Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the show so please don't sue.
A/N: Summerlovin9191: Glad you enjoyed the chapter, hope this one is equally as good! Here's James' Mum...
Theo Darkstar: Who needs to know how to use all those things?! That's what Mum's are for!
Turning around, the two of them saw an older lady with greying hair and a pair of glasses very similar to James' standing in the doorway. She was dressed in a dark pair of robes and had a small handbag on one shoulder.
'Mum!' Sirius greeted her, flying into her outstretched arms.
'Hello dear,' she returned the greeting, kissing him on top of his head, 'Oh is this your girlfriend? Hello dear, I'm Carla Potter, James and Sirius' mother; it's a pleasure to meet you.' Carla came over and swept her up in a hug that matched the force she'd given Sirius moments earlier.
'Oh no Mrs Potter, I'm not his girlfriend, just a friend. I'm Lily Evans.' The red head corrected her, not too sure how to act around this very friendly lady.
'Please dear, call me Carla, Mrs Potter makes me feel so old,' She instantly turned to the other teen in the room, 'and I'll have no smart comments from you mister!'
'How could you possibly think that I would imply you're old,' Sirius argued in mock outrage, before adding with a shrug of his shoulders, 'I mean it's obvious you're old!' He yelped as she swatted him around the head with her hand, Lily simply giggled at the display of obvious affection between the two of them.
'Now, what was it I'm going to freak about?' She asked sternly, looking between the two of them, her arms crossed and accepting nothing but the whole story from them.
'I think maybe you'd better sit down for this.' Lily suggested as she and Sirius sat back in the same chairs they had been sitting in a short while before.
Carla shot out of her seat and ran to the living room after getting the full story from the young woman, and Sirius who injected his own pieces in here and there. Letting out a sigh at the sight of her son, she choked back her tears at how close she had come to loosing her son.
Sitting on the bed, she gently brushed back his scruffy hair that had flopped over his face while cataloguing all the bruises, cuts and broken bones. Her heart sunk at the thought she could do nothing to ease his pain, as a Healer, this was the hardest task she'd ever been forced to face. Leaving him to sleep, she joined the two other teens outside the room, brushing away the few tears that had escaped her control.
'Thank you Lily for looking after him, I don't know what I would do if my two boy's were taken from me, they're all I have left.' Carla looked into Lily's eyes, her fear all too evident at the thought of loosing either James or Sirius. 'James' father died when he was 5, James was the only thing that kept me going. He brought me Sirius, my other son; I can't loose them, either of them.' She choked out; Sirius leant into her, giving her a hug in comfort.
'I'm not going anywhere Mum, promise.' Black reassured her, giving her a quick kiss on her cheek. Lily smiled at the affection once more, he seemed a completely different person to the arrogant, cocky boy she had been forced to endure at Hogwarts.
'I know you aren't, you're a good boy.' Sat this both Lily and Sirius snorted in amusement causing her to huff, although they could both see the twitches of a smile that threatened to bloom. 'Okay, you're good to me, although if you could reduce the amount of owls I receive for you two this year, I would be grateful.' She asked hopefully.
'But Mum!' Sirius whined in mock horror, 'it's James who leads me astray. I try to tell him no, but there's just no stopping him sometimes.' At this, both women looked at him, eyebrows raised in amusement and disbelief.
'Just try not to get caught quite so often, or at least, give me something to laugh at with your pranks.' Sirius laughed at this while Lily looked at her in shock, Carla winked at her. 'You aren't the only one who gets a laugh at them.'
'Hello? Lily? Sirius?' A small voice called from the living room, he sounded bleary from sleep. Carla darted inside, the others not too far behind. Going over to the bed, she helped her son sit up and put on his glasses while Lily and Sirius stayed nearer to the door.
'Mum?! You're home.' James looked carefully at her, surprised to see her back. Carla nodded before gently hugging him. 'I'm fine Mum, really.' She sighed at this attempt to comfort her.
'James, I already know exactly what's wrong, you don't need to pretend.' She told him softly, ruffling his hair up and making it look even messier than normal. Quite an achievement as it had already the look of bed hair.
'Mum!' James protested weakly, 'I'm fine, really; it may look bad, but I feel fine, just a little stiff.' The glare he received was enough to make most people back down, but James simply met it head on.
'Okay, you can keep telling yourself that, I'll be in the kitchen making lunch, I'm sure you're hungry, teenagers are always hungry.' Carla told them all as she stood up. Reaching up with his good arm, James pulled her towards him before kissing her cheek; Carla smiled and ruffled his hair again before going to the door and doing the same to Sirius. Bowing her head slightly, Lily slipped out and followed the older woman into the kitchen.
'Am I really that bad a friend?' Sirius asked as he meandered slowly to the bed before sitting down crossed legged in front of James. Prong's head shot up in shock.
'What are you talking about? I'm the one who-' Sirius cut him off mid sentence.
'Am I that bad a friend?' He posed the question again.
'No!' Was the immediate cry from the messy haired boy, 'you're a great friend!'
'Then why do you think I'd care more about my bike than you? How could you possibly think that?' Sirius demanded, his voice low but serious.
'Because it means so much to you! You're always going on about it, fixing it, tweaking it, and I broke it. I broke the one thing you've managed to pay for and do by yourself since you left That place, and I ruined it.' A few tears escaped once again. 'How could you possibly want to be friends with me after that?'
'Shut up, just shut up James.' Sirius demanded; using the boy's real name to show this was no joking matter. James flinched at the tone used. 'Yes, I love the bike, but you mean far more to me than a piece of metal. I can fix the bike, heck I can even buy a new one, but I can't replace you, I can't buy a new you if you die!' He paused, taking a deep breath in an attempt to control his own emotions and blinking away the tears that threatened to spill from his own eyes.
'I'm sorry.' James looked down, still not able to meet his brother's eyes.
'I know you are Prongs, I know you'd never do this on purpose. It was an accident, an accident for Merlin's sake, there is nothing for me to forgive you for, you did nothing wrong! Can you ever forgive me?' This got James' attention as his head jerked up in shock.
'What the hell for? You didn't do anything, you weren't even there!' Potter protested.
'No, I wasn't, but I also haven't been a good friend.' Seeing the argument that had sprung to his friends lips, he held up a hand to stop him. 'Let me finish, if I'd been a good friend, you'd have realised how much more you mean to me than a piece of metal. You would never have left that hopstal early and you'd be healing even quicker, with better pain medication, albeit not as good as Mungo's-'
'Padfoot, you're rambling.' James interrupted gently, bringing his good arm up and resting it on the other teens forearm.
'Just promise me you'll never do this again. Be the arrogant prat everyone thinks you are; believe you are the most important thing in everyone's world, cos Merlin only knows where I'd be without you.'
'What do you mean 'the arrogant prat everyone thinks I am'? I am an arrogant prat!' James queried with a small smile, eliciting a barking laugh from his friend.
'That you are; that you most certainly are, to other people at least. To us, you couldn't give more or be any more kind.' James gave a genuine smile at this, trying to hide his blush at the compliments. 'Aww, is little Jimmy blushing?' Sirius teased him, earning himself a snort and a light tap on the arm in retaliation.
'We good?' Prongs asked, pushing the joking aside for a few moments. Sirius smiled as he crawled forward and hugged his friend, be careful not to hurt him.
'Yeah, we're good.' He murmured into his friend, no, brothers ear. James relaxed and leant into the embrace, for the first time since the accident, feeling safe and relaxed.
'You two okay?' Carla asked, smiling as she and Lily turned around from the stove where they had been cooking. The two boys looked at each other and grinned; James was leaning heavily on his brother as Sirius held his crutch. Returning the stick to his scruffy haired friend, they let go of each other before stepping through the doorway and into the kitchen.
'Yeah, we're good.' The two of the chorused, sharing a meaningful look between them
'Aww, kissed and made up then?' Lily teased the two boys; she and James had quickly decided the day before to restart their entire relationship, and it was working as they could both tease each other mercilessly, only now, without the maliciousness that had previously been there.
'Actually, where's my kiss?' James turned to Sirius, mock outrage on his face. Playing along, Sirius spun to face his friend, batting his eyelashes.
'Well then, pucker up love.' He took a step forward but was batted away with James' stick. 'Spurned again, how about you Evans? Just a little kiss?' Potter glared at him, but Carla and Lily laughed at the two boys' exchange.
'Not a chance Black. But,' she paused dramatically before making her announcement, 'Carla's been teaching me how to use the stove, so now we have warm cereal!' She announced cheerfully, enjoying the shocked faces on the other teens. Carla simply laughed.
'Please, anything but more cereal! I'm begging you!' James pleaded, only causing the two women to laugh harder. 'I think we've missed out on a good Marauder.' Prongs commented wryly.
'I have a feeling you're right.' Sirius agreed with a weary sigh before helping his friend to a seat in the kitchen and the two women handed out the soup they'd been cooking.
It looked like things were going to be okay now Lily thought, greatly relieved, and maybe, just maybe, things were going to get better from now on…