he does own the best racing broom there is."
"I know that, he's mentioned it a few dozen times since getting it. But it's not just that, he also said his family owns several real estate's all over the world when Vernon boasted about his enormous house."
"Don't know if it's truly all over the world, but there are quite a few, yes," Sirius nodded.
"You're joking," Lily looked up surprised at that revelation.
"Why would I joke about that?" Sirius smiled faintly. "He's a Pure-Blood and the heir to an Ancient House. Most of those Houses are loaded in wealth even if they are not defined as Noble by the stuck up blood purity fanatics."
"Are you loaded?" Lily asked curiously, although she'd known his family was well off she hadn't truly considered he was rich.
"I've got more than enough money to life beyond comfortable thanks to Uncle Alphard and if my grandfather doesn't change his mind, I will one day inherit the Black fortune," he sounded resigned but Lily didn't dare ask why that was.
"I never realised, I mean, I knew James had money. He couldn't not have from the state of his clothes and this manor. But I never..., so he wasn't exaggerating?"
"Rarely does as he has no reason to," Sirius shrugged.
"I think I might have overreacted," Lily admitted with a sigh, leaning back against the headboard as she thought back to the disastrous evening. Although she hadn't yelled at James, not even after Petunia had shrieked at them both, she had blamed him for the failed dinner.
"Yeah?" Sirius gave her a knowing smile and she sighed as she knew he was more than aware of that. "Why was this dinner so important to you anyway?"
"I stupidly thought things could get better between us, but I see now that it will never happen and I wasted a perfectly good evening that I could have just spend with James."
"Then you'll just have to make up to him tomorrow. Go on a romantic date, just the two of you and have a fantastic day."
"Like what? A movie?"
"Or a walk on the beach somewhere. Heck, he'd even enjoy a picnic in the Sahara if it means spending time with you."
Lily chuckled. "A bit hot, but I think I get the general idea. Take James somewhere nice and just spend the day together."
"Atta girl, just...you might want to avoid a restaurant for a few days as I'm sure he feels guilty and wouldn't be comfortable at one so soon. A nice walk on the beach and perhaps a movie after are things he'd like."
"I'll remember, thank you," she squeezed his hand in gratitude.
"I expect you to take him out tomorrow."
"Why? Got something special planned?" Lily teased.
"No, just Remus coming over tomorrow so I can help him with his homework, but I'd like him to have a good time after what you've just told me and what better way for him to have a good time than to spend quality time with his girlfriend."
"If you're sure he'll like that."
"I'm sure," Sirius smiled and gauged her. "Does that mean you're cheered up and no longer upset with James?"
"I'll apologise to him tomorrow while we're on that date," Lily frowned as she watched Sirius extract himself from his pile of pillows and blankets. "What are you doing?"
"Escorting you back to your chamber to ensure you don't get lost and getting a drink while I'm out of bed anyway," Sirius crawled out of the bed once he was free and held out his hand to help her out as well.
Allowing him to help her out of the warm pile she followed him out of his bedroom, surprised when he guided her through the hallways in a very different way than she'd come.
"Where are we going?"
"The kitchen, I assume you must be rather thirsty after that talk as well."
"I am," she admitted. "I don't recognise this way."
"We'll take the long way through the swimming pool so we won't wake the house elves. They sleep in a room near the kitchen and I don't want to disturb them by going that way."
"You really care about them, don't you?" she smiled as he slowed his pace when she had to hurry to keep up with him.
"They are part of our family and I love all of them as such," he shrugged.
Humming in acknowledgement, she suddenly became aware that he was still holding her hand.
"Sirius?"
"Hmm?" he turned to her with questioning eyes as he led her through the door to the swimming pool.
"You're holding my hand."
"Am I not allowed to hold my sister's hand? Though I suppose it'll have to be sister-in-law or your relationship with James is slightly creepy as he's my brother," he grinned. "Besides, it's a brother's job to protect his sister while walking through deserted cold corridors."
Lily couldn't help but laugh, even as her heart swelled at his words. She knew the boy walking beside her did not trust people easily and she wasn't quite sure she truly had it, even now.
But even so, she still felt honoured that he had basically accepted her into the family and openly called her his sister.
"I've always wanted a little brother," it was the truth and she couldn't deny that that was exactly what the dark-haired Black heir had made her feel since she'd gotten closer to them, even before she had begun to date James.
When her bond with her sister had deteriorated, she'd always missed the connection of a sibling.
Over time she had resigned to the fact that she would never have that special connection she yearned for, never having made that special connection with any of her friends.
She had always had to squash down a wave of jealously when she'd seen the Marauders interact, specifically James and Sirius. Those two shared the bond she had been yearning for and would probably never find again as things between Petunia and her only got worse.
But then she had run into Sirius in the Common Room half a year ago and had unexpectedly found a shimmer of that connection in him, something that had only grown stronger as she had gotten closer to him and his friends.
Over the past year he had slowly reminded her of what having a true sibling meant and she had begun to see him as such. She'd only been half joking when she had told him he could pretend they were siblings, as that was what she found herself fantasising at times, what it would be like to have a sibling like him.
Even that evening during dinner she hadn't been able to stop the occasional flash of wonder of how Sirius would have reacted to her bringing her boyfriend for a meeting.
She hadn't been able to see him as anything but supportive, maybe interrogating James a little to see if he was truly good enough for her and threatening him with bodily harm should he hurt his sister, but ultimately supportive and enthusiastic to see his sister happy.
After all, that was how he'd acted when she had begun dating James earlier that year and she couldn't help but desire that kind of protective sibling behaviour in play towards her.
"Yeah?" Sirius didn't seem aware of her thoughts and he smiled at her. "I feel kind of sorry for myself, though. Arguing is fairly dangerous with a big sister capable of mean hexes and breaking toes."
"Oh, shut it," she gave him a shove at the teasing reminder of the toes she'd once accidentally broken during a dance, surprised as he stumbled and slipped on the cold tiles from the force of her shove, clearly not having expected it.
She tried to grab his arm, but only succeeded in giving him the extra shove needed to push him into the swimming pool as she slipped herself and she covered her mouth with her hands, eyes wide as he went under with a splash.
"Sirius!" she choked on a laugh as he came up, completely drenched. "I am so, so sorry!"
He spluttered and coughed up water as he grabbed onto the edge and she reached out a hand to pull him up, which he grabbed.
"You're soaked!"
"No kidding, I stand by what I said," Sirius coughed again and she managed to help pull him up without much trouble, fleetingly thinking he truly was too light.
"Let me grab a towel, the water must be freezing," grabbing a towel, she froze when her eyes fell on Sirius' soaked shirt; eyes widening at what was revealed by the now see-through material of his thin pyjama jacket. "W-who did that to you?"
Swallowing thickly, she couldn't help but stare at the angry deep marks revealed by the material sticking to his skin; forming an odd pattern that reminded her eerily of a tree.
At her questions Sirius seemed to realise what had been revealed and he shot upright; but instead of hiding what he clearly didn't want her to see, even angrier marks were revealed on his chest and her eyes latched onto a tattoo right over his heart.
She could only stare dumbfounded at the word written there; unable to comprehend why he would tattoo such an odd thing on his chest when her eyes well onto two other words written on his upper arms as Sirius moved.
Abomination, freak and disgrace.
Swallowing thickly, she belatedly offered the towel to him even as the scars suddenly disappeared by something Sirius did; finally realised that was exactly what they were and a surge of rage washed over her at the sudden understanding.
Like mostly everyone she had always wondered why Sirius had left his childhood home and had gone to live with the Potters; and though many rumours travelled around, the one more ridiculous than the other, she had simply assumed he had enough of the Blacks pure blood bigotry and left.
She had suspected that perhaps he had been abused by his parents for his different views; he had after all bore the same signs of neglect Snape had over the years she'd known him.
Withdrawn, distrustful and quiet when dealing with adults; it had all been signs she had identified almost immediately upon seeing him for a longer period and she had thought that perhaps his father occasionally raised a hand to him the way Snape's father had done.
But never, in her wildest imagination would she have ever imagined the boy before her to have been abused in a way that she was now seeing evidence of and even if Sirius had somehow made them disappear, she couldn't stop seeing the thick scars; the tree and words carved into his skin by people who were supposed to love him.
"Is that why you ran away?" she asked softly when he didn't answer her previous question and flinched when she reached out to him, making her hesitate.
"Leave it, Lily," James' unexpected voice startled her as her boyfriend appeared out of nowhere, shrugging out of his bathrobe to wrap it around Sirius; who still stood utterly motionless with a blank expression on his face.
"Leave it? Are they punished for what they did to him?" she couldn't help choke out; unnerved by the utter silence in the other boy as he let James pull him close.
"I said leave it," James' voice was hard and unyielding, making Lily swallow thickly at the finality in it as it told her he was in a defensive mood.
"What about those other marks then? Were they caused by those...those...because they looked like bite marks to me," Lily's heart clenched as she realised exactly what would have caused those marks and horrified her eyes snapped back to Sirius. "Did...did Remus make those? Are you..."
"I'm an Animagus."
"What?"
"Siri?" James tensed while Lily could only stare at him in utter shock at the revelation; not having been what she had expected.
"She'll keep the secret, James. You...I...she'll keep it," the uncertainty in the other's voice told Lily he hadn't meant to blurt that out but had been unable to think up a lie when she'd angrily assumed Remus had...oh
"You became an Animagus to help Remus, you both did," the moment the words slipped out she knew it was the truth and her anger at his recklessness vaporized immediately.
The boys before her were loyal beyond anything she'd ever seen and would want to do something to help their friend when discovering his secret.
Becoming Animagi would allow them to spend the full moon with the werewolf and keep him company.
She'd seen enough movies in her childhood to know werewolves turned on themselves when alone and she knew Remus was locked up during full moons as he'd told her as much when she'd asked where he spent the full moons.
Knowing what she did about the boys, she just knew she was right and that they had become Animagi to keep Remus company, perhaps to keep him from harming himself, getting scars of their own in the progress as he turned on them.
"How did you..." James trailed off as he stared at her confused.
"Because werewolves are only dangerous to humans and you'd want to help Remus, stop him from turning on himself when locked up in solitude. I...I've seen movies about werewolves before," she admitted.
"He's never attacked us," Sirius spoke up softly, not meeting her gaze as he shivered. "Not..."
"We play tag and he and Moony rough house now and then when Moony is either grumpy or particularly playful," James pulled him close as he faltered. "It makes it easier for him, to have us there."
"Then how did he get those bite marks?"
"A rough full moon in fifth year," the explanation seemed only half right, but Lily instinctively knew not to push that particular point. "He usually only leaves scratches that aren't deep enough to scar, but occasionally he's a little too enthusiastic."
"And leaves marks. Which is why you won't change when I'm in the room," Lily realised, his old-fashioned ways having allowed him to keep his secret so far. "Because you have some marks that would give your secret away, too."
"Y-yes, you're not going to yell at us?"
"For what?" Grabbing another towel, she slowly reached out to wrap it around Sirius' shivering form, heart plummeting as he shied away from her touch and wouldn't meet her eyes. "He needs to get warm; can we continue this conversation after he's had a shower?"
"Of course...could you...erm..."
"I'll run and get a spare pair of pyjama's from his room if you help him into the shower," Lily decided to spare James trying to distract her and he nodded thankfully, though she changed direction halfway to Sirius' room and ran to James' room instead.
She refused to hesitate in opening her boyfriend's wardrobe and picked out clean clothes for Sirius, making sure to pick up the sweater James had been wearing before changing for their dinner that evening.
She hoped that wearing James' sweater would help put him at ease again as she'd noticed more than once that he often wore the other's clothing and she now realised either the fabric or lingering scent comforted him.
Not that she could blame him for his unease by what she had accidentally learned; it was clear to her he was ashamed of the marks with how quickly he had magically hid them.
Although she wished she didn't understand why, she did as the scars she had seen were thick and vicious looking; leaving no doubt they were even thicker than she'd thought if they were that visible through wet fabric, no matter how thin and see-through the material had become.
She swallowed as she imagined how he'd received them; no doubt they had been inflicted to cause as much pain as possible and probably with dark magic if the Blacks reputation was to be believed.
No wonder he had renounced the whole family and didn't like to be associated with the lot of them and suddenly she was even more awed by how he had dared to stand up to his moth- no.
That woman didn't deserve the honour of being called his mother; that was something reserved for Dorea as she and Charlus were his parents in every way it counted and a wave of affection washed over her for the two people who had clearly taken Sirius in and made him one of their own.
Her grip on the bundle of clothing tightened as she remembered how he'd withdrawn from her; how quiet he had become and it unnerved her.
Sure, he was quiet a lot, but she'd learned that simply meant he was either content or up to something and she had never seen him withdrawn the way he had now.
It scared her to consider what kind of impact the Blacks had left on him for the normally headstrong and cheerful boy to do so and she never wanted to see it happen again.
Forcefully clearing her mind the way James and he had been teaching her, she made her way back to the swimming pool; knocking on the shower doors.
James opened the door within moments and gave a small relieved smile as he noticed the sweater. "Good call, we'll be out in a minute."
In truth it took more than five minutes before they emerged, but when they did Sirius had regained some colour and wasn't shivering any more; though he kept close to James.
"I'm sorry for throwing you into the pool," she immediately apologised and he nodded, meeting her gaze for a fleeting moment before looking away again.
Her heart clenched at the remaining sign of discomfort and in a split second she made up her mind and slipped her hand in his like they'd been walking before everything had gone wrong, not acknowledging that he tensed at her touch.
Light grey eyes flew to hers confused and she offered a small smile. "It are still deserted cold corridors, even if we are with one more now."
"Need protection?" a hint of a smile crossed his lips at her attempt to make him comfortable again.
"Well, I already have my shining knight in red armour on a white horse," she glanced at James' red pyjamas. "But every damsel needs their brother to protect them."
That rewarded her with a real half-smile and she was relieved as some of the tension drained from his posture as he gently squeezed her hand.
"Should I feel jealous?" James grinned as they made their way to the kitchen.
"Always," Lily teased him, taking a seat across of them as James conjured hot chocolate for them.
"So...why aren't you mad at learning our secret?" James asked once they all had a steaming cup before them.
"Why should I be? You did it to help your friend, right?"
"Yes, but it's illegal and punishable by time in Azkaban," James argued. "Not to mention a very dangerous process and a lot can go wrong."
"You sound like you want her to be angry," Sirius softly commented.
"I don't! I just...Dad was angry when he first learned what we'd done," James muttered.
"But he understood when he realised why we'd done it and that we were aware of the consequences," Sirius argued.
"That didn't stop him from grounding us."
"Did he? The way I see it he only grounded us to ensure I'd stay in bed and you'd have an excuse to stay at my side while I was bedridden."
Although she was curious to why he'd been bedridden, she didn't speak up as it was clearly a painful memory from the way her boyfriend tangled his hand with Sirius' and tightened his hold.
"I'm not angry," she decided not to cause Sirius more discomfort by allowing the subject to continue. "I understand why you've done it, although I have no idea how you managed to do it as you couldn't have asked for help."
"It was a lot of trial and error but we finally managed at the start of fifth year," James revealed.
"Finally? How long have you been working on the transformation?" Lily asked interested.
"Since Peter and I discovered his secret in second year."
"You and Peter?" she'd always assumed they had discovered it together.
"I've known a lot longer. I was accidentally in the Shrieking Shack moments before he transformed in first year and hid," Sirius admitted. "I just never told anyone."
"Not even Remus himself?" Lily was surprised he'd keep his discovery from his friend.
"No, we didn't know each other well enough when I discovered his secret and once we got closer I didn't know how to tell him so I kept it secret that I knew."
"I get it," Lily nodded. "So you managed the transformation in just three years?"
"Yeah," James confirmed.
"And without any help at all?" Lily wasn't sure she managed to keep the awe out of her voice at the amazing feat they had accomplished in such a short time.
"We researched as much as possible to learn what we could but basically, yeah."
"That's...wow...wait, is that where your nicknames come from? Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs. Even Peter is one?"
She couldn't suppress a smile as James looked at Sirius before giving an affirmative nod.
"What kind of animals...you're a dog, aren't you?" Lily's eyes fell on the dog collar Sirius always wore.
"Kind of a give-away, isn't it?" Sirius smiled.
"A little now that I know, the nickname still fits with how quietly you walk, though," Lily grinned as that got a laugh out of both James and Sirius.
"Any ideas as what Peter and I are?"
"Wormtail and Prongs," Lily decided to focus on Peter first. "A wormy tail would usually refer to a rodent, so I'd say a mouse?"
"Close enough, he's a rat," James grinned. "And I?"
"You're a stag," Lily didn't even have to think about that as a certain teasing nickname Sirius occasionally used came to mind.
"How?"
"Bambi."
"No!" James groaned while Sirius chuckled. "Darn it, Siri!"
"I had no idea how accurate the nickname would become when I first gave it to you," Sirius tried to hide a snicker. "I originally gave it to him because he's got these big brown eyes when he wants something, like the little stag in the book Remus gave me to read in first year."
"It is very fitting either way," Lily agreed. "But it is a compliment, you know? If people say you've got Bambi eyes they mean to say that you have beautiful brown eyes."
"So he keeps saying," James grumbled, though Lily could hear in his tone of voice that he wasn't truly annoyed.
"And meaning every word," Sirius lightly leaned against him as James wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
Lily suddenly figured something else out. "Is that why wearing James or Remus' clothes makes you so at ease? I mean..."
"Not really, I've always drawn comfort from their familiar scents," Sirius smiled a little. "And it's indeed gotten stronger since I've become an Animagus and my sense of smell enhanced enormously, but being surrounded by their scents mostly help me focus to not become overwhelmed by all the other scents around me."
"Are you tired?" James interrupted softly as Sirius leaned more against him.
"A little."
"Once our cups are empty we'll return to bed, what were you doing out of it in the first place? I assume you didn't plan to swim in your nightclothes?"
"She pushed me in because I was teasing her."
"It was an accident," Lily protested.
"So you didn't push him?"
"I gave him a shove and then tried to grab him when he slipped on the wet tiles, but ended up slipping myself," she pouted as James grinned.
"She certainly got you back for your teasing."
"That she did. Like suddenly crawling into my bed unannounced wasn't enough."
Lily's entire face heated up as she realised how odd that must sound to her boyfriend, but to her surprise he only laughed.
"Did you hex her?"
"No, I was reading when she came in."
"What?..."
"First time I crawled into his bed, he hexed me before realising it was me. Scared the living day light out of him."
"Can you blame me?" Sirius snorted. "You, Remus and now Lily? What have I done to provoke people into crawling into my bed at night?"
"You're just cuddly," Lily teased as she reached out to poke his hand.
"I do like a nice cuddle," Sirius freely admitted to her joy.
"I know, I've seen you curl up with James and Remus in the Common Room or by the lake often enough. Only reason I'm not jealous is because you never seem to cuddle with Peter either."
"He's too twitchy and not really the cuddling type," James chuckled.
"I believe that and should have expected it from how he behaves on a normal day. So, does that mean I can try to cuddle with you guys, too?"
"Feel free to cuddle, got nothing to hide any more," Sirius begrudgingly admitted.
Wetting her suddenly dry lips, Lily momentarily wondered if he was giving her an invitation to talk about his scars; but decided it didn't matter even before James took the words to almost topple their chairs over with a hug attack.
She now knew they were there and was fairly sure how he'd received them and that was enough for her to understand why he sometimes behaved the way he did and it was enough for her to know he was now in a better environment.
Maybe he would come to her in time, telling her on his own terms and maybe he wouldn't. She wasn't going to ask him anything he clearly didn't want to share just because she was curious and as long as he had James to talk to, she knew he would be fine.
Laughing as the two brothers rough-houses for a bit before Sirius expertly poked James in a specific spot in his side; reducing him to a giggling mess begging for mercy.
"You two are horrible," she leaned back in her chair as Sirius helped James up and cleaned away their cups.
"You love us, really," James offered her a hand up.
"I guess I do, Merlin help me," laughing, she let James pull her into a short impromptu dance while Sirius produced a camera out of nowhere and snapped a few photos of them.
Lily laughed as James finally let her go and held out a hand to Sirius.
"I'm not going to dance right now," Sirius shook his head.
"No, but you are going to accompany me back to my room like you promised before, aren't you?"
"Wouldn't want our princess to get lost, would we?" James chuckled as he took Lily's other hand.
"That would be a disaster in the morning as Mum and Dad are expecting her for breakfast," Sirius nodded, finally slipping a hand in hers.
"How come they've not been woken by our commotion if you were?" Lily frowned.
"I was in the kitchen when I heard your scream. I doubt Mum and Dad heard anything or they'd have been here already," James revealed.
"Couldn't sleep?" Sirius softly asked as they walked through the hallways, keeping his voice down to not wake anyone.
"Just wanted something other than water," James grinned as they reached the room Lily had been staying in the last few days. "Well my lady, this seems to be your stop."
"I'll bid you both a good night so you can be all mushy without me having to see it," Sirius teased. "See you both in the morning."
"Night," Lily watched as Sirius left before turning to James. "Will you be going to him?"
"Yeah, I will," James smiled; clearly pleased she knew his intentions. "Thank you."
"What for?"
"Accepting that he's not willing to talk about it."
"It is not my business to know unless he wants to tell me one day. And even if he never does, then that's fine as well. I assume he talks to you?"
"At times," a pang of sadness crossed Lily's heart at the weary expression that crossed his features.
James was only seventeen years old and yet he had already seen so much between Remus' secret and what had happened to Sirius as she had no doubt he'd been there to try and put the other boy together again.
All three of them had and despite all he had already seen, she knew he would fight in the war once they graduated as he wasn't one to simply not get involved when he could help.
The though terrified her sometimes as she knew people had and would keep on dying in this ongoing war; a war both of her boys would no doubt be in soon.
She knew James could look after himself and that Sirius would have his back like he always did; but that didn't stop her from worrying and having decided she would have to have both of their backs in turn as she had no intention of standing on the sidelines while the people she'd grown to love were fighting.
The thought made her smile and she leaned forward to kiss James softly.
"Then I am content, knowing he's got you to help him."
"You really are too good for me, you know that, right?" James grinned as he pulled her close.
"I could say the same," Lily smiled as she brushed a hand over his cheek. "Now go and give Sirius a nice long cuddle from me as well."
A peck on her cheek made Lily chuckle. "Good night and I'll see you at breakfast?"
"You can pick me up at nine, not a minute earlier. Be sure to drag Sirius along as he owes me a hug."
"I will, can I prepare him for it or do you want to spring it on him when we pick you up?"
"It would be better to warn him, don't want to scare him that early in the morning."
"Early? For him that's almost midday. I've got to warn you though, Remus returns tomorrow as well but I don't know how late he'll arrive."
"Oh!" Lily suddenly remembered her promise to Sirius. "We've got a date tomorrow."
"We do?" apprehension crossed James' face and Lily bit her lip guilty.
"I've talked to Sirius about the disastrous dinner and he's made me see I owe you an apology for being upset with you. It wasn't your fault Vernon was an arrogant prick."
"I figured that's what you were doing in Sirius' room tonight," James clearly caught her confused expression that caused him to elaborate. "He's usually the one you go to when you're upset or want to talk about things."
"And that doesn't bother you?"
"Sometimes it's easier to talk to a friend than to your partner, I completely understand as I do the same. I'm just glad you managed to find that bond of confidence in Sirius when you don't feel like talking to your female friends."
"You're not even remotely jealous, are you?" Lily was amazed at how utterly comfortable he was in the knowledge of how close she'd become to Sirius. Most guys would be utterly jealous even if there was nothing to be jealous of.
"Should I be? Sirius is my brother and you are the love of my life. It's beyond my wildest hopes that you'd get along as well as you do," James smiled. "I heard you call him your brother and you certainly act like I've always seen brothers and sisters do."
"You are a special guy, James, and I'm grateful to know you," Lily wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for another kiss. "Now go to our brother before he's asleep."
"I'll just crawl in with him if he is," he stepped back from her. "But what was this about a date you mentioned?"
"As soon as Remus' arrives we'll leave, just the two of us. Sirius' orders and you'll hear the rest of the details tomorrow. Now go."
"I look forward to it, good night my lovely lady," James bounced forward to give her another kiss before he hurried off with a wave and Lily rolled her eyes as she made her way into her room.
Deciding to follow Sirius' advice, she laid out clothes fit for a beach walk but still comfortable enough for a movie visit.
As she finished and got ready for bed again, she decided they'd end the evening in a nice restaurant despite what Sirius had said. She was sure he'd enjoy the visit if they met up with Sirius and Remus for a nice dinner with just the four of them.
Satisfied with what she'd planned and making a note to discuss it with Sirius so that she could let him make reservations, she crawled in bed, not for the first time grateful to the dark-haired young man for his interference.
She wasn't sure she'd ever have gained what she had if he hadn't asked her to give James a chance and for that she would be forever grateful.
She never would have expected to become as happy as she was now and it was all thanks to him as he had decided to entrust her with James' heart, knowing she'd lose hers in the progress.
But it was more than just finding the love of her life, he had also given her the sibling bond she'd so long longed for.
And although she knew some dinner wasn't remotely enough to thank him for that, it was a good start and a nice time to spend some quality time with those she'd grown to love.