Legal Disclaimer: I own my stuff, but not the original source material. That belongs to whoever. Also, the opinions and interpretations I use here may not reflect the same in said whoever that owns the source material. Look, I'm just a poor college librarian. Suing me isn't going to get you anything but tears.

Warning: This work may be offensive to some readers. Feel free to back out if that's you.

Author's Note: What's better than James/Lily? James/Lily/Tony, of course! (And yes, this does bleed into How to Engineer a Family.)

Repost Author's Note: This was originally in The Round File. Since I'm going to be expanding out side stuff from the Cambridge Era, it is now removed from there into this collection. It has also been edited & expanded on.

General Series/Collection Note: Lily Evans is black; Petunia Evans is still white. The Potters are Desi (Punjabi Hindu, to be specific). Sirius Black is nonbinary (genderqueer/genderflux, to be specific). James Potter has ADHD. Tony Stark is autistic and has ADHD.

Submitting Info:
Stacked with: Hogwarts (Term 11); MC4A
Individual Challenges: Gryffindor MC; In a Flash; Marvelous Cinema; Team Logic; Yellow Ribbon (Y); Yellow Ribbon Redux (Y)
House: Hufflepuff
Assignment No.: Term 11 – Assignment 03
Subject (Task No.): n/a
Other Hogwarts Challenges: Insane Prompt Challenge [854] (Work-Colleague); 365 [211] (Riot); Galleon Club (humor)
Space Address (Prompt): n/a
Representation(s): Lily Potter/James Potter/Tony Stark
Bonus Challenges: Surprise!; In the Trench; Abandoned Ship; Grease Monkey; Lyre Liar; Second Verse (Lovely Coconuts; Three's Company; Unwanted Advice; Nontraditional; Found Family; Zucchini Bread; Ladylike; Not a Lamp; Persistence Still; White Dress); Chorus (Wind Beneath; Unicorn; Larger than Life; Tomorrow's Shade; Peddling Pots; Fizzy Lemonade; Bee Haven; Endless Wonder; Wabi Sabi)
Tertiary Bonus Challenges: LiCK (n/a); FR (Evolution; Satisfaction); SN (Rail; Ameliorate); T3 (Terse; Toad)
Word Count: 546 (624)

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Lab Partners
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"So, married, huh?" Tony asked from his terminal. Lily glanced over from her own terminal. Their project was something that would benefit both their worlds (not that she had told her lab partner about magic), and it was still a long way off from being completed. It didn't help that Tony seemed to flirt like he breathed, with more quips than even Sirius was capable of pulling off on a good day. And the man didn't seem creepy doing it, because his appreciation was honest and seemed to include the physical as an afterthought.

It was certainly distracting, however, especially now that she had seen how James had responded to Tony's flirting. He had actually stumbled over his words! He hadn't done that with anyone since the third time she had agreed to go to Hogsmeade with him and Marlene McKinnon had dragged them both into the alley between Madam Puddingfoot's and the knickknack shop. Now there was a pleasant memory.

"Yeah, for a few years now," she answered, running a hand through her red curls only to make a face. She needed to wash her hair, a tedious task. Maybe she should take the time to get it braided. That should buy her time. But could she afford to take a whole day off just for her hair? Ugh. If she thought she could trust him not to put his foot in his mouth, she would just have James take over for the day or even just have him helping.

Unfortunately, James had a tendency to speak first and think afterwards. With Tony having the same habit, putting the two in the room for longer than it took to deliver lunch (which had happened earlier and how Lily now knew that Tony flirted with everyone, not just her) was a recipe for a serious breach of the Statute of Secrecy. Though, the two men were brilliant enough that they could probably take over the world if they teamed up. Or maybe just start a riot.

"How did you two meet?"

"In jail," Lily said without thinking about it. Then she blinked at her screen and spun around to see Tony's brown eyes wide with surprise. She rushed to explain, stumbling a bit over the syllables. "That was a terrible joke. I'm sorry. James suggested that be what we told people, and I didn't even realize that all of our arguing had made it the first thing that popped into my head. We didn't meet in jail-though I have had to bail him out a few times because he can be a bit reckless and stupid, especially when he's out with his best friend. We met in school."

"I don't know," Tony teased. He looked like he was trying not to laugh. "Jail is where all the hot, young genius inventors hang out. It makes sense that you kids met there."

"We're the same age, Tony," she protested even though she knew it would be as useless as it would be to try to stop James and Sirius from continuing a joke. Her husband and his best friend had a terrible habit of not taking anything serious if they didn't absolutely have to. "And are you planning to seduce my husband?"

"Is that an option?" Tony asked, turning his head to watch her out the side of his eye. "Because honestly, I would totally accept just watching. You look good apart, but together?" He gave an exaggerated chef's kiss to the air. "Perfection. Worth going to jail for!"

"Maybe you just have a handcuff fetish," she told him, even as heat flooded her cheeks. Tony grinned at her, clearly pleased about drawing out a blush.

"Don't go dissing it until you've tried it, darling!"