Sirius' last day with the Potters was one of mixed feelings. James no longer needed a cane, except when leaving the house, Lily continued to feel better than she had in her first trimester, and Sirius had regained most of the weight he had lost. It was time to close this darkest of chapters and move on.

Lily knew that even James was looking forward to it just being the two of them again, and she certainly did, but as much as the occasion could have been one of celebration and joy, the reality was that outside their little house, there was still a war raging. Saying goodbye to Sirius meant he was free to work for the Order again, and Lily knew Dumbledore had cleared him to do a job the following evening. Jobs for the Order had never been taken lightly before, but after what had happened, both she and James were particularly nervous.

Then there was the fact that Lily and James were not used to sitting still. They had joined the Order straight out of school, and had worked relentlessly to take down Voldemort. By James' last count they had thwarted Voldemort three times, something only a few Order members could boast of, and none as young as they were. The fact that they now had to lie low until their child was born, and let others do the fighting, didn't sit well with either of them. But -:

'I don't want to be out there when Lily needs me at home. I've already told Dumbledore: No more Order work until my son is born.'

They were standing in the living room, James and Sirius enjoying some firewhiskey and Lily, a glass of ginger ale.

Lily glanced at her husband, who looked at Sirius intensely. James' face was neutral, but Lily knew he was waiting to see if Sirius had caught on. So that was how they would tell him, was it? Turning to Sirius, she saw his eyes widening ever so slightly at what James had said.

'Son?' Sirius' voice was faint as the reality of James' words caught up to him.

James nodded. 'Son - you're having a son? James Potter is having a SON!?'

Sirius ran over to James and hugged him so tightly Lily was worried he'd break his ribs, which considering James' health had her worried for a second, but James and Sirius both grinned as they let go of each other.

Turning to Lily, Sirius pulled her in, and Lily heard James' quick warning: 'Careful - there's a baby inside her!' But James hadn't needed to worry, Sirius was gentle as he hugged her.

'Oh Lils, you're in a world of trouble. You're about to raise James Potter's son!'

'I know,' Lily said in mock horror, 'the only reason I started dating the git was because he grew up.'

'You have no idea how ungrown he was at Hogwarts, trust me. There was far more and far worse stuff than you ever bore witness to.'

'Like poisoning his best friend in their first year so they could stay together at Christmas?'

Sirius laughed: 'that was practically harmless.'

'That's what I said!' James exclaimed, then his face fell and he looked so pale that both Lily and Sirius were by his side in an instant.

'James?'

'Prongs?'

'What's wrong?'

James sat down and buried his face in his hands.

'It wasn't harmless,' came James' voice from between his fingers and Lily and Sirius exchanged a confused look. 'I could have killed us if I had gotten the dosages wrong. Merlin, I was only 11. What on earth did the professors think they were doing when they only took away 50 points. McGonagall should have suspended me at the least.'

Silence.

Then, Sirius burst out laughing: 'Parenthood hitting you yet, Prongs?'

James groaned: 'Lily-love, we are never, ever, sending our son to Hogwarts. We're home-schooling. He's to never leave this house.'

'Mate, your son is going to have Lily's genes too.'

'Alright, our son is not leaving this house until he can prove he is nothing - and I mean nothing - like me.'

Lily sat down next to James and put a hand around him: 'deal.'

'Well, I solemnly swear to encourage your son to be every bit like you, Prongs. Hogwarts would have been boring without you.'

'Speaking of solemnly swearing, you don't think we could get Wormtail to sneak into Filch's office and get the Marauders' map back?'

'Map, what map?' Lily asked.

'Really, Prongs, you just said-'

'Not for the boy,' James interrupted Sirius. 'For me, so I can keep an eye on him.'

Sirius looked at James for a while, then he turned to Lily: 'Y'know, I think he has the making of a responsible parent, after all.'

/

'I will be godfather, of course,' Sirius remarked as they were following him into the hallway to say goodbye.

The last five minutes had been pretty subdued. Lily knew James loathed the idea that Sirius would go out there and fight, and he would not be there to keep him safe. She didn't quite fancy the idea herself either.

'Not a chance,' James said, shaking his head, 'I want my son to grow up.'

Sirius grinned: 'we made it, didn't we?'

'We did,' James agreed, leaning against the wall as Sirius pulled on his coat and scarf. 'But how is the real mystery.'

'Who cares,' Sirius shrugged. 'If we could figure it out, Lily Evans's son will have no trouble, even with your genes.'

James pulled his best friend into a hug, and Lily watched Sirius' face as he embraced her husband. James often called Sirius his brother; and yet Lily felt that was insufficient to truly explain the love that existed between the two.

'Just don't die before he's born, and I'll consider the whole godfather business,' James said as they finally broke apart.

'Will you now,' Sirius smirked as James moved aside so Lily could say goodbye too.

'I'll take care of him, you just take care of yourself,' Lily whispered as she hugged Sirius.

'Deal,' Sirius agreed. 'Alright...'

And with that Sirius left. He had never been one for goodbyes.

/

'He's going to be our son's godfather, isn't he?' Lily observed as they made their way back to the living room.

'If it was up to me, yes. There's nobody else, you know that. He's my last remaining family; my best friend. But it's not just up to me.'

'No,' Lily agreed, 'it's up to me too, and personally I couldn't think of a better godfather than Sirius Black.'

'Really?' James asked.

'Really,' Lily confirmed.

The smile James gave her just then would have been enough to convince her alone.

Lily studied her husband. He was still too thin, still visibly worn down by months of suffering under a terrible curse, but he was also moving freely again, laughing more, smiling; he was comforting as he pulled her into a hug, and he was maddeningly perfect as their lips met.

'I love you, James,' Lily said as they broke apart: 'so damn much, you know that, don't you?'

James kissed her again: 'I love you too - more than anything in this world.'

'Well...' Lily said, with a small smile, 'me and Sirius.'

'You and Sirius,' James conceded. 'But there are ways I love you that I certainly don't love him, and now that he's gone, I could show some of them to you, in any room that you like.'

A/N

I know I dragged on the ending a bit, but I can't believe it's done. Since everything is going to go downhill from here, I thought it best to stop. I am going to imagine that there's no prophecy, they win the war, and James, Sirius and Lily raise baby Harry.

If you want to spend more time with my version of the Marauders as adults I am afraid you have to wait until they grow up in 'When we were up to no good'. But they are pretty cute as youngsters too.