Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the show so please don't sue.
A/N: Theo Darkstar: wow! You were fast at reviewing! Thank you and I hope this chapter is equally as good; Sirius is home…
Summerlovin1919: here's the chapter you've been waiting for, here's Sirius! Glad you like the relationship between Lily and James,
'James, we've been working on this for two hours solid, please, just take a break.' Lily pleaded. It had been a day since they'd begun to work on the bike, and it was becoming harder and harder for her to drag him away; apart from meals, bathroom breaks and sleep, they had rarely moved from the room.
'I can't, they're coming home today and we're still nowhere near finished, not to mention the charms that need to be replaced to make it fly and become invisible and we need to-' James was still sat in front of the bike, although with new, fresh clothes on that he'd directed Lily to find for him, his crutch lying unused beside him.
'You're rambling.' Lily cut across him frustratedly, 'Look, I know they're coming back today, but you still need to eat and rest. It will not be finished by the time they get back, it's impossible!' She argued before stopping abruptly. She could have sworn she heard movement in the house. James heard it too as he picked up his wand and pointed it towards the door.
There seemed to be footsteps coming towards them, coming closer and closer. Getting to her feet, Evans peered around the door, before letting out the breath she hadn't known she was holding. 'Sirius Black! Haven't you ever heard of announcing yourself when you enter a house?' She demanded, crossing her arms and glaring at the other teen.
'Evans?' Was the only word Sirius could get out as he stared in shock at the red head who had suddenly appeared from the Potters living room.
'Congratulations Black, after 6 years, nearly 7, you have finally managed to remember my name. Was it that much of a strain?' She asked him sarcastically, enjoying the look of surprise on his face, it was rare for anyone to shock a Marauder; this was certainly a memory she would treasure forever.
'But, you're here, why are you here?' He stumbled out clumsily, 'you're a death eater aren't you!' He suddenly accused her, raising his own wand.
'Padfoot you idiot, of course she isn't a death eater, if she was, you'd be dead by now!' James voice called out from the room the two of them were standing outside of. He lowered his wand, but still eyed her suspiciously. She rolled her eyes in response.
'He's in there, if you need me, I'll be in the kitchen; just don't be too harsh on him.' Lily warned him, only adding to his confusion before she walked away. Going into the room, he could only gape at the sight that greeted him, that of his beaten and battered friend and motorbike in pieces scattered around.
'I'm so sorry Sirius, I had an accident. I'll make it up to you I promise, I'll fix it, just give me a bit more time-' James begged, unable to meet his friend's furious gaze, tears beginning to trickle down his face as his guilt and pain, both mental and physical caught up with him.
'JAMES ARISTIDE POTTER!' Sirius roared, absolutely livid, in the kitchen Lily winced as she heard this, not only for the chewing out James was about to receive, but also the terrible name he'd been cursed with. For a split second she considered going to calm them down, but she had a feeling this maybe exactly what Potter needed to hear, and Sirius wasn't that mad about the bike…
'What the hell do you think you're doing?' He demanded in a slightly lower voice, the tears only flowed faster on his friends face, breaking his heart.
'I'll fix it, I'm so sorry, I know how much the bike means to you-' Potter sobbed out, not even bothering to brush away the wetness on his face, his body trembling at the strain it was under.
'James, the bike is nothing compared to you, I couldn't care less about it. What I'm worried about is you.' James gaped at him. Striding across the room, Sirius sat beside the boy he called his brother, pulling him into his arms in a gentle hug so as not to injure him anymore, not caring that most boys didn't show this level of caring; but then again, when were Marauders like other people? 'James, you're my family, my brother, do you really think I would care about a bike more than you?'
'But you worked so hard at fixing it up and enchanting it, it meant the world to you and I ruined it,' the tears began again. Pulling him into his shoulder Sirius gently rubbed his back, trying to give him some comfort. Opening his mouth to reassure the boy, he suddenly became aware that the crying a shaking had stopped, he'd fallen asleep in his arms. A sad smile grew on his lips, had he really given the impression that James meant less to him than a bike? He would just have to correct this very forcefully as soon as he woke up.
Levitating his friend onto his bed, he pulled the blankets over him and removed his glasses, putting them on the table next to him before heading to the kitchen. He wanted some answers, and he wanted them now.
'Is he alright?' Lily asked, not looking up from where she was reading the Daily Prophet Sirius had left on the table when he came into the mansion.
'He's sleeping, what happened to him Evans?' Sirius questioned her coolly, although James had always liked Lily, the two of them had never really gotten along, Lily believing he was as arrogant and childish as Potter, and he believing she was stuck up. She sighed motioning for him to take a seat opposite her.
'Yesterday morning James turned up to my house in roughly the same shape as he's in today. Apparently he was in a motorcycle accident; the person in the car didn't look before changing lanes and hit him, so he was taken to a muggle hospital. I would have taken him to St Mungo's, but too many muggles know about him…'
'So they'd be suspicious if he suddenly turned up healed.' Sirius finished the sentence for her, understanding what she was telling him. She nodded before continuing.
'I believe he told me he's broken his arm and sprained that wrist, broken a few ribs, has an awful lot of stitches he needs to go back to hospital tomorrow to have removed, something he wasn't too sure about with his knee which is why he has the crutch and an assortment of bruises.' Sirius whistled in amazement at what had happened, feeling more and more guilty that it was his bike that had done this. 'It wasn't your fault,' Lily growled at him, 'if you even think about starting on the same guilt trip Potters been on I will personally hex you into next centaury!' This evoked a barking laugh from him, it was a threat she regularly made to the Marauders, their day didn't really start until they'd been threatened to be hexed somewhere!
'So why isn't he still at the hoptsatl?' Black demanded, looking serious, which unfortunately cracked Lily up at his mangling of the word hospital.
'Hospital, and he's here because he was afraid of you, that you wouldn't be his friend anymore because he broke your bike. Are you?' Her voice turned colder at the end of the sentence as she demanded the answer, after all the mental anguish James had been putting himself through since he'd turned up on the doorstep, Sirius had better not just ditch him. The other part of her brain argued back though, you've seen how close they are, do you honestly believe he'd leave him because of a bike?
'Am I what?'
'Going to stop being his friend?' Sirius shook his head emphatically, relieving her of the tension that was beginning to mount when he hadn't instantly denied the accusation.
'NO! How could you possibly think that! He's close enough to be my brother; it wasn't his fault, Merlin how did this get so messed up?' He groaned, banging his head on the table.
'Look, have some cereal,' she pushed a bowl forwards that she'd prepared earlier when the other teen had gone into see James. With the amount of hours he'd been putting into the bike and the medication he was on, she was pretty sure James wasn't going to last long, especially with the emotional strain, so she only made one bowls worth and not two. Seeing his amused but curious glance at her, she sheepishly explained the cereal; 'I haven't been able to figure out how to use a wizard's stove yet so it's all we've been eating for the last day.' Sirius had to chuckle at the smartest witch in the year not being able to figure out an object as simple as a stove, but accepted the cereal anyway, beginning to shovel as much as he could possibly fit in his mouth all at once.
'You do realise when he wakes up you'll have to get him to see he's more important?' she added while he was eating causing a serious expression to come over Sirius' face, a rare expression, as he nodded before his usual smiling face returned.
Putting down his spoon, he pushed the now empty bowl away from him.
'That has to have been the most disgusting sight of someone eating I've ever been forced to witness.' Evans commented; her face twisted in disgust, Sirius simply smiled in return.
'So, do you want to know the secret of the stove? We have some time before he'll wake up.' He tempted her, leading her over to the corner where it was located. 'You know, Mum's going to freak about this.' He commented casually as though talking about the weather and not about his friend's injuries.
'What am I going to freak about?' An older woman's voice demanded from the door.