Disclaimer: I'm impoverished, as far as owning these characters goes. Thank you Halsey for playing in the background pretty much every chapter from now on through mid-26.

So Far: After the protest against werewolf registration law, James and Sirius had a fight and Sirius, despite owning a new home now, crashed at Lily's place, as it is the Easter holidays. Marlene showed up at James' house in the middle of the night after kissing Dorcas. James doesn't know that last part.

Chapter 23

Or

Of True Friendships and Lemon Pie

Sirius knew where he was the moment he woke up. He didn't get disoriented.

"Oh, God."

The sun was too bright. His head hurt. His everything hurt. He was pretty sure his hair was a mess.

"Oh, God."

He needed a shower.

He needed a drink.

He needed breakfast.

Choosing the latter, Sirius climbed out of Lily's bed and made his way, stumbling, avoiding direct sunlight, to what he hopes was the direction of the kitchen. Instead, he found himself in a very suburban sitting room, complete with a grandfather clock showing the time to be after one o'clock.

"Merlin's fucking beard."

"Hey, sleepyhead. How'd your nap go?" said Lily, appearing from behind him. She had a banana in her hand, already pealed. She offered it to him wordlessly, and he took it.

"Thanks," he said. "You know. For everything."

"It was nothing," she said. He knew she was lying, though. She was still wearing her pajamas – which obviously meant she didn't change just for the sake of not waking him up. And he had heard the fight she had with her sister. None of this was nothing.

"It's something," he said, a bit awkwardly. He scratched the back of his neck, and Lily turned around and led him to the kitchen.

"C'mon, I'll make you some toast."

He ate the banana, and she made some toast. The Muggle machine was fantastic.

"So you just put the bread in and it pops out, toasted?" he asked, wide-eyed.

She laughed. "Yeah, Sirius. That's how it works."

He shook his head. "Muggles. Amazing."

She lit up suddenly. "Speaking of which, you should wash up. I have something to show you."

Half an hour later, they were walking down the street. Lily had finally changed into something decent, a pair of jeans and a plain, wine-red sweater, and Sirius - who had packed rather quickly – was wearing the same pair of pants as yesterday, but had changed everything else, and was wearing a tight-fitting white t-shirt with no jacket. Lily thought he was insane. "Aren't you cold?" she'd asked, at least half a dozen times.

"Nah," he answered.

It was weird to know that Snivellus was a couple blocks away.

"We're here," Lily said quietly.

The "here" in question was a house identical to all other houses on this street. Smaller than Lily's. The path leading to the front door was rather clean, as if it had just been swept, and the front door had a cat-door installed. Lily walked up the steps and knocked on the door. "Don't say anything overtly Wizard," she warned, just before the door opened –

Only to reveal a very nice looking old lady.

"Oh, Lily!" she gushed. "I didn't know you were home from school. How is everyone? That wonderful girl you brought around last summer, Marlene? Oh, come in, come in! Who's your friend? Is he your boyfriend? Oh, he is just so cute!"

Sirius looked to Lily for cues on how to act, but she looked unfazed. The two walked in and sat in the cramped living room, while the old lady organized a tray of tea and biscuits. The biscuits were delicious. Sirius didn't even touch the tea.

"Sirius," Lily said, "this is the charming Mrs. Peterson. Mrs. Peterson, this is my friend from school," she emphasized the word friend, "Sirius."

"Oh, please, call me Helen," said Mrs. Peterson.

"Sirius is staying with me a couple of days," Lily explained.

"Oh! Are you?" Mrs. Peterson said, eyebrows raised. She sipped her tea. "Why?"

Lily ignored her, and started bombarding Mrs. Peterson with small-talk questions. After around forty five minutes of asking how the grandkids are doing, what church is like now that the pastor has changed, and discussing floral arrangements – all the while, Sirius quietly wondering what the hell he's doing here and what Lily wanted to show him – was it the old lady herself? – Mrs. Peterson put down her mug next to the now-empty tray of biscuits and said, "Not to sound rude, because I do love your company, but – is there a purpose to your visit?"

Practical, this woman was.

Lily smiled, looking rather self-assured. "Yes, well," she began. "I was wondering if you still had that thing your nephew brought you last spring."

Mrs. Peterson. "That old thing?" she asked. "What would you need it for? I don't really think it's appropriate for a proper young lady such as yourself – "

"It's not for me," hurried Lily to clarify. "It's for Sirius."

They stepped outside, this time heading to the garage. There was a small and pink Muggle car there, and it took up most of the limited space. It was covered in mud. Sirius didn't ask, and Mrs. Peterson didn't volunteer any information.

"Well," said Mrs. Peterson, "there it is."

It was beautiful.

It was a big, black motorcycle, exactly like the type in magazines he had used a Permanent-Sticking charm on in his old room. It was obviously a little worn, second-hand at the very least, but it was beautiful. Sirius was in love.

"Can I touch it?" he asked, hesitant that if he was anything but polite, it might disappear forever.

"You can do whatever you want with it, Clarence doesn't need it anymore now he's got a proper car."

Lily watched him interact with it. He could feel her eyes burning a hole through his head.

"I think he likes it," she stage-whispered to Mrs. Peterson, who boomed in return, "Well, he can have it."

Sirius' head snapped back. "Really?" he said, sounding like a little boy who was just promised ice cream.

"I said it, didn't I? I'll be glad to have it off my hands. All it does here is collect dust. Here – " she said, pointing to an object nearby. "It comes with a sidecar."

Sirius felt like it was Christmas morning.

"Now, before you go," said Mrs. Peterson, "I made far too much lemon meringue pie yesterday, and I want you, Lily, to take some back to your mother, and make sure to eat some of it. I swear, you are just so scrawny…"

"Good morning."

Marlene smiled up at James. "Good morning." She groaned and stretched. "What time is it?"

"About three o'clock in the afternoon."

Marlene looked at him. "You're joking."

"Me?" said James, sounding outraged. "I never joke." Marlene shot him a look that said, cut the crap, and James raised his arms in surrender. "Okay, okay! But the time really is three o'clock. We – we did stay up rather late…"

Was James Potter blushing? Marlene giggled and kissed him, hard, on the mouth, before attempting to disentangle herself from the blankets around her.

"What are you doing?" asked James.

"Getting dressed and going home," answered Marlene. This prompted James to grab her from behind and pepper kisses all across her bare back.

"No, you aren't," James said, and his grin could be heard in his voice as clear as day. He pulled her gently so she would face him. She sighed and did so, kissing him gently before lying back down.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked, staring at the top of the four-poster bed.

"How beautiful you are right now," James answered immediately.

"Pshhh," Marlene said. "You're only saying that because I shagged you. My hair is probably a mess right now." She groaned.

"Hey," James said. "Look at me."

She did.

"You're beautiful right now," he said, slowly, and for a moment, Marlene believed him. For that, she kissed him again.

"Thanks," she whispered.

"You're very welcome."

Sirius was like a little kid with a new toy. He was ecstatic. Lily had never seen him this happy before.

It made her happy, too.

Sirius was so magnetic. His moods affected other people's moods all too easily. Lily was not exempt from this. She felt the pull, and she fell right in.

"It's beautiful," he kept mumbling.

He hugged her at least half a dozen times.

And when they got back to the house, having dragged it all the way there, they made the final push of dragging it behind the house and Sirius went to work.

He knew a lot about motorbikes. Apparently, when Sirius was obsessed with something, he didn't half-ass his knowledge. He really knew his stuff. He kept trying to explain what he was doing, but Lily didn't really know anything about motorbikes and everything he threw at her just went in one side and out the other. She was content to watch him, anyway. They talked a bit. She produced a book from seemingly nowhere at a certain point. When her mother came home, she made them sandwiches and was not surprised over the sudden appearance of the motorbike or of the pie. A stain appeared on Lily's shirt from seemingly nowhere.

Sirius was invited to stay another night. He agreed, and Petunia huffed.

Over dinner, Lily's father asked Sirius about school. Her mother asked about Quidditch. Petunia ate in silence, and only spoke to remind them that Vernon was visiting the next day. Sirius caught Lily's eye for a moment before looking away; the two had to physically stop themselves from laughing.

When dinner was done, and Lily's father was doing the dishes, there was a knock on the door.

"I'LL GET IT," yelled Lily, as she was closest to the front door. She rushed to the front door, opening it without bothering to look through the peephole to check who was on the other side. The door whooshed open, and about mid-whoosh, Lily regretted opening the door at all.

It was James Potter, and for some ridiculous reason, the first thing that popped into her head was that he looked good. His cheeks were flushed from the cold night's air, and his hair was slightly messier than usual, as if he Apparated here straight from his bed. He was examining the doorframe, her home, her, and suddenly she felt strangely exposed, naked, like if she'd known James was coming, she'd have done something different – painted her house a completely different color, worn a different outfit, done everything different.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi," she said.

They looked at each other for a moment, and then they looked away. Lily thought she saw him blush. Lily knew for a fact that her entire neck was red. She wondered if he could see the stain on her shirt.

"So – " he said, clearly nervous over something. "Is Sirius here?"

Lily exhaled very suddenly. Of course he wasn't here for her. She should have known. James Potter didn't pop by for a chat, not with her, at least.

Suddenly, she felt very angry. She leaned against the doorframe, folding her arms. "What if he is? Are you going to kick him out of my house, as well?"

"Evans," James said in a voice she couldn't decipher. Then he sighed, and when he spoke again, he just sounded frustrated. "I just want to talk to him."

Lily looked at him for a moment longer, examining his posture, his hands, his everything. He was not threatening. He was not angry. Instead, he was a ball of energy, and he was going to explode. He was fidgeting. He was nervous.

She didn't know what to make of it, so she turned her head in the direction of the back door and yelled Sirius' name.

"What?" came the call.

"Come to the front door!"

"Why?"

"Just do it, ya nitwit!"

Less than a minute later, he appeared, grease on his forehead, wearing an easy grin. "What is it, Evans?"

She pointed at James, and immediately the grin and easy posture disappeared.

"Maybe the two of you should go sit in my room?" she suggested.

Sirius nodded, and James stepped in and followed Lily's lead. When they reached her room, she opened the door but didn't follow them inside. "I'll give you some privacy," she said, and then she closed the door, and walked away.

She had to remind herself that James was none of her business at least five times. They weren't friends. Not only were they not friends, but it was one-hundred percent her fault.

She walked away.

So this was Lily Evans' room.

It was much yellow-er than James expected. In his mind, everything about Evans was red. But her room was sunny, alive. The walls, her sheets, even her dresser, all yellow. It made sense – he really should have known – but in his mind, Lily Evans would always be red.

Sirius looked way too comfortable among all this pastel.

The both of them waited for Lily's steps to fade away. Sirius watched the door, James examined the room. Sirius looked at the ceiling, James looked at the floor. Sirius opened his mouth, James didn't say a word.

"What are you doing here?"

James looked at the stuffed animals, then looked away.

"I thought you would go to your new house, but just as I was about to Apparate I realized that – that you might come here. I wasn't sure exactly where I was going," he admitted. "But I figured it out. Obviously."

"No, I mean, what are you doing here?" said Sirius, impatiently.

"I, uh," began James, struggling to find words for the second time in less than fifteen minutes. "I guess – I guess I came to apologize. I mean, I was total arse last night. I feel like shit about it." There was a pause, and just as Sirius seemed to want to reply, James added, "But really, the reason I'm here – it's – the reason is that Marlene and I are back together. And the thing is – the thing is, I realized the only person I wanted to tell… was you."

"Prongs, mate – "

"No, listen for a sec, 'cause I don't think I'll say this otherwise," James continued, taking a deep breath. "You were right. I was trying to keep Evans in my back pocket. Which was a shit thing to do. Because even if the two of you were dating – and before you say anything, it's fine, I get that you're not – even if you were, I never even dated her, she never seemed to like me or anything, and besides, it's not like she – or anybody else – belongs to me, so I would have had no right to be angry. And like I said, I just got back with Marlene. And uh – " he grinned. "It's pretty great."

"James!" said Sirius. "Shut. Up."

James did.

"I do not give a single fuck about this. I mean, sure, I was upset yesterday – but like, I'm over it right now. Besides, I have had the best fucking day. You would not believe what happened. I got a motorbike, James. An actual, real, Muggle motorbike, and it's fucking amazing, mate. C'mon, I'll show it to you."

It was amazing. Sirius walked James through everything he'd done that afternoon, not skipping how he got the bike in the first place, and explained everything he still planned to do with it. And then he showed James how it worked, and then Lily showed up to tell Sirius, without even looking at James which he tried very hard not to notice, that Petunia was trying to sleep so they should keep it down. And then, finally, the last thing Sirius did before showing James the door was turn to him, his expression shocked, and say –

"Wait, did you and Marlene shag?"

And that was when James knew that they were definitely still fine.

"So how did it go?" asked Lily later that night, head in Sirius' lap. They were both in her room, lying on her bed, Lily rereading Pride and Prejudice for maybe the thousandth time, Sirius perusing through today's edition of The Prophet ("The 'New Trace' Law Doesn't Pass"). Sirius knew this question was coming, and he had braced himself, not knowing what he would answer until the moment he did.

"I think that I'm still angry," he said, surprised to find that it was true. "But I also think that I'll get over it. He's my best mate, you know? He gets me better than anyone. He's my brother."

"Yeah," said Lily, and at that moment she was unknowable. What was going on in that redhead's head? "Yeah," she repeated.

"Yeah."

A/N: So this chapter is short but sweet. Besides, chapter 26 is almost 4,500 words long. There's good stuff to come.

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Lots of love (and happy Halloween, I guess? We don't celebrate it here),

JustGail