James had found out many months later what Remus had meant. It wasn't through logic or anything of the sort, no, it was from accidentally catching them snogging that James had deduced that Snape was the Slyterin boyfriend in question.
It was a few years after the incident and he could still remember it vividly. They had just won the house cup, the players were crowded by the rest of the Gryffindors on the pitch. It had taken a long time to wade through the sea of people patting him on the back and cheering. He made his way to Lily who was on the outskirts of the field.
She smiled coyly at him, "Good job James." she said.
He had brightened a bit at the fact that she had used his first name. Even though they had been dating for months and knew each other for years, the redhead preferred to call James by his last name which irritated the young heir.
Giving her a bright smile back he grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips, placing a chaste kiss on it. She gave him a tight grin before pulling away quickly after, "I'm going to go do our transfiguration homework, would you like to join?" she asked.
James' smile faltered slightly, the witch was always so serious about her studies never allowing for a second to be distracted. He didn't understand it, Snape was able to balance both entertaining Sirius and making high marks, why couldn't she? Merlin, they had just won the cup! Why not celebrate?
"I'd love to! Let me just get changed and I'll meet you up there yeah?" She answered him with a slight nod, then started walking towards the Hogwarts castle. He watched her figure for a moment before turning.
The chaser made his way to the quidditch changing rooms when he heard strange noises coming from behind the building. It was a dumb decision really but he wasn't thinking at the moment and went to investigate. He knew what he'd see, it was a popular spot for couples to snog each other without professors catching them. Though for some odd reason, he still went to check nonetheless.
That was when he saw them. Snape up against the wall of the building, Sirius pushing him into it. He froze as he took in the sight. Pads was practically dry-humping the Slytherin while assaulting his mouth. The sounds the both of them were making were lurid. He had never snogged Lily like that before, it was all so… passionate.
Onyx eyes met his and the Slytherin suddenly froze, eyes widening before pushing the Gryffindor away. Sirius let out a noise of confusion and followed his lover's gaze. Pad's eyes also widened for a split second before returning to normal once he had recognized who had caught them.
A sly grin came onto the Gryffindor's face, "Sorry for scaring ya Prongs. We were just celebrating our victory!" he said, sliding his hand down to the Slytherin's arse, pulling him in closer. Snape let out a surprised squeak at the unexpected movement.
James swallowed as he looked at Slytherin, his dishevelled hair, shirt partially unbuttoned and rumpled revealing a trail of love bites, and face as red as the uniforms they were wearing. He had looked…
"It's all good mate, sorry for interrupting!" He said, ignoring the crack in his voice before making his way into the changing rooms.
When he arrived at the library Lily looked pissed, "What took you so long?" she asked.
"Uniform was a pain to get off." He said. Technically James was not lying to the girl, his uniform was difficult to take off due to a little problem he had though that was neither here nor there. He sat down, hoping the witch would figure his ragged breathing and red face were from the run here and not a certain Slytherin.
He couldn't wrap his head around their relationship, Snape? Sirius was the most sought-after bloke in Hogwarts, he could have his pick of anyone he wanted and he just had to choose him. And why did the Slytherin accept it? Sirius was just as bad, if not worse than James when it came to harassing the poor boy. James had his reasons for messing with the git but Sirius had none; So why did he choose him?
The Slytherin haunted his mind after that, more so than before. Before he hadn't known what the slimy snake had looked like after getting properly snogged, now he did. The bruised lips, red cheeks, the look in his eyes. At night James would imagine himself doing that to the Slytherin. After the fifth night of imagining it, he had to come to terms with the fact that he had found the half-blood attractive.
Then the git and his best mate got married. It was a shock to the Potter heir, he didn't imagine that Padfoot would be the type of bloke to settle down. He had expected the ex-heir to get bored and toss the Slytherin to the curb as he had done with all his escapades. Then James could've swooped in and-
No, he wouldn't do that to Pads…Would he? He thought about it sometimes, what he'd do if the Slytherin had ever come onto him. If he'd accept or if he'd push away for the sake of his best mate's feelings. In those fantasies he never found himself picking the latter option. Merlin, he was a terrible friend.
He had married Lily soon after Sirius's marriage. As heir to the Potter house he needed to secure a spouse and produce another heir, he had to move quicker than he would've liked due to the war. Soon after marrying the girl, she became pregnant, being a husband and a father helped distract him from thinking about it, about him.
That was until recently. Before this moment he had avoided the Slytherin, not attending events he knew that the git would be at, not going over to Padfoot's house; anything to not see him. But now he was forced to live with the bloke for a couple of months, shite. All because of some hogwash prophecy.
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They had a small order meeting only consisting of a few members, Dumbledore, Sirius, Lily, and himself. He looked around the room in confusion, "Where is everyone?" he asked the headmaster.
He noticed that the usual sparkle in the headmaster's eyes was missing, "I'm afraid I have some terrible news…"
James felt something drop to the pit of his stomach. This wouldn't be good…
Dumbledore let out a heavy sigh and explained to them the prophecy, a prophecy that perfectly described them that perfectly described Harry . A sense of dread washed over him, "So he wants to kill us? To kill our son?!" He asked, while his wife sobbed.
"Well there are two children who fit this description I'm afraid, you are both going into hiding. Sirius offered up his house for you all to stay in for the time being." Dumbledore said.
The couple both looked over to the ex-heir, "Why?" James asked.
Sirius awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, "Well, my spot's already harbouring someone and has a Fidelius charm already set in place… I just thought it'd be easier." he said.
After graduation Sirius and Severus had moved house, opting for some place bigger. James didn't know how they had managed to get such a nice place nor would he ask. He quickly found out the other person they were hiding from he-who-must-not-be-named was none other than Sirius's younger brother. They opted to pull him out of school, teaching him the curriculum and testing out instead.
The Potters had moved in during October, it was now two months later and it hadn't gotten any easier for James to deal with the Slytherin. He didn't know what to call him now, he wasn't a Snape anymore and they weren't close enough to go by first name so he had reverted to calling him by his house's name.
The couple were a lot more affectionate in the comfort of their own home than they were at Hogwarts, much to James's annoyance. Sirius initiated most of it, casually touching the Slytherin, coming up from behind and wrapping his arms around him when he thought no one was looking, James was. He couldn't look away, witnessing every touch to the hip, waist, and small of the Slytherin's back. Luckily the couple never snogged one another in front of company. However, every interaction gave a slight twist to James's stomach.
Lily wasn't as susceptible to that kind of affection, she'd swat his hand away whenever he'd try. She'd say she wasn't in the mood. James would frown, he didn't expect the touching to lead to shagging , he had just wanted to feel her. He had just wanted to feel how those two felt, to have what they had.
He and Lily were not like them though. The only affection they showed one another was in the bedroom when Lily was in the mood, which was rarely. James understood, he did, it was difficult to think about sex when all you could contemplate was the safety of your friends and family.
But James had just wanted some kind of love, a kiss on the cheek, a cuddle on the couch, hell a smile in his general direction! Lily had not given any of that to him and would accept none of that in return. It was maddening.
He spent most of his time outside, the charm had worked to the gates of the house so he didn't worry about death eaters seeing him. He would work in the garden where the Slytherin had grown potion ingredients. He would take Harry out there so the poor boy could get some fresh air. Sometimes, like today, he would just sit on the porch and think.
It wasn't until the sun started to set that the Gryffindor realised how long he'd been out there. He stood up, his legs tingling as he entered the house. As soon as he opened the door a heavenly scent filled the air, the Slytherin must be cooking.
He made his way to the kitchen before stopping at the archway and taking in the scene in front of him. The Slytherin was cooking yes, but on his chest wrapped in a towel-like cloth was Harry. His son was gnawing at his hand and babbling, Severus replying to him as if he were actually talking. The scene was so domestic. The Slytherin turned to grab something, catching him staring.
His face became closed off which was to be expected. The Slytherin had only shared his warmth with very few people. "Oh Potter, you're back. You can take the little demon then?" He asked.
He hadn't moved, however, watching the pair who stared back at him. "Erm where's Lily?" he asked, wondering why the Slytherin was having to cook and take care of baby Harry.
Realising the Gryffindor was not going to retrieve the child he sighed, "She's not feeling too good. I offered to watch Harry while she took a nap." he shrugged.
Before he could reply the front door had opened and closed with a loud bang, heavy footsteps making their way to where the trio were. He knew from the loudness that it was none other than Pads.
"I'm home!" He announced from the archway. He paused for a moment, taking in the sight of his husband and godson before making his way over to them.
He placed a sloppy, extra loud kiss on his partner's cheek, Harry giggled at the disgusted look the Slytherin had on his face. "Stop slobbering on me, and watch out for Harry!" he playfully nagged.
Sirius looked down at his godson while Harry looked up at him, "Oh I almost forgot you were there!" he said as he grabbed Harry out of his wrap. The baby laughed as the ex-heir played with him. James had watched, jealousy rearing its ugly head in the forefront of his mind.
Padfoot handed Harry back over to James, "You behave now." he said, pointing his finger at the baby who grabbed it in turn. James looked over to his best mate's husband to see a fond look on his face and a trace of a smile as he watched his partner interact with the infant.
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Dinner was a casual affair, Sirius let them in on his auror duties. Being in hiding James and Lily had to take temporary leave, he missed the thrill of fighting death eaters. Staying locked inside a house for months on end was maddening but he did it for his son's safety.
The two Slytherins usually stayed quiet during meals or opted to talk amongst themselves. If you told James three years ago that he would eventually be living with not one but two Slytherins he would've called you mad. Now if you told him that his best mate was going to marry a certain git and that same git would be the godfather of his child he would've sent you to Saint Mungo's
After the group finished eating they made their way to the living room to continue chatting. When sitting down on the couch Sirius grabbed Severus by the hips and pulled him onto his lap. Severus had reluctantly stayed there as Sirius trapped him, putting his hands on the Slytherin's stomach.
"Merlin, can you leave your hands off each other for one second?" Regulus complained, and James silently agreed.
Severus rolled his eyes, "Blame Sirius, he won't leave me alone." he said as he leaned further back into the Gryffindor.
"I can't help myself!" Sirius said as if it was a proper defense.
"Well, I think it's sweet," Lily interjected. James had felt annoyance at that remark, he had tried to do those kinds of things to her but she wouldn't let him.
"Well then, do you want to trade?" Severus quipped which caused James to choke on his spit.
Everyone besides James had taken the joke in good fun, Sirius even playing along and pretending to be hurt. But when no one else was looking the animagus had sent a hard glare to the Potter heir. James froze, did Sirius know? No, he couldn't, James had been rather subtle about his attraction towards his best mate's husband. He must be imagining things.
Right?
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That night Lily had rejected James's advances, again, so he turned to himself for pleasure. He replayed the scene in the kitchen in his mind, though changing a couple of aspects. He imagined that he was Severus's husband and that Harry was theirs.
He came in from a long day at work, made his way to the kitchen, and saw his husband cooking dinner with their son wrapped to his chest. He gave James a warm smile, "Tough day?" he asked.
James let out a sigh, walking up to the man and hugging him from behind as he cooked. "There was an attack on a muggle village, managed to stop it before any fatalities." He said into Severus's smooth, pale neck.
He gave a sympathetic hum, "You must be tired."
"Mmm yeah," He said as he started to place kisses on his husband's skin.
Severus was quiet for a moment, "How about after dinner I put Harry to bed and run you a bath?" he asked. James felt a stirring in his crotch.
"Will you join me?" He asked hopefully.
"We'll see," Severus said before placing a kiss on his jaw.
They ate and Severus had guided him to the sitting room, pouring him a glass of scotch to drink while he put Harry to bed. When he came back James had grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him down. Severus let out a small gasp as he landed on the Gyffindor's lap.
"Oh," was all his husband said as he felt it.
James had gone back to kissing the Slyterin's neck, "Need you." He said in between kisses.
Severus had given him a knowing smirk and pushed off of him. The Gryffindor had almost protested until he saw him sink to the ground, his thin pale hands unbuckling his trousers.
Oh. oh.
James had finished before he could continue imagining what would happen next. It was the hardest he think he ever finished. It left him panting, he probably would've moaned when he released if his wife wasn't sleeping next to him. He laid there for a moment, covered in a thin sheen of sweat, chest rising up and down rapidly as he tried to catch his breath. Merlin, he was fucked up. Imagining someone else with his wife lying next to him. Even worse, that someone else being his best mate's husband.
Suddenly reality hit him, and he ran to the bathroom to wash off the stickiness and sin. He was overheated, his heart still beating rapidly from the high, and he needed some water. Padding his way to the kitchen he ran into Sirius, he was leaning on the counter, drinking from a glass.
"Oh hey," he said when he caught James standing in the doorway.
James walked over to the cabinets, grabbing a glass, "hey.." he said before filling his glass with water.
Pads was quiet which was unusual for the boisterous Gryffindor. Curious, James looked over to his mate, his jaw was clinched and his eyebrows pinched. "What's got your wand in a knot?" He asked before gulping down some water.
"When do you know that you're ready…" He murmured.
James gave him a confused look, "Ready for what?" he asked.
"For k-kids… erm nevermind, forget that we talked about-"
"You'll never be ready." James interrupted, Sirius closed his mouth, listening intently. "You think you will be but no matter how many books you've read or how many babies you've looked after you'll never be fully ready." He said.
Padfoot nodded, looking at the ground. "Does he not want kids?" James asked, unable to say the Slytherin's name out loud.
"It's not that, he's just… scared. His home life was a lot like mine, we don't know the first thing about healthy households." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.
James swallowed, "If it's any consolation, you're both great with Harry." He said. It felt sick in a way, helping his best mate with his partner, the same partner he had just-
Padfoot smiled brightly at that, "Thanks mate, you're a good friend." he said, slapping James's arm.
James watched Pads leave, a twisted feeling returning in his gut. He was wrong, he was a horrible friend.