Title: Faith or Coincidence

Characters: Euphemia Potter, Fleamont Potter, James Potter, Sirius Black, Penny Singh and Lily Evans.

Pairing: James x Lily & Sirius x Penny.

Prompts: Muggle AU!

AN: This story is written for the [Challenge] World Gobstones Championship held by whitetiger91 at the Golden Snitch.

I have no idea who wrote the quote that I have in the beginning and at the end of the story but it definitely wasn't me.

Word Count: 1, 288

"Well look who I ran into," crowed Coincidence.

Fleamont and Euphemia Potter were old when they had their first child. They had almost given up hope when their biggest wish was granted in the shape of James Fleamont Potter. A raven-haired boy with hazel eyes and an increasingly mischievous smile. He was an energetic child and for many years the couple believed that this was faith's way of saying that they would only ever have one child. Maybe that was a good thing.

By coincidence they were proven wrong when James brought home a young boy by the name of Sirius Orion Black eleven years later.

Euphemia looked out the window of their mansion as she always did at that time of the day. She expected to see her little boy walking down the road which led to their house. Most kids that he went to school with had private drivers but James walked back and forth every day. Not that it was long and not because they couldn't afford a driver. Euphemia just believed that it was good for him to be a normal child in any way that he could. But when Euphemia looked out the window she saw the forms of two boys. After a few minutes, she heard the door open and then close.

"Hey mum, I brought my best friend," Euphemia bit her lower lip to contain her laughter. He had only known the boy for a week. She turned around from the stove and washed her hands on the apron. Eventually her son walked into the kitchen with the other boy behind him. "This is Sirius Black."

Brown, long hair and grey eyes. He stood with his arms in front of him and his head directed to the floor. Only when Euphemia kneeled on the floor did he look her in the eyes.

"It's nice to meet you," Euphemia said and smiled at him. "Are you boys hungry? I think there's still some of your father's pie left. Do you like cherry, Sirius?"

"It's my favourite. Thanks Mrs. Potter." Sirius smiled at her and from that moment Euphemia was wrapped around his tiny finger.

Coincidence may have lead this boy to their doorstop but she knew that it had been meant to be. Sirius was not just another one of James' friends. After a while Euphemia cared about this child as much as she did James and seeing his smile every day reminded her of the feeling that filled her body the moment when James opened his eyes and looked at her for the first time. Seeing the bruises that covered his tiny body filled her with such sorrow and rage that she sometimes struggled to contain it. That's what she told the judge when she was asked why she believed that Sirius should move to live with them instead of staying with his parents. And at the age of thirteen Sirius Orion Black was officially their son in every way other than blood.

Euphemia and Fleamont was there for every major moment of their sons lives. They watched them grow from stumbling boys to young men with dreams. They were there to comfort them when they failed, to remind them that life would get better whenever they struggled and they were there to celebrate their success. Many moments were planned and came right on time. But the best moments were those that no one could see coming. Coincidence or fate, who knew?

"I met a girl," James said at dinner after his first day at university. His hazel eyes glimmered behind his glasses and his muscles moved underneath his tanned skin when he reached for the salad on the other side of the table. "Red hair, green eyes and such a sharp tongue. I think I'm in love already."

Sirius didn't finish chewing before he let out a barking laughter. "That's great mate. But do you know what her name is? Did you even talk to her or did you just admire her from a far?"

"Don't be stupid," he said and glanced at Sirius with a smile. "Of course, I asked her for her name."

"Well, what is it?"

"It's…" James let out a deep sigh and his cheeks turned into a darker shade of red. "Lily Evans."

James was convinced that it was faith. He was convinced that she was the love of his life and they were meant to be together. The next time he saw Lily he asked her out on a date and that was the beginning of their relationship. Over and over again James would say that it was faith. They were meant to find each other. They were meant to be together. Sirius didn't believe him.

"It was coincidence," he would argue every time the discussion came up.

Sirius and James had a lot in common but their biggest difference laid in their nature. James didn't particularly seek out the rest of the world. He wasn't drawn to exploring other parts when there were so much he could explore right where he was. Sirius on the other hand was restless. He wanted to travel and he was found staring out at the horizon during the year it took for him to raise enough money. But once he had Sirius got up on his bike and drove away.

Euphemia, Fleamont, James and Lily stood watching him as he disappeared. James didn't have to tell anyone that his heart was breaking. It was visible and almost audible too as he stood clinging to Lily watching his brother leave him behind. Euphemia was sure that she had never seen her son experience that kind of pain before. And when Sirius returned she was sure that she had never seen James experience the kind of happiness. She could almost hear his heart mend itself as Sirius stopped the bike and got off.

"Did you miss me?"

No one got any sleep that night. They stayed up with candles as their only source of light, blankets to keep them warm and beverages which started out strong but grew increasingly weaker as the night progressed. Sirius was the centre of attention and he gestured wildly as he talked about the adventures he had been on, the places he had seen and the people he had met. Euphemia was mostly quiet as she listened to him and she marvelled at how much he had changed. Gone was the restlessness that would sometimes torture him and it was replaced with an enthusiasm that she was sure would push him into new adventures closer to home.

She didn't know that his new adventure would begin the very next day when he wandered around London with James and accidentally walked into a young woman.

"Oh my god, I am so sorry. Are you okay?" he asked as he helped the woman up.

She still had a smile on her face and there were dark blue highlights in her black hair. Her dark eyes glistened and she gracefully dusted of the little dirt that had gotten stuck on her colourful dress.

"I'm fine," she said and eyed him. "Are you okay? I didn't mean to walk into you…"

"Sirius, Sirius Black, and I was the one to walk into you…" he said and for every word his smile grew.

"Penny Singh."

Sirius let out a deep sigh. "Nice to meet you Penny."

Euphemia didn't know if it was fate or coincidence. Maybe it was a little bit of both? But when she sat amongst the crowd of people who was there to see her sons get married to the loves of their lives she truly didn't care.

"Please," flirted Faith, "this was meant to be."

The end