A/N: This is one of my favorite chapters I`ve written for any story...enjoy.

The Weekend

-Friday night-

"Evans, we need to talk."

"Have you been drinking?"

Sirius took out a flask from his robes and took another swig. "Liquid courage. Want some?"

"I`m good, thanks. What do you want?"

"I want to be the godfather to your first born, but I`ll get to that. Lily, I don`t hate you."

"Well that makes one Marauder, even if it is just the booze talking."

"Lily-of-the-flowers, it is not just the booze talking. Well, maybe. But I am an EXPERT."

He swayed and caught himself on the wall.

"You sure look like one. Are you the Minister of Magic in your head too?"

Sirius ignored her. "Remember in fifth year when our dear friend Mary dated that beak-noised Ravenclaw, and I said he wouldn`t visit her in the hospital wing, and he didn`t?! And when I told you Peter and that Kathy girl would make it to the end of the year and then split, and they did?! And when I said that Gardner boy was cheating on Marlene, and he was?!"

"'That Gardner Boy' told you he was cheating on Marlene."

"STILL!"

"So you`re an expert….of what exactly? Drinking? Break-ups?"

"I AM THE VOLUPTUOUSLY-HAIRED EXPERT OF LOVE!"

"Mate, you`re sloshed."

"Evans, I know love. I know Prongs. I know you. And I know you and James will fall in love, get married, have kids, and live happily ever after."

"Where`s the guys? You need to rest, you`re becoming delusional…"

"Evans." Sirius put his drunken hand on her shoulder. "I know it to be true, and I want to be the godfather."

"Alright, Si, you can be the godfather of the imaginary baby I will have in the alternate universe where James and I fall in love."

"So yes?"

"Yes. Now come on, let`s get you up to your-"

"Brilliant."

Sirius passed out cold in Lily`s arms.

"Brilliant." Lily echoed sarcastically.

-Saturday-

"Are you sure…"

"He offered. He wanted us to sit with him."

"Wanted, before I-"

"You`re sitting with me or I`ll make Peter sit with you and do his Dumbledore impression."

"I like his Dumbledore impression."

"Fine. Then I`ll make him do his Snape impression."

"You`re feisty with that new haircut."

Lily reluctantly followed Alice up to the row of stand where Remus Lupin was sitting. Alice plopped down on the far end next to Remus, leaving Lily between Remus and Frank. Marlene, Mary, and Marlene`s roommates, Emmeline and Dorcas, filed onto the row below them. Peter squeezed in on the end next to Frank.

"No Mel?" Remus asked Alice, blatantly ignoring Lily.

Alice smiled. "She got her job back, mostly thanks to the uprising you Marauders led at the last two matches."

Remus grinned, remembering a particularly eventful Hufflepuff-Slytherin match.

Below, on the pitch, the players were beginning to stream out of the locker rooms.

"Remus…" Lily said quietly.

He stayed facing Alice, unresponsive.

"I`m really sorry. It was so stupid."

Nothing.

"Is there anything I can-"

From up in her booth, Melody greeted the crowd as the magical microphone crackled to life.

"Hellooooo Hogwarts! This is you`re newly reinstated announcer, who thanks you for protesting until Professor McGee let me back on! Let`s have a big round of applause for the lovely professor!"

The stands erupted in zealous shouts and cheers. Lily joined in the clapping and stamping of the feet, choosing to save her voice for all the apologizing she`d have to do during the match.

"Let`s hear it for the currently undefeated…RAVEN-CLAW!"

The blue and silver players zoomed clockwise around the field, circling like hawks and doing tricks on their brooms.

"Show-offs." Frank muttered.

Remus scoffed. "And Gryffindor isn`t?"

"And now, ladies and gents, witches and wizards, please throw your hands in the air….it`s time to give it up for….GRY-FIN-DOR!"

Melody hit the music switch as the Gryffindor players launched into the air. They too circled the pitch, but counterclockwise. Several players punched the air and whooped as they circled, and their captain flew over the stands, high-fiving the audience.

McGonagall made Melody turn the music off as the players slowed and went to their respective ends of the pitch.

"The captains are coming forward to shake hands…this is Lawrence`s first match against Gryffindor as a captain, so it`ll be interesting to see her strategy. This isn`t Hufflepuff, folks."

Professor leaned over and hissed something in Melody`s ear.

"It was a good natured joke, Professor- the Hufflepuffs understand and they know we love them. Isn`t that right, guys? While the captains shake hands and get into position, I invite you all to give a badger-like snort of appreciation to the Hufflepuff nearest and dearest to you."

Lily leaned over to Frank and snorted in his ear.

"Hey!"

They could barely hear him above the snorting that had broken out around them.

Mary snorted at him from his other side.

"Come on, I`m not that laid back. Go snort somebody else."

"The teams are in position now….Here`s the tip off….Ravenclaw has possession and Williamson is taking it up the field. He passes to Lyles-Oi! Good shot by Peters, Lyles will be feeling that one in the morning….speedy little Robins takes it up… Ooh, nice dodging, the beaters should really be paying more attention to tha-Don`t point that thing over here, Black. You know it`s true."

"Everyone`s favorite little Robin has recovered quickly and passes to Bell. She`s weaving up- and gets dispossessed by Lawrence, was that a hip check? Anyway, It`s clear Lawrence is determined… passes to Williamson…He`s closing in on the big Robin now, coming closer and closer to those hoops….could Ravenclaw be the first to score?...But it is not to be, apparently, as Bell takes back the quaffle. She passes to the little Robin-it`s a term of endearment, Bradley. And you are a fast little bird..."

Bradley saluted Melody in her booth as he whizzed past.

"Clare "Ginge Mister" Harper tries to knock the little Robin out of the air, but he`s too fast for her…. He passes to Perkins, who`s rumored to be considering going professional next year when she`s outta school…SCORE!"

The red and gold went wild, thrilled to have scored so early in the game.

"Excellent start to the season for Gryffindor! Potter has just done a roll on his broom, as if reminding all of us that`s just how they roll. Let`s see if they can keep this up."

Lily thought this was as good a time as any to try and strike up conversation with Remus. With sprits high, she decided to try her luck.

"Rem….is there anything I can do that would let you forgive me?" She whispered, not taking her eyes of the field.

Remus` eyes wavered on his mate who was circling the field from above, looking for a lucky glint of gold.

"Give me your first born child."

"Why does everyone keep asking about my first born child? Who says I`m even having children?!"

"Is that a yes?"

"Why do you want her?"

"It will be a him."

"Okay…Why do you want him?"

"Because Padfoot is convinced you and Prongs are destined to miraculously fall in love and have kids and live happily ever after, and Padfoot is never wrong when it comes to relationships."

"Even if Black is right, which he won`t be because that`s completely and horrendously impossible for James to even forgive me, let alone fall in love with me, and I am not in love with him nor will I ever be, why would you want our baby?"

"Any child born of you two must be incredibly lucky, because he was born in the first place despite all odds, since as you said; you and James get along like Padfoot and reading. So I`ll take him to a casino and make a fortune off the winnings and retire to my golden mansion. Then I shall forgive you, and let you visit your child and my ginormous library on weekends."

"You`ve obviously put a lot of thought into this."

"So that`s a yes?"

"You can`t have my baby. Even if it, by some twisted fate, is a spawn of Potter."

"Alright, never mind. It was a long shot anyway. I`ll settle for all the chocolate frogs I know you keep in that bin under your bed for special occasions."

"Most friends would just hug and make up. Why do I have to bribe you?"

"Because you used me to betray my best friend."

"I didn`t mean to-"

"Anyway…"

"Fine. I`ll give `em to you after the match."

"I love you, Lily-Bear." Remus sang, hugging her.

"Mmhmm. By the way, about the k-"

"Let's never speak of it again."

"Agreed. Strongly."

"Could this be…? He pulls up from his dive…..and YES! Potter has caught the snitch!"

"Lawrence has tasted her first tears of defeat as a captain, but there is no doubt she`ll be back and bloodthirsty as ever for more, soon enough."

"Gryffindor now has one loss, one win under its belt, which is alright for the beginning of the season."

"Thank you all for coming, and I`ll see you all next time for the brutal slaughter that will be…HUFFLEPUFF VERSUS SLYTHERYN! You can take that whichever way you want to, people."

People filed off the stands and the Gryffindor supporters clambered onto the pitch to congratulate the players.

"Brilliant catch, Potter."

Mike Lee, one of the backup Gryffindor chasers, started cheering, "POTTER, POTTER, POTTER, POTTER..."

"Come off it, Lee, you`re just doing that cause you think Potter will take it to heart and not bench you next time." Mattie laughed.

Mike stopped his chant. "Don`t say it so loud while he`s right there…"

"It`s okay Mike, you can chant all you like, I won`t mind." James laughed, startling Mike.

"Oi, Robins, you`re little brother`s following in your footsteps as a spectacular player."

"Meh, he`s alright. A bit zippy."

"Zippy? What`s that supposed to mean?" Bradley scoffed.

"As in, 'Zippidy-do-dah…'."

"Oh, stuff it, Josh. You`re just jealous because I made the team at a younger age than you did."

"Nice work there at the end, Vanessa. You really had my back on that one." Mattie said, throwing her arm around the younger girl.

Melody joined the crowd. "Pete, Lupin, do you think we should start setting up for the party now? It`s half seven."

"Right-o, Mels. Hey Mary, care to join us? We might need you to help carry certain…party necessities… up to the common room."

"Alright, but you can`t laugh if I drop anything explosive this time."

"Actually, they set you us last time." Melody said, her green eyes twinkling.

Mary`s jaw dropped "Seriously?!"

"Yes, love?" Sirius said, turning away from his adoring fans.

"Not you."

"Actually, he was in on it too."

"BLACK!"

Three hours later, the victory party was still going strong.

The Robins brothers were nearing the end of a heated game of exploding snap, and tons of people had encircled them and were cheering their favorite brother on. Linda had even got some people chanting her boyfriend`s name.

Next to them, Mary was standing as still as she possibly could with her arms out while Mike, Emmeline, and Johnny put cups of butterbeer on her arms. Marlene had bet her a galleon she couldn`t fit seven on each arm, and she had three to go…

Alice and Sirius, after quite a few drinks, were snogging by the portrait hole.

Frank and Dorcas were playing darts, using a picture of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team as the dartboard.

In a circle by the fire, Remus, Melody, James, Mattie, Lily, and Peter were playing ten fingers.

Lily, who had eight fingers up, was next. "I have never eaten over two sandwiches in one meal."

"Only two? Come one, you guys haven`t eaten more than two? I ate five at lunch just last Tuesday!" Peter exclaimed in shock as only he (who was now at seven fingers), James (four), and Remus (six) put down a finger.

"Some of us can`t unhinge our jaws." Lily laughed.

Remus cleared his throat. "I have never fixed my hair during a class."

Lily, Mattie, and Melody each put down a finger. Mattie nudged James. "That`s you too, mate."

"Come on, Prongsy. We`ve seen you do it."

James begrudgingly lowered a finger.

"I have never…. got even mildly excited over a mark on a test." James said.

"Low blow, Potter." Lily said as she and Remus each put down a finger.

"I have never blown up the kitchens." Melody said, looking right at Mattie.

"It was an accident! No house elves got hurt, anyway. I was just trying to make a shortcut to the common room, is that so wrong?!"

She and Remus were both tied at five, James was at three, Melody and Lily at six, and Peter was winning with seven.

"I`ve never read a book for fun." Mattie grinned, making everyone but her and James lose a finger.

James cracked the knuckles of his remaining three fingers. "I have never kissed Remus."

Lily looked away, and was the only one to lower her finger. "I`ve never cursed Severus Snape for the fun of it."

Guiltily, the Marauders all dropped a finger. "I`ve never called someone an arrogant toerag."

"I`ve never stolen a snitch." Lily snapped back.

"I`ve never been in love." Melody said quietly, cutting off James` retort. She lowered a finger.

James also dropped a finger, his last, and stood up. Without saying a word, he walked away from the fire and up to his dorm.

"Who was he in love with?" Lily asked Remus her voice hushed, barley above a whisper, yet everyone in the small circle heard her.

Remus raised an eyebrow, and Peter turned, shocked.

"You, of course."