Eternal Sunshine

In the halls of Hogwarts, where magic weaves its intricate tapestry of destiny, James Potter, renowned for his mischievous grin and untamed spirit, finds himself drawn to the enigmatic Emily Williams. Follow James and Emily as they must confront their deepest fears and fight for a love that transcends time and fate. For in each other's arms, they discover the magic of true love-a love that ignites the soul and echoes through eternity.

Chapter Text

"she isn't even listening to us darling! She isn't going to see us for months and she can't even listen to us! Where did I go wrong as her father? To raise such a selfish child" chuckling at my dad's dramatics, rolling my eyes i turned to face my parents
"ha like you're not looking forward to not having me nag you for three months!" Both mum and dad are Auror's. They are the top in their field, but they have always ensured that me and my brother are their top priority, always making sure they were at the platform to see us off.
"don't listen to your father, Emily sweetheart, he is acting out because he is sad" mum said teasingly
"pft! Sad my arse! Good riddance I say!" dad exclaimed.

Mum, ignoring dad, brought me in tight for a hug" I love you guys, please be safe" I said pulling away slightly and jabbing my thumb in my dad's direction "make sure he doesn't injure himself too bad! and don't let Liam get a big head just because he is famous now" half joking half not. Liam already has a big enough head, doesn't need to get any bigger just because he plays professional quidditch now. I was actually quite sad he wasn't at the platform to send me off. It's not my first year at Hogwarts without him, as he is five years my senior, but it is the first year he hasn't seen me off on the train I hate to admit it, sibling rivalry and all, but I kind of missed him.

Turning and grabbing my trunk I headed for the train "well I best be off then! See you- oft" all the air had been suddenly squeezed out of me as my dad latched onto me.
"thought you weren't going to miss me?" I muttered into his chest.
"have the best time, my love, be careful okay? I love you" dad said, pressing a kiss to the top of my head and slowly letting me go. I gave him a heartfelt smile. Now I know everyone says their dad is the best dad ever but seriously Colin Williams was the dad of all dad's. I am a proper daddy's girl so I may be biased but he really is top notch. Grabbing my case with one last look at my parents I bordered the train.

After searching for what felt like an eternity, I found the compartment were two of my best friends were. Lily Evans and Kayla Bankole. Peering into the compartment I could see Lily had her charms book out and was pointing out something to Kayla, probably boring her to death. "Seriously Lil's the train hasn't even set off and you already have your school books out, if this is a sign of what you're going to be like this year I don't think we can be friends anymore" upon hearing my voice they both snapped their heads towards me as I entered the compartment and shoved my bag into the overhead storage. Kayla let out a sigh of relief, grateful Lily had momentarily stopped her rambling on about this year's syllabus, while Lily huffed.
"like your any better when we get into exam season! You live in the library!"

Shrugging Lily off I sat down in my seat. She wasn't wrong though I was just as bad if not worse than Lily when it came to schoolwork, I was a Ravenclaw after all and had a classic case of needing to overachieve. Last year I maybe went a bit over bored with the standards I set myself and ended up burnt out in the hospital wing. Since then I promised myself this year would be different, well at least I was going to try to be different.
Lily thankfully closed her book and shoved it back in her bag. "I want to hear what you have been up to in last 48 hours since we last saw each other" Lily said clasping together her now book free hands. We often spent time together in the summer and our last meet up was only two days prior. The only downside to our meet up's was that we were missing our 4th member. Lucy Vixen.

Our group was a bit famous around Hogwarts, not to toot our own horn or anything, just stating the facts! Each of us is from a different house. I am a Ravenclaw, Lily's a Gryffindor, Kayla's a Hufflepuff and Lucy a Slytherin. Our unlikely group formed all the way back on the very first train ride when we all found ourselves in the same train compartment. It was a bit of a shock when we were all sorted differently but we still remained best friends 6 years later.

Lucy comes from a strict pureblood family, although her parents are nice and treat her well, they still are pretty intense with the rules and expectations they set for her, hence why Lucy was often missing from our holiday meet ups. She used to spend most of her summer at my house for the first few years at Hogwarts but as she grew older, her parents became stricter.

Just as the train started moving, Lucy burst in the compartment, hurriedly flopping down in the seat next to me.
"Thank god its September, I swear to god I couldn't take another day of my mother! She was on a mission this summer! A mission to find me a husband! Can you bloody believe that?" Lucy exclaimed as she grabbed Kayla by the shoulder shaking her slightly.

Kayla pushed her off "well did she have any success?" she asked raising her hand trying the shield her eyes for the sun that was now pouring In from the widow, the sunlight emphasizing the beautiful glow her dark skin had.
"of course, she bloody didn't! I kept telling the woman I don't want to get married not now, not ever, but does she listen?" Lucy exclaimed throwing her hands up in the air letting out a large sigh and before resting her head onto my shoulder.

Lucy is a force to be reconned with. She knows her mind and is always inexcusably herself, something we all admired. She says she doesn't see the need for a romantic connection. She was perfectly happy with the occasional hook up and made it clear to all partners that romance was not an option. As long as she always had her platonic soulmates with us girls that's all that mattered to her.
"Anyway, how was your summer? Any of you get a husband?" she asked as I shoved her off my shoulder, for her to only roll her eyes and turn so her back was leant against the window, shoving her feet in my lap instead. Admitting defeat and sighing I patted her feet knowing that even if I tried to push them off, I am sure she would just put them back

We spent the next few hours catching up with each other until about halfway through the journey the compartment door was opened, and we were greeted by the marauder's
"Lily flower! You finally going to agree to that date?"
I cringed bracing myself for the chaos that was about to unfold
"sod off potter!" Lily exclaimed shuffling closer to Kayla's side.
"why are you all here? why are they all here?" Lucy complained first to the marauders and then to me as the boys pushed their way into the compartment.
"oh, come on Vixen, this surely has to be the year you admit you love us?" The notorious Sirius black asked throwing his arm over Lucy's shoulder as he squeezed in the seat next to her. I hated to admit it, but I am only human after all, I couldn't not notice that Sirius Black was one good looking boy. I don't know if it was because of his hair (it was always so shinny and beautiful) or if it was his general aura but let's not mention that to Lucy as she might actually skin me alive. James had taken the seat beside Lily, Peter in the seat by the window, next to Kayla and Remus next to me. I turned slightly giving him a small sheepish smile
"In your dreams Black" Lucy said while she picked up his arm with disgust and tossed it off her shoulder with a shuddered.

We have known the boys from the first day, all being in the same year, but on the day we all met, James Potter had decided he was head over heal in love with Lily and made it his mission to make her his future wife and because the boy never did anything by half's his pursuit of her was filled with grand gestures which had not lessened over the years and if anything they got more dramatic the more Lily rejected him.

"Come on Lucy we aren't that bad" Remus piped up bravely leaning Infront of me to look at Lucy. "you and Peter might not be, but dumb and dumber here." she said waggling her finger between James and Sirius.
Remus Lupin was the only one of the boys I considered to be an actual friend. He, although still mischievous as the other boys, knew his limits when it came to us girls which was something, I was grateful for. We had spent a lot of the time together over the years, as we often would find ourselves in the Library studying and over time, we had formed a good friendship. I am putting it down to our shared sense of humour and willingness to try and keep the peace between our friends. Although I wasn't technically friends with Peter, I quite liked the boy. He was the quietest of the group and often he was just dragged along for the ride. I couldn't help but empathise with him as being best friends with Lucy I also often got swept up in the chaos.

"Hey! I am not dumb, come on Lily flower you gonna let her talk to us like that" James asked faking hurt.
"honestly Potter? Take a hint and bugger off" Kayla added rolling her eyes at the boy. When it came to James' pursuit of Lily, Kayla would often jump to her defence noticing how much he annoyed Lily. She was fiercely loyal to us girls and would always take our corner in any fight, even if she had no idea what the fight was about. However, I couldn't help but notice the way she was looking at James with even more fury than she had done in the past. Lucy used the frequent visits from the marauders as an excuse to hurl insult at Sirius as even though he might not have been involved in whatever James was up to, although he usually was, Lucy particularly enjoyed battling with him. The pair have always had a complex relationship and most of the time I couldn't tell if they were about to kill each other or not.

I disagree with James's approach on how he pursues Lily, buuuuuut, I couldn't help myself occasionally sympathising with the boy. What can I say I am true romantic at heart, no surprise really with the amount of cheesy romcoms I read. I don't like how he makes Lily feel but part of me feels sorry for him when I look at his face after Lily invertibility turns him down time and time again. I don't have much interaction with James apart from when he comes to bug me about something to do with Lily or the occasional shared class.

"Fuck off Potter" Leave it to Lily to so eloquently drag me out of my thoughts.
"Oh, come on Evans a bit harsh" Sirius interjected.
"Your face is a bit harsh to look at" Lucy muttered. Taking in a deep breath and catching Remus do the same out of the corner of her eye. It always starts out with tame insult between the highly-strung pair but it's never long before Sirius is taking out his earrings and Lucy is twisting her rings. The two never actually get to the point where they are in a physical battle as they are usually intercepted before, but I strongly believed that even if we did not intervene the pair still wouldn't fight as they were both actually softies at heart and maybe even actually liked the other.

"Maybe you guys should just go!" I shot up from her seat breaking the tension brewing in the room, I could feel my stress levels rising by the second.
"it's about time we got changed anyway" I noted glancing down at my watch
"all the more reason for us to stay" I snapped my eyes to meet James' he was leaning back in his seat one arm behind his head the other running through his wild curly hair looking as cocky as ever. Honestly, he was going to be the death of me
"I swear to merlin Potter" I grumbled through gritted teeth knowing that he was likely going to start a war. Looking back at my friends Kayla was glaring daggers and if looks could kill he would be dead on the spot. Lily had her eyes squeezed shut annoyance written all over her face.
"you want a show potter? I will give you a show!" Lucy jumped up from her seat about ready to strangle James. With a firm hand on her shoulder I shoved her back down. I turned back to James shaking my head "Just get out"
"right, yeh, I guess we best be off! Lads!" he must have sensed the tenstion as he jumped to his feet gesturing for the boys to follow "See you at the feast Lily flower, I will save you a seat" James through a flirtatious wink Lily's way as he jumped out of the compartment. All of us girls grumbling at his response.
"laddies" Sirius said bowing "and whatever you are Vixen" Sirius backed out of the room Narrowly missing the book Lucy had thrown at him. Remus gave my arm an apologetic squeeze as he turned to group.
"Sorry to bother you girls, it was good to see you anyway!" he quickly ran after the boys.

The second the door shut behind him, Lucy began her rant
"can you bloody believe them! Coming in here, disrupting my peace! And Black, I swear to Merlin-What!" she exclaimed as I jabbed my elbow in her ribs getting her to shut up
"Lucy, at least let Peter leave before you start your revenge plans" she swivelled her head to the small boy. I think he was hopping if he was quite enough, we might not notice him. "scram Pettigrew!" and he did, he wasted no time listening to Lucy's demands hopping out the compartment.

Once he had left, Lucy and Kayla launched into rants about how annoying the group of boys were. I turned away from the pair and looked at Lily who was reading her book that she had picked up off the floor as if nothing had happened.
"You alight Lil's?" she looked up at me with a forced smile and glanced at Kayla and Lucy.
"Yeh I am good, I mean that wasn't bad, especially considering I probably have some elaborate display of affection wating for me at the feast" she laughed to herself looking down at her book then back up at Lucy and Kayla
"I just wish he would let me be, you know. It's been six years" I did feel for Lily. I agreed with her, the boys visit was nothing out of the normal and it wasn't that bad. So why was it that it felt so tense and the whole thing got blown way out of proportion. I rested my hand on her knee
"do you think maybe if you sat down and had serious conversation with him, he might stop?"
"come on Em when has James Potter ever been serious" I thought for a moment, sure Potter was an absolute arse the vast majority of the time and I don't think I have ever seen him act above the age of 7 but I don't know I just got this feeling that if he knew the problems he was causing Lily he would stop in an instant
" I don't know Lil's but maybe it's worth a shot"

Chapter 2 Chapter Text

Most people would be appalled at the idea of potions with Slughorn first thing Monday morning but not me. I know I sound like a right looser, I promise I am not. In my defence potions is my favourite subject by far. What can I say, some people love flying, some people love taking care of magical creatures, for me? It's all about potions. Okay upon reflection I do sound really lame but stick with me. Lily was the only other member of our group who took newt level potions but because she also took divination, see It could be worse, she was in the other class to me.

Entering the classroom, I chose a bench about middle of the class, choosing the seat next to wall so I could lean against it. These stools did nothing for my back. I was lazily flicking though my potions book re reading some of the notes I had made when I heard him.

"if it isn't my favourite Ravenclaw" I snapped my eyes shut scrunching them together. Somehow, Potter managed to maintain top grades, how he did this remained a mystery to me as when I saw him in class, he never appeared to be paying attention but yet when called upon by professors he would arrogantly answer their question with ease. Bloody bastard being naturally gifted and not having to work for it like the rest of us.
"what are you doing? why are your eyes closed?" He questioned next to me.
" I am hoping that when I open them I am going to wake up and this is all going to have been a very bad dream and you're not really here" I creeped one eye open but much to my distaste it wasn't a dream and James Potter had sat in the seat next to me.
"Come on Em we are going to have loads of fun, partner" he nudged me with elbow while I just stared at him blankly
"come on prongs leave her alone" I now just noticed that Remus was also with him.
There must be a god.
"ah perfect solution! Switch seats with Remus" I demanded
"not bloody likely, like I am giving up this opportunity to have the potions master as my partner" He sunk into his seat piling his stuff out of his bag onto the desk. I opened my mouth to protest as Slughorn breezed into the room.
"ah good your all here, everyone do sit down and I hope your happy with where your sitting as you are now partnered up with your potions partner for the year!" I snapped my head to Potter sending him a glare as he just smiled back at me with his shit eating grin. It's going to be one hell of a long year.

I was half listening to Slughorn explain how to make a draught of peace whilst I read over my own notes when I felt him lean over, his chair tilting on its two side legs, so he could whisper in my ear.
"whathca doing?" he breathed down my ear making me shiver.
"what does it look like I am doing" I gave him a shove, so he was away from me and back on all four legs. He was quiet for a moment, which I thought was strange as I didn't think he would give up that easily. I glanced at him out the corner of my eye to see him scribbling on some parchment. Hmm maybe he won't be too bad.
Not a moment later he pushed the parchment he had been writing on, so it lay across my book. Guess I spoke to soon. I glanced down at the paper

Are you mad at me?

Will be if you don't leave me alone

Are you mad because of the train?

I am not mad at you

Are you mad because of the feast last night? personally I think Lily Flower loved it

Ah yes, the feast. As Lily predicted, once the feast was in full swing. Potter and his goons decided to give Lily and the rest of us a rendition of L.O.V.E by Frank Sinatra. The whole routine ended with James Infront of Lily, flowers in hand, asking her on date. To which she dumped her pumpkin juice all over him. Their performance wasn't actually awful. I was surprised especially at Peters vocals that boy can sing.

Its not me you should be worried about. I do wish you left Lily alone, but that seems to be a problem for you, leaving people alone!

Just you wait I am going to be the best potions partner you have ever had!

I rolled my eyes as I read his note, taking out my wand and muttering a spell to make to paper turn to ash. I looked at him with smug grin while he pouted at me.

It wasn't long before we were set off on making our potions. I found this one easy, I had made it with my mum over the summer so knew some tricks to get it done faster. I was just giving my potions its last stir when I heard him grumbling.
"I don't get it Moony I did everything it said but it won't turn orange it just stays this manky swap green colour" Remus replied telling him couldn't help him as he had no idea what he was doing himself. I had almost convinced myself to leave him alone and if he really needed help, he did have Slughorn but his muttering and cursing to himself continued as he re-read his notes again, not being able to pinpoint where he had made a mistake. I looked up at him, pushing my glasses on top of my head.
"you probably added to much spider venom" his head snapped to me.
"what? How do you know that?" he peered down at his notes again. I pushed up from my chair moving so I was stood next to him taking a pinch of powdered slugs from his supplies as I did.
"if it wont turn from green to orange its because it's not thick enough and that's because you may have added to much venom. If you have even the smallest bit extra of the venom it just won't thicken enough as the ratio's will be off. It's a bit of a particular potions but if you balance the ratio's back out by adding a pinch more of slug dust" I added the dust his potions and hoped I was right, and I hadn't just recked his work. I let out a sigh of relief as it turned orange. I stared at the potion for a moment before I turned my head to look at Potter. He was looking at me in amazement
"how did you know to do that?"
"guess I am not just a pretty face" I shot him a wink as I moved back to my seat taking a vile of my potion and handing it to the professor.

Class was nearly over and Slughorn was giving us details on the homework he was setting us. When he leaned over again.
"so, since we are clearly friends now think you can put in a good word for me with Evans?" I scoffed at him
"who said we were friends?"
"you did! When you helped me with my potions" Ignoring him, I collected my book stuffing it in my bag and throwing it over my shoulder.
"we aren't friends Potter and even if we were, I would be doing you no favours when it comes to Lily, honestly just leave her alone. Have you ever thought about moving on?" I started making my way to the door as both James and Remus followed me out.
" oh come Williams, please" again looking at me with his big puppy dog eyes. I averted my attention to Lupin who was watching the scene unfold with a smirk on his face.
"you got History of magic with Bins next?" he nodded so I grabbed his arm and dragged him away not before turning to shout over my should to Potter
"Move on Potter it's never goanna happen!"
When Remus stopped laughing at my encounter with James, he through his arm over my shoulder as we made our way up to class.
"he isn't that bad you know. He means well just has a bit of weird way of showing it"
"just a bit" I huffed as Remus ruffled my hair.

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I love Hogwarts, I really do, but these bloody stairs are going to send me into cardiac arrest.

After my agonisingly long walk from arithmancy, my last class of the day, I had finally made it to the great hall. All be it I was huffing and puffing like I smoked a pack a day. Okay maybe it wasn't just the stairs to be blamed and maybe, just maybe, it was down to fact I refused to partake in any form of physical exercise.

I am just going to keep blaming the stairs. They do move after all.

Scanning the hall I looked among the crowds of students until I spotted Lucy and Lily sat at the far end of the Gryffindor table. I made my way over and practically through myself into the seat next to Lucy whilst I caught my breath. I was still trying to refill my lungs with some air when Kayla floated in gracefully taking the seat opposite me.
"hello, my angles, how was everyone's first day back?" we all groaned in response
"okay, clearly we aren't all in the best of moods today." She trailed off.
Having now recovered from my close call with death I began to pile the food onto my plate.
"it's the first day back and I already had 3 assignments! All due by Friday as well. I don't know who these professor think they are teaching because unless I magic up an extra pair of hands and like 5 more hours a day it ain't happening" Lucy exclaimed before popping a potato in her mouth
"so if you have all these assignments, you're going to come to library with me tonight then, right? To make start on them?" I looked at her as she rolled her eyes at me still chewing.
"what about you two? You up for it? I kind of just want to get the work we got today out of the way. Well as much of it as I can." I asked the remaining girls.
"we can't sorry! Lily said she would help me with some herbology work I need to do" Kayla smiled at Lily who nodded in agreement.
"what work? I have herbology with you and Sprout never mentioned anything, did she? Oh, Merlin I hope she didn't" Lucy questioned look of worry on her face. Before Kayla could reply Lily jumped in
"no, no. it's not for her class just something Sprout asked her to do I said I would give her a hand"
"Yeh, that's it. Sprout caught me this morning on the way to breakfast asked me to set something up for her class with the first years" It wasn't unusual for Kayla to be asked favours by Sprout but there was just something off about the way they were acting. Usually we would all go down to greenhouse together. In fairness me and Lucy usually weren't much help. I wasn't the best at herbology, struggled to keep anything alive. Lucy just refused to do any extra work that wasn't going to contribute to her grade, so we did leave most of the work to Lily and Kayla. I took a quick glance at Lucy who didn't seem to question the girls, so I just shrugged my shoulders.

"so other than Lucy's excruciating workload" Lily changed the subject, her words dripping with sarcasms as Lucy shot her glare "how was your day?" I had seen each of the girls in other lessons throughout the day but not really having chance to catch up with them fully.
"Well, the worst possible thing that could happen, happened to me today" the girls all leaned in listing to me.
"Potter is my new potions partner" they all gasped. Lucy chocking slightly on her food
"for the whole year?"
"your Joking!"
"how did you let this happen?"
They all shot at me I just shuck my head in defeat and filled them in on the lesson.

"Even in lessons he doesn't give up with Lily" Kayla grumbled. We all automatically turned our heads to look down the table at the boys. Sirius had his spoon lined up like a catapult. mashed potato aimed and ready to launch at Peter.
"I mean it could have be worse" we all twisted back to look at Lucy "you could have partnered with Snape" To be fair she made a very good point
"he isn't that bad! You guys don't even Know him!"
"oh, come off its Lil's he throws and insult my way every time I am remotely in his vicinity" I argued. Snape had it out for me. I barely spoke to the grease ball and yet I was public enemy number one. Lucy thinks it's because I am better at potions than him which I would have to agree with, as I can't understand what else I could be doing to him that angers him so much. Petty arsehole.

Once dessert was finished Kayla jumped up from her seat pulling Lily up with her.
"well we must be off! Catch you in the morning my darlings" They scurried out of the hall, Lily giving us a wave as she was dragged away. I turned to Lucy my best puppy dog eyes in action, innocent smile on my face.
"no, it's not happening. I am not falling victim to the eyes again" she had slapped her hand over her eyes shielding me from her view, but I knew how to play Lucy. Sighing I slowly began to stand "I guess I will just have to go to the library all on my own then, since my best friend in the whole wide world doesn't want to spend time with me. I will somehow survive maybe I will just cry myself to sleep" really turning on the dramatics.
"you do that. Sounds like a real fun time let me know how it goes" She said hand still over her eyes. Okay so that didn't work.
"Okay then, I just hope that you don't need help with the charms work because I am doing that tonight and won't have time to look over yours any other time" I said as I began making my way out of the hall. I heard Lucy groan before she hurriedly stood rushing to catch me up.
"I really hate you sometime" I laughed and linked my arm with hers
"yeh right you love me"

Chapter 3 Chapter Text

James's POV

"Prongs, mate, I don't know about this. You are already in her bad books from potions" Moony worried behind me as we headed to library.
"ah it will be fine, we are just stopping by to say hi" I waved him off taking a glance down at the map again making sure she was still there.
"Yeh Moony what's she going to do?" Sirius said beside me. Moony sighed and took a quick glance over my shoulder at the map
"it's not just Emily I am worried about" he grumbled looking at Lucy's name next to Emily's in the corner of the Library
"You leave Vixen to me" Sirius laughed while Remus just shook his head
"I do actually have some charms work to do, so wouldn't like to be kicked out the library if we can help it" Peter piped up
"don't worry mate, you can get your work done. We promise to behave don't we Pads?"
"yeh Wormy don't worry we got you" Sirius dropped back so he was level with Peter, draping his long arm over Peter's small shoulders.

When we made it to the library, it didn't take long for me to spot her. She was sat in the corner her glasses, that she only ever seemed to wear when looking at the board, now perched on her head. Her long wavy hair was pulled back into a low messy bun with a few stray strands framing her face. She looked as if she was tickling her face with her quill as her eyebrows were scrunched looking down at her notes attempting to focus as Lucy, who did not look to be getting much work done was talking animatedly next to her. Her long arms falling around as she spoke. As we approached the table Lucy saw us and groaned.
"Nope, not today, don't even think about sitting down. I can't be dealing with you all on the first day back" she glared at us. Wondering who Lucy was talking to Emily raised her head confused, that was until her stormy grey eyes met mine. She scowled at me before looking back down at her notes. Okay so maybe not the warmest of welcomes.
"Ah Lucy, a delight to see you as always" Sirius said as rocked back on the legs of his chair, he was now sat in, sticking his feet on the table. Lucy rolled her eyes pushed his feet back off, causing Sirius to grasp the table in order to avoid falling off his chair.
"oh yeh a real delight. Looking at your ugly mug" The pair continued to bicker between themselves at the end of the table. Moony and Wormtail had now taken out their books and sat doing their work and like Emily were completely ignoring the highly-strung pair at the end of the table.

"So how is my favourite potions partner this evening?" I asked Emily leaning in closer to her to see that she was working on her charms work just like Peter was.
"come on Em talk to me" I whined but still got no response from the girl beside me.
"Emmmmilllllly" I said in a sing song voice. She snapped her book shut and glared at me.
"what?" she demanded, voice less than pleasant
"I told you so" I heard Moony mutter under his breath. I gave him a quick kick under the table.
"I came to ask for your assistance" I smiled down at her hoping to soften the angry look on her face.

When it came to Lily's friends, in general Emily tended to be the most approachable. Lucy, who was the personification of evil, would usually growl at me and Kayla, well I pretty sure if I even look at her, she begins planning my slow and painful death. Whereas Emily seemed to humour me. She would still answer me with witty remarks, and it would take some effort to get her to talk to me, but she didn't wish me dead, which was a start.
"I need your advice about how to get Lily to-" she cut me off groaning loudly and dropping her face into her hands before she looked up at me. She stared at me for a few seconds mouth slightly open as if she was choosing what to say.
"I want to strangle you" she said in a monotone voice.
She then cast her gaze to the ceiling as if all the answers she needed where somehow going to appear. When she looked back at me again, she almost had a look of pity on her face
"Look Potter, it's not going to happen with Lily, she just isn't interested and even if she was I don't think you annoying her friends like you have been doing would go over very well with her" I took in her words mulling them over. Over the years, in my pursuit of Lily, her friends had often got caught up in my efforts, mainly because it was rare to find Lily without at least one of the girls by her side. I also often went to the girls, mainly Emily, asking for them to put in good words for me or trying to get information out of them. Every attempt at this had been unsuccessful, but I had to keep trying right? This was Lily Evans we are talking about! The girl I took one look at decided she was the one for me. If only I could get her to talk to me or better yet agree to a date.

Emily rested her hand on my arm. I looked down at where her small pale hand rested on my tanned arm. I noticed her nail polish had been chipped along with fingernails that look jagged from being bitten. I felt her warm hand squeeze my arm slightly causing me to look back up at her. She smiled at me sympathetically. I didn't know the girls extremely well, heck I didn't even know Lily that well not that I hadn't tried, but I knew that unlike some Ravenclaw's who often boasted their achievements and could often come off as snobs. Emily seemed to be the opposite. keeping her achievements more under wraps. Moony told me she barely left the Library last year while we were doing our owls so I knew how hard she must work for her grades. It was also obvious for anyone who watched the group of girls, which I did often. Not in a creepy way! Just to look at my Lily! Emily was definitely the mum friend of the group. She seemed to have a constant air of concern whenever she would watch Kayla or Lucy play in quidditch games. She also seemed to be prepared for every situation for whatever her friends needed.

"James?" she spoke softly snapping me out of my thoughts.
I don't think she has ever called me James before.
"I am sorry about Lily, as someone who loves, love I was kind of hoping it all worked out, but I know Lily and she would have made some indication by now if she was interested. Maybe it's time to move on. You know?" she then let out a soft chuckle
"you could then also maybe stop bothering me and my friends so I might actually get some work done" she let go of my arm seeming to return back to normal. I thought for a moment about what she said. She can't be right, can she? Did I really have no shot with Lily? She would know after all being one of her best friends. I opened my mouth to ask her how sure she was but before I could Peter drew the attention to him by slamming his quill on the table.

"that's it! I am dropping out. Its day one and I can't bloody do this. Stupid charms homework, If I can't do this how am I supposed to survive Newts" He sunk into his chair. His declaration had even momentarily stopped Lucy and Sirius's argument. Remus clamped a hand on Wormy's shoulder giving it a supportive squeeze.
"Let me take a look at what you're working on Pete" Emily said as she rose from her seat to make her way round the table. As she stood my eyes drew to her legs. I felt my heart rate pick up. What? I am a 16-year-old hormonal boy a girl's leg is my kryptonite. I couldn't deny it, Emily was a beautiful girl. All the girls in her group were particularly pretty, especially Lily. Emily had milky white skin which was a stark contrast to her very dark brown hair. She looked quite different to Lily, the similarities stopping at their shared pale skin and freckles. Emily was a bit curvier than the other girls. Not overweight but she had thicker thighs and larger hips. She was also the smallest of the group. She was about 5'7 whereas her friends came in about the 5'9-5'11 range. I watched her as she sat next to Peter taking his work from him and scanning over what it was, he was working on

"You're not far off Peter, you're doing well" she spoke softly to him as she picked up his quill.
"you're just getting confused between two different charms characteristics. Here I can show you this acronym I used to memorise them it may help" she began writing as Peter looked at her rather than at what she was doing. Once she had finished writing she prompted Peter to look, his face lighting up and whatever she had written on the page
"that's actually so helpful! How did you make that up?" she gave a shrug of her shoulder.
"I have loads of them. Give me a day or two and I will write them all down for you and give you a copy" she smiled standing back up to come back to her seat
"I wouldn't mind a cheat sheet as well professor Williams" Sirius pipped up earning an eye roll from Emily but she was still smiling as she sat back down next to me.

"So, are you going to be a good boy and do some work or am I going to have to get the librarian to kick you all out so I can actually get on with my work?" she raised her eyebrow at me. I laughed and took out my potions work.
"might as well work on my potions essay while I am here"
"there's a good boy" she mocked as if she was talking to a dog before she turned to give Lucy as whack over the head. She gasped dramatically rubbing her head
"oi! What was that for?"
"Stop messing with Black and get on with your work"
"yeh Vixen stop messing with me" Sirius mocked like a child
"Sirius!" Remus snapped a warning. Causing Sirius to shut up and Lucy to snicker.
"Maybe it wasn't the worst idea coming here" Remus admitted, whispering to me, whilst looking at Lucy and Emily who were laughing between themselves
"told you Moony I am full of great idea's"

Chapter 4 Chapter Text

The end of the first school week back at the castle had come around fast and I was now sat at the Ravenclaw table reading my new enemies to lovers muggle book about an American couple where the boy played American football for his university and the girl was assigned to be his tutor.

Classic literature at its finest.

I was eagerly turning the pages getting to the part where my feet would do that happy little kick thing because my heart felt like it was exploding. When Kayla sat down opposite me.
"And what are your reading this fine Saturday morning?" Kayla seemed to always have the air of positivity and almost bewilderment about her. I grabbed my bookmark sticking it in my book as she spoke again.
"another muggle romance book?" Lily was the only muggle born in our group. Kayla was a halfblood (her dad being the muggle) and myself and Lucy were purebloods, not part of the sacred 28 though, our magic blood just went back a few generations now. Not that any of it mattered.
"you know it. I was just up to where they had finally realised their feelings for each other and were going to have their magical moment" I sighed content
"magical moment?" Kayla questioned
"yeh, you know the kiss in the pouring rain, the showing up at the house in the middle of night, the room being crowed but only seeing the other. The moment where they are so overwhelmed with love, they just have to run to be with each other" I smiled glancing back down at my book.
"sounds like a pretty epic love story" I nodded in agreement.
"think we will get an epic love story one day?" I joked as I scanned the selection of bagels looking to find the perfect one, the one that was toasted to just the right level of toastyness.
"yeh I think we will" Kayla smiled looking down at her hands fiddling with them. I took a quick glance back up at her. She had reached for my book and was now flicking through the chapter I was on.

"ah ha!" I exclaimed snatching the perfect bagel and placing on my plate.
"perfect bagel?" Lucy asked as she slid in the seat next to mine. Lucy was not a morning person and it was best to approach with caution
"you know it!" I was carefully spreading the butter on the bagel when a slightly frazzled Lily flopped down next to Kayla.
"Potter was hot on my tail, so I expect he will be making an appearance" she said nonchalantly as she began tipping cereal into her bowl. I see my pep talk in the library had no affect then.
"Good morning ladies!" James said in a sing song voice swooping into the seat next to Lily. I watched as Kayla tensed up while Lily acted as if he didn't exist and Lucy looked half asleep, so I doubted she cared. Not long after James arrived the rest of the Marauders followed. I gave Peter a warm smile as he sat down next to me.
"it is far too early to be dealing with you lot" Lucy grumbled taking a bite into her apple.
"Merlin Vixen, your looking rough this morning, think you would even give Flitch a run for his money with those bags under your eyes" Sirius soon regretted his jokes as Lucy launched her half-eaten apple at him across the table.
"play nice children" I pointed my finger disapprovingly at the pair
"but he started it" Lucy grumbled under her breath.
"what do you want now?" Lily asked finally acknowledging Potters existence and his face lit up
"we came to cordially invite you to the annual Gryffindor welcome back party"

Ah yes, the welcome back party. We tended to have 4 inter house party's a year. Sure, there would be smaller ones throughout the year when it was someone birthday or a quidditch win but they tended to be kept within the house. At these 4 party's house prejudices is put aside and all houses are welcome. Each house would host one of the parties. Gryffindor got the welcome back, Hufflepuff took Halloween, Ravenclaw got Christmas and Slytherin took the end of exams. Slytherins tended to be my favourite as not only was it the end of exams but they sure knew how to throw a good party.
"let me get this straight. You came to invite me to a party in my own common room, that everyone 4th year and above is invited to anyway?" Lily questioned
"Well I was hoping you would be my date?" Lily groaned at James and began to scold him. Ignoring their bickering I picked up my bagel and frowned
"what's wrong Emily?" Peter asked quietly
"my bagel is cold" I tossed it back on the plate a sulked
"what so special about the bagel? Just get another one?" Sirius asked and all the girls groaned
"here we go" Kayla muttered
"it's not just a bagel" I began my explanation "it's the perfect bagel. See, for example this one is too toasted, this one is not toasted enough and this one hasn't been cut down the middle right" I examined the bagels again looking for the perfect one
"what about this one, this looks pretty good" Potter was pointing down at a bagel on the tray closest to him. I examined it and smiled up at him grabbing the bagel.
"perfect Potter, ten points to Gryffindor" I joked with James who beamed at me with a proud smile
"I thought you were the weird one" Sirius quipped to Lucy
"Trust me this isn't even one of her weirdest quirks" Lucy replied.

Later that evening the party was in full swing, I was sat on the couch nursing my drink as I scanned the room. Lucy was tucked away in the corner flirting with one of the 7th year Hufflepuff boys. She was laying it on thick, but he seemed to be eating it up. I had lost sight of Kayla and Lily after I left them dancing to go get a drink. I scanned back over my shoulder to where people were dancing but still couldn't see them, instead I was met with sight of James and Sirius twirling each other round as if they were ball room dancing. I let out a soft chuckled as I watched the pair.

"What's a pretty girl like you doing sat here all alone?" I turned to meet Remus's gaze as he sat down next to me on the couch bumping my shoulder.
"just admiring the view" I gestured over my shoulder to the dancing boys and I heard Remus let out a laugh
"where are the girls?" He asked. I gestured toward Lucy who was getting her face eaten by the looks of it.
"Lucy is a bit preoccupied and Merlin know where Lily and Kayla have gone"
"guess I will just have to keep you company then" He winked at me before we both turned back to look at Lucy and the boy
"they are going to have to come up for air at some point" Remus muttered
"ha, like I didn't see you and Sirius engage in a game of tonsil hockey earlier" I wiggled my eyebrows at him. Sirius and Remus's relationship wasn't a secret to anyone but they usually keep quite private. He just smirked at me and came down to whisper in my ear
"Just how I didn't see you sneak out of Gideon Prewett's dorm room last year" I gasped and looked up at a smirking Remus. Gideon was two years above us so left Hogwarts last year. We became good friends over the years and well one night one thing led to the another. Since that night we started a friends with benefits situation, what can I say he was tall, older, ginger and sinfully beautiful. I didn't take much convincing. As far as I was aware nobody knew other than the girls and probably Gideon's twin brother Fabian. Remus laughed at my reaction
"not so smug now are you" I whacked him in the chest glaring at him for laughing "don't worry! Your secrets safe with me"
"I can't believe you knew and never said anything!" and as we both looked at each other I could help but giggle. Clearly, I hadn't been as sneaky as I thought.
"don't tell Sirius, but I am kind of jealous. The Prewett brother are damn fine"
"tell me about it!" I said drifting off into me memories of my time with Gideon letting out a content sigh.

We chit chatted for a bit, I felt honoured to be able to see this side of Remus. A side of him he only reserved for his friends as to everyone else he would often be quite quiet and reserved but when you got to know him, which trust me takes a lot of time and effort to break your way in, you wanted to hold onto to him with everything you had as Remus really is the best of us. Waterloo by Abba started playing and Remus jumped to his feat grabbing my hand and pulling me up with him.
"come on we are dancing" he said as he led me over to the makeshift dancefloor that had formed. The drinks were kicking in now as I danced around, and we screamed the lyrics to each other. As the song was nearing the end Remus picked me up spinning me round in a circle. I couldn't wipe the smile from my face as he placed me back down whilst I was still laughing. Once my feet were back on the ground, I noticed the girls had joined us, Lucy handing me a much-needed drink.

As I was taking a drink and I could feel eyes on me. Scanning the room, I spotted Potter smirking at me, he gave me one of his over the top winks to which I jokingly rolled my eyes and tipped my cup to in a silent cheers before turning back to the girls and Remus.

Chapter 5 Chapter Text

By the time Monday morning had rolled around it seems most of the school had recovered from their hangovers just in time for classes to start. I had almost made it to potions when two boys appeared at my side.
"That was some dancing I saw on Saturday Williams" James said bumping my shoulder
"I mean I thought I was pretty great. My dance partner could have used some work though" I smirked at Potter, he let out a hearty laugh as Remus protested from the other side of me.
"oh, sorry Rem didn't see you there" I turned smiling innocently at him to which he rolled his eyes and ruffled my hair. We took our usual seats in class just in time for Slughorn to start explaining for today's practical we would be making the potion in pairs. I looked over at James who was already looking at me with a wide smile. As Slughorn continued I looked down at my book scanning my notes on the potion when James leaned over to whisper to me.
"why arnt you listing to Sluggy? I don't want you blowing us up when we make this potion" I turned glaring at him
"if anyone is messing up this potion Potter, we both know it will be you" I turned back to my book, but it wasn't long before he leaned in again.
"you have so little in faith in me. It hurts right here" I glanced at him out the corner of my eye to see he had covered his chest, hands over his heart.
"I am sure you will survive" I muttered not taking my eyes from my book, but I know he heard me as he let out a dramatic gasp.

"No stop! You're going to crush them to much they don't need to be that finely ground" I grabbed Potter's arm stopping him grinding the lacewing flies anymore. We were well underway with making our potions now and to be fair Potter turned out to be better than I expected. I guess he must be fairly decent to get into Newt level potions.
"how do you know how much it needs to be ground? It just say's grind lacewing flies in the book it's not specific" He asked seeming genuinely curious as he tipped the ingredients into the cauldron. I gave a slight shrug of my shoulders.
"this potion is really similar in process to the draught of living death and with that it specifies to only slightly grind the flies as it makes for a larger surface area for the reactions with the slug pulp" James looked at me eyebrows pulled together
"how did you get so good at potions?" I carried on working on the potion as I answered
"when I was younger, I use to make potions with my mum since you don't really need magic to do it and any parts that did require it my mum would just do, so I have been learning about potions since I was really little. Plus, I think potions is just kind of my thing, you know?"
"your thing?" I looked up at him to explain
"Yeh, it sort of just clicks for me. It's the one subject that I don't really have to try at but I still do well in. Just sort comes naturally, I guess. I assume it's how you are with flying" Potter was a natural when it came to flying, he dominated the quidditch pitch and this year was his first year as captain for Gryffindor

"watch me fly often do you Emily?" he said cocky grin across his face one eyebrow raised. I opened my mouth to reply when Snape butted in.
"You really will flirt with anything won't you Potter, as long as it has a pulse" James' face filled with anger as he pushed himself up off his stool. Remus overhearing the conversation also began to move closer to us his face just as annoyed as James's. Before the boys could say anything, I spun on my heels, so I was face to face with the slimy prat. How Lily is friends with him I will never know.
"your sounding awfully jealous Snape" He looked back at me confused
"I mean, Potter wasn't flirting with me, but it sounds like you might want him to flirt with you?" I raised my eyebrow at him stepping closer
"I am sure Potter wouldn't mind spending some one on one time you, aint that right?" I asked looking over at the boys who were now smirking at me
"oh yeh, me and you snape. How's that sound? Maybe we could wash each other's hair, looks like you might need it" James backed me up. Snape rolled his eyes at us before scurrying back to his seat. Part of me does feel some guilt but he did just refer to me as an 'it'.
"you okay?" Remus asked once I was sat back with the boys.
"oh yeh, nothing I am not use to from our good friend Severus" I waved them off
"does he bother you a lot?" James asked glaring at the boy over the top of my head
"He shoots me the odd snide remark but nothing I can't handle" I say as I began to poor our now complete potion into vials for it to be marked. James and Remus were both stood still glaring at the Snape.
"come on, just leave it and help me bottle this potion" I said trying to change the subject. With a sigh both boys returned to their workstation.
"if he says something to you again, will you tell me?" James asked quietly next to me.
"it's really not a big deal he is just jealous he never really says anything bad"
"still please just tell me" I look at him, he is looking at me very seriously. He won't let this drop. So, I gave him a small nod.
"does Lily know he bothers you? Why hasn't she said anything to him?" he asks
"she has. However, she does think I egg him on and could be nicer" I shrug. To an extent she has point. I don't have to retaliate I could be the bigger person, but he always starts it and its always over something so small. I look back up at James who is frowning.

"when does quidditch season start again?" I asked him to try and change the subject. It seemed to work as he smiled his usual cheeky smile at me
"why want to come watch me practice? All you had to do was ask Em. Maybe you can even get my Lily flower to tag along" I rolled my eyes at him
"Lily won't even go to Lucy and Kayla's practices she definitely won't be coming to yours" I laughed at him
"speaking of Lily flower" oh here we go "my latest idea is to win her heart is to fill her entire dorm room full of roses. I recently mastered the Orchideous spell and I am keen to try it out" I grimaced at the thought. Lily would not be pleased. Choosing my next words carefully
"I don't know Potter; I don't think that's something Lily would like" he gasped at me
"what why not?"
"well for starters she doesn't like roses" I muttered as I packed my stuff into my bag as the class was now over. I turned back to him and saw he was deep in thought. I decide it was best to do damage control as stopping him all together wasn't seeming like an option
"maybe just the one bouquet and see if you can transfigure peony's instead" I said before walking over to Slughorns desk placing our vials on top.
"just the one bouquet? Do you think that's enough" he asked as I made my way back over to him.
"well, although I think a whole dorm room full flowers is a nice idea, it is however a bit of inconvenience. If I was Lily, I would prefer just the one bouquet"
"yeh but you would want Sunflowers instead of peony's, right?" I stopped in my tracks turning to look up at him confused. How did he know they were my favourite flowers?
"There your favourite right? You get a bunch on valentine's day every year" He was right. My dad has given me a bunch of sunflowers on valentine's day every year since I was born. It's actually really sweet and one of favourite traditions.
"how the hell do you know that?" I snap at him. He just shrugs at me
"your normally with Lily when I come to give her my card and gifts. I guess I just noticed the pattern" oh that makes sense. We made our way out the classroom me and Remus breaking away to go to our next class.

Later that evening myself, Lucy and Kayla were lounging in the Gryffindor common room waiting for Lily to come down so we could go on a walk around the grounds. It wasn't unusual for us to be in each other common rooms, we use to get some strange looks but 6 years in people don't really question it anymore.
"How many times do I have to tell you no!" we all looked up to see Lily storming down the stair with a bunch of Peony's in one hand a card in her other as she marched up to James slamming them into his chest.

Oh oh.

"what's wrong Lily flower did you not like my gift?" James asked smiling at Lily. Lily just let out a strained yell as she pointed her wand at the now beaten up peony's and made them turn to dust. She spun round and marched over to us
"let's go" she demanded. We all jumped to our feet to follow her out. I looked over at James his expression was hard to read. He looked up at me and I mouthed 'I am sorry' he just shrugged his shoulder at me and gave me a small smile. Lucy grabbed my arm dragging me with her
"come on before she turns us to dust" she said as we exited the common room following Lily as she muttered angrily to Kayla.

"how did he even know I like Peony's" she exclaimed throwing her hands in the air she asked. Our whole walk Potter has been the topic of conversation. I suddenly felt very guilty.
"well" I mumbled, and all eyes darted to me. Oh no
"you see, he may have mentioned to me that he was planning to fill your entire dorm with roses which I thought was a terrible Idea" I paused looking at the girls
"and as there was no talking him out of the idea all together I managed to talk him into one bunch of flowers and I thought if he got you peony's that although they were from Potter, you might have found use for them as they are your favourites" it was silent for a moment everyone looking at Lily for a reaction. After a moment passed, she sighed throwing herself to the ground to sit by the black lake. We all copied.
"He wanted to fill the whole dorm?" she asked. I gave a small nod. To which she rolled her eyes before lying back so she was staring at the sky
"urgh. What a waste of a good bunch of peonies" She grumbled. I quickly pulled out my wand muttering the spell as a bunch of peonies shot out my wand. I held them out to her as sort of peace offering. She snatched them off me instantly.
"much better" she smiled.

Thank merlin for that.

Chapter 6 Chapter Text

James pov

This month's full moon fell on a Tuesday. That meant today's classes would be a bitch. Remus had a particularly tough run last night. He couldn't settle for whatever reason, so he is extra delicate this morning. I stared at my reflection in the mirror, I looked like shit but Moony would just be more depressed if he saw how tired we all where. So, I splashed my face with some water slapped on a smile and walked back out into the dorm.

"Who is ready for another fun and exciting day of learning?" I said in as much of a cheery voice as I could master. The boys were just finishing off their breakfast. We tend to go down to the kitchen when we get back from a full moon and bring food up to our dorm. It gives us a few extra minutes of sleep.
"Give it up prongs I know your dying. You look like a dementor. Actually, a dementor probably looks better than you right now" Moony grumbled. I see its going to be one of them type of days today then.
"Moony you wound me. My luscious lock might be looking a bit less than luscious today but I recon I am still outranking the dementors" I said as I flopped onto the bed next to him. Looking round the room Sirius had fallen back asleep half hanging off the bed mouth wide open. Peter was staring into the abyss taking slow bites of his toast. Remus was studying us all, guilty expression on his face. I through my arm over his shoulder snapping him out of his thoughts.
"You alright mate?" I asked already knowing the answer but what else can I say? Remus just looked at me with a frown.
"stop with the guilty look mate" I say as he tries to interrupt me "No Mooney we have been over this. Your monthlies aren't your fault, there is nothing you can say to stop us from coming with you and as much as you think you are, you are NOT a monster and I don't care how many times I have to tell. Now wipe that look of your face we have potions to get to" I said standing up pulling him up with me.
"Wormy, you okay getting yourself and Pads to class?" He looked up at me bags under his eyes.
"yeh I got it" he mumbled before standing slowly and going over to wake Sirius.

The upside of potions this morning was that it was theory lesson. Last week Slughorn set us on a project where we are to design our own potions, it was a project that ran all year and our Wednesday classes would now be almost like a study period where we could ask his advice and do our own research. This all meant I might be able to get a quick nap.

When we made It to class everyone was already there and working. Emily was already up chatting to Slughorn, I let out a small laugh of course she already had questions about her potion, this is her dream assignment. As we made to our desk, I noticed a bar of chocolate was in Moony's seat. I watched him as he spotted the sweet treat and almost gave a small smile as he flopped down in his seat immediately opening the chocolate. He didn't seem to think it was unusual.
"Alright I am intrigued. Are you pre planting chocolate for yourself in lessons or is this just a happy coincident?"
"it's from Emily" he said not looking up from the desk.
"how do you know?" I asked as I began unpacking my bag
"she always leaves me one in whatever class we share after a full moon" I snapped my head to him.
"what the fuck? When did you tell her? Why didn't you tell us you told her?" I started rattling questions off. To say I was shocked was an understatement. Here he was casually letting me know that Emily Williams knows his biggest secret.
"I didn't tell her" Remus said shrugging his shoulder. I opened my mouth to ask more questions, but Emily came over.
"Morning boys" she gave us a small smile before sitting in her seat.
"Morning Em" Moony lifted his head slightly to her in greeting. I snapped my head between the two of them.
"drop it James we can talk about it later" Moony said sternly. With a huff I sat in my seat.

I watched Emily work, scribbling away in her notebook. I couldn't help but find it odd that she didn't acknowledge that we look like shit or that she had left chocolate for Moony. Normally If we had shown up looking this bad, she would have commented, she wasn't afraid to tease us.
"are you okay James?" she asked looking at me her face full of concern and bloody hell she called me James again I really must look like shit.
"yeh, just a bit tired" I muttered still trying to piece everything together.
"it's a theory class today so Slughorn shouldn't bother you. Why don't you try get some rest? I will give you a nudge if he is coming over" Merlin, a rest did sound good right now
"you would do that?"
"of course," she laughed "I am not that bad am i?"
"not at all" I said, "are you sure you don't mind?" it may have been my plan to nap but I didn't want to be rude. She just rolled her eyes at me
"just go to sleep Potter" and we are back to Potter. None the less I listened to her and rested my head on the table.

I woke to someone shaking my shoulder. I slowly opened my eyes to meet Emily's grey ones.
"Class is over. Do you feel any better?" I jumped up looking round the room noticing that the rest of the class was packing up.
"shit! I slept the whole class" she placed her hand on shoulder slowing me down
"it's okay. It was just a theory lesson and you needed it" I took a deep breath I was going to have a nap, sure, but not the whole hour. I would need to do some catch up work on my potion.
"Other than being sleep deprived are you okay?" she asked lowering her voice.
"erm yeh I am good" I said as I glanced over a moony who clearly hadn't had a nap in this lesson.
"ah, don't worry too much about him. I will make sure he has a nap. We have Bins next and half the class sleeps through that anyway" I watched her as she slung her bag on her shoulder. Moony was going to have to do some explaining but I was really grateful to Emily for looking after him, it did take a bit off worry off my shoulders.
"cheers Em. I appreciate it" and I did, I really did. She just waved me off as we all left the classroom.

"Alright family meeting" I declared that evening in our dorm. Moony just groaned knowing what was coming, he looked a lot better now. True to her word Emily did get him to have a nap in history of magic and we all took an early dinner to come back from and have a nap, so we were much more well rested now.
"ooo what have you done Moony he is shooting you his best Dad look" Sirius said as he pulled moony closer to him.
"whatever it is, I will protect you Honey. He won't hurt me he loves me to much" he said giving Remus a big kiss on the cheek.
"do we have to do this now?" Remus asked
"of course, we bloody do!" I through my hands on my hips in frustration
"what did I miss?" Peter mutters to Sirius as he looked between me and Moony
"your guess is as good as mine pal" Sirius said shrugging
"I will let you know what going on. Moony told Emily about his monthlies" the boys gasped turning to Remus who just sighed putting his head in his hands.
"I didn't tell her. I don't even know for certain that she knows. I am just pretty sure she does" he sighed
" I am so confused" Peter muttered so I filled him and Sirius in on potions and the cholate she left and how it was weird. We all turned to Remus looking at him wide eyes waiting for him to give an explanation.

"It started in first year-"
"first year! But we didn't even know then" Sirius interrupted him
"if I am telling this story no question until the end alight?" he asked pausing to make sure we all agreed. After we all reluctantly nodded, he carried on
"it was like the 5th cycle into first year and I noticed that when I got to class the following day there was a bar of chocolate in my seat. I didn't really think anything off it but then the same thing happened again the next cycle and has been happening every cycle since from that first time. At first, I didn't know it was Emily I thought I might have been Minnie but in second year I caught her leaving it in my place. She didn't say anything to me she just smiled at me and went back to her seat, so she knows I know its her. I was obviously a bit shocked at first so I avoided her as much as I could that month worried she was going to talk to me about it. I had grown to really like Emily and she had become a good friend so I was scared if we talked and she knew for certain she wouldn't speak to me again" My heart breaks for Moony for the way he sees himself. If only he could see himself through our eyes.
"but then the next cycle came and the following day, there was the chocolate again. So, I started talking to her again and she never mentioned it and never treated me any differently and it's been that way ever since. The only change after 2nd year when she knew I knew it was her she also started sending me chocolate by owl over the holidays as well"

We all take a moment to think about what he said all a bit shocked he hadn't mentioned this to us before.
"what does she do if the full moon is on a weekend and she doesn't have class with you?" Peter asked.
"she sends an owl with it. I am actually surprise none of you have noticed it before now to be honest" He makes a good point we tend to go with him everywhere after a full moon
"if your pretty sure she knows, and from that story it definitely sounds like she does, why haven't you spoke to her about it?" Sirius asked as he rubbed comforting circles on Remus back
"I can't. There is a difference between thinking you know something and knowing something. If I tell her, what if she thinks of me differently? What if she thinks I am a monster?" He muttered quietly. I let out a laugh and all the boys looked at me
"firstly, mate you aren't a monster" I said with a stern look and the other boys nodded in agreement
"secondly Emily isn't like that and your story alone proves that. For Merlin's sake she leaves you chocolate every month why would she do that if she thought you were a monster? Also, she was really concerned about you today and I know she looked after you in History of magic" Remus looked down nodding at my words. I sighed
"you have people who care about you Moony. I am not saying you have to talk to Emily because that completely your choice, but I think if you did you would just be adding to your support system" I smiled at him and he seemed to contemplate what I was saying.
"I have decided Williams is my favourite out of the little girl group. I am going to work my magic on her and become her new bestie. I bet that would also piss Vixen off so it's a win win" Sirius exclaimed smirking at his plan.

The rest of the night continued as normal, us chatting shit and planning mischief until we got to tired or actually had to do some schoolwork. In my case it was both I was shattered but because I slept through potion, I knew I needed to at least make some notes on my potion. My plan was to design a potion that made your reaction time faster. Would be bloody brilliant for quidditch. Slughorn didn't actually plan for us to create a real potion as often it was the case that although something might work in theory it doesn't mean it works in practice, also I don't think he thinks any of us would actually make something that works, not in a year anyway. It was more of a theory-based task that got us looking at lots of different things. I pulled out my notes and a potion theory book. Flipping my notes open to where I left off but stopping as I looked down at my notes. In the margins was a handwriting much better than my own with notes and ideas for my potion.
"Hey Moony, did you write in my notes in potions today?" I asked reading over the notes. This was bloody brilliant it meant I wouldn't have to do any catch up work
"erm no. Emily did. She asked me if I thought you would mind, I said you wouldn't. You don't do you?" he asked concerned
"do I balls mind. She is a bloody genius" I laughed closing my book stuffing it in my bag.

As I lay there that night taking in the day, I found myself having a newfound appreciation for Emily. Maybe Sirius was right, and we should become friends, real friends not just potions partners. Ha, it might even give me a better chance with Lilly.

Chapter 7 Chapter Text

With the end of September and the start of October the school term was well under way which meant work had increased significantly which made me all the more appreciative for my free periods. Like today's it was a Friday and my free was the hour before lunch, so it was like having a double free. Plus, there was barley anyone from our year who had this free so it meant I could have breather.

I was sat lounging by the black lake soaking in the last bit of warm weather, Scotland was going to see, reading my latest cheesy romcom. This one was about a professional hockey player and his teammates little sister. I was definitely going through a sport romance phase.
"so, I have heard your pretty cool" I turned my head to side looking to see who had laid down next to me.
"your only just finding this out?" I raised my eyebrow at Sirius
"well yeh, I thought you were just a typical nerdy Ravenclaw before" he shrugged
"and now you think I am cool?" I hummed in response
"well I still think you're a nerdy Ravenclaw, your literally sat here reading for fun" he exclaimed as I rolled my eyes at him.
"but I hear your actually pretty funny. So, I am willing to give you a chance"
"wow thanks Sirius I really appreciate that" I said sarcastically flopping back down to read my book
"Oh come on don't be like that. Would It help if told you, you really pull off the hot nerd vibes? Like if I was not in committed relationship with my Moony, I would-be all-over this" he waved his hand up and down my body. I hate to admit it, but his flattery did help his case.
"alright I am listening" I said as I bookmarked my book and pushed myself up
"brilliant, so what are we going to do then?" He asked. I thought for a moment before a grin took over my face and I jumped up off the ground and held out my hand to him.
"come on I am going to teach your something" He groaned at me but took my hand anyway
"I wanted to do something fun, not learning" he grumbled but I just ignored him as I kept his hand in mine and led him to the kitchen.

"Miss Williams! It's so good to see you Miss" Dixy one of the house elves said as we entered the kitchen
"Hi Dixy, how are you? This is my friend Sirius" Sirius gave a small wave to the elf.
"it's so nice to meet you Mr. Any friend of Miss Williams is a friend of mine" I smiled and bent down, so I was eye level with Dixy
"Dixy, would it be okay to have my usual set up. It's no problem if not as I know you are getting ready for lunch"
"of course, miss! We always have space for you here" she snapped her fingers "it's all set up for you miss but if you need anything just shout for Dixy"
"perfect! Thank you" I said stretching to my normal height and nodding to Sirius to follow me.
"so, you come here often?" Sirius asked as we walked over to a small table with all ingredients laid out.
"just when I am stressed" I shrugged
"what do you stress eat ice cream or something?" I laughed
"no, I stress bake" he hummed at me
"I get baked when I am stressed" of course he does. Ignoring him I picked up an apron and handed it to him
"Sirius Black, I am going to teach you how to make cookies"

Baking with Sirius was an experience to say the least. We were both covered in flower as Sirius kept throwing handfuls at me and I couldn't help but retaliate. Despite the mess I don't think I have laughed this munch in a long time. We were sat in front of the oven watching the cookies bake
"you're a pureblood right? How come you know how to bake the muggle way?"
"my mum learnt from one of her friends from Hogwarts and she said they taste so much better doing it this way than when you use magic" I answered
"what's it like living in the Nobel house of black then. I imagine it's a bit different to my pureblood home" I asked.
"it's all balls and galas with a dash of blood supremacy and homophobia" He said it with a laugh, but I cringed.
"taking it they aren't a huge fan of the nail polish and earrings then?" he let out a laugh
"to say they disliked them would be an understatement" I looked at him sympathetically as his face fell. I pulled out my wand and pointed it at the small radio that Dixy kept around for me when I was in the kitchen. Bennie and the jets started playing. Standing up, I started swing my arms from side to side softly singing the lyrics. Sirius looked at me confused before I took both his hands in mine, pulled him to his feet and started dancing with him. It wasn't long before we both had huge smiles on our faces, signing the lyrics while over enthusiastically bopping our heads.

We entered the hall at lunch time laughing, plate of cookies in hand and still covered in flour. When our groups of friends saw us enter together, they all stopped their conversations too look at us. We made our way over to the group who were all sat together it looked like Potter had brought them all over so he could sit near Lily.
"why are you with Black?" Lucy demanded as soon as I sat in my seat next to her. I was about to explain when Sirius jumped in before me.
"we are best friends now Vixen, you have been replaced" he said smugly. Lucy shot him a glare before she turned to me
"you better have a good explanation"
"we have the same free period, so I showed him how to bake cookies" I said gesturing to the plate of cookies Sirius was now passing round the group.
"you baked without me!" she exclaimed
"Lucy" I levelled with her "every time I ask you if you want to come bake with me you tell me to no"
"it would still be nice to be asked" she grumbled turning away from me. I sighed, snatched a cooking off the plate and held it out to her.
"I taught him how to make your favourites. White chocolate and raspberry" she looked at me out the corner of her eye and snatched the cookie
"this doesn't mean your forgiven"
"of course it doesn't" I shook my head at her

Chapter 8 Chapter Text

After dinner I said bye to the girls, promising to meet up with them in the room of requirement later for our monthly girls' night which we have been having every 3rd Saturday of the month since 3rd year. There is just a lot more alcohol involved now.
"you ready Pete?" I asked as I approached the boys
"sure, let me just grab my stuff" he said stuffing the last bit of his muffin in his mouth and reaching under the table to grab his bag.
"you better not be going doing something fun without me" Sirius pipped up
"We are going the library, Emily said she would give me a hand with my charms assignment" Peter explained
"you never offer to help me with my assignments. Some best friend you are." Sirius pouted
"your more than welcome to come with us Sirius" He gasped at me
"and do schoolwork on a weekend, that's sinful!" I just shrugged at him
"suit yourself" me and Peter turned heading to leave the hall
"wait I might come with you guys I am pretty swamped at the minuet and could do with getting through some work. Do you mind if we stop by the dorms and I can grab my stuff?"
"not at all" I smiled at Remus as he stood to join us
"what a bunch of nerds" Potter mocked
"hot nerds" Sirius interjected sending a wink to Remus who blushed slightly at the interaction
"you boys have fun. Try not to cause to much trouble" I said looking between them
"making no promises Em" James smirked at me

The library was pretty quiet, as expected for a Saturday evening. Peter was starting to really get the charms work we had been going over and Remus was powering through the mountain of homework he had. When all of a sudden, the library doors swung open and Sirius and James came barrelling in running over to our table. They were panting trying to catch their breath, but both had faint smiles across there face.
"What have you two done now?" I asked as James took the seat on the other side of me slinging his arm over the back of my chair.
"nothing major just a few dungbombs in Filtch's office. The usual really" He shrugged
"should have seen his face Em, it was priceless" Sirius chuckled
"I am sure it was" I muttered turning my attention back to Peter checking over what he had written. Sirius began talking softly to Remus who seemed to have abandoned his work when the boys arrived. I could feel Potter moving closer to me to look at what Peter and I were doing. I snapped my head to him, causing him to shrink back into his seat. I didn't want Peter to feel self-conscious.

Once I was sure Peter didn't need me, I turned to James who was throwing a balled-up bit of parchment in the air before catching it over and over again.
"I heard it's your first quidditch try-outs as captain tomorrow" I said getting his attention. He put down the parchment and turned to look at me
"oh yeh and how do you know that?"
"Kayla and Lucy are planning on going to watch" Quidditch try outs is the only time members from other quidditch teams are allowed to watch other teams outside of matches.
"is that so? And what about you and my Lily flower will you not be joinig?" He asked voiced filled with hope at the idea of Lily watching him in action.
"Afraid not. We have to force Lily to go watch the games normally, so there is no way she is going to watch try outs. Anyway, even if we wanted to go, McGonagall has us tutoring a group of first year tomorrow morning"
"do you do a lot of tutoring?" He asked nodding his head slightly in the direction of Peter.
"I do some, I quite like it. Plus, it's good for me to have experiencing teaching I want to be a potions teacher one day" He was quiet for a moment thinking it over
"I could defiantly see that. You're sick at potions and you explain things really well. Teaching would suit you" He smiled at me
"I agree Emily you would be a great professor" Peter added momentarily pausing his work. I couldn't help the warm feeling in my heart. I looked back to James
"how you feeling about tomorrow? You know with it being the first one you have led are you nervous at all?" He looked at me a bit shocked like he couldn't believe what I was asking but then he gulped, his Adams apple bobbing before he leaned closer to me lowering his voice, so the other boys didn't hear.
"to be honest. Yeh" He then let out a nervous laugh "I am shitting myself. What if no one takes me seriously?" I scrunched my eyebrows together looking at him
"why would they not take you seriously?" I said keeping my voice quiet as for whatever reason he didn't want the boys to hear.
"well I am not exactly known for being serious which isn't a bad thing. I am glad people think of fun and a good time when they think of me. I guess, because I don't act serious how can I expect anyone to listen to what I am saying?" His face full of worry as he looked down at his hands twiddling his fingers. I hadn't seen this side to him before. He is right he is associated with fun and mischief and always looked like he didn't have a care in the world. It was only recently, as I had stated to get to know him more, that I realised James Potter cares deeply about a lot of things.
"Potter, you need to have more faith in yourself" I said as a matter of fact. He looked up at me with his deep brown eyes. "you are all those things you said but I never seen anyone more passionate or determined when it comes to quidditch and if I can see that and I don't get what's going on most of the time at games I am sure people who enjoy the sport enough to try out have noticed as well. Also, your born leader, I mean look at this bunch of fools you have managed to group together" I joked gesturing to the other boys hoping to lighten the mood a bit. He laughed looking round at the boys before turning back to me his worry now gone and a cheeky smile on his.
"you like watching me play then?" I just shook my head at him
"that's all you took from that?" he laughed before pulling me in for a half hug
"it alight Em your secret safe with me" Stupid boy.

I stayed in the Library for a bit longer until it got near to the time, I said I would meet the girls.
"shit, I have got to go" I said jumping up from my seat grabbing my stuff.
"where are you off? Got a hot date?" Sirius asked wiggling his eyebrows at me. I scoffed at the idea
"no, it's girls' night and I need to go back to my dorm to grab my things before I meet up with girls"
"what happens at girls' night because currently my mind is running wild" James muttered. I whacked him on the back of head.
"get your mind out of the gutter. We drink wine, gossip, chat shit about people and do skin and hair care" I replied, and Sirius jumped up from his seat. We all turned to look at him as he began grabbing his bag.
"what are you doing?" Remus asked grabbing his hand to stop him from moving
"going to girls' night" he said as it was the most obvious thing in the world
"Sirius, you can't come to girl's night" I said looking at Remus who was reciprocating my what the fuck expression
"What? Why?" he asked throwing his hands in the air as he did
"well its girls' night" I replied
"are you being sexist? Honestly, I expected better from you Williams" What the fuck is going on
"mate sit down she isn't being sexist. Your just not invited" James said trying to be the voice of reason.
"but I want to do all those things. Chatting shit and hair care are two of my favourite pass times" he muttered as he sulked back into his seat. I chuckled at the boy
"me and you can have our own girls' night at some point Sirius. How does that sound?" I asked
"you promise?" he asked looking up at me through his eyelashes
"I promise" I said as slung my bag over my shoulder and began walking away calling over my shoulder as I was leaving "but I really need to go. Later boys"

The next morning Lily and I were stood in front of about half a dozen first years who were looking at us expectantly.
"I don't think I can do this" Lily muttered out of the corner of her mouth to me. Okay so maybe drinking the night before tutoring wasn't a good idea. Especially when I forgot to pre make any hangover recovery potions.Taking a deep breath, I looked at the younger kids
"Hi everyone my name is Emily, and this is Lily" I gestured over to Lily who was now resting her head on McGonigal's desk. She just lifted her arm in response.
"Professor McGonagall has said you all have work to be getting on with, so if you could get started on that and we will walk round and check over it and give you some help. If you do have any questions just give us a shout" almost immediately a boy from Slytherins hand shot up. I nodded my head at him to go ahead.
"what's up with you two? You look bad but she looks even worse" Little Shit. I turned to look at Lily who now had her head between her knees.
"We ate too many sweets last night" yeh and drank far too much wine. The kid seemed to buy my excuse and started working on his work.
"Lily, you get going if you want there is only 6 of them, I can handle it" she looked up at me her hair was stuck to her forehead and her skin looked to be weird yellowy colour
"you don't mind?" she asked.
"no, it's cool there is no point in us both suffering and out of the two of us I am better off" She through her arms round me
"you are the best" she gushed before she quickly ran out of the classroom.

The kids seemed to be doing okay, I mainly checked over there work and gave them some help with wand movement so nothing to difficult. I was sat in McGonagall's chair enjoying the breeze from the window when I heard faint shouting. I turned to look out the window squinting before putting my glasses on to see what was happening. As I looked over at the quidditch pitch. I could just about make out the Gryffindor try outs. A faint smile crossed my lips as I saw Potter hovering at the end of the field closest to window watching the team.

I knew he had nothing to worry about.

Chapter 9 Chapter Text

"I don't know Kay" I said eyeing the plant she was trying to give me with suspicion
"it's completely harmless! It just needs more sunlight and your dorm get the most sun" The plant was looking a bit worse for ware and she was trying to get me to 'foster it' Her words not mine. I moved my eyes from the plant back to Kayla. She was now giving me her best puppy dog eyes.
"fine but if it dies you can't blame me" I sighed pulling the plant closer to me.
"you are simply the best! Don't worry I will check on it when we come to your dorm" Kayla smiled at me.
"she will kill you, if you kill that plant" Lily muttered next to me chuckling I shot her a glare.

Kayla was running through how I should care for the plant. So much for it just needing sunlight. When Lucy ran into the hall before flopping down next to Kayla
"I have had my best idea yet" She exclaimed, wicked grin forming on her face
"this should be good" Lily said, and we shared a look. Lucy's great ideas were not always so great.
"don't worry miss Evans, for I have come up with the best Halloween costume idea for us" She paused for dramatic effect.
"Hogwarts founders" she said moving her hands Infront of her as if she were revealing the words mid-air "but make it sexy" We were all quiet for a moment before Kayla smiled
"Bloody brilliant" we all slowly nodded in agreement
"you know what Lu? I am sorry for doubting you" Lily said
"I told you! It's perfect" and it was. I was seeing the vision
"I am going to need a tiara" I mused thinking outload about the costume pieces I might need. I should have most of it already but would need some extra touches.
"ooo we can go to room of requirement. You know when the room is full of all the lost things? We should be able to find some good props in there!" Lucy really was full of good ideas today.

Not long after dinner, myself and Lucy were walking through the mountains of lost items in the room of requirement. The goal was to find Lucy some fake snakes, myself a tiara and maybe a sword and a fancy cup for Kayla and Lily.
"so, I am thinking that checked black and green skirt I have with maybe a black corset. You know, show off the girls" she said as she shoved her boobs up. I just laughed at her.
"I might wear that blue satin dress"
"The one with the sparkly belt round the waist?" I hummed in response as I continued to search the room for what we needed.

Lucy was quiet for a moment before she let out a long sigh.
"what's the matter?" I asked, wondering where this was going
"you don't spend any time with me anymore" I frowned stopping to turn to look at her. How did we get from dresses to this?
"Lu, I eat all my meals with you, sit next to you in classes we share. We have girls night monthly with Kayla and Lily, you come to library with me most of the times I go" even though she never does any bloody work "you literally stayed in my dorm last night because your dorm mates were out and you didn't want to be on your own and I am here with you right now. The only time I don't spend with you is either in classes you are not in, when I am doing something you don't want to do or your off shagging someone and I love you Lucy, I really do, but I don't want to be seeing that. How much more time do you want me to spend with you?" I asked almost chuckling but didn't think that would help the situation.
"you baked cookies without me" She pouted
"you were in class!" I exclaimed my voice going higher in pitch.
"your just making new friends and I am worried you're going to forget about me" I closed my eyes, pinched the bridge of my nose and took a deep breath.
"I could never forget you Lucy" I mumbled but she must have heard me as she tackled me to the ground in a hug.
"you promise?" she asked. I laughed and looked up at her as she was still lying on top of me
"yes, I promise" I shoved her up "now get off me"
"sorry. I was just feeling a bit insecure, you seem to be getting a lot closer with them and I don't want to be left out" I guess she was right I had sort of formed a friendship with the boys. Remus and I had always been good friends but after my free's with Sirius, the library sessions with Peter and Potions with James they had all grown on me.
"you could be their friend as well you know? They aren't that bad once you get to know them" She scoffed at me
"I will pass thanks" I just shook my head at her

"hey, look at this" I said deciding it was best to change the subject. I pointed at some rubber snakes she could use for her outfit. She ran over to me picking the toy snakes up and draping it round her neck
"told you they would have some" She smiled proud of herself "just need to find you a tiara. Surely someone has dressed up as a princess at some point and lost a crown"

We continued to look for another 20 minuets pointing out random thing we spotted along the way and even managing to find Lily a sword before Lucy yelled in excitement.
"I found one!" I walked over to where she was stood and looked down at the tiara she was holding and gasped
"its perfect" I said as look the tiara into my own hands. As I looked at it more, I turned to Lucy
"you don't think it's the real lost diadem, do you?" the resemblance from the description of the diadem I found in my research seemed to match this pretty well
"nah why would something like that be in here, plus you said there is not even any real evidence the diadem actually existed" that's a good point, I just couldn't get over the blue stone and the bird detailing.
"anyways its finders' keepers with this place. You're a Ravenclaw so even if it was the real thing, which it's not, I say its in good hands"
"I am not quite sure that's how it works Lucy" I laughed
"who cares anyway it's just a fake, stop worrying about it" She was probably right.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

James pov

"Are you guys sure this is a good idea?" Peter asked for the 100th time as he looked in the mirror at his costume. He had got wind that the girl he was crushing on was going as a princess, so naturally we encourage him to be a knight in shining armour.
"you look great mate! Mary will love it and if she doesn't more fool her" I said grabbing his shoulders standing behind him looking in the mirror.
"you idiots ready to go?" Moony said coming back into the dorm he had decided to go as a werewolf. Bloody brilliant if you ask me.
"one sec I just need to finish my eyeliner" Sirius shouted from the bathroom. Eyeliner wasn't new for Sirius, what was new was his outfit. Sirius and I had dressed up as school girls, I thought it would be funny to have my hairy legs sticking out of the skirt that Sirius had borrowed from Emily when he went round to her dorm for the girls night she had promised him. I did look funny. Sirius on the other hand, pulled it off well. He had shaved his legs for the occasion and worn more eye makeup than usual, the look suited him to be honest.
"right I am ready" he stepped out into the dorm and we all began making our way to the Hufflepuff common room where the Halloween party would be held.

"Hey pads, you don't think because you have shaved your legs you will have no fur on your legs when you're a dog do you?" Peter asked. Sirius immediately stopped walking
"Merlin, I hope not I will look hideous" he said has he worriedly looked down at his legs. Remus walked over to him taking his hand into his own and started dragging him back to us as we all continued walking
"I doubt it, nothing happens when you cut your hair does it?" Remus commented. We all hummed in agreement this seemed to satisfy Sirius for now, but I know he would be in dog form the minuet he got chance.

As we entered the common room, we were greeted by the strong smell of fire whisky and weed. Signs of a good party. I scanned the room taking in everyone's costumes until I spotted Lily with her friends but noticed Emily was missing. Looking at the girls I realised they had come as the Hogwarts founders. They were each dressed in their house colours, but it was their props that gave it away. Lucy had a toy snake draped over her and around neck and had a large green pendant necklace, which I assume was to represent the Slytherin locket. Kayla was waving around an old brass cup that had yellow gems stuck to it as she talked animatedly to the girls. My Lily was wearing a sparkly gold top and leather look red pants with a sword pushed through one of her belt loops. She looked good; they all did. I walked over to the girls coming to stand behind Lily.
"looking as gorgeous as ever tonight Lily darling" I heard her sigh as she noticed my presence, she ignored me and carried on talking to her friends. That was real kick to the old ego.
"Come on Lil's you haven't even seen my amazing costume yet" she spun round to look at me and eyed me up and down with disgust. Well at least I got her to turn around.
"Look Potter, I am not interested, and I will never be interested so why don't you just give me the night off and leave me alone. Better yet never speak to me again" she turned back around. I let out a deflated sigh and was about to walk away when she snapped back round to me.
"oh, and your costume is shit. You look ridiculous" Ouch.

Normally when Lily rejects me, I don't really let it get to me. I am in for the long haul after all and most of the time I probably deserve it but there was just something about the way she spoke to me tonight that hit a sore spot. I sat on the steps to the boy's dorms watching the party. I could see Peter chatting to Mary and she was smiling fondly at him. At least one of us is having better luck. I couldn't see Remus and Sirius in the crowds I thought they might have gone out for a smoke or something. As I was watching the sea of people become increasingly more drunk a cup was held out in front of my face.
"Drink up Potter it might just help" I looked up at Emily taking the drink from her. She looked beautiful. She was wearing a blue dress which came to her mid-thigh that had a belt of diamonds that caught the light. To go with that she had some dark gold sparkly knee-high boots on. Her hair was still in waves but looked to be a lot more controlled than normal and top of her head a beautiful tiara. She moved to sit next to me on the steps and held her cup out to me. I clinked the cups together letting out a cheers before taking a sip of the burning liquid.
"I love the costume by the way. You look great" she mused. I turned to face her smiling at her comment.
"I know right. The hairy legs are what make it"
"Totally. Where are the skirts from? did you borrow them or is it something you had already?" there was no judgement in her tone but if she was asking, that meant Sirius had in fact stole her skirt and not borrowed it like he said.
"borrowed them" I said nervously.
"ah and who is the lucky girl that has James potter wearing her skirt?" she enquired. Shit. What do I say? Unsure on what to do my eyes went wide as I scratched the back of my neck. Before I could even say anything Emily's own eyes widened
"That cheeky Sod. They're my skirts aren't they?" not sure what to do I just nodded and braced myself for her to yell at me and probably go make me change. However, to my surprise Emily just started laughing next to me.
"I thought he was acting suspicious when he left my dorm" she shrugged her shoulders looking down at the skirt
"pretty sure you and Sirius pull them off better than I do anyway" she said. I just shook my head at her
"impossible Sunshine" she pushed my shoulder lightly
"James Potter are you flirting with me?" she laughed
"that depends. Is it working?" I joked surprised at how much my mood had change
"in your dreams Potter" she smirked at me before looking back out at the party. We were quiet for a few moments both just drinking our drinks before she spoke again.

"I heard what happened with Lily. I am sorry" Looking back at her to find she was already looking at me. Her eyes slightly glossy from the alcohol but still showed sympathy.
"it is what it is" I muttered not really wanting to talk about it. She had just got me out of my bad mood I didn't want to go back in it.
"still, even Lucy said she was pretty harsh. So, I know it must have been bad" that did surprise me. Lucy was never one to jump to my defence, so it did make me feel like my feelings were a bit more justified. Still not wanting to talk about it though, I looked at her outfit again.
"great costume by the way" She sighed at my change of subject but allowed it anyway.
"I would have preferred it if the boots were more bronze but I think the tiara makes it" She said sticking out her leg twisting her boot in the air making the glitter sparkle as it reflected the light.
"the tiara is pretty cool" I said as I placed my hands on either side of her head as she let me move her head down so I could get a better look at.
"oh, it's given me a proper personality complex now. I am demanding everyone treats me like a princess"
"as they should" I agreed
"if only everyone thought that way" she sighed as rested her head on my shoulder. I looked down at her frowning
"who isn't treating you like a princess?" I asked not liking the idea of anyone not treating Emily right. She was one of them people who was impossible not to like and when she wriggled her way into your heart she was there to stay. She rolled her eyes sitting up looking into the crowd.
"you know Chris, Chris Mcgladden, he is in the year above us, in your house?" she asked I followed her line of sight to see Mcgladden leaning on the wall near the drinks. I nodded my head at her. He was on the quidditch team of course I know him.
"well, he tried to feel me up, came out of nowhere I wasn't even taking to him and he just grabbed my arse" She said it as if she had just told me the weather not that she had been inappropriately touched. I jumped to my feet anger rushing through me.
"he did what!" I fumed about ready to storm over there when she grabbed my hand pulling me back
"calm down Potter, save your Knight in shining armour routine for Lily. I handle it"
"really and how did you handle it as I see his nose isn't broken?" I asked still bubbling with anger.
"god you Gryffindor boys are all the same. I am fine. I told him if he dares touch me or anybody else without their consent, I would chop off his balls and shove them down his throat" I started laughing. Emily was an incredible witch with insane talent in almost everything she did and although I don't doubt, she has the skills and the means to do exactly that to Mcgladden. The thought of her squaring off to him made me chuckle. She brought me out of my thought by hitting my shoulder
"stop laughing. I could do it and if you don't believe me, I will demonstrate on you"
"I don't doubt you could do it Sunshine. It just the thought of you stood telling him off that made me laugh" I said through my laughter. She was quiet for a second just watching me before she also started to laugh.
"oh well. It worked. He's stood over there sulking now" she said through her own laughter.

We had a few more drinks sat on the steps as we people watched laughing at people making stupid drunken mistakes. The alcohol was definitely hitting us now and my earlier bad mood was a distant memory.
"come on, baby Potter is all fixed and better now. It's time to dance" Lucy said as she stormed over to us dragging Emily up out of her seat and over to where the other girls were dancing. She clumsily waved at me over her shoulder as she was taken off to dance. I watched her dancing, she always seemed to have the huge smile on her face, as she danced like all the worries she had lifted from her, as she moved around to the music. As I was watching Moony came over also grabbing me and pulling me up from my seat, just like Lucy had done with Emily.
"enough moping around mate. Let's have some fun" He said patting me on the back once we were stood.
"where have you been anyway?" I asked.
"Sirius wanted to check all his fur was in tack" He sighed and passed me another drink I laughed before raising my cup to the air.
"to being young, dumb and hairy legged" I shouted and all the people around me who heard raised their own cups cheering me on.

Chapter 10 Chapter Text

"I can't believe I never put it together before that Liam Williams is your brother" It was a theory potions lesson, so James saw it as opportunity to ask me all the burning questions he had stored up. We had somehow moved on from questions such as carrots or peas? And morning or evening shower? Carrots and evening shower in case you're wondering.
"probably because it's not that big of a deal" I said whilst still writing notes.
"your kidding right! your brother is famous" I turned to look at him
"Potter your dad is also famous" he looked at me confused
"what? No he isn't"
"your dad's Fleamont Potter right?" I asked worried I had got it wrong
"yeah" James said clearly confused about how I knew his dad.
"he is a famous potioneer. He invented sleek easy hair solution" realisation crossed his face
"how could I forget? You're a potions nerd. Want me to get you signed photo?" he joked but I kind of wanted that. I looked at him and he burst out laughing
"you do, don't you? You want his autograph! I can't wait to tell my Dad he has a fan" I hit him on the shoulder
"stop it! Your dad created a potion. That's literally my dream" I said blushing a bit embarrassed. James stopped laughing when he saw my cheeks getting rosy.
"don't be embarrassed. It's cute that you love potions so much" I gave him a disapproving look
"I am being serious!" he said raising his hands in defence, but I still wasn't buying it
"look, I will introduce my dad to you, and you can ask all the questions you have. He will love having someone to talk to about it. Me and mum just ignore him" James looked at me genuine smile on his face
"you promise?" I asked hopeful. He let out a soft laugh
"of course, Sunshine. He is going to love you" there it is again. Since Halloween James has been calling me Sunshine I don't really know where it's come from. I was just about to ask before he beat me to it
"so, are you a toilet paper under of over kind of person? And answer carefully because if you get this wrong, I don't think we can be friends anymore" I laughed at him and that was how we spent the rest of potions a series of ridiculous questions and laughing.

I was just finishing packing my stuff away chatting to Remus and James when Slughorn made his way over.
"ah Miss Williams I was hoping to catch you" withholding my sigh and plastering on a smile I turned to look at Slughorn. It wasn't that I didn't like the professor, I actually thought he was quite nice, and he was a wealth of knowledge. It was just that he could be a bit much sometimes.
"what can I do for you sir?"
"well, Miss Evans has let me know she has prefect duties on Friday so unfortunately won't be attending slug club for this month's dinner. I just wanted to check you would still be there? As I know you two normally attend together" Since this was the first I was hearing of Lily not going I was a bit taken back. I most definitely did not want to go on my own, but I hadn't had chance to prepare an excuse. So, like the people pleaser I am I told Slughorn I would be in attendance. Once he had walked away, I let out a frustrated groan
"now probably isn't the right time to tell you Lily doesn't have prefect duty on Friday is it?" Remus asked.

Lily Evans would be lucky if she survived the day.

Friday evening came around quicker than I would have liked. I was now sat at a large round table at a slug club dinner party. Alone. Lily the snake, as she is now known, refused to attend with me and told me it was my own fault for not thinking on my feet. Excuse me for being a planner. Vince Chowdary, a pretentious arsehole from my year and house was bosting to Slughorn about his ministry aspirations and how, with his grades, they would be fools not to have him. It was pricks like him that gave Ravenclaws a bad name.

Bored of his story I looked around the group most people were listening to Vince and for some unknown reason were engaging with his story. That was until my eyes landed on Regulus Black. He was looking at Vince with the same distaste as I felt. As if he could feel me looking at him, he turned his head, so his eyes were boring into my own. I nodded my head at Vince before subtly rolling my eyes. Regulus gave barely any reaction, you blinked you would have missed it, but I could have sworn his lips curved up slightly. Clearly done with our interaction he turned back to Vince.

"They said I was giving the best head in the business" I couldn't help the snort I let out as Rose Parkinson was telling us about her modelling experience over the summer and how she had done some head shots for witch weekly. Once I recovered from my outburst, I looked up at Regulus to find he was already looking at me and this time there was no mistaking the small smile that graced his face. Well at least I accomplished one thing tonight.

Once dinner was done, we moved onto to socialising part of the evening. I was hoping this would be my opportunity to duck out but then I spotted Regulus lurking the shadows watching the room. Regulus had been coming to these things since his 4th year and I have never spoken to him before. Aside from the fact he gave off major 'stay the fuck away from me' vibes, slug club would be my only real chance at interaction with him, but I usually only talked to Lily. I walked over to Regulus and just stood next to him for a moment trying to decide how to start a conversation. I could see him glance down at me out of the corner of his eye.

"snog, marry, avada kedavra. McGonagall, Sluggy and Dumbledore?" yeh not my best idea but none the less it was out there now. He left me hanging for a good minuet and the awkward silence was eating me away.
"okay forget I said anything, I will just be off" I muttered and was about to walk away when I stopped in my tracks.
"Snog McGonagall, Marry Slughorn, Kill Dumbledore" Merlin he actually answered.
"really? I am going to snog Dumbledore; I have never kissed anyone with a beard before. I am 100% marrying McGonagall the woman is an absolute legend so that means its RIP Sluggy, you will be missed" again I could have sworn I saw his mouth twitch slightly. Not wasting my opportunity, I fired another one at him.
"what about Sinstra, Flitwick and Sprout" and to my surprise he answered me this time with no delay.

After several more rounds of the game I left to top up both our drinks. Regulus reluctantly giving me his glass, pretty sure he was worried I might poison him. When I returned, I was shocked that Regulus started the conversation.
"your friends with my brother, aren't you?"
"unfortunately" I joked, and Regulus actually let out a small chuckle
"He is rather annoying, isn't he?"
"oh, he is the worst" I smiled so he knew I wasn't being serious "He keeps stealing my stuff! It was my Skirts for Halloween last week. This week its my nail varnish and eye liner" although I was joking Sirius always seemed to take something of mine when I was with him and I usually noticed days later.
"wouldn't have him any other way though" he mused. I was bit taken back by the kind comment towards his brother.
"yeh your right. I don't think I have laughed so much since becoming friends with him"
"what is it you two do together? I always see you leaving the kitchens with him" I hadn't realised Regulus had seen us
"we bake cookies and listen to music" I shrug.
"ah now I get why he is friends with you. He is using you for food" I gasped at him
"Excuse me Regulus Black, I will have you know I am delight to be around despite the fact I can bake. Just you wait and see" I gave him my best threating look
"is that a threat?" he raised his eyebrow at me
"it's a promise. Honestly Reggie, you're going to be sorry you started this. I am going to force you to be my friend if you like it or not. Just so you can see how wonderful I am" He rolled his eyes at me.
"you Ravenclaws always think so highly of yourselves"
"trust me nobody is as bad as Chowdary. His ego is off the scale" I muttered
"just like yours then?" he said giving me a teasing look.

Maybe befriending Regulus wouldn't be as difficult as I thought.

Chapter 11 Chapter Text

I was sat in the Gryffindor common room with Lily. We were having a lazy day. I didnt really have anything to do other than write back to my parents. Kayla and Lucy were at the quidditch pitch much to Lucy's dismay as it was a bloody freezing mid-November day but even Lucy couldn't ignore the weird vibe between Lily and Kayla this morning.

The more I look at Lily, who was re-reading the same page of her book over and over again the more I noticed that she looked like she was on the brink of tears.
"Lily?" she looked up at me with glossy eyes and then all of sudden she burst into tears. I jumped up off the couch and went to sit next to her on the floor pulling her into a hug. For a while she just cried into my jumper while I stroked her hair. Eventually the sobs slowed, and I looked down at her
"do you want to talk about it?" I asked. She nodded giving me one last tight squeeze before she pulled away so she could face me with her blood shot eyes.
"whatever it is Lily I am hear for you and we can fix it" she was quite for a few more seconds as she composed herself.
"do you think I was too hard on Potter at Halloween?" Okay, not where I thought this was going
"well I wasn't there Lils" no I was too busy getting groped by Mcgladden "but Lucy said it was bit rough" I sighed
"Oh shit I knew it. He hasn't really bothered me since" Now I am really confused
"James was a bit down after it Lily but he is fine about it now and I don't think he would hesitate to start talking to you again if that's what you want?" I was very confused. I thought this would be a good thing. "I can talk to him if you want. Let him know you're interested" She violently shook her head at me
"oh god no! I am definitely not interested in dating Potter"
"Then what's going on Lily? Is it not a good thing he isn't bothering you anymore?" she gulped nodding her head
"it is. It's a really good thing. Things have gotten so much easier for me. It's just that although I don't want to date him, I didn't want to be a bitch. Kayla has been on my case to tell him to do one and I guess I had some liquid courage and did it" Kayla was very opiniated on the matter of James and Lily. I had my theories as to why but it wasn't my place to speculate "so anyway I noticed he hasn't been doing his usual flirting as much of recent and I remember how sad he looked when I shut him down so I was saying to Kayla how I should apologise and we just got into a stupid fight about it" ah it was all making sense now. I leaned forward and held Lily's hand
"in all honestly James probably did need telling that you are in no way interested in him. Do I think you could have handled the situation better? Yes, I do." She sighed looking down at her hands guiltily "but it's done now Lily and James hasn't been the fairest to you over the years, so he probably did deserve it to some extent" we both let out a low chuckle
"would you like me to speak to James? let him know your sorry? To be honest Lily I am pretty sure he will tell me there is nothing to forgive. You are his Lily flower after all" she rolled her eyes at her nickname.
"If you could talk to him, I would appreciate it. I would do it myself, but I don't want to give him the wrong idea and I don't want to cause more problems" she gave me a soft smile before picking her book back up and actually making it past the one page this time.
"Hey Lily" she looked back up at me "everything will be okay with Kayla" I tried to be reassuring without making any assumptions. She let out a small sigh
"I hope so" she replied.

Last night was a full moon so I hadn't seen the boys all day but that wasn't unusual with it the moon falling on a Saturday. They would spend most of Sunday sleeping. All four of them were shattered after the moon, I assume it was because the 3 boys would stay up most of the night waiting for Remus to return so they could take care of him. I was however a bit confused when it came time to head down for dinner, they didn't come downstairs. They would normally be up and moving by now
"I am just going to run up and see if the boys are coming with" I said to Lily as I was already jogging up the stairs but when I knocked and got no reply I shrugged it off and made my way back down to Lily.

Lily and I were sat at the Ravenclaw table for a change when Lucy and Kayla walked in still in their workout clothes. Lucy's eyes met mine and she gave me a worried look. I wonder if she's had a similar conversation that I had with Lily, with Kayla. The girls sat down and a tense minuet passed. Lucy was biting her nails looking between the girls who were doing anything but making eye contact. I was mentally planning how to handle this if they didn't make up, making a list of small talk topics I could use to fill the awkward silence. Eventually they both looked up at the same time, eyes meeting. Lucy and I took in a collective breath but when Kayla smiled at Lily and she returned it I watched as both mine and Lucy shoulders relaxed.

The rest of dinner we spent catching up on each other days and everything seemed to be back to normal in the group. I kept my eye on the Gryffindor table and couldn't help the sinking feeling I had when none of the boys appeared for dinner.

After saying bye to the girls. I still couldn't shake the weird feeling I had in my stomach, so I headed down to the hospital wing hoping I was wrong. But when I got there and saw Remus in a bed with the boys lounging around him my heart sunk. I quietly made my way over as Sirius, Peter and Remus all looked to be asleep. James who had heavy bags under his eyes was sat at Remus' feet and was just staring at the new scars on Remus' arms. I walked up to him and gently placed my hand on his shoulder. He jumped slightly, tensing before turning to look and see it was me before he relaxed.
"Are you okay James?" I asked even though I already knew the answer. He sighed and seemed to lean into my touch
"not really" he whispered before standing and walking over a short way to the bay window and looking out at the early evening sky. I followed him and just stood next to him for a moment before I decided I was going for it and pulled him into a hug. At first, he just stood there, I mean I did sort of come out of nowhere, but it wasn't long before he wrapped his arms round my waist and brought his head down to rest his chin on top of my head. I felt him take in deep breaths as I muttered things to him nothing really important just mainly repeating that everyone was okay and safe. Hoping he could find some comfort in my words.

After a few moments I pulled away from him "have you lot eaten today?"
"no, we have been here since the early morning" I frowned at him and gave him a disapproving look
"you're going to be no use to Remus if your starving. Go wake the boys and go get some dinner whilst it's still on. I will stay with Remus until your back" He looked like he was about to argue with me. "no arguments Potter you're going" I said before turning and walking back over to the bed. I shook Peter and Sirius awake and told them the plan. Both were rather reluctant, but I meant it when I said no arguing and so with one last push, they were off to dinner and I was sat in the seat Sirius occupied.

Not long after the boys left, maybe 20 minuets. Remus let out a groan and his eyes slowly flutter open. I moved closer to him taking his hand in my own causing him to look at me.
"Do you need anything? I will go get Pomfry" I said standing up, but Remus squeezed my hand
" I am fine. What are you doing here?" he asked kind of harshly.
"The boys have just gone to get some dinner. They should be back soon. I said I would wait here with you until they get back" He frowned and looked away from me.
"Remus, please look at me" he reluctantly turned his head.

This was it. He knew, that I knew he was werewolf, but we had never spoken about it before, but I feel like this conversation can't really be put off now. I looked him dead in the eye
"you are not a monster" I said as a matter of fact. He just looked at me for a moment before a single tear rolled down his face.
"how can you say that when you know that I am. I am a werewolf Emily" I just shook my head at him
"Remus Lupin, you listen to me and you listen good. You have one of the most kind-hearted and beautiful souls I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. The world is simply a better place because you are in it. Yes, you're a werewolf. Who bloody cares? Its only one part of you Remus. You're an incredible friend, an amazingly smart and talented wizard and I only know this because Sirius is and over sharer but I have heard your also an incredible lover" I added trying to lighten the mood. He let out a small chuckle and let me tell you it was music to my ears "I love you Remus, so do so many others and it breaks my heart that you think you're a monster because I just wish you could see yourself through my eyes" Before I could finish I was already being pulled into a tight hug.
"I love you" he mumbled into my hair

"woah what going on here. Trying to steal my boyfriend Williams?" I pulled away from Remus. Standing to allow Sirius his seat back which he immediately took taking Remus hand into his own.
"why? are you threatened Black?" he scoffed
"you should be she is bloody catch" Peter added.
"aww Pete, I knew you were my favourite for a reason" I said slinging my arm over his shoulder
"woah, what about me? I thought I was your favourite!" James exclaimed from behind me
"eh you're alright I suppose" I looked over my shoulder smirking at him
"well you're not my favourite" He retaliated stomping his foot like a toddler would. I dramatically flung the back of hand on head and pretend to faint into Sirius
"Sirius help how will i survive? I am not Potters favourite" Sirius laughed at me giving me a push off him.
"I know I am not your favourite Potter. Not while darling Lily is around. I will take 3rd favourite after Sirius though" I shrugged
"what about us?" Peter pouted at me as he moved his thumb between himself and Remus
"face it mate, I am the reason he is passing potions at this point I deserve spot 3" Peter gave me a reluctant nod
"who said you were even top 10" James said. I gasped and whacked him on the shoulder. He slung his arm round me before bending down to whisper in my ear.
"Just Kidding, you at least make it to the top 5" the events of the day must be having an effect on me because I actually blushed at his flirting.

"Emily officially knows knows by the way" Remus informed the group
"technically I have known for ages" I muttered
"yeh but now you know officially. Which means your also officially one of us now" James said with his arms still draped over my shoulder
"You're an honorary marauder now Em" Peter smiled at me
"does this mean I finally get to know what your nicknames mean? I get Moony but Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail?" all the boys went silent looking at each other.
"do we tell her?" Peter asked the group as if I wasn't stood there
"I vote yes. We can clearly trust her" James added
"I mean she is a bit of stickler for the rules" Sirius contributed and James and Peter hummed in agreement. Cheeky gits.
"I think you are all forgetting she is stood right there" Remus gestured to me and the three remaining boys turned to look at me.

After a moment of silence. Sirius jumped from his seat and grabbed my hand.
"alright, come on boys, we are doing this now" He said dragging me out of the hospital both Peter and James running after us. All my protests and question were ignored, as I was shoved into an empty classroom the boys following after me. Once we were all in the boys stood in a line Infront of me. I looked at each of them.
"will one of you tell me what the hell is going on!" I demanded
"it's easier if we just show you" Peter gave me a sheepish smile
"Emily, I know you are a rule follower but you have to promise not to tell a soul as what we are going to show you is not exactly legal" Sirius said looking me dead in the eyes. I was even more confused now.
"Emily, I mean it" Sirius said again giving me a stern look
"okay, fine whatever, just show me already" I huffed.
"I am really hoping you think this Is cool" James said before the boys nodded at each other.

My jaw dropped open as I looked at the rat, and giant black dog and a fucking deer.

Chapter 12 Chapter Text

"Then Elanor storms into party and marches right up to Jessica and you know what she did? Regulus are you even listening to me?"
"doing my best not too" he huffed. A few weeks had passed since the slug club dinner as we now approached Christmas. Since slug club I didn't really know what to expect when it came to Regulus, but I was pleasantly surprised when I was studying alone in the library one day and he came and sat with me.

I sulked down into my chair. Since I had already finished my work when Regulus arrived, I had taken to telling him gossip from last night annual Ravenclaw Christmas party, since Regulus was boring and didn't attend. After a moments of sulking Regulus sighed and turned to me.
"Okay what did Elanor do to Jessica?" ha I knew he was listening.
"Slapped her right across the face. Can you believe that? I mean not the fact she slapped her but the fact they were fighting over Vince bloody Chowdary" I shook my head in disbelief.

"what one Black brother not good enough for you now? You want to collect the set?" Sirius asked as he strutted into the library coming to stand behind me and placing his hands on my shoulders.
"why settle for one when you can both?" I shrugged while Regulus just groaned at me.
"I am surprised you can put up with her Reg. She never bloody shuts up" Sirius said to his brother
"I find the silencing charm works well" I gasped at him
"oh come on Reggie you don't mean that! You love me!" I said as i pinched his cheek like a grandma would her grandson.
"I barely even like you" he said bating my hand away. But I knew he was lying.
Sirius let out a loud laugh "its okay darling at least one Black brother loves you" he said bending down and placing sloppy kiss on my cheek
"you two and insufferable" Regulus muttered under his breath, but you couldn't miss the way his mouth turned up slightly at the corners.
"mind if I steal her away for a bit Reg?" Sirius asked
"please do, she was starting to give me a headache" I glared at him
"no one asked you to sit with me Reggie that was your choice" I said standing up and throwing my bag on my shoulder and moving round to plant my own kiss on Regulus cheek which he immediately wiped off.
"see you soon Regulus, sweetheart" I said in my best old person expression as myself and Sirius left the Library laughing.

"How do you always know where to find me? do you guys have a tracker on me or something?" I asked Sirius as he led me through the corridors
"something like that" he responded scratching the back of his neck.
"so, your friends with Regulus?" I just shrugged
"it's a new development. I got talking to him at that slug club dinner Lily made me go to alone last month. I don't know If he considers me a friend yet, but I am working on wearing him down" Sirius let out a laugh
"I am sure you will have wormed your way in, in no time" He then was quite for a moment his face looked conflicted
"is he okay?" He asked in almost a whisper
"you know he asked me the same thing about you" I smiled sympathetically at the boy
"Reg is fine. Well I mean as fine as you can be for a moody teenage boy who starts and ends his day with depressing poetry"
"Thank you for looking out for him" Sirius said sincerely, I just nodded in response.
"Do you two not talk at home?" I knew the boys didn't really speak while in school, but I thought it might be different at home
"There isn't a lot of talking full stop at my house. More screaming and slamming doors" I didn't really know what to say so I just took his hand in mine to show comfort as we walked together
"it wasn't always like that. We used to be inseparable but after I started school and shit hit the fan, we slowly drifted over the years" He looked deflated
"He loves you Sirius" I said reassuringly. He looked down at me with a smile and gave me a little shake of the head
"enough about the Black family drama it's time to have some fun!" He exclaimed, his mood switching like a flip of a coin. He pushed open the door that lead out to courtyard. My face lit up at the sight of thick layer of snow.

Sirius jogged out into the snow pulling out gloves and a hat that he had in his trouser pockets and made his way over to tackle Remus into the snow. I just stood in the doorway huge smile on my face watching them when James made his way over to me.
"you coming or what?" he asked. I looked down at my outfit I was just wearing a long sleeve t shirt and jeans I would need to go grab some stuff.
"ah don't worry I got you covered" James said as he must have realised what I was thinking. He rummaged in his bag and pulling out a black hoodie that I assumed was his own and through it at me. I slipped it over my head, embracing the warmth as I wrapped myself up in the oversized layer. James then pulled out a Gryffindor beanie and instead of giving it me to put on he walked up to me and pulled it on my head and over my ears. He then fished out a pair of gloves and I couldn't help but laugh as he handed them to me.
"when did he steal these?" I asked as I slipped on my Ravenclaw gloves
"said he took them the other day when he couldn't find his" James shrugged. I was begging to think Sirius had a problem
"How happy are you on a scale of 1-10 right now?" James asked as I stood with a shit eating grin on my face as I watched the other boys throw snow at each other
"like an 11. Snow is my favourite"
"I know, I remember that's why I got Sirius to go find you" He said looking down at me.
"you remember that?" I asked shocked. Weeks ago, when he was asking me all those random question in potions, I had mentioned my favourite weather was snow
"obviously I remembered you idiot" I just looked at him shocked
"Hey Emily, want to build a snowman?" Peter shouted. I just grinned and ran out towards the other boys, James hot on my heals.

We all stood looking up at the monster of a snowman we have made.
"kind of looks like you Em" Sirius said.
"You will pay for that Black" I balled up some snow and launched it at him. Hitting him square in the face. Everyone burst out laughing while Sirius wiped the snow off him
"oh, it's on" he narrowed his eyes at me. I immediately began sprinting away as a full-blown snowball fight commenced.

I was cold and my clothes were now wet from the melted snow, but I was having so much fun. The boys didn't go easy on me, but I fought back just as hard. I was aiming my next throw hoping to hit Remus while he was distracted by Peter when suddenly my feet were lifted off the ground.
"Potter what are you doing?" I yelled as I hit his chest as he carried me bridal style
"taking out my biggest competion" he wrinkled his now rosy nose at me as he walked us over to deepest part of the snow. I looked at the pile of snow and then back up at him
"don't even think about it" I threatened
"I have no idea what you could possibly mean" he smirked but then he gently tossed me into the snow. I landed with an umph, definitely going to have a bruised arse.

I sat up in the pile of snow, the tips of my hair not covered by the hat, now covered in white, while i looked up at the laughing boys.
"okay Prongs, you win" Peter said between laughs. I rolled my eyes and pushed myself up, but I couldn't even pretend to be mad at them.

Chapter 13 Chapter Text

It was one of my favourite trips of the year. The last Hogsmeade weekend before Christmas break. I love Christmas and Hogsmeade in the snow at Christmas time was my absolute favourite.
"Hey guys, I have just got to go pick up one of your presents, so Kayla is coming with me. Catch you in the brooms in a bit?" Lily said to me and Lucy. We were walking slightly ahead of the two other girls. Before we could even say anything, they had already run off in the other direction.
"are we going to talk about what's going on with them two?" Lucy asked. I shook my head
"not until they talk to us" Lucy hummed in agreement

"is there anything particular you need to pick up?" Lucy said as we strolled through the village often stopping to window shop.
"not really, I only have my brother left to buy for, but I am at a bit of a loss. Usually my go to would be something quidditch related but he has everything he could possibly need now"
"how is he getting on?" I just shrugged
"okay, I think. He hasn't really been replying to my letters much so most of the information I have comes from mum and dad"
"shit, that suck's I know you guys use to write quite often" Liam and I used to be pretty close. Even in the years he hasn't been at Hogwarts we would always write to each other but since he has gone pro and moved in with his girlfriend it just hasn't been the same"I guess he is just busy" I surmised. I could tell Lucy disagreed with me, but she thought better to comment on it

"I suppose you have got the 4 idiots something" I guess by 'idiots' she meant the marauders.
"I have. I got Sirius as muggle baking book since he seems to have really gotten into baking with me recently. For Remus, I got him this book by an author he is always talking about and some chocolate. Peter was bit more tricky but I settled on a charmed bauble that every time you look at it shows you a different picture and for James, you know how he always wearing those red converse well I got him another pair but I sewed little patches to them so like there's the Gryffindor logo, a quaffle and even a little cauldron because you know he is my potions partner after all" Lucy just looked at me in disbelief
"your annoyingly good at everything aren't you?" I laughed
"I was just born this way Luce I can help it"

As we entered the three broom sticks Sirius immediately began shouting my name to come sit with them. A quick scan of the room confirmed that Lily and Kayla weren't here yet, so I turned to look at Lucy with a pleading look. She sighed
"fine, but I refuse to sit next to Black" I immediately smiled at her
"come on, you can sit in between me and Peter. He is harmless"
As promised, I sandwiched Lucy between myself and Peter but that didn't seem to stop Sirius "So Vixen what can I get you? pint of poison perhaps?" Lucy actually growled next to me
"play nice Sirius" I scolded him to which he just rolled his eyes and stood up.
"come on Prongs give me and hand getting the round in" he dragged James with him to the bar where they were both flirting up a storm with Madam Rosemerta
"What have you boys been up to today then?" I asked the remaining Marauders.

It wasn't long before the boys were back handing out butterbeers to the group. James now taking a seat next to me causing us all to move round the booth. As Sirius sat down next to Remus, he pulled his hair into a bun tying it on top of his head. That's when I spotted them
"you bastard! You stole my earnings" I shouted shooting daggers at the boy who looked up and me wide eyed before quickly pulling his hair back out of his bun to cover his ears.
"no, I didn't" he said panicked
"Sirius I literally just saw them" I narrowed my eyes at him
"early Christmas present?" he had the cheek to ask.
"give them back to me" I deadpanned. I am pretty used to Sirius stealing my stuff, but these were my favourite earing and I had been looking for them all week.
"no. I like them" I swear to Merlin. I moved out of my seat and lunged over the table at him.
"Yeh Emily get him!" Lucy cheered from behind me. I was just about to reach the earing thief when James grabbed my hips and pulled me back into my seat.
"alright Sunshine let's not start a bar fight shall we" he said next to me. I frowned glaring at the boy opposite me
"say sorry Sirius" James said as if he were telling a child off
"sorry Em I will buy you a new pair" I looked up at him my arms still crossed across my chest
"some that are just as shinny?" I pouted. He laughed smiling at me
"shinier" I gleamed at him before saying okay and went back to drinking my butterbeer and the group went back to a steady conversation.
"so stealing skirts and gloves is fine but not earrings?" James asked me
"they are very shinny" I raised my shoulder in response
"you're like a Niffler" he said tickling me in my side and I squirmed in my seat batting his hands away.

Not long after I finished the last of my butterbeer was when the door to the pub opened and Kayla and Lily came in. Lucy and I spotted them and began to move to go join them, but James grabbed my hand.
"can you not stay?" he asked me. I looked over to where Lily and Kayla where standing.
"I don't think that's a good idea" I gave a light tug of my hand releasing it from his grasp
"well boys, I hope you feel honoured to have been graced by my presents, but I am afraid much cooler people require my attention" Lucy said as she left the booth to go join the girls. I went to go leave with her but was stopped again.
"what you're going as well?" Peter protested
"you can't just leave us! What are we going to do?" Sirius asked
"probably whatever you did before I got here. You are big boys you can handle it"
"just because we can handle it doesn't mean we want to" James pouted. I looked at Remus hoping to get some support.
"don't look at me I want you to stay as well" he crossed his arms over his chest.
"I have to go. The girls will be pissed if I don't. I will catch up with you all later" I said walking away and over the table where the girls were sat
"what's up with them?" Kayla asked as I walked over to our new booth. I looked back at the boys and they were all looking over at us with their bottoms lips out and puppy dog eyes
"they are just being needy" I shook my head and turned back to the girls "anyway what we all having? First rounds on me"

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It was the day we would be going home for the Christmas holidays and I promised the boys I would have breakfast with them since I would be spending the train ride with the girls but I was still surprised to find that when I entered the hall all four boys were already there and they had even set me up a plate with the perfect bagel on.
"Good morning" I said sliding in the seat next to Peter and immediately taking a bite of my bagel, but I got no response from the boys. I looked at Remus for answers since he was usually the most sensible of the four.
"they have something to ask you" he sighed already done with them. I looked between the remaining three boys waiting for them to speak.
"are you going to write to us over the holiday?" Peter eventually asked. Is this what this is all about?
"of course, Pete, I will just need your addresses" as soon as the words left my mouth three pieces of parchment were shoved in my face. I collected them all and put them safely in my bag
"you already have my address so I will be expecting a letter or two as well" Remus added. I looked at the boys and laughed

"you can also come visit" James said. I turned to look at him a bit shocked
"I mean if you want to of course. The boys usually all come round to mine at least once in the holidays so you could come as well" he quickly added
"wouldn't miss it" I smiled "like I would give up the chance to meet your dad"
"woah have you got a crush on Monty?" Sirius asked
"she actually does mate, she asked me to introduce her" James commented. I just shrugged
"the mans a living legend. I am not ashamed"

After we finished breakfast the boys all handed over gifts, they had gotten me. My heart warming at the gesture
"you guys shouldn't have"
"of course we had to. Your part of the family now" Remus said. Honestly could have cried from how cute and wholesome the whole morning had been.
"Yeah and stop acting like you haven't got us stuff. Hand them over" Sirius shoved his hands out in front of him. I rummaged in my bag which had the extendable charm on and pulled out each of the boys' gifts.
"Sirius, I maybe wouldn't open yours with your parents present" I said hating the idea of him getting in trouble as I had bought him a muggle book, he nodded in understanding.

The train ride home for Christmas felt like it lasted an eternity as I was just too excited to get home and celebrate. The girls and I handed out our gifts to each other caught up on the latest gossip and discussed our Christmas plans. True to their word the boys left us alone the whole train journey meaning it was a peaceful ride.

As soon as the train came to a stop, we all jumped to our feet having a group hug and saying our goodbyes and Christmas wishes before we ran off the train to find our families. I almost immediately spotted my dad. He was a tall broad man and I am sure he was stood on his tiptoes looking over the crowed for me. I launched myself into him, only just giving him enough time to open his arms to catch me.
"slow down sweetheart. I missed you too, but you nearly took me out" he chuckled but he still held me in a tight embrace.
"I am just so happy to be home for Christmas and to see you guys and that your safe" My parents had just got back from a mission in time for Christmas. They hadn't told me, but I wasn't an idiot. Things were getting worse in the wizarding world and it made me more and more nervous every time they would go to work.
"where is my hug? It's not like I am the women who birthed you or anything" I pulled away from my dad and went to hug my mum
"hi mum" I said as I held her tightly. She gave me a kiss on the cheek
"it's good to have you home Honey"

"are we ready to get out of here?" my dad asked from behind us. We both pulled apart nodding but right before my dad took my hand to apparate us out of there we heard someone shouting my name. I stopped looking around until I saw James running towards us. I stepped away from my parents and met him halfway.
"I just wanted to say bye and merry Christmas before I left" he panted out of breath from his run. I smiled at him before wrapping my arms around him. Just like when I hugged him for the first time in the hospital, he froze for a moment, but It wasn't long before he reciprocated the hug resting his chin on my head.
He pulled away but still kept his hands on either side of my arms as he titled his head down so he way eye level with me.
"I meant it earlier about you coming to visit"
"I know and I meant it when I said I wouldn't miss it" we smiled at each other. I could hear my dad clear his throat. I gave a quick glance over my shoulder to see he was shooting daggers at James

"Merry Christmas James"

"Merry Christmas Sunshine"

And with that I walked back over to my mum and dad
"who the hell is that?" my dad barked as he glared at James watching him disappear into the crowd.
"just my friend James he is my potions partner" I said casually.
"the one who likes Lily?" my mum asked
"that's the one" I confirmed. My mum just hummed in response as my dad took both mine and mum's hands and apparated us home

Chapter 14 Chapter Text

"what do you mean he isn't coming home?" I asked as I sat on the living room couch on Christmas eve, both my parents stood Infront of me. Christmas eve was my favourite day of the entire year. There was nothing I loved more than going for a walk in the early evening with my dad, baking gingerbread with my mum, us all wearing matching pyjamas and playing board games with my brother. However, my mum and dad had just told me Liam wasn't not only not coming home today but wouldn't be home at all for the Christmas break.

"He is spending Christmas with Anna had her family and then he is going back to training on the 27th so he isn't going to be able to make it home" my mum explained. Anna was my brothers long term girlfriend she was actually really nice, and I quite liked her. My brother would usually at some point on Christmas day go visit her or she would come to us, so why wasn't he doing that this year. I would even sort of understand If he spent to whole day with Anna and her family on Christmas day as long as he came to see us at all over the Christmas period. I sighed and looked back at my parents. My dad, sensing I was upset sat next to me on the couch.
"I know it sucks sweetheart, but he is just at a point in his life where his girlfriend and his career are very important to him"
"that doesn't make it right though" I snapped
"No Honey, it doesn't" my mum said as she sat on the other side of me
"but we can't do anything about it, so we have to let it go for now and not let it ruin our day" She said calmly taking my hand in hers. With a sigh I nodded in agreement.
"am I okay to use Ziggy to send his and Anna's presents?" Ziggy was our family owl
"of course, Honey. He actually just got back with some more letters for you" My mum said squeezing my knee as she stood up
"Hopefully not from anymore boys" My dad grumbled

As the day progress I took my mums advice and pushed all thoughts and feelings about my brothers absents out of my mind and just enjoyed the day. We were all now in our matching Pj's and I was in the kitchen baking with my mum.
"so which ones Peter again?" she asked me. I was telling her about the prank the boys had pulled on Mcgladden. After the Halloween incident, the boys broke into his dorm and made everything he owned pink. They even put hair dye into his shampoo. Let just say it was a treat to see him walk into the hall that morning.
"The small one with the blonde shaggy hair, hates charms, dressed up as knight on Halloween" I said trying to jog her memory
"yes, I remember now and Remus is the one who likes chocolate and Stephen King books, Sirius is the one who argues with Lucy and that your teaching to bake, Regulus is Sirius younger brother. The one you are in slug club with, and James is the potions partner obsessed with Lily" I smiled at her. Since getting back home both my parents have asked a million questions about my new friends
"That's it you got it"
"Honestly Honey I don't know how you cope with so many Gryffindor's. Your father and brother are more than enough" My mum, who is a proud Slytherin, said as she waved her wand to start washing the dishes.
"you better not be hating on Gryffindor again darling" My dad's said entering the kitchen and rapping his arms around my mum and resting his head on her shoulder.
"wouldn't dream of it love" my mum said winking at me as she planted a kiss on my dad cheek. My dad hummed not believing her.

I watched my parents with a huge smile on my face. They were the definition of the perfect couple in my books. They met at Hogwarts, got together there 7th year when they got put on prefect duty together and have been inseparable ever since. They got married pretty much straight out of school and had my brother not too long after. When I asked them how they knew they had met the one, they both say that it was after their first kiss, when they pulled apart and look in each other's eyes they just felt with every part of them that they had met their forever person. I am still waiting for that moment and would not settle for anything less. Sure, I had kissed people, Gideon for example, but I wouldn't get into a serious relationship with anyone until I felt what my parents felt. Lucy thinks it's a load of bullshit, but I have hope.

Christmas day was just as perfect as the previous day. My mum made a banging Christmas dinner which we demolished quickly. My dad had me up dancing around the living room spinning and twirling me round the room while my mum took a ton of pictures of us. After dinner we sat down to open our present. I had been well and truly spoilt both by my friends and family. As I opened James' present, I couldn't help but smile.
"it better not be a boy that has you smiling like that" My dad said from across the room. He looked ridiculous. He had decided to put on every item of clothing he had been gifted. He had about 4 jumpers on and I had lost count at how many pairs of socks. I rolled my eyes at my dad.
"it's just from James" I said looking back down at 'The Beetles- Here Comes The Sun' single he had gifted me with the little note attached to that said 'Merry Christmas Sunshine'
"that's how it always starts." my dad grumbled, and my mum pushed him
"James is the one who is in love with Lily" my mum said trying to reassure my dad who was still frowning.
"we are just friends dad, chill. Just like I am friends with Peter, Remus, Sirius and Regulus" my dad groaned again
"you aren't helping sweetheart" my dad said before he was thankfully distracted by mum who handed him another present to open.

I had fallen asleep pretty quickly after I had finished putting away my new things from Christmas but I was awoken a few hours later by an owl tapping at my bedroom window. Shrugging out of bed and taking a quick glance at the time that told me it was a little past 3 am I made my way over to open my window and let in the familiar looking owl. Once inside the owl landed on my desk and I gave it some owl treats as I took the letter and sat at my desk to read it.

Emily,

Sirius ran away.

Merlin Em, you should have seen the state he showed up in. what they have done to him, I couldn't imagine doing to worse enemy never mind my own flesh and blood. My mum managed to heal him, but he is out cold for the night. I have never felt more helpless than when I saw him stumble out the fire and there was absolutely nothing, I could do other than just stand there.

He is asleep now Em, but what do I even say to him when he wakes up? How do I even begin to make this better? I just don't know what to do to fix this.

My mum and dad said he can live with us from now on, so I guess that's at least something, but it doesn't feel enough.

I have let the other boys know but Sirius would want you to know as well.

I am just at a bit of loss.

Love From

James

I was shaking reading the letter over and over again. My mind racing, was Sirius okay? Was Regulus? And what about James? I ran my hand through my hair taking a deep breath and grabbing some parchment, I quickly wrote a note to Regulus asking If he was okay and letting him know where to find me if he needed anything. Not wanting to send James' now sleeping owl I made my way downstair to find Ziggy who was most definitely a night owl and sent him with it instead. With my mind racing I made my way to the kitchen and started pulling out ingredients and began baking. Not knowing what else to do.

When the morning rolled around, I hadn't left the kitchen. I was stood surrounded by various trays of baked goods. My hair was state, and clothes covered in flower but that didn't matter as when my mum walked into the kitchen, she took one look at me and the state of the kitchen and pulled me in to a hug.
"what happened Honey?" I pulled away from her and handed her James's letter. I watched as she read the letter her hand covering her open mouth in shock. Once finished she looked back up at me
"have you been up baking since you got the letter?" I nodded at her
"well, let's box everything up shall we" she gave my shoulder a squeeze before waving her wand and I watched all the baked goods get packaged away neatly into boxes
"mum, I know its boxing day, but would it be okay if I went to go see my friends?"
"oh Honey, I thought that was a given" she laughed "plus you are going to have start handing out some of these sweet treats or your dad will eat them all" I let out a small laugh.

Later that morning my dad apparated me to Godrics hollow and was walking with me to the Potters.
"stay as long as you need Sweetheart and if you need anything let us know okay"? he said as he pulled me into a hug. I pulled away from him giving him a sceptical look
"so now your more than okay with me spending the day at a boys house?" he rolled his eyes at me
"don't get used to it. This is special circumstance. I know what Walburga is like, that boy needs some support" He shuddered at the memories he has of his interaction with Sirius mum.
"Thanks dad" I said giving him one last hug before I made my way towards the Potter house.

Chapter 15 Chapter Text

James Pov

I was stood leaning in the doorway of the living room watching as Remus and Peter sat around Sirius who was thankfully awake and doing well. I can't lie I was relieved when Remus showed up first thing this morning before Sirius woke up.

In the distant I heard a knock at the front door
"James, can you get the door please" My mum shouted from the kitchen. She had frantically been making snacks and cups of tea all morning since the boys arrived. Swinging the front door open I stopped in my tracks.
"Hey" Emily said nervously as she stood on the doorstep. She had her hair pulled back into a messy ponytail with a blue ribbon tied in a bow. The ribbon matched perfectly to the large overside blue knit jumper she had on with loose fitting Jeans. My eyes trailed over her not quite believing she was here. She had a tote bag hanging over her shoulder and a bunch of sunflowers in one hand. It was when she started speaking again, I realised I hadn't said anything, and I was just stood staring at her
"I am sorry for just showing up but after I got your letter last night, I just want to check you were okay" She was here for me? Without giving her any warning, I ran up to her and wrapped her in a tight hug.
"I am so glad you're here" I mumbled into her hair. She pulled away from me and looked up
"is he awake?" she asked as she nodded towards my house. I smiled taking her hand in mine and leading her in
"he woke up about an hour ago and is doing well. Luckily Moony got here at the arse crack of dawn so I haven't had to really do anything. I mean what can I even do?" I said as we got into the house but hovering outside the living room entrance
"you just being there for him and listening to him is more than enough" she squeezed my arm before moving past me to walk into the room.

I resumed my previous place of leaning on the door frame.
"Ah I wondered when you would show up. Bit disappointed Em, I expected you earlier" Sirius joked from where he was lay on the couch
"I heard you weren't dying, so thought what's the rush" Sirius burst out laughing at Emily's comment. I made eye contact with Moony and we both couldn't help but grin. Emily rummaged in her bag and pulled out a neatly wrapped box of cookies and handed it to Sirius
"you made my favourites?" He asked
"it's not every day you run away from home" She shrugged whilst Pads grinned at her. She moved around the room to where Peter was, again pulling out another neatly wrapped box
"Hey Pete, I made you some salted Carmel brownies, there your mums' favourite, right?" she asked placing the box in his hand. He nodded thanking her and placing them into his own bag. As she made it to Remus, she just stood next to where he was sat looking at him. She studied him for a moment before she opened her arms wide and Moony jumped up straight into her arms pulling her into a tight hug.

I have never been more grateful to be friends with Emily than in this moment. Watching how she came in and flipped the mood of the room giving each of the boys and myself exactly what we needed.
"and who is this beautiful lady?" My mum said as she walked in carrying a tray of sandwiches. I moved over to Emily slinging my arm round her shoulder and pulling her into my side.
"mum, this Emily William she is-"my mum cut me off
"Your new friend and potions partner! Oh, we have heard so much about you lovely!" Emily turned to me elbowing me in the ribs
"oh, you have, have you" she smirked up at me and I could feel my face heat up
"yes, Jamie has told us all about you" of for merlin sake.
Emily just let out a soft chuckle pulling away from my side and walking up to my mum handing her the sunflowers she was carrying.
"its lovely to meet you Mrs Potter, sorry for just showing up unannounced" my mum automatically waved her off
"Don't worry about it! Your welcome anytime and please do call me Mia" Emily smiled and nodded at my mum
"these sunflowers are beautiful. I didn't know they were in season"
"I don't think they are. My dad transfigured them for me. They are also charmed so should last about 6 months" My mum gave Emily a huge smile
"oh, you are adorable. Thank you lovely"

My mum left us lounging in the living room just chatting, listening to music but when my dad walked in, Emily's face immediately went bright red.
"I heard we have a new guest" my dad said standing at the back of the couch"hope you're ready to meet you biggest fan Monty" Sirius said. Emily gave him a gentle push before she jumped up from her seat and walked over to my dad, hand out for him to shake.
"it's an honour to meet you Mr Potter I am a huge fan of your work" this was the first time I had ever seen Em nervous and quite frankly it was adorable.
"Dad, this is Emily, my potions partner I was telling you about" I said, helping my dad connect the dots.
"ah yes Emily! I have heard you're the future of potions" My dad said. Emily looked down at her feet bashfully.
"I don't know about that. But I do love potions"
"nonsense she is bloody brilliant dad" I said
"its true Monty, old Sluggy loves her" Remus added. My dad smiled at Emily
"Fancy a tour of my workstation?" Emily's eyes widened and looked like she had just won the lottery
"If you don't mind Mr Potter, I would love that!" she was almost bouncing with excitement and my dad just laughed
"come on Sweetheart, and please call me Monty"

"when did you write to Em?" Sirius asked when it was just us boys again.
"some time last night" I shrugged not wanting to admit it was way past midnight and I was still up worrying.
"it's nice that she came" Peter added from his spot on the floor
"of course, she came I am her best friend. Obviously, she was going to come running to my sick bed" Moony shook is head at Sirius
"I don't think she is only here for you Pads" Sirius nodded at Remus
"yeh, she obviously came to meet Monty" we all laughed
"that's not what I meant. She is here for all of us and she told you she wrote to Regulus as well"
"she is pretty great isn't she?" Peter said
"she is amazing" I agreed.

When my mum called us all into the dining room for dinner, Emily and my dad walked in laughing and joking with each other like they were old friends.
"Monty did you kidnap the poor girl?" My mum jokingly scolded my dad
"she came willingly my love. No bribery was required" Dad said as he pulled out my mums chair for her to sit down next to Emily.
"wow you must really love potions! I married the bloke and even I can't handle it when he gets going about one of his experiments" My mum said to Emily
"what? You don't love it when I talk about potions for hours?" my dad asked throwing his hand on his chest dramatically
"Sorry Love I just married you for your money" My mum teased, smiling at my dad as he burst out laughing. I looked at Emily who was watching my parents with the same huge smile I had.

Throughout dinner my mum and Emily chatted between themselves mainly talking about their shared loved for romance books, but Emily would occasionally throw in stories about her and the girls and what they got up to Hogwarts. After everyone had finished eating, I collected the plates and brought them into the kitchen when mum walked in and swatted me with the tea towel, she had over her shoulder
"ouch! What was that for?" I said rubbing my arm
"why have you not invited Emily round before? She is just a delight Jamie"
"We weren't even friends until this year" my mum gave me a disapproving look
"well you best invite her to come around more often" she wagged her finger at me
"oh, and ask her if she and the boys would like to stay the night" She said shoving me out the kitchen and back to living room where the group were now conjugated
"mum wants to know if you guys want to stay the night?" I asked the group. Moony instantly agreed
"I should actually be getting back to my mum in a minuet" Peter replied. Peter's mum wasn't in the best health so I expected he would want to get back.
"That should be fine. Am I alright to use your floo, to pop home and check with my parents?" Emily asked
"of course, Sunshine" she gave me a big smile at the use of her nickname before jumping up and hurrying over the fireplace.

Chapter 16 Chapter Text

It had been about an hour since I had left the Potters. I had a quick shower, got changed into my pyjamas and packed an overnight bag. I walked into the living room where my parents were sat reading their books with a glass of wine each.
"right I am off" I said grabbing some floo powder
"don't forget to remind those boys I have a license to kill" My dad said. When I first asked if I could stay over, dad's immediate answer was no but my mum reminded him that I was 17 next month and that both of James' parents were at home.
"love you guys" I said before I through the floo powder down.

When I stepped out of the fire it was just Mia and Sirius in the living room.
"Nice Pj's Em" Sirius chuckled. I looked down at my classic Pyjamas they were white with little red hearts all over them.
"ignore him lovely. You look adorable" Mia said as she stood up giving my shoulder a squeeze as she moved past me out the living room. I made my way over and sat down next to Sirius
"where is everyone?" I asked
"wormy left not long after you and James is frantically preparing the guest room for you. Moony went to help and to stop him from having a breakdown" I started laughing and so did Sirius, but I watched him wince in pain. What did they do to him?
"Reg wrote me back" Sirius head snapped towards me. He opened his mouth, but I just raised my hand stopping him and carrying on
"it was short and sweet. He said he was fine and told me to have a good new year's" Sirius let out a breath of relief as he reached for my hand
"thank you" he said I just squeezed his hand.
"do you want to talk about what happened?" I asked. He just stared at out interlocked hands for a moment
"I knew they hated me Em. I just didn't know they hated me that much" he said very quietly
"none of this is your fault Sirius" I said holding his hand tighter "My dad said he can help you press charges if that's an avenue you want to go down?" he shook his head at me
"not while Reg is still with them" I nodded understanding
"I am just glad your safe now. You should have seen how much baking I did when I got James' letter" I said, as he pulled me gently into him.
"I am alright, Mia fixed me up good" she shouldn't have had to though. It should have never happened in the first place.
"does this mean I get a free pass at stealing your stuff? You know because of all the trauma I have been through" I tilted my head at him
"nice try Black"

"your back!" both me and Sirius glanced up to look at James and Remus who had just walked back in. Pushing myself up so Remus could sit with Sirius
"I was meant to come back, wasn't I?" I teased
"of course, come on let me show you your room" James said as he grabbed my hand in one hand and picked up my overnight bag with his other, before dragging me up the stairs.
"Bathroom is just though here. You should have everything you need but if don't just let me know" James said as he finished giving me the tour of the room
"it's perfect" I smiled at him looking round
"want to see my room?" he asked
"I don't know. My dad did tell me to warn you he is licensed to kill" James's eyes widened
"that's not what I meant! I just meant so you could see what it looked like" he said quickly but I just laughed at him
"chill Potter I am joking. I would love to see your room" he pouted at me
"you're not funny"
"we both know that just a blatant lie" I said walking past him out the room

James Potters bedroom was exactly like I imagined. His walls were adorned with various posters for quidditch teams and bands he liked with Gryffindor flags dotted around the place. His room wasn't messy, but it wasn't tidy either. There were random things scattered on every surface, that I think, to anyone else would have been considered rubbish but to James they were various bits and pieces of memories. He pointed some out to me like the random button that had fallen off his first Gryffindor quidditch team uniform or the movie ticket from when Remus took the boys to see their first muggle movie.

As I looked around the room while James gave me random explanation for things I pointed out, I noticed a gift that was address to Lily sat on his desk. I raised my eyebrow questioningly at him
"oh, she sends it back every year" he said casually before he moved on to talking about something else in his room. I frowned looking at the gift making a note to talk to Lily about this, as it seemed a cruel thing for her to do.
"I loved my present by the way. It's one of my favourites present I have ever gotten" He said snapping me out my thought. I spun round to see he was holding the converse I got him as he sat on his bed. I went to go sit next him
"I am glad you like them"
"I love them Sunshine" I blushed slightly remembering the record he got me
"thank you for my present as well. It was very thoughtful of you" I said but he didn't make eye contact with me.
"I have been meaning to ask you. Why have you started calling me sunshine?" he whipped his head round to look at me
"why do you not like it?" He asked worried
"no that not it! I just didn't know where it came from"
"oh, it's because you remined me of the sun" he said as if it made perfect sense. When I didn't say anything, he carried on.
"well your obsessed with sunflowers for a start and your just always so positive and bright. I don't know at Halloween you just came along and brightened up the whole night. It just sort of felt right" James was now blushing, but I could feel my own face heat up.
"you big flirt" I pushed his shoulder trying to diffuse some tension. He laughed at me
"is it working yet?" he asked just like he did at Halloween and I just rolled my eyes at him. Too scared to admit that it kind of was.

"want to talk about Christmas day?" I asked and James sighed
"he was in such a state. They used the cruciatus curse on him" It felt like all the air got sucked out the room
"I have never felt so disgusted in my life. That a parent could do that to their child. He looked so broken" silent tears feel down James cheeks as he explained to me what they had done to Sirius. I felt sick to my stomach knowing that not only was a mother capable of that but also the fact that Regulus was still in that house
"I don't know how to help him" James said quietly "I am really worried about him" I rested my hand on top of his. He flipped his hand over intertwining our fingers
"the fact he felt comfortable enough to come here in the first place, shows how much you are already doing for him. From the day he met you, you showed him what it was like to have a real family and to love unconditionally. That's something Sirius has never experienced until you. You don't need to do anything different just keep being his family" I said as James rubbed circles on the back of my hand with his thumb.

After a few moments of silence James looked up at me with a small smile and he used his free hand to tug on one of my french plaits I had put in after my shower
"I liked the bow you had in before"
"thanks, my mum got me a bunch of different colours for Christmas"
"ah there you two are" we jumped apart from each other, immediately letting go of each other's hand and turned to look at Mia
"Monty has got a fire going, I thought we could toast some marshmallows" She said from the doorway
"sounds perfect" James said jumping up and sticking his hand out for me to grab before he pulled me up

The rest of the night we spent relaxing, talking to James' parents. I would tell Mia about some of the crazy stunts James and the boys had pulled to try and win Lily's heart and in turn she told me embarrassing stories of James growing up.

The next morning, I was up first and was making breakfast with Mia in the kitchen, she was showing me how she makes her world-famous pancakes. I was attempting and failing miserably to flip the pancakes while Mia was just laughing at me.
"have we finally found something you aren't good at?" I turned to see James leaning on the counter. His fair was even messier than normal and his voice a bit deeper in the morning.
"morning Jamie" His mum said giving him a kiss on the cheek in greeting. James walked up to me taking the frying pan out my hand
"let me show you how it's done Sunshine" I watched as he proceeded to toss the pancake perfectly
"show off" I muttered under my breath. He just laughed at me handing the frying pan back to me. He tugged on the bow in my hair. Today's bow was yellow to match my jumper
"I like this better than the blue one" he said before moving past me to go help his mum set the table.

"Thank you so much for having me Mia" I said hugging James' mum
"your welcome here anytime lovely! Please don't be a stranger" she said pulling away for Monty to pull me into his own hug. Not going to lie I was screaming on the inside.
"you keep me up to date on the progress with your potions project, alright?" I nodded quickly at him before he stepped aside, and Remus and Sirius took his place
"what did you take this time?" I asked Sirius crossing my arms
"the fluffy socks you had on last night. They looked too good not to try"
"you're lucky I love you. You idiot" I said giving him a gentle hug
"I will make sure he washes them before he gives them back" Remus said giving me his own hug goodbye before passing me over to James
"Thanks for coming" He muttered
"it's no problem" I smiled then we sort of just stood there looking at each other. Unsure of what to do. I picked up my bag and waved at the group
"have a good new year everyone!" there was a chorus of 'you to's!' and 'happy new years' thrown my way. I grabbed some floo powder and turned back to James . I smiled at him, he quickly pulled me into one of his hugs before I could floo out.
"see you soon Sunshine" he said before letting me go.

Chapter 17 Chapter Text

The Christmas break seemed to fly by and before I knew it, I was back on the platform with my dad holding onto to me tightly

"I can't believe you're going to be 17 when we see you next. That is just unacceptable. You have to stop growing up" I let go of my Dad
"I am not sure that's how it works unfortunately"
"you will always be my little girl." my dad said giving me a kiss on the forehead. I turned to my mum giving her a hug
"we are going on a mission next week, but we should be back in time for Easter break" i felt myself tense up at the idea of my parents being out there fighting
"please be careful" I said to her. She just hugged me tighter giving me a kiss on the cheek before she let me go pushing me slightly in the direction of the train
"go make the best memories Honey" I smiled at them before I jumped on the train.

I was the last to make it to the compartment all the girls were already sat down.
"happy new year guys" I said shuffling in the compartment and sitting next to Lucy
"we have an announcement" Kayla said as soon as I sat down. I looked at her confused until I saw her hand intertwined with Lily. I squealed in my head. This was it! It was happening. I gave them an encouraging smile
"We are together" Lily rushed out before adding "I mean, Kayla is my girlfriend" she looked between myself and Lucy. We both were just sat smiling at the pair. I launched myself at the girls wrapping them both in a hug
"I am so happy for you two" I said
"it's about time you told us!" Lucy said as I sat back down. I gave her an elbow in the ribs
"I am also obviously super happy and supportive of this" Lucy quickly added.
"wait, you knew?" Kayla asked confused
"I thought it was just something we all knew but just didn't talk about" I rolled my eyes at Lucy before truing to the couple
"what she means is, that we had our suspicions as something just seemed different this year, but we didn't talk about it as we wanted to wait until you were ready to tell us" Lily smiled appreciatively at me
"we aren't keeping it a secret or anything but after Christmas I am just not ready for everyone to know yet" Lily said. That didn't really make sense but I was willing to roll with it.
"why what happened at Christmas?" Lucy asked as the couple shared a look. Kayla sighed
"we told our families and Lily's parents and sister were not very happy and well long story short she is staying with me now" Lucy and I let it sink in for a moment
"does this mean I can finally beat up your bitch of a sister?" Lucy asked which made Lily laugh
"Thanks Lu but I really just don't want to give them a second thought if they can't love me for me, they don't deserve my time and energy" I watched as Kayla pulled Lily closer to her, kissing her temple. Damn they were cute.
"well if you change your mind Lil's let me know I know a potion that can cause you to projectile vomit" I added earning a laugh from both girls
"seriously, though anyone gives either of you shit. Just let me know I will do time in Azkaban for you lot" Lucy added

Lucy and Kayla were discussing the upcoming quidditch season, which was due to start after the easter holiday, meaning their practice schedule was about to be ramped up so they were ready for the start of the season next term. While they were chatting, I took this as my opportunity to talk to Lily
"you sent James his Christmas present back" I said not really knowing how to start this conversation
"I know, it's bad I just didn't want to give him the wrong impression" she said guiltily. I did get where she was coming from.
"I was talking to Kay about this actually. I think it's time I had a conversation with him. Lay it all on the table" She said glancing at Kayla
"I think that's best for everyone involved Lily. If you do choose to tell him about you and Kayla, which you by no means have to, I have no doubt he will be supportive" I said, and she nodded in agreement.

As though he knew we were talking about him James and the boys burst into the compartment but unlike when they had previously done this, the girls all remained very relaxed.
"Hey Evans, good holiday?" James asked but took the seat next to me instead of Lily
"it was fine" Lily said tensely, clearly thinking about her family
"well I got burned off the family tapestry, how about you Vixen?" I heard Sirius ask as he dropped in the seat next to Lucy
"oh, the usual, disappointing my mother by refusing to go on dates with the suiters she selected for me" Sirius held up his hand to her
"to being the family disappointment?" and to my and everyone else surprise she high fived him. Were we in some alternate universe?
"so, Lily, are you going to agree to a date with me?" James asked. Lily looked at Kayla who gave her a reassuring smile
"alright" Lily said. Yep definitely in a parallel universe. I looked at James as his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open
"did you just say yes?" he asked in disbelief
"I did, but I want to make it clear it's not a date, date and don't do anything fancy please I just really need to talk to you, about everything really. Maybe we can just go for a walk at some point soon" James scrunched his eyebrows together confused
"okay sounds good" he nodded.

The compartment was silent no one really knowing what to say. Eventually Remus cleared his throat
"anyway... we came to see if we could steal Em for some of the journey?" He asked
"absolutely not. Train rides are our thing. Stay in your lane Lupin" Lucy said.
"Lu, she can go for a little bit" Kayla said trying to compromise
"Fine but if you go, I am coming with you. I don't trust these idiots to let you come back" Lucy said. I looked at Kayla and Lily they smiled at each other clearly happy with the idea of some alone time. So, I turned to James and shrugged my shoulder
"you alight if I bring a plus one?"
"doesn't seem like we have a choice" he smiled down at me
"good answer Potter" Lucy said as she patted his shoulder while she made her way out of the compartment. After promising Lily and Kayla we would be back, the boys and I followed Lucy.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

James Pov

The first week back seemed to be over before I knew it and the day of date that wasn't a date with Lily was here. I have been feeling weird about it all week. I thought when Lily said yes, I would be jumping for joy, but I just had this weird sinking feeling in my stomach. All week Emily has been trying to manage my expectations for the talk, but I don't think she really needed to as I just wasn't feeling it. Maybe it was because of the way Lily had said yes.

"Alright Prongs, no matter what happens we will be right here when you get back" Sirius said as the boys stood behind me while I looked in the mirror at my outfit. I think the boys also had this weird feeling about the whole thing. I turned and made my way to the door
"wish me luck" I said before walking down to the common room where I saw Lucy and Emily sat on one of the couches. I felt myself relax a bit at the sight of Em, maybe she was coming with us? Sensing I was looking at her she looked over her shoulder spotting me before jumping up off the couch and coming over to me.
"Hey, she is just finishing getting ready with Kayla, but she will be down an min and then you guys can go" I felt my face drop, guess we were still going alone. Emily squeezed my arm
"it will be okay" she said looking into my eyes. I gave her a small nod. Over the top of her head I notice Lily stood awkwardly behind her. With one last small smile to Emily I moved over to Lily.
"you ready?" I asked. She nodded at me.
"We will be here when you get back" Kayla said from next to Lily before moving to the couch where Emily was now sitting again with Lucy. I glanced up at the boy's dorms. Sirius, Remus and Peter were all hovering on the stairs.
"let just get it over with" Lily mutter beside me.

We walked in silence for a while just walking around aimlessly.
"I am sorry about Halloween" Lily finally said quietly
"I am sorry as well. I have been pretty full on with trying to get you to agree to a date" she laughed
"understatement of the century, Potter" she said before she stopped and sat down. I followed her lead sitting next to her. Lily took in a deep breath before she turned to look at me.
"me and you are never going to happen James" there it was. The point of this whole talk "it would be really cliche to say 'it's not you it's me' but in this case it really is that way" she said and then paused for a moment gathering her thoughts.
"for the longest time I couldn't work out why you asking me out angered me so much. Like sure it could be annoying, but I knew you weren't the worst guy ever. I think I hated it so much because it made me more confused than I already was. Here I was, a popular, good looking guy showing me interest and I had absolutely no desire to give you a chance and for the life of me I couldn't work out why. I thought there was something wrong with me" she sighed, and I took her hand in mine not liking her talking about herself this way.
"take your time Lily, it's okay" I said softly to her.
"anyway, I felt so lost because while I didn't like your interest in me, I did enjoy the interest of someone else and that person was Kayla" She paused looking at me waiting for me to react. I was a bit shocked but tried not to show it as I wanted her to feel safe talking to me about this, I just smiled at her giving her hand a light squeeze.
"I was so confused. I couldn't be a lesbian could i? but then the summer after 5th year happened, and Kayla kissed me, and it was like suddenly everything just made sense. So, we started dating, in secret. We actually only told Lucy and Emily on the train back after Christmas. That's why I wanted to do this. So, we could have some closure I guess, and you can see why it's not going to happen" she finished but looked down at her hands and wouldn't make eye contact with me

"Lily" I said getting her to look up at me "can I give you a hug?" she just nodded at me tears brimming in her eyes. I pulled her in tight, my own eyes watering, I weirdly felt a sense of relief that this was all over. From the way she said yes to the date I had a feeling it was going be Lily telling me it was never going to happen. I thought I would feel sad she was rejecting me for the final time, but I felt sad for a whole other reason. I felt like I had wasted so much time on something I didn't even want. Something I didn't even realise that I didn't want until she said yes to the date. It's stupid, I know, but I think I just got caught up in the idea of Lily. When she pulled away from me, I smiled at her
"Thank you for telling me Lily. You didn't have to do that, and I am sorry I should have backed off years ago. I am sorry for the part I played in all of this" she shook her head at me
"it okay, you were young and it's not your fault I was confused" she said before taking in another breath before adding "I am sorry for all the hurt I caused you whilst I discovered who I was" I just pulled her in for another hug.

As we walked back up to the castle, I was asking her questions about her relationship with Kayla to which she excitedly told me all about it. It was nice to see her so happy. She had also told me although they weren't a secret, she just wasn't ready for everyone to know but she did say I could tell the boys.
"Emily is going to be thrilled we are friends. I think it's her dream for us to get on"
"guess we just need to work on Sirius and Lucy" I added. Lily scoffed
"I don't know if those two will ever be friends"
"speaking of Em, I was thinking we could throw her a bit of a party in the room of requirement for her birthday? It will be a lot easier to do now that we are friends" Lily nodded at me
"good idea! I will speak to the girls and let them know"
"I was thinking, just us lot, a bit to drink, some food and cake. Maybe do some karaoke? Her birthday is the first Hogsmeade weekend so you guys could take her out for the day, and we could set everything up" I suggested. Lily smiled mischievously at me
"you have really thought about this haven't you?"
"I just want to do something nice for her" I said blushing slightly. Lily smirked at me and linked her arm with mine as we walked
"her favourite cake is Victoria sponge" I nodded, although I already knew.

Chapter 18 Chapter Text

Since James and Lily had their chat last week things could not have been better. Kayla and James actually seem to get on pretty well now that she doesn't want to kill him whenever he is eyesight. The boys even come to sit with us now at some mealtimes and the whole group laughs and catches up together. Well, excluding Sirius and Lucy but I am pretty sure they enjoy bickering, so I am willing to let it pass. I was on my way to the library to try and finish the last of my work before the weekend as it was my birthday tomorrow and I wanted to full weekend to just chill. I did try to drag Lucy with me but she point blank refused as Fridays were not for homework, apparently.

When I walked into the library, I immediately spotted Regulus sat where we normally sit. I hurried over to him rapping my arms around him.
"get off me you daft woman" he immediately began prying my arms from around his shoulders
"I just missed you Reggie" I said taking the seat next to him. I opened my mouth to ask how he was doing but he beat me to it
"I am fine, everything is okay, you don't need to worry"
"but-" he cut me off again
"Emily, feel free to stay and chat shit like you normally do but we are not talking about Christmas, okay?" He looked me dead in the eyes, waiting for me to acknowledge him. I nodded in agreement
"but I do just want to say" I said while he groaned at me "I am always here for you whenever you do want to talk about it" Regulus ground his teeth
"thank you" he muttered. Realising that was about as much as I was getting out of him, I began going around the library collecting the books I needed.

"it's your birthday tomorrow" Regulus' said breaking the silence we had been working in. I turned to him shocked
"how do you know that?"
"Potter tracked me down the other day to tell me" I almost laughed at the thought of Regulus face when James approached him
"he invited you to the party they are having for me, didn't he?" now it was Regulus turn to be shocked
"You know about it?"
"not officially" I said shutting my book "The group aren't the best at being discreate. For example, my favourite cake is a Victoria sponge, and the other day Sirius comes up to me with the baking book I got him for Christmas, open on the Victoria sponge recipe demanding I tell him how to make jam" Regulus just shuck his head
"of course, he did"
"that was my first clue. Lily has asked me, I don't know how many times, that I am still going to Hogsmeade with her tomorrow and there are other things, like Remus can't look me in the eye, Kayla changes the subject immediately when anyone mention my birthday. I haven't seen Peter all week, I am fairly sure he is avoiding me and James has asked me so many random questions, which wouldn't be unusual but they all seem to be birthday or party related" I let out a low laugh at how obvious they had been
"Lucy is the only one throwing me off, she is acting completely normal"
"that's because she is a Slytherin" Regulus said as if it were obvious
"it's either that, or they haven't told her, so she doesn't ruin the surprise"
"well anyway, I am not going to be attending, for obvious reasons" Regulus trailed off and I nodded understanding
"so I wanted to give you this now" he pulled out a small gift that was wrapped perfectly in black paper and a black bow. I looked at the gift and could feel my eyes start to water
"oh, for Merlin's sake woman, don't start crying" I wiped my eyes
"I am sorry, I just can't believe you got me a gift" I said picking the gift up to rattle it
"you're so dramatic" Regulus grumble
"let me have this moment. Mr dark and moody, tells me he doesn't like me every time I see him, got me a gift. I knew you loved me really Reg" I said with a huge grin on my face
"I think your reading too much into this" he muttered under his breath. Knowing that he would hate it but doing it anyway I got up and wrapped my arms around him.
"Thank you, Regulus" and to my surprise he reciprocated the hug and my eyes watered again
"please tell me you are not crying because I gave you a hug?"

When I entered the hall for breakfast the next morning the girls were already there. As soon as I sat in my usual seat next to Lucy, they all said happy birthday. As breakfast progressed a very anxious Lily was telling us the itinerary for Hogsmeade. We have never had an itinerary before.
"then at 4:30pm we need to make sure we leave the three broomsticks to get the last carriage back to castle, any questions?" She concluded
"I don't know Lil's think you could start from the beginning?" Lucy asked. Lily, not realising she was joking began to start again
"it's okay Lil's, you will be with us the whole day. You tell us where to go and we will follow" I smiled at her.
"Okay, yes as long as we stick to plan it's all going to be fine" She said tucking her list back into her bag.

All heads in the hall turned to the large doors when the Marauders burst through them. They all had cone shaped party hats on, and Remus and Peter were carrying an extra-long banner that read happy birthday Emily. Then, without warming James and Sirius hopped up on the table and started walking towards me. Lucy was laughing her head off next to me and Kayla had a huge grin on her face watching the chaos unfold. I turned wide eyed to Lily
"this is really happening isn't it?" I asked. She just nodded her head looking between the boys.
"come on Sunshine up you get" James said as he stood Infront of me on the table.
"come on Em, don't leave us hanging" Sirius said as both boys stuck there hands down for me to grab. With one last quick look to the teachers table where Dumbledore sat smiling, I grabbed the boy's hands and they pulled me up onto the table.
"Hogwarts student body, today is a very special day!" James said with his wand pressed to his neck amplifying his voice
"Yes, it's our dear friends Emily Williams' birthday" there was a chorus of cheers from around the hall. I looked around the room, spotting Regulus who was smirking at me
"If you could all join in, in singing happy birthday, we would really appreciate it!" Remus added and just like that the whole hall was singing along with the boys.
"hip-hip!" Peter shouted, encouraging people around the hall to shout hurray. James pulled me into his side
"happy birthday Sunshine" he said just load enough for only me to hear him. I just shook my head but couldn't wipe the smile off my face
"you guys are insane" I said
"get use to Em your birthday is a yearly event remember" Sirius said as he pulled me from James' arms into his own.

"GET OFF THE TABLES" McGonagall's yell was enough to make myself and the boys quickly jump back into our seats
"What on earth do you think you are doing?" She said as she marched over to us
"feel like it quite self-explanatory Minnie" Sirius said earning him a stern glare from the professor
"You see Minnie, its Emily's birthday so we obviously had to sing her happy birthday" McGonagall looked away from James and looked down at me, I gave her an apologetic smile. She looked between each of the boys before sighing defeatedly
"Detention. Wednesday evening, next week" she said turning to walk away but stopped just before she left
"Happy birthday Miss Williams" my eyes widened
"Thank you, professor" I squeaked out, she nodded at me before she continued her stride.

The trip to Hogsmeade, although very regimented by Lily, was great I even got to pick up a few new books with the voucher Kayla had gotten me for my birthday. I had just thrown my bags into my dorm and was making it back out of the Ravenclaw entrance when I stopped in my tracks
"I thought we were meeting in the hall?" I said to the girls who were hovering just outside the entrance.
"I left something in the room of requirement the other day and you know what its like in there so I have roped these two, and now you to come help me look for it" Lucy lied easily, honestly if I didn't know there was a party I would have believed her.
"let's go then" I said as Lily promptly pulled me down the corridor.

Once we got to the room of requirement Kayla and Lily were beaming at me while Lucy still looked as calm and collected as she had all day. Lily moved me forward so I could open the door.
"SURPRISE" The boys yelled from inside the room and the girls quickly moved past me to join them. I stood looking round the room, there were gold streamers hung across the ceiling. Balloons in my favourite colours, Yellow and blue, both floating mid-air and dotted across the floor. The same banner from this morning was now hung up but as I squinted my eyes, I could see that pictures of me with my friends had been stuck to it. At the back of the room there was table set up with what looked to be all my favourite foods but bang in the middle was a huge, although wonky, Victoria sponge cake. I looked at my friends who were stood in a line grinning at me.
"you guys are the best" I said opening my arms wide. They all came running in for a group hug.

What I hadn't spotted when I walked in the room was the copious amounts of alcohol, the boys had somehow managed to obtain. As a result, as the evening progressed, we all got more and more tipsy. We were lounging on the couches listening to music playing in the background as we recovered from eating a giant slice of cake Sirius had served us. I was very proud of his efforts as the cake tasted beautiful.I sat on the floor my back leaning against the couch as I watched my friends. Lily and Remus were sat together talking and laughing between themselves. Lucy and Kayla were sat either side of Peter on the couch as they taught him how to plait Sirius hair as hePsat between peters legs on the floor. It didn't look like it was going well as Peter had two rather drunk teachers.

"have you had a good day so far?" James asked as he sat next to me on the floor handing me a drink
"its been the best birthday ever" I said genuinely
"it's not over yet" He smiled before tugging on the bow in my hair, a habit he has gotten into every time I wore one. I looked up at him before resting my head on his shoulder for him to then rest his head on top of mine.
"Thank you for this. It means a lot to me" I said softly
"it was a team effort" I felt him shrug his shoulder slightly
"Lily already told me it was all your idea James, I know everyone helped but I just wanted you to know I really appreciate it" I felt him lift his head off mine, I copied him lifting mine of his shoulder
"I got you something" He said as he handed me a small gift box
"you didn't need to, especially after you organised all this"
"I wanted to, so shut up and open it" he rolled his eyes at me and prompted me to open the gift by shoving it into my hands again
"alright no need to be so bossy" I muttered whilst opening the present. I gasped when I saw the beautiful dainty gold chain bracelet that had one small sun charm in the middle.
"James" I muttered in disbelief before looking back up at him. He looked at me worried waiting for my reaction. I grinned at him holding it out.
"help me put it on?" The worried expression vanished from his face as he carefully placed the bracelet on my wrist. Once on, I wrapped my arms around James neck and his arms snaked around my waist
"I love it. Thank you so much" I whispered in his ear.

"alright I am drunk enough for Karaoke now" Lucy said from across the room causing me to reluctantly let go of James. Many more drinks later we were all dancing round the room as Lucy belted out the words to Killer Queen by Queen with back up vocal provided by Sirius. As i danced with each of my friends I knew that this was one of them moments I would cherish forever.

Chapter 19 Chapter Text

James pov

I was tilting on the legs of my chair trying to read what Emily was working on. She refused to tell me what potion she was trying to create for our assignment. I was just starting to make out some ingredients she had written down when she snapped her book shut and turned to glare at me.
"what do you think your doing?" She asked sternly
"Just trying to see what you smell like today" I lied but moved closer to her and took an over the top breath in through my nose
"Ah yes, the usual notes of Carmel, mixed with vanilla perhaps?" she rolled her eyes at me
"I am not telling you" She said knowing that I was actually trying to catch a glimpse of her potion. She opened her book again but moved her arm in front of it so I couldnt see
"why not? I bet you told my dad" when she didn't deny it I gasped.
"you did, didn't you? You told my dad what you're doing but not me!"
"stop being so dramatic. Your dad has been helping me with it. I know these things are meant to just be an exercise, but I really want it to work" she carried on scribbling away in her notes
"If your not telling me in case it doesn't work out, that stupid Em, I won't judge you" She huffed and turned to face me
"I am not telling you because I don't want you to get your hopes up" Why would her potion get my hopes up? What could she possibly be doing?
"what if I pinky promise not to get my hopes up?" I bargained waving my pinkie finger Infront of her
"you really aren't letting this go, are you?" she said as she watched my finger
"never, so just tell me now and get it over with" I said. She looked like she was considering it. She glanced past me at Moony making sure he wasn't listening before she raised her pinkie to mine.
"you also have to promise not to tell a soul" I grinned at her linking my finger with her
"I promise" with one last look around us she detached our fingers and pushed her book towards me

I looked down at the book my eyes widening
"Holy shit Em" she whacked her hand over my mouth
"will you be quiet" she hissed. I nodded before she removed her hand from my mouth. I immediately began reading her notes. She was bloody trying to cure lycanthropy. I glanced at Remus who was none the wiser to our conversation.
"do you understand why I didn't want to tell you now?" She asked quietly beside me
"your incredible. Absolutely bloody incredible" I said in awe as I glanced between her and her notes
"please don't get excited, it's a long shot for it to even work. Everything I have come up with so far hasn't panned out and that's before I even try to make anything real. Your dad has been a huge help though he actually gave me the idea to look at muggle cures and see if anything they have developed could be applied, that's where my latest idea came from" She said flicked over the page to show me some kind of powdered tablet she was working on. I looked up at her as she began explaining her thoughts behind it and various problems, but I couldn't really take it in. I just stared at her with such admiration.
"please don't tell anyone James, especially not Remus" She said nodding her head at him. I took a moment to respond as my brain short circuited for a moment at her calling me James. "You're doing this because of him right?" she gave a small nod
"he is one of the most incredible people I have ever met, and it breaks my heart knowing what he has to go through. Even if I don't come up with a cure at least when someone does, they won't be starting from scratch" she said taking her notes back from me.
"I have never met anyone quite as amazing as you Emily Williams" I blurted out. Her face flushed red
"don't let Sirius hear you say that" she laughed brushing me off.

Later that day we were sat in the hall when my family owl swooped down Infront of me. I immediately took the letter from the owl and gave it a scrap of bread I had still left on my plate. I looked down at the letter confused
"Em, it's for you" I passed it over to where she was sat diagonally from me. She grabbed it out of my hands opening it immediately
"it's from your mum" she said eyes scanning the letter
"you write to my mum?" she looked up at me
"yes, I have been writing to her since I came to visit at Christmas, she has been giving me book recommendation. I write to your dad as well" She said as if it was nothing before going back to reading her letter
"trying to steal Monty from Mia. How could you Em?" Sirius joked. Emily and Sirius bickered between themselves.

She writes to my mum and dad? The warm feeling spreading in my chest at the thought of her getting on so well with my parents. It's the same feeling I got today when I found out she was working on a cure for Remus, I also get it when I watch her help Pete with his school work and it's the same feeling I get now watching her bicker with Sirius. In fact, that feeling has been coming and going since that time in the hospital wing when she comforted me. I watched her joke back and forth with Sirius, her ponytail that was tied with a bow bobbing as she moved her head. When did I start finding those little bows, she wears so freaking adorable? Actually I found a lot of things about her adorable like when she scrunches her nose up when she is really concentrating or how I both love and hate the way she puts everyone before herself and how she is always there for me without me even having to ask or telling her something is wrong.

That's when it hit me. On a random Wednesday evening at the start of February. I don't know when It started or how I got here but I am definitely falling for Emily

Shit.

Back in the dorm room that night I had called a family meeting.
"he has to stop pacing at some point" Remus said
"Prongs, mate you're going to make a whole in the floor" Sirius added but I ignored him and kept walking around trying to collect my thoughts
"maybe we should go get Emily" Peter suggested. That snapped me out of it
"No!" I yelled. Sirius stood up and came over to me guiding me to the bed to sit down
"Okay Prongs, no Emily" He said confused
"what's going on?" Remus asked. Taking a deep breath, I looked at the boys
"it has recently come to my attention that I may have a crush on Emily" The boys were silent, literally crickets.
"that's what had you pacing the floor?" Remus said in disbelief
"well yeh, it was a pretty big realisation" I said
"for you maybe" Peter muttered. I snapped my head to him
"what do you mean? What does he mean?" I said looking to Sirius who rubbed my shoulder calmingly
"well, you and Em have gotten quite close recently and well, the signs were there that you maybe had a more than friends' sort of situation going on" my mouth dropped open
"oh, come off it prongs. You call her sunshine and flirt with her every chance you get. I am surprised your only just coming to this conclusion" Remus said before he lay down on his bed.
"we are just friends!" I said jumping up defensively
"we know that mate, we are just saying that we saw this coming, that's all" Peter tried to sooth the situation
"how the bloody hell are you all so calm? I am freaking out!" I said before dramatically lying back on my bed
"why? It's just Em" Peter asked
"that's the thing Wormy, she isn't just Em anymore" I sighed "I obviously can't do anything about this crush"
"what on earth are you going on about?" Remus said annoyed
"I can't ruin our friendship it means too much to me" I said burying my face into my pillow preparing to face to inevitable lifetime of heartache as I watch Emily fall in love with some other bloke. My spiral into despair was momentarily interrupted as my pillow was ripped out from under and used to hit me repeatedly
"you are such an idiot" Sirius said once he was done beating me up
"yes, you have a great friendship with Em but that's how all the best relationship start" He said whilst taking Moony's hand
"look James, you can't let the fear of something that might never happen stop you at the chance of finding true happiness" Remus said

After laying down and staring at the celling for what felt like an eternity. Thinking of all the things that could go wrong, but also thinking of all that could go right. I genuinely think Emily cold be the one for me and that if everything works out, she could make me the happiest man alive. I sat up and looked at the boys.

"so, what do I do then?" I asked
"are you seriously asking that when you spent 6 years coming up with ways to woo Lily?" Peter deadpanned
"This is different. I have to get this right" I said nervously
"Emily isn't Lily. Lily hated all the stuff you did but Emily loves cheesy shit" Remus said but I wasn't convinced
"why don't you talk to the girls. They can help as well" Sirius suggest. I just scoffed at the idea
"Like they helped me with Lily?" Remus shook his head at me
"you just said yourself, this is completely different, they knew Lily didn't like you like that" My eyes widened "does that mean you think Emily does?"
"I think there is a good chance she does, yes" Remus nodded, and a huge smile took over my face
"this is all we are going to hear about for the forceable isn't it?" Peter asked
"face it Pete" Sirius paused before breaking out into song "he's a lover boy" I was already too busy picturing the future me and Em might create.

The next evening, I was yet again pacing but this time it was outside the transfiguration classroom.
"I swear to god Prongs just stand bloody still" Sirius complained from where he was sat on the floor
"Remus said they would be here at 11" I mumbled
"and its 11:02, just give them a minuet" Sirius argued.

After deciding to make a go of it with Emily I thought it best to get some advice from the girls. We decided Lily was the best option, but it was easier said than done to get her on her own. So, the plan was put in place that I would hijack her prefect round with Remus.
"Thank merlin, here they come" Sirius said as he pushed himself up of the floor
"what are you two doing, its past curfew" Lily scolded us
"I need to talk to you" I rushed out
"and it couldn't wait until morning?" she asked confused
"trust me Lil's you're going to want to hear him out" Remus said next to her
"please talk to him Lily he is driving me insane with all the pacing" Sirius said pleading with Lily. She sighed
"make it quick" I grinned and grabbed her hand and dragged her into the classroom
"I need your advice. Recently I have begun to develop feelings, romantic feelings for Emily" She actually squealed at me before clapping her hands together excitedly
"oh my god! This is amazing tell me everything you have planned" she gushed her hand clasped together tightly
"well that's the thing I don't have anything planned" her arms fell to her side and she frowned at me
"You are kidding me, right? You asked me out every day for 6 years and what? you're now telling me you have run out of ideas!" I scratched the back of my head
"not exactly, it's just I know I messed up with you Lily and this thing with Em, the way I feel about her its different and I really want it to work so I have to get it right" Lily softened
"oh Potter, look at you all grown up" I let out a low laugh before sitting on one of the seats
"I really like her Lil's" Lily sat next to me and rested her hand on my shoulder.
"well good news is, I think you have a good shot" I sat up straight in my chair
"why? What has she said about me? Does she have the same feelings?"
"woah slow down" she laughed at me "she hasn't exactly said anything specific but it's the way she acts" I gave her a confused looked.
"she talks about you all the time. For example, Kayla was talking about how they were learning about nifflers in care of magical creatures the other day and she told us how you once called her a niffler and how they are one of your favourite animals. Or like, when we went to honeydukes the other week, as I was walking round with her she was telling me what your favourite sweets are as she picked them up for you in case you didn't have chance to get them" I smiled at the thought of Em thinking of me but then frowned the more I thought about it
"but she would do that for anyone" I said glumly. Lily just shuck her head
"she probably would, but honestly Potter it's the way she lights up when she talks about you also, have you not noticed that since you told her you like her hair bows, she wears them all the time? Or how she blushes every time you call her sunshine?" the hair bows I had noticed but how could I have missed the blush?
"so, I have a good chance?" I asked. Lily nodded at me
"you do, I don't think she is quite at the same stage as you yet but give her time she will realise her feelings" I grinned
"what can I do in the meantime?" I asked trying to form a game plan
"honestly, just keep doing whatever you're doing. Just maybe lay it on bit thicker" I hummed in response thinking of things I could do.
"Emily just needs someone to be there for her. She is so busy taking care of everyone else, and its partially our fault as we let her, but she needs someone to put her first above everyone else" That's exactly what I wanted to do, I wanted to care for her the way she cared for me.
"I think I have got it" I said mulling over the ideas I had forming in my head nothing massive as Emily was all about the little things.

"I have always thought you two would be good together" Lily said
"really?" I asked shocked
"Yes, your both stupidly obsessed with the idea of love and cheesy gestures. Your both also are very selfless people so it will be nice to see you both taken care of" I pulled Lily into a side hug.
"so, I shouldn't shy away from cheesy?" I asked
"absolutely not, she will love it. I would lay off big things in the great hall though" I laughed, thinking back to all the times I must have embarrassed her.
"is this how it use to go when you asked the girls about me?" Lily asked and I barked out a laugh
"not exactly the same no"
"well it looks like it all worked out in the end" Lily smiled

Chapter 20 Chapter Text

I am a valentine's day lover. Do I think you need a specific day just to show someone you love them? Absolutely not. But do I love, love and get the biggest kick out of watching all the couples be cute? Absolutely I do. That's exactly what I was doing this morning. I was watching all the couples greet each other with longing kisses. I watched people get cards and their eyes immediately searching for the person they had hoped had sent it. All while tucking into the perfect bagel that was even more perfect because it was shaped like a heart. Come on that's just bloody adorable.

Lucy on the other hand hated valentine's day, so it was no surprise that she sulked into the hall that morning.
"I got a card" She said sitting next to me
"from who? I thought you were always so clear about it being just for fun" I asked
"I do! I think it's from Diggory. You know the Hufflepuff" she subtly nodded her head in his direction, and he was defiantly staring at her with heart eyes.
"that's a shame, he was very skilled, but I will have to cut him loose" Lucy muttered to herself.

It wasn't long before Kayla and Lily came to join us. They were still keeping things pretty quiet but anyone with eyes could see how in love those two were. They sat opposite us not taking their eyes off each other.
"you make me sick" Lucy grumbled. Lily snapped her eyes away from Kayla only to kick Lucy under the table
"any post yet?" Lily asked excitedly
"not yet, should be here soon though" I replied, "do you guys have any plans this evening?" I asked. Today was a Friday so any dates people were planning would have to wait until after class.
"we are planning on having a picnic dinner tonight, so we actually won't be at the feast" Kayla answered
"I have a bedroom date scheduled with the fit beater from Ravenclaw. If you know what I mean" Lucy chimed in wiggling her eyebrows. I am pretty sure anybody with half a brain knew what she meant.I had already planned to go to library, thinking I might catch regulus there. As far as I am aware, he wasn't dating anyone.

"Happy valentine's day ladies" Sirius said planting a kiss on my cheek as he and the rest of the boys joined us.
"got any plans for the day?" Lily asked the new commers
"Me and Remus are planning on making the shrieking shack shriek" Sirius said earning a dig in the ribs from Remus
"what love? You should not be ashamed of sex it's a natural thing" Sirius added
"please stop talking" Peter said his hands covering his ears
"what about you Pete you got anything planned?" I asked and his cheeks went bright red
"I am actually taking Mary on a first date" I could feel myself bubbling with excitement, wanting to ask 100 questions but knowing Peter wouldn't appreciate that in front of everyone.
"what about you Potter?" Lily asked. A weird smirk on her face
"nah, I am probably just going to catch up on some work"
"Emily also has no plans" I snapped my head to Lily. What the fuck?
"that's not, completely true I was planning to go to the Library" I muttered
"on your own on valentine's day? That's just sad" Sirius said, yet again earning himself another dig from Remus.
"she won't be on her own, I will be with her. Thats if you don't mind?" James said as he scratched the back of his neck
"no that's fine" I said quietly, blush rising up my cheeks
"it's a date then" He nodded at me

A what?

I didn't have time to think on it long as the post arrived. I watched as Ziggy clumsily landed with my bunch of sunflowers and card from my dad. I took them from him grinning as I opened the card. Some people might find this cringy, but I loved it. My dad is one of my favourite people ever and it was because of the love he shows me and my mum that I know never to settle for anything less than what I deserved.
"who are they off?" James asked rather grumpily across the table. I frowned at him
"My dad. He gets them me every year. You know this" I said confused. Why would he care who they are off anyway? I was about to ask what his problem was when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye.
"shit Lu, Diggory is coming" Lucy followed my line of sight before ducking down
"hide me quick"
"it's too late he has already seen you" Kayla said

Diggory stood behind Lucy who was trying to slowly sink under the table
"Happy valentine's day gorgeous" He said causing Sirius to snort. Lucy didn't reply to him she just slowly sank further
"Lucy?" He questioned. I bent down to her whispering in her ear
"you're going have to talk to him"
"but I don't want to" She whined. I sighed grabbing her under the arm and pulling her up before twisting her to face Diggory
"Sorry Amos, didn't see you there" this time I let out a small giggle
"that alright beautiful, I was just coming to see if you had received my card?" I watched Lucy visibly cringe
"I did, but I thought I had been clear Amos, that it was purely a physical thing" she muttered quietly
"you did, but I thought we had a good connection so wanted to try an explore that" Lucy grimaced
"sorry mate" yikes, talk about being put in the friend zone "but it's just not like that" Lucy said bluntly. Diggory sighed
"and I can't change your mind?" Lucy just shook her head at him. Now would have been a good time for him to leave but clearly he wasn't very smart.
"very well then" he muttered but then proceed to tap me on the shoulder. My eyes widened and I looked up at Lily who was sat opposite me she had the same shocked expression
"Emily?" he said. Please tell me he wasn't going to do this. I slowly turned around to look at him. Not before locking eyes with Lucy before I did.
"Hey Amos" I said uneasy
"I am guessing you heard all that" I hummed in agreement. Surely, he isn't going to.
"well since I am free tonight I was wondering if you might want to go on date?" no freaking way
"seriously mate?" Remus asked giving Amos as displeased look. I spun in my seat and looked at James who was shooting daggers at Amos. When his eyes met mine, I mouthed 'Help' to him
"she already has a date pal" James spat standing up shooting daggers at Amos
"who with?" Diggory asked me. I wanted the ground to eat me up
"with me, you idiot" James lied easily. Diggory's eyes winded
"I think you should just walk away now" Sirius smirked evilly at the boy who wasted no time baking away from our group, embarrassed. Quite frankly he deserved to be ashamed.
"well you sure know how to pick them Vixen" Sirius said while Lucy sook her head slowly in disbelief.

"thanks for covering for me" I said to James as we walked out the great hall
"anytime Sunshine" he said tugging on my bow. I had chosen a red one today to match the holiday.
"you don't have to come to the library with me by the way. I think Lily was just worried I was lonely. I was actually going to see If I could find Regulus in there" I thought aloud. James's grin dropped a little
"oh right, is there something going on with you and Regulus? I thought you guys were just friends" he asked, and I barked out a laugh
"Merlin no" I kept laughing at the idea, but when I realised James was still looking at me confused, I stopped to explain
"there is and never will be anything going on with me and Regulus. He is just my depressed little emo teenager that I annoy at every opportunity" I watched as James let out a small laugh smile returning to his face.
"I will still come with you then. If that's okay? Unless you would rather go alone. I don't mind if you want to hang with Regulus" I waved him off
"of course, you can come. You don't even need to ask. Plus, Regulus might not even be there"

That evening after dinner James and I made our way to the library. I had brought along some of James' favourite cookies I had made with Sirius in my free. He wanted to make Remus some chocolate fudge brownies so I thought I would make us some snacks for while we worked.

Turns out Regulus wasn't in the library. I made a mental note to quiz him when I next saw him. The library was pretty dead, which is what I expected, but you did have to dodge the odd snogging couple the further you went back. James and I worked individually on our work. He would occasionally ask me a question about something he was working on but nothing major.I was working on my History of magic essay and I could feel him staring at me.
"your staring Potter" I said not looking up
"how could you possibly know that?" he asked. I could her the smirk in his voice.
"I can feel you watching me" I answered looking up at him
"well how can you expect me to concentrate on my work when your sat there doing that cute little scrunchie nose thing that you do" cute?
"what nose scrunch thing" I asked
"you do this thing when your concentrating your nose scrunches up like you're really thinking about what you are doing. It's adorable"
"Adorable?" I said more to myself than to James, but he heard me and nodded
"yep, that's not the only adorable thing you do either" holy shit "you have this special little laugh that you do when you laugh at one of Sirius's jokes when you know you shouldn't, that's also pretty adorable" What is going on? "oh, and don't even get me started on the bows" my hand automatically reached up to my pull my bow like James does. I am pretty sure I was bright red now, but I tried to laugh it off.
"flirting again Potter?" he leaned on the table closer to
"is it working yet?" he asked and crap, it was. I gulped and looked back down at my work suddenly finding It so much more interesting
"just get on with your work and stop distracting me" I groaned. He laughed and leaned back in his chair
"it's alright Sunshine, I know I am irresistible" the worrying thing is I didn't disagree with him.

The rest of the time in library went fine. We joked around with each other like normal and thankfully the intense flirting was kept to a minimum, but James did end up sat so close to me I could feel his thigh pressed against mine. But I didn't move mine away.
"do you think it's safe to return to your dorm?" I asked as James walked me to the Ravenclaw tower
"why Em? Do you want to spend more time with me? All you had to do was ask" I hit him lightly on the chest
"that's not what I meant" he just laughed at me
"I know, I know. Yes, it should be fine, Moony and Pads will probably just stay down at the shack and I doubt Wormy is shagging on a first date but if he does there will be a sock on the door" he shrugged
"bet you have done that few times" I joked
"just twice" He shrugged. But when he said it, I got an aching feeling in my chest. I was already pretty sure James wasn't a virgin, heck I wasn't. so why this aching pain.
"what about you? Ever put a sock on the door?" he asked snapping me out my thought
"I have in the past" I muttered still feeling that sinking feeling in my chest. I heard James mutter an oh. I looked at him, he looked how I felt.
"it was just a friends with benefits thing. Never anything more, never fell in love" I said feeling the need to explain it to him.
"mine were both one-night stands" I nodded in understanding. That horrible feeling in my chest lifting slightly.
"so never been in love?" he asked cocking his eyebrow at me
"sorry we all couldn't fall in love at age 11" I mocked, and his laughter seemed to be the medicine I needed to vanish the heartache.
"I wasn't actually in love with Lily. I just thought I was" I nodded
"I am sure we will meet the love of our lives one day" I said to him as we came to a stop at the entrance to the tower.
"I am certain we will" he said looking me dead in the eyes before he bent down to place a gentle kiss on my cheek. He hovered at my ear and I could feel his warm breath on my face
"Happy Valentine's day Sunshine" he whispered before he quickly turned and walked away leaving me stood there in a daze, what on earth was going on?

When I finally recovered and made it to my dorm, I shut the door behind. Both my room mates were out with their partners. As soon as the door shut, I sank to the floor with my back resting against it. What is going on? Since when did James' flirting affect me so much? Since when did I get this effected by just being close to him? I ran my hand over my face, as my hand moved away from my eyes, I spotted sunflowers on my bed. That's weird I thought I left them on my desk. I quickly averted my gaze to see the sunflowers from dad still sat in the vase exactly where I left them. My eyes widened as I jumped up from the floor and ran to my bed to look at the extra bunch of flowers. I picked them up, taking out the card.

Let me know when the flirting starts to work

Happy valentines day

Love

I collapsed onto my bed holding the flowers and note close to my chest.

shit.

I spent most of the night last night trying to understand where these sudden new feeling relating to James had come from. I had put it down to the fact he was extra flirty mixed with the fact it was valentine's day and my heart got a little fluttery because of it. At least that's what I was telling myself. To be on the safe side I decided to avoid James today.

Shouldn't be too hard. I had girl's night tonight, so that meant I wouldn't be at dinner. I had an early breakfast so didn't see him there and by chance I missed him when I had lunch with Lucy in the great hall. It had been rather successful, I just had to get through the next few hours before I met the girls. Which is why I was sat at the very top of Ravenclaw tower, the other side of the castle to Gryffindor tower, writing a letter to my parents and my brother, though I would be lucky to get a reply from him.
"you're avoiding me" I jumped out of my skin, I had been lost in my own world and the wind howling at the windows made it hard to hear anyone coming.
"Merlin Potter, you scared me half to death" I said with a hand over my chest
"sorry sunshine" he said sitting and mirroring my position. I was sat crossed legs in one of the window arches, my back leaning on the stone wall. James was doing the same but leaning against the other end of the arch.
"That's it. Take it off" I demanded to him
"are you asking me to strip?" he asked smirking at me, I whacked him in the chest
"no, you idiot, take whatever tracking device you have on me, off" I said crossing my arms over my chest
"there is nothing to take off" James said
"but there has to be a way you and the other buffoons seem to always be able to find me. Just tell me how you always know where I am" James just shrugged at me
"I can't tell you that. I have to have some secrets to maintain my status as mysterious bad boy" I laughed at him
"you are neither mysterious nor a bad boy" he poked my arm
"don't ruin the illusion Em. Let me be delusional" I hummed at him, humouring his delusion.

"anyway, why are you hiding from me in the first place?"
"I am not" I said but my voice raising slightly in pitch. James hummed at me like I had done to him
"have you just come to annoy me or is there another reason for your visit?" I asked changing the subject. He lent back against the arch way my eyes zoning in on the way his arms looked as he crossed them behind his head. This, this is why I was avoiding him.
"just thought you would want some company"
"and what about the boys?" it was rare to ever find one of them on their own
"they will track me down if they need me" He winked at me
"I forgot to tell you. Guess what Kayla told me they are studying in care of magical creatures?" i asked but James had this weird grin on his face
"why are you smiling like that?"
"no reason, carry on with your story" his face didn't change any, so I carried on
"they are studying nifflers" I told him knowing they were his favourite animal. I went on to tell him all the stuff I had quizzed Kayla on
"interesting, maybe we should get one as pet" he thought
"i think I would prefer a cat" He burst out laughing
"as if Sirius would ever let you get a cat" I frowned at him
"I would like to see him try and stop me" My response made James double over in laughter
"I would love to see that" he said between laughs
"please it would be easy, I would also have Lucy for backup"
"oh, does that mean I am Sirius back up?" he questioned
"yes and that will be his downfall as Lucy will obviously handle Sirius and that leave me to take on you and I have secret weapon" he raised his eyebrow at me challenging. I lunged froward poking him in the spot just under his ribs where I knew he was extra ticklish
"I know your weakness Potter" once he batted my hand away, he turned to me with an evil grin before he squeezed either side of Knee causing my whole body to instantly jerk. annoyingly that happened whenever my knee is grabbed like that
"good thing I know yours then as well isn't it?" he did it again before I could push him off
"okay I guess we are better matched than I thought" I muttered
"oh sunshine we are the perfect match" he said making me blush
"you're a pain in my arse, is what you are" I mumbled

Spending the afternoon with James actually helped, I was all in my head after yesterday, but it was nice to just spend time with him. He was still more flirty than normal, and my heart would get all fluttery but just being sat there with him made me less scared of the flutters and the new feelings because at the end of the day it was just me and James.

I had however come to the conclusion I couldn't just ignore the flutters in my heart, and I had to work out what that meant for me and James and what I was going to do about it. Now that, that was scary. The friendship I have with James is so precious to me and I can't lose that no matter what. But the way he made me feel just from looking at me didn't seem to be going anywhere.

"no bows today?" James asked as we descended the tower. In all honesty I hadn't bothered putting much effort into my appearance today, including bows that I had took to wearing all the time. I was kidding myself when I said I wasn't doing it just because he told me they looked nice at Christmas as that was exactly the reason, I wore them.
"messy bun and bows don't really work" I lied. Like hell I was telling him it was because I hadn't bothered to put one in because I wasn't going to see him
"think I could pull a bow off?" he asked, twirling one of his curls on top of his head. He really wasn't helping the chaos going on in my head when he looked so adorable.
"I will bring one to breakfast tomorrow for you to try" he beamed at me.

I was about to say goodbye and go into the common room when he placed another kiss on my cheek just like the night before. He pulled back and stood Infront of me and as I looked at him, I knew I was in deep.
"please don't avoid me again" he said softly. My heart breaking a little at how sad he sounds. I opened my mouth to deny it but thought against it.
"I am sorry, I am just a bit in my head today" I said suddenly finding my feet really interesting
"well in future don't hide from me. I promise to always be there to help you get out of your head" he used his finger to till my head up to look at him before letting go
"have a good night with the girls" he said going back to his normal tone
"try not to talk about me to much!" he yelled as he walked away. I am pretty sure James is all we are going to talk about. As there was no point denying it. I had a huge crush on Potter.

Chapter 21 Chapter Text

I have never been more grateful to have a girl's night. The room of requirement had become our own personalised common room. I was sat on the floor while Kayla absentmindedly plaited my hair.
"Did you hear there is a new volume of quidditch through the ages coming out?" Lucy asked Kayla. I wounder if James knew about it? I made a mental note to tell him.

When I realised I had feeling for James I thought it had come on quite suddenly but then I thought about all the times I made notes to tell him things I heard throughout the day or how I seemed to gravitate towards him in a room full of people or how he never fails to make me smile. The more I thought about the more I realised that it wasn't sudden and slowly overtime my feelings started to change. I guess I just needed him to make the first move.

"I have a crush on James" I blurted out. The girl's conversation stopped dead and they all turned to look at me.

"it's about bloody time" Lucy said breaking the silence. I looked at her confused as Kayla placed her hand on my shoulder
"this is the best news ever! I thought it would take you longer to be honest" Lily said excitedly as she moved to come sit next to me on the floor.
I titled my head back to look at Kayla
"please explain" she gave me a small smile patting me on my shoulder.
"well sweetie, when you talk about what you want in a partner, James matches that description" She said kindly "we all thought something might happen between you two when you started getting close. Then you came back from Christmas break and well, it was just a matter of time"
"it was just a matter of waiting for you to realise your feelings" Lucy said handing me a glass of wine that I took a large gulp from.
"what made you realise you liked him?" Lily asked as I sighed tilting my head back to rest on the couch. Kayla had now moved so we were all sat in a circle on the floor.
"he has just been extra flirty recently and I don't know I started to realise I didn't hate it. I don't move away when his hand brush past mine or our shoulders touch. Then he got me sunflowers on valentine's day" Lily squeaked interrupting me
"I am not listening to this if she keeps doing that" Lucy grumbled
"I am sorry, I am just so excited" Kayla moved closer to Lily holding her closer to her to try and contain her excitement.
"The sunflowers had this card that said something like 'let me know when the flirting starts to work' you know pretty clear indicator he likes me right? I am not being delusional?" I checked
"definitely not delusional" Lily confirmed
"then I just got all confused because I started to realise, I felt differently towards him than I do for Sirius or the other boys. We spent the afternoon together today and I kept getting butterflies and the more thought about it the more I realised I have had butterflies for a while, I just didn't know why" I groaned closing my eyes and tilting my head to the ceiling

"I really like him" I almost whispered
"well what are you waiting for? Go snog him" Kayla hit Lucy over the back of the head
"I can't do that. Its way more complicated, he is one of my best friends" Lucy cleared her throat
"I said 'one off' calm down" I scolded her before carrying on "anyway, I care so much about him and the friendship we have that I just don't know how to play this because I can't just ignore the way I feel"
"then don't" Kayla said smiling at me
"yeh, you have acknowledged how you feel that's all. Nothing has to change" Lily added
"so what? we just stay friends?" I asked
"no, but you just let it happen naturally. You guys have gotten this far without forcing it so just let it happen" Lucy nodded at Kayla
"she is right, now that your aware of your feelings, you will naturally just sort of play into but if you want to you could spend some more one on one time with him. Nothing major but when he asked you to go somewhere with, him like the library, don't invite other people with you" I thought it over, that didn't seem to scary

"if it helps, he really like you as well" Lily said as she bounced slightly in her seat
"and how do you know that missy?" Kayla said nudging her nose into Lily's neck
"he asked me for advice" Lucy let out a laugh
"oh, how the tables have turned" ignoring her I turned to Lily
"what did he say?"
"Just that he liked you a lot. Like you, he wants to get this right. I told him to just carry on doing what he is doing but lay it on a bit thicker and I am thrilled to see it worked" She said smugly. It did make me feel a lot better, knowing he felt the same way and that he wanted things to work just as much as me.

"he has quidditch practice tomorrow. You should go" Kayla informed me
"I can't just show up that's a bit full on" I said
"it will be fine. Kayla can bring it up at breakfast tomorrow and I am almost certain he will invite you but if not just tag along with Remus to watch. We will all be conveniently busy so you can't spend time with us. No excuses" Lucy schemed. Damn it comes in handy being friends with a Slytherin.
"I can be a bridesmaid at the wedding, right?" Lily asked

The next morning, I walked into the hall, little bow in my pocket, as promised. After my talk with the girls last night, although still nervous about how things were changing with James, I was also really excited at the possibility. The boys were already at the table when we got there. I slid in the seat next to James smiling at him shyly.
"Morning, how's your head?" He asked
"not bad, we actually didn't drink too much, too busy chatting"
"I told you not to talk about me to much" Oh boy if only you knew. I moved to look for a bagel when James placed one on my plate
"I spotted it when we came in, was just waiting for you to get here" I moved closer to him bumping my knee against his
"cheers Potter" he smiled down at me "wait, before I forget" I grabbed the bow from my pocket. He tilted his head so I could clip it in, moving his head back once it was on securely
"look how pretty you are" I teased him
"hey pads look at my new bow" Sirius looked at him grinning before he reached into his own pocket pulling out one of my bows and placing it in his hair
"we match!" he exclaimed
"Erm excuse me!" Sirius turned to me "do you just get a kick out of stealing my things?"
"you just have such pretty stuff Em. I can't help it" he whined
"ready for your practice this morning?" Kayla asked, just like we planned
"yes we are looking good this season, you might want to start getting worried" James teased her in response
"wait until you see Hufflepuff you will be quaking in your boots" she argued back
"Please. When did Hufflepuff last win the cup?" Sirius piped up. Kayla and Sirius went back and forth between each other.

I felt James nudge my arm. I turned to look at him
"you don't fancy coming to watch, do you?" he said with a slight blush. Was he nervous? I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. Out of the corner of my eye Lily was giving me a not so subtle thumb up
"I would love to" I answered honestly with my own blush crossing my face. James' eyes widened
"seriously? You're going to come watch?" I softly laughed at him"that's what I said didn't I?" a huge smile spread across his face before he quickly turned to Sirius
"Pads, we got to be on our A game today, Em is coming to watch"
"is she now?" Sirius smirked knowingly
"you can sit with me Em I am watching as well" Remus said giving me a wink

"you're drooling" Remus said snapping me out of daydream. We have been watching the team run their practice for half an hour now and damn who knew quidditch was so sexy.
"I was not" I said leaning back in my seat. Remus just chuckling at me. I went back to watching James, there was just something about watching him in his element. The way he commanded the pitch and don't even get me started when he got all bossy directing the team's practice.
"I thought it was bad enough watching James stare at you longingly I have to deal with you as well. There is no escape" I turned my head to him
"yeh well, if I have to listen to Sirius tell me the details of your sex life, you can deal with this" Remus chocked slightly
"yeh not so funny now are you buddy?" I patted his back.

Practice continued for another hour. I was now frozen and my bum numb, but I would do it all again to watch James arms flex when reached to catch the quaffle. I was waiting with Remus outside the boy's locker room for Sirius and James to come out once they had showered. Sirius was out first dramatically draping himself over Remus
"Moony, my muscles are so sore, you're going to have to massage them better" I let out a snort
"come on you idiot let's get you back" Remus half dragged Sirius away
"don't forget to put a sock on the door" I shouted. The boys had very different reactions. Sirius sent me a cheeky wink while Remus glared at me.
"you waited?" James said causing me to jump slightly as I spun back round to face him.
"obviously! I want to hear how practice went" he looked at me confused as we began walking
"you sat and watched it, you know how it went"
"I have no idea if that was a good practice or not, considering who my brother is, I have very limited quidditch knowledge. Plus, I want to hear what you thought about it" he looked taken back
"you want me to talk about quidditch?" he asked dumbfounded
"if that's okay?" I said slightly confused. He barked out a loud laugh tilting his head back.
"if that's okay? Of course, its bloody okay" He put his arm around my shoulder pulling me closer and telling me all about the practice. I watched him talk passionately about the sport. I loved the way his face would light up at something going well or when his face scrunched in thought as he told me his plans for improvement.

Being like this with James just felt natural. It didn't feel rushed or forced. It was a notch up from just being friends, but I felt comfortable and happy with it. If we get this right. This could be something magical

Chapter 22 Chapter Text

Regulus had just entered the library. I was waving at him to come join me, but he looked right past me. Rude. Turning back to my work whilst muttering under my breath about Regulus I felt someone hovering behind me
"move to the back table" I turned to glare at him
"oh, so now you're talking to me?" I said not whispering like Regulus had done
"will you be quiet, just move to the back table" He huffed at me. I crossed my arms over my chest frowning at him
"No, why should I?" he ran his hand over his face in frustration
"fine. Do what you want but I will be sat over there it you would like to quietly join me" he hissed before striding away.

I lasted all of two minutes before I was packing up my stuff and moving tables. Banging my books down on the table just to purposely annoy Regulus as I took my seat.
"what up with you?" I asked the grumpier than usual boy.
"Nothing. Sit down and don't talk to loud" he snapped at me.
"what's going on Reg?" he ground his teeth
"Nothing, everything is fine" he ground out. Not believing him I prompted again
"Reg-"
"I said I am fine!" he barked at me voice laced with anger. I sunk back in my seat a bit taken back. Everything clearly was not fine.

I turned back to the book I was reading silently avoiding eye contact with Regulus. We sat in a tense awkward silence for a good few minutes
"I am sorry" Regulus said quietly. Resting his hand on my forearm to get my attention.
"it's alright" I muttered not looking up
"it's not. I shouldn't have raised my voice at you or spoke to you that way especially when all you have ever been is nice to me. I am sorry Emily" this time when he gave my arm a light squeeze, I looked up at him
"what's going on Reg?" I carefully asked again. He removed his hand from my arm and lent back in his chair
"I received an owl from my parents, apparently word has got back to them about our friendship" I frowned
"what? Are they not happy you have a friend?"
"they are not happy you're my friend" he explained
"why? I am a pureblood" I said knowing that my blood status could be a contributing factor
"you're a blood traitor. They also know your friends with Sirius which is a big no no. Plus your parents are widely known to be actively against the dark lord and his values" we have never spoken about the Voldemort before. None of us really spoke about it, we hoped that if we ignore that it's happening it might just magically go away. At the mention of my parents I felt a shudder of worry. They were currently on a mission Merlin knows where, fighting against very dangerous people.

"you don't have to hang out with me Reg. I can move back to my table. I don't want you to get in trouble with your parents" I said thinking about the last time one of the Black boys was the recipient of their mother's raft.
"no, that's not what I want. We are just going to have to sit a bit more out of the way. Away from prying eyes" I looked at him sceptically
"Look Em, it will be fine please don't worry. You're the only real friend I have" I looked at him before I pulled him into a hug which he lightly reciprocated before pushing me away
"alright that's enough. No more exhibiting emotions today" I rolled my eyes at him sitting back in my seat
"it's normal to feel multiple emotions in one day" I reminded him
"for you maybe"

I was telling Regulus about my apparition exam that was coming up before the easter holidays when I spotted James approaching us, I couldn't help the giddy feeling I got from seeing him. Not much had changed since I realised I had feelings for him. I had taken the girls advice and we have been spending some more time together just us two. It's been nice, really nice.
"Hey, what are you doing sat all the way back here?" he asked sitting in the seat next to me and placing his arm round the back of my chair
"Regulus has a spy" I said jabbing my thumb at a sighing Regulus. James nodded as if he understood not questioning it.
"alright mate?" He said in way of greeting Regulus, tilting his head in his direction as if he just noticed he was there. Regulus just nodded at James before turning back to his work.
"what are you working on anyway?" James said putting his attention back on me. I looked down sheepishly at my book
"I am reading about the theory of apparition" I muttered quietly
"Again? I told you it's going to be fine you have nothing to worry about" I may be a bit nervous for the test I just don't feel like I have had chance to practice enough. They gave us a one-hour class and that was it. What sort of preparation is that?
"I have already told her this" Regulus piped up. I snapped my head to him glaring at him
"right! She did it perfectly in class and I have tried to tell her its like riding a bike once you get it you never forget" James agreed with Regulus
"you know what she is like, she likes to be over prepared for everything" James let out a laugh in agreement
"tell me about it!" my head swivelled between the boys as they spoke
"that's enough ganging up on me for today" I said causing both boys to snicker
"what are you doing here anyway?" James raised an eyebrow at me
"what are you not happy to see me?" he teased. I could feel the blush cross my cheeks
"why would I be happy to see your ugly mug?" the biggest lie ever told. James gasped dramatically
"come on sunshine don't be like that. I have feelings" I smiled shaking my head at him
"I am sure you will get over it" I turned my head back to look at my book
"no, I won't. Not until you tell me I am beautiful" he said smacking his palm down on the table
"well you're going to be waiting a long time" I muttered to him
"you're really mean sometimes" he sulked next to me. I glanced at him out the corner of my eye his bottom lip was stuck out and his arms crossed across his chest
"oh for Merlin's sake woman. Just tell him he is beautiful" Regulus said reminding me that it wasn't just me and James present.
"fine, you're beautiful!" I said patting his cheek lightly. James gave me a cocky grin
"see was that so hard?" I went to reply but he cut me off before I could
"I actually just came to check you were coming to Hogsmeade tomorrow and if I could steal you away from the girls for half an hour, I have had an idea"
"should I be worried?" I asked him. When James had an idea literally anything could happen
"please you will be with me what could you possibly have to worry about?" lots of things sprung to mind but I pushed them away before answering him
"okay then" I agreed.
"Perfect! I will see you tomorrow" he said leaning in to plant a kiss on my cheek before getting up
"see you later mate" he said to Regulus before he turned around and left

I let out a content sigh watching James leave when I felt Regulus hit me on the back of my head with his book
"what was that for?" I asked while rubbing my head
"you tell me so much useless information, but you don't tell me your dating Potter"
"that's because we aren't dating" I said defensively.
"could have fooled me" he said in disbelief
"I may have realised I have some feeling for him"
"What? No? Really? That is the most shocking information" I rolled my eyes at his sarcasm.
"I am just letting things develop naturally between us" I informed Regulus who hummed at me
"bet your snogging him by the end of the month"

"Nope not happening" I said to James as we stood in one of the surrounding fields to Hogsmeade village. The morning had been going well, I had done some shopping with the girls before I was whisked away by James, promising the girls he would bring me back in one piece.
"you said you wanted to practice so practice" He yelled from about 10 feet away. His brilliant idea was to practice apparition ahead of our test next week. I just shook my head at him. I watched as his shoulders dropped before, he apparated so he was stood next to me. Once he landed, I immediately grabbed him scanning him for signs he had splinched. He put his hand on either side of my arms causing them fall back to my sides. Tilting his head down to look in my eyes.
"I am fine, I am not splinched" he said calming my nerves
"there is a reason they said not to try it without supervision" I argued as he started to rub my arms soothingly
"you are supervised I am stood right here" I looked at him grumpily he knew that's not what I meant
"look, you are worried you haven't practiced enough this is the perfect way to practice. I will be here the whole time" he assured me before removing his hands and apparating back to where he was before.
"just come to me" he yelled.

Taking a deep breath, I focused on following the practices they taught us in class. I felt the familiar tummy turning sickness before I felt my feet land on the floor. I kept my eyes squeezed shut not wanting to see myself missing an arm or a leg.
"you did it Sunshine, you can open your eyes now" James said quietly next to me. Slowly peeking my eyes open, I looked down at my body counting my limbs making sure everything was there before turning to James
"I did it!" I said happily wrapping my arms round his neck. He wrapped his around my waist picking me up and spinning me round in a circle
"I told you it's just like riding a bike" he put me back down on the ground. I removed my hands from his neck, but he kept his around my waist.
"can I try again?" I asked him he just grinned at me
"I did bring you here to practices"

After another few rounds of practicing, I was feeling significantly less worried about my test. We made our way to catch up with the girls in the three broomsticks, walking closely next each other, often I felt James' hand brush against mine but neither of us taking the plunge to grab hold.
"yeh, well you can shove it up your fat arse" we heard Lucy exclaim as we entered the pub. I looked at James worried, but he was just laughing. He pointed over to where he had spotted our group of friends congregated in the back corner. Lucy was squaring up to Sirius who just had an amused look on his face
"what's going on?" I asked hurrying over to them
"he called me a troll" Lucy said pointing angrily at Sirius. I heard James let out a small chuckle from where he stood behind me
"I didn't. I simply bought her some face cream I saw in one of the shops" he said as I picked up the cream in question. It had a picture of a troll on the top of the tin. I turned it over examining it reading the catch line 'tired of looking like troll?' I passed the cream to James who burst out laughing when he read the messaging.
"Sirius, say sorry" I scolded
"why? I got her nice gift she is being ungrateful" he said innocently. Lucy stomped her feet and was about the argue again when James interrupted
"Pads just say sorry so I can go get a drink" Sirius mouth dropped open at James. James just nodded his head in Lucy's direction.
"sorry" he grumbled as James tossed him the cream
"beside pads, looks like you need the cream more" Sirius turned to James glaring
"come on love let's get a drink" James grabbed my hand dragging me to the bar avoiding Sirius' imminent rath.

Chapter 23 Chapter Text

I was psyching myself up for the conversation I was about to have with Lucy. My parents had written to let me know that over the easter break they had gotten tickets for us to get see one of my brothers' games and I could bring a friend with me. I wanted to take James. Lily had no interest in quidditch so she wouldn't want to come, Lucy's parents don't let her visit us in the holiday anymore, never mind let her go to a game.I had spoken to Kayla and told her how I thought it might be a nice birthday present for James. Kayla thought it was a great idea and she didn't mind missing out. After checking with her multiple time to make sure she was okay, the decision was made. All I had to do now was tell Lucy.

"what do you mean you're going to ask Potter!" She yelled jumping out of her seat looking down at me
"Lu, your mum isn't going to let you go" I tried to reason with her
"so, take Kayla!" she exclaimed
"Lucy, your being unreasonable, Emily has already spoke to me about it and I told her it's a great idea to ask James" Kayla said sternly
"unbelievable, I knew you would abandon us the minuet you became friends with those idiots" she seethed but thankfully sat back down.
"that's not what's happening, and you know it" Lily said backing me up
"if it makes you feel any better James has to spend the whole day with my dad" I added. Lucy turned to me some anger seemed to leave her face.
"Colin is meeting James. Colin who still thinks you're his sweet innocent baby girl?" I nodded at her. She burst into a fit of laughter.
"you should have started with that! Oh, what I would pay to see Potter shit his pants when he meets your dad" I just shook my head at her but happy she didn't seem to be angry anymore

James' birthday fell on the last full day at Hogwarts before we went home for easter and for the last few years he has held a party in the Gryffindor common room. I had never been to one of his birthday parties before mainly because I wasn't invited, and Lily made us boycott anything to do with James. This year was different, we were all going.

I hadn't seen James or the boys since this morning at breakfast they had spent the whole day causing chaos throughout the castle with poor professor McGonagall trailing after them. I can only imagine how many detentions the boys will have when they get back after break. Snapping out of my thoughts to look at the mountain of clothes I had lay on my bed. Why is it I have all these clothes but nothing to wear?

There was a knock on my dorm door. I shouted for whoever it was to come in and luckily for me it was Kayla.
"hey, I thought I would just come check on you. Katie let me in" Katie and Rachel where my dorm mate. Luckily for me they were both super chill and didn't mind my friends being here. They also weren't in the dorm that often as they spent most of their time with their own friends and boyfriends. Both super nice girls though.
"I don't know what to wear Kay. Like I want to look nice because, you know, it's his birthday but also not like I am trying to hard" I said throwing myself face first into the pile of clothes
"firstly, we do not dress for men" she said whilst picking up my clothes and examining them
"secondly, James is not going to care what you are wearing just that you are there" I groaned into the clothes.
"just pick for me" It came out rather muffled.
"don't worry your fairly god mother is here" she began rummaging around through the mess I had created
"where is Lily and Lucy?" I questioned
"Lily is helping get the common room ready and I think Lucy is having a pre party nap. I just thought you might be a bit stressed" Kayla had always been the most perceptive out of our group and luckily for me she was also the most stylish. I looked at the outfit she had on. She has flared blue jeans with a cropped yellow balloon sleeved top. Her hair styled in its natural curls. She always looked effortlessly beautiful.
"don't just sit there, start on your hair and makeup" she said nudging me to get off the clothes I was sat on.

Nearly an hour later I looked in the mirror, Kayla had definitely worked her magic. She had chosen for me a short black mini skirt with sheer black tights underneath. That was paired with a red Holter neck body suit. I had my hair in a loose half up half down situation mainly just so I could wear a bow as I knew James liked them. It was a good look, it achieved the right level of dressy for the party, nothing over the top but at the same time the outfit made me look good giving me the extra little bit of confidence I needed.
"we better get going" Kayla said behind me.
"one sec" I raced over to my desk grabbing the present I got James before we headed out the door.

As soon as we walked into the Gryffindor common room, I was greeted by an already tipsy Sirius.
"EMILY" he shouted causing most of the room to turn and look at me making me blush a deep shade of red. He wrapped his arms around me picking me up and spinning me round clumsily.
"let's get a drink in you" he said tugging me away. I looked back over my shoulder at the girls. Lucy had met me and Kayla on the way here and the pair had found Lily when we walked in. At the drinks table I was greeted by Peter who seemed to be manning the makeshift bar
"what can I get you pretty lady?" He said playing his role well.
"I will get a fire whisky please, kind sir" I said playing along.
"you look lovely tonight Em" he smiled at me handing me over my drink
"you're looking very handsome yourself Pete, is Mary here tonight?" I asked. The pair had been on a few dates and it seemed to be going well. I stood chatting with Peter for few minutes having seemingly lost Sirius.

"There she is!" Remus exclaimed coming over to me and Pete. He looked well consider the next full moon was in three days' time.
"I lost your boyfriend a few minutes ago" I told him
"he came to tell me you were here, and I believe he is now annoying your friends" I looked at where Remus was pointing and true to form, he was bickering with Lucy. I was about to go sort it, but Remus pulled me back
"don't worry about it. They are fine, you are here to have fun tonight. We are under strict orders that you are not worry about a thing" I looked from Remus to Peter who was nodding.
"orders from who?" I asked
"the birthday boy obviously. This is your first time at one of his birthday parties he wants you to have a good time" a smile crept its way onto my face
"where is he anyway?" I stood on my tiptoes looking round the room
"probably changing his mind on his outfit for the 100th time" Peter muttered
"why don't you see if you can help him" Remus nodded in the direction of the boy's dorm stairs. I bit my lip anxiously looking over at the stairs.
"here take him this and go" Peter gave me another drink shoving me in the direction of the stairs.

Once outside the boy's dorm I knocked lightly on the door and heard James shout he would be a second. Moments later my mouth dropped open. He stood before me, hair all messy, black jeans and a crisp white shirt. Here is the thing the shirt hung open on his shoulders. Damn, quidditch was doing wonders for this boy's body.
"take a picture it might last longer" a cocky James said as he lent against the door frame. Blushing I brushed past him into the boy's dorm. James' bed looked just as mine had just over an hour a go.
"struggling?" I asked handing him the drink Peter had given me
"I just want to look nice" he said taking a long sip. I went over to the clothes just as Kayla had done for me. I pulled out an olive green slim fit shirt and handed it to him to try.
"you look beautiful by the way" he said whilst he changed shirts.
"thank you" I blushed refusing to look at him whilst he changed.
"what do you think?" He asked. I turned to look at him and damn he looked good there was something about that tone of green that made his eyes pop.
"perfect" I smiled at him as I sat on his bed tapping the space next to me.

"I am actually glad I got to speak to you up here, I wanted to give you your present" I handed him the small box. Watching, as he eagerly ripped into the box, nervously holding my breath.
"I knew I wanted to get you some kind of jewellery like you got me but I didn't think a bracelet was your things but I know you like rings" I had gotten him a gold ring with the shape of antlers stamped into it.
"I thought since you got me something with my nickname, I could get you something with yours" I kept talking as James was yet to do anything other than stare at the gift.
"if you don't like we can take it back and get something else" his eyes snapped to mine
"I love it Emily" he said so sincerely my heart felt like it would explode. He smirked at me lifting the ring out the box.
"put it on for me?" he asked just like I had done with my bracelet. Laughing I took the ring from him and slid it on his index finger. He grinned down at the ring before sitting back against his headboard pulling me, so I was tucking into his side.
"it's perfect" he held up his hand so we could both look at his ring while his other arm was wrapped around me holding me to him. Yeh it was perfect.
"there is something else" I said pushing up from him so I could face him.
"I don't need anything else Em. This is already more than enough" ignoring him I carried on
"I was wondering if you wanted to come watch my brother's game with me over the holiday?" he jumped
"you're kidding right? You want me to come? What about Lucy and Kayla?" He fired questions at me
"Lucy isn't allowed to come because of her parents, and I spoke to Kay, she was cool about me asking you" his smile grew on his face
"Hell, yeah I want to come" this time it was my turn to smile
"Just to clarify my mum and dad are also going to be there" I added on his face formed a worried look
"I am going to meet your parents?" he said sounding scared
"I have met your parents. It's nothing to worry about" I argued but it didn't seem to help
"Both your parents could kill me. Plus, my mum and dad love you" I laughed at him
"my parents won't kill you" well my mum wont "they will love you it will be fine" James did not look convinced
"don't worry Potter I will protect you from my scary dad" I said standing up "now come on, some looser is having a birthday party downstairs and the party seems like fun" James shook off the worry he had before, jumping up and following me out the room.

The train ride home was particularly uneventful, so I was extra excited to get home and see my parents. However, when I stepped off the train, I couldn't see them. I stood on my tiptoes looking for them.
"Emily, Lovely, is that you?" I turned at the sound of Euphemia Potters voice. As soon I was in arms reach Mia pulled me in for a hug
"it's so lovely to see you again and look at you even more beautiful than the last time we saw you! How is that possible?" she gushed
"it's good to see you Mia, I actually just finished a book I think you will love"
"you will have to come over during in the holidays and we can have a good natter over a cup of tea" I smiled at her
"how's it going with your potion Emily?" Fleamont asked from beside his wife. I launched into an explanation of what I had been working on careful not to say too much as Sirius was stood not too far away.
"well if my wife can spare you when you come to visit, bring your notes I would love to have a read over what you have come up with" Monty said genuinely interested in my work.

"Emily?" I heard my father call from the distance I turned spotting him. Just before I was about to run over to him James grabbed my hand
"running off without saying goodbye. How could you do that to me Sunshine?" I blushed heavily, very aware of Mia and Monty watching us
"I am going to see you in a few days Potter, try not miss me too much" I said to him
"I will do my best, but I don't know how I am going to survive the next four days" I shuck my head at him pulling him in for a hug
"you're an idiot" I mumbled into his chest
"deny it all you want Em, I know you will miss me too" he said. Pulling away from him I heard my dad shouting again. With a quick wave to the Potters and Sirius I ran over to my parents diving right into my dad's outstretched arms.

"that right I give way better hugs than that scrawny little boy" I hit my dad lightly
"James isn't scrawny, and you know it" I then turned to my mum who winced slightly as I hugged her. I immediately pulled away worry written all over my face.
"I am fine, stop worrying. I am just a little bruised is all" my mum immediately said trying stop me panicking. I gave her an unconvinced look.
"come on let's get home" my dad went to hold my hand to apparate us home, but I pulled it away
"can I try do it on my own? It's the first time I will have done it since I passed my exam" my dad looked at me like he was about to burst into tears
"my baby girl is so grown up" my mum placed a hand on my dad's shoulder
"see you at home sweetie" she said before apperating them both home.

"who are you bringing to the game?" my mum asked as we cooked dinner together in the kitchen. This was one of my favourite things about being home. I was really lucky to have such amazing parents and I genuinely loved spending time with them.
"I am bringing James" I said as I used magic to clear away where I had been cutting the vegetables. Being able to use magic outside school had made everything so much easier.
"James who likes Lily?" my mum asked. I froze. I forgot I hadn't caught them up on everything. They had been away on a mission most of this term and I am not able to send them many letters while they are away.
"not anymore. Lily is actually with Kayla now and has been since last summer" if my mum was shocked, she didn't show it. I went on to tell her how Lily and James had become friends, and everything was all good between them.
"and you and James? is there anything I should know about?" my mum asked. I looked away from her blushing.
"we aren't dating or anything, but I think we both know that we like each other in a more than friends' way. I am just taking things slowly and seeing what happens" I rushed out.
"oh honey" my mum turned me round pulling me into a hug
"that sounds like a perfect plan. I had a feeling something might be going on with you two since Christmas, but I wasn't sure as you were adamant he liked Lily. Do you want to tell me about him?" my mum asked supportively. So, I did, I gushed about James to my mum telling her all the nice things he does for me, how he makes me happy and that he is my biggest supporter. I told her about how we have been spending time together and how much I liked him.

"he sounds like one of the good ones, I can't wait to meet him properly" She beamed at me
"who are you meeting?" my dad asked as he walked into the kitchen
"Emily is bringing her friend James to the game with us" mum informed
"and James is a boy?" My dad asked for clarification
"the boy she hugged on the platform" my mum said with a knowing smirk
"absolutely not! What about Kayla or Lucy?"
"Dad, James is coming. I have already asked him. Besides, Lucy and Kayla can't make it" my dad looked like he was having none of it.
"Colin, it is important we meet this boy. He is important to Emily and we did say she can bring any friend she wanted" My mum said sternly. My dad's eyes widened
"important? Is he your boyfriend?" he managed to get out although he looked sick
"He isn't my boyfriend, but he is important to me Dad and I would like for you to meet him and be nice to him" I quickly added the last part. My dad looked to my mum who was looking at him equally as sternly as I was
"I guess if I meet him, I can threaten him let him know what will happen if he hurts my baby girl" he muttered. I opened my mouth to argue but my mum placed her hand on my shoulder
"let him have this one Honey"

Chapter 24 Chapter Text

James Pov

I was throwing clothes from my wardrobe onto my bed trying to find the right outfit that said 'please don't kill me because I fancy the pants off your daughter'

"what are you doing son?" my dad asked from my doorway. I turned to him holding two different jumpers up
"which one do you think Emily's dad will like more?" my dad looked at me baffled before pointing at the blue one. I quickly tossed the brown one back into my wardrobe pulling the jumper over my head and looking in the mirror.
"dad I am going to need some of your hair stuff" I said prodding and pocking at my hair.
"you hair is fine James" my dad eyed me warily "maybe I should go get your mum, this type of breakdown seems more her domain" I turned to look at my dad
"no, I need your advice. If you were Emily's dad would you want to kill me?" I gestured to my outfit then gave a little spin so he could see the full thing. My dad just stood there dumbfounded
"come on dad a little help here. You met mum's parents so surely this concept isn't new to you" I said getting agitated. At my words my dad seemed to have a moment of realisation.
"I understand now. You look fine son, very respectable" he nodded. Finally, some actual useful information from the man.
"I didn't know you and Emily were dating"
"we are not, technically" my dad's eyes widened
"oh, I see, well as long as you are using protection son its none of my business" I looked at him confused but I quickly realised what he meant
"Merlin dad, that not what I meant" my dad let out a sigh of relief "I just meant that I really like her and I am pretty sure she likes me but we are not officially dating but I would like to take her on a date, when she is ready for that" I explained. My dad nodded trying to understand.
"Emily seems like a really great girl James" He said sitting down on my bed. I sat next to him
"she is amazing dad" I smiled, my thumb automatically twirling the ring she got me.
"her dad is probably never going to like you" I turned to him horrified
"It's true. Your grandad and I got on fine, but like me? Absolutely not. Your mum was his baby girl and I guess no dad is ready for their daughter to leave them" I nodded. It did seem like Emily and her dad had that sort of relationship "her mum on the other hand. Use that Potter charm and you will be fine" he said patting my back and leaving the room.

"And you're going to be back by 11pm" I nodded pulling my jacket on
"you have enough money? and you are going to be warm enough with that jacket?" nodding again putting my wand into my back pocket
"remember, I want every single detail when you get home"
"I know Sirius we have been over this" I muttered turning to look at him as he stood worried in the living room
"your just so grown up. Going on your first date and with my darling Emily no less" he said his eyes getting watery
"it's not really a date Pads, her mum and dad are going to be there"
"if her dad kills you can I have your room?" ignoring him. I shouted to my mum dad that I was going before I stepped into the fireplace.
"Williams family home"

I stumbled out of the fire into a beautifully decorated living area. The room was very light and airy as sunlight streamed in from the large bay window. Either side of the fireplace were large, floor to ceiling, built in bookshelves with hundreds off books on them. As I was admiring the family photos on the fireplace, when I felt Emily attack, hugging me from behind, spinning in her arms so I could face her and hug her back.

"you're here!" she tilted her head back whilst still pressed against me. Merlin she was beautiful. As we had begun to get more sun, Emily seemed to get more freckles that danced across her nose. I heard someone clear their throat from behind Emily. I practically through her off me as I looked up at her mum. Emily's mum was a tall, very thin women, she kind of reminded me a bit of Lucy in how she presented herself with her back perfectly straight and very defined facial features. She offered me a kind smile before stepping towards me holding out her hand.
"you must be James" I took her hand giving it a firm shake
"it's lovely to meet you Mrs Williams, thank you so much for letting me tag along"
"your more than welcome!" she said her voice cheery making me relax a bit more "and please call me Gail. Mrs Williams makes me feel so old" I nodded my head in acknowledgment.

"can I get you a drink? Colin has been called into the office, so we are just wating for him to get back, but we have plenty of time before we need to go" She said as she led us into the family kitchen. Emily sat on one of the bar stools on the kitchen island, so I copied her sitting next to her.
"would you like a cold drink or perhaps a cup of tea?" Gail asked
"a water would be lovely" out of the corner of my eye I could see Emily smiling at me as Gail placed a glass of water Infront of me.
"Emily tells me you're the quidditch captain. How is that going? I remember when it was my turn at captain it was a very stressful job" My eyes winded
"you were a quidditch captain?" Emily laughed at me
"My mum was Slytherins best seeker back in her day and was made captain in her sixth year just like you" I turned back to Gail in shock
"Emily's dad, Colin, was a beater on the Gryffindor team and well you obviously know about Liam" Gail went onto explain. I turned to Emily
"you have all this amazing quidditch blood in you and you refuse to play"
"I couldn't join the team. I had to let the other houses have a chance" it was Gail's turn to laugh
"don't let her kid you James. Emily is awful on a broom"
"Mum! Don't be telling him all my secrets" Emily jokingly told her mother off. We talked between us about Emily's parents time at Hogwarts for a while before Emily suggest she give me a tour of the house.

I walked into Emily's bedroom. I knew it was her room before she even told me. The walls were painted a very calming shade of off white making the room very bright. She had an antique looking bed in the middle of her room with a bedsheet that had very dainty flowers dotted across it. The room, like Emily was very organised everything seemed to have a place. She had lots of photos in frames, some muggle, some magical dotted around her room and a giant bookcase tucked away in the corner.
"what do you think?" Emily asked from where she had sat on the bed
"it's exactly what I imagined" I sat down next to her looking at her bedside table which of course had a vase filled with sunflowers. She also had a little dish that was a gold sun with all little bits and bobs, such as loose earings and bit of change. I picked up one of the two photo frames she had on her side. One was her and the girls from maybe 3rd year but the one I had picked up was of Emily, me and the boys. It was muggle photo so didn't move. It was from this year's Ravenclaw Christmas party. In the photo Emily was stood in the middle of us boys her head tilted back, and arms stretched out wide while me and the boys we were cheering her on.

"Lily took it on her muggle camera, I don't even remember this moment but it's one of my favourite pictures"
"you were dancing to Voulez vous" I said remembering this exact moment. She'd had quite a bit to drink, not drunk but definitely not sober and then this song came on. She was dancing with Lucy originally but then, I don't know, she just started laughing and spinning round as she danced in the middle of the room like no one was watching.
"that's it!" she said taking the photo from me "I remember now! Merlin I drank way too much that night" she laughed before placing the photo back down on her nightstand. As she did her mum shouted to say it was time to go. She grabbed my hand pulling me up.
"you ready to meet my dad?" no not at all.

Colin Williams is a scary man. I am tall but he must be about 6'5 as he towers over me. We stood in Emily's living room. Her dad just staring at me. Gail was stood slightly behind him trying to hold in her laughter. Emily was stood ever so slightly Infront of me as if she was ready to jump in and protect me at a moments notice.
"Dad, this is James, James this is my dad, Colin" Emily said making the introductions. Swallowing I stepped forward hand out just like I had with her mum.
"it's nice to meet you Sir" he took my hand in his tightly before he pulled me in bending down to my ear. I heard Emily and her mum protest in the background, but he took no notice
"you hurt my daughter in any way, and I will break every bone in your body beyond repair. Do I make myself clear?" damn, he really meant that
"Yes sir" I squeaked out. He nodded pulling away and looking at me for a moment with menacing eyes before he suddenly broke into a grin and patted me on the back.
"so, I hear you're a pretty mean chaser? Back in my day..." and he began cheerily chatting to me about quidditch as if he hadn't just threatened my life. I was confused to say the least but who was I to question him. I could see Emily and her mum whispering to each other across the room. When she saw me looking, she gave me a reassuring smile and big thumbs up. Maybe I passed the test after all.

We had amazing seats at the game in the family section. Em's brother was insanely talented, I hadn't seen anyone play that well in a long time. I kept having to explain things that were happening to Emily as she was bit lost. Her dad, who had told me to call him Colin, and I were surprisingly getting on really well. He kept nudging me to talk about the game as it unfolded. There was one point, where Liam took a pretty bad bludger to the arm, it was a clear foul if you ask me. Emily's parents shot up out of their seat worried about their son, but Emily grabbed my hand squeezing it tight. Her brother was fine and the medi wizards quickly sorted him out so he could carry on playing. I expected Emily to let go off my hand but when she didn't, I twisted my hand around to interlock our fingers. I watched as she smiled down at our hands when she noticed, and I would be lying if it wasn't the cutest smile I had ever seen.

Emily brothers team won the match. We had gone down to where the players would come out and greet their family before going home. I had to let go of Emily's hand, as although her dad had seemed to have mellowed. When he saw our hands, he got a murderous look on his face and I was not risking it. We were waiting for what seemed like ages when a boy I sort of recognised came out.
"Jason!" Emily yelled running up to him as he wrapped her in a tight hug. I felt myself go green with jealousy. Her dad must have noticed as he chuckled behind me. Emily brought quidditch boy over to her parents who embraced him fondly. definitely not helping with my jealousy.
"Jason, this is my friend James" she introduced us. The Boy turned to me and smiled
"I remember you! You were a lot smaller and scrawnier back then. You're on the Gryffindor team, right?" I studied the boy for a moment trying to work how he knew me, when it clicked. This was Jason Coats, he was in the same year as Emily's brother and was on the Ravenclaw team whilst at Hogwarts.
"that's me, it's good to see you again" I said as cheerly as I could, but when the girl you like is still holding onto the arm of a professional quidditch player it sorts of takes a hit to your mood. Thankfully Emily let go of quidditch boy and came back to my side.
"Jason is my brother best friend" She said to me I nodded still feeling jealous "he is also happily married" she added while smirking at me. I looked down at her a little relived to be honest.
"What are you guys still doing here? Liam apparated straight from the dressing room" Jason explained. I watched as Emily frowned looking down at the ground
"that's weird he knew we were coming to watch" Gail said linking her arm with her husband. Both her parents seem effected by the news, but I think they were trying to hide it for Em's sake
"yeah, he mentioned you guys were coming but he said he had to get off. Something to do with Anna" Jason informed the family. Emily was now looking really sad. I nudge her foot with mine causing her to look at me, when she did, I pulled a funny face which worked in getting a small laugh at her.
"oh well, we got to see you Jason so that made the wait it worth. You don't be a stranger now" Colin said to the younger man. Jason said his goodbyes to the family before apparating.

"well I guess we best be off then. Do you need me to apparate you home, James? Or are you okay to do it?" Colin asked
"I have got it, thank you though" I smiled at him and he stuck is hand out to me again
"it was good to meet you son" Bloody hell, did he just give me the seal of approval? Gail moved forward to give me a hug but stopped to whisper in my ear
"thank you for making her so happy" she said before pulling away.
"Sweetheart do you want me to apparate you home or are you doing it yourself?"
"actually, dad I am going to apparate with James, you know make sure he gets home okay, then I will come home" she explained. I was pleasantly surprised at this information. Her dad, however, was not.
"you're going to be on your own with him?" her dad narrowed his eyes at me
"Come on love, let them have a bit of privacy, she will be home in no time" Gail said reassuringly. Colin turned to me
"remember our chat from this morning?" how can I ever forget? I nodded, her dad grumbling in response.
"very well then but if you are not back home in half an hour Emily, I am coming to find you" Her mum rolled her eyes at her dad before grabbing his hand and apparating them home. Emily turned to me holding out her hand before the familiar tummy turning feeling took over me.

I was happy when we landed a little away from my house, I wasn't quite ready to say goodbye yet.
"my dad likes you by the way" she said still holding my hand as we walked
"really because he told me he would break every bone in my body" She laughed at me
"ignore him he is so dramatic" and very hard to ignore "he told me he thought you were a good lad, with strong quidditch knowledge" she had changed her voice imitating her dad I let out a snort of laugher
"oh, and my mum adores you. I actually think she might have a thing for you. She kept telling me how handsome you are"
"I told you Sunshine, I am irresistible, the sooner you realise it the better"

"I am sorry about your brother" I gave her hand a squeezed sensing how much it had hurt her that he had not shown up. She let out an annoyed groan
"he is such a prick. I haven't seen him since last summer, he didn't come home for Christmas, he never writes to me anymore, despite me writing to him all the time. Then today, he doesn't bloody bother to see us" she seethed letting out her anger but the angrier she got the more upset I noticed her becoming. I stopped up just outside the gate which led to my house and pulled into a hug. She buried her face into my chest, and I felt her start to cry. I pulled her tighter towards me kissing the top of her head. After a few moments she stopped crying muttering apologies into my chest. I pulled her away from me slightly but not letting go fully

"You never have to be sorry for being upset, especially not with me. I want you tell me when something is wrong or bothering you so I can be there for you, to hold your hand through it and maybe pull a funny face of two just to get you to smile" she looked up at me and I was pulling a ridiculous face but it worked.
"it bothers me more that Liam is never around anymore because of what my parent do. Their job is so dangerous you never know what can happen. Its why I try to soak up as much time as I can with them when we are home for the holiday" she explained. I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like for her. Emily is someone who worries about everyone and everything, so having parents with such stressful jobs can't be easier for her and it definitely doesn't feel like her brother is helping.

"I am going to ring my brother neck when I next see him, the bloody fame whore that he is" she grumbled out making me laugh. We stood in the same spot I had stopped us in earlier my arms still around her waist
"I had a great time today" I said looking down at her. She grinned
"I did too. I am glad you came with me" she almost whispered, her eyelashes fluttering. We stood just staring at each other. My eyes moved to her lips and I watched as she gulped before biting her lip slightly. We both slowly gravitated towards each other.

"your home!" Sirius shouted from down the pathway, front door wide open. Emily let out a small chuckle at the situation, covering her mouth with her hand. I groaned resting my forehead on hers
"I am going to bloody murder him" I muttered causing her to laugh once more before she pushed up on her toes and planted a soft kiss on my cheek.
"see you at school Potter" she winked at me before apparating on the spot. I took a deep breath, raising my hand to feel where she just kissed me. Damn, she had me wrapped around her little finger.
"Come on your letting all the heat out" Sirius shouted reminding me of his presents. I spun on my heals and marched up to him whacking him on the back of the head.
"violence is not the answer James" my mum laughed from where she was sat in the living room
"you should have just kissed her and ignored Sirius" My dad piped in
"come on mate, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up" Sirius said. I just glared at him walking into the living room and sinking into the chair
"so how is my future daughter in law?" my mum asked. I couldn't deny it, it made me so happy to think about the future with Em. I sighed and told them all about the day.

Chapter 25 Chapter Text

One week into the final term of 6th year and I am not doing well. Exam prep was well underway for me and teachers were doubling down on the workload. I was also trying to juggle spending time with my friends, not to mention quidditch season was about to kick off and the first game was Slytherin vs Hufflepuff so that meant at least one my friends was going to lose. On top of all that, my arse of brother was still not writing me back. My parents had gone on another mission straight from dropping me off at the platform and with the way the daily profit was reporting I was becoming increasingly worried. Maybe ignoring the brewing conflict wasn't the answer anymore.

"Miss Williams?" professor McGonagall said snapping me out of my spiralling thoughts as I aimlessly walked the corridor.
"sorry professor, did you say something?" I asked, she narrowed her eyes at me before turning back into her classroom
"follow me Emily" you didn't argue with Minnie, so I quickly followed her in.
"have seat" she gestured to the chair she had pulled Infront of her desk. I quickly sat down wondering what was going on. She waved her wand a tea pot and tray of biscuits floated in landing Infront of us, pouring two cups of tea.
"do you take sugar?" Minnie asked. I looked at her baffled
"Just the one please" I answered and watched as she placed a spoonful of sugar in the cup closet to me before offering it to me. I took the cup in my hands. When I didn't drink it, she looked at me.
"Just have a cup tea Emily and take a 5-minute break" I smiled at the older witch. Somehow, she knew exactly what I needed.
"do you want to see the first-year exam papers? some of their answers are hilarious" she said pulling out a stack of papers.

Several cups of tea later, lots of laughter thanks to the first years, I was feeling a lot lighter.
"I heard your parents are on another mission" The professor said. I wonder how she knew. I didn't think it was common knowledge. I nodded my head in thought.
"I can imagine your quite worried about them" I let out a huff
"I am terrified" I answered honestly
"and you're working hard towards your exams, whilst being a supportive friend to your peers" Damn this woman knew her stuff
"that's a lot for someone so young to take on Emily, I must say your handling it remarkably well"
"to be honest professor. It doesn't feel like that, I mean we are one week in and I think I have cried everyday" she chuckled at me.
"I think your being too harsh on yourself Emily. Your parents have a very taxing jobs which would way on anyone's mind. I have also seen how you care for your friends and some of your friends don't have the easiest situations" she said knowingly "but throughout it all, you are still the top student in your year and yet to the wider school and probably your friends you wouldn't know any different as you are never not smiling"
"I don't have it bad professor, look at Remus or Sirius and Regulus, I am just a worrier" she shook her head at me
"just because someone may have it worst doesn't take away from your own situation" I let what she said sink in. I sank back in my chair."it's okay, to just take five minutes to breath every now and then. Merlin knows I have to go for a walk after teaching the first years"

"speaking of your friends i have noticed you and Mr Potter have become very close recently" I nearly chocked on my biscuit "it's all the teachers are talking about" kill me now.
"we are just friends professor" I assured her, but she was having none of it. I was about to argue my case when her classroom door swung open and the marauders poured in.
"see Minnie told you we wouldn't be late" Sirius said strolling in. I looked at the time and my eyes widened I had been here for over an hour.
"what are you doing here Em?" Remus asked approaching the professors desk. I didn't know what to say but luckily Minnie answered for me
"Miss Williams was helping me mark some of the first-years work" I gave her a grateful smile.
"why are you all here anyway?" I asked the boys
"serving one of their many detentions" the professor answered again.

James came up to stand in front of me looking worried. He tilted his head, so we were eye level. He studied me for a moment
"what's wrong?" he asked, eyes roaming over my face, his forehead scrunched with concern
"nothing's wrong, I am fine" he narrowed his eyes at me not believing me.
"we were talking about my mum and dad" I said quietly so the boys wouldn't hear. James's face softened. He reached out and gently rubbed the side of my arms.
"They are bad ass Em, I am sure they will be okay" I melted into his soothing touch . Over James' shoulder I could see Professor McGonagall giving me a knowing smirk with a raised eyebrow
"well enjoy detention boys, give them hell professor" I said, quickly stepping out of James's hold, heading to the door.
"you're meant to be our friend Em" Sirius pouted as I passed him. Before I had chance to leave the professor called my name
"I will have more marking to do same time next week if you would like to help again?" she asked me with a warm smile
"I am sure I can spare five minutes" I said to the professor and she nodded at me with a twinkle in her eyes.

Game days where both Kayla and Lucy were playing, were particularly stressful. Mainly because the girls go from being best friends to sworn enemies. Lily and I split ourselves between the two girls. Lily took Kayla and I took Lucy and its been that way since they both made it to the team. Lucy wasn't a nervous person, she was extremely confident in her abilities. it was something I admired about her. She did however require hyping up which is why I was currently stood in her dorm as spaced around.
"you can do this. You know you can do this"
"damn right I can" she stopped pacing to look at me
"I am bad ass" she declared with steely determination
"you are a bad ass" I confirmed. she walked over to me doing the weird little handshake we have done ever since she joined the team. The handshake has become a bit of a thing for us, we now do it for every situation she need to be hyped up for. For example we did it before going into exams or before she went home for the summer to face her parents.
"come on we better go" I said to her and she grinned at me.

I was sat in the Gryffindor stand with Lily and the boys. Lily was decked out in yellow and even wore one of Kayla's quidditch jerseys it was freaking adorable.
"who are you rooting for?" Peter asked from next to me.
"Slytherin, I always root for Lucy and Lily takes Kayla" I explained
"how's your mum by the way" I asked him, keeping one eye on the game but not really interested. He sighed next to me.
"she is okay I guess, not any better but not any worse" I wasn't exactly sure what it was that was wrong with his mum I just knew she wasn't in the best health
"how about I bake her some more brownies with Sirius next Friday and you can send them to her" I suggested, thinking I can fix all lifes problems with baked goods.
"that would be great Em, she loved the ones I took home with me at Christmas" I linked my arm with Peter resting my head on his shoulder
"anytime Pete, you just need to ask" I really liked Peter. He was a lot quieter than the boys and because of that he sometimes faded into the background. The boys always involved him, but he would always just take a step back, but we loved him just the same.

"how's it going with you and James?" he asked quietly. We both glanced behind us to where James and Sirius were sat. Remus was sat on the same bench as me just on the other side of Lily. When he saw we were looking at him he grinned before sticking his tongue out at us then turning his attention back to the game
"I am happy with how it's going so far, it's nice building such a solid friendship. He is one of the most important people in my life I just don't want to rush into anything and mess it all up" I said honestly.
"he told us that you nearly kissed over the holidays" Peter wiggled his eyebrows at me
"I am kind of glad Sirius ruined the moment to be honest" Peter frowned at me
"what? Do you not want to kiss Prongs?" shook my head at him
"that's not it Pete. Merlin, in that moment, boy did I want to kiss him" The way he had been with my parents, the fact my parents loved him, even my dad. How he had comforted me and made me laugh. I could have snogged him so many times that day.
"then what is it?"
"my parents are the happiest couple I know, well them and James' parents. Anyway, my mum and dad said they knew that they were meant for each other right from their first kiss. They said they just knew. I want what my parents have so I have refused to settle until I have that kiss with someone. I think I am just scared because what if I kiss James and I don't have that?" Peter scoffed at me
"You and James are literally perfect for each other. Do I think you should just bite the bullet and kiss each other and do us all a favour? Absolutely I do. However, I do understand to an extent why your taking your time as I know you both don't want to risk the friendship you have already created. I think the reason your parents knew from the first kiss was because, like you and James, they already had such a strong connection. So, when you and boy wonder eventually decided get it on I think you will have the same moment your parents had."
"damn Pete when did you get so smart?" I asked a bit taken back from his words of wisdom
"always been smart, I just do so dumb stuff"

Chapter 26 Chapter Text

April seems to have flown by and as we crept closer and closer to June my desire to stay in the library increased. Luckily Regulus seemed to have the same crippling anxiety as me so at least I wasn't alone in the library. Regulus and I were studying in near silence only talking to each other if we thought of something the other might want to know. Before the easter break, when we were in the library I usually chatted away to Regulus while we worked, and he would occasionally comment or ask questions, but this all change in exam run up. My other friends would often come sit with us but that was before Regulus snapped at Peter for talking to much. Word seems to have spread amongst the group not to approach when I am with Reg. Everyone seemed to get the memo except for Lucy who was currently walking over to us.

"Merlin, you both look like vampires, you need some sun" she said sitting down opposite us. We both ignored her.
"really friendly you two, aren't you" sighing I looked up at her
"what can I do for you Lucy?" I asked
"since the others are shit scared of the 15-year-old monster" Regulus raised his head to look at her "I am here to make you take a mandatory break and because you look close to death. We are going outside to get you some vitamin D" she smiled sweetly
"I don't know Lu I have work to do" she rolled her eyes at me
"you have been here all morning, take a break" she said, no room for arguments. I looked at Regulus.
"just go, she isn't leaving otherwise, and I can't work with all the noise" He said the last part glaring at Lucy.
"I like you better than your brother" Lucy grinned at Regulus. I packed my stuff quickly sensing Regulus temper was about the blow and Lucy is much better match for him than Peter.

"I am going to move out my parents in the summer" Lucy said as we walked. I snapped my head to her
"where are you planning on going?" she shrugged
"I was going to come stay at yours until I found a place to rent. I am 17 next month they literally can't force me to live there anymore" Lucy's home situation was a weird one. Her parents were generally quite nice people, but they wanted an heir from Lucy and by the sounds of it they wanted it straight out of Hogwarts.
"you're always welcome at my home, Lu" I bumped my shoulder with hers
"thanks, I just can't do much more of the forced dates they send me on. I love my mum, but I think a bit of space will do us some good. I am hoping that if she realises, she can't make me live with them, she also can't force me to pop out a child" Lucy had known for as long as I can remember that she didn't want kids. She was however more than happy to be a cool aunt.

As we were walking, we saw a gathering of students, it looked like a fight might be breaking out. Intrigued we started walking over but we quickly picked up pace seeing an angry Lily stood Infront of Snape protectively, whilst yelling at the marauders.
"Why must you be so cruel! I thought you had grown out of this pathetic behaviour but clearly I was wrong" we heard Lily yell as we pushed our way through the crowd. We had just made it to the front when Snape, who was stood behind Lily, spoke up
"I don't need you defended me you filthy mud blood, just run back to your little girlfriend" What the fuck did he just say? Lily's face crumbled on the spot as she looked around the group of people watching the fight. Most of the group looked at her mouths wide open. Snape had not only just through a racial slur her way but had also just outed her. Lily looked on the brink of tears as she ran away. Kayla, who I hadn't even noticed was there ran after her. Lucy and I stormed up to the boys and snape.

"what is going on?" I seethed as I stood in between the boys and snape. Lucy who was bubbling with anger right behind me
"oh, look Potter, your little slut is here to defend you" That's it. Without even thinking I spun round and punch snape hard in the nose. I heard the unmistakable cracking sound as my fist made contact. Lucy audibly gasped next to me. Like me, she couldn't quite believe I had just done that. Snapes noes now pouring with blood.
"you know what Snape? I don't even give shit what you say and think about me but fuck you for what you did to Lily. Someone who was meant to be your friend, I hope she never even looks in your direction again" I spat at him. He looked at me seething with anger
"you will pay for this"
"I am quaking in my boots" I said sarcastically. With one last glare at us all, he scurried away. It was then that I started to feel the stinging in my hand. I glanced down at it, it was already starting to bruise.

"that was bloody brilliant Em" I heard Sirius say happily behind me. I took a deep breath looking at Lucy
"go catch up with Kayla and Lily I will come find you after I deal with the idiots" I said quietly to Lucy. She nodded giving me a quick smile
"for the record I have never been prouder of you" She said before running off in the same direction as the girls

When I turned around to face the boys the happy looks on their faces vanished. James slowly approached me
"sunshine" he started but I just held up my hand stopping
"nope, don't sunshine me" he gulped and stepped back in line with the others.
"tell me what happened. Now" I said in a scarily calm voice
"he was chatting his usual shit Em" Peter said
"we started arguing back with him" Remus added guiltily
"that's doesn't explain why Lily was so annoyed" I looked between the boys but none of them answered. So, I narrowed my eyes at James.
"I levitated him upside down" James finally muttered quietly. I ran my tongue along my teeth angrily
"what was he saying, that made you think what you did was justifiable?" I asked in the same eerily calm tone
"he was saying stuff about you Em. Saying you were James' next plaything because Lily didn't want him. He called you a slut like he did before you hit him, amongst other things" I won't lie that hurt. I didn't like Snape or understand his hatred towards me but god, that hit a nerve. Still it didn't justify what they did. I looked at James who was looking at me with a worried look.
"you doing that to him, makes you just as bad as he is. I am ashamed in all of you" I said starting to walk towards where the girls had gone. James ran after me calling my name
"not now Potter. Just leave me alone" he looked at me hurt, but he did stop following me. So much for a relaxing walk to get vitamin D.

After looking for the girls I eventually found them tucked away under a tree by the lake. Lily was curled up resting her head in Kayla's lap, Lucy sat opposite them crossed legged.
"Hey" I said softly as I approached. Lily lifted head off of Kayla and gave me a small smile. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she still had a few small soft tears falling down her cheeks.
"I am so sorry Lily" I said siting down.
"it's not your fault Em" she hiccupped out. It kind of did feel like my fault.
"what even happened?" Lucy said
"The boys were being cruel to Severus" I answered
"we know that, what I don't get is why they were being so harsh?" Kayla asked.
"Snape was trying to get a rise out of James" They looked at me, wanting more, as it wasn't unusual for that to happen. I filled them in on what Snape was saying.
"but that doesn't excuse what they did" I said finishing my explanation
"no, it doesn't but I understand why they did it. Heck If I had heard him say that about you, I would have been livid" Kayla said.
"I don't think Snape will be bothering you again Lil" Lucy laughed. Lily looked up at us she had finally stopped crying
"why? What happened?"
"Emily punched him right before she yelled at him Infront of everyone. I am pretty sure she broke his nose as well. It was bloody brilliant"
"oh, I definitely broke his nose I heard the crack" I added and held up my hand to show them the bruise. Lily gasped and took my hand gently in hers before grabbing her wand, muttering some healing spells.
"I wish I could have seen that" Kayla said as she watched Lily heal my hand
"I am not proud of it. I shouldn't have stooped to his level but after what he said" I trailed off as lily wrapped her arms round my neck hugging me
"thank you" she muttered
"I would do anything for you Lily" I smiled at her "I would do anything for any of you" I said to the girls my eyes watering slightly. It had been an emotional afternoon.
"it doesn't matter about Snape. I will always have you guys" Lily said her eyes watering again this time for a different reason.
"you guys are my family" Lucy added in a rare moment of sincerity from her. She also had watery eyes
"I love you lot with my whole heart" Kayla said she wrapped us into a group hug and all four of us sat there crying holding each other. All just really grateful we had each other.

We sat outside for so long we missed dinner. So before heading back to our dorms we grabbed something from the kitchen. Kayla and Lily, who was staying in Kayla's dorm for the night, didn't have far to walk. I however, had a long journey back to the tower. As I got closer to Ravenclaw common room entrance, I saw James sat on the floor nearby. I walked over to him sinking to floor next to him.
"how is Lily?" he asked noticing I was there
"she will be okay" I answered honestly
"I am so sorry Em" I sighed
"it's not me you owe and apology too and it shouldn't just be down to you. All of you were involved" He nodded at me. We sat in silence for a while before James spoke again
"you know what Snape said isn't true don't you?" I knew exactly what he was talking about. If I thought logically about it, James had shown no sign of getting bored of me or that he had just moved from Lily to one of Lily's friends. I knew we had grown our relationship naturally, but I would be lying if the negative part of me hadn't thought about it. I realised I had been mad at James for a hypothetical situation, that the darkest parts of me had created. Snape just acknowledge my fear and brought it to the surface. I rested my head on his shoulder and I felt him relax under me.
"I know" I muttered.
"you hurt my feelings when you told me to leave you alone. I get you needed space which Is why I didn't follow you, but I didn't like that you ran away from me when we clearly needed to talk about what Snape said, I know it upset you" I lifted my head and turned to face him
"your right, I should have handled the situation a lot better. The last thing I want to do is hurt you. I am really sorry James" he gave me small smile raising his arm up so I could cuddle into his side.
"no more running okay?" he said.
"never again. I promise" I cuddle into him more
"why did it upset you so much?" he asked
"I know it's not true, you have never given me any reason to believe it's true but it was like he voiced this niggling fear I had" James pulled me tighter to him
"I really care about you Em" I smiled into his chest.

Someone cleared their throat above us. We both looked up jumping to our feet when we saw professor McGonagall.
"Miss Williams, I think you know why I am here" she said to me, I nodded
"very well, you will need to report to my office next Saturday evening for your detention. I have a mountain or marking for you to do" I nodded again
"what? She shouldn't be punished, Snape deserved it!" James argued on my behalf
" I literally punched a student"
"Mr Snape is being punished accordingly for the role he played in the whole ordeal" The professor said. That news was a welcome relief
"which brings me to you and band buffoons Mr Potter. Your group will report to Mr Flitch next Saturday at 7pm. I believe he has some toilets that need cleaning"
"That's not fair! How come she gets marking papers and we get bathroom duty. She punched someone" I rolled my eyes at him
"Merlin, you've changed your tune" I muttered, he turned to me shrugging
"Sorry sunshine, but needs must, cleaning toilets is the worst detention" I rolled my eyes at him
"everyone is being punished as we see fit Mr Potter" McGonagall said firmly "now I suggest you say your goodbyes to Miss Williams and get yourself back to your own common room before curfew" Minnie said walking away, not before giving me a knowing look.

"clearly favouritism if you ask me" James turned to me after the professor was gone
"what can I say Minnie loves me" I gloated, he retaliated by tickling me. I tried to escape but he caught me wrapping his arms around my waist pulling me back. I stood looking up at him.
"we are okay, aren't we?" he asked concerned
"we are good James" he grinned at me
"I really like it when you call me James" I laughed stepping out of his arms
"better not annoy me then" I walked over toward the entrance answering the riddle.

"goodnight James"

"night sunshine"

Chapter 27 Chapter Text

Today was the Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw quidditch match. I sat with the girls for breakfast at the Hufflepuff table to keep things neutral. Lily wasn't all that bothered if we went to see the game or not when it was our two houses playing and usually neither was I. However, now I was going to go support James and Sirius. The day after the whole incident with Snape the boys came to apologise to Lily, and all was forgiven. Lily was not speaking to Snape, nor did she plan on speaking to him ever again. She and Kayla were now very open about their relationship and it was lovely to see and so far, in the weeks that have followed since people found out, no one has given the girls any trouble.

We had just made it out of the great hall when someone grabbed my hand and spun me around.
"Merlin James, do you enjoy scaring me or something?" I gasped looking up at him. He was decked out in his quidditch uniform. He looked good, really good.
"sorry love, I just wanted to double check you were coming to watch the game?" he asked while he absentmindedly drew shapes on the back of my hand that he was still holding.
"that's where we're heading. Shouldn't you already be down there?" he smiled down at me
"I am going to run down there now. I just wanted to see you before the game" he blushed slightly "also I wanted to see if you wanted to wear this. You know, so you had something Gryffindor on to show your support for me and Sirius" he said nervously as he handed me one of his quidditch jumpers. I looked it, trailing my fingers across his name and number. As someone who reads a lot of sports romance books, I was living the dream. I immediately tugged off the jumper I had on and slipped James jumper on over the top of my long sleeve shirt. I gave a little spin
"what do you think?" I asked him. The jumper was big on me, but I didn't care. James didn't say anything he was just staring at me mouth slightly open. I laughed and in a moment of bravery I used my finger to push his mouth shut before I went up and my toes to plant a kiss on his cheek.
"Good luck James" I whispered to him before I immediately turned and walked back over to the girls who were stood a small distance away watching the whole encounter.

"and you two aren't shagging because?" Lucy said as I reached them. Kayla hit her over the back of the head
"your just so freaking adorable. I want to scream" Lily said as she hung off Kayla's arm while we walked
"it is rather sweet of him" I said smiling down at the ground
"I think it's smart of Potter. I mean he is basically staking his claim on you" Kayla rolled her eyes at Lucy
"she is not property and cannot be claimed" She argued "saying that though, it does give a very clear message to other potential suiters that you aren't available"
"potential suiters? Did you travel back in time or something?" Lucy laughed.
The butterflies were well and truly fluttering today.

At the game I sat next to Remus who was watching Sirius intently. Sirius on the quidditch pitch, scared the shit out of me. I am used to this big softie who, when he is feeling sad asks me to stroke his hair. When he was playing the sport, however, it was a whole other story. It was like he saved up all his anger for it to be realised out on the pitch. Lucy played in a sort of similar way both using their position as beater as a form of stress relief.
"your drooling" I teased him just as he had done to me when we watched the practice
"and you're not?" he smirked at me. Watching James play quidditch was quickly becoming one of my favourite things. He made it look so effortless it was incredible to watch.
"nice jumper by the way" Remus added.
"we match!" Rem was wearing the same jumper but with Sirius's name and number on the back
"what are you going to do when its Gryffindor vs Slytherin or Hufflepuff?" he asked as he glanced behind us at the two girl who were watching the game in extreme focus. I assume so they can assess the teams to hopefully use it to their advantage.
"Don't. I am already worrying about it. Kayla will be fine with me supporting both teams. Lucy, however, I expect to be bit more dramatic" I laughed.
"if her and Sirius didn't bicker so much, they would actually be best friends" Remus said whilst watching the game
"they are basically the same person" I agreed.
"you two are very close, just like Sirius and James" I thought about what he said. it was true, Lucy meant the world to me, she wasn't just my friend she was my sister and although she drives me crazy, I wouldn't change her for the world.
"she's my ride or die" I shrugged. As I said it Lucy must have heard, as she leant her head in between me and Remus
"talking about me?" she asked
"just saying how insufferable you are" I nodded. She hummed at me
"I see, so should we talk about how you're insanely annoying?"
"we just covered that topic but thank you for the reminder" she patted my shoulder before leaning back in her seat to carry on watching the game.

Gryffindor clinched the win over Ravenclaw, but it was very close in points.
"you coming down to the pitch?" Remus asked standing up.
"it's actually girls' night so I probably should head back with them"
"just go see lover boy, I don't think I can handle you moping all night if you don't" Lucy said behind me
"Yeh Em, just come meet us when you done" Lily smiled at me before she and my other two friends left.

Once on the pitch I stood a bit awkwardly next Peter.
"he will want to see you Em, why are you so nervous?" he asked
"I don't know. I guess it just feels a bit relationshipy" Peter rolled his eyes at me
"you come down to the pitch for Lucy and Kayla, don't you? Does that mean you're in love with them?" he made a good point.

From behind me I felt arms snake around my waist before I was lifted in the air and spun around.
"we won!" James cheered before placing me back on the ground, turning me round in his arms.
"Well done James, you played great" I smiled at him "that play you planned worked really well" I added, and he looked at me awe struck
"you remember me telling you that?" Often when James and I would spend time together we would talk about all sorts of things but a few weeks back he was telling me the strategy he had in mind for this specific game.
"of course, I do" A lot of the time when James talked about quidditch I didn't really understand what was going on but the more he talked the more I started to pick up on things. I actually really liked it when he talked about the sport, he would get this goofy little smile on his face and would talk faster the more passionate he got about it.
"are you coming to the party?" After most games the house that won would have some kind of celebration in their common room, but it was usually kept to people just in their house
"I can't. Its girl's night" James looked around me as if just noticing their absents
"what are you doing down here then? Get going" he smiled at me
"I wanted to tell you well done" I said shyly worried I had done the wrong thing by coming to the pitch. He beamed at me
"and I am really happy that you're here and if it was up to me, I would keep you with me all night, but I know how important girls' night is to you lot. Plus, Lucy scares me" I laughed at him, but I really appreciated how he respected my friends.

I was suddenly ripped from James arms as Sirius wrapped me in his own hug.
"did you see that Em, I was on fire out there" he said rocking us side to side. Chuckling at him
"I did Sirius, nice back handed swing at Chowdry by the way" he looked at me and then to James over the top of my head
"she is learning quidditch lingo" he said amazed. I heard James laugh behind me
"what can I say, she has a pretty amazing and devilishly handsome teacher" I rolled my eyes at him
"since when was Diggory my quidditch teacher?" I joked. James had not been a huge fan of the Hufflepuff captain since valentine's day. He looked at me smirking cockily
"that's how you want to play this?" he asked mischievous glint in his eyes. I automatically moved behind Sirius in the hopes that he would protect me. James rushed at me but the traitor that Sirius is jumped out of the way with just enough time for James to tackle me. He twisted us round before we fell to the floor, so I landed on top of him and he took the impact of the fall. I looked up from where I lay on James
"Sirius! You were meant to protect me" he laughed at me as I struggled to get up, James kept pulling me back down.
"sorry Em, but I will not let you disrespect my good friend prongs here, as he is arguably the best looking quidditch captain we have had in years. The only one who comes close to his ridiculous good looks was your brother" Sirius had a massive crush on my brother, if only he knew what an arse he was. I tried to get up from the floor again as Sirius walked away but James was having none of it.
"just say you think I am the best-looking captain and I will let you go" he said holding me against him. I tried to tickle him to let go but even that didn't work. With a huff I rested my forehead on his chest.
"fine you are the best looking quidditch captain" he laughed, loosening his arm on me and tilted my head up, so I was looking at him
"I think you're going to have to wear my jumper to every game I play now Sunshine. You're my good luck charm" I blushed before pushing myself off the floor holding my hand out to pull him up once I was standing.
"I have got to go, but have fun celebrating" I said starting to walk away but he grabbed my hand spinning me back just like he had this morning.
"what do I not get a goodbye kiss?" my face heated up yet again. I tried to play it off by rolling my eyes as I reached up to place a kiss on his cheek
"don't miss me to much" I yelled as I quickly ran away.

Chapter 28 Chapter Text

Lucy was very much reaping the rewards of my stress baking. She had come with me to kitchens earlier while I made some brownies which at first, I thought was strange as she normally doesn't want to come with me, but when I caught her sprinkling in an extra ingredient into the mix it all made sense. That's what led me to be lay on the floor of the astronomy tower with a very high Slytherin.

"what do you think happens when you die?" she asked me. When Lucy got high, she tended to question the meaning of life but on the plus side she did mellow out a bit, so I would take the theosophical questions.
"I would like to think there is some kind of after life, where you are reunited with you lost loved ones, I also think that you can still watch over the people you left behind" she started snickering so I pushed up on my elbows to look at her.
"Do you think my grandparent have watched me shagging?" she laughed.
"I would hope your grandparent wouldn't want to see the Lu" I said lying back down.
"I don't know you never met my grandad" she muttered

"what are you two doing?" I turned my head to see some very nice shoes. I trailed my eye up to see Regulus stood looking down at us with a confused face.
"talking about Lucy's pervy grandad" I answered. Regulus looked at me like I was insane
"are you high?" Lucy burst out laughing
"miss goody two shoes getting high? Come on Black you know better than that" I nodded at Lucy
"I am not high, but she is" Regulus hummed and turned to walk away
"Black, get your arse back here" I watched as Regulus slowly turned around and walked back over, looking down at Lucy
"lie down" she demanded. He turned to me for guidance
"I just go along with-it Reggie. You should do the same" with a reluctant sigh Regulus lay down with us. We lay stretched out all our heads meeting in a point.
"do you think you dead relatives have watched you having sex?" Regulus started to push himself up to leave after hearing Lucy's question. I put my hand on top of his trying to get him to stay. He groaned and lay back down

"sorry are you a virgin? I guess they can't watch you shag if you have never shagged before" Lucy said as an after thought
"that's it I am going" Regulus tried to leave again
"it's okay little Black we aren't going to judge you" Lucy said reassuringly to Reg
"I am not a virgin" he spat out. I gasped shocked
"you're not?" He lay back down turning is head to side to look at me
"why is that so shocking to you?"
"Regulus you don't talk to anyone" I said matter of fact
"who says you have to talk" he smirked at me and I cringed and immediately put my fingers in my ears, it was like hearing my brother talk about his sex life
"I don't want to hear anymore" He laughed at me
"Sex is a natural occurrence" he said smirking
"okay then, I will tell you all about my sex life" his eyes widened, and he slapped his hand over my mouth
"I don't want to know, Merlin you're like my sister I don't want to hear that" I grinned at him as he moved his hand away from my mouth.

"what do you think will happen after Hogwarts?" Lucy throughout another question changing the subject completely.
"what do you mean? Like what job do I want?" she shrugged her shoulders at me
"well I want to teach one day but I guess I need to wait for Sluggy to retire"
"what about you little Black?" Lucy asked regulus who groaned at this new nickname
"I guess I would like to teach as well" I turned my head listening to him "I think I would like to teach astronomy" I smiled at him. I could definitely see that for Reg.
"what about you Lu, what's your plan?"
"To be the biggest bad ass there is" I laughed at her, but Regulus just rolled his eyes
"I want to be an auror, recon you mum and dad would take me under their wing?" I smiled thinking about it. My dad would love working with Lucy. She would have him in fits of laughter all the time. My mum would be trying to control them but would fail miserably and she would secretly love it.
"I think they would Lu"

We lay on the floor for a while as Lucy fired random questions at us. It had actually made me so happy to see Regulus and Lucy interact. I was so relieved when Lily and James cleared the air as it meant all my friends could be together and the last piece of the puzzle for me was Regulus. I had come to care so much for the Black brothers and it pained me to see them hurting. Regulus was trapped in a situation that was being forced upon him and unlike his brother he feels bound by duty to his family to tough it out. On the other hand, whilst Sirius had escaped the situation, I often wondered what damage had already been done and what lasting effects that would have on him.

I looked out at the night sky. Today was a full moon and somewhere out there were the boys. Since finding out about them going with Remus the worry I felt intensified. I had seen how it can all take a turn for the worst, like the time he ended up in the hospital wing. The more I lay looking at the sky the more I could feel the worry rising in me.

"oi" Regulus bashed my hand. I turned my head to face him
"she is asleep" he nodded in Lucy's direction. I lifted my hand flicking her. She groaned at me scrunching her eyes shut. So, I slapped her forehead, she opened her eyes to glare at me.
"you need to go to bed" I explained to her. She let out muffled string of curses before she pushed herself up.
"come on little Black you can walk with me" Regulus turned to me wide eyed. I just chuckled as Lucy grabbed his arm and pulled him away.

I went back to my dorm quietly as both my roommates were already asleep. I cast the silencing charm around me, so I didn't have to worry about making too much noise as I pulled out the trunk under my bed that I kept so premade potion in. I had brought back some that I made with my mum over the easter break. I looked through the selection choosing ones that I thought might useful for the boys. I glanced at the clock on my bedside it was 2 am. I had spent a lot longer with Lucy and Regulus than I thought. The boys would be getting back to the castle about 5 am. Knowing I was too worried to sleep I grabbed a hoodie and my potions theory notes and headed down to the kitchen knowing I should be able to catch them there when they came back.

I had spent the last few hours tucked away in the Kitchen. When Dixy came into the kitchen at about 4, she came to talk to me and made me the best hot chocolate I had ever had. I had made some great progress on the potion's theory assignment. I was more determined than ever to try and find something that could help Rem. I wrote a letter to James's dad who I had been throwing some ideas around with and gave him an update. I was about to go find Dixy again to see if I could get another hot chocolate when the boys walked in. They looked tired but other than that they all seemed to be okay.

"Emily, what are you doing here?" Peter asked as he was the first to spot me. James looked up when he heard my name his face immediately turning to a worried one. He was at my side in seconds
"are you okay?" he asked, scanning me.
"I am okay I promise just a little tired" I said letting out a yawn
"I was actually here to see you lot" I walked past James and over to the little table where the boys were sat waiting for the elves to get them some food. I stood next to Remus. He didn't have any noticeable new scars which was a relief. I started pulling out potion vials from my bag.
"this one should relax any muscle pain, this is calming draught, the is a healing solution just drop it on any scars"
"Emily what is all this?" Remus cut me off
"it's just some potions I had that I thought my be useful for you guys" I shrugged. Sirius immediately grabbed the muscle refile one and put a few drops on his tongue. We all watched as his body relaxed.
"That's so much better. Thank Em" he said looking at the other potions. Peter and Remus also reached for various potions they wanted.

I felt James press his hand on the small of my back
"have you slept?" he whispered to me. I shook my head
"I was really worried tonight, more than usual. I don't know why but I just needed to see that you were okay" I answered honestly. I felt James place a kiss on my temple
"I am fine Sunshine. The boys are fine, probably better than normal, thanks to you. You need to go get some rest now, otherwise I am going to stay awake worrying about you and then we are both tired for no reason" I nodded in agreement. I pulled out the bar of chocolate I had in my bag and handed it to Remus. Even though I had officially known about his condition for a while now I still took to leaving the chocolate for him this was the first time, I had handed it to him. He looked down at the chocolate in my hand before meeting my eyes and pulling me into a hug.
"I love you Em" I heard him mumbled.
"hey, I love Emily as well" I head Sirius say before he wrapped his arms around me and Remus
"I am not missing out on the group hug" Peter said squeezing into the hug
"I guess we all love Emily" James said as he wrapped his arms around the group.

Chapter 29 Chapter Text

Our exams were due start next week this meant when I wasn't in class I was in the library. This weekend was also the quidditch cup final and it was Slytherin vs Ravenclaw. Slytherin have had a phenomenal season and have only lost the one game. Ravenclaw weren't doing bad though only having lost that one game to Gryffindor but ultimately it looked like Slytherin were going to take the win. I was never on my own in the library one of my friends was always with me, I think to make sure I didn't burn out. Lily had let slip that James had took everyone's schedules and made of plan of when they could come study with me. I did feel bad a first, but Lily reminded me that they should all be studying anyway. Today was Sirius's turn. This was the free where we normally hang out, so Sirius wasn't best please to be in the library.

"come on Em, if you don't know it now you aren't going to know it on Monday"
"I won't have time to do any revision tomorrow as it's the final so that leaves today and Sunday" he groaned at me
"but we haven't done anything fun in this free for the last two weeks"
"Sirius if it wasn't for me forcing you stay here you would have done no revision at all. You should be thanking me" he started muttering under his breath about how I was no fun anymore.
"how about this, for every ten minutes of revision you do I will answer a question relating to any topic you have and I promise to be 100% truthful" Sirius lived for gossip so I thought maybe this way we could both at least get some work done as he would be motivated
"anything I want?" I nodded at him
"but you actually have to do revision and not just stare at the book pretending" his face fell slightly before he grumbled in agreement. Dead on 10 minutes later Sirius asked his first question.

"who did you lose your virginity too?"
"Gideon Prewit"
"you lucky bitch" I laughed at him slightly before turning back to my work. After another ten minutes his next question came.
"how was he?" he fired at me immediately
"are all your questions going to be sex related?" I asked he shrugged
"you said I could ask whatever I wanted"
"it was a very enjoyable experience" he smirked at me
"I bet it was you dirty dog" rolling my eyes at him I turned back to my work.

This continued for a while Sirius asked a lot of questions about Gideon then he used some time to get some ammo on Lucy. I answer those question very carefully, so he was rather disappointed.
"do you fancy James?" ah I wonder how long it would be until we got to question about James
"Yes" Sirius gasped at me dramatically
"Sirius it's not like it's a secret"
"I know I just didn't expect you to admit it so easily" after another ten minutes the next question about James was asked
"do you love him?"
"yes, I love all of my friends" Sirius groaned at me. I knew that's not what he meant but he would have to wait another ten minutes to ask again.
"are you in love with James?" he was practically bouncing in his seat waiting for me to answer. I thought about how best to answer as I knew whatever I was going to say Sirius would report back to James.
"No, not yet but I could see myself being one day" I blushed, and Sirius beamed at me. It was true, I had never cared about anyone the way I cared about James and I was really hoping that after exams were done, we could maybe move forward.
"I have a question for you" I said to Sirius who happily shut is book, giving up on the idea of work. It was near to lunch, so I didn't mind to much
"is James planning on asking me on a date after exams?" I had a feeling this was what he was planning, he would ask me questions about what I wanted to do when exams where done and what my plans were for the holidays and if he would be able to come hang out with me while we weren't at school. Sirius barked out a laugh
"Yes Em. It's all I have had to hear about for the past 3 months so when he asks you, you better say yes" i felt like the butterflies were about to break out of my chest. I thought I would be nervous about this next step, but I couldn't be more excited.

Kayla, Lily and I all stood in Lucy's room as she walked around while we shouted encouraging stuff at her. This was the first time Lucy had been in the quidditch cup final and she was more determined than ever to win. She was still walking up and down, so I went up to her and grabbed her shoulder.
"you are a bad ass" I said looking directly in her eyes. She gave me a small grin
"I am a bad ass" I matched her smile holding out my hand to do our handshake. Once complete she turned to the girls
"let's go win this shit"

We were sat with the boys as we watched the game my knee was bouncing nervously. So far Ravenclaw was in the lead. Although I would love a house win, I would prefer for Lucy to win. James hand rested on my knee stopping it from moving.
"They are playing really well. There form is good and both teams are playing clean, so the risk of penalties is lower" James started telling me the facts of the games to calm my nerves. I just really wanted Lucy to have this.
"how are you guys planning on celebrating?" he asked I appreciated the fact he assumed Lucy was going to win
"we are going to room of requirement after she celebrates with the team. You guys are more than welcome to come with" Sirius leant his head down sticking it between us
"will there be alcohol?" I chuckled
"Lucy put it in there this morning" She made sure there was enough to celebrate but also to drown her sorrows if she lost.
"we will be there" Sirius said moving back in his seat.

"she is planning on moving in with me this summer" I said to James. I don't think he fully knew what Lucy's home situation was, but I think he was aware something was going on
"does that mean when I come to visit, I not only have to deal with you dad, but Lucy as well?" I laughed at him
"My dad likes you remember, and Lucy does as well"
"they both have funny ways of showing it" I laughed. James and Lucy weren't close by any means. They would talk to each other in group settings but that would be about it. Lucy did like James though otherwise she would have said something by now.
"As long as you're okay with one of them sat in the middle of us when you come to visit" I joked. Kind of. Its definitely something my Dad and Lucy would do.
"you're right, maybe you should come visit me" He said "on second thoughts I probably wouldn't get to spend any time with you. My mum would steal you first for a gossip session, then my dad would take you to talk potions and don't even get me started on Sirius I think he would kidnap you forever if he could" I laughed at him
"you right, maybe we should go somewhere just the two of us" I suggest boldly. He smirked down at me
"why miss Williams are you suggesting we go on a date?" I blushed heavily
"That depends, are you going to ask me out?" Before James could answer the crowd erupted into cheers. The snitch had been caught and Slytherin had won.

The worst week of the year was finally upon us. The only thing getting me through it was Remus's constant supply of chocolate and the fact the Slytherin end of year party was in sight. The worst thing about these exams was that they didn't even count towards my Newts. They did however decide if you got to continue taking the Newt course. My last practical exam was today, and it was defence against the dark arts exam. The people coming out of the classroom who had just completed the exam were not filling me with confidence. James was currently taking the exam. He strutted in there without a care in the world knowing he was going to smash it. Students were not allowed to talk to other students who had not yet taken the exam, but I think just seeing him would make me feel better.

The door finally opened, and James came charging out. He looked around panicked until he found me visibly relaxing. Before anyone could stop him, he had stridden over to me and wrapped me in a tight hug. What the bloody hell was on this exam?
"Mr Potter, you cannot interact with Miss Williams" The examiner said. Reluctantly James pulled back, giving me a small smile. He didn't say a word I think not to jeopardise my score.

After James had left, I was not feeling this exam. Sixth year defence was hard, it was a lot of none verbal spells and unforgivable curse. The theory exam went well but the practical was a whole other story.
"Miss Williams" the examiner called me. In the classroom there appeared to be a room inside a room.
"when you go through this door you will faced magical creatures and spells you have learnt about this year and previous. If we are confident in your ability there will be use of unforgivable curses as sanctioned by the ministry of magic. There will be medical help provide should you require it at any point during the exam. If you should wish to end the exam at any point send sparks into the air and exam will be terminated and your score will be based on your performance up until that point. We will not allow you to be in any real danger and therefore at any time we reserve the right to end your exam. You will know your exam has ended when you next see me, you will not see me at any point before this. Do you understand?" great an exam that come with a disclaimer.
"I understand" I said anxiously
"very well, please enter the room when you are ready Miss Williams"

Once through the door I was greeted by a very long and dark corridor. Knowing that none verbal spells got you extra points, I wordlessly casted the Lumos spell and started walking down the corridor. As I was walking, I could hear something behind me. I spun quickly but there was nothing there, not convinced I cast Lumos maxima and a ball of light shot back down the corridor. As the light went further it illuminated the source of the sound I heard. Crawling towards me was an army of inferi. I quickly cast the fire storm spell and the inferi closest to me backed away but there were too many for me to fully hold off, so I turned and ran.

I burst through a door at the end of the corridor shutting it firmly behind me. I looked around, I was now in another room that looked similar to how the classroom usually looked. I pushed off the back of the door, having caught my breath when I saw Lucy walk around the corner. What was she doing here? I went to call her name when the rest of my friends and my parents all appeared. Shit this was a boggart. When I face my bogart in 3rd year my biggest fear was birds'. Don't get me started on the little flying monster. Things have clearly changed a bit since then. One by one I watched my friends and family fall to the ground. They were coughing up blood as though they have been poisoned. I kept trying to tell myself it wasn't real, but I was frozen I felt like all the air had been sucked out the room. It wasn't until I watched James' body fall to the floor that I rushed forward shouting ridiculous. Thankfully the spell worked, they jumped up and started line dancing.

As they slowly faded away it was only then, I realised I had been crying. Wiping my eyes on the back of my sleeve, I just stood in the empty room. I didn't have long though before a spell flashed passed me, just missing me. I turned to see where it came from, there was a man stood there. By the time, I had realised he shot another spell at me, I quickly through up a shield spell just in time. I fired my own spell back which he blocked easily. I quickly scanned the room and summoned a nearby table towards me. I kicked it over and crouch behind it. Spells were being fired at the table. I peeked over to see there was now 3 wizards targeting me. What the fuck was this exam? Taking a deep breath, I shot a quick spell over the table successfully hitting one of the wizards. I crouched back down and weirdly the spells stopped as I did, and the room went silent.

Cautiously, I crept out from behind the table. As I did the room transitioned before me. Suddenly, I was sat in a chair facing one of the wizards from before. As I locked eyes with them the wizard shot the imperious curse at me. Suddenly I wasn't in control of my own body. There was a voice telling me to stand, so I automatically did, then it told me jog on the spot and I did. It was at this point my mind started to catch up and I knew what this test was. The voice told me to do star jumps I began shouting no over and over again in my mind just as we had been taught. I started the start jumps but much more slowly than I had for the other tasks. The voice told me to sit down. I visualised myself stood up while chanting over and over again and this time I didn't move like the voice wanted. The voice tried to get me to sit again, but just like last time, I refused to move. It was exhausting resisting the curse.

Thankfully I felt the curse lift and I fell to the floor, the room spined around me again this time I was brought to defence against the darks arts classroom I was uses to and stood Infront of me was the examiner.

"your exam is now over Miss Williams" I let out a breath of relief. I looked up at the examiner angrily and from the look on his face it appears I wasn't the first to get angry after that shit show
"how on earth is that an exam for 17-year olds?" I was yelling at the man. He held out his hand to me, pulling me up
"I can understand your frustration. The ministry decided, with the current climate, it was best to implement a tougher exam to try and best prepare you for the dangers you may face not only in your chosen career but also just in the real world" I let out a breath. If this ministry sees this as preparation, how bad had things gotten?
"one benefit of this miss Williams, is your Newt exam will be no more difficult than what you have just faced, so a small silver lining is that you will be well prepared for your exam next year" I rolled my eyes at the examiner and stormed out the room.

As I pushed the door open to get out the waiting area, I was so happy to see James stood on the other side of the door. I ran up to him and flung my arms round him just as he had done to me after his exam. He stroked my hair as he held me close to him.
"I watched you die" I said pulling away from him slightly "my bogart was everyone I love dying right in front of me" I wasn't able to look in his eyes.
"I watched you get hit with the cruciatus curse and when you fell to the floor the same thing happened again with Sirius, I managed to stop it before the curse hit Sirius though" James said quietly to me. I looked up at him and placed my hand on his cheek, he lent into my touch.
"I am right here. I am safe and that wasn't real" I said to him he nodded
"want to go see if we can steal some more chocolate off Remus" I said softly to him. He gave a small smile before taking my hand in his and running down the corridor with me.

Chapter 30 Chapter Text

Exams were finally over and tonight was the Slytherin party. We would still have a week of school left after this weekend and my heart went out to the teachers who had to try to keep control over the next week.

We had gone to the room of requirement so we could all get ready together. We had music blaring as we all sang and danced to the music while we helped each other get ready. I was currently doing Lucy's makeup. Lucy has a beautiful olive skin tone which complimented her deep green eyes. She was very luckily sorted into Slytherin as green was her colour. Tonight, however she had opted for an all-black look. She had straitened her hair, so it came to a sharp stop just above her shoulders, she had requested for me to do a dark Smokey eye to match the black satin slip dress she had opted to wear.

"okay, tell me what you think" I said gesturing her to look in the mirror
"Damn I look hot" I laughed at her before shooing her out the seat so I could sit down to do my own makeup. My theme for tonights outfit was glitter. With help from Kayla I had chosen to wear some flared blue jeans and a gold sequined camisole top. I had just let my hair do its thing and left it down in it natural loose waves, my makeup was quite simple nothing really out of what I normally do except the dusting of gold glitter across my eyes to match my top.
"we need a picture" Lily said to us once we were all ready
"let use the magic camera" Lucy said waving her wand so the camera floated Infront of her. The photo had become my new favourite as soon as I saw it. Lucy was stood in the middle of the frame it moved to show the rest of us run in quickly bunching together to smile at the camera. We quickly made copies of the photo so we each could have one before we headed out to the party.

I was having the time of my life dancing with the girls. I hadn't even had a drink I was just floating around on the high of the night. Lucy's go to song, killer queen, came on and we occupied the middle of the makeshift dance floor as Lucy sung the words and we joined in at the chorus with her. Lucy stood in the centre of the circle me and other girls had formed, as we danced around her while she sang. When the song came to an end people cheered at our performance, we all just collapsed into a fit of laughter.

I spotted Remus sat on the couch nursing his drink. I walked over to him sitting down next to him
"what's a pretty boy like you doing sitting alone?" I asked just as he had done at the Gryffindor party all those months ago. He laughed at me and pulled me into a side hug
"can you believe how much has changed since that party?" he asked me. It was actually unbelievable what a difference a year makes.
"if you had told me Lily and James would be friends back then I would have laughed in your face" I shuck my head thinking back to the train ride in September.
"Where are your counter parts?" I asked him. He nodded his head over to Peter who was chatting to Mary. I grinned at the boy
"I don't know where the other two are, I thought they had gone to look for you" He shrugged. I did think it was weird I hadn't seen them.

I was talking to Remus for a while until there was a loud commotion coming from the dancefloor. We turned to look, only to find that Sirius had picked James up and held him high in the air as he twirled them around. It reminded me of ice skaters doing lifts in their routines.
"I think we found them" I laughed.
"pads, I found her!" we heard James yell from up high. Sirius immediately brought him down, not so gracefully. As soon as James was down, they made their way over to us.
"Damn sunshine you were hard to find" I laughed at the boys
"was that whole thing just so you could find me in the crowd?" the boys nodded enthusiastically
"it was a last resort. We have been looking for you for ages" Sirius said
"you clearly weren't looking very hard" Remus said earning a glare from his boyfriend. Sirius turned back to me and pulled me up
"enough sitting, more dancing" He then proceed to drag me back to the dancefloor he had just left.

It wasn't long until our whole group was dancing together. It made my heart happy to see them all together. Even Lucy and Sirius seemed to be getting on well as they often sang the words to songs together. When a song I didn't know came on I decided to go get some water. Turning to Lily, who was the next most sober out of the girls.
"I am just going to get a get drink" I shouted above the noise
"do you want me to come with you?" she asked. She had her arms wrapped around Kayla as she stood behind her as they swayed to the music
"no, it's fine, I will be back soon" I said before dashing off.

After grabbing some water, I decided to go outside of the common room just to cool down a bit. I made my way out of the common room taking a seat on a nearby bench. Tilting my head back so it touched the cool stone wall.
"Taking a break?" I moved my head off the wall just in time to see James sit down next to me.
"I didn't realise how warm it was until I stopped dancing to get some water"
"are you not drinking?" he asked me
"No, I had a glass of wine while we were getting ready, but when we got here, I was having enough fun without having a drink, so I volunteered to be the sober one tonight" I explained
"same here, I told the boys to just have fun, I wasn't that bothered anyway" I smiled at him and rested my head on his should and he rested his head on top of mine
"you look stunning tonight" I heard him say. I am glad he couldn't see my face as it was now as bright as a tomato.
"you look stunning every day to be honest, in every outfit" the butterflies began erupting in my chest.
"thank you" I muttered quietly. He lifted his head off mine and moved his should causing me to look at him
"I don't think you understand Emily. You are the most stunning person I have ever met. Not only are you insanely beautiful you are incredibly thoughtful and caring and to top it all off you insanely smart which I think might be the sexist thing about you" I sucked in a breath. He rested his forehead against mine.
"I think your amazing as well" he chuckled at me "I am not just saying it because you just said all that really nice stuff. I mean it James, you make me feel so cared for, no one has ever looked after me the way you have, you make me feel safe" I brought my hand up to rest on his cheek "your also ridiculously funny, the most incredible friend and I guess your also sexily smart" I smirked at him and we both let out a laugh.
"sitting next to you in potions might be the best decision I have ever made"

We could faintly hear the music from inside the common room. I couldn't tell you what song it was and quite frankly I didn't care. James took my hand pulling me up. I laced my fingers together behind his neck and he rested his hand on either side of my hips as we swayed to the sound of the music. I couldn't stop smiling at him as he looked at me with the same twinkle in his eyes.

We naturally came to slow stop until we were just standing in the middle of the corridor. Just the two of us. James slowly leaned down to me his eyes flickering all over my face to make sure this is what I wanted. I pressed up on my toes slightly meeting him halfway. For what felt like forever but was probably a second of two we just froze inches apart. Until James closed the gap and our lips met.

As we kissed slowly moving our lips together James brought his hand up to the side of my face cupping my cheek gently moving his thumb back and forth. I got lost in the way his lips felt against mine. My hands slowly travel into the hair and bottom of his neck letting my finger delicately twist in his curls. It was unlike any kiss I have ever had before. I don't know if it's because of how much passion I could feel behind it or if it because it was something, we had both wanted for so long.

We slowly pulled away I still had my eyes shut as we did. I slowly opened them to find James already looking at me. As I looked into his eyes it was like everything just clicked for me. Everything suddenly made sense, all the worry I had about me and James vanished, and I knew in that moment that I would always be okay as long as James was by my side. Slowly a smile made its way across my face as I knew that what my parents had told me wasn't bullshit, because as I stood there with James, I knew I had found the one.

Chapter 31 Chapter Text

The next morning, I woke up buzzing with energy. After the kiss last night, we went back into the party and had a great time with our friends. James stayed close to my side with a huge grin on his face all night. We didn't kiss again but that was okay.

After getting a very drunk Lucy to her dorm, I walked Kayla and Lily to the Hufflepuff common room before making my way up to Ravenclaw tower. I wasn't sure when the girls would emerge today and what states they would be in, so before I left my dorm this morning, I grabbed a hangover remedy for them. Entering the hall, I was pleasantly surprised to see Lily and Kayla already there. Lily didn't drink much last night so I suspected she would be relatively okay. Kayla, however, was looking worse for wear. As I sat down, I didn't say anything just slid the bottle over to her. She immediately unscrewed the lid to take a sip.
"You are an absolute angel Emily" She said clearly feeling the effects of the potion already.
"My god, she is up" Lily said causing myself and Kayla to turn to see who she had seen. I suppressed a laugh as a very hungover Lucy strolled into the hall. She still had last night dress on but had put a large oversized hoodie over the top. Remains of her eye makeup still smudge under her eyes. As she sat down Kayla slid the potion over to her. Like Kayla, Lucy felt the effects pretty quickly.
"fuck me, what a night" she said as she began piling her plate up with food.
"Lu, wait a minute look at me" I took my wand waving it removing the last of her eye makeup before handing her a bobble so she could tie her hair back. Although I am pretty sure the teachers were aware of these parties and chose to turn a blind eye. It was probably best to still try and look as normal as possible.

The boys made their way into the hall not long after Lucy. They all took sips of the potions except for James who blushed when he saw I was already sat at the table. As soon as I saw him my heart rate kicked up a notch and I couldn't stop smiling. He sat down in the seat next to me, his leg pressed up against mine. We engaged in conversation with our friends about the party last night, but I kept catching him looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

The weather was really nice today, so we had decided to make the most of it. We were all lounging by the black lake. Kayla sat with her back pressed against the tree while Lily was lay down, her head resting in Kayla's lap. The pair talked quietly between themselves while Kayla ran her fingers through Lily's hair. Lucy and Sirius were stood at the very edge of the black lake, bickering with each other. They were currently trying to prove who was the best at skipping stones and by the looks of it neither one of them was any good. Remus and Peter were sat nearby to Kayla and Lily playing a game of cards.

I was lay soaking up the sun, propped up on my arms watching my friends as James, who had previously been the judge of the stone throwing competition walked over to me. I lowered myself so I was lay flat on the grass and James did the same. We rolled our head to the side, so we were looking at each other
"who's winning?" I asked
"honestly, they are both terrible, but I would say Lucy is marginally better. They sent me away so they could practice before I judge the final round" as he spoke, I could feel James' hand inch close to mine. I decided to be brave, placing my hand in his, lacing our fingers together.
"did you have fun last night?" he asked me as he glanced down at our hands whilst his thumb moved gently back and forth on the back of my hand. I think he was nervous to ask me about last night.
"everything about last night was perfect" he looked up from our hand's eyes roaming all over my face as if to make sure I was telling the truth. Once he had decided that I really did think last night was perfect his usual cocky smirk appeared.
"yeah? Anything special happen that made it so prefect?" I scoffed at him
"Yes. Dancing to benny and the jets with Sirius was defiantly a highlight"
"is that it? Nothing special happen in any corridors?" he asked me
"Kayla, did fall over on the walk back to her common room, it was pretty funny actually" he groaned at me
"your killing me here sunshine" he grumbled out. I laughed
"I guess, I did kiss this boy that I really like. That was pretty cool" he looked at me more seriously now. Ghost of a smile still dancing across his lips.
"That kiss Em..." he trailed off with a dreamy look in his eyes "it was, I don't even know how to describe how incredible it was" I was screaming on the inside
"I know what you mean" I said quietly as my face lit up like a tomato. James rolled on his side bringing his other hand up to cup my cheek just like he had last night. He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by professor McGonagall shouting my name.

I pushed up from the floor and turned to see the professor stood not so far behind us. As soon I saw the look on her face my whole body went Ice cold. Something was wrong. In as much as a normal voice as I could master, I turned to James who had stood with me
"I have to go" He looked at me eyebrows scrunched together
"do you want me to come with you?" I quickly shuck my head
"no, its okay, stay and have a good time with the others" I said pulling James into a hug scrunching my eyes shut trying to soak in this moment as I knew when I pulled away, I would have to deal with reality.

I walked in silence with the professor up to Dumbledore's office. When I entered the room and saw my brother stood there, tears pouring down his face. I knew. My heart felt like if it beat any faster it was bound to break. I had this feeling in my stomach that sort of felt like when you apparated but 100x worst. I couldn't think, it was like my mind was completely blank. I looked at my brother who I hadn't seen or heard from in nearly a year as he just stood there sobbing. Before I knew what, I was doing I walked up to him and pulled him in a tight hug. Whilst he sobbed into my shoulder, I heard Dumbledore confirm what I already knew.
"I am sorry to inform you Miss Williams, that your parents have sadly passed away"

I don't know how long I stood there holding my brother as he sobbed uncontrollably. I was trying so hard to keep it together as one of us had to. When he pulled away from me, he instantly walked over the fireplace and grabbed floo powder
"I can't do this right now, I am sorry Em" he said before throwing the floo powder down, at least I knew he had gone back to our family home. As I watched him leave the only way, I could think to describe how I felt would be numb. Professor McGonagall who had been there the whole time moved closer to me pressing a suprotive hand to my back.

"As you have finished all your work Miss Williams there is no need for you to remain at the castle for this final week so you may go home. However, I do understand you have a strong support system here and should you wish to stay at the castle you are more than welcome too" Dumbledore explained kindly.
"I will go home. I need to start sorting things out" I said not looking up from the floor.
"what happened to them?" I asked looking up at the old headteacher
"They were ambushed, there were simply to many of them. They thought valiantly right until the end" I nodded slowly
"death eaters?" I asked
"I am afraid so" he answered glumly. He began explaining how I could use his fireplace to get home and the school would arrange for my stuff to be sent but I couldn't listen to him. My parents were dead. I could feel myself start to lose control so before it got too bad, I interrupted him
"I think I just need a minuet" He gave me a sympathetic smile
"take as long as you need Emily, my fireplace is going nowhere"

I ran out of the room. I didn't know where I was going, and I didn't care. I just needed to get away. As I was running, I could feel the tears I had stored up begin to roll down my face. My breathing became choppy, stopping, I sank to the floor in the middle of the corridor. My mum and dad were dead.

James Pov

It had been a while since Emily left and she still hasn't come back.
"she will be fine Potter, McGonagall is always pulling her for chats" Lily tried to reassure me, but I couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong.
"I think I am just going to go check on her" I told her. She laughed at me
"okay lover boy" I got up pulling the map out of my bag once I was a safe distance from the group. I scanned the map looking for Emily when I saw McGonagall in dumbledore's office but no Emily I really started to worry. Eventually I spotted her name and I began running to find her.

I turned the corner to where the map said she would be, to find her sat in the middle of the corridor her knees pulled tight into her chest. I quickly dashed over to her. she was crying but it looked like she wasn't able to breath properly. I pulled her hands into mine squeezing them tightly
"I need you to breath Em. Can you do that for me? Focus on my voice, can you feel my hands gripping yours? Come on Em you can do it, breathe with me" I started coaching her through breathing and slowly her breaths started to return to normal. When she had calmed down slightly, I looked at her trying to see if she was physically hurt in anyway.

"my parents are dead" she blurted out before quickly slapping her hand over her mouth. Her eyes widening in shock as if this was the first time, she had said it out load. She moved her hands from her mouth.
"my parents are dead" she said again much more quietly before she began sobbing again. I moved her so she was sat on my lap. She was still clinging her knees to her chest as I wrapped my arm around her pulling her tightly against my chest. I just held her while she cried not saying anything as there was nothing I could say or do to make this any better.

I am not sure how long we sat there before Emily slowly stopped crying and spoke again.
"I am going home today. I need to go sort some things out and check on my brother. He isn't doing well" it was like she had flipped a switch. She wasn't okay, but it was like she pushed all her own feeling to one side so she could focus on everything else.
"Em, you don't need to do anything right now" I said trying to get her back to focusing on herself
"I do James. I need to do this" I looked at her. She was determined, there was no stopping her. I ran my hand down her back.
"okay, I understand but in one week's time Em I am going to come to you okay? And you won't have to worry about anything. I will come take care of you" Knowing Emily I knew she liked it when she could control the situation and right now she needed control more than ever but I didn't want her to get so focused that she forgot that she needed to grieve. She sniffled looking at me
"one week?" she asked weakly and I swear my heart broke. I pulled her back to me placing a kiss on her forehead
"one-week Sunshine and then you don't have to do it alone. You don't have to do anything alone anymore" She nodded
"I am ready to go now" She said quietly into my chest. I helped her up, holding her hand as we walked back to Dumbledore office.

As she disappeared up the stairs, she took my heart with her. As soon as she was out of sight, I let out a shaky breath as I took in what had happened. Colin and Gail Williams had been killed. They were the best in their field and yet they had still managed to be taken from Emily. I felt my own tears fall down my face as I remembered finding her in that corridor and now, I couldn't be there for her. Professor McGonagall came down the stairs when she saw me, she came over to me, pulling me into a hug.
"she is very strong Potter. She will be okay" The professor said to me letting me go"she shouldn't have to be strong though Minnie, that's the problem" She placed a hand on my shoulder
"I was about to go inform you and your friends of the situation. Would you like me to tell your group or do you want to do it?"
"I will do it" she nodded at me
"very well. Would you also be able to ask the girls to pack up Miss Williams belongings and then bring them to my office" I nodded glumly at her.
"you're doing everything you can do for her James" she said to me before walking away.

Whilst walking back to my friends I had been thinking of what I can do to help Emily whilst I am not able to be with her. I decided to write to my parents, they adored Emily so would be there to help her with anything she needed in a heartbeat.
"Alright Potter where are you hiding her?" Lucy asked as I made It back to the group. I just stood there not knowing how to start. Remus jumped to his feet when I didn't answer
"James, what's wrong?" the concern in his voice caused the rest of the group to look at me.
"Emily's parents are dead" I said trying to hold back my emotion. Everyone sprung to their feet rushing over to where I was stood
"how do you know? Where is she?" Lucy said angrily. Kayla who's eyes were watering took Lucy's hand in hers to try calm her down
"I went to check on her as she had been gone a while. When I found her, she told me that her parents had been killed. She has gone home now" Lucy charged at me, but Remus quickly jumped Infront of her holding her by the shoulder
"What so you just let her go home alone?" she yelled at me and it felt like I had been stabbed with a knife as she looked at me with the same anger, I felt for myself. Trying to stay calm I answered
"she has her brother" she interrupted me again with a sarcastic laugh
"that useless piece of shit who hasn't bothered to speak to her in a year" I took a shaky breath
"It's not James' fault Vixen. Stop yelling at him" Sirius tried to defend me
"fuck off Black no one asked you" She snapped at him
"Lucy stop it. You're not helping anything" Lily said sternly her as she took Remus' place. She put her hand on Lucy arm
"Let James tell us what he knows and then we can go from there. But you know as well as I do that if Emily were here right now, she would be furious at you for the way you are acting to James" Lucy stared at Lily for a moment before letting her pull her back to where Kayla was stood. The girls wrapped arms around each other before turning to me for an explanation.

I told the group everything I knew which wasn't much as Emily didn't know much more than it being an ambush. When I was done the girls, including Lucy had tears rolling down their cheeks. Sirius looked damn right furious as he jumped up from the floor
"I need to go tell Regulus. He is friends with Em he will want to know" He said quickly before storming off. Peter and Remus looked at each other before Peter jumped up running after Sirius. I turned to the girls.
"Professor McGonagall has asked if you can pack her stuff up and take it to her office" Lily nodded
"come on, we can't do much for her now, but we can do this" she said encouragingly to other girls as they slowly walked off. Before Lucy left, she stopped Infront of me
"I am sorry Potter, thank you for being there for her when we couldn't" I felt my shoulder relax slightly as I watched her walk away.

Remus came up to me and wordlessly pulled me into a hug
"she is gonna be okay" he said patting my back before letting me go
"I am going to write to my mum and dad, see if they can go check on her" I told him my idea. He gave me an encouraging smile
"you should have seen her Moony when I found her, she was having a panic attack, she couldn't breathe" I hadn't told the group this part, I didn't think Emily would want them to know as she didn't like them worrying about her
"you handle it well James. Lucy was out of order for yelling at you the way she did" I shrugged
"if it was the other way around and I was in her position I would probably do the same"
Remus walked with me to the owlery my mind filled with thoughts of Emily.

Chapter 32 Chapter Text

When I stepped out the fire into my house. I just stood in the living room for a moment. I turned and picked up a picture my mum had recently added to the mantle. It was one that she had took of me and my dad dancing at Christmas. I held the photo close to my chest not quite believing this was happening. I heard the sound of people talking in the kitchen, it was then I remembered my brother was home. I placed the photo back on the mantle and walked to the kitchen.

My brother stood in the centre of the kitchen with his girlfriends, Anna, arms wrapped around him. Hearing me enter Anna let go of my brother and made her way over to me pulling me into a hug
"oh Emily, I am so sorry" I lightly hugged her back before stepping away from her and moved over to the sink closer to my brother to get some water
"what do we do now Em?" I looked at my brother. Not really believing he was here. As I looked at him the angrier, I became, but I bit my tongue now was not the time.
"I will need to go get the paperwork down from the loft and start going through it" because of the job my parents had they often spoke to us about what to expect if the worst should happen. My brother refused to listen to them often storming off every time they tried to discuss it with him. That meant it was on me to get things organised.
"I can't help you with it Em, I just can't do it" he said new wave of tears began falling down his face. Anna moved to hold him again. I just stared at him blankly
"come on let's go lie down for a bit" Anna said as she coaxed my brother out of the Kitchen.

As I was left alone in the kitchen, I remember all the time mum and I had spent cooking together. I remember my dad coming up to my mum wrapping her in a hug as he rested his chin on her shoulder. I could feel my eyes start to water so I moved out of the room quickly before I let it consume me. I was about to head up to loft when there was a knock on the door. Dragging my hand over my face I made my way to the door. Letting out a sigh of relief at the sight of Mia and Monty.
"oh Lovely" Mia said as she pulled me into a tight hug. That was my last straw, I started to cry freely. I felt her usher me further into my house, sitting me down on the couch.
"James wrote to us, told us what happened, we came as quick as we could" She explained as she soothingly held me
"He said you brother was with you?" I pulled away from her
"he is in his room with his girlfriend. He isn't doing well. I can't blame him really I am not exactly doing great" she pursed her lips at me as Monty came back into the room handing me a cup of tea. I gave him a small grateful smile.
"so Sweetheart, how can we help?" Monty asked as he sat opposite me. In that moment he reminded me so much of my own dad. I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from crying again
"I was just about to go to the loft to bring down all the paperwork" I explained
"Monty can do that, can't you love" Mia instructed her husband who jumped to his feet
"just point me in the right direction"
"if you head up the stairs you will see a latch in the ceiling you can pull to get access to the loft. My mum is super organised so you should be able to spot a folder that's labelled after life affairs" I explained my voice getting a bit wobbly as I thought of the folder my mum and dad took me through. When Monty was gone Mia held my hand
"whatever you need lovely, night or day, you just ask us okay?" I smiled softly at her
"Thank you, Mia,"

Monty brought down the folder, but Mia insisted that was not a job for today and we could start that tomorrow. She told me for today, It was okay for me to just not be okay. So, I spent the evening on the couch in my living room as Monty and Mia took care of me. Monty went to get everyone in the house food including my brother and his girlfriend. Mia listened to me as I told her about my parents the best I could through the tears that didn't seem to stop. Liam didn't leave his room again, but Anna came out to get the food and to thank Monty for getting them something. I even told Mia how angry I was at my brother and I how I felt guilty for being angry at him when all of this was going on. She reassured me that I was quite within my rights to be angry at him and reminded me I was hurting just as much as he was.

At some point during in the night Professor McGonagall had brought my case. I asked her to thank the girls for me which she assured me she would. She didn't stay long but I appreciated her giving me an update on my friends. When I got in bed that night I curled up in a ball and just lay there numbly until I eventually let sleep take me.

The next morning, I woke up pretty early. made my way downstair completely avoiding looking in my parents' room. I went into the kitchen to see Anna and Liam talking quietly between themselves. When they saw me enter Anna got up and left the room.
"Anna said you friends parents got us the food from last night" He said. I just nodded at him moving around the kitchen to make some breakfast.
"will they be helping you organise mum and dad's affairs?" I just nodded again it wasn't like he was going to help me.
"are you seriously mad at me right now Em?" I took a deep breath and looked at him
"Liam I am not doing this with you now. Mum and dad wouldn't want us to argue so let's not" I said firmly
"You're actually kidding me, you are mad. Unbelievable Emily i have just lots mum and dad I can't deal with any of this shit and you're really not helping" I hadn't seen this side of my brother before, sure we bickered when we were younger, but this was new. I guess a lot can happen in a year.
"okay" I just shrugged at him not really sure what he wanted me to say. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"I am going back to my flat tonight" he said. I turned towards him
"your leaving me here?" it was one thing for him to leave me to make arrangements, but he was actually going to leave me in the house on my own.
"I can't be here Emily. I just can't" he started to cry. Despite my better judgment I went over to him and held him whilst he cried just like I had done in dumbledore office. At the end of the day he was my brother and I didn't want him to feel alone.
"I am sorry" he mumbled into my hair.

Not long after our talk in the kitchen my brother and Anna were gone. Anna did say to just send an owl to her if I needed anything and she would do her best to help. I didn't blame Anna for this. It wasn't her fault my brother was being the way he was and if I was in her shoes, I would probably wouldn't handle the situation much differently. Thankfully Monty and Mia had come back round today to help me start making arrangements. I could tell Monty was absolutely furious at my brother, but he tried his best to hide it. Luckily my parents had left very detailed instructions on everything I could possibly need to know. They left details about the house, about the vault at Gringotts they even had left instruction on what I needed to do to arrange their death certificates. We talked a lot about death as a family which I know seems strange, but my parents tried their best to prepare me.

They knew I liked all the facts and a solid plan so that what they had done, laid it all out in black and white for me. My dad used to tell me I was only allowed to wallow for a little but I had to keep on living which right now felt impossible, but I would try my best for him. I thought back to the night at the astronomy tower with Regulus and Lucy and it soothed me to think they were still here watching me. I let out a small laugh remembering Lucy's grandad.
"you okay love?" Mia asked as she was going through the folder
"I am just thinking about something my friend Lucy said about our loved ones watching over us" she gave me a warm smile
"your mum and dad will always be with you Emily, you just won't be able to see them but I promise you they are with you every step of the way" she held my hand "people are going to tell you that it gets better with time and it does but your loss doesn't get any smaller your world just slowly grows around you. Your currently on day 2 in this new world without them so you don't have much going on yet, but your world will grow, and you will adapt" her words were so soothing to me. It made me feel better about being an emotional rollercoaster at the moment.

We were interrupted from our planning when the Potter family owl swooped in dropping a letter on Mia's lap. She immediately opened it and smiled
"It's from James love" It was crazy how just hearing his name made me feel a bit better
"he is just checking to see how you are doing" James and the others had sent me letters that all came this morning. I couldn't bring myself to read them yet knowing they would probably make me cry even more.
"can you tell him I am sorry for not writing him back, I just can't do it yet" I said to Mia who nodded at me
"not a problem Lovely, Monty pass me my bag I need my glasses to write James a letter" Monty handed his wife's bag over.
"I can take you to the ministry tomorrow to have the will read, if you want bring your brother along" Monty said sitting on the other side of me
"that would be prefect thank you" I smiled at him

After Monty and Mia left, I had written to Anna, thinking I might actually get a response out of her to let them know of the plan to go to the ministry tomorrow. I hadn't left much room for debate. She wrote back to say she and my brother would be here tomorrow morning so we could all go together. I had done okay today in terms of how I felt but as I walked past my parents' room, I hovered in the doorway. I felt my lip trembled as I looked in the room suddenly being hit with a wave of grief as I realised, they would never be in this room again, they would never be in this world again. As the tears started to role I walked into the room, sitting on my mum and dads' bed. On my dad nightstand was a picture, taken when I must have been just under a month old on my very first valentine's day. In the photo my dad was holding me in one arm and had a bunch of sunflowers in the other. He went from looking at the camera to looking at me. Whilst my dad held me my then 5-year-old brother ran around his feet only to stop for a second, in front of my dad legs, to give a huge smile at the camera before he ran off again. I held the photo sobbing not only because I had lost my parents but because it also felt like I was losing Liam.

The next morning Anna and Liam came around as they had promised.
"what's your friends dad called?" Anna asked trying to ease the tension in the room my brother was creating
"Fleamont"
"bit unusual" she mused. Trying to keep things as normal as I could I tried to have a conversation with her.
"have you heard of sleekeazy hair solution?" she nodded at me
"I swear by it!" I let out a small laugh
"well he is the guy who invented it" she let out gasp.
"which of your friends dads is it? I don't remember any of your friends' dads being a potion maker" Liam spoke for the first time today
"he's my friend James's dad, you haven't met James yet. He actually came to your game with us over easter" I would be lying if I said I didn't bring up the game just to spite my brother. He gritted his teeth and turned away from me
"you brought a boy? I bet your dad loved that" Anna chuckled. I thought back to my dad and James meeting and a pang of grief hit me as I realised that was the first and last time they would meet. Choosing to think positively I pushed that idea out of my mind for now
"once dad had calmed down a bit, he actually really liked James and my mum adored him" I said remembering how when I got home that night mum came to my room to talk about how much she had liked him.
"Dad liked him?" Liam asked. I nodded. it was true. Dad was never going to love any boy I brought home, but he had warmed to James, he even told my mum he thought he was very respectful.
"I would like to meet him" Liam said. which shocked me a bit since he has shown no interest in me or my life for the last year but if this was his olive branch, I would take it.
"I am sure he will be here when they finish school if you want to, you know, just be around then I will introduce. I will introduce to my other friends too, but I must warn you Sirius has a massive crush on you" My brother let out a small laugh. Maybe I hadn't lost him just yet.

Monty took us the ministry and walked us to the correct office.
"you and Liam will have to go in on your own sweetheart" Monty explained. I wasn't expecting that, and it made me rather nervous. Monty sensing that put his hand on my shoulder
"I will be right out here. I am not going anywhere and when you come out, I will take you back to our house for tea. Mia asked James what your favourite food is, so I am sure she is cooking up a storm" I let out a small laugh before nodding at him and walking over to my brother. I took his hand in mine and he gripped it tightly as we walked in.

The lady who was in charge of my parents' affairs was lovely. She spoke very softly to us and didn't rush anything, answering any question we had with lots of detail. So far everything had gone as expected. My parents' vaults were to be split evenly between myself and Liam, the money had already been moved into our accounts upon notification of their death. We each got left certain things that our parents thought we might specifically want. Such as Liam got my parents old brooms and I got my mum's Jewellery collection. My dad's wand had been left to me and my mums to my brother.

"your parents left the house to both of you" The lady explained but Liam cut her off
"I don't want it" I turned to him shocked
"Liam it was your home" I started but again he cut me off
"I don't want it Emily, you can have it" he turned back to the women "can I sigh it over to my sister? I don't want any money for my share she can just have it" The woman was a bit shocked but rummaged in her desk pulling out a form
"if you're sure this is what you want Mr Williams, you will just need to complete this form" Liam wasted no time grabbing the form and a quill and completing the form. I just watched him shocked and confused.
"well that was the last order of business" before the women could even finish Liam had already walked out the room. Sighing I turned back to the kind ministry worker
"I am sorry about that" She just smiled at me
"it's no problem at all miss Williams. I think we have covered everything but if you do have any questions at all please just get in contact with us." I gave her kind smile thanking her again before I left the room.

I looked around to see if Liam was still here, but it appears, he had left. It was like one step forward two steps back. However as promised Monty was sat on one of the chairs waiting for me. When he saw me, he jumped out of his seat and wrapped me in tight hug.
"you did very well today sweetheart. Me and Mia are very proud of you" that's all it took to break me. Monty just held me tightly until I stopped crying enough for him to apperate us back to Potter manner.

Over tea with Monty and Mia I told them about will reading and how the house was now solely mine
"I think I am going to ask the girls to move in. Lucy was already planning to anyway and now my brother isn't there, there is enough room for Kayla and Lily" I told them what I had been thinking
"I think that's a wonderful idea Lovely and I can come around for tea with you girls when living with the boys gets too much" Mia said. I laughed a real laugh. The first proper once since hearing the news.
"your welcome anytime Mia" Monty cleared his throat "you too Monty"

The next day I was surprised to open the front door to find my brother.
"why didn't you just apperate in or use the floo?" I asked confused as I move to the side to let him enter the house
"its your house now Em, I didn't want to just walk in" I shook my head as I walked behind him into the kitchen
"do I have to offer you something to drink? Or can you still do that yourself" he laughed at me
"I will just get a water please" I rolled my eyes and got him a glass of water. He sat on the bar stool looking at me intently
"I came to say sorry Em" I let out a sigh as I looked at him
"what are you sorry for Liam?" he winced a little at my tone
"everything. Not replying to your letters, not coming to see you at Christmas, not seeing you after the game, but mostly for how I have treated you since mum and dad died" both our eyes started to water and I sucked in my bottom lip to stop me from breaking down in tears
"I have been a shit big brother Emily and there is no excuse for that, but I feel like you a least deserve an explanation. Like you, I haven't seen mum and dad in over a year. I hadn't even really written to them" that did shock me. I thought it was just be he was blanking
"I don't even really know why I did it and by the time I noticed what I was doing it had been too long and I didn't feel like I could reach out because I felt ashamed. Then they died" tears started to roll down both our faces now "they died, and I can't even remember the last time I told them I loved them. Being in this house Em the guilt eats me alive that's why I left the house to you. I don't live here anymore so it just made sense for it to be solely yours"

I was grateful for him explaining his thoughts behind yesterday "I am so sorry for shouting at you Emily you had every right to be Angry at me. I left you alone to deal with everything and that was wrong of me. I just assumed you would be able to handle it because you always do Em. You have always been able to deal with everything thrown at you but just because you can handle it doesn't mean you should have to do it alone and for that I am so sorry" I watched as he looked at me in the eyes as he apologised and I could tell how guilty he felt

"I went to go see Mr and Mrs Potter before I came here" I looked at him shocked "they are defiantly not my biggest fans, but I wanted to thank them for taking care of you. I should have been there Emily and I wasn't. I understand it may take some time for us to get back to how it was before, but I would like to try if you will let me?" I wasted no time running around the kitchen counter and tackling my brother into a hug. I will never get my mum and dad back but at least I still had Liam.

This week had been the longest week of my life but today was the day the Hogwarts express arrived at king's cross. Mia had told me that all my friends, including Lucy whose mum wasn't not happy to find out she would not be living with them, were planning to come to my house straight from the station. She told me would tell them all to buger off if I wanted but I was excited to see them. Plus, I could really do with a hug from James about now. Liam had insisted he be here when my friends first got here as he wanted to meet James. Since our conversation the other day I had caught him up on the past year of my life, even telling him about my kiss with James which I hadn't told anyone about. Now Liam wanted to meet the boy that my dad had given the seal of approval to as Liam couldn't believe dad had actually liked a boy, I had brought home. It was nice to talk about my parents with Liam as ultimately, he was the only other person who knew them the way I did. Plus, I found talking about the good times I had with them really helped me. Also talking about them in a past tense was helping me fully grasp that they had gone.

Chapter 33 Chapter Text

James Pov

This past week had been awful. I hadn't heard from Emily, which was understandable, thankfully my mum gave me updates which I was able to share with the group. I just wanted to see her, so I could see with my own eyes that she was okay that and I had really fucking missed her. One week without her and I was a mess.

When the train got to king's cross, we all rushed off the train, the girls included and straight over to my parents.
"woah slow down kids" my dad said as we all came to stop in front of them
"Emily is doing okay. She is expecting you all and is looking forward to seeing you. However, she is still obviously grieving so don't go in all guns blazing, give her time" My mum told the group.
"thank you for looking after her this week" I said as I gave my parents a hug.
"Yeah, thanks Mr and Mrs Potter we really appreciated your updates" Lily said stepping forward "I am Lily by the way, this is my girlfriend Kayla, and this is our friend Lucy" My mum smiled at the girls before she pulled all three into a hug
"Emily has told me so much about you girls I feel like I already know you" the girls smiled at my mum.

"okay how are we doing this?" Sirius asked. The boys hadn't been to Emily's before so would need to side long apperate.
"I will take Peter. Lily will take Remus and James can take Sirius" Kayla organised us. We quickly broke off into our pairs and before we knew it we were stood outside Emily's house. Lily led the group to the door knocking. When the door opened, I was surprised to see Emily brother there, my mum had mentioned he hadn't been round much.

Lucy walked up to Em's brother and hit him over the back of the head.
"nice to see you to Lucy" he said rubbing his head
"you ignore one more of her letters and I will be doing much worst" Lucy threatened
"understood, she is in her room" he nodded moving aside so Lucy could enter the house
"hey Liam, sorry about that" Kayla said approaching Liam giving him a small hug
"it's all good Kay, I deserved it" At least he was self-aware. He moved away from Kayla to greet Lily
"long time no see Lil's" Lily returned the hug before stepping back and taking Kayla's hand again.
"ah yes, Em told me you two are an item now. I am happy for you girls" he grinned at the pair
"Thanks Liam" Kayla said giving his arm a squeeze as she passed him.

Liam turned back to us and looked between us all before Sirius pushed to the front and grabbed his hand shaking it.
"it's an honour to meet such a talented and beautiful quidditch player. Such a shame we are meeting under such terrible circumstance, but I have a terribly comfy shoulder should you need a place to cry" Remus dragged his hand down his face not quite believing Sirius had just said that. Thankfully Liam found it funny
"you must be Sirius, it's nice to meet you mate" Sirius mouth dropped open and he looked over his shoulder at us
"he knows my name" he said in disbelief. With sigh Remus stepped forward and pulled Sirius away from Liam and sent him in the house after the girls
"and you must be Remus" Moony nodded at him
"that's me. Sorry about him, he can get a bit excited" Liam laughed waving it off giving Remus a pat on the back. Once Remus was inside the house Liam looked between me and Peter
"So that makes you Peter" he said sticking is hand out in Peters direction. Peter shook his hand and exchange pleasantries with Liam before he walked into the house. It was now just me and Liam.
"mind if we have quick chat James, before you head in"

Unlike when I met Em's parents I wasn't nervous to meet Liam mainly as I already decided I didn't like him, so I didn't really care if he liked me or not. Liam had stepped outside the house, so we were stood on the doorstep.
"Emily speaks very highly of you" I hummed at him
"wish I could say the same about you" he let out a small laugh
"I probably deserve that" I gave him a sarcastic smile. I just wanted to get in and see Em.
"Look Liam, if you have suddenly decided to be a good big brother and give me a speech about hurting your sister can you save it. I haven't seen Em all week and I really want to go see if she is okay plus your dad and I already came to an agreement" Liam was quiet for a moment before he smiled at me
"I see why my dad liked you" I looked at him confused
"If you had met me and tried to be best friend, I wouldn't have been questioning my dad's judgment. But you didn't, you had Em's back and didn't even try to impress me" he explained
"you have been a real dick to Em and I know that just from what she has told me and I don't even know it all yet. Plus, my mum who likes everyone doesn't like you so that sort of told me everything I need to know" he nodded at me
"Your mum and dad are definitely not to fond of me and rightly so. I was a right arse this past week. I have apologised to Emily not just for this week but for everything before that as well. She has agreed to give me another chance. Since we started talking again, she hasn't shut up about you and I get the feeling you're going to be around for a long time. So, if you are willing, I would like to try get to know you and prove to you I can be better for Emily" I thought over what he said and I knew that if I wanted the future I pictured with Emily he was going to be around. I held out my hand to him for him to shake. He let out a breath of relief as he shook my hand. I gripped his hand tight and look him dead in the eye.
"you hurt her again and it won't just be Lucy you have to worry about" He nodded at me before finally letting me in the house.

When I made it Em's room she was sat on the bed surrounded by our friends. I looked her over, she looked tired, her face was a little puffy but other than that she looked okay. When she saw me in the doorway, she gave me a huge smile and at the sight of it was like I could finally breath again
"hey Sunshine" I smiled at, watching as her eyes started to water although she was still smiling.
"Lil are you still okay to get that projector we talked about?" I asked. All week we had planned what we were going to do when we got here. Lily had a projector that she could bring to Emily's house. The boys, with the help of Remus, were going to get us some food from a muggle take away shop and we were going to have a movie night to try take her mind off things. But right now, my main concern was to get everyone out of the room, so Emily didn't have to pretend she was okay.
"yes, I will apparate back now and grab it. Kay, want to come with me and we can talk to your parents about what Em said?" I scrunched my eyebrows together confused.
"good idea" Kayla got up planted a kiss on Em's forehead before taking Lily's hand and apperating home. I then looked at Remus hoping he would pick up on what I was trying to do. Thankfully he did and started ushering the boys out the room
"Rem?" Emily said stopping him before he could leave
"can you ask my brother and his girlfriend if they want anything. I think they are in the living room. Also, if you ask him, he will offer to pay for everyone. Take his money he has some making up to do" Remus chuckled slightly.
"course Em" and he left the room, so it was just me and Lucy with Emily. As I would like to keep breathing, I didn't try to get Lucy to move. I walked in and sat on the bed next to Em. She immediately took my hand in hers.

"what did you mum say to you when you told her you were moving out?" Emily asked Lucy a look of worry on her face. We were all here for her, yet she was still worrying about the rest of us. She didn't want our friends to see her cry as she didn't want them to worry about her and now, she was checking if Lucy was okay.
"she wasn't best please but she knows she can't stop me. I will go get my stuff tomorrow and deal with her then" Lucy explained
"I will come with you we can do it together" Emily smiled at Lucy holding out her hand. I watched as the girls did a handshake, I had never seen them do before. Lucy then wrapped Emily in a hug.
"I love you Lu" Emily said her voice a bit wobbly. When Lucy pulled away, she looked between me and Emily."I am just going to go look at my new room" She said before walking out.

Emily turned to me, tears had already began to fall down her cheek.
"it's been a week" she managed to get out before she began to sob. I pulled her into me and just held her while she cried. I ran my fingers through her hair until her breathing calmed slightly, she pulled away from me to look at me. She put her hand on my cheek. Her tears had basically stopped now but her eyes still glossy
"I missed you this week" she said quietly
"me to sunshine, me too" I replied leaning into her touch.
"I was doing well. I hadn't cried today" she chuckled slightly
"how have you been doing?" I asked as I began drawing patterns in the palm of her hand
"it was really tough first few days I wouldn't have gotten through it if it wasn't for you mum and dad, they were amazing. I am doing a bit better now I have moments where I am okay and then moment like that where I just sob for a while, very up and down" I nodded at her
"is there anything you need me to do? My mum said everything is pretty under control with regards to the funeral preparation and things" She smiled at me and shook her head
"you just being here is enough for me" that little smile she gave me might be my favourite one yet
"actually, I might need one favour" she said
"anything love, you name and I am your guy" I said puffing my chest out. she laughed at me.
"well the house is mine. my brother didn't want it so it's all mine. Lucy was already planning on moving in so I extended the offer to Kayla and Lily and they said yes" that must have been what Lily meant before
"so I was wondering if you could give us a hand moving everyone in. I know we have magic, but I think an extra set of hands might help and if you can bring Sirius as well that would be amazing" I grinned at her
"don't you worry Love me and Sirius have got you covered you leave everything to us" she chucked leaning her head on my chest
"Seriously though I think it's a great idea you all living here" it also gave me a bit of peace of mind that she wasn't going to be alone.

it wasn't long before everyone was back pilled in Emily's room. Lily had set her projector up to play onto the blank wall opposite Emily bed. Emily had transfigured some bean bags and scattered them across the floor. I lay in bed with Em while she snuggles into my side. Lucy lay across bottom the bed while the others took a bean bag. Emily had offered for us to stay over and everyone agreed except for Peter who had to get back to his mum. About halfway through the film Liam poked his head into the room
"we are going to get going now Em" She jumped out of my arms and scrambled over to her brother, pulling him into a tight hug. The siblings stood clinging to each other for a while, no one could understand what they were feeling better than each other. When they pulled apart Emily made her way back to my side. Liam gave me a nod which I returned.
"nice meeting you all" he called to the group before taking his girlfriend's hand and leaving.

Peter left not to long after Liam giving Emily a hug before he did. Kayla and Lily took Liam's old bedroom, Lucy was happy to take the couch as Emily wasn't ready for anyone to have her parents' room, Sirius and Remus took the guest room so that left me. After the others had left the room Emily stood blushing Infront of me.
"will you stay with me?" Merlin she was adorable
"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else" I smiled at her.

Since we had come straight from the train, we still had our trunks with us, so we all had stuff ready to stay the night. I had already changed and climbed into bed. Emily stepped out the bathroom wearing cute little checked pyjamas. When she saw me in bed she blushed heavily before making her way over to me. We lay on our sides looking at each other.
"I really like you James" She whispered. My heart began beating uncontrollably in my chest.
"I really like you too Sunshine" she grinned at me before she moved closer to me and pressed a gentle kiss to my lips. I wasn't expecting it at all. After the kiss at the party I didn't know when I would get to kiss her again especially with everything going on at the moment. Although it was just a peck it was still magical.
"my mum and dad use to talk to me about what would happen when they die. My dad always used to make me promise I wouldn't forget to live. I want to keep that promise James. if I have taken one thing away from this, it's that life is so precious and can be taken away from us without any warning. I want to make sure that when my time comes, I have lived every day to the fullest" I rested my hand on her waist, while she was talking my I allowed my fingers to brush up and down her hip
"I guess what I am saying is, I am understandably a bit of a mess at the moment, but I don't want that to put you off. I would still like to go on that date we talked about" I grinned at her before tilting my head to give her a gentle but quick kiss on the lips just as she had done to me.
"you couldn't put me off if you tried love, I am afraid your stuck with me now" She smiled up at me "and I come as pair so you also by default stuck with Sirius"
"it's okay, I come with Lucy" I laughed at her
"you let me know when you're ready for that date and I promise it will blow your socks off"

That night I fell asleep next the girl of dreams by my side.

Chapter 34 Chapter Text

The girls moved in just before the funeral. Which was an extremely emotional day for me, but James didn't leave my side and as promised he held my hand through it all. Once the funeral was over it was like it had finally settled in for me that my parents had died, I was wreck for the days that followed. It was if I had just found out the news again for the first time. My friends rallied round me and helped me through it making sure I was never on my own.

I had decided to pack my parents' room up so Lily and Kayla could take that room as it was the biggest in the house. I wasn't quite ready to go through their stuff yet so thankfully James, Remus and Sirius came around to box everything up for me while the girls took me out for a pamper day to take my mind off it. When I came home, James was waiting for me to take me into my parents' room to show me what they had done. At the sight of it empty I broke down crying, but James stayed with me all night.

As the weeks passed, I found my grief to come in waves some days I would be completely fine and then something so small would set me off. At first when a wave of grief would hit it would take me out for the whole day but as time went on my time to recover shortened.

Living with the girl was amazing it was like a constant girl's night all summer. Lily had taken control in organising the house. She had created a chores list which Lucy hated, I did most of the cooking as we quickly discover Kayla and Lucy were terrible cooks. Lily handle most of the shopping leaving the other girls mainly cleaning tasks. Lily's projector had become a permeant fixture in the living room, and we would have movie nights nearly every night.

Sirius might as well move in at this point. He started off just by coming round every Friday at the time we would have had our free together as he refused to let go of our hour together. But now I would often walk downstair in a morning to find Sirius sat in my kitchen eating breakfast. He had also invited himself round often to join our self-care nights, I guess he got his invite to girls' night after all.

We often had the boys over for movie nights, sadly Peter couldn't make a lot of them as he needed to stay with his mum. The boys would stay the night after the movie, and it had become and unspoken thing that James would stay in my bed with me.

I had spent a lot of time with James this summer. We often always had at least one member of the group with us as everyone was always around. I don't think either of us minded much just enjoying being in each other presence. There had been the odd stollen peck but nothing like the night at the Slytherin party.

I had also spent some time with Mia and Monty. Mia had in fact been round the house for cups of tea with me and the girls quite often. I had even taken her out shopping and for lunch one day, I think she was enjoying having some girl talk. Monty had helped me make some great progress with my potions work. I think I had the ingredients down now, I just needed to work on the methodology. We spent a lot of time tinkering away in his workshop.

Liam had been working really hard on our relationship. Like me grief hit him in waves so there were some days where we wouldn't really talk just sit together and cry. It sounds morbid but there was something comforting about knowing he felt the exact same as I did. On the better days when he wasn't busy with work or Anna he would come around to the house and just hang out with me and my friends. We would also talk about mum and dad which was really nice.

In summary it had been the best and worst summer I had ever had. We had one week left before we headed back to Hogwarts for our final year and I had decided I was ready. I stepped into the fire a flooed to James' house. As I stepped out into the living room Sirius jumped off the couch
"Merlin Em you scared the shit out of me"
"sorry Sirius it was sort of last minuet decision to pop round. Is James home?" I asked nervously.
"he is in his room" he said before sitting back down. I quickly popped my head into the kitchen to say hello to Mia and let her know I was here before I dashed up to James' room. Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door. I heard him shout come in from the other side. Pushing open the door I found him lay on his bed, his notebook open whilst her worked on quidditch plays. When he looked up and saw me, he shut his book and sat up on his bed

"hey sunshine, you here to see my mum or dad?" I shook my head
"I actually wanted to talk to you about something" he frowned and patted the space on his bed next to him. I sat down and began fiddling with my hands nervously
"hey it's okay Em, it's just me and you" taking a deep breath I looked at him
"James would you like to go on a date with me?"
"no" What the fuck?
"no, no that's not what I meant. Shit I am messing this up" He added quickly. My breathing was become a bit shallow. I really hadn't expected him to say no. Noticing the look on my face he took my hands in his
"I am so sorry Em. I said it all wrong of course I want to go on date with you" oh thank Merlin "I just meant I don't want you to take me out. I want to take you out" I let out a breath of relief
"you could have said something other than just no, you made me panic you idiot" I hit him over the back of his head
"sorry sunshine, it wasn't my finest moment. You just caught me of guard. Are you sure your ready? There is no rush Em. I mean you have had a tough summer, I can wait-" I cut him off by pressing my lips to his to stop him talking. I pulled away to a dazed James
"no more waiting" I said firmly. Once he recovered, he grinned at me
"Emily Williams would you do the honour of going on a date with me" I laughed
"it would be my pleasure James Potter"

Two evenings later I was nervously getting ready for my date with the girls. Lucy was lay on my bed as flicked through witch weekly not really paying much attention. Lily who had been involved in the planning of the date was bursting with excitement. How she had managed to keep it a secret is beyond me. Kayla had picked out my outfit after consulting with James and Lily. It was fairly simple just a pair of jeans and a white floaty top that tied together at the front. My hair was in a half up half down style with a bow, of course.

"are you sure your okay?" Kayla asked me. I looked at one of the many new pictures in my room. It was a picture of my mum and dad on their wedding day. My mum was looking at my dad the same way I look at James. Remembering my promise to my dad I looked at Kayla and nodded.
"Knowing they loved James makes such a difference. I don't have to wonder what they would think of him because I already know. They would want me to keep living my life and that's what I am doing"
"I am not sure you going a date is what your dad had in mind when he said that" Lucy muttered. Lily through a cushion at her.
"he would have insisted he came with us on the date" I laughed. It was nice to picture my parents' reactions to things it helped keep their memory fresh in my mind. There was a knock at the front door. We all froze looking at each other before Lucy jumped up.
"since your dad can't be here, I have got this" she said sprinting down the stairs to the door
"poor Potter, I think I would take your dad over Lucy" Lily said causing us to laugh.

When I walked into the living room where Lucy had told me she left James, I saw him stood with a goofy grin on his face. He was wearing the red converse I got him for Christmas that he always wore, a pair of blue Jeans and a long sleeve top that really showed off his arms
"You look beautiful love" he said as I walked up to him
"you don't look so bad yourself" I grinned at him "I hope Lucy wasn't too harsh on you" He shuddered
"she was scarier than your dad" I laughed taking his hand "you ready to go Sunshine?" I was about to tell him yes, but Lily burst in the living room
"wait I need to take a picture"
"is that really necessary Lily?" I said slightly annoyed
"yes, I will need to use it at your wedding" I pinched my forehead saying her name through gritted teeth. Luckily James laughed and pulled me into his side
"Let her have her moment Sunshine" so I did and in fairness the picture she took was adorable. It was a moving photo, I was looking at the camera, but James was looking down at me. It showed him pull me close to plant a kiss on top of my head
"Alright kids, you have a good night and remember Potter no funny business" Lucy said. I swear to Merlin they were determined to embarrass me. James took my hand in his.
"we need to apparate so hold on tight"

When we landed I gasped, we were stood in a field of sunflowers. I spun around looking at the beautiful surrounding. James had apparated us to a small clearing in the field where he had set up a picnic for us. I looked at James who was smiling proudly at me.
"how did you find this place?"
"Lucy actually told me about it. She read about it in witch weekly" what a little snake here I was thinking she had no idea about this date when she knew all along. James guided me over to the picnic set up encouraging me to sit down.
"The lady who owns the land actually left the magical world to be with her farmer husband. She owns the sunflower field and few other bits of land with different things in them. For years she lived in the muggle world and this place was only open for muggles but when her husband sadly passed away last year, she opened it up to magical folk to. She set up a barn not too far away where you could floo into without muggles seeing you. Her late husband had originally planted this field of sunflowers as wedding gift to her and she didn't want to keep it hidden from anyone, she wanted everyone to enjoy her favourite flowers. They were actually shut today but when I told the owner about you, she let me set up here. That's why there is no one else here" I couldn't believe how much thought and effort he had put into the date. I leant over to him a placed a soft kiss on his lips
"This is amazing James. Thank you so much"
"Anything for you Sunshine"

We lay in the field together talking about everything and nothing. We talked about what we thought school would be like this year, some of the pranks the boys had done that I didn't know about or happened before we became friends. I told him stories about growing up with Liam and what it had been like living with the girls. We watched the sunset together and when it got a bit colder, he pulled out the same hoodie he had let me borrow when we built a snowman. We were now lay down, our hands intertwined as we looked up at the stars. Neither of us took astronomy so James was making up theories of what the stars might mean it was always something ridiculous, so he had me in fits of laughter.

"do you really think the stars can predict the future?" I asked him.
"I don't know anything is possible" he shrugged. I looked up at the twinkling stars wondering what the future holds. James turned his head to side to look at me, when I notice him staring, I did the same, so we were looking into each other's eyes.
"what do you want the future to look like Em?" I sighed and turned my head back to the stars looking up at them with wonder
"well in an ideal world I am potions teacher at Hogwarts, after I have cured lycanthropy" James chuckled
"of course." he said before I carried on
"I still have monthly girls' nights with the girls and Sirius still comes to visit me every Friday. Peter's mum gets better and he can be round more, Remus is free to live his life without burden but I hope he still supplies me with chocolate" I turned my head back to James who was smiling at me "and I hope no matter what we have to face to get there that your by side as I think I can do anything as long as I have you James" I said truthfully. It was his turn to turn and look at the stars. I stared at his side profile while he spoke

"I think I might want to do something with quidditch. I don't know if that's being a coach, commentator or player, just something quidditch related" I smiled at him. I had no doubt he would achieve any dream he has.
"when you cure lycanthropy, I hope that Remus gets to live the life he has always dreamed off. Like you I hope Pete's mum is better and he doesn't have to worry so much. I hope Sirius still barges in my room to ask me a stupid question he just has to know my opinion on" he turned his head to me
"I like to think I am married. Maybe a kid or two if that's on the cards for me and I hope that it's you I get to do it all with" I was smiling like a crazy person. He wanted to spend his life with me. James Potter was choosing me.
"did Peter ever tell you what I told him about my parents first kiss?" he nodded his head
"when we kissed that night at the party James, I knew what my parents had told me wasn't made up because I felt that with you" within second James had closed the distance between us.

This kiss was different to our first and it was much different to the little pecks we had shared. This kiss was hungry and if I thought the first kiss was passionate this was other worldly. It was messier and more intense, I felt like my whole body was on fire, I had never felt more alive. When he pulled away, he rested his head on my forehead while we caught our breath.
"I am crazy about you Em" I pushed forward slightly closing the gap between us once more.

We lay in the field for a bit longer sharing thoughts of the future as we lazily kissed each other. I was sad when the wind picked up and we had to leave. James waved his wand packing everything away before taking my hand and apparating to outside my house. We stood outside my front door my arms around James neck and his around my waist.
"I want you to stay but the girls will kill me If I don't give them all the details tonight" he laughed
"don't worry sunshine, if I don't get home soon Sirius is going to come track me down" I stretched on my tiptoes to give me another kiss. Then suddenly the door flew open to reveal all three girls stood there. James quickly pulled away from me stepping back and blushing. I just glared at the girls
"looks like the date went well then" Kayla said smirking
"what are you guys doing?" I hissed
"we got bored of watching you snog each other through the window and Lily is like an overexcited puppy we need you to come in and give us all the detail before she explodes" Lucy said. I turned to Lily who was practically jumping up and down.
"okay, I will be in a second can you just give me a min to say bye?" Lucy sighed but shut the door none the less.

"sorry about that" I said turning back to James
"it's nice to see them supportive of us" James shrugged
"they have been team James since I told them I had feelings for you" I walked back up to him and wrapped my arms around his waist and he rested his chin on my head
"thank you for tonight it was perfect" I tilted my head up to him. he placed a soft kiss on my lips before I pulled away from him and walked back to the door

"good night James"

"night Sunshine"

Chapter 35 Chapter Text

There was just me and Lily in the house tonight. Kayla and Lucy, who's relationship with her parents was slowly improving since moving out, had gone home for the night as their parents wanted to drop them off at the station for the last time on September 1st. Lily had tried reaching out to her parents and her sister but they never responded. My heart broke for Lily, but I must say she was handling it remarkably well.

"how are you feeling about tomorrow Lil's" I said siting down on the other end of the couch after handing her a cup of tea. This was the first time for both us that our parents wouldn't be there to send us off at the start of the school year. She took a sip of her drink
"I am doing okay, I mean, I have done everything I can to try and repair my relationship with them but if they don't want to know me, that's their choice. I am not wasting my time and energy on them. Life is far too short" That is something all the girls and I had took away from my parents' death, there was no guarantees with life.
"what about you, how are you feeling?" she asked reaching out to hold my hand. When it dawned on me that my parents weren't going to be there, I had a bit of a break down. Mia and Monty offered that I go with them but that meant leaving Lily on her own and I couldn't do that. After a lot of crying and talking it out with Mia I was in a better mind set.
"it's going to be weird. Them not being there, but like Mia said just because I can't see them doesn't mean they are not there"
"can you believe how much has changed since that first train ride?" Lily asked changing the subject.
"it's scary when you think about it. Imagine if we sat in another compartment what life would have been like" Lily hummed at my response
"I think we would have all found our way to each other still. Somethings in the universe are just set" I groaned at her
"Lily, if you going to spout some divination crap" She interrupted me
"will you just hear me out. It is theorised that there are certain things that are set in the universe for example soul mates. No matter what decision you make in life your soul mate is still set. I think that us becoming friends is one of those set things like no matter what had happened at some point we will have become friends we are just lucky it happened when we were 11" She explained

"you believe that?" I asked genuinely curious. She shrugged
"I like the concept and I believe in soul mates" I hummed.
"do you think Kay is your soul mate?" she blushed bright red
"The whole concept of soul mates is so interesting. Your soul mate doesn't have to be your romantic partner it can be anyone and just because someone is your soul mate doesn't mean they are yours" I rolled my eyes at her
"your avoiding the question Lil's" she huffed
"I think she could be, Yes." I beamed at the blushing girl.
"what about you, is James your soul mate?" she tried to tease me.
"nah, Lucy is probably my soul mate" I answered brushing her teasing comment off. We both started laughing
"I do like the idea of us all being friends in any universe though" I continued. She whacked my arm
"I told you divination can be cool" I made a face
"I wouldn't go that far Lil's"

In the morning both me and Lily were rather quite both stuck in our own thoughts. Since no one was going to be in the house for months Lily and I went around the house making sure everything was turned off and the fridge and freezer were empty, so we didn't come back home to any major disasters at Christmas. We were cutting it close for time I think both of us didn't want leave until the last minute, trying to prolong the inevitable. I walked into the living room and smiled at Lily.

"hey Lil, want to take a picture before we go" I knew her parents had taken a picture of Lily every year on September 1st and I didn't want to her to not have the full set.
"only if you get in the picture with me" We used Lily's muggle camera as that how all the other photos had been taken it was a nice picture. Bittersweet but still nice.
"we need to go now Lil" I said holding out my hand to her. Lily had been pretty relaxed about today whereas I had spent a whole day crying about it already so was relatively prepared for the day. Whereas, I think it had only just really hit Lily that her parents really weren't coming. She took my hand and I apparated us directly onto the platform. I looked up at the scarlet train with the same wonder I had when I was 11. I heard Lily let out a small whimper next to me.
"you're doing great Lil, let's get on the train" I wrapped my arm over her shoulder and guided her to the train. We quickly boarded but not before looking over my shoulder like I always did for one last look at my mum and dad. I couldn't see them stood there but I knew they were there.

On the train Lily seemed to have recovered slightly as we began looking for the girls. Once we found them, I got flashbacks to first year. Me and Lily bumped into each other in the train corridor and began looking for a place to sit together which is when we found the compartment where Kayla and Lucy were already sat. I slid the door to the compartment open
"mind if we sit here?" I said re-creating the first time. The girls grinned at me realising what I was doing
"of course, come in, I am Kayla" we shuffled in taking our usual seats
"My name is Emily, but you can call me Em" the girls let out a small laugh
"it's nice to meet you, I am Lily, Lily Evans" Lucy snorted beside me just like she did the first time at Lily's formal introduction
"Lucy" she saluted slightly as way of introducing herself. It was exactly as we had met 7 years ago and now, we were off to start the year at Hogwarts for the last time.

I had told the boys they were not allowed to come bother us on the train unless it was life threating. We wanted the train to just be for us as it had the first time. We had all found we were feeling quite emotional about our final year and doing things like spending the train ride as we had the first time was soothing to us.

This meant however I hadn't seen the 4 idiots in a few days and as you had to sit with your house for any of the big feasts, like the first night back, I still hadn't seen them or spoke to them since arriving at the castle. The Hufflepuff table separated the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor but that didn't stop Sirius from shouting my name across the hall as he stood up and waved crazily from his seat. Blushing I quickly waved back at him, very aware that everyone was staring at us. Lily and James were sat next to each other talking which is something I never thought would have happened. Lily and James had been appointed head boy and girl which shocked us all. Not about Lily that was expected but James as head boy was a wild card. They had their own private dorms and a common room just for the two of them. James had decided he still wanted to share a dorm with the boys, however his private dorm would still be available to him. Lily was excited for her own dorm and so was Kayla. When James caught my eyes, he mouthed asking me if I am okay. I gave him a smile and nodded. I was actually doing a lot better than I thought I would be. I guess there was something about being at Hogwarts that was just comforting to me.

When the feast was over, I was talking to my dorm mates as we left the hall when Sirius appeared in front of us.
"sorry ladies, I just have to steal Emily" he said grabbing my hand and dragging me away not giving my dorm mates chance to say anything. He had dragged me over to where the other boys were waiting
"my darling Emily I have missed you so much" Sirius wrapped me in a tight hug
"I saw you two days ago Sirius when you just appeared in my kitchen uninvited like always"
"two days to long Em" I rolled my eyes at him before turning to Peter and hugging him tightly. I hadn't seen Peter in over a month
"I missed you so much Pete, how's your mum?" he chuckled at me
"she is doing good. She loved all the baked goods you kept sending" whenever Sirius came round to cause havoc in our kitchen I would always make sure to send some of the product of our labour over to Pete.
"do I not get a hug?" Remus asked. I turned grinning as his long arms wrapped around me. When I pulled away my eyes met James. We hadn't actually seen each other since our date a few days prior as we had both been busy getting ready for the start of term. We just stood smiling at each other
"alright boys let go" Remus said ushering the others away much to Sirius's annoyance

James took my hands in his.
"are you okay? I know you said not to bother you on the train, but I was worried about you Em with it being the first time" I squeezed his hand
"I promise I am okay, I am actually doing way better than I thought I would" he smiled stepping closer to me
"I have missed you these last few days" he tucked a piece of hair behind my ear
"I missed you too" I said before stretching up and kissing him. This kiss just as perfect at the others. A throat cleared next to us. We broke apart turning to see Minnie, who was trying to hide her smile
"Mr Potter do you think this is appropriate behaviour for head boys?" she asked him. James draped his arm over my shoulder
"Do I think it's appropriate to kiss my girlfriend? Yes, Minnie I do" I was screaming in my head. This was the first time he had referred to me as his girlfriend. Would I have preferred it not be to Minnie? yes, I would but beggars can't be choosers. We hadn't had the what are we now conversation as I think we both thought it was pretty obvious. Still, it nice to hear it. Minnie was doing her best to cover her smile but was failing miserably
"Girlfriend or not Mr Potter this cannot be the example you set as head boy" she scolded James
"alright Minnie I see your point we are vacating the corridor now" he said turning me away arm still draped over my shoulder. I turned back to the professor who was stood shaking her head slightly at us
"Sorry professor" I quickly added before James led us around the corner.

James was taking me to look at the head boy and head girl quatres. He led me to a portrait not too far from the fat lady. James pushed open the door, he shrieked slapping his hand over his eyes. On the couch in the small common room was Lily and Kayla and I think we had interrupted them during their personal time. They were still fully clothed, thank merlin, but from the split second I saw, it was getting pretty steamy.
"not on the couch Evans" James shouted with his hand still covering his eyes. I laughed pulling his hand away from his eyes
"you told me you were staying with the boys!" Lily's faced was flushed clearly embarrassed while Kayla looked like she couldn't care less.
"I am, I just wanted to show Em the dorm" Lily moved her eyes to me, and I gave her a small wave, grinning, finding the whole thing hilarious. I moved into the room and sat next to Kayla while James and Lily argued about ground rules.
"bringing you back to his private dorm?" Kayla said to me quietly, ignore the bickering pair. I rolled my eyes at her
"McGonagall caught us snogging in the corridor so he brought me here so he could show me around" Kayla barked out a laugh
"yeh he definitely brought you here for more snogging"
"hey, I am not complaining he is a damn good kisser" I told her
"bet McGonagall's face was a picture when she saw you" I shook my head and told her about the encounter with Minnie
"he called you his girlfriend?" I nodded.
"my heart was beating so fast Kay. It was the first time he had said it, and damn did It make me tingly" she smirked at me
"tingly heart or tingly lady parts?" I whacked her arm as she just laughed at me.
"whatever Lily, as long as I am still able to sit on the couch without being scared" James declared with a huff before he came over to me holding his hand out
"come on sunshine, let's go see my dorm"

James was walking round the dorm rattling off the rules Lily had thrust upon him.
"can you believe she called me irresponsible Em?" he said in disbelief. I just chuckled at him
"James, please come sit with me" he stopped walking immediately looking between me and the bed before he got a wicked glint is eye. He dived at me tackling me onto the bed and instantly began tickling me.
"James stop!" I managed to breath out in between laughs. He stopped ticking me only to place a gentle kiss to my lips.
"how did I get so lucky?" I rolled my eyes at him shoved him off me, so he was lying on his back on the bed. Then, much to his surprise I climbed on top of him, I was straddling his lap. His hands automatically came to rest on my hips.
"I don't know James did you take some liquid luck that day when you walked into potions?" I teased him
"no liquid luck was required love, I managed to woo you with my amazing charm" I groaned at him rolling off his lap, so I was lay next to him my head resting on his chest.
"ah yes I forgot you wooed me by asking me how to ask out my best friend" I said sarcastically. He shrugged his shoulder
"I don't care how It happened Em I am just glad it got us here. Also, when I realised, I had a crush on you, all it took was for to ramp up the flittering before you were weak at the knees for me" I scoffed
"in what world was I week at the knees for you?" he smirked at me before pinching my knee in the way that makes my whole-body twinge
"I don't know, you looked pretty weak at the knees then" I hit his chest
"your unbelievable"
"yeh but, you're still willing to snog me so I don't really care" He said before he turned me round so he could connect our lips

We stayed in his dorm for a while mainly talking about the rules Lily had put in place and the marauders plan for a year of epic pranks. I told James about this morning and how it was bittersweet but at least I was with Lily. He told me about what he and the boys had gotten up on the train and how he was not thrilled to find out how much work he was actually required to do to be head boy.

"we better get going, its past curfew and the boys are going to be pissed if I don't get back soon" I lifted James' wrist so I could see the time. I jumped up off the bed it was an hour past curfew. Luckily the 1st fell on a Saturday this year so we had no classes tomorrow, but I still should be getting back to my dorm
"I will walk you back" James said pushing himself up
"don't be daft James, the Gryffindor common room is just around the corner, plus you can't get caught sneaking out on day one as head boy" he laughed and stood in front of me with his hands on my shoulder
"I won't get caught Em and neither will you. I promise" I frowned at him
"you can't possible promise that" he smirked at me before heading over to his trunk that had automatically been placed in this room, James was planning on moving it back to the boy's dorm. He pulled out a large purple cloak.
"now don't freak out" he said before he draped the large cloak over him. My mouth hung open.
"you have a bloody invisibility cloak and you never told me!" I shrieked at him
"you are not doing a very good job at not freaking out" He said taking the cloak back off.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me before now" I huffed
"consider it a girlfriend privilege" he draped the cloak over me, and I watch as my body became invisible
"does this mean I can finally know how you somehow always know where I am?" I asked. He scoffed at me
"Maybe when you're my wife, I will let you in on that secret"

Chapter 36 Chapter Text

A hand had been slapped over my mouth as I was dragged into small closet. I was on my way to meet Lucy outside her common room when I was ambushed
"What the bloody hell Reggie?" I said as I hit his chest repeatedly
"For Merlin sake woman stop hitting me" he grabbed my fists holding them still. When he was satisfied, I wasn't going to hit him again he let me go
"I wanted to check you were okay. I am sorry I didn't get chance to write to you, my parents were monitoring my mail" I instantly paled. Regulus had sent me one letter before school ended when he found out about my parents. When I finally got around to opening it and replying it was well into the holidays. I had sent a few more letters after that but didn't get a response. I didn't even think about his parents and the possible trouble I could get Regulus in if they found out I was writing to him
"don't worry, our house elf, Kreacher brings me my mail before my parents can see. They don't know you wrote to me" I let out a sigh of relief
"I assume, because I was dragged into a cupboard, your parents still aren't keen on you having friends" he rolled his eyes at me
"they aren't against me having friends Emily"
"no, just friends who are blood traitors and whose parents died killing their death eater besties" I said jokingly. He looked at me in shock not knowing what to say.
"you can laugh Regulus it's okay I am not going to start crying, at least I don't think I am" he shook his head at me
"I am really sorry about your parents. From how you talked about they seemed like incredible people" Regulus said as he unexpectedly pulled me into a loose hug.
"They were" I smiled sadly at him

"anyway, I remember one of your letters was about an overly cheesy date, Potter took you on?" he raised his eyebrow at me
"it was not cheesy! It was perfect" I frowned at him
"ah yes, I forgot you're a romantic" he said with disgust
"Romantic, is not a dirty word Regulus" he rolled his eyes at me muttering under his breath that it was
"so are you and Potter like officially together now?" I bit my lip and excitedly nodded.
"I assume he knows what will happen to him if he ever hurts you?" I smirked at him
"Aw Reggie, I knew you cared about me" he just gave me a disapproving look.
"how are you Reg? how was summer, with the oh so lovely Mummy and Daddy Black?"
"it was fine, everything is fine" but from the change in his attitude, I got the feeling that everything was not fine. I opened my mouth to speak, but he beat me to it
"I know Emily. If ever it becomes not fine, I can talk to you" I nodded and patted him on the back
"you're such a clever boy" batting my hand away, he asked me how Sirius was.
"still being a pain in my arse. He is doing well, he asked about you a lot in the holidays, to see I have heard anything from you" Regulus nodded a thoughtful look on his face.
"you could talk to him Reg" he scoffed at me
"not going to happen, not now, not ever" I didn't believe that, but Regulus was still clearly very angry at Sirius for leaving.
"so now that you and Potter are a thing does that mean I have to be nice to him?" Regulus asked like it was the worst thing ever, that he was going have to talk to James. I just laughed at him and watched his face turn to a look of horror as I nodded.

We got new timetables for this year, but I was happy to see I still had potions first thing on a Monday. Lily was now in the same potions class as me as the schedules had been moved around. Lots of students dropped some classes in their 6th year and only carried a few into their final year I had dropped ancient ruins and arithmancy, leaving me with Potions, DADA, transfiguration, charms and History of magic. When I walked into potions, there didn't look to be many people who had kept the class, lots of students choosing to drop it. I sat in the same seat I had last year relishing in the wall being my back rest, Lily took the seat next to me.

"not happening Evans, that's my seat" James said as soon as he walked in. I had a feeling this might happen.
"does it have your name on it?" Lily asked him, folding her arms across her chest
"no but if you would get up, I will gladly write my name on it" James said stomping his feet like a toddler. Remus came to stand next to my chair, leaning his back against the wall.
"I bet you 5 sickles, that James gets the seat" I scoffed at him. He clearly underestimated how stubborn Lily was.
"you're on Lupin" we shook on the deal.
"I was here first Potter. I am not moving" James through his head back in frustration
"but Emily is my potions partner" Lily shrugged her shoulders
"not anymore" she said in a sing song voice. Grinding his teeth, he turned to me softening his voice as he spoke
"Love, you're going to have swap seats with Remus" I laughed
"and give up my back support? Not happening" James' mouth dropped open in shock that I wouldn't move.
"your choosing a wall over me?" he asked in disbelief
"I am choosing this wall over anyone James, you're not special" Remus snorted next to me as James stood in disbelief before turning back to Lily
"What do I have to do to get you to move Evans?"
"there is nothing you can do Potter I am not budging. I want Emily as my partner just as much as you do" James let out a loud groan as Slughorn walked in
"Mr Potter, please do take your seat" Lily looked at him smugly as he begrudgingly sank into the seat next to her.

He sat pouting at the table. I tore off a bit of parchment and quickly scribbled him a note knowing that it would cheer him up. I wrote 'don't worry, you will always be my favourite potion partner' It was cheesy, but I knew it would make him smile. When Slughorn's back was turned, I reached behind Lily and tapped James on the back. He looked at me confused, but when he saw I was passing him a note he grinned at me. That grin only getting bigger as he read the note. I watched him quickly scribble his own note back to me before purposely leaning over Lily, just to annoy her. I unfolded the note and grinned at his equally cheesy note

You're my favourite everything

Not wanting to anger Lily anymore, I put the note in my bag. Wanting to keep it safe before turning back to Slughorn.

The four of us also had transfiguration next so we walked to the class together. James and Lily walked Infront of me and Remus, still arguing about the seat in potions.
"you owe me five sickles" I said smugly to Remus. He just groaned
"he let me down. I really didn't think he would give it up" I laughed as we entered the transfigurations classroom. The transfigurations desks were set up in pairs and there were 3 rows across the classroom. Since we had come from dungeons, the classroom was already pretty full. James dashed over to a desk, beckoning me to come sit next to him, sticking his tongue out a Lily, who was sat behind us with Remus. James reached down for the leg of chair and pulled me and the chair closer to him
"I can't believe you chose the wall over me. You're going to pay for that sunshine" I smirked at him. Feeling bold I ran with it.
"yeah and how exactly are you planning on punishing me" his cheeky grin dropped as he flushed red. He was about to answer when Sirius interrupted us
"nope, not happening Em, get out of my seat" James head hit the table
"not again" he mumbled into the desk. I grabbed my stuff standing but James grabbed my hand
"we both know he is going to end up sat here, there is no point arguing" I said to him before moving to seat directly Infront of James.

I hadn't even looked at who I had sat down next too, but when I turned to see Colton Baxter, resident Slytherin bad boy, smirking at me I knew this wasn't going to go well.
"well hello there beautiful" I stared at him wide eyed. I didn't know much about Colton, other than what Lucy had told me about their 'anticlimactic' night together. On second thought, maybe I knew too much.
"Nope, don't even think about it pal. Moony swap seat with Emily" James said from behind me
"I don't want to sit next to him" Remus protested
"what's your problem Potter?" Colton said turning to look at James. I buried my head into my hands
"my problem, is your flirting with my girlfriend" Colton let out a laugh, ignoring James and turning back to me
"Tell you what Williams, if you ever get bored of Potter and you want to see what real man you can know where to find me" I glared at him with disgust. I heard James chair scrape as he must have stood up in anger.
"fuck you Baxter. I happened to have heard from a reliable source, that you are all talk. So, if I was you, I would shut the fuck up, before I get my best pal Lucy to air all your dirty laundry, and we both know she will. Oh, and for the record, you are half the man James is. So, sit quietly and don't you dare disrespect him again" the whole class had gone silent to listen to my verbal throw down with Colton.
"you tell him Emily" some Hufflepuff girl shouted from the back row
"yeh! Stick it to the man" another girl said and suddenly the female population of the class was cheering. Colton had clearly disappointed a lot of girls. James was still stood up, but he was clapping along with the girls.
"that's my girl" he shouted with a huge, proud grin on his face.
It was safe to say I didn't hear another peep out of Colton all class

Chapter 37 Chapter Text

September was well under way and 7th year was no joke. The welcome back party, 2 weeks ago, was insane. How the boys managed to get so much alcohol was beyond me, but I guess they wanted their last official welcome back party to go out with a bang.

In 5th year you have your first careers meeting this is in order to help you pick your owl subjects and now in 7th year we had another one to make sure we were still on the right track. Its usually with your head of house but I don't know how Minnie did it, but she had managed to move mine to be with her and she made it during our weekly tea and biscuits catch up. I like Flitwick don't get me wrong, but I loved Minnie, so I was thrilled with the change.

"Sorry I am late Professor" I said pushing into the classroom but froze when I saw the marauders stood there with a very angry Lucy who was covered head to toe in a red gooey slime. Professor McGonagall stood behind her desk arms crossed as she looked disproving at the boys. When I entered all heads turned to me.
"what happened?" I asked quickly making my way over to the group.
"your stupid boyfriend and his stupid band of idiots happened" Lucy seethed as I stood Infront of her looking her up and down.
"in our defence it wasn't meant for you" Remus said trying to ease the situation. Lucy sent the boy a deathly glare
"oh, and that makes it better does it?" she snapped. I quickly took out my wand and cast a cleaning spell on Lucy. It removed most of the gunk from her skin and clothes, but her hair was still a mess.
"who was your intended subject?" Professor McGonagall asked looking over the brim of her glasses at the 4 idiots. The boys didn't answer instead looked down sheepishly, from that I knew exactly who it was meant for.
"it was meant for Baxter wasn't it?" Minnie groaned at the boys. Since that first transfigurations lesson the boys have actively been trying to prank Colton, but it always seems to backfire. I have told them time and time again to just let it go. He doesn't even sit next to me anymore! After that first lesson he asked Minnie to switch seats, so I now sit next to Riya, the Hufflepuff girl who cheered me on after shouting at Colton.
"I told you to let it go" I said sternly looking at each of the boys
"he is a prick Em. He deserves it" I narrowed my eyes at Peter and he quickly shut up
"Miss Williams is correct, this cannot continue" Minnie scolded the boys. They must be in her office at least every other day at the moment
"we can't just let what he said slide" James tried to argue his case.
"From what I have heard Miss William's dealt with the situation at the time. So why 3 weeks later am I still hearing about it?" the boys were silent. Minnie turned to Lucy
"Miss vixen, since this latest stunt has affected you, how would you like the boys to be punished?" a wicked grin took over Lucy's face and for the first time the boys looked genuinely concerned
"I assume I have to stick to traditional detentions?" she asked Minnie making Peter gulp. Minnie nodded at Lucy but clearly found her amusing.
"well obviously it has to be with Filtch" the boys all groaned at this "and make it one of his forbidden forest ones. Its particularly chilly at night boys, remember to wrap up warm" all the boys started kicking up a fuss as Lucy just stood there smirking at them
"Enough" Minnie said curtly stopping the boys protests "you will serve the detention as Miss Vixen has specified and if I see you in my office one more time this week you will leave me no choice but to involve the headmaster" The boys murmured in agreement "very well, you are dismissed" Lucy practically skipped out the classroom while the boy slowly moped
"you coming sunshine?" James asked me as he got to the door. I shook my head
"I have a meeting with professor McGonagall, but I can come find you after?" I suggested
"sounds good love" he smiled opening the door to leave
"oh and James" he stopped at the door "when I see you later, we will talk about how your still trying to get Baxter after I told you too drop it" I smiled sweetly at him as he frowned leaving the classroom.

Minnie was very aware of the drama that happened between the students at Hogwarts, but I was filling her in on the gaps the teachers hadn't picked up on. As I suspected the professor were aware about the parties that took place, Minnie even told me they had been happening for years and most of the professor attended the same parties back in their days at Hogwarts. She did tell me about one year they had to get involved because two students got particularly drunk and thought it would be a wise idea to jump in the black lake. Let's just say the merpeople were not happy and neither were the professor with the amount of paperwork they had to fill out because of the incident.

"I guess we best discuss your career aspiration as I will have to report back to Filius for his records" Minnie and I had gone through several cups of tea before we even got to the reason, I was actually here.
"Am I correct in assuming your aspiration still is to be a potions professor here at Hogwarts?" I nodded
"just got to wait for an opening" she hummed looking over the sheet with my results from last years exams. I had done well getting either an O or an E in all subjects.
"well you definitely have the grades to do it and Horace is always singing your praises. He thinks your theory project from last year shows immense promise" I smiled. We had completed our theory project at the end of last year. I hadn't come up with a cure by the time the project concluded but my research and theories were more than enough to get me a good grade. I was still working on the project in my spare time
"I had a lot of advice from professor Slughorn and Mr Potter. I can't take all the credit" I said bashfully
"you do not give yourself nearly enough credit Emily, Professor Slughorn says he hasn't seen talent like yours before throughout his whole teaching career" I blushed heavily at the compliment
"it's all thanks to my mum professor, she loved potions, she nurtured my love for the subject throughout my whole childhood" I found myself getting rather emotional as I remembered making all sorts of potions with my mum.

Minnie handed me a tissue which I used to dab away the tears that had escaped my eyes.
"how are you doing Emily?" I thought about it for a moment before answering the professor
"I am doing okay. I am definitely not perfect, but I am not as much of a mess as I was 4 months ago. I couldn't have asked for better friends, they have been amazing throughout it all. My brother and I are working on our relationship which is really helping as well. Being at school is a good distraction as it keeps me busy. There are moments, like now, where I get bogged down in grief, but I do seem to recover quickly" The professor smiled kindly at me
"your parents were some of the most incredible people I had ever met. I can see how much you are the perfect combination of both your parents whilst at the same time being uniquely you. It's remarkable to behold. One thing I can say for certain was how incredibly proud of both you, and your brother they were. They would beam from ear to ear when I would see them and tell them about how you were getting on at school. You truly are a remarkable young witch Emily." Tears were now freely flowing down my face as the professor talked about my parents. Everyone told me they were proud of me, but I don't know hearing it from Minnie really got me.
"Thank you, Professor." I managed to sniffle out whilst crying, reaching for another tissue.
"Oh Emily, it definitely wasn't my intention to have you crying. What will Fillius think?" she joked, and I let out a small chuckle

After calming down and having yet another cup of tea Minnie brought us back to career aspirations.
"the headmaster has agreed you would be an excellent candidate for the potions position" I began buzzing with excitement "but you are correct you would have to wait for Professor Slughorn to step down. In the meantime, it may be beneficial for you to look into maybe working in a potion store just to further gain some experience" I nodded in agreement. Although my parents had left both me and my brother a large sum of money, enough so I wouldn't have to worry about working, I did still want a job as I think I would go mad being at home all day.
"professor Dumbledore requested I did your careers meeting as he wanted me to discuss something with you" I frowned at this. I had just thought Minnie had wanted to do the meeting
"with the current climate the headmaster wanted me to get your thoughts on if you would consider joining the efforts in the fight against voldermort" she explained slowly
"but I am only 17" I said confused. Minnie gave me and understanding look
"I agree with you Emily, but professor Dumbledore Is very impressed with your skill set and he just wanted me to get a feeler for if you would ever consider joining the fight. You don't have to answer now and if you say yes or no now that doesn't mean you can't change your mind. I must make you aware Emily that I do disagree with the Headmasters request, as you rightly said, you are only 17.However, I do think you are extremely capable so I can also understand why the headmaster wants you to consider this"

I didn't really know what to say. I had never thought about fighting before. I didn't know if it was something I would be any good at. I was pretty good at DADA, but I had no idea what I would be like when it wasn't in a controlled environment and people were actually trying to kill me. On the other hand, my parent's death had made me so angry. I was guilty of burying my head in the sand and ignoring that there was a problem. After my parents deaths, I had become obsessed with reading the daily profit. I wanted to understand why my parents were fighting and I was appalled at what I was reading especially regarding the attacks on muggles and muggle borns. I understood why my parents' thoughts so valiantly. How could you sit back and do nothing?
"I think I would be interested professor, but I would need a lot more information before I fully agreed" I finally answered
"completely understandable. At this stage we just wanted to see if it was something you would consider that was all" I hummed at her response
"Is the same being asked of other students?" I questioned my mind going to group of friends wondering what their reaction would be.
"there are a few other select students. I am planning on speaking to your group of friends regarding this, but I haven't had chance to speak to them all yet, so in the meantime if you could refrain from discussing it. I have however already spoke to Mr Potter so I can understand if you two should wish to discuss this together"

I instantly began to worry at the thought of my friends potentially joining the fight. Lucy and Sirius would join without a second thought, I had no doubt about that. Remus, Lily and Kayla would probably have a similar view to me. Peter was where I got really worried. He wasn't a fighter, but he also wouldn't want to be left behind if everyone else joined. Then there was James. James, who had the biggest heart known to man, there wasn't a doubt in my mind that he would want to do everything he could to ensure a better future for everyone. I was really glad Minnie had already spoke to him as I don't think I could have kept this from him.
"please don't worry about it right now Emily, just enjoy your 7th year and we can discuss this again after your exams, it was just to get an idea" I nodded at Minnie though my head was still spinning.

Later that evening I was with James in his head boy dorm. We often came here when we wanted to spend time together just the two of us. I was sat on James' bed doing some work on my history of magic essay. While James sat at the other end of his bed leaning his back against his headboard, working on a plan for quidditch try outs that he was holding tomorrow. He had one hand resting on my outstretched leg, his fingers often trailing up and down it while he thought out loud. My conversation with Minnie was still playing on my mind.
"James?" I said shutting my book and cutting him off mid thought.
"can I talk to you about something?" he immediately shut his quidditch notes and looked at me concerned.
"always sunshine, what's on your mind?" I sighed deep in thought
"Minnie asked me about possibly joining the fight today" James let out a breath of relief
"I am so glad I can finally talk to you about this! She told me she wanted to speak to you first. It's been killing me all week not being able to discuss it with you and get your thoughts" I moved over to James lying my head on his chest as he ran his fingers through my hair.
"I told her I would consider it. What did you say?" I asked quietly
"I said I would join. I can't do nothing Em, you read about what they are doing to muggles and muggle borns" I had a feeling he would have said yes
"if you are joining, so am I" I said firmly. As I was lay on James' chest, I could feel James heart rate pick up
"I was worried you were going to say that" he muttered. I pushed myself up to look at him
"how am I meant to protect you If I don't join?" he looked at me worried
"it's not your job to protect me Em. I just want you to be safe and you will be safer if you don't join" I frowned at him
"so, if it was the other way around, your telling me you wouldn't join to protect me? Also, I am not safe if I don't join, nobody is safe anymore James" James sighed at me
"I suppose your right. I just don't know what I would do if anything happened to you Emily" His eyes started to water slightly. I pressed my lips to his to give a him a gentle kiss.
"No one knows what's going to happen from one day to the next and we can't live our life in fear because of the what ifs. We just get through each day and try to make the most of every moment. Most importantly we do it together" He placed a kiss on my forehead.
"I like the sound of that"

I rested my head back on James' chest
"Minnie said she is going to ask the others as well" I said worried
"she told me that too. I am worried about Wormy the most. He isn't the strongest fighter" James said going back to stroking my hair
"I thought the same, I guess since we can't stop him or any others all we can do is be there for them. Doesn't mean I am going to worry any less though" I laughed
"It's a long way off yet love. Like Minnie said she was just putting the feelers out there for now. Let's not worry about it just yet" James was right, but I couldn't help but wonder what this meant for all of our futures.

Chapter 38 Chapter Text

Sirius and I had still had the same free period together on a Friday. I was lounging on my bed in my dorm as Sirius ransacked my wardrobe looking for things he might be able to borrow for his date with Remus tonight.

"can I take this?" he said as he held up a black mesh top, I sometime wore under strappy tops
"you can borrow it" emphasizing the word borrow as Sirius was still in the habit of stealing my things. He instantly tried the top, which was more of tight crop top on him, it annoyingly looked better on him than it did on me.
"we don't spend enough time together anymore Em" he said once satisfied with the look of the top, he had dramatically flopped down on my bed
"how have you come to that conclusion?" this conversation reminded me heavily of the one I had with Lucy about a year ago. They really were insanely similar
"well we use to spend so much more time together in the holidays, now I only get an hour of one on one time" He pouted moving so his head was in my lap waiting for me to stroke his hair.
"that's because you showed up at my house nearly everyday Sirius, just to spend the day following me around" I deadpanned.
"exactly! Now you're always running of with James, or one of the girls needs your help with something, or your busy doing work with Remus or Pete or you're with Regulus. I swear your trying to replace me with my little brother" he huffed. I had to hold in my laughter at his dramatics
"what do you suggest I do Sirius?"
"Dump prongs and spend more time with me" he answered immediately.
"Sirius I am not going to break up with James" he sighed sadly "I can't give you anymore one on one time at the moment but, how about you come to girl's night next week? Just like we did in the holidays. Also, I am sure James wouldn't mind if you hung out with the two of us occasionally" Since James and I made it official, we had both been very conscious to still make sure we spent enough time with our friends whilst also making sure we got alone time together. But if Sirius was feeling neglected, I am sure James wouldn't mind if the 3 of us spent a bit more time together as a trio. Even if that meant I would have to be the third wheel.
"I would like that, as long as you and prongs promise not to snog the whole time. I don't want to see my parents kissing" I laughed at him
"I promise Sirius"

"Remind me again why I can't kiss you?" James said holding my waist as he stood behind me. After my conversation with Sirius I had spoken with James about the idea of us spending more time with him. James, who would do anything for Sirius, immediately agreed, not liking the idea of his friend feeling left out, even if it was just a case of Sirius being over dramatic. So, when the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year came around we invited Sirius to spend the day with us. All our other friends were here as well but were off doing other things and had no objections. We were all meeting up in the three brooms later anyway.

"Sirius specifically said no kissing" James rolled his eyes at me. We were stood in Gladrags waiting for Sirius to come out the changing room. It felt like we had been in here for hours while Sirius practically tired on the whole shop. James was starting to get impatient when Sirius stepped out the dressing room
"what do you think?" he asked spinning round to give us a full view of the leather ensemble. He was wearing loose fitting black leather trousers with a tight black t shirt tucked into them. The star of the show, however, was the beautiful black leather jacket that just screamed Sirius.
"you look good mate" James said, like he had said for every outfit Sirius had stepped out in. Sirius ignored James and looked at me for my opinion
"best one yet! The jacket is made for you" I advised. Sirius procced to spin around to look at himself in the mirror
"your right, it does give me a certain sexy biker vibe. Maybe I need to buy a motor bike to go with it" Sirius pondered out loud
"now that sounds like a fun shopping trip" James encouraged him.

After several more trips to the changing room for Sirius and a lot more complaining from James, we finally made it to the three broomsticks where all our friends were waiting. Beelining for the girl I squeezed myself into the seat next to Lucy and Lily.
"Hey, how did it go? Did you manage to get the stuff for your broom that you needed?" Lucy had gone shopping with Kayla, as some new broom polish had come out recently and they both had been trying to order it, but it had always been out of stock. Lucy held up a little bag
"I did and I got you one for Potter, so you owe 2 galleons" I was a bit shocked that she had thought to do that. I hadn't asked her to, so it was nice to see her doing something nice for James. I slid her the two galleons as she handed me the polish. I got James' attention and through him the polish. His face lit up with excitement as he looked back to me.
"Lucy picked it up for you" I said quickly widening my eyes at him to make sure he thanked her.
"wow, cheers Lucy I appreciate it. I had been trying to get one but when I couldn't I completely forgot about it" He said kind of awkwardly. James had been actively trying to get to know Lucy better, it was just seeming a bit of an impossible task.
"I just picked it up, Em paid for it" She said brushing him off
"well thank you anyway" James said sincerely to her, but she had already looked away from him. I gave James a grateful smile for trying.

I get on really well with the boys, Lily and James bickered like sibling the vast majority of the time, but they loved each other really. Kayla and James got on like a house on fire. He had even made progress with Regulus, they mainly bonded over bullying me, but I was willing to let it pass. That just left Lucy. It wasn't that she didn't like James its more that they just never really interacted. It didn't really bother me that they weren't close, but I think James wanted to be on better terms with her as he knew how important she was to me. It was really cute, how hard he was trying.

I nudged Lucy in the ribs. She looked at me angrily
"what?" she grumped
"he is really trying Lucy" this wasn't the first time me and Lucy have had this conversation. James had come to me a bit deflated after he asked Lucy to hang out on the free they shared together, much like me and Sirius, but she had turned him down. I told him not to worry and that was just how she was, and she probably just wanted some time to herself
"why does it bother him so much? I like him just fine" she said while shooting a sideways glance in James' direction. Lucy didn't understand James' need to be friends
"I know you do. So, does he. I think he just wants to get to know you better since you're my best friend and one of the most important people in my life" I was laying it on thick hoping she would feel some kind of obligation. She rolled her eyes sighing at me

"Oi Potter" she snapped. James turned to look at her immediately
"our next free together, I suppose we can hang out, but we are doing something I want to do. Don't expect to have a gossipy baking session like those two looser" Sirius and I both gasped at her. James however was buzzing with excitement
"that's fine, whatever you want to do" he beamed at her
"chill your pants Potter or I might change my mind" She said dismissively. James looked at me with an adorable smile he was so happy.
"thank you" I whispered to Lucy
"I am only doing this for you" She mumbled

James Pov

I couldn't tell you a single thing Flitwick had said this entire lesson. I was too busy worrying about my free period with the girl who sat at the back of the classroom.
"will you stop bouncing you knee. You are driving me insane" Peter whispered next me
"do you think Emily will break up with me if this next hour goes badly?" Peter scoffed at me
"Prongs, how many times has Em told you Lucy likes you. You're the one who has to be best friends with everyone" I looked at him worried
"you didn't answer my question wormy" he rolled his eyes at me
"Emily is not going to break up with you" I let out a breath of relief "you will be fine. Lucy isn't even that bad she is just like an angrier version of Sirius"

Even Peter got on better with Lucy than I did. I think that's what was getting to me the most. She was on pretty good terms with Remus and Peter. Her and Sirius had their weird thing going on. It was just me that she seemed to be so passive with. Sirius and I were the equivalent to Em and Lucy and I fucking loved how well Emily and Sirius got on. Seeing them together made me so freaking happy. I wanted that for Emily, she kept telling me it didn't matter, and I do believe that she genuinely doesn't mind but I want her to have the same feeling I get when I see her and Sirius laughing together.

The end of the lesson came, and Lucy walked over to my desk.
"hurry up Potter we don't have all day" I quickly shoved everything into my bag, said a quick goodbye to Peter and followed Lucy out the door. We walked in silence as she led us to the room of requirement. Stopping Infront of a door that had now appeared Lucy turned to glare at me
"I am about to show my secret to being the best beater currently on any Hogwarts team. I swear to Merlin Potter if I find out you stole my secret and give it to your beaters I promise you, you will live a very short, sad and lonely life" she threatened but I took it as positive she was trusting me so I grinned at her nodding. With a roll of her eyes she pushed open the door to reveal what looked like an indoor batting practice, it was incredible.

We spent most of the hour hitting bludgers at a net. I would occasionally comment when she did a particularly good hit and she would give me a few pointers on how I could swing better but other than that we didn't really talk, but she wasn't her usual frosty self either. When it came time to go to lunch, she handed me a bottle of water

"i don't hate you" She said out of the blue
"I know, but you don't exactly like me either" I said. I debated not bringing it up, but I really wanted our relationship to improve. She sighed at me
"I like you just fine Potter. Your good to Emily, you make her happy and treat her well. That's all I have ever wanted for her" I was more confused than ever now
"Then why are you so off with me? You aren't like that with Peter and Remus. You and Sirius have even been getting on better recently" I asked trying to understand

"Look, Emily is the most important person in my life James. She is the first person who liked me just for me, she didn't try to change me, didn't try to tell me to act a certain way. It was like she took one look at me on the train and she completely understood who I was. she is more than just my best friend. She is my family. I always knew one day she was going to meet someone, and that person just happens to be you. Emily does everything she can to make sure I still feel important to her and I do, but no matter what she does my relationship with her has still changed. We were each other's top priority since we were 11 and now you are hers and that's perfectly acceptable. I have absolutely zero desire for a romantic relationship and I do find it hard to comprehend sometimes, yours and Emily relationship but I am trying and part of me trying is learning to accept that I am not Emily's person anymore. I guess what I am trying to say is, I do like you Potter but you're going to have to give me time because at the moment I can't help resent you a little bit"

I was taken aback with how much Lucy was willing to share with me. It all made sense though. I felt like such an idiot for trying to force a friendship on her. Of course, if she was feeling that way, I wasn't going to be her favourite person. She has always been respectable to me and she wasn't unkind just bit stand-off ish.

"I am so sorry Lucy. I hadn't even thought about how you might be feeling I just thought you didn't like me. I completely understand where you are coming from and if there is anything, I can do differently going forward that would make things easier for you just let me know" for the first time ever Lucy gave me a genuine smile
"cheers Potter, your fine. You and Em have both been great at making sure we all still feel included and nothing feels different now you two are a thing. Just keep treating her right. It's nice to see her so happy" I smiled at the compliment "I hope you realised that when you signed up for dating Em she is a package deal and your also stuck with me for life" I chuckled at her
"I came with Sirius, so I guess it's only fair" I joked. She was quiet for a moment, a thoughtful look on her face.
"I guess it wouldn't be the worst thing if we hang out on this free occasionally" trying to keep my cool I nodded at her agreeing.

When I sat next to Em at lunch she immediately asked me how it had gone with Lucy
"I think we understand each other a lot better now" She beamed at me
"that's great James. I told you she liked you" I placed a soft kiss to her temple
"Do you want to come chill with me and the boys tonight for a bit?" I asked. She frowned slightly
"I can't tonight, I said I would go hang out with Lucy I think she wants some help sorting out her photo album" I smiled at her taking a quick glance in Lucy's direction
"no problem sunshine, I hope you have a nice night together"

Chapter 39 Chapter Text

Kayla, Lily and I were sat on the couch in Lily and James's shared common room while Lucy stood Infront of us with a chalkboard like you would find in one of the classrooms. The little common room had become our go to place to hang out. It even had its own little kitchen which was stalked with stuff by the elves. One of the perks of being head boy and head girl, I guess.
"I have called this meeting to discuss the important topic that is, what we are going to go as for our last ever Halloween party at Hogwarts?" Lucy said as she flipped the board around. She had written Halloween costume idea's in the middle of the board but other than that it was blank. We were cutting it fine to decide what we were going to go as.
"what about princess?" Lily suggested. Lucy rolled her eyes but wrote it down regardless
"I don't know if we can top last year. So, I think we just wear something short and sexy and we will be onto a winner" Kayla suggested. Lucy seemed to like that idea wrote it down on the board. I agreed with Kayla, I think we peaked last year.

James walked into the common room, planting a kiss on the top of my head once he reach me.
"what are you ladies up to?" he asked the group
"read the board Potter" Lucy said rolling her eyes. James scanned the board but frowned at the latest entry
"I don't know about the last one. I don't know if I want everyone seeing you like that" he said to me. I raised my eyebrow at him
"are you trying to tell Emily what she can and can't wear?" Kayla snapped at him
"no, that's not what I meant. I just meant I don't want everyone looking at her like that"
"what? Like the beautiful and sexy women that she is? She shouldn't have to dress a certain way just because you're insecure" Kayla retaliated. I had to put my hand over my mouth to stifle a laugh at James face.
"you're right. I am sorry. I just want to keep her all to myself, but you are right, why shouldn't she want to show of her banging body, if she wants to of course" Kayla softened at his answer
"good answer Potter" James let out a sigh of relief that he had somehow managed to say right thing. I tilted my head up to look at him. He gave me a quick peck.
"I think its best I go wait for you upstairs" I let out a laugh at his nervous tone "no rush though sunshine" he said placing one more kiss on my forehead before running up the stairs
"we all agree we are going skimpy just to piss Potter off, right?" Lucy asked once James had gone.

The night of the Halloween party had finally arrived. We had ultimately settled to go as fairies. It was pretty basic, but it fit the brief of short and sexy outfits. We all had matching dresses on jut varying in different colours. The dress was short, I mean it just about covered my arse, I had to put little shorts on underneath to make sure I didn't flash anyone while dancing. It was floral dress with long bell sleeves and v shape neckline, but it didn't come very low as if it did, I think there was actually a good chance James would actually have a heart attack. We each had a dress in our house colours so mine was a blue and I had sparkly blue wings to match. We had all gone for white knee-high boots, which did help to balance the shortness of the drees. I had put my hair up in a half up half down style with my signature bow of course. We had covered ourselves in a dusting of glitter, so we were all particularly sparkly. It might not have been our most creative costume to date, but I think it might be our best look.
"Picture time" Lily shouted rushing down her dorm stairs camera in hand. Lucy levitated camera in front of us
"everyone say, Potters is going to have heartache" we all burst out laughing at Lucy and that was exactly to moment to camera chose to capture. It was the perfect photo.

The Hufflepuff common room was already packed by the time we got there since the glitter application had taken us longer than planned. We made our way over to the drinks table. Kayla had planned on not drinking tonight. She had promised professor Sprout she would help her out tomorrow, even though we had hangover recovery ready, she decided to be the sober friend tonight. We spotted Riya, the girl I sit next to in transfigurations and Kayla's dorm mate, stood with her boyfriend and went over to chat to them.

We were talking to them when I felt arms wrap around me from behind
"I know I was against the short and sexy outfit, but I take it all back now" James whispered in my ear before kissing my neck lightly. It sent shivers down my spine. I turned around his arms so I could look at him. He had come as pirate, but damn was, he hot. He had an overside white button-down shirt but only had the last few buttons done up exposing his chest. That was enough to make my mouth water alone. But then i saw he had worn a few necklaces, that he must had borrowed from Sirius, there was just something about the way they rested on his chest that sent me wild.
"my face is up here sunshine" I looked up at him biting my lip. His eyes roamed over my body and he ran his tongue across his bottom lip.
"when you two are done eye fucking each other, we are going to go dance" Remus said with a tone of amusement. Ignoring him, James tilted his head down and pressed his lips to mine, as he did my whole body tingled with electricity.
"you look edible" once again whispering in my ear. My breath got caught in my throat as I just looked at him in a daze.
"either get a room or come dance" Peter shouted over to us from the dance floor. It seemed the break the spell James had put me under.
"what will It be love?" I giggled at him. Yep actually giggled
"come on you idiot, let's go dance"

Both James and I were tipsy, we had definitely had enough, but I wouldn't say we had crossed over the scale to drunk. Our friends on the other hand were another story. Kayla and Sirius were the sober friends tonight and I did not envy their job. Remus who was normally pretty tame at these parties was pissed. He hung off Sirius like a lovesick puppy, it was really adorable actually, as he was normally pretty private with his affection. Lily, like Remus was uncharacteristically drunk. To delight of everyone around her, Lily was an honest drunk. As a result, Kayla was trying to stop Lily from spilling secrets to anyone who spoke to her. Lucy remained pretty sober and left a while ago with some 6th year Gryffindor who looked like he couldn't believe his luck.

While Sirius and Kayla tried to reign in their partners, James and I were sat on the floor giggling with each other as we took it in turns to place random items on a sleeping Peter.
"Emily are you okay to stay with the boys while I put Lily to bed? then I can walk you back to your common room" Kayla asked me while she had her hand planted firmly over Lily's mouth
"yeh its fine Kay, I am just a bit tipsy anyway I could probably walk back on my own. Do you want a hand with Lil's?" I asked. Kayla shook her head at me
"she could just stay in our dorm if it's easier. Save her going back to her dorm alone or you having to take her back" Sirius suggested
"I am a big fan of that idea" James said
"me too. See Kay problem solved" Kayla looked between me and James for a moment
"Emily come here a sec" confused I got up and walked over.
"Em, I don't know if you and James had been intimate with each other yet or not"
"they haven't" Lily blurted out interrupting Kayla. Lily had asked me this question the other day
"anyway, your both adults but you have both also had a fair bit to drink, I know you're not drunk and I don't for one second think James would try anything with you"
"No James is good boy" Lily interrupted again. I snorted a laugh as Kayla place her hand back over Lily's mouth
"as I was saying. I don't think James would try anything, but I just wanted to make sure your completely comfortable going with them" I smiled at Kayla, her concern was really sweet, making me appreciate her friendship even more than I already did.
"I promise I am good Kay, I haven't even drunk that much and like you said James is a gentleman so no worries there" I lowered my voice "also, I really want my first time with James to be special. Not a tipsy shag while his dorm mates are in the room" Lily awed at me, although it was muffled by Kayla's hand. Kayla just nodded but had a small smile on her face.

Since James and I were the next most sober out the group, we took care of Peter while Sirius wrestled a very affectionate Remus back to the boy's dorm. James and I practically through Peter on his bed where he immediately went back to sleep, fully dressed. Remus however took a different approach and started stripping. James through his hand over my eyes. Sirius quickly shoved Remus into his bed and shut the curtain around him.
"Sirius, baby come give me snuggles" Sirius sighed picking up his wand, casting the silencing charm on the bed. James and I couldn't help but laugh.
"are you two okay? Do you need anything before I get in bed?" Sirius asked. I smirked
"I don't know, I could use a snuggle from you baby" James burst out laughing at me while Sirius rolled his eyes. He walked over to me giving me a quick kiss on the cheek and James a kiss on the forehead. Which might have been the sweetest thing ever.
"goodnight, behave yourselves" he said before climbing into bed with Rem.

Apparently when I was tipsy, I become very needy. James had already taken my make up off for me, got me cloths to wear for bed and gotten me a glass of water but yet I was still sat pouting in his bed waiting for him to come back. He was only in the bathroom but that was still too far away for my liking. When he pulled back the curtains, he chuckled at my expression
"I was gone for two minutes Em"
"two minutes, to many" he crawled into bed next to me pulling me down with him, so I was snuggled into his chest
"you really did look unreal tonight" James said planting a kiss on my forehead
"you looked pretty amazing yourself, I think you should steal those necklaces from Sirius" he laughed
"that do it for you, did it?" I tilted my head up to look at him
"no joke, the way they hung on your chest made me feral" he bent down giving me a quick kiss
"I will keep that in mind love" I hummed snuggling into his chest
"I missed staying in the same bed as you. I loved coming round for movie nights in the summer because I knew I would get to wake up next to you the next day" my heart clenched in my chest
"well if the boys can spare you some nights, we can always stay in your head boy dorm or if they don't mind having me, I can come here" I suggested
"sounds like a dream love" he said before letting out a big yawn. I patted his chest snuggling into him

"goodnight James"
"night Sunshine"

Chapter 40 Chapter Text

I was in the library with Regulus and I was stressing. Nothing new there really.
"I don't get why your so worried, he is already your boyfriend was is the big deal?" I glared at Regulus
"we have been over this Reggie. James took me on the most perfect first date imaginable. I want to do something just a nice for him, but my options are limited since we are at school. Therefore, I am worried that what I have planned isn't good enough. Plus, I am still a little nervous to ask him out" Regulus rolled his eyes at me
"for such a smart woman, you are sure are acting dumb" I scoffed at him "Potter is going to be happy to just be spending time with you. Stop worrying about the date, as I said previously, he is already your boyfriend, he isn't going to say no to going on a date with you. You're an idiot" I sunk into my seat grumpily.
"stop sulking it doesn't suit you" Regulus muttered whilst turning back to his book
"why I decided to talk to you a year ago is beyond me" I grumbled
"yeh well, that sound like a you problem" I narrowed my eyes at the annoying little shit.

Not long after that James came to join us.
"Hey mate, she talked your ear off yet?" He asked Reg sitting down and pulling my chair closer to his, like he always does when we sit next to each other, before placing his hand on my thigh under the table
"she has something to ask you and I kind of want you to say no just to piss her off" I kicked Regulus, hard, under the table.
"what's up Sunshine?" James said giving my thigh a quick squeeze. Instantly I blushed becoming nervous
"I was wondering if you would like to go on date with me this Saturday?" James grinned at me and kissed my temple
"I would love to Em, you tell me when and where I will be there" I smiled up at him
"I told you so" Regulus sang under his breath. I kicked him again.
"honestly Reg, me and you are going to have problems if you don't get your attitude in check"

"well, well, well what do we have here. I don't think you parents will be too pleased with the company you are keeping Regulus" the irritating voice of Severus Snape interrupted us. Regulus' face flashed with worry while James tensed in anger. I placed my hand on James' giving it a quick squeeze, so he didn't fly off the handle. Regulus was already a nervous reck because he had been seen with us, we didn't need to make it worse by making a scene.
"We were only here to pass on a message from professor McGonagall Snape, not that it's any of your business" I was actually quite impressed with my lie, it was solid to. If snape went fact checking, Minnie would back me up. I grabbed James's hand and pulled him up with me.
"Liar as well as slut. I see I was right about you being Potters plaything" well I tried to keep everything under control. Regulus had jumped to his feet, nerves now replace with anger. James had taken it one step further, having grabbed snape by the front of his shirt pinning him against the bookshelves. Luckily, we were pretty far back in the library so there was only the odd person around
"What the fuck did you just say?" I know it's the wrong time, but this angry side of James was doing things for me
"who gives you the right to talk about her like that. You fucking prick" Regulus seethed moving next to James. This was not going well.
"defending the blood traitors now, are we Regulus? What will mummy and daddy think?" James pulled snape towards him before slamming him back into the books.
"James, you need to stop" I said placing my hand on his shoulder, but Regulus picked me up and quickly moved me away before going back to James' side.
"you let me worry about my mum and dad Snape. Think you have bigger problems to deal with right now, don't you?" I was really starting to worry now. Regulus was acting tough now, but I had seen what his parents were capable of.

Luck was apparently on my side however, as Remus, who I had no idea was in the library stormed over to us. Before he could go in and blindly take James's side, I jumped Infront of him
"Remus, you need to get him off. It's not safe for Regulus" I said sternly and thank Merlin he listened to me and ripped James off Snape. I grabbed the back of Regulus shirt holding him back with all my strength as he was ready to lunge the minuet James was removed.
"I suggest you fuck off Snape before I let him go" Remus said over his shoulder to Snape. James was intimidating but Remus could be downright frightening if he wanted to be. Snape brushed his shirt flat turning to walk away, not before being a dick once again before he left.
"tell mum and dad to expect my owl Reg" I tightened my grip of Regulus just about managing to keep him stationary.

Once Snape was out of sight, everyone who had stopped to watch the altercation dispersed. Remus and I let go of James and Regulus.
"Reg are you okay?" I asked him, touching his arm lightly. He scoffed at me before pulling me into a hug
"he called you a slut and you're asking me if I am okay?" he laughed. I shrugged
"he really needs to get new insult" Pulling away from Reg and moving to go check on a now sitting and much calmer James. When in arms reach, he pulled me to down sit on his knee as he held me tight against him.
"someone want to explain to me why I stopped James from beating the shit out of him? Seemed like her deserved it" Remus asked. Thinking it might be best to fill Sirius in at the same time, I stood up from James' lap
"come on let's go find the others and fill them in" I said causing James to stand. He walked over to Regulus and held out his hand
"thank you for having my back and for standing up for Emily, despite the problems it might cause you" To my surprise Regulus immediately took James hand shaking it.
"she is like my family Potter, I guess that means you are also part of that family now" my eyes went glossy. Regulus caught my eye over James shoulder
"bloody hell woman, are you ever not crying?" he asked
"I am sorry it's just so rare you show emotion"

We filled our friends in over lunch on the events at the library. Sirius already knew that his parents didn't approved of me being friends with his brother, so like me he was worried for Regulus's sake for what might happen to him when they learn of the incident. Lily was seething at Snape. They hadn't spoken since last year, but she was ready to go give him what for. I told her it wasn't necessary, we didn't want to draw any more attention. James had been very clingy since the library. He hadn't removed his protective arm from around my waist keeping me tightly to him.
"are you okay?" I whispered to him.
"I am good love. I just hate that he keeps saying things like that to you" I smiled at him drawing comforting patterns on his thigh
"I don't believe a word he says anyway James. I know I reacted badly last time he said it and that must make you worry but I promised no running" he placed a gentle kiss on my head.
"you show me every single day how much I mean to you and Snape is either blind, an idiot or both if he can't see this is the real thing. It doesn't matter anyway because I know how much we mean to each other" James pulled me even closer to him, smiling down at me
"I can't wait for our date this weekend"

I was running around Lily and James' shared common room setting up the finishing touches for mine and James' date night. Kayla and Lily had been a huge help getting everything ready.
"Em, you need to go get changed we will finish everything up down here" Kayla said shoeing me up to James dorm where I had put my stuff.

I quickly got changed into the outfit Kayla had helped me pick. We had kept it simple blue flared jeans and crochet cropped top. I topped up my makeup again not doing anything out the ordinary. I had my hair down but quickly through it up in a messy ponytail just so I could add a bow, because I knew James liked them.

When I came back down the stairs I gasped at the sight of the room. Lily and Kayla had now lit all the candles that we had scattered around. The couch now had blankets draped elegantly over It making it look even more cosy than it did before. The little coffee table was set up with a few nibbles but not many, as I planned to use the kitchen to cook for James. There was music playing in the background, I had borrowed Sirius' record player that he kept at Hogwarts and selected a few records that I had charmed so that when one record finished it would magically return to its sleeve before the new record would float onto the record player. That was an interesting conversation with Flitwick when I asked for his help with the charm.
"thank you so much" I said pulling both the girls into a group hug
"we will be right upstairs if you need anything. I promise to try and keep Lily from spying on you" Kayla said. We both looked at Lily who was beaming at me.
"it's just so adorable! Incredibly cheesy, but it's just so, you and James" I chuckled at her
"I want all the details tomorrow and I mean all of them" Lily added. James and I hadn't had sex yet. We had done other bits when things got a bit handsy while making out, but we hadn't gone any further and I thought maybe tonight would be the night. Lily had cornered me one morning when I came down the stars after spending the night in James' dorm with him. I confessed to her that I wanted to sleep with him badly, but the timing just hadn't seemed right. If tonight was the night, then that's great but if it wasn't that was also perfectly okay, I just wanted to do something special for him.

There was a knock at the common room entrance and Lily and Kayla quickly scurried off upstairs. Taking a deep breath, I made my way over to the door letting James in. He greeted me by immediately swooping down and kissing me. When he finally pulled away and looked at the room his mouth hung open in shock. Whilst he took in the room I took in his appearance. I told him to dress casually, he was wearing his classic red converse I had got him which now had some new badges that he had added himself, his latest one being a sunflower. He also wore his classic blue jeans that he had paired with his oversized queen t-shirt. I even noticed he wore a simple silver chain round his neck the same chain that I had told him makes me feral. I chuckled to myself at the memory.

James turned around to luck at me when he heard me laugh. He wrapped his arms around my waist
"Em, it looks amazing, but did you check this out with Lily? This is breaking about 30 of her bloody rules." I laughed at him
"she helped me set everything up, she is actually upstairs in her dorm with Kay, but they have promised to stay up there all night" He smiled before leaning in for another kiss.
"what's the plan then love? Not that I am against spending the whole night snogging you" I hit his chest before grabbing his hand leading him over to the kitchen area.
"I thought I would cook for you, then I thought we could chill for a bit. I borrowed Pete's chess board, I know you have been wanting to teach me how to play so I thought we might do that." I said bashfully worried James might think this is too cheesy.
"sounds perfect sunshine" he assured me planting a kiss on my head.

I cooked James a creamy tomato pasta for dinner I didn't want to do anything complicated and mess it up. James had stood behind me, arms around my waist and his chin resting on my shoulder the whole time. It reminded me so much of how my mum and dad use to be when my mum was cooking dinner. A thought that would once make me burst into tears but now I just couldn't stop smiling. We swayed to the background music while we chatted and cooked. It was perfect, something I could imagine doing every day for the rest of my life.

After we ate, we moved to the couch where James attempted to teach me how to play chess, but we just kept laughing at each other. There wasn't even anything particularly funny I think we were both just giddy off spending time together. After giving up on chess we lounged on the couch talking about our days, what our plans were for the tomorrow and how our friends were doing.

The beetle's song here comes the sun, that James had got me for Christmas started playing. He immediately jumped to his feet holding out his hand for me to stand
"come on love, it's our song, we can't not dance to our song" so we did. James twirled me around the common room. I was laughing and smiling wildly as we clumsily danced around. When the song came to an end, we were both out of breath, but we couldn't wipe the smiles from our faces.

Once my breathing had returned to normal, I laced my hands around James' neck and pulled him into a passion kiss, which he immediately reciprocated. Things we were quickly getting heated, so I pulled away from him breaking the kiss
"maybe we should go upstairs?" I suggested. James looked at me with a look that only be described as lust before he quickly grabbed his wand from the table and casting the spell to extinguish the candles, before dragging me upstairs to his dorm.

When we got to his dorm, I was buzzing with a sense of anticipation. There was no mistake in what I meant when I suggested we head up here. As soon as James shut the bedroom door, he spun me around, so I was pinned against it. He began placing hot kisses down my neck and collar bone. I let out a soft moan when he hit the sweet spot in dip of my shoulder blade. When he heard me moan, he pulled away from me and looked into my eyes.
"Emily, nothing has to happen tonight I would be quite happy to just sit and cuddle all night" I smiled at him resting my hand on his cheek.
"I want you James. I want this, but only if you are ready for it too. I don't want to rush anything. We can stop if you want, but I am more than happy to carry on if you are" He studied my face for a moment
"are you sure? If you change your mind at any time just tell me and we can stop"
"I have never been more sure of anything in my life"

That was all it took. He scooped my legs up rapping them around his waist, kissing me with such fire as he carried us over to the bed. It was safe to say that the night was the most magical night of my life. I had never felt so alive or more connected to a person. I was falling head over heels for James Potter and I had never been happier.

Chapter 41 Chapter Text

We were sat having breakfast as our usual group. I was wearing one of James' hoodies, that I had now stollen, over my uniform as it was particularly chilly this cold December morning. It was definitely going to snow soon.

Since our date a few weeks ago James and I had spent most nights together. It wasn't always nights of passion like on our date, though I was extremely grateful to discover James wasn't a one trick pony, he had kept up his stella performance. Some nights I would fall asleep in his bed and he would come sneak in after his prefect rounds and just hold me. Other nights I would be hanging out with him and the boys in their shared dorm and I would end up just staying over. Even on the most recent girls' night, since we had moved the girl's night location to the James and Lily's shared common room, he would wait upstairs in his dorm for me, not wanting to interrupt us. The only nights I hadn't stayed with James, is if Lucy wanted to come stay with me for whatever reason and one night when Sirius demanding we have a pamper night just me and him.

I watched as my brother's owl came swooping in, gracefully landing Infront of me dropping a letter on my plate. James who was sat next me gave the bird some of his toast. I began reading my brother's letter but let out a sequel of excitement as I read it.
"my brother getting married!" I announced to the group. Everyone was smiling except for Sirius
"He is what? To that blonde bimbo that was always hanging around him. He could do so much better" he said outraged
"Anna is a lovely girl Sirius" Remus reminded him. The group had met Anna on several occasion over the summer, as often when my brother came to visit, she came with him. Sirius sulked, begrudgingly taking back his statement.
"When do I need to have my suit ready for?" Sirius asked. I rolled my eyes at him
"you're not invited Sirius. The invite is just for me and James" Sirius gasped while James stuck his tongue out at him. I handed James the invite so he could read over it
"A March wedding, they aren't wasting time are they" I laughed. I bet my mum is going crazy with planning.

As soon as I thought it, I felt the colour drain from my face. I had forgot they were dead. How could I forget they were dead? Feeling myself start to lose control, not wanting the other to see that, I squeezed James's knee hoping if he looked at me, he would see something was wrong and get me out of the hall. As soon as he turned his head to look at me, I knew he understood. He wrapped his arm around my waist pulling me up
"We are going to go put the invite in my dorm. We will catch up with you guys in class" He through out the excuse before quickly leading me out the hall and into nearby store cupboard.

As soon as we were out of sight I burst into tears while James just held me to his chest rubbing my back.
"I forgot they were dead" I explained to him between sobs "I actually thought about my mum like she was still here, and they are not James. it so unfair" I cried harder. James continued to rub soothing circles on my back, muttering things to me as he held me. Once I had gone from sobbing to more of a gentle cry, I looked up at James
"I think it was more than just forgetting they were gone. I have slipped up like that before and sure it hurt me, but I didn't have this reaction. I think I only just realised all the things they are going to miss out on. My dad isn't going to walk me down the aisle at my wedding, they aren't going to get to meet my children, they aren't even going to be here for the smaller things like Christmas this year. Why did it have to be them James?" he pulled me tight against his chest again pressing a kiss to the top of my head
"if I could take away the pain your feeling Em, I would in heartbeat. It so ridiculously cruel that this has happened to you and nothing I can say or do can make that pain go away. I am sure your mum and dad would do anything to be there physically with you through all those milestones, but they can't and that sucks Em but you and I both know they are still with you every step of the way. They will be cheering you on, always" I let out a few sniffles as he continued to hold me

"can I ask you a favour?" I said my eyes still bloodshot, but the tears have finally stopped
"anything love"
"The girls are all going home for Christmas. Lucy's going to her parents and Kayla and Lily to Kay's parents. I have told them I was going to stay at my brothers, they refused to go otherwise. I know how much their families wanted them home. I wasn't exactly feeling Christmassy this year, so my plan was to just mope around the house and treat it like any other day. But after what you just said the thought of my parents watching that, well they would be so mad at me, Christmas was a huge celebration in our house, and they would want me to celebrate. So, I was wondering If I could maybe come stay with you?" James grinned at me
"of course, Sunshine! I don't know who is going to be more excited me, Sirius, mum or dad. We would love to have you with us" I let out a breath of relief
"Its only the 23rd to 27th then they will be back" I explained
"I would have you with me every day if you let me. Just one question though, what were you planning on telling me when I came to visit you on Christmas day?" I shrugged
"I didn't think you would come on actual Christmas day, so I hadn't really thought about it. I guess I would have told you they had just popped out. I did think about asking you earlier, but I don't know what mood I am going to be in and I didn't want to bring down your Christmas" he shook his head at me
"I don't care what mood you will be in Em and neither will anyone else. We will just be happy you are with us. You being there instantly makes it the best Christmas ever" I smiled at him, going on my tip toes to give him a light peck
"what would I ever do without you?"
"probably become an old cat lady" he joked making me laugh

The rest of the day I was a bit down, I didn't cry again but I was just quiet. At dinner that evening I told the girls about going to stay with James over Christmas. He had already written to his mum and dad and they were thrilled I was joining them. The girls were annoyed I had lied to them but understood why I did, they made me promise not to lie again. The boys hadn't joined us for dinner, which was a bit odd, but we didn't think anything off it until they came barrelling into the hall.
"laddies, if you would kindly follow us" Peter said to the group. We looked at each other before standing. One of the boys immediately covered our eyes. I could hear Lucy immediately start to fight with Sirius who was leading her to wherever we were going. I knew James had his hands over my eyes as he placed a soft kiss to my cheek as he led me to our destination.
"surprise!" the boys yelled taking their hands away. We were stood in the school's main entrance looking up at a giant Christmas tree.

"I don't get it" Lucy said turning to look at the boys
"Alright there girls" Hagrid said approaching us "the boys came to talk to me, said you might want to help decorate the Christmas tree this year" He said gesturing to the large boxes of decoration by the tree. The girls and I grinned at Hagrid
"we would love to Hagrid! Thank you" Kayla said for us before the girls rushed forward instantly levitating baubles high up the enormous tree. I spun on my heels and launched myself at James. He just managed to catch me in time picking me up and spinning me round.
"Thank you" I said grinning at him as he placed me back down
"anything to see that smile back on your face Love"
"alright love birds, that's enough. We have work to do" Lucy shouted by the Christmas tree. With James' hand in mine we joined our friends.

Chapter 42 Chapter Text

Today was our first full day back home. The girls were going back home to their families tomorrow. Today, we were having our own Christmas day. Lily and I had made a Christmas dinner while Kayla and Lucy had decorated the house. After dinner, we all wore matching pyjamas, just as I had done with my family and exchanged our gifts as we sat around the Christmas tree. It was the most wholesome day.

"New Year's Eve, we are hosting right?" Lucy asked the group. We had planned to have a bit of new year's party, just us and the boys, even Peter was planning on coming.
"That's the plan. The boys are bringing the alcohol since we are proving the house and food" Lily explained.
"I think they are all planning on staying over as well so we might need to get some more breakfast stuff in when we do the food shop" I added. We had just enough room to fit everyone in. Sirius and Remus could take the guest room and Pete could have the couch.
"I might bring a date" we all turned to look at Lucy in shock
"not like a date date" she said quickly to clarify "Since I am going home for a few days, I will see my neighbours' son, you know the one who goes to durmstrang? We have had fun in the past. So, I might see if he fancy's banging into new year with me" we all complained at her. Lily even throwing a pillow.
"oh, come on we are all getting some! Even Em, after she finally let Potter slip it in"
"Lucy!" I said picking up my own pillow, hitting her with it again. She rolled her eyes at us.

In the morning, the girls made me leave before them so they could confirm I had in fact gone to James' house and not stayed at home like I had originally planned. I stumbled out of the Potter's fire and straight in the warm embrace of Euphemia Potter.
"oh, Emily it so good to see you again. Let me look at you" she held me out in front of her slightly "and look at that, even more beautiful. You are going to have to let me in your secret one day" I chuckled at her.
"Please Mia, you are extremely beautiful! Monty is a lucky fella" I said smiling at her
"did I hear my name?" I pulled away from Mia and ran into Monty's outstretched arms
"it's good to see you again sweetheart. I can't believe we missed you on the platform the other day" it was my plan to see the Potters before heading home from the platform, but Lily being Lily rushed us around, apparating us home as soon as I had collected my trunk.
"it's good to see you Monty. Thank you for letting me stay over Christmas" I said the last part to both him and Mia
"no need to thank us sweetheart your family! You already were before, but now that you and James are dating. Its official" I started blushing at Monty's comment forgetting I hadn't seen James' parents since we became a couple.
"he is treating you right isn't he Emily? Because if he isn't, you can tell me, and I will whip him into shape" I laughed at Mia
"Don't worry Mia, he is the perfect gentleman" apart from in the bedroom that one time but Mia definitely didn't need to know that.

"Come on Emily, lets sneak down to the workroom before the boys discover you're here I have some new ideas I want to run by you" Fleamont Potter might be the best perk to come out of dating James. Monty and I were just about to make it to the door to the basement which led to his workroom when Sirius spotted us. Monty let out a frustrated groan as Sirius barrelled over to us.
"I missed you so much" Sirius said planting a sloppy kiss on my cheek.
"Sirius, I saw you 2 days ago. Not even that it's been less that 48 hours" Using the back of my hand to wipe my face as I spoke
"exactly Emily. You know I have attachment issues. Now come on let me sneak you to my room before prongs finds out you're here"
"actually Sirius, Emily had already said she would come help me with something in the workroom" Monty interrupted Sirius. Before either of them could argue, James came around the corner
"you're here" running up to me bringing me into a tight hug, lifting my feet off the floor. Both Monty and Sirius huffed knowing they stood no chance now that James was here.
"I missed you" he mumbled before kissing my head
"I missed you too"
"erm excuse me, how come when I say I have missed you I get 'I saw you 2 days ago Sirius' but when lover boy over here, gives you the dreamy eyes it's all 'I missed you too' clear favouritism if you ask me" Sirius complained mimicking my voice at parts.
"come on Sirius, we don't stand a chance now" Monty said throwing a glare at his son while patting Sirius on the back. I stifled a laugh at the dramatic men. James was just about to take me off to his room when Mia came back through from the kitchen
"Emily lovely, I am about to make some gingerbread. Would you like to help?" I grinned at Mia and stepped away for James
"I would love to Mia" James gasped at me. While his dad and Sirius just laughed
"welcome to the club son" Monty clasped James on the back just like he had with Sirius
"face it boys, she loves me the most" Mia smirked at her family holding out her elbow for me to link. I just smirked at the boys as we left.

when I had finished baking with Mia. Monty, who had been hovering in the kitchen waiting for me to be done so he could whisk me away to the workroom, where we talked all things potions and even did a few experiments. We only left the workroom when Mia called us up for dinner. Sirius seized the opportunity and dragged me away as soon as my plate was cleared. He performed a fashion show of all the new clothes he had bought when he had gone shopping with Mia yesterday. This all meant I hadn't really seen James all day other than at dinner. I went into the room I stayed in last time to get changed for bed, but my stuff wasn't there. I went in search of my belongings and James. I knocked on his bedroom door and he shouted for me to come in. I instantly grinned at him. He was surround by a bunch of scrunched up wrapping paper from failed attempts at wrapping his presents.

"I don't know how you do it Em. It's just too difficult" he said from his place on the floor, his glasses slightly wonky on his face and his hair messier than normal. I sat down in the middle of his outstretched legs, his arms instantly wrapping around me resting his chin on my shoulder as he watched me wrap the presents for him.
"is there anything you can't do?" he said kissing my cheek
"flip pancakes remember?" he smirked at me thinking back to last year when I had stayed
"ah yes, maybe I will just have to teach you" he said before trailing kisses down my neck. Before he could get too carried away, I stopped him. Very aware we were in his parents' home
"I wanted to get ready for bed, but my stuff wasn't in the guest room" he pushed himself up off the floor and walked over to his dresser opening the draw to reveal my stuff
"I thought you would want to stay in here, with me. I already okayed it with mum, which was very awkward conversation. If you don't want to though, we can move your stuff back" I was already shaking my head before he could finish
"I want stay with you James" I walked over to him wrapping my arms around his middle

We were lay in bed facing each other just talking
"i missed you today" he said as his fingers ran up and down my side
"I know, I missed you too, but I haven't seen your mum and dad in ages" he hummed
"I will let them off, but Sirius has no excuse for stealing you from me" I laughed at him
"you could have always come and got me" I raised my eyebrow at him
"I know. I just love how much they love you and I couldn't take that away from them" I chuckled at him
"how are you feeling about the next few days?" he asked
"I am doing okay so far. Baking with your mum was really nice, that was something I use to do with my mum. Yesterday with the girls was really wholesome, your dad and Sirius also did a great job at keeping my mind busy today and I get to end the night in your arms. There is lots of things to be happy about, if I keep focusing on that I think I will be okay. Although, I was wondering if you would come to my parent's grave with me in between Christmas and new year. I know it's silly, especially as they met you before, but I want to introduce you to them as my boyfriend" James gave me a quick peck
"that's not silly at all love. Of course, I will come with you" I smiled at him "do you want to tell me what Christmas was like with them?" he asked. James did this a lot, he always asked me about my parents and I really appreciated it, as it not only let me relive happy memories of them, but it made it feel like they were still a part of my life. I spent the rest of night talking about Christmas pasts with James until I eventually fell asleep.

Christmas eve had so far been magical. I had gone on walk, in the snow, around the neighbourhood with Mia looking at the beautiful homes. Monty made the best hot chocolate for me when we got back, it even rivalled Dixy's which up until now had been unbeaten. I messed around in the snow with James and Sirius. Sirius and I teaming against James in a snowball fight. We made smores in the fire before we all go cosy in our pyjamas, playing board games I had brought from home. There was a knock at the door
"can you get the door for me sunshine" I looked at him confused
"your closer and it's your house" he sighed
"please just get the door Em" rolling my eyes I pushed myself up off the floor. As soon as I opened the door, I understood why James was so adamant on me answering the door. As there, covered in snow was my brother. It wasn't until I saw him stood there, it hit me how much I needed him. I through myself at him hugging him tight as soft tears rolled down both our cheeks.
"you going to invite me in or are we just going to freeze out here?" I pulled away from him bringing him into the living room where James and his family were.
"Mia, Monty, would it be okay if my brother stays for a bit?" I asked, suddenly remembering this wasn't my house and I couldn't just invite people in
"of course, sweetheart. I will go put the kettle on" Monty said pushing up. He gave my brother a stern look as he walked past us.
"I will go give him a hand" Mia said following her husband. She paused as she got closer to Liam.
"Liam" she said giving him a court nod
"Thank you for letting me stay Mrs Potter" she hummed at him before moving past us
"its okay Liam I am still a fan, even if Monty and Mia aren't" Sirius said breaking the tension. Liam was used to Sirius and his blatant flirting, actually finding it quite funny
"I guess I can always count on you Sirius" he said sitting down next to the boy
"not enough to invite me to your wedding though" Sirius huffed.
"Pads you need to get over it" James hissed at Sirius. Since Liam had took my original seat I went to sit next to James on the floor by the fire. He instinctively wrapped his arm round me.
"let me speak to Anna and I will see what I can do about an invite" Sirius pulled Liam to him, planting a kiss on his cheek
"I knew there was a reason you were my favourite Williams sibling" I gasped at him
"oh, don't act like Regulus isn't your favourite Black"
"I love you both equally. Besides he is only your favourite at the minuet I am sure when you want to raid my wardrobe again, I will be your favourite" I huffed crossing my arms
"needs must Em. I have to be resourceful"
"please don't invite him to your wedding, we were looking forward to a night off" James said to Liam who just laughed

We sat together playing board games just like Liam and I use to do. It was getting rather late when Liam announced he should get back to Anna and her family. Sirius leaped to his feet wrapping his arms around my brother
"thank you for coming to visit me, this might be the best Christmas ever" Luckily for Liam, James walked over prying Sirius off of him.
"thank you for coming" James said holding his hand out for my brother to shake. They did that weird man hug thing where they pat each other back before pulling away.
"come on Pads, let's give them a minute" James said shooting me a wink before dragging Sirius off
"you really have picked a good one" Liam said watching the boys leave
"he is pretty amazing" I smiled in the direction James had walked off in "did he invite you?" Liam nodded.
"he wrote to me about a week ago and let me know you were going to be here if I wanted to stop by" of course he did. That was just James to a tee, always so thoughtful.
"Thank you for coming. I missed you" I said giving him another hug.
"I missed you too. Try to have a good day tomorrow Em. I know it might be hard with it being the first one after all, but they would want us to be happy" I nodded into his chest
"I love you Liam"
"Love you too sis" he planted a kiss in my hair before pulling away and apparating home.

The next morning James and I were woken up by an excited Sirius squishing himself into the middle of us.
"ITS CHRISTMAS" he yelled. I chuckled at him placing a kiss on his cheek. James groaned at him before reaching his hand over to his bed side table patting his hand around until he found his glasses, clumsily putting them on his face
"merry Christmas pads, now can you move so I can give Emily a kiss please"
"I don't think you want to do that mate you have awful morning breath" Sirius responded. Laughing at the pair I rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom to freshen up. When I came back out both boys had fallen back asleep while cuddling. James being the big spoon. I quietly chuckled to myself before heading downstairs.

Mia and Monty were already up and sipping hot cups of tea in the kitchen
"Merry Christmas Emily" they both said as I walked in. Stood behind where they were sat at the kitchen table I wrapped an arm round each of them
"merry Christmas" I said to them before walking over to the kettle getting myself a cup of tea
"I thought I heard Sirius up?" Monty asked. I scoffed remembering how I had left the boys. I filled them both in on how I had basically been kicked out of bed.
" I know we said presents after dinner" I said waving my wand to accio the envelope with Monty and Mia's present in "but I am to excited to see your reaction" I said shoving the envelope in their direction. I knew I wanted to do something special for the couple as a thank you for all the support they had offered me and for welcoming me into their home.

Mia gasped eyes watering when she saw what I had got them. Monty was shaking his head
"Absolutely not Emily, this must have cost you a fortune there is no way we are accepting this" I had gone back and forth on what to get the pair but when James had told me about their honeymoon in Italy I knew I had to get them a trip there.
"it's none refundable, you are going and that's final" I said sternly. Monty huffed at me, but a slow smile was making its way onto his face
"I could never thank you enough for what you have done for me. So, let me have this okay?" I said to the pair and before I knew it I was being sandwich between them as the hugged me tightly.

Eventually Sirius and James finally made their way downstairs. James giving me the kiss he wanted to earlier, lucky for me he had listened to Sirius and brushed his teeth first. After breakfast I took myself off to go get ready. I stood Infront of the window in James' room just watching the snow fall taking a moment to myself to remember my parents and I did it with a smile on my face. It was just what I needed. I turned around when there was knock on James' bedroom door
"you okay?" Sirius asked walking into the room coming to stand next to me
"I am good. What about you?" it must have been a weird day for Sirius as it had been a year since he ran away
"I wish Regulus was here but other than that I couldn't be happier. All my family is in once place" I lent my head against his arm
"I love you Sirius" he responded by placing a kiss on my head
"I am going to go see moony for a bit. Is there anything you want me to take with me?" he asked.
"I am good. I already gave him my gift before we left school" Sirius huffed
"I can't believe we have to wait until after dinner to do gifts"

James and I spent the morning in the kitchen with his mum and dad while Mia made dinner. She refused to let any of us help but appreciated us keeping her company. We had music blaring, James and I danced around his kitchen table while his dad and mum laughed at us. Lily had sent me to the Potter's with muggle crackers and we were all cracking up at the jokes in them, when Sirius got back.

Much to Sirius delight as soon as desert was finished we moved back to the living room to do presents. Yet again I had been spoilt by my friends and family. Mia and Monty had gushed to the boys about their upcoming trip to Italy. To James' credit he did a good job at acting surprised even though he had helped me book everything. I handed James his Christmas present, he let out a very high pitch shriek
"how did you manage this?" he said flicking thought the pages of the latest copy of quidditch through the ages I had gotten him. The thing that made him shriek however, was that I had sent it to my brother and asked him to get as many players as possible to sign it. So, it not only just had his team but lots of players from other teams
"I guess it comes in handy have a famous brother now and then"

He gave me a quick peck before pulling out his gift for me. I unwrapped the box to see a beautiful white bow in the box
"it changes colour depending on your mood" he told me as I picked up the bow. I quickly pulled out the bow I had in replacing it with the new bow.
"yellow. It means you're happy" James said watching the bow change colour
"good idea Prongs, you will be able to tell when she pissed off at you" James hit the back of his head. I shuffled closer to James
"I love it. Thank you" I said before placing a gentle kiss on his cheek

"alright family photo time. Everyone round the tree" We all gathered round the tree. Mia had her arm wrapped around Monty's waist who had one arm draped over his wife's shoulders and the other pressing a warm hand to his sons back. James had his arms wrapped around my waist. Sirius stood behind me and James his arms dangling lazily over our shoulders. Right before the camera flashed James turned his head and went to plant a kiss on my cheek but Sirius stuck his head between us. Monty, Mia and I had turned just in time to catch the moment and we all burst out laughing. Monty made me a copy of the photo and it was going straight in a frame when I got home.

Chapter 43 Chapter Text

The girls and I had been back home now for few days. Sirius and James were here every day. Sirius had become a permeant feature in our home only going back to Potters to get changed before coming back. James would come around each night after dinner as he wanted to spend some time with his parents. The pair had stayed over every night and the guest bedroom was slowly being taken over by Sirius' belongings. If I didn't know any better, I would say he was slowly moving in.

It was the day before our new year's party and Lily was driving everyone mad. She had sent Sirius and James to the shops with a list, but they had come back without getting everything, so Lily sent them back out again. She had Kayla and Lucy cleaning everything and apparently magic didn't clean it well enough, so she had them cleaning the muggle way. I swear if Lily told Lucy she missed a spot one more time she might not make it to the new year. Kayla had tried to get her to calm down by pointing out it was just the boys coming around and not the minister of magic, that comment nearly ended up with them breaking up, so I had quickly ushered Lucy and Kayla away from Lily. I had been tasked with prepping the food so all we had to do was put stuff in the oven tomorrow. Lily however was supervising me as she wanted to make sure I was making enough of everything. I was about ready to scream when James and Sirius came back. Thankfully taking the pressure off me.

"how the hell do you live with her?" James said as he began unloading groceries into the fridge while Lily shouted at Sirius for his choice in cheese.
"she normally isn't this bad" I muttered to him. Sirius came storming into the kitchen with Lily hot on his heals. They were still arguing between themselves, but I cleared my throat interrupting them
"Lil's I have finished the chicken now, are we okay to go?" today was the day James and I had planned to go to my parents grave. I had pre warned Lily of this so she could plan it into her schedule. She crossed her arms eyeing me suspiciously
"and the pasta and the sandwiches, are they done?" I nodded at her. She hummed
"then yes you can go" oh thank merlin. I quickly whipped off my apron and grabbed James' hand quickly heading for the door before she could change her mind
"please don't leave me with her" Sirius said grabbing James's arm as we passed him. James ripped his arm out Sirius's grasp
"sorry pads you're on your own"

I apparated us to the grave site suddenly being hit with a wave of emotion. I hadn't been here since the funeral and I felt kind of guilty for that. James put a hand on my shoulder
"we don't have to do this today. It's okay if you changed your mind" I shook my head at him
"I want to do this" I said firmly taking his hand back in mine and holding it tightly as we got closer to my parents. When we reached the foot of their grave, I read the headstones with tears rolling down my cheek. James stood behind me, gently moving his hands up and down my arms.

"hey mum, hey dad. I miss you guys" I managed to say although it was rather sniffly. "a lot has happened since we like spoke. Liam is getting married! The girls and I all live in the house together. You would love it mum it's like a never ending girls night, although Lily is being a bit of sergeant major at the moment" I let out a small laugh now finding it a bit easier to talk to them "I got my grades back from last year. All O's and E's. we celebrated our first Christmas without you it was tough, but I know you were there in spirit" I smiled at their headstones before moving so James was next to me "but the biggest news I have is that James is now my boyfriend. Don't worry Dad, Lucy is making sure your threat still holds. He is amazing, I couldn't have gotten thought the last few months without him. He makes me happier than I have ever been before and you were right mum, he is pretty handsome" I turned to look at James who was smiling down at me.

James took a step forward, so he was slightly Infront of me but not letting go of my hand.
"Hi Colin and Gail. I hope you approve of me dating Emily. I promise to always be there for her, to always make her laugh and to help her remember to live. I wish you guys were still here with us but don't worry I got her. Oh, and Colin Chudley cannons beat puddlemere united in the playoffs. It was one hell of a game" I let out a teary laugh at James updating my dad on the quidditch score. He turned back to look at me
"do you want to stay a bit longer love?" I smiled nodding at him
"I don't feel like going back to lily yet" he laughed at me but pulled me closer placing a kiss on my head
"I am so proud of you sunshine and I know your mum and dad are as well"

When we got back from visiting my parents yesterday Lily was still going crazy. Being the good girlfriend and friend that I am, I got Sirius and James out of there. They haven't been back since, to scared of Lily. They would be coming back soon however, as we told everyone to come round at about 9pm for the party.
"how'd it go with your mum and dad over Christmas?" Lucy and I were getting ready in my room, I felt like I hadn't had chance to properly catch up with her since she got back from her parents.
"she was still preaching the need for an heir but she didn't try to send me on any surprise dates" I hummed at her
"and that guy Alexander? I thought you were bringing him tonight" I asked referring to her parents durmstrang neighbour
"He is coming but I didn't want him to get the wrong idea, he seems like he could be a clinger, so he is coming at about 1am" I laughed at her
"I missed you though, missed Kayla and Lilly too" Lucy didn't really do emotions, a bit like Regulus, so I cherished this moment
"I missed you guys a well. Don't get me wrong I love the Potters but you're my girls" I smiled at her whilst curling my hair
"You do realise I can't ever not live with you now. Like when you and Potter are buying a house you better make sure there is a room for me" she said seriously
"okay but you do realise that means you also have to live with James, right? And not just James, hopefully I will have some kids at some point and if you there every day that means you're basically built in childcare" I smiled wickedly at her. Lucy liked kids but I knew she would hate the thought of living with them full time.
"okay maybe I will just buy the house next door. That way I can send your kids back when they start to get annoying" I laughed at her
"so, you want kids with Potter then?" she asked after a moment
"I mean I have always wanted kids and I can't imagine not being with James, so yeh, I guess" I shrugged. She was quiet for a moment
"I hope they take after you. Dealing with one Potter is enough I don't know if I could handle an army of mini potters as well"

The boys started arriving around 9 like we had told them to. When Peter got here, I made sure he knew where everything was and that he didn't need to ask, he could just go get whatever he needed. Since Peter hadn't been to the house as much as the other boys, I wanted to make sure he felt comfortable and didn't feel left out because the other idiots treated the place as if it was their own. After taking Pete on a refresher tour we were stood in my kitchen chatting about Mary as things seemed to be still going well between the two.

"Em, you're going to have to go sort Lily out" James said coming over to me and Pete interrupting us
"what's up with her now? I thought she was doing alright now that she's had a drink?" since we were all staying at the house tonight we had decided none of us needed to stay sober so the first thing we did was get Lily a drink hoping it would make her mellow.
"Sirius didn't use a coaster, Kayla tried to use magic to clean it, but we all know how she feels about cleaning with magic" I groaned
"what's she got against cleaning with magic?" Peter asked launching James into a dramatic retelling of the events of the last few days, while I made my way into the lion's den.

After charming Sirius cup so it had a permeant coaster attached to the bottom and supplying Lily with a lot more alcohol, things seemed to be going pretty smoothly. Sirius and Lucy who seem to forget they are meant to hate each other whenever they have a drink were giving the performance of a lifetime of gimmie gimmie gimmie by Abba. Remus was there main audience and as we all know drunk Remus is very affectionate. He was eating up the extra attention from the pair. Kayla and Lily had made up and were snuggled together on the couch making out. If it got any more heated, I was sending them to their room. Peter hadn't really left mine or James's side which we didn't mind. The three of us were stood in my kitchen. James was leaning against the counter behind me, he had one arm wrapped around my waist pulling me into his front while he held his drink with his other. James was borderline drunk and like Remus he loved affection but because James was already very affectionate it was ramped up more. For example, he would smack my arse if I walked past him or he would start kissing down my neck while I was talking to Peter and I would have to stand on his toe so he would stop and not make Peter uncomfortable. I didn't mind much though as I was rather tipsy myself and didn't like not being within reach of James. Peter was also quite drunk. James and I had discovered Peter was an emotional drunk. He kept telling us how much he loved us, he even began crying at one point when he told me the story of becoming friends with the boys.

"oi losers its nearly midnight come on" Sirius shouted from the back garden. We had picked up some magical fireworks that James and Sirius had set up before we started drinking. All we had to do was flick our wand and they would be off. We were all grouped together in the garden shouting a countdown from 10. At bang on midnight Kayla flicked her wand and the fireworks shot into the sky. I turned to look over my shoulder at James who was still holding me tightly. He was already looking at me, we met halfway connecting our lips.

"happy new year James"
"happy new year sunshine"

I was quickly pulled out of James' grip by Lucy who grabbed both of my hands twirling me in a circle. Sirius came and joined in with us taking one of my hands and one of Lucy's as we skipped around together. Starting to feel dizzy I separated from the group and quickly made my way back to James who was talking to Peter and Remus. I stood not really listening to the boy's conversation more just watching my friends, being hit with a strong sense of gratitude that these awesome people were in my life.

At 1am sharp, Alexander did show up and I think all the boys were intimidated by him. The boys were tall, but Alexander was taller, he was also built like a house. Seemed like a nice enough bloke though. After making sure Lucy wasn't overly drunk, which she wasn't, I was actually surprised at how much she had sobered up. She explained she had switched to water at about 11 not wanting to be drunk when her entertainment for the night got here. Her words not mine. She whisked Alexander up to her room.

The others slowly started to trail off to their rooms not long after that. I quickly waved my wand tidying away most of the rubbish, while James went and got the sheets and pillows for Peter.
"are you sure you're okay with the couch Peter? Because if not you can have my bed and me and James can apparate to his parents and stay there" I was feeling quite bad that everyone had a bed, but Peter was left with the couch
"stop worrying Em I am perfectly okay on the couch. I am just happy to be here with you all" I pulled him into a hug
"we are glad you're here too Pete"
"we need to get ready for bed Sunshine" I pouted at James
"but that means you have to stop cuddling me" he chuckled at me
"for all of two minutes love then I promise I will cuddle you all night" I reluctantly agreed letting go of James, sliding out of bed and undressing. When I didn't hear James do the same, I turned around, just in my underwear at this point, to see he was just watching me change
"get ready for bed you perve" I tossed my now discarded top at him
"your killing me Em" he said running a hand down his face
"you're the one who said I had to get ready for bed. This one is on you mister"

We eventually made it back to bed dressed appropriately. Although it had proven a challenge as James kept stealing my pyjamas from me and holding them above my head so I couldn't get dressed. In the end I took off my bra momentarily distracting James enough that he dropped my clothes, which I quickly grabbed. Cuddling in bed now, as James promised, we talked about the night with each other. That was until we started to here banging on the wall that separated my room and the spare bedroom. My eyes widened in realisation, but James didn't put it together until we heard moaning. Whatever Sirius was doing to Remus it seemed like he was enjoying it. James' face became a picture of horror as he quickly shoved the pillow over his head. Laughing at him I crept out of bed and went to the door of the guest room quickly casting the mufilito spell. When I got back to my room, James was clutching the pillow to his chest
"I think I am going to have nightmares Em"

Chapter 44 Chapter Text

We had been back at the castle for a few days now and if my friends thought I was insufferable last year on the lead up to exams they hadn't seen nothing yet. I was walking back to my dorm after my weekly gossip with Minnie when I could hear someone crying from the old bathroom that no one really used as Myrtle often vacated it. Going into the bathroom to check, my heart sank as I found Regulus sat on the floor with his knees pulled up to his chest while he sobbed.

I approached him sitting down on the floor Infront of him. Sensing someone was there he jerked back but when he saw it was me, he stared at me for a moment before latching on to me sobbing harder. I had no idea what was wrong and there seemed to be no consoling him, so I just held him while he cried not saying a word. My mind was racing with possibilities of what could have happened to him each imagination getting worse and worse.

"everything is not fine Em" I heard him whisper between sobs my heart shattered for the boy. I had always told him if things ever stopped being fine, he could come talk to me. He always brushed it off so to hear him say this I knew things must be really bad.
"I can't help you Reg unless you tell me what wrong" I said softly to him. He let go of me pushing himself up. He looked like he hadn't slept in days, his skin paler that usual emphasising the dark bags under his eyes.
"I can't tell you because you won't want to ever speak to me again if I do" that's when I knew. Trying to control my face to not scare Regulus or make him worry more I slowly went to take Regulus left arm. He quickly yanked it away from me
"Regulus, I promise I am not going anywhere but you are going to have to show me" he studied my face for a moment before handing me his arm. I slowly rolled up his sleeve to reveal my worst nightmare. There tattooed into his arm was the dark mark. The same mark that the people who killed my parents wore.

For a moment I just stared at his arm. It had scratch marks all over it as if the tattoo had been irritating him.
"I didn't have a choice Emily. It's what my parents wanted from me. I am the heir, I had to" Regulus quickly rushed out before pulling his arm away, rolling his sleeve back down. Choosing my words carefully I looked at Regulus
"We always have a choice Regulus. I know you don't feel like that, but you chose to do the easy thing. I offered you an out multiple time and you chose against that. I think you're a foolish boy Reg but this mark, this mistake doesn't mean I just stop caring about you" he looked up at me with teary eyes
"you don't hate me?" I sighed at him
"No Regulus I don't hate you. I have your back even if you have done something so incredibly stupid" I gave him a small smile

We sat in silence for a while neither of us knowing what to say. I knew I was going to have to tell Sirius not wanting to keep this a secret from him but also not wanting him to fly off the handle as that's not what anybody needs right now.
"can you tell me how this all happened Reg, I think it would help me get my head round it a bit better" I said in a neutral tone. Regulus took a deep breath
"before Sirius left, my parents didn't really care about me I was just the spare. So as long as I kept my head down and did as they said I could pretty much do whatever I wanted. Then Sirius left and he left behind his title as heir and all the crippling anxiety that comes with it" I felt my breath get caught in my throat. Regulus still had a lot of resentment for Sirius leaving and I was starting to understand why.
"Suddenly my parents took an interest in me and I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy that. I became the single most important thing to them, and I wanted to do anything to make them proud. It was when they found out I was friends with you that I realised how strict their expectation were of me" I must have made a face as Regulus quickly continued
"none of this is your fault Emily. Without you I would have no one who truly cared about me. I am to selfish to give that up for anything. Choosing to stay friends with you is the best decision I have ever made" I gave him a small smile but still felt guilty.
"After I got the letter from them, telling me stop being friends with you. They seemed appeased for a while as they thought I had done as they asked. However, after the library with Snape last term, he wrote to my parents to tell them all about it. I don't regret for a second standing up for you Emily and I never will."

"Anyway, I was expecting some sort of repercussion when I got home as I knew Snape would have snitched. Turns out this was my parents plan. I always knew this was where I was heading anyway, regardless of Snape, I think that just sped up the process. I had the ceremony over Christmas, I have never seen my dad look so proud. I was happy I was doing the right thing for my family, but I knew I was betraying you. Especially after your parents. My plan was to just never speak to you again because I couldn't face you telling me that you hated me. Anyone else but you Em. Then I saw you laughing with my brother at dinner and it broke me. I realised that by making my parents proud I had lost you and Sirius"

It was a lot to take in. Regulus genuinely still thought he had done the right thing all because of some misguided illusion of family loyalty. Part of me wanted to scream at him for what he had done, for the way he had rationalised it. But If I did that, he would have no one. What a mess you have created Regulus.

"you haven't lost me Reg, you haven't lost Sirius either. Do I think your being delusional? 100%. Regulus when you realise that this isn't you and that the people you are being loyal to aren't actually your family and that they don't deserve your loyalty, I promise you I will do everything I can to help you get out. My offer will always stand for you Reg because despite you being an arrogant little shit most of the time. I love you" Regulus lunged at me bringing me back into a tight embrace.

"you're going to tell Sirius, aren't you?"
"I have to Reg, he won't forgive me if he finds out, then finds out I knew. He is your brother, but he is also my friend, I can't hide this from him" He hummed at me
"you know how we tried to hide being friends last year. We will have to be extra careful now because it's not just a case of my parents finding out anymore. It's now not safe for you if the wrong people find out" Shaking my head in disbelief that even though he knows how dangerous it is he still thinks he is doing the right thing.
"I know Reg, I guess we are about to spend a lot more time with Myrtle. Where is she anyways?" I said now just noticing that she isn't here
"she is probably spying on whoever is using the prefect's bathroom" I let out a small laugh.
"Snog, marry, avada kedavra. Flitwick, Sprout and Trelawny" I said trying to make him smile and to change the subject because quite frankly I don't think I could talk about it much more. He smiled at me
"Snog Trelawny, marry Sporut, see you later Flitwick"

That evening I was in James's head boy dorm with James and Sirius. I wanted James to be here, mainly because I didn't know how Sirius would take the news and because I didn't want to keep this secret from him either. It was up Sirius if he chose to tell Remus after this, but I think it would be best if that's where it stopped. I didn't like leaving Peter and the girls out but with something like this it was best we kept it quiet.

James was watching me as I stood anxiously Infront of the two boys. He clearly could tell something was wrong. Sirius however could not.
"if you have brought me here to fulfil some weird sexual fantasy, I am afraid I will have to discuss it with Moony before I agree to anything" He joked but when neither James or I retaliated he realised something was wrong.
"what's wrong? That was funny and neither of you said anything" Sirius asked.
"Em, has something happened?" James asked me full of concern.
"don't freak out" and I took a deep breath and told them everything. I told them about finding Reg crying, seeing the mark on his arm, his baffling loyalty to his parents, about snape and how Reg thought me, and Sirius would hate him. When I finished Sirius was bouncing with anger.

"what a fucking idiot" he seethed standing up from the bed "where is he now? I swear to merlin when I get my hands on him" I looked at James worried. He stood up grabbing Sirius
"Mate, you need to calm down. You going shouting at him isn't going to help Regulus and it's just going to make you feel worse" Sirius was still seething
"My brother is a death eater James" he shouted. As he said it, it was like sudden wave of realisation hit him.
"he is a death eater" this time he said it a lot more quietly. James pulled Sirius into a hug
"I know mate. I know" He said while holding Sirius as he began to cry. The Black boys really wanted to rip my heart out today.
"I told him that when he realises, he has made a mistake, I will do everything I can to help him. He will realise that someday Sirius, you and I both know Regulus isn't your typical death eater and he definitely isn't cut out for that life. So, when the time comes, we will get him out okay?" I said trying to reassure the boy.

After Sirius calmed down his anger moved away from Regulus and onto Snape
"Its all Snapes fault if he had just kept his fucking nose out of everyone's business" I shook my head at him
"you can't do that Sirius, you can't blame everyone because if we are using that logic, is it also my fault Regulus is a death eater because I became friends with him? Or is it yours for leaving? Snape didn't help the situation. Your parents caused the situation. Regulus chose to go along with it. He could have run like you did" I said calmly.
"so what do we do now, just wait for him to change his mind" I nodded
"pretty much, we try to be there for him the best we can, make sure he keeps a strong moral compass and that he knows he has someone looking out for his best interest not people using him to gain good favour and notoriety" Sirius nodded
"we can't tell anyone else about this. Not even Moony. The less people that know the safer it is for everyone" James and I nodded in agreement

Sirius left James's side and came over to me wrapping me in a tight hug
"we don't deserve you Em" I shook my head at him
"Not true, could you imagine how boring my life would be without you?" he laughed at me
"you would still have all your stuff though. Speaking of which can I steal that new necklace Lily got you for Christmas?"
"you can borrow it Sirius. Borrow" I smiled at him glad he seems to have calmed down and back to his usual jokey self.

Chapter 45 Chapter Text

January, so far, was going well. It was my 18th birthday last Sunday and the boys did another spectacular rendition of happy birthday in the hall. Earning themselves yet another detention. I spent the day just hanging out with my friends it was really nice and relaxing. I did get a little upset because it was the first year, I obviously hadn't got a card from my parents, but James was right by my side comforting me.

Quidditch practice had started again in preparation for the games to begin after easter. James held his practices once a week at the moment with plans to increase the number of practices the closer we got to the games. We had actually just come back from one of his practices. Remus couldn't make it to watch as he had to go to the library to do some work. I had taken some work out with me as I only needed the one book for my charms essay. Whereas Remus was working on the history of magic essay we had and that requires multiple sources so it was easier for him to just do it in the library.

James and I were sat snuggled up together on the couch in his shared common room with Lily talking about how James thought practice went, when Lily barged through the door, throwing herself down on the couch next to us. James and I looked at each other confused
"everything okay Evans?" James asked. She snapped her head to us glaring
"does everything look okay to you Potter" Suppressing a laugh I asked Lily what was wrong
"Kayla wants me to go watch her quidditch practice tomorrow. I hate quidditch, why would I want to go watch? She didn't mind that I didn't go last year plus I have so much work to do with assignments and planning prefect rounds" she huffed sinking deeper into the couch
"Lil, Kayla probably just wants you there to support her. I go to watch James practices when I can, and I think you will be surprised at how much you will enjoy watching them. I am not saying go to them all if you are busy, but you could go to some. I take my work with me most times. Also, she probably didn't ask you last year because for most of the year you two were still keeping things pretty quiet" James nodded in agreement to what I was saying
"She's right Lily, I love it when Em comes to watch. Mainly because I want to show off for her. It actually makes me a better player because I am trying to impress her. It's also nice to know she supports me. Also Lily, I have asked you to let me help you with the prefect rounds, but you never let me. It's okay to ask for help sometimes" We both smiled kindly at her. She groaned at us getting up off the couch
"you two are so disgustingly happy it's infuriating" she said before storming up the stairs.

James and I looked at each other, confused on what just happened, but before we had time to discuss Kayla stormed in
"where is she?" she stomped angrily. James pointed in the direction of the dorm
"did she tell you what happened?" we nodded slowly at the angry Hufflepuff
"is it so much to ask for her to come watch my practices? Its two hours of her week it's not like I am asking for a lot" I cringed slightly
"You're not Kayla, but you have to compromise with her. Em does come to most of my practices and I do think Lily should come to some of yours. But you can't get annoyed at her if she is busy or too bogged down with work to come watch. If I notice Em is getting a bit stressed with the amount of work she has on, I tell her skip the practice as it's not a big deal if she isn't at them all. It gives her the space she needs. You're a team you should support each other" James said. I gave him a proud smile.
"you too are just so perfect aren't you" she said rolling her eyes at us. We both laughed
"not at all Kay. The other week we had an argument because James had forgotten we had arranged to spend time with each other and had gone off doing something with the boys. Wouldn't have been a big deal normally but he had rescheduled the time we were meant to be hanging out together which I meant I had to change my plans with Lucy. To say I was pissed was understatement" I explained
"yeah, and I couldn't understand why she was so mad, it was just a simple mistake, but we talked about it and we are fine now. We both learnt how to communicate better with each other" James added. I have taught the boy well.
"arguments are normal Kay. Just go talk to her" She yet again rolled her eyes at us but went up the stairs anyway.

James and I were again left staring at each other in bewilderment when there was a knock on the common room door. I shrugged at James not expecting anyone. Sighing James got up to go get the door. As soon as the door opened Peter came running in and beelined for where I was sat on the couch.
"Mary broke up with me" he wailed. I looked at James who was still stood at the door
"can you get the cookies I brought please" James frowned at me
"but they are my favourites" he complained. I just gave him a look.
"what happened Pete?" I asked as James made his way over with the cookies. Peter immediately taking the tray from him and stuffing a cookie in his mouth.
"she said I just wasn't interesting anymore" That bitch. How dare she say that to my Peter. James sensing, I was ready to march out the common room and hunt down Mary, placed a hand on my thigh.
"I am really sorry Wormy but if she can't see how great you are its her loss" James said trying to take a cookie from the tray, but I smacked his hand away
"James is right Pete. You're a lovely boy who is super smart and you are very interesting. You're an animagus and part of the marauders, how could you ever not be interesting? If you want my opinion Mary is a complete and utter bitch and she is not worthy of your time" I said as a matter of fact. Peter nodded at me mouth full of cookies.
"I think I am just going to go lie in bed for a bit" Peter said standing
"want me to come with you Pete?" James asked but Peter shook his head
"no, I kind of just want to be alone. Thank you though, I am already starting to feel better" I smiled at him as he left but James was frowning as he took the cookies with him

"they were my cookies Em!" he complained.
"you could carry on complaining about cookies or you could be kissing me. Which one is going to be?" I said distracting him. He grinned at me before pinning me to the couch. There was another knock at the door, but we ignored it and continued to make out on the couch. When the knock turned to banging James groaned and pushed himself off me making his way to the door. I sat up on the couch running my fingers through my hair. When James opened the door, this time Sirius walked in and plonked himself down on the couch. James and I looked at each other and then back to Sirius
"what are you doing here Sirius?" James asked trying not to show how irritated he was
"Moony is busy so I came to hang out with you two" He said kicking his feet up on the coffee table. I turned to look at James who was stood grumpily in the kitchen area.
"I am going help James make some snacks" I said pushing up from the couch and making the small walk over to nearby kitchen area
"make sure you make some popcorn" Sirius said from where he sat on the couch flipping through my copy of witch weekly.

When I was in arms reach of James, he pulled me close to him, bending down to my ear to whisper
"do you think we could sneak upstairs if we leave him with enough snacks?" I laughed
"this is Sirius we are talking about. I am surprised he is still sat on the couch and not over here with us" James sighed pouting slightly
"don't worry, when he is gone, we can pick up where we left off" I said winking at him before turning away to make some popcorn. As predicted Sirius made his way to the kitchen area not long after
"so, what have you two been up to since practice?" He asked.
"I can tell you what we haven't being doing" James muttered grumpily under his breath.

The next day I had defence against the dark arts. The whole class was buzzing as we had heard from the other 7th year class that we are learning the Patronus charm today. I shared this class with Kayla and Sirius the others were all in the other class.
"Everyone settle down" Professor Rakepick said as she entered the classroom.
"as I am sure you are all aware, we will be practicing the Patronus charm toady" There was a murmur of excitement through the class. Once the professor had explained the spell, its uses and how to cast it she let us have free reign to give it a go.

Sirius, the show-off, got it pretty quickly. Leave it to Sirius Black to master a spell lots of witches and wizard can't even produce within minutes. Unsurprisingly a huge dog ran around the room even knocking a few people off their feet. I narrowed my eyes at him. When he saw me scowling, he cockily strolled over to me
"what up Em can't you do it?" he teased. I just kept getting whispers of blue iridescent light but not a corporal Patronus. Kayla was in the same boat
"you could help us rather than gloating" I said angrily, causing him to laugh more. With a huff I turned away from him.
"alright, alright I will tell you my secret" He said turning me back round. I had my arms crossed against my chest tapping my foot impatiently at him
"I don't use one memory" he shrugged. Kayla and I looked between ourselves before back to Sirius
"I think of all the times I have felt strongly about something. I try to think of memories that where I have felt a lot of emotion" I scrunched my eyebrows together trying to pull those types of memories to my mind. Kayla had already shut her eyes her face scrunched up in concentration. She muttered the spell and to her surprise it worked. Out came a beautiful dolphin that dived around the room. I smiled watching Kayla's face light up as she watched it
"your turn Em" Sirius said bumping my shoulder.

Closing my eyes, I tried to remember times I felt a lot of emotion just like Sirius had described. My mind immediately went to the day my parents died but that wasn't happy. it did however, lead me to remember how happy I had been to see all my friends a week later. I thought about dancing at Christmas with my dad, seeing Sirius was okay on the boxing day after he ran away from home. The night in the astronomy tower with Regulus and Lucy, all the many girl's night we have had spent laughing way into the night. Remus telling me he was werewolf and making him laugh after it. Then I thought of James, our first date, our first kiss, our first time sleeping together. I thought about how he makes me feel every day.

I muttered the spell and slowly crept my eyes open, gasping when I saw I had done it. I quickly glanced at Sirius to see if he knew what this meant but from the looks of it, he didn't he was just smiling at me and not smirking which is the reaction I would have expected if he had known.

My Patronus was a doe and using the logic that Sirius Patronus matched his animagus form, it's likely that James' Patronus would be a stag. There were lots of theory behind patterning patronus but one of the main ones, thought to be true, was that the caster of the matching patronus' are believed to be soulmates.

I was anxious about seeing James at dinner that evening, knowing he would ask me what my Patronus was. There was a chance that his Patronus isn't a stag, also a chance he wasn't able to produce one so he wouldn't know. Even if it is a stag, he still might not know what patterning Patronus mean. I think I was just a bit nervous what he would think about us potentially being soulmates. I am not even sure I believe in the concept of soulmates but matching patronus must mean something.

When the rest of the group joined us, they immediately began talking about defence against the dark arts lesson. James and Lucy were sat either side of me.
"what's up with you, your awfully quiet?" Lucy said nudging me
"yeh Sunshine, is everything okay?" I just nodded and gave them both a smile hoping that would throw them off
"What's everyone's Patronus?" Sirius asked the dreaded question "bet none of yours are as cool as my giant dog" he added rolling his eyes
"mines a cat, so you better watch out Black" Lucy said moving a hand like a cat clawing
"I wasn't able to do one yet" Peter shrugged not really seeming to care
"mine is a wolf" Remus said rather glumly. Sirius immediately giving him a tight squeeze muttering in his ear.
"mine is a Stag" James said proudly. Oh shit.
"mines a dolphin" I turned as that wasn't Kayla who spoke. Kayla's eyes widened
"so was mine" The girls beamed at each other.
"does it mean anything if your Patronus's match?" Peter asked and I felt sick
"patterning patronous are believed to mean the casters are soul mates, hence those two looking dreamily at each other" Lucy said gesturing to Lilly and Kayla who were oblivious to us all.

Sirius turned to me with a shit eating grin on his face. I shook my head at him in a way of pleading him not say anything, but Sirius grin just grew
"you not telling the group what your partonus is Em?" I narrowed my eyes at the cocky boy as the group turned to look at me.
"being awfully quiet Emily, is there a reason for that?" Sirius asked again. I was going to kill him.
"my patronous is doe" I muttered quietly. I think only Lucy heard me as she groaned
"you will have to speak up Em I don't think prongs caught that" he better start planning his funeral
"my patronus is a doe" I repeated this time at normal speaking volume. Remus smirked at me, while Peter gave me a small genuine smile
"hear that Prongs, her patronus is a doe, yours is stag. I guess your soulmates" I didn't dare look up at James far to embarrassed. James scoffed at Sirius
"I didn't need a patronus to tell me that" I snapped my head to James
"oh, great cue the dreamy eyes" Lucy muttered
"you don't mind?" I asked him quietly
"why on earth would I mind Em? I am crazy about you. I am just glad your equally as crazy about me" he smirked at me. What the hell was I worried for?
"you couldn't have had a cooler animagus form could you? You had to be a stag. I was hopping my patronus would be cool but because of you I have a doe" He rolled his eyes at me
"oh yeah and what were you hopping for?" I shrug my shoulders
"I don't know maybe an elephant" and we bothburst out laughing

Chapter 46 Chapter Text

Today was valentine's day. James and I had plans to go down to Hogsmeade together. I was a bit worried about what Lucy and Peter might be up to, but the pair had decided to go on a friend's date. Although I was excited to spend the day with James. I was really missing my dad today. I walked out of my common room but was shocked when I saw James there. We had agreed to meet each other at the carriages.
"Happy valentine's day Sunshine" he said coming up to me and kissing me gently. Even after all the kisses we have shared he still makes me dizzy. He pulled his hand from behind his back holding out not one, but two bunches of sunflowers. I looked from the flowers to James
"one from me and one from your dad" he said smiling sweetly at me. I felt my eyes start to water. I through myself and James hugging him tightly
"Thank you, you don't know how much that means to me" I said into his chest. He pulled me away from him using his thumb to wipe away the tears on my face
"I know today must be hard for you love, if you want to just stay at the castle we can?" I shook my head at him
"I want to celebrate today. Did you know it's been a whole year since I realised, I had feelings for you?" He beamed at me
"time flies when you're having the time of your life"
"let me just go put these in my room and then we can go" I said turning away
"they last 6 months by the way. Just like your dads did. I asked Flitwick to help me with the charm" Merlin he was the most thoughtful boy ever.

We strolled through Hogsmeade together hand in hand like many of the couples who visited today. James, being the gentleman that he is carried my bags for me. It really was the little things. We had lunch together at the three broomstick and even saw Lucy and Peter who looked to be having a great day together.
"how's your potion coming along?" James asked me while we sipped the remains of our butterbeer
"I have had to park my research for now. I have too much schoolwork to do at the moment to give it my full attention, but I am hoping when we are done with Hogwarts, I can focus all my efforts on that" I explained
"it's so weird we aren't going to be in school anymore after this year" James said while his thumb moving slowly across the back of my hand
"I know. I am excited for the next chapter in my life, but Merlin am I going to miss this place" I said thoughtfully
"I am going to miss seeing you every day" James said sadly looking at our intertwined hands
"why don't you move in with me?" I suggested casually. To be honest I always just sort of assumed he would but when he looked at me shocked, I realised he might not have seen this coming.
"you want me to move in?" I nodded at him
"I mean only if you want to. The girls and I already talked about it. I think Sirius is also planning on moving in without us asking him.You should see how much of his stuff is in the guest room" James shocked face quickly morphed into an excited one
"going to bed and waking up next to you every day? Of course, I want that Em" I smiled at him leaning across the table to kiss him.
"you do realise you have to live with Lily and her chores list as well, right?" I joked
"it will be all worth it to see you everyday"

The following weekend after valentine's day it was a full moon. I was waiting in the boy's dorm for them to return. Something I had started doing over the last few months. I had all the potions ready for when the boys got in and I usually managed to get some sleep while waiting for them. When the boys walked through the door tonight however, I knew instantly something was off.

Remus who wouldn't have long since turned back from his wolf form was furious. I had never seen the boy so angry. Remus could have a bit of temper, but it was usually short lived but tonight his body was practically vibrating with anger. What shocked me the most was that it was directed at Sirius. Normally when Remus was angry, Sirius would be the one to calm him down. The couple had that nature about them they were very give and take being exactly what each other needed in the moment. James looked worriedly between Remus and Sirius while Peter almost coward away from the group.

"your un-fucking-believable" Remus shouted at Sirius. I quickly grabbed my wand casting the silencing charm on the door not wanting the whole of Gryffindor to hear this.
"Moony I am so sorry" Remus charged at Sirius pushing him down on the floor
"don't you dare call me Moony you lost that right tonight" He said standing over Sirius. James quickly moved in front of Remus, but he wasn't saying anything. He wasn't defending Sirius or telling Remus to calm down he was just trying to avoid a one-sided brawl.
"I could have Killed him Sirius. What were you thinking? Oh, that right you weren't. Your always so fucking selfish. Did you at least find it funny? Well laugh it up Honey because I will probably be kicked out of school tomorrow when Snape goes running his mouth" Oh Sirius what have you done
"I don't know what to say" Sirius muttered quietly still on the floor
"how about you just never speak to me again" Remus snapped, and I watched as all signs of hope drain out of Sirius face. Remus stormed into the bathroom slamming the door behind him. Sirius looked at the boys, but Peter turned away from him shaking his head going over to his bed and shutting the curtains.

"James?" Sirius said on the verge of tears. James couldn't even look at Sirius. He took a deep breath and came over to me. I put my hand on James cheek my eyes roaming over him over for any cuts, he looked physically okay.
"hey Sunshine, not the best night in case you couldn't tell" He said softly to me completely ignoring Sirius who was staring at us.
"what can I do to help?" I asked him. He placed a gentle kiss on my forehead.
"can you take Sirius somewhere else? You can use my head boy dorm if you want, I think its best if he isn't here tonight" I nodded at him
"I will come back, alone. I want to make sure you're okay" I said to him. He nodded giving me a small smile
"I'd like that" I gave him a quick kiss before turning to Sirius and sighing. I grabbed a few potions off the side for him before holding my hand out for him to take. I pulled him up off the floor and led him to James's dorm.

Once in James's dorm I turned to Sirius, arms folded and frown on my face.
"are you hurt?" I asked him. He shook his head not lifting his eyes from the floor.
"Sirius what happened?" I asked sitting on the bed next to him and whilst he cried, he told me everything. How he had told Snape how to get past the whomping willow, how James had got to him just in time and how Snape now knew Remus was a werewolf.
"oh, Sirius how could you?" I said disappointed in him
"I just didn't think Em. I was so pissed off at Snape. He was mouthing off as usual about you, about Reg and about how Remus gets ill each month. I just said it as a passing comment not thinking anything off it. Merlin Em, they all hate me" I could shout at him like Remus did but who was that going to help? So instead I held his hand
"they are pretty mad at you right now Sirius, can you blame them? I can't believe how foolish you were. That being said those boys are your family and they know you are sorry and that you made a mistake. Yes, they are mad and probably will be mad for a while, but they still love you. James wouldn't have had me bring you here otherwise" he rested his head on my shoulder
"what do I do Em?" he asked
"you take it Sirius. You take the silent treatment. You take all the nasty looks. You take whatever form of punishment they give you. meanwhile, you will continue to apologise every chance you get. You let them have space to process what happened and you respect that. You can sit with me and the girls for a while. I assume James is going to let you to stay here but you can take the couch some nights as I am not sacrificing my alone time with James because you made a mistake" He nodded at me. I stood up
"try get some sleep" I said giving him a small smile.

I crept into the boy's dorm assuming they would be asleep. Remus curtains were pulled round his bed as were Peter's, but James's bed was empty. Assuming he was in the bathroom I knocked lightly on the door
"James it's me, are you in there?" I heard the door unlock from the inside. Carefully pushing it open I found a teary-eyed James sat on the floor leaning against sink cabinet. Quietly shutting the door behind me I bent down in front of him. I used my thumb to wipe away the tears on his cheek like he had done for me, so many times before.
"is he okay?" James asked me as I moved next to him taking his hand in mine
"he will be. I said he can sit with me and the girls to make things easier for now. Also, I told him he should just stay in your dorm for a while" James looked at me frowning
"I still want to take you there though" I smiled at him
"I said the same thing. He will just have to sleep on the couch." James rested his head on my shoulder
"it's such a mess Em" it was. it really, really was
"come on James you need to get some sleep. Let go get in bed" I said moving standing up. I crawled in bed next to James and held him all the while wondering what tomorrow was going to bring.

After not really sleeping, I was already awake when I heard movement from Remus side of the room. Slipping out of James grasp I pulled back the curtains slightly to see Remus sat on his bed. He looked up at me and gave a fake smile. I climbed out of bed and went and sat next him.
"where is he?"
"James' other dorm" I explained "he Is going to sit with me and the girls for a while. I don't want you think I am taking side Rem because I am not. Sirius was in the wrong, but I think we both don't want him to be on his own" Remus took hold of my hand
"I am sorry you had to see me like that last night"
"what rightfully angry?" I asked. He shrugged at me not knowing what to say
"I think you should go talk to Dumbledore this morning. Before Snape can" Remus nodded in agreement
"we can go now if you want, I can come with you?" I said looking at the time. The boys had only been back for 2 hours, so it was still early.
"you would do that?" Remus asked
"Remus, when are you going to learn I would do anything for you" I smiled at him
"Let me write a quick note for James and steal one of hoodies to put on so I don't look too weird walking around in my pyjamas"

When we got to Dumbledore's office Snape was already sat there with professor McGonagall and Slughorn. Remus told Dumbledore his side of events and I understand that Snape was the victim here, I really did, but I could have slapped him when he called Remus a monster. Minnie was stood next to me. She placed a hand on my shoulder warning me not to get involved. Luckily Dumbledore pulled a blinder and somehow got Snape to agree not to tell everyone on the promise that Sirius would be punished accordingly.

I separated from Remus after the meeting with Dumbledore. Only after checking for the 100th time he was okay with me leaving him. I quickly went to get changed in my dorm before going to get breakfast with the girls. They were already there when I got to the hall. The boys minus Sirius came in not to long after but didn't sit with us. The girls looked at them confused but didn't say anything. When Sirius entered, he made a beeline for me and the girls sitting down glumly. The girls looked at him like he had gone mad.
"Sirius is going to be sitting with us for a while" I said leaving no room for argument. The girls trusting my judgement agreed without asking any questions and went back to their conversation.

I looked over at the boys, James was doing his best to be as normal as he could, but Remus and Peter were having none of it. When he caught me staring, he stood up, I copied, and we met halfway between our friends.
"I don't like not sitting with you" he said sadly
"it's not forever" I promised him, but he didn't look convinced
"how about we go to your head boy dorm tonight and spend some time together just me and you" he smiled at me, before tilting his head down to give me a kiss
"sounds like exactly what I need" I gave him another quick peck before we went back to our groups. What a bloody mess.

Chapter 47 Chapter Text

James pov

It had been 3 weeks since Sirius fucked everything up and it didn't seem like things were getting any better. When I heard someone coming down the passage that night, I have never felt fear like it. Then to find it was Snape, I could have killed Sirius myself. Sirius is smart so I just don't understand how he could do something so ridiculously dumb.

Moony had been more irritable than usual these last few weeks which is understandable. His now ex-boyfriend nearly made him a murderer by outing his biggest secret to a guy who hates our guts. So, I was more than sympathetic with his feelings, but what I was not handling, was how violent his mood swings were. He would be fine one minuet then he would see Sirius enter the room. His whole demeanor would change. He wasn't able to focus his anger just on Sirius, it would affect us all.

I was doing my best to stay positive and keep things going as normally as possible. Particularly for Peter's sake. He didn't like tension between our group, and we were currently swimming in it. Peter was no help when Moony was in one of his moods, normally just retreat to our dorm as fast as possible. It was really starting to take a toll on him, he was barely talking to us. It was like he had reverted back to the time we first met.

If I am being honest, I thought it would be over by now. I understand that what Sirius has done is really bad but at the end of the day we are brothers and it was killing me not talking to him. I also think avoiding him was doing Remus more harm than good, but there was no reasoning with him. I had forgiven Sirius, I am pretty sure Pete had too, but it was Moony he hurt the most and we were going to have follow his lead.

It wasn't just causing problems within our group it was causing issues between me and Em. Since Sirius clung to her side for the vast majority of the day, I only ever really got to see her in the evening. It doesn't sound that bad but when you then take out evenings when I had prefect rounds, evenings where she was spending time with the girls, times where she would need to go to the library to study or see Regulus, evening quidditch practices and then throw in Sirius being ridiculous clingy to her. Our time together was getting shorter and shorter. I just wanted to be able to eat my meals with her, to talk to her in between classes, to give her a quick kiss if I saw her in passing but I couldn't because Sirius was there. I missed the hell out of her.

She felt the same way and I could tell this was all starting to get to her. The boys meant a lot to her, she didn't like them not getting on. We ended up snapping at each other sometimes, but it was just because we didn't get enough time together and if one of us was late or something came up it seemed like the end of the world. It was nothing we couldn't work out, but I just wished things would go back to normal.

I was in the library with Moony but I was getting no work done as Emily was sat just 2 tables over but Sirius was with her. They both looked miserable and it was breaking my heart.
"you can go over there" Moony sighed at me.
"no, no its fine" I brushed him off looking back at my work
"James, I don't want to cause problems for you and Emily. You two take on everyone's problems and you don't need to. Go be with her" Moony prompted me. I looked between Em and Moony. Torn between wanting to be a good friend but also missing my girlfriend

"it doesn't mean you have taken his side. Besides if he had anything about him, he would give you two some space rather than clinging to her" Moony did have a point. It's something me and Em had spoken about. Sirius was feeling extremely vulnerable right now. He felt like he had been abandoned which triggered something in him and Emily being the type of person she is, couldn't tell him to give her space because she didn't want him to feel like she had abandoned him too. It had angered me at first when we spoke about it, but she made the very good point that if I was in her situation and Sirius had attached to me, I would do the exact same thing.
"are you sure you don't mind?" I asked. He gave a light chuckle
"you would be doing me a favour I can't handle the longing stares between the two of you anymore" Grinning at him I quickly stood up and shoved my things in my bag and walked over.

Sirius saw me come over before Emily did. His eyes widened at the sight of me. He elbowed Emily causing her to look up. I was always blown away with how beautiful she was but the way her face lit up when she saw me, Merlin she was out of this world
"Hey sunshine, think you could spare some time for me?" I asked looking directly at her. She looked at Sirius hopefully, but when he didn't really show any signs of moving, she frowned at him.
"Sirius, I need to spend time with James" she said assertively to him. I hated that she had to do this. Sirius face dropped, as he realised, she was going to leave him on his own. She began packing her stuff while Sirius turned to me.
"I am sorry I put you in that situation that night James and I am sorry for everything that has happened since" This was the worst part of this whole situation. Every chance Sirius got he apologised to us and it was breaking my heart knowing how much he was hurting. Like every other time he has apologised I just nodded at him trying to keep my face as neutral as possible.

Emily and I quickly left the library after that going straight to my head boy dorm. We just lay on my bed holding each other avoiding the topic of Remus and Sirius. Having Emily in my arms instantly made everything better.
"are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?" Emily asked. I gave her a kiss on the forehead knowing that we were going to have to talk about it at some point as we always did.
"Moony was the one who told me to come over to you. Said that I was doing his head in with the longing looks" I laughed
"that's progress 2 weeks ago he would have made you leave the library the minuet he saw Sirius. The fact he sent you over is progress" I hummed in agreement
"I don't know how much more of this we can do Em. Moony said something today that got me thinking. He said how it is not our job to take on everyone else problems. At what point do we just leave them to it?" she drew calming patterns on my chest as she spoke
"I was thinking the same thing. You have already forgiven Sirius as well so I know it must be eating you up not speaking to him. It's starting to affect our relationship now and I don't know how much more I can take" my heart rate spiked.
"what are you saying Em?" I asked panic laced in my word. She quickly sat up hearing my tone
"oh merlin no James that's not what I meant. I still want to be with you. I will always want to be with you" she said quickly, understanding why I was so worried.
"I am still crazy about you. My feelings for you haven't weekend or gone away in fact they have only grown stronger. Seeing how you have conducted yourself through all of this, how you always do what you can to make time for me while being there for Remus because if it weren't for you, who would he have? It drives me crazy the fact you sit 5 feet away from me and we can't touch. I am falling for you more and more everyday James Potter, so I am afraid your stuck with me" It was a huge relief to hear her say all that. I couldn't help but worry that because we weren't spending as much time together and we were bickering more that she was losing feelings for me. To hear it was the opposite meant everything to me. I lent towards her connecting our lips, kissing her passionately. Eventually we had to pull away both needing a moment to catch our breath.
"you really are the most incredible person I have ever met" I said quietly to her
"I already knew that but it's nice to hear you say once in a while" she teased. I immediately connected our lips again.

Emily and I got a bit carried away, not that either of us were complaining especially not now as I had her lay across my chest her bare skin touching mine, sending shockwaves through my body. We would have to get cleaned up shortly but neither of us wanted to move.
"if I can get Sirius to come to the next full moon. Do you think if he just showed up, showed he was still there for Remus, despite everything that has gone on, that might go some way to fixing things?" I was not loving talking about Sirius while we lay naked in bed
"it's worth a shot love, something has to give because if this isn't over soon we are leaving them too it because I am going to need more time with you to repeat the last forty minutes over and over again" she laughed at me before placing a gentle kiss on my cheek
"I guess we could make a start now. You know make up for lost time?" I raised my eyebrow at her not believing my luck
"why sunshine, are you suggesting round 2?" she rolled her eyes at me
"that depends on if you have it in you?" before she couldn't say anything else, I was attacking her with kisses all over her body.

The night of the full moon came around quickly. Em had been working on Sirius trying to convince him to come, I did think it was worth a shot but if Moony rejected him being there It could make the situation worse. Remus had already transformed, and Peter and I were in our animal forms but there was no sign of Sirius. It looked like it was going to be a particularly rough night for moony. I had to hit him with my antlers a few times to stop him clawing at himself. Sometimes if the human version of Moony was distressed or sad before his transformation that played into how rough the transformation would be, so I had expected tonight to be bad.

As the night progressed, I was beginning to think Sirius wasn't going to come. Which was why I was relieved when I heard the faint sound of familiar paw pads walking towards us. Sirius entered the shack rather timidly. Remus noticed he was there immediately. His wolf form didn't react, instead eyeing him caution. I trotted over to the dog and knocked him slightly with my hoof trying to show him I was glad he was here. Peter began scurrying between his legs to indicate the same. Now we just had to wait and see how Moony would react.

When Moony began his transformation back to his normal self we all turned giving him some privacy to make himself decent again. He cleared his throat notifying us he was back in his usual form. We all quickly changed back, I turned quickly to check on the state of Remus. He had a few new scratches on his arm but nothing to major. Whilst I checked him over his eyes were trained on Sirius.

"you came" he said glare still fixed on Sirius
"I nearly didn't. Figured you wouldn't want me here, but I couldn't just stop caring or worrying about you, so I had to come check you were okay" Sirius replied. Peter and I's eyes, ping ponging between the two boys
"I am really sorry Remus. I know that it's just words and I will never be able to take back my actions but you have to know how truly sorry I am for the hurt I caused you" Remus looked at Sirius, his face unwavering as he eyed him with the same caution his wolf form did. After a tense moment Remus spoke again
"I don't think I can forgive you for what you did Sirius but for the sake of my own mental health and everyone else's, I am willing to move past it and try to repair our friendship" He then held out his hand for Sirius to shake. Tears began welling in my eyes as I watched Sirius grasp his hand shaking it.
"oh, thank Merlin for that, do you know how much stress eating I have done because of you two. Emily didn't help with all her stress baking. She has a constant supply of cookies" Peter breathed out a sigh of relief and for the first time in a months the four of us laughed together.

When we made it back to the dorm Emily was sat waiting anxiously on my bed. When she saw all of us walk in together a huge grin lit up on her face. Before I could get to her Sirius ran over to her wrapping her in a tight hug and whispering in her ear. I would forever be grateful for Emily and how she had looked after Sirius this past month. When Sirius let go of her Moony walked over to her giving her a small hug and a kiss on the forehead his way of letting her know he was okay without having to say a word. I watched as her shoulders relaxed. Emily's relationship with the boys was something I held close to my heart.

Once she had handed the boys various potions, she had on hand she turned to me and practically ran at me before jumping last second and wrapping her legs wound my waist. I held her up with ease.
"we did it" she said cheerily to me before planting a kiss on my lips
"ew that's not what I want to see before going to sleep I will have nightmares" I heard Peter mutter from his bed
"let them have this Wormy. They deserve it" Remus argued

With all the chaos going on I had nearly forgotten my birthday. I was a bit sad I hadn't had chance to plan one last big Gryffindor birthday party since this would be my last at Hogwarts but at least my friends were happy and that meant more to me than any party. In the days that followed the full moon, things started off a bit awkwardly as we all started to find our footing again. I couldn't care less how awkward it was because I got to sit next to Emily at meals and have little interactions with her throughout the day. Sirius had also detached himself from her side, finally. So, we got a lot more alone time. I think me and the boys also found it nice to chat to the other girls again as we hadn't really spoke to them since the incident. They seemed to be confused as to why everything was suddenly back to normal, but they didn't question it. After a few days things slowly started to return to normal. It was weird seeing Remus and Sirius interact as they were not only trying to repair their friendship but were also trying to navigate through a breakup.

Emily had taken it upon herself to make sure I still had the best birthday. So far she had gone flying with me which was a surprise as she wasn't the best flyer but it was fun trying to teach her how to do things. In the end she hopped on my broom with me and we flew around the grounds while she clung to my waist. She cooked a meal for me in the dorm and made the best birthday cake I have ever tasted. We then cuddled on the couch together talking about her brother's wedding the following week. It was the perfect birthday because I got to spend the whole day with her without any interruptions.

"come on I better get you back to the boys. I have stollen you away all day" she said standing up off the couch. I pouted at her
"can't we just stay here? I can celebrate with them tomorrow"
"no James, your birthday is today they will want to see you" with a huff I stood from the couch grumpily taking her hand as we walked back towards the Gryffindor common room
"I had the best day today. Thank you, sunshine," I said stopping her just outside the common room door savouring the last few moments alone with her. She had a mischievous grin on her face
"day isn't over yet James" she smiled. I turned, muttering the password to the fat lady.
"surprise!" I was stunned as the common room was packed with people. They had thrown me a surprise party. I spun round to look at smirking Em
"didn't think you could leave Hogwarts without one last James Potter birthday party, did you?" I was about to wrap my arms around her when my feet were lifted off the ground. Sirius and Remus had scooped me up so I was sitting on their shoulders looking out at the crowd of people. People were cheering and dancing and just having a good time. I saw the girls who had become some of my best friends stood with Peter as they shouted happy birthday at me. I looked back over my shoulder at Emily who was smiling wildly at me. I was going to marry that girl.

Chapter 48 Chapter Text

We had been back home a few days now. James and I spent most of the time with his parents, I saw my friends all the time, so I wanted to make sure I spent some time with Monty and Mia before we had to go back to school. We would spend the day with them but then come back to my house in time to cook dinner for everyone. Sirius and James had unofficially moved in. They stayed here every night but will still go home to get changed or to pick up some stuff they had left at the Potters. Remus would sometimes come over for dinner, he had stayed over on the couch one or twice but would often go back home. I was impressed with how well Sirius and Remus were handling their new dynamic there was the odd awkward moment but they both seemed to be heading in the right direction.

"alright move up" Lucy said as she came into our room, waking both me and James up. James groaned but moved up none the less. I scooted up a bit, so I was in the middle of them both.
"are you okay?" I asked rubbing my eyes starting to wake up
"Sirius and Lily are arguing in the kitchen. Apparently, he ate her overnight oats" Lucy explained. I elbowed James in the back
"it's your turn" He grumbled at me
"I handled the last situation remember? When Sirius used Lucy's eyeliner" beside me Lucy grumbled at the memory
"yes, but then I dealt with Kayala and Remus throwing a fit at each other because they couldn't decide what film to watch. Therefore, it's your turn" James sighed before reaching out and tapping around for his glasses.
"look at you two sharing parenting responsibilities" Lucy said. Whenever there was an argument or something wrong in the house it would be down to James and I to fix it.
"I don't know when we adopted you all, but I want to know if it can be reversed" James said climbing out of bed. I watched him in a trance as he moved around the room to find a top to put on, sighing in disappoint when he found one. He gave me a quick peck before leaving the room

"what time is it?" I asked Lucy still feeling really sleepy
"about 8. Go back to sleep if you want you have time before you have to start getting ready for the wedding" My brother's wedding was today and much to Sirius' delight he had been invited.
"I am good. I am up now" I said shuffling up the headboard, so I was sitting up next to Lucy
"what's your plan for today?" I asked her, but before she could answer James walked back in carrying two cups of tea for Lucy and me.
"that was quick" I commented. Normally when Lily was angry it would take a while for her to calm down.
"oh no they are still arguing but neither of them are listening, so i made a cup of tea. I am going back down there now" Lucy and I laughed at him as he puffed up his chest before turning to head back down to the kitchen
"I think I am going to go see my mum" Lucy said sipping her tea. Things had been going okay between Lucy and her parents recently. That was until her mum sent her a letter while we were at school with how she expected Lucy to be looking to get a job in the ministry once graduating.

"what ae you going to say to her?" Lucy frowned in thought
"I am just going to try to explain to her an office job isn't for me. I might tell her about the plan to become an auror because that's still part of the ministry, but she will probably tell me that isn't a job for a lady" She rolled her eyes. It must suck to not have your parents allow you to be yourself. Lucy and Lily handled it with so much grace, I don't know how they do it. I held out my hand to her she smiled as we did our handshake
"you're a bad ass Lucy Vixen. Who gives a shit what your mum says you're going to be the most amazing auror ever"

After finishing my tea, I climbed out of bed and started getting my stuff together to go take a shower.
"I spoke to Professor McGonagall the other day, by the way" I froze and turned to look at Lucy
"She told me she had already spoken to you. I am going to do it Em I am going join the fight" I had pushed the conversation with McGonagall to the back of my mind. It didn't surprise me that Lucy wanted to join
"James and I are also going to join. I don't know about anyone else, you're the first to mention it to me" I explained. She nodded at me
"I thought you would do. I am a bit nervous though Em and I never get nervous" Lucy admitted. I sighed and went and sat on the end of my bed
"I would be worried if you weren't Lu. I am scared to, but at least we are in it together. What's happening to muggles at the moment is horrific something has to change. We can't do nothing" she hummed at me
"as long as you tell me I am a bad ass before every fight I think I will be fine" I laughed at her
"I will always be there to remind you how much of a bad ass you are"

"Sirius, silver or blue bag?" I asked walking into the living room holding the two bag options. I had spent the last two hours getting ready for the wedding, wanting to look particularly nice for the event. I had chosen to wear a floor length blue satin halter neck dress that had a low back and a simple pair of black strappy heals. I had pulled my hair back in to a low bun for change from my usual half up half down look and my make-up was slightly heavier than normal. Instead of answering my question Sirius let out a low whistle
"damn Em you look hot. Fancy being my date instead of James's?" ignoring him, I asked again.
"The bag Sirius" he took a step back eyeing me and the bags
"the silver. It's a nice contrast" I chucked my blue bag on the side no doubt I would hear about leaving it there from Lily later and I took a moment to look at the boys.

They both had opted for suits opposed to traditional dress robes. Sirius had chosen a maroon coloured suit with a floral shirt to match and pulled his hair back into a bun not to different from my own, he looked good. James however, looked mouth-watering. He had worn a black suit with a light blue shirt to match my dress however, he had his suit jacket off and was holding it over his shoulder but the real clincher for me, was that he had rolled up his shirt sleeves. Why was that so sexy?

I walked up to him and giving him a soft kiss on the cheek
"hey handsome" I said smiling. His eyes were raking over my body. He took my hand and spun me round so he could see a 360 view
"you are out of this world" He said before joining our lips together
"alright, that's enough I am not putting up with this all night" James pulled away from me glaring at Sirius.
"come on boys we better get going" I said before dragging them both towards the fireplace.

My brother was getting married in Anna's parents garden. They had put up a huge marquee. inside was decorated with soft touches of pale pink and gold. The aisle was lined with beautiful pink roses leading to an extravagant arch way of flowers at the altar. It was beautiful. What moved me the most was that on the very front row there was two empty seats which had been reserved for my parents. I teared up at the sight wishing they were here in person but knowing they were present in spirit.

We sat quite close to front, I was sandwiched between James and Sirius who had started crying the minuet the music started. My brother walked down the aisle first giving me a soft smile as he past. When Anna walked in, I kept my eyes on Liam watching as the moment he saw her his eyes began to water. Seeing my brother so happy made my heart warm. Once they were both at the altar, we took our seats. I linked my arms around James's and held him fondly as I rested my head against his should listening to them declare their love for each other. Sirius was sobbing throughout the whole thing while James watched with a thoughtful smile on his face.

Once the ceremony was over, we got in line to greet the couple. My brother ignoring the line quickly made his way to me. Picking me up and spinning me round in a tight hug.
"I am married Em! Can you believe it?" I smiled at him noticing that while he was talking to me Anna had made her way over and was talking softly to James.
"I am so happy for you! I can't believe you found someone willing to put up with you. Anna is a better woman than me" He rolled his eyes at me
"that's rich coming from you. How James copes, I will never know" he smirked at me.
"if it isn't my favourite Williams!" Sirius said pushing me out of my brother grip wrapping him in his own hug. I left Liam to fend for himself and went to join James and Anna so I could congratulate her. James saw me coming and held out his arm so I could easily slip into his side
"well Anna you're really stuck with him now, I hope you know what you're doing" she smiled at me
"I am sure I can rely on my sister in law to set him straight if he ever gets to out of hand" she teased
"of course! You let me know and I will be there in a flash" she laughed. Looking between me and James smirking.
"Make sure you're at the front for my bouquet toss Emily. I want to be at your wedding next" She said walking over to save her husband from Sirius, leaving James and I flustered.

Sirius was a hit with the wedding party and hadn't stopped dancing all night. Anna's grandmother was very fond of him. Liam and I didn't really have any family left. Both our parents were only children and our grandparents died when we were younger, so it was just us really. My parents' friends were there though, and I hadn't seen them since the funeral, so it was nice to see them under happier circumstances and it gave a chance for James to properly meet them.

"do you want a big wedding?" James asked me, sitting back down after going to get us some drinks
"I used to, but I don't think I do anymore. Anna was saying she doesn't even know half the people here. I don't want that. I just want the people closest to me there. The people who have actually made an impact on my life" James took a sip of his drink listening to me
"what about you? You fancy a big wedding?" He smirked at me
"I want whatever you want" I felt my face flush
"You are the biggest flirt I have ever know James Potter" he shrugged at me
"it worked. I got the girl in the end" Sirius came charging over to us
"Come on Em let me show you that you're with the wrong marauder" He said as he pulled me up from my seat.

Sirius was a phenomenal dancer. He spun me, dipped me and even picked me up at one point.
"so ready to dump prongs for me yet?" I pretended to consider it
"I don't know Sirius, James can cook"
"for you, darling Emily, I would learn to cook" I laughed at him
"okay then, shall we go tell James he is single" Sirius snickered at me
"nothing would bring me more joy" he joked. I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned to see Anna's grandmother
"excuse me young lady, but may I have my dance partner back" she said sternly to me
"Mabel it's not what it looks like, I was just taking Emily for a spin" Sirius interjected. Suppressing a laugh, I stepped away from Sirius.
"he is all your Mabel I have my own dance partner over there" I pointed at James who was talking to my brother. She gasped when she saw him
"do you want to swap?" she asked, Sirius gasped dramatically
"I am sorry, but I am rather fond of him, I think I might keep him" she shrugged her shoulders and turned back to Sirius
"I guess you will do" she said to a bewildered Sirius.

Laughing I made my way over to Liam and James who stopped talking the minuet they saw me approach
"I think I have some competition. Anna's grandmother is rather fond of you" I said to James filling both him and Liam on what had just happened.
"Mabel is rather fiery James. I would be careful" my brother said. I scoffed
"she would have to fight me for him. I think my chances are good" My brother and James laughed
"please tell me you are not jealous of an 83-year-old woman?" I rolled my eyes at my brother
"you didn't see the way she was looking at him" I defended. James pulled me into his side
"don't worry Sunshine, I will always choose you" My brother made a gaging noise watching us. I hit him in the chest
"shut up, like I didn't hear you declare you love for Anna today"
"its was my vow's Em, you two say sickly stuff like that to each other all the time" James shrugged at him
"nothing wrong with a cheesy line is there love?" I grinned at him
"who doesn't love a bit of cheese"

Chapter 49 Chapter Text

We had gone back to Hogwarts for our final term. I was having mixed feelings about leaving Hogwarts this year. After having a taste of what life after school is going to be like over the easter break I am really excited for the next chapter but at the same time I have so many memories of this place. It had been my home for 7 years. Its where I met the girls, became friends with the boys and Regulus and its where I met James.

Quidditch had started up again right in the midst of exam prep which had taken over my life as usual but this time I was way worse as these exams could affect my whole future. James said that Minnie had spoken to the boys about joining the fight after school and they all agreed to join. Lily and Kayla had also agreed. The concept of the unknown was terrifying and the idea of my best friends putting themselves in danger was even worse, but I couldn't blame them for wanting to do something. The state of our world got worst by the day with more pig-headed blood supremacies joining Voldemort he was gaining more and more power. I tried to talk to Regulus about it after we got back from easter break but thank fully he hadn't been invited to any meetings. Yet. I assume they were waiting until he had finished school.

I was really worried about Regulus. He still wasn't fully aware of the consequences to his actions yet but when he did, I worried how he would cope. Regulus' parents still monitored his mail so he hadn't been able to write over easter and I was worried if this would also be the case in the summer. The only saving grace I did have was that Snape, who seemed to have it out for us all, would be graduating this year with us so Regulus wouldn't not have to contend with him on his own next year.

Lucy had gone back to not speaking to her parents after her visit over easter. Her mum was not at all pleased with her plans for after Hogwarts. They had even cut her off from the family vault. Fortunately, I was in a position where I could help, I inherited a large sum of money from my parents and it was more than enough for me to not have to worry financially, ever really, as long as I was responsible. Lily was in a similar situation since she hadn't spoken to her parents in over a year and didn't have a job yet, Kayla's parents had been helping her with funds and would continue to do so as long as she needed.

Peter came back to Hogwarts with the news that his mother was doing a lot better. I never really fully understood what was wrong with him mum. I knew she was poorly, but I also knew that she was on her own while Peter was at school. I think when he went home, he just wanted to do everything he could to help her as we were gone so much of the year. However, it looked like he wouldn't have to worry so much anymore as their latest trip to St mungo's had shown improvement in his mother's health.

Kayla was becoming more and more worried as she read the news. He dad was muggle and her girlfriend a muggle born. It was more than understandable to be concerned. She had asked our DADA teacher for extra lessons as she wanted to be as prepared as possible. It had been weird to see this shift in Kayla. She has always been fiercely loyal and protective over us but most of the time she was really positive and happy but there had been a change in her. She seemed to be down a lot more recently, if it was anyone other than Kayla you probably wouldn't have noticed but because it was such a sharp contrast you couldn't help but take note. Lily seemed to have it under control and would usually be able to make Kayla smile or take her away from the situation that was causing her mood.

Remus had a particularly rough transformation the last full moon that had taken place our second week back at the castle and had ended up in the hospital wing. The boys and I sat round his bed all night. The girls, who I am fairly certain had pieced together what was going on with him came the next morning. There had been some exciting news though for Remus as a potion called wolfsbane had been created. It aloud the werewolf to keep their human mind. It was extraordinary, Monty and I had already planned for me to go over to the workshop in the summer to see if we can use any of the research from wolfsbane into the cure we were creating. I had also convinced Slughorn to let me try and make the wolfsbane potion, using the excuse of I just wanted to practice. Hopefully Remus would be able to have it for the next full moon.

Sirius had been extremely worried about Remus while he was in the hospital. It was almost as if he didn't know what to do. He wanted to hold his hand and kiss the scars away, but he couldn't do that anymore. That realisation had hurt him deeper than I think he would have like to have admit. He, like me, was also concerned about his brother and his tattoo and what it would mean for him. I kept Sirius as up to date as I could with all thing Regulus related but the two boys still refused to talk to each other. In fact, the last time they spoke was when Sirius had told him my parents had died.

I quite frankly was in awe of James. He went to quidditch practice at least 3 times a week, did his prefect rounds and meetings with Lily twice a week, revised for his exams, made sure his friends were okay and had everything they needed. All while being the most incredible boyfriend. James and I were very supportive of each other. I was going to every quidditch practice with him and listened to him tell me all about the team, I had even gotten to the point now where I could offer my input which he seemed to appreciate. James would always come to the library with me if I asked him to and when he couldn't make it, he would ensure one of our friends would check on me to make sure I took enough breaks. We talked about how we were both worried about the state of the magical world and how we could best help protect our friends. My favourite times with James though were when we both had nothing to do and we would just forget the world for a while, sometimes we would cuddle while I read my book out loud or James would take us flying around the grounds, something I had grown to love. He would even come do some baking with me which usually ended up with us both covered in ingredients. Sirius would sometime tag along with us and me and him would team up against James.

We were currently in transfigurations and I could hear James whispering my name from behind me, but Minnie did not seem in the mood today, I did not want to piss her off. I continued to ignore him but then he started kicking my chair. I spun my head round to look at him and he smirked at me. He handed me a note. Snatching it from hill rolling my eyes as I did. Making sure Minnie wasn't looking, I opened the note

I know we are not in Flitwicks class but you sure are charming

Oh merlin I don't know what spell this boy has me under but I actually snorted at his cheesy line. I quickly pocketed to note making sure I kept it safe so I could put with all the other random notes James had given me. I couldn't bring myself to get rid of them. I turned my attention back to Minnie focusing on the class when he started kicking my chair again.

"Mr Potter, if you could do both me and Miss Williams a favour and concentrate on my lesson" Minnie snapped at James
"I don't know if I can Professor, you see Miss Williams is just so beautiful she makes it hard to concentrate" oh kill me now. There was mixed reaction from the class some people groaned while others awed at James. I turned around in my chair to glared at him, but he just gave me a cheeky wink.
"if that is the case Mr Potter" Minnie paused before transfiguring a desk right at the front "I suggest you come sit here. There will be no distraction then" Sirius barked out a laugh at James as he sluggishly walked over to the table at the front. He looked back at me pouting but I just returned the same cheeky wink he had given me.

My weekends were normally taken up by quidditch matches. This weekend however was a Hogsmeade weekend. I hadn't planned on going as I wanted to use this weekend to get some extra work done. Knowing my friends would have less of a chance of getting me to go if I was already in the library when they tracked me down, I purposely stayed in my own dorm last night so I could sneak off to the library early. I froze however when I got to my usual desk to find all my friends stood there giving me disapproving looks.

"what are you doing Em?" Sirius asked me. I fiddled with strap of my bag as I spoke
"I was coming to do some revision" the entire group groaned at me "I am normally at the games on a Saturday so I was going to use this extra time to do some work"
"Em, I have never know anyone to do as much revision as you. You need to have a break" Remus said sternly
"but exams are in two weeks and next weekend is the quidditch final, so I won't get chance to do work then" James stepped towards me holding my shoulder
"you need to have a break love. Please come to Hogsmeade with us" he was doing his bloody puppy dog eyes that got me every time
"I promise to buy you whatever you want from honeydukes" he bargained. I looked at him biting my lip
"would you mind if I do some revision tonight?" James and I had plans to hang out together tonight for a sort of date night. He was going to cook for me
"you can revise while I cook love, and if you still want to do work after that we can do it together. Just please take a break for now and come with us" I let out a small sigh
"okay I will come" the group cheered causing us to be quickly kicked out the library.

We had all broken off into smaller group when we got to the village depending on where we wanted to go shopping. I was with Lucy, we both didn't really need anything, so we were just strolling around before we met up with everyone later in the broomsticks
"oh shit, I forgot to tell you! Guess who asked me to hookup?" I glanced at Lucy to be honest it could be anyone
"have you hooked up with them before?" she nodded
"good hook up?" she shuddered
"god no!" okay that narrowed it down
"Hufflepuff?" I asked thinking it might be Diggory as I couldn't remember if she rated him or not. She shook her head at me
"Slytherin?"
"getting warmer Em" I racked my brain through potential Slytherins but then it clicked
"Not Colton!" she laughed nodding at me
"I thought that shipped had sailed after you shut him down in class. He told me he has learnt new skills and wants to show me his improvement" I burst out laughing "of course, I turned him down" she quickly added.

Lucy and I continued to walk through the village as we recounted her dating history laughing at the poor boys' expenses. Our laughter was cut short however when there was a loud bang behind us. The shops windows had exploded but they weren't the only ones, all around us there was a series of explosions, it took me a minuet in the mist of all the chaos to see that masked wizard and witches were the ones to cause the explosions. Death eaters.

I grabbed Lucy's hand forcing her to run with me to hide behind a nearby overturned cart. We crouch down behind it, I peeked up to see multiple death eaters in the area duelling with shop keepers trying to protect their property. I looked around to see a bunch of third years cowering out in the open. We were in the middle of the village it would be difficult for them to run to safety without drawing more attention to themselves. I used my wand to move a fallen board in front of them hoping that I did it quick enough that no one saw me. I couched back down next to Lucy.

Lucy seemed to be in a daze. I grabbed her arm squeezing it
"Lucy you need to focus. There are younger years all over this place we need to help them" I seemed to snap her out of whatever trance she was in and she looked at me with steely determination
"what do we do Em?" I took a deep breath before sticking my head back up. The third years I had spotted were still there but there were still other students dotted about. Plus, the shop keepers and now some of our teachers who had come to help could use a hand.
"we need to get the students into the shops, it would be better if we can get them out the village, but it might be a bit difficult with how far into town we are. I say we try keep a low profile, try and usher the kids away. If we have to defend ourselves, we do" she nodded agreeing to my plan
"we stick close to each other though I want you in my sight Em" I quickly agreed. I held out my hand to her and we did our handshake

With one last deep breath we both moved from behind our spot. I dashed over to the girls I hid behind the board, managing to get to them without being spotted
"I am going to need you guys to move you're not safe here" they looked terrified one of them was crying. None of them attempted to move. I glanced around the board to see Lucy moving a group into Gladrags across the street. Sighing I turned to kids
"I promise I won't let you get hurt but you really need to move" I said assertively. The kids slowly moved from behind the board. I ushered them to enter the bookstore behind me where they welcome by a girl from my year. I spun around, finding Lucy stood engaging in a duel beside our defence teacher. I was about to make my way over when I heard someone mutter a spell. I quickly turned blocking the spell with ease firing my own spell back.

We through spells back and forth at each other but the death eater was good. Instead of aiming my next spell at him I aimed for the barrel that was next to him causing it to explode. My opponent didn't expect this, he stumbled slightly giving me chance to fire another curse his way. I managed to hit him square in the chest sending him flying backwards, knocking him out cold. I quickly cast incarcerous on his body so if he did awake at least he would be tied up.

Looking around again to find Lucy, I saw she was still with our professor but no longer in a battle instead they were helping some students into one of the shops. Knowing she was okay I looked to see if there was anyone that needed help, that's when I spotted James running towards me. I quickly met him halfway and dragged him behind a flowerbed that was now in ruins.
"are you okay? Are you hurt?" James quickly rushed out as he scanned me for signs of injury
"I am fine, are you?" I said quickly my own voice laced with concern
"I am okay. Where is Lucy? The others managed to get out, but I ran back when we couldn't find you at the gate" I peeped up behind the flowers to see Lucy was still okay
"she is with professor Rakepick" I said. We were interrupted by the sounds of someone screaming. Both of us jumped up to see a small girl levitated in the air by a death eater. James shot a curse at the man while I quickly took over the levitation, lowering her back to the ground safely. Lucy quickly ran to the girl to check if she was okay.

James and I had drawn attention to ourselves while saving the girl, we were now back to back both engaging in a fight. My opponent this time was not nearly as skilled as my last, so I managed to overcome them quickly. I turned around so I could help James when another death eater appeared to side of us, their wand pointed at James. He was still duelling the other death eater so he could defend himself. I quickly moved in line of the spell casting protego but I was too late, and the spell hit me in the chest

Chapter 50 Chapter Text

James pov

I could hear Emily's agonising screams behind me as I desperately tried to fight off the death eater to get to her. Where was Lucy? Why wasn't she coming to help? I was firing every curse I knew at the wizard I was frighting each getting angrier and angrier as Emily continued to let out a blood curdling scream. I finally managed to send the wizard flying backwards. Not caring to see where they landed, I spun round to see Emily withering on the floor as the witch used the cruciatus curse on her. I immediately shot a spell at the witch causing her to fly in through the air before slamming back down to the ground.

I crouched down next to Emily her screams had now stopped as her body lay weak in my arms
"James, it hurts" she said so quietly I only just heard her. I quickly scooped her up in my arms
"I know sunshine. I am going to get your help I promise" I said trying to reassure her, but I got no response. She had passed out. My heart was pounding and all I could hear was the blood rushing round my body. Lucy finally appeared
"what happened? I heard her scream, but I couldn't get to her I was in a duel" she asked quickly taking Em's arm feeling her pulse
"cruciatus curse. We need to get her the hospital wing" Lucy nodded and looked around us. The authorities had finally started showing up but there was still the odd death eater around that wasn't being taken care of.
"you carry her, and we run. I will cover us" Lucy said quickly. It wasn't the best plan but it was our only option.

So, we ran. Lucy firing the odd protection spell as we were fired at, all the while my mind racing with thoughts of Emily. She had to be okay, I can't lose her, she had to be alright. We finally made it to the gates to Hogwarts my legs were aching and my arms were tingling from carrying her all the way. Minnie was stood at the gate ushering students in she gasped when she saw us
"Get her to hospital Potter" not bothering to respond I ran straight pass Minnie and our friends ignoring their questions. My only focus on getting Emily to the hospital.

It all seemed to happen in a blur. As soon as I entered the hospital wing, Emily was taken from my arms by a healer while another was shouting at me to tell him what happened, but I couldn't think, I couldn't speak. I could only watch them carry Emily's limp body away from me. I broke down falling to the floor of the hospital as I watched them close the curtain around her bed. Luckily our friends had caught up to me and Lucy was able to give the healer the information he required. I vaguely recall Remus hiking me up from the floor and dragging me out the hospital wing.

Once out the hospital Remus gripped me by the shoulders
"James you need to breath" I hadn't even realised my breathing had become laboured as I struggled to take in air while I sobbed. My mind was racing out of control, the image of Em's almost lifeless body on replay.
"James, you have to calm down. Do it for Emily. Come on James breath with me" Remus tried again this time I tried to follow along with his breathing eventually my breaths returned to normal. Once I had caught my breath, I collapsed into the Remus arms as he held me. I was vaguely aware of our group of friends stood behind us watching.

Remus had moved me, so I was sat against the wall with my head in between my legs. I had calmed down now but tears still rolled down my cheeks as I waited for any kind of update on Emily.
"what happened?" Lily asked from where she sat on the opposite side of the corridor. I finally looked up at my friends. Remus and Sirius were either side of me both with looks of concern. Peter sat on the other side of the corridor near Lily his face void of all emotion. Lily and the girls were huddled together all with tear sained cheeks. I had never seen Lucy cry but there she was, a mere shell of herself as she sat anxiously like me wating for news.
"someone came at me from the side, but I was already in a duel. Emily moved in front of me she tried to block it, but it was too late. She was under the curse for a long time, Lucy and I couldn't get to her" I trailed off they knew the rest. Sirius clamped his hand on my shoulder
"it's not your fault Prongs" he said assertively before looking at Lucy "it's not yours either Vixen. I want you to both get that idea out of your heads right now" It might not have been my fault, but she took that curse for me. It was meant for me so why was she the one in the hospital? Liam interrupted my thoughts as he came storming down to corridor, Professor McGonagall hot on his heels. I don't even think he saw us sat there as he charged into the hospital wing. I looked up at Lucy whose eyes were trained on the hospital wing doors. She was just staring not even blinking as she waited.

It felt like we had been waiting an eternity when Liam walked out the hospital wing. It was only now I notice he was in full quidditch gear, he must have come from a game. Our whole group sprang to our feet rushing over to him.
"she is okay" I let out the breath I had been holding since I heard her scream
"Her muscle were pretty damaged from how long she was under the curse but the healers have given her something to help them repair. There was a concern about how her mind was affected but when she woke up and immediately started kicking off because they wouldn't let her out of bed, they knew she was okay. She will need to stay in hospital for a few days but other than that she is okay" Thank Merlin. I placed my hand on Lucy's shoulder she immediately turned around and first time ever she hugged me. Both relived that Emily was okay.
"you can go in and see her but its one visitor at a time" Liam explained. Lucy stepped away from me and nodded her head to the door. I thought I would have to fight her on this. The fact she was letting me go in first was a miracle. I wasted no time rushing into see her. The minuet my eyes landed on her and I saw her lay down, looking weak, but very much alive I began crying.
"James come here. I am okay, I promise I am alright. I am right here" Emily said as I rushed to her side. She placed her hand lightly on my cheek, I leant into her touch
"I am so sorry Em. I should have stopped them quicker" she quickly cut me off
"James, it's not your fault, you did everything you could" she said before slowly leaning up to place a feather light kiss on my lips
"I was so scared Em" I said taking her hand in mine
"I was too. When I saw the witches, wand aimed at you it was like everything happened so quickly"
"You shouldn't have taken that curse for me Em. Things could have been a lot worse" She rolled her eyes at me
"Like you wouldn't have done the same thing" she scolded me "yes it couldn't have been worse James, but we can't worry about the what ifs. If anything, it just proves what we already know. Life can change in an instant"

I sat with her for another few moments as she stroked my hair repeating over and over that she was okay. When the curtains around Emily bed were torn back to reveal our whole group
"Minnie gave us permission to come in" Sirius said as he sat at the end of her bed. Lucy immediately ran to the other side of her offering similar apologise to the one I had gave. Sirius said something that made her laugh, I saw her wince slightly in pain but merlin hearing her laugh, seeing her smile meant the world to me right now.

We were all talking, surprised we had been allowed to stay for so long when suddenly everyone went silent as Regulus slowly approached Em's bed
"what the fuck are you doing here?" Sirius jumped to his feet
"Sirius don't" Emily muttered from her bed, but Sirius ignored her
"get out of here Regulus. You don't deserve to be here"
"Sirius" I snapped at him he spun round to look at me
"but prong he is-" I cut him off before he could reveal to much
"I know, but he is also Emily's friend so you either let him see her in peace of you step outside for a moment" Sirius glared at me before storming off.
"I will go check on him" Remus said standing giving Em a quick kiss on the forehead before following Sirius.
"Why don't you guys go get some food, we never made it to the three broom sticks you must be starving" Emily said to the remaining group. Clearly trying to get to get them to politely leave so she could talk to a ghostly pale Regulus. Kayla, Lily and Peter agreed letting her know they would bring her something back. Lucy remained planted in her seat.
"I am okay, go get some food" Emily said giving her hand a squeeze. Lucy looked between the three of us before sighing
"I am grabbing food and coming right back so whatever you three need to talk about make it quick" she said before leaving.

Regulus moved around the bed and took Lucy's seat. Once he got a proper look at Emily and saw how weak she actually was, his eyes started to water.
"come on Reggie you can't cry on me as well" Emily said trying to show him that she was ok
"Snape came in bragging. Said your body was lifeless. I thought you were dead Em" Regulus said as he started to properly cry. Fucking Snape.
"well as you can see Snape was wrong, as per usual. I am okay Regulus" she said softly to him. From seeing Regulus and Emily interact over the last few months it was clear how much Regulus loved Emily. He pretended he didn't but the way he would tease her and indulge in her stories it was clear how much he cared for her. Emily always said Regulus was like a little brother to her and seeing how she comforted him now it was obvious he thought of her like his own sister.
"I had no idea it was going to happen Em. I promise. You know I haven't been to any meetings yet" Regulus said in a hushed voice. Part of me really hated Regulus for the fact he was part of the same group that just attacked Hogwarts, the same group that put Emily in the hospital wing. But the other part of me saw how he was doing his best to keep everything together.
"I know Regulus, but do you see what you are a part of now? This is what they do every day. Difference is I had a wand to defend myself with. The muggles don't"
"I would never hurt anyone" Me and Emily both sighed at his naivety
"Regulus, I don't think you will have a choice" Emily informed the boy

True to her word Lucy came back quickly. She handed food to me but told Emily Pomfrey said she wasn't allowed to eat with the medication she was having and would have to wait until morning. That did not go down well. Regulus left quickly after Lucy's arrival just in time for Sirius and the rest of the group to make their return, Liam in tow.

Pomfrey eventually came over and told us we had to go. Our group reluctantly said goodbye leaving just me and Emily and for the first time since the incident she admitted she wasn't okay, her brave facade had slipped
"James, I don't want to be on my own" She said quietly to me and my heart broke further which I didn't think was possible today.
"I am not going anywhere Em let me just go square it with pomfrey" I smiled at her before going to talk to healer.

After a lot of back and forth. She eventually realised I wasn't budging no matter what she threatened me with, so she reluctantly allowed me to stay. I went back to Emily, who had moved over already so I could get into bed with her. She looked scared. I would do just about anything to make her daemons go away
"I am scared to fall asleep in case I have dreams about it" Emily admitted once I was in the bed with her
"I will be right here sunshine. If you have a bad dream, I will wake you up okay? I am not going anywhere" She hummed at me as I ran my fingers through her hair. Eventually I noticed her breathing change, she had fallen asleep. I thought about how differently today could have gone, I could have lost everything. The utterly terrifying realisation hit me that this was that this was only the start.

Chapter 51 Chapter Text

Being in the hospital wing hadn't been too bad. Meals were brought to me without me moving, I was able to get tons of revision done, my friends would visited between classes, so I didn't get lonely and I wasn't really in pain anymore. My main concern now was being let out the hospital wing in time for the quidditch final. The final was Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw and I really wanted to be there to support James.

James had come to the hospital wing at every opportunity and would ramble on about everything I had missed right down the smallest detail, he wanted to make sure I wasn't missing out. He had also snuck back into the hospital after hours so I wouldn't have to stay alone. As predicted, my nightmares had not been great but having James there when I woke up made everything easier.

Lily and Remus would come with lists of notes from professor on anything they mentioned that they thought I might want to know. I really appreciated this because I was concerned about missing exam tips. Sirius had been baking nearly every day, he always came with a sweet treat for me. Luckily Peter usually tagged along with him so I could share the cakes and biscuit with him while he caught me up on the latest gossip. Kayla would come each morning and do my hair for me. My muscles were fine now and I could do it myself, but she insisted, I think she just wanted a quiet moment away from everyone. She would often talk quietly about how worried she was. Lucy, like James, was at the hospital every chance she got she never really came with anything important to tell, she would just talk about her day and what had annoyed her.

Pomfrey was giving me my final assessment. I had everything crossed that she would let me leave so I could attend the game tomorrow.
"well Miss Williams, it looks like your good to go" she said while giving one last prod to my thigh. I immediately sprang out of the bed, rushing round to find clothes so I could change out of my pyjamas
"slow down Emily, I was going to say you should still take it easy" The healer added looking at me through narrowed eyes.
"I will, thank you for everything madam Pomfrey" I said as I finally found the hoodie James had left for me after I complained it got rather chilly in the hospital. She left me to it, quickly turning on her heals and drawing the curtains around me, to give me some privacy whilst I got changed.

I was making my way out the hospital and down to the hall I was hoping to find most of my friends there, when I saw James walking towards me. As soon as I saw him, I started running. He held open his arms catching me.
"you're all better" he grinned at me
"yep just in time to see you win the cup tomorrow" He smirked at me
"what type of Ravenclaw are you? Absolutely no house pride"
"well when you have a sexy chaser boyfriend on the opposing team, loyalties can be swayed" he spun me around before leading me in the opposite direction of the hall
"James, we need to get lunch" I argued. He held up a bag I didn't even see him carrying
"I was on my way to have lunch with you. Come on love, I only have an hour before I have to get back to class, no time to argue" he said lacing his fingers with mine as we began to run through the corridor back to his head boy dorm.

The next morning James left before I was even awake, to go have a team meeting before the match. I quickly got ready shoving on James' quidditch jumper before making my way down for breakfast. At breakfast I couldn't even eat my bagel I was that nervous. James and the team had worked so hard for this and I really wanted him to win especially as this was his last chance at getting the cup.
"Emily please can you sit still, your making me dizzy" Peter said from his seat opposite me.
"sorry Pete, I am just nervous" Lucy scoffed next to me
"bet you weren't this nervous when it was my cup final" She said bitterly. Ravenclaw beat Slytherin in their last game knocking them out of this years cup.
"she actually was, her knee didn't stop bouncing all game" Remus backed me up. I smirked at Lucy while she just rolled her eyes at me.

We were talking about the game and our predictions when James came running into the hall.
"Prongs what are you doing here you need to be down at the pitch" Peter said shocked
"I know Wormy I am going back into 2 seconds. Just needed my good luck kiss" our group all groaned at him, but I grinned getting out of my seat and wrapping my arms around his neck kissing him bang in the middle of the hall. There was a chorus of ooo's and ahh's from the other students, but I couldn't care less
"you've got this. I will be cheering you on all the way" I said holding his face in my hands. He leant in giving me another quick peck
"I will score a goal for you" he said winking at me before running off again
"you two make me sick" Lucy said as I sat back down. Felling a lot better now I had seen him.

I sat in between Remus and Peter at the game, the girls sitting behind us. Gryffindor was better than Ravenclaw when it came to scoring goals but Ravenclaw's seeker was the best in the school. The game could go either way depending on when the snitch was caught. James was playing the game of his life. I don't think he has ever played this well. There was a close call with a bludger but Sirius got there just in time to beat it out the way.

"Ravenclaw seeker looks to have seen the snitch" The commentator announced. I quickly looked at the score board. Gryffindor were way ahead on points but would need another 2 goals to win If Ravenclaw catch the snitch. I anxiously watched as James raced towards the goals quickly passing to his teammate at the last second for them to score. I scanned the pitch to see both seekers barrelling towards the snitch. It felt like everyone around me was holding their breath. Gryffindor was in possession of the quaffle but would they be able to score before the snitch was caught?

Gryffindor's beaters were doing everything they could to get the Ravenclaw seeker off track while Ravenclaw were targeting James who was yet again charging towards the goal. I watched as James launched the ball, the keeper diving towards it but it was too late. The ball was already through the hoop. Seconds later Ravenclaw caught the snitch. The crowd erupted around us. Remus and Peter squishing me between them as we jumped up and down cheering wildly. Gryffindor had won the cup.

We all ran down to the pitch to see Sirius and James. People were already crowding round the team but when the boys spotted us, they pushed through the crowds. James came towards me and scooped me up into his arms, my legs wrapping round his waist.
"we won!" he cheered as he held me. I tilted my head down and kissed him. He placed me on the ground so he could deepen the kiss, but I was very aware off all the students and teachers watching us, so I pulled away from him.
"I am so proud of you James. I love you" James' eyes widened the second the words left my mouth. I was also a bit shocked as we hadn't said I love you to each other yet. I knew I loved James and I tried to show him that every single day but for whatever reason we hadn't actually said it. I guess it just hadn't occurred to us to voice what we already knew. I looked at his face that was mixture of shock and pure excitement.
"I do, I really do. I love you James Potter" His face broke out in the most adorable smile I had ever seen. He opened his mouth but before he could get any words out his team came over picking their captain up and carrying him into the crowds. I stood there giggling as I watched him get carried away, his face full of annoyance from being ripped away from me.

"I love you James"
"I do, I really do" I turned and glared at Lucy and Remus who were doing their best impression of me. Rolling my eyes at the pair I took off walking hoping they would follow
"come on idiots we have a party to get to" I called over my shoulder to them

The party was well under way in the Gryffindor common room but as loud cheers erupted, I knew the team had made it back. I could see James franticly searching the sea of people for me and when he spotted me his whole face lit up. He came charging at me, complete disregard for the people he had practically pushed out of the way. As soon as he reached me, he smashed his lips onto mine with such force while the crowd around us cheered. James pulled away from me and looked into my eyes
"I love you to" I smiled at him before pulling on his shirt to bring his lips back to mine

James and I were sat on the dorm room steps watching the party unfold just as we had done the night of the Halloween party over a year ago
"you know now we have finally said I love you, I am going to say it all the time" I laughed at him leaning my head on his shoulder
"I thought you might. It was weird I already knew I loved you, but I think because we show each other that we love on another it just never really crossed my mind that we hadn't said it out loud. I just always assumed you knew how much I love you" I said still looking out at the crowd
"I do sunshine, you show me every day but it's definitely nice to hear it too" We both watched a drunk Sirius dance with and equally drunk Lucy
"think those two will ever admit they actually love each other?" I asked. James scoffed at me
"I don't even think we could get them to admit they like each other let alone love" it was true. Sirius and Lucy's relationship would always be one that confused me
"what do you say we get out of here?" James asked. I thought it over, Lily and Remus weren't drinking so they should be good with everyone.
"let me just let Lily know and then we can go" He smiled down at me before heading off to find Remus to tell him the same.

We left the party quickly after letting our friends know and made our way to Ravenclaw tower. James sat with his back resting against one of the window arches while I sat between his legs my back pressed against his chest.
"two weeks to go Em and it's all over" James said quietly as he played with the ends of my hair
"I have to survive exams next week first." I laughed.
"I am so excited to live with you, even if that does mean I have to deal with Lily and her rules for a bit longer" James said pulling me closer to his chest
"I can't imagine a life now where you're not by my side. But if you had asked me that 2 years ago, I would have laughed in your face. We barley even spoke" I said thinking back to the start of 6th year and how different everything was
"I always thought you were beautiful you know, even before we became friends" I tilted my head back to look at him giving he a sceptical look
"its true Sunshine, even when I was 11, I thought you were pretty. Do you remember when you go off the boat and you tripped but I grabbed you just in time. Even then I thought you were very pretty" Merlin I forgot all about that. That was moments before James saw Lily for the first time. I would probably hate myself for asking the next question, but I needed to know
"what was it about Lily then that made you obsessed with her?" he sighed
"well I thought she was pretty, just like you. Then when we were both sorted into Gryffindor it just sort of felt like fate. But I was 11 Em my logic wasn't the best. Besides I wouldn't change anything because I wouldn't want to risk us not having what we have now" I nodded in agreement
"I am not upset James I was just curious. Our paths have been intertwined for a long time. I think the fact you grew up with your love for Lily helped make you into the man I love now. Your thing with Lily led you straight to me and I couldn't be more grateful for how that turned out, because your everything I need" James kissed my forehead
"I never loved Lily. You're the only girl I have and will ever love Emily" and the butterflies that had not stopped fluttering since the day they started flapped around wildly in my chest.

Chapter 52 Chapter Text

They weren't kidding when they called 7th year exams nastily exhausting wizarding tests because I am one more practical exam away from having a breakdown. Which is just my luck, as I have my defence against the dark arts practical next and we all know how wonderful and fun they are. After that, I had my potions practical and I was fairly certain we were going to be making draught of living death so whilst waiting my turn for the torture exam, I was reading over my notes as we weren't aloud any instruction in the potion's exam.

This time when James came out of the exam room, he just winked at me, that hopefully meant no boggart. A few other students took the exam before the examiner called me in for my turn. She stated reeling off the usual disclaimer about how they wouldn't let me die, once I agreed I was allowed into the room.

As soon as I was in the room and the door was shut a horde of about a dozen vampire bats came flapping towards me. I quickly worked on stunning the bats whilst trying not to panic. I wasn't a fan of flying creature hence my bogart use to be a group of birds. Once the bats were stunned, I got chance to actually look around the room. I was in the centre of an almost circular room with 5 doors around me.

Deciding to go for the door that was directly in front of me I confidently walked in only for the floor to disappear beneath me, sending me into a free fall. Cursing as I fell through the air, I cast the arresto momentum spell causing my fall to slow. I fell to the ground with a thud, but I would take that over a spalt. Pushing myself up from the ground I looked around the new room, there seemed to be a glowing light or object in the distance. I started to walk over to the object but that quickly turned into a run as the walls on either side of started closing in.

As the wall around me became narrower I got closer to the glow only to discovered it was a dead end, and it was just the wall that was glowing. I started to panic trying to think what on earth I was meant to do, when I remember that one of the spells, we were required to learn this year was bomarda maxima. I quickly aimed my wand at the glowing wall casting the spell. Thankfully the wall collapsed revealing another room. I jumped over the rumble into the low-lit room. Once inside the whole in the wall I had just created repaired itself leaving me trapped in the new room.

I was looking around trying to work out what the task was when suddenly the room went icy cold and I knew exactly what was about to happen. I slowly turned around to see a dementor floating towards me. I planted my feet firmly on the ground and closed my eyes summoning every happy memory I had as I lifted my arm casting the spell. When I finally opened my eyes again my doe was prancing around shooing the dementor away. As the glow of my Patronus faded the room shifted returning me back to the defence classroom with the examiner stood in front of me offering me a small piece of chocolate.

Well I guess it was better than last year.

Exams were finally over and I had never been more relived in my life. The end of exams also signified the Slytherin end of year party, which was taking place tonight, but it also meant it had nearly been a year since my parents had died. I tried to push the anniversary out of my mind so I could enjoy tonight.

We were getting ready in Lily's common room. All was going well, apart from the fact Lily would not stop crying. Every two minutes something would set her off. We were all pretty emotional about how close we were to leaving school, but Lily was very expressive with her emotions.

Lucy walked up to Lily and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her slightly. She was currently crying because she realised this was the last time, we would all be getting ready for a party in this common room together.
"Lily, you need to pull it together because not only are you giving me a headache you are making me depressed. Now snap out of it and go do your makeup, you can't cry then because you mascara will run" Lily let out a few more sniffles before nodding her head at Lucy.

We managed to all get ready without any more outburst from Lily, thank merlin. As per tradition we all gathered around to take a picture together. This time once the picture was taken it was Kayla who was tearing up
"oh for Merlin sake, what's wrong now?" Lucy asked. We went over to Kayla to see she was holding the picture we had just taken. None of us were looking at the camera, instead we were all just smiling at each other. What had set her off though was the other photo she was holding. It was the first picture we ever took together. It was in our first year, early April, I think. We had just come back from easter break, Lucy had brought back her parents' camera and wanted to try it out. We were stood in front of the black lake all laughing, I can't remember what was causing us to laugh so hard but just like the picture we had just taken not a single one of us was looking at the camera.

I looked over Kayla's shoulder at the two pictures. So much had changed since we took that first photo but yet the most important things had stayed the same. We were still best friends and still laughing at each other. I felt my own eyes start to water, I quickly looked away dabbing under my eyes to stop my makeup running. Lily on the other hand was full on sobbing. Lucy shocked us all as she was also sniffling looking at the photos.
"alright group hug" I declared holding my arms open for the girls. We all huddled together. I would be forever grateful to Hogwarts as it was the place, I met my sisters.

I was dancing away in the Slytherin common room when I felt someone smack my arse. I turned around expecting James, but it was Sirius.
"Damn Em, this Jumpsuit really makes your arse pop" not to brag but I did agree. I was wearing a denim jumpsuit that had zip at the front that I may have pulled down a touch to low just to show of the girls a bit.
"Sirius you can't touch her arse" James argued coming up behind Sirius. As per usual he looked unreal. He was wearing a simple white tee with an open flannel shirt over the top. Ever since I told him I liked it when rolled his shirt sleeves up he did at every occasion and I was very grateful for it.
"what why not?" Sirius protested
"because only I am allowed to touch her arse and Emily doesn't want you to right Em?" James said turning to me. Quite frankly I didn't care because it was Sirius, and I know he didn't mean it in any other way than to give me a compliment, he was just a very touchy-feely person. Anyone else I would be cursing them into next week. James however, seemed to feel passionate about it so I would follow his lead.
"James is right Sirius. Arse grabbing privileges are reserved for boyfriends only" Sirius smirked at me
"as I keep saying Em, dump James and be with me" James clearly having had enough of Sirius's nonsense pushed him out of the way wrapping his arms around my waist from behind and placing a kiss on my neck.
"your arse always looks phenomenal Sunshine, but Sirius wasn't wrong when he said this jumpsuit makes it pop" he whispered in my ear before nibbling my ear lobe slightly. I would be lying if I said it didn't turn me on.

At some point in the night James dragged me out of the common and into the corridor
"James what are you doing?" He grinded at me placing his hands on my hips
"We are re-creating our first kiss" I couldn't stop the goofy grin I had as I laced my hands around his neck and just like that night a year ago, we danced not caring what song was playing. Before we kissed in the corridor just as we had the first time and still a year later I felt the exact same way as our lips moved together. We pulled apart smiling wildly at each other. I looked into his eyes, I saw what I saw a year ago James Potter was my one.

"I love you James"
"I love you too Sunshine"

Chapter 53 Chapter Text

The anniversary of my parent's death affected me worse than I thought it would. Luckily as 7th years, we had this last week at Hogwarts off, so I had nowhere that I needed to be. Therefore, it didn't matter that all I wanted to do was lie in bed. Lily brought James and I food throughout the day as I didn't even want to go down to their shared common room. My friends tried to come check on me, but I asked James to turn them away, I just wasn't feeling like myself. I think I had got so busy with everything that my parents weren't really on my mind, I felt guilty about that. Now their anniversary was here, realising that they aren't going to be there when I get off the train for the last time. Put that with the come down from exam season. I wasn't doing to good.

James stayed by my side all day. We didn't realise speak much but just having him with me made it so much easier. I got a bit emotional throughout the day when my mind would wonder down certain avenues and he would just hold me while I cried. If we did talk, I would talk about my parents and James would listen, asking questions about the stories I told. I decided I was only giving myself their anniversary to be sad and tomorrow I would do my best to enjoy my last week at Hogwarts.

True to my word when I woke up the next morning I was ready to face the day and make the most of the last few days and today the boys told me they had a treat for me. Which is how I ended up stuffed into a broom closet with four overgrown idiots
"what's something you have always wanted to know?" Peter asked me
"what happens when you die?" I shrugged not knowing what he wanted me to say.
"No Emily, what's one secret of ours that we won't tell you?" Remus asked me. I thought for a moment before It clicked. I looked at James who was smirking
"I thought it was a wife privilege?" I asked him
"well you're going to be my wife on day love, so why not find out early" I smiled ear to ear

"Now what we are about to show you is our life's work Em. I expect you to treat it with respect" Sirius explained. I can't believe they were finally going to show how they have been tracking me. James pulled out piece of parchment and handed it to me. I quickly unfolded it and turned it over looking at it but there was nothing there it was blank. I looked up at the boys to see them all smirking at me. James held the tip of his wand to the paper.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good" I watched as ink started to spread across the paper taking the shape of Hogwarts grounds and slowly names of students started to appear and move around
"holy shit" I muttered looking at the live map of Hogwarts
"pretty cool isn't it?" Sirius said while moving to stand behind me so he could read the map over my shoulder
"I knew you lot were tracking me there was no way you just happen to know where I was. But I didn't realise you were tracking the whole school. This is amazing" I said in awe

After looking at the map for a bit longer and the boys filling me on times, they had used it without my knowledge they told me how they planned to leave it here for the next generation of troublemakers to find. Their plan was to sneak into Filtch's office and put it into the confiscated and highly dangerous draw, whilst also retrieving other bits of their belongings that had been confiscated from them over the years. For the first and only time the boys asked me if I wanted to be a part of their mischief. My role would be to keep watch outside Filtch's office whilst they stole back their stuff while leaving a few surprises for Filch. I instantly agreed.

The boys had been in Filch's office for about 15 minuets while I anxiously waited outside the door. I spotted Mrs Norris walking around the corner which meant Filch wasn't far behind. I opened the door and stuck my head in
"he is coming you need to get out" I said to the boys
"were coming, two seconds" Sirius shouted back. I shut the door and looked back down the corridor to see Filch had now also just come around the corner. Come on boys.

Filch got closer to door but the boys still weren't out. I knew I need to buy them some time
"lovely weather we are having isn't it?" what the fuck Emily. Filch did stop, eyeing me suspiciously
"what are you doing here?" I swallowed nervously
"just waiting for my friends" I guess not a complete lie. Filch's eyes narrowed
"your friends with those boys. Is that who your waiting for?"
"it is actually" I said raising my voice slightly hoping the boys had some grand plan. Turns out they didn't. The boys pulled open the door and started running. James grabbed my hand dragging me off with them. We kept running laughing as we did until we made it to the Gryffindor common room.
"that was a funny two seconds Sirius" he shrugged
"you had it covered Em. It is lovely weather at the moment isn't it" All the boys started laughing again at my lame excuse.

Somehow, we had made it to our last official night at Hogwarts. We had decided as group to go down to the black lake, we had chosen a spot out of sight to have a bonfire. It was noting major, a small magically controlled fire, but bonfire just sounded cooler. The boys brought some butterbeer and the girls and i, brought snacks. We were all lounging together telling stories of our time at Hogwarts
"do you remember when you wrote me that poem that stared off with roses are red and so is your hair" Lily said teasing James. I felt his chest vibrate behind me from laughing
"yeh I don't know why I thought that one would work"
"bet it would have work on Em" Sirius piped in
"Em is more partial to a cheesy chat up line" I nodded agreeing with James
"that's true, my favourite so far has been 'if you were a spell you would be Accio, because you have summoned my heart'" the group laughed at him
"I am not ashamed. she is the one that fell for them"

We all fell back into easy conversation. Talking about our plans now that we are out of school, we even talked about how we had all joined up to fight and for the first time I didn't get the uneasy feeling in my stomach. I guess it was something about the fact we were all in it together. We also talked about Sirius and James moving in and what that was going to be like. I looked around the group as Kayla told Remus and Peter about her first quidditch try out. Lucy, Lily and Sirius were discussing rules that Sirius would have to follow now he is an officially member of the household. James was running his fingers through my hair
"what are you thinking about sunshine?" he asked. I tilted my head back to look at him
"just how lucky we all are" he hummed smiling at me
"we did win the jackpot with this lot didn't we" I nodded in agreement turning back to the group listening into their conversation once more.

At the graduation ceremony I found myself tearing up as Dumbledore gave his speech. We had to sit with our houses for the ceremony which sucked but I kept catching the eyes of my friends giving them watery smiles when I did. It actually felt surreal that it was all over and I had to face the real world now. learn what it really means to be an adult, that scared the crap out of me. At the same time, I was so excited, I would get to work on my potions a lot more since Sluggy didn't look to be retiring just yet. I would get to learn what being with James meant when we weren't at school. I would also get to see my friends go off and achieve their dreams. The next chapter of my life was sure to be exciting and I couldn't wait to experience it. We just had to get through a war first. Just a small hurdle.

As soon as the ceremony had ended, we all ran to each other and had and eight-person hug. We had decided that although it would be a squeeze, we would all share the same compartment on the train. It wasn't how we started our Hogwarts journey, but we were ending it all together. The journey home was a quiet one I think all of us in our own thoughts and processing our own feelings, but it was still nice and felt like a full circle moment.

When we got off the train Kayla and Lily went over to see Kayla's parents while James, Sirius, myself and Lucy, whose parents hadn't come to the station as they still weren't speaking, went to see Monty and Mia. I teared up when I saw them, they both pulled me into a tight hug and told me how proud of me they were, and merlin did it hit me in my feels. Not long after that I said goodbye to James and Sirius as they were having one last night at James' house before they officially moved in tomorrow.

Once we apparated home the girls and I just sort of stood looking at each other not really sure of what to do now. I decided we need to celebrate and dashed to the kitchen grabbing a bottle of prosecco we had in there and some glasses. I poured us each a drink

"to be being the bad ass witches that we are and crating the most amazing future" I said. raising our glasses together we celebrated the end of an era.

Chapter 54 Chapter Text

Sirius and James had been out of the house all day. I have no idea what they have been up to, I was just glad they were off doing something together. The last few weeks since finishing Hogwarts have been great. I was bit worried that James and I would get under each other's thumb as even when we were at school, we weren't together 24/7 but that wasn't the case. I would often go off and do something with the girls or visit Monty and Mia in the day while he was usually off doing something with Sirius or one of the boys. Sometimes we would tag along with each other and some days we would go do something just the two of us, but it was nice to break away from each other and then be able to come back together every evening to talk about it. That was the best bit about living with James. Knowing that every day I was going to get to fall asleep next to him.

While James and Sirius were off doing god knows what, I had gone shopping with Kayla, like me she liked to have some time away from Lily just so they could have some time to them selves. I think while we were out, Lily had taken Lucy to the muggle cinema as she had never been before. Kayla and I had stopped off at the Potters on the way home just to have a catch up with Mia and so I could give her a book I picked up for her. When we got back to the house we were both shocked to see a motorbike with a twin car outside. Kayla gasped next to me
"He actually bought one" she said in shock. I wondered why when I asked James what his plans were for the day, he was being really cagey. Sirius has been talking about getting a motor bike for the longest time but recently he came into a bit of money when his uncle died, and I knew it was only a matter of time before he bought a bike.

I opened the front door and could already hear the chaos coming from the living room. Kayla followed closely behind me. What the commotion was over, I wasn't sure, as surely Lily wasn't screaming because of the bike.
"we need to start preparing now" Lily said waving a letter round looking sternly at Sirius
"Evans, it's going to make no difference if you make me clean now, then if you make me clean in the morning!" Sirius argued back.
"why are we all shouting?" I asked walking into the living room. James grinned seeing me coming over and taking my bags from me
"Thank merlin your home love it's chaos in here" he said planting a kiss on my head. Kayla had moved next to Lily who had shoved the letter into her hands the minuet she got close enough.
"Dumbledore is coming to visit, he wants us all here, Remus and Peter included at 5pm on Wednesday" Kayla explained to me. Oh, shit this was it. None of us knew when dumbledore was going to speak to us but I guess it was now.
"Lily wants us to start cleaning right this second even though we have two days before he gets here" I sighed and looked at Lily
"Lily the house is already tidy, and I highly doubt Dumbledore would care anyway. We don't need to do anything right this second but if it would make you feel better why don't you write up a task list for us and we can all sit down tomorrow morning at breakfast and plan how we are going to do it" I said trying to compromise with the red head.
"I guess that could work" she grumbled. Kayla rummaged in one of the shopping bags and pulled out the new note pad she had bought Lily
"here you go. I got you this today, why don't we go write your list on this" Lily smiled at her girlfriend giving her a quick peck before dragging her off to their room. Now that had been resolved I turned to look at James and Sirius
"are we just ignoring the fact there is a motorbike outside the house" I said raising my eyebrow at the boys
"I told you it would go with the leather jacket Em. It really completes the look" I chuckled at him
"come on then, show me how it works"

After two days of intense cleaning and organising, the house had never looked better. Even if it did come at the cost of several arguments. Peter and Remus had arrived not that long ago and were helping themselves to the snacks Lily had made me prepare just in case Dumbledore got hungry, she also made James go out and buy an obscene amount of various tea flavours just so we could give him options. At bang on 5pm there was a knock at the front door, and everyone turned to look at me. I guess I will be answering the door then.

When I pulled back the door my mouth dropped open because Dumbledore was not alone, he had brought Alastor Moody with him. Moody is the best auror in the game, he was my parents' boss and from what they told me about him he was not to be messed with.
"Lovely to see you again Miss Williams" Dumbledore said breaking me out of my trance
"you too sir. Please do come in, you too Mr Moody" I stepped aside allowing them to enter. It was a pinch me moment, Albus Dumbledore and Alastor Moody were in my home. What would my parents think?

Shutting the door, I made my way into the living room where Lily was reeling off her list of teas.
"an earl grey would be nice Miss Evans. Thank you" Dumbledore said politely sitting down. Lily rushed off to the kitchen to make the drink. I moved back to my spot next to James he instantly placed his hand at the small of my back. Dumbledore and Moody took one of the couches, facing them on another couch was Lucy and Kayla, while Remus leant on the Sofa behind them. Sirius and Peter occupied the two armchairs while James and I stood behind our friends at the back. It was a bit cramped, but it worked.
"I must say it was awfully covenant that most of you now live together, it was very easy to arrange this meeting" Dumbledore said making polite conversation
"well I guess you can thank Em's dead parents for that" Sirius said shrugging. I just shook my head at him
"you're Colin and Gail's kid right?" Moody asked me. At the mention of my parents' names James pressed his hand firmer on my back
"that's right Sir" he hummed
"they talked about you often. I am sorry for your loss. They were fantastic auror's" I smiled giving a small nod of appreciation.

Lily came back into the room handing dumbledore his tea before she sat down next to Kayla. Dubledore attempted to make more small talk with us, Lily answering most of his questions about the house when Remus cut in
"no offence Sir but we are all really on edge, if we could get on with it" Dumbledore nodded at Remus before placing his cup on the side and I saw Lily shudder when he didn't use a coaster.
"When Voldemort returned to England, the ministry and I thought It best we began to prepare for the inevitable. This was when we created a group of some of the finest witches and wizards who we believe could be trusted to help with the fight. It is that same group I am now offering all of you an invitation too" The silence in the room was defending. I took a small step closer to James side as his grip on me tightened
"The group is not known to many within the ministry or to general public and what I tell you must remain a secret. After this meeting, should you choose not to join, I am afraid you will have to be obliviated. The group is known as the Order of the Phoenix. It already has a few members some of which are older students you will recognise from your time at Hogwarts, some are your professor. Emily your parents were members" I took a sharp breath in. I had my suspicions but was never certain. It was part of their job to fight death eaters but when they were killed there was very little information available to me, I had feeling there was something else to it. I did get a rush of pride knowing that I would be a part of something they were.
"should you agree to join you will actively participate in the fight to bring down lord Voldemort. I want to be clear with you, if you agree to be a part of this you will be put in life threatening situations and be asked to put your life on the line for the greater good. We do try to minimise risk but sometimes things cannot be helped" Dumbledore took a moment to look each off us in the eye to make sure we understood the gravity of what he was asking us to do.
"From your time at school I have seen how skilled you are not only as individuals but the strength you take from each other. I do believe that you are one of the strongest teams I have ever seen and with each of your own individual skill sets I believe you would be assets to the fight. With that said, the choice is entirely yours and should you have any question myself and Alastor will be happy to answer" We were all silent as each of us processed what he said. I think in our case if one of us agreed we were all in, as he said, we were a team.

"how much of our time will be expected to be on order business? We don't have jobs and can't rely on our parents forever" Kayla asked. It was a very good point we still had to pay for food and basic necessities, and I couldn't really on my inheritance forever
"you will be full time members of the order and as such will be paid a wage by the ministry. You will not be on order business all the time and it will work on a shift pattern, but should you be called upon you will be expected to be there" That seemed fair at least we would have a wage and still be able to have some sort of life outside of work. Well as much as you can as it seemed things were only going to get worse.
"what about training?" Remus asked. This time Moody answered
"before going out on official mission you will attend a week of vigorous training with some of my guys" Bloody hell a week didn't seem very long, but I guess it's better than nothing. I took a moment to glance at my friends. Lucy and Sirius had an air of excitement about them they both wanted to be auror's so I guess this was their dream come true. Lily and Kayla were clutching each other's hands tightly but looked determined. Remus seemed satisfied with what he had heard so far so he would most likely be willing. Peter was my main concern, he looked shit scared, but I knew if we all joined, he would too. I looked up and James, he was also frowning at Peter clearly having the same thought.

"will you play to our strengths?" I asked trying to think of way the situation might be better for Peter "for example, some of us are pretty good fighters and will be good in a battle situation but Lily is amazing at healing spells with the right guidance she could be the orders very own healer. Peter is very good at finding out information as he can get into small spaces so may be best used on intel mission oppose to fighting" I said trying to refer to fact Peter could transform into a rat without actually saying it as I didn't want to get him in trouble. Moody eyed me for a moment
"You will be all expected to fight at some point, but I agree your skills sets could be adapted"
"well if there are no more questions from you" Dumbledore paused to check "That leaves me one question for you. Are you in?" Lucy and Sirius immediately agreed, quickly followed by Remus. Lily and Kayla looked at each other before they nodded their heads. I looked up at James already knowing what our answer was but wanting to check with him anyway we gave each a small nod
"we are both in Sir" James answered for us. That left Peter who had gone very quiet.
"Wormy, you don't have to. No one will blame you if you don't want to" James told him, but Peter frowned shaking his head
"I am in" he said with determination
"very well. We shall be back in touch in September to begin your training. For now, do enjoy the rest of your summer but please do be careful it is a dangerous world out there at the moment" Dumbledore warned before both him and Moody apparated away.

Chapter 55 Chapter Text

James had a bit of cold, nothing really wrong with him other than a bit of a blocked nose but that meant he snored, and he snored badly. Having been rudely woken up by the tractor next to me I decided I wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep and I might as well get up and start my day. I opened the bedroom door quietly but when I saw someone coming out of Sirius room I froze. No freaking way.
"having a sleep over?" I whispered, smirking at Remus. He slowly turned around to look at me
"it's not what it looks like" He whispered back. I just raised my eyebrow at him
"come on I will make you breakfast, and you can tell me what it looks like" I said quietly nodding my head in the direction of the stairs.

Remus was sat at the kitchen bar stool while I was at the stove making some eggs.
"we aren't back together" He said after sitting in silence for a while. I just nodded not saying anything
"just had an itch than needed scratching" he added. I let out a snort of laughter
"so how many itches has Sirius helped you scratch?" I asked assuming this wasn't the first time
"not many. It all started on that first movie night we had once we finished school, we got drunk and one thing led to another" That movie night was weeks ago I am surprised I hadn't seen him sneak in or out before. Maybe he just apparated straight into Sirius room.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better a very smug looking Sirius came whistling into the kitchen but immediately stopped when he saw Remus and I there. He clearly must have thought Remus had already gone
"Morning Sirius, how are you this morning? Well rested I hope" I said smirking. This was brilliant. if James didn't snore, I would have missed all of this.
"Emily" Sirius said politely as he moved to take the seat next to Remus at the breakfast table.
"Remus was just telling me about an itch you both had" Both boys heads snapped to me.
"please don't say anything Em" Sirius rushed out, but this morning seemed to be the gift that kept on giving
"Sunshine, where are you? I woke up and you weren't there" Both boys heads turned to look at each other as they realised James was about to make an appearance. James walked into the kitchen smiling when he saw me but when he noticed Remus his eyebrows furrowed. He looked down at his watch realising it was still early in the morning and Remus wouldn't normally be here at this time.
"What's going on?" He asked moving into the kitchen coming stand next to me.
"they had an itch" I said waving the spatula I was holding between the two of them
"Emily!" both boys complained at me. I just shrugged
"I would have told James anyway he doesn't count when you ask me not to tell anyone. You should know this by now" James wrapped an arm around my waist
"I have an inch that could do with scratching love, if you want to come back to bed, I can show you where it is" Remus gagged at James. I swatted him away with the spatula
"you're in my bad books Potter, your snoring woke me up again so no scratching for you until your cold is gone and I get to sleep in past 7am" I teased James as he pouted at me.

James asked the boys the question that I had, like how long it had been going on and does this mean they are getting back together. I think he was a bit disappointed to learn they weren't back together. We heard movement on the stairs and Remus jumped up ready to hide but he wasn't quick enough as Lucy waltz into the kitchen. When she saw the look on the boy's faces, she burst out laughing obviously putting together what was going on.

I thought the early wake ups were over when James got over his cold but for the last weeks our friends seemed determined to wake us up. It wasn't unusual for one of them to wake us up for whatever reason but recently they have all just decided it was okay to just walk in whenever they wanted. Like right now, Kayla had strolled into our room waking us up by opening the curtains causing the light to pour in. James groaned and buried his head under the pillow
"Kay what are you doing?" I asked groggily
"Sorry did I wake you? I just came to water the plants and open the curtains so they could get some sunlight" I scrunched my eyes shut at her words. I could hear Lucy and Sirius arguing from outside Sirius' room and I knew it wouldn't be long before they both were in here. Before they could get here though Lily barged in
"James, you and Sirius didn't get the granola I asked for from the shops and now I have no breakfast" She said sitting down on the end of our bed but not before ripping the pillow off James' face
"Evans, I already told you, they didn't have any. We got you the other kind. I put it in the cupboard, but Lucy might have put her cereal in front of it, have you checked?" James said rubbing his face in hands before putting on his glasses. As lily went to respond, Sirius and Lucy came charging in both talking over each other as they tried to tell us what was wrong.
"Right that's enough!" James said raising his voice angrily at everyone in the room. Everyone immediately shut up and turned to look at him. I don't know what it said about me, but angry James made me hot under the collar.
"Lucy tell me what's wrong and Sirius don't interrupt her" Sirius pouted but let Lucy speak
"he used all my shampoo and conditioner. He has his own, but he uses mine because it's better and he is too cheap to buy it for himself" She said glaring in Sirius direction
"Sirius is that true?" I asked
"yes, I did use her shampoo and conditioner. But it was only because I couldn't find the same brand she has at the shop not because I am cheap" He huffed crossing his arms over his chest. James sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose
"Pads, we have been through this you can't just use people's stuff, go get dressed and go buy Lucy some more stuff and while you are at the shop please can you look for Lily's cereal. Lily if they don't have it you will just have to make do with the other brand. Kayla, can you not move the plants into another room, so you don't have to come in here to water them every morning?" Kayla shrugged thinking about it
"I guess the kitchen gets the same amount of light"
"Perfect move the plants to the kitchen. Now if that is everything, can you all please get out" James said sternly. The group all grumbled but did as he said.

"Damn, your hot when your angry" I said smirking at James as I trailed my hand up his chest. He raised his eyebrow at me
"really did that do it for you?" he said moving so he was hovering over me. He lowered himself down to kiss me. We were getting a bit handsy and clothes were coming off, when the door opened again. James quickly moved and pulled the covers over me.
"Prongs, I need to borrow your broom" Remus said in the doorway. James turned to him with gritted teeth
"just take it, it's by the front door"
"cheers mate! Morning Em" he said I gave him a small wave with the cover still tucked up to my chin.

When the door was shut James lay back down into his pillow
"they are out of control" he was right. We were used to them popping in whenever they need something, but this wasn't the only morning like this. They would also just invite themselves to spend time with us, even if we planned to just spend time alone. Most nights at least one of them would be in our room, not taking the hint when we tried to get them to leave. Sometimes they would stay so late that either James or I, sometimes even both of us, fell asleep before they left. It was getting a bit much.
"Why don't we move out?" I suggested. James looked at me confused
"what and leave this house?" it was something I had been thinking about a lot recently
"I don't think I will ever get rid of this house and I would never make them all move out, but I think we need our own space. My parents bought this house to start their family, I want to do that with you. I want a place that's just mine and yours" James grinned at me before jumping out of bed
"come on then, let's go house shopping" I laughed at him climbing out of bed myself.

I knew the house I wanted. I had even been to view it a few days ago with Mia. It was just a matter of getting James on board. The house I had fallen in love with was in Godric's hollow just like his parents but wasn't too close to theirs that it felt like we were neighbours but was close enough that we would be able to walk there without having to apparate. From the outside the house looked straight out of a story book with beautiful wildflowers in the front garden and vines traveling up the old stone. Inside felt very cosy, the ceilings had wooden beams running along them. I loved the way the living room flowed into the dining room and then into the kitchen, which had huge windows that overlooked the garden. The garden was one of the major selling points for me. Whenever I thought about having kids in the future, I always imagine them having large back garden for them to run around in. It was 3 bedrooms. The master bedroom had an en-suite and was the largest, but the other 2 rooms were a decent size. To me the house was perfect, not to big but not small, cosy and a place I could see myself being really happy in.

"what do you think?" I asked James nervously. He turned around in what would be the living room to look at me
"this is the one Em, its perfect" I couldn't help the giddy feeling that took over me.
"let's go tell the woman we want it" I said. We had been working with a magical estate agent. As Godric's hollow wasn't only for magical folk they would buy a certain number of properties off the muggles and then magical people could just buy directly from them which made it a lot easier as I believe the muggle way of buying a house is very complicated.

A few days later we got the news that the house was officially ours. As soon as the house we got confirmation, we went over to James's parents and brought them back to the new house with us. Let me tell you, Mia should have been actress. I would have never had guest she had seen the house before.
"we are really happy for you kids, it's a beautiful home" Monty said as he looked around
"look at you Jamie, all grown up buying your own house with your beautiful girlfriend. I am just so proud of you" Mia gushed pulling her son into a hug.
"have you told the others you are moving out yet?" Monty asked. James and I shared a look.
"not yet we are going to sit them all down at dinner tonight" I said
"to be honest I am debating not telling them where we live so they can't just show up unannounced" James joked
"maybe we just tell Peter, so he has our address in case of emergencies" I added. Peter was a little gem, he always wrote me a letter asking if he could round rather than just showing up.
"like that would stop Lucy and Sirius. They would probably go crying to Wormy saying they have a life-threatening issue when it will be something stupid like they Sirius using Lucy's eyeliner again" James scoffed. That is definitely something they would do.
"face it kids, you're stuck with them. At least now you have the house you can kick them out" Monty added smiling at us.

That evening James and I pulled out all the stops. I had cooked a house favourite, of lasagne and James had gone out and got some butterbeer and wine for the group, I had even made a cake. We were all sat around the dinner table everyone chatting away except me and James. Eventually, after I stood on James's toe, he cleared his throat
"Em and I have some news" Lily gasped capping her hands together
"you're having a baby!" Lucy scoffed at her
"please Em has been making contraceptive potion for me since I was 15, I know how reliable that shit is" I eyed Lucy carefully
"all potions do still have a percentage chance of not working Lucy so it unlikely, but you could still get pregnant while taking it" I informed her, worried she wasn't aware of all the facts
"Even so, Em is not pregnant" James said getting us back on track. Lily's face immediately fell. James took my hand in his giving me a nervous smile.
"we bought a house!" silence. Not a single noise from the group.
"but we have a house?" Sirius asked. I looked up at James. This was not going to be easy
"And you guys are more than welcome to stay here as long as you want, stay forever if you want to. What James means is, we bought a house for just me and James to live in" this time we were met with outrage.

Sirius jumped up out of his seat, Lucy was cursing James for stealing me away, Lily had started to cry, and Kayla was trying to comfort her. Admits the chaos Remus walked into the dining room
"what's going on?" he asked coming to stand behind our chair's looking at the rest of our friends.
"we bought a house and are moving out" James said looking between everyone. Remus grinned at us before pulling us both into a hug from behind
"that's amazing guys I am so happy for you" at least we had Remus was on board. I looked at my friends and quite frankly I had enough
"Will you all just stop" I said frustrated. They all immediately shut up, the only sounds were lily's sniffles
"James and I support all of you with everything you do. We have just bought our first home together, which huge and exciting news and only Remus is being supportive of us? I can appreciate this is a shock to you and may take a period of adjustment but this is what is right for me and James and I expect you all to be on board with this, or we won't take you to the new house to see it" I said sternly looking at each of them. They all began mumbling their apologise. I hummed at them

"thank you, now if you would all like to go get ready, we will take you see the house if you want to come, there is no furniture yet, but you can get the idea"
"we would love to come see the house, wouldn't we Lil's" Kayla said nudging her girlfriend
"yeh I am really happy for you guys I am just going to miss you" I smiled at Lily before turning to Sirius and Lucy
"what about you two? are you coming?"
"I guess" Lucy mumbled, and Sirius shrugged. Baby steps.
"okay we can go in about half an hour, we can use the floo. Its already connected" James said to the group

everyone separated leaving James and I alone at the dining table
"guess who else is sexy when they are angry" I giggled at him
"we do have 30 mins if you think you can be quick?" I cheekily raised my eyebrow at him. James jumped out of his seat scooping me up bridal style before running up the stairs with me.

Chapter 56 Chapter Text

James and I finished furnishing the house at the start of August and moved in straight away. Living with James has been amazing. We would make dinner together every night while listening to music, James often twirling me around the kitchen. We had gotten our own projector and would watch movies together in the evening and sometimes we would both be doing our own thing, not even talking to each other, but it was just nice to be in each other's presences.

That said, we do have some moments where we get annoyed at each other. Where we both can't agree and one of us, usually James, would storm out the room dramatically. We have an hour or two where we gave each other the cold shoulder until one of us would gives in and goes to talk to the other. We would argue over the most stupid things for example, I was fed up of picking James's clothes up of the bathroom floor and moving them to the wash basket that would be right next to where he had left them. James would get annoyed at me for moving things around. I was trying to work out where things looked best. Every day or so I would move something, and James wouldn't be able to find it. He started off just asking me where stuff was but after I moved the mugs for the 4th time I think he had enough.

We still saw our friends almost every day as James and I would still go off and do things with them. They would sometime come around for dinner but usually didn't out stay their welcome. Lucy and Sirius had both stayed over on the odd occasion but had refrained from just walking into our room. It was safe to say James and I were mightily impressed with how they had handled the change.

It sort of feels like I am living the dream. I have everything I have always wanted. A beautiful home, a man who treats me like I am princess and a great group of friends. I wish my mum and dad were here, but I know they would be proud of me for creating the life I had always wanted. Liam and Anna had also visited the house and had stayed for dinner. It felt very adult to have a dinner party with my brother and his wife, but it was nice to see James and Liam getting on well.

Life, however, was about to become a lot more hectic as today was the first day of our order training. We all received a very cryptic message last week form Moody that when we deciphered it, it revealed the location of our training. Since we hadn't been before we couldn't apparate and we couldn't use the floo network as it would leave a trace. This meant we were going to have to fly. Myself, Lily and Peter were not the best flyers. Remus was pretty good, so he was going to fly himself. Sirius was going to take Peter on his bike so that meant Lily and I were going to fly on the back of Kayla and James' brooms. I had flown with James before so wasn't too bothered, Lily on the hand was shitting it.

We flew to some abandoned looking building just outside of London, it didn't look like anybody had been there for years. We all stood looking at the building when Moody appeared in front of us. He handed Peter a piece of paper
"read it, memorise it, pass it on" He commanded. I read the paper when it got to me

Headquarters to the order of the phoenix – the old mill inn, Surrey, London

Doing as Moody said I passed the paper to James, when I turned to look back at the building, I was shocked to see it wasn't run down at all and was in fact in very good condition. It must be the fidaleous charm.

Moody lead us into the building and sat us down in a room that had an extremely long table. We all took a seat as few other people walked into the room, stood facing us.
"I hope you ready for the most intense week of your lives" Moody said. We all sat up a little straighter "myself and few of my guys are about to take you through a training course that normally takes three years but we have took the highlights and shoved into a week" Bloody hell 3 years in one week, I knew this would be intense but I wasn't expecting that.
"this week you will be trained on concealment and disguise, stealth and tracking, poisons and antidotes, battle instinct and best laid plans, duelling in the dark and resilience training".

"Williams" Moody snapped at me bringing me out of my thoughts "spilt the group into two teams" the way he said it me made me feel like this was some kind of test. I thought for a moment trying to think how best to split everyone.
"Team one. James, Lily, Lucy and Remus. Team two. Me, Kayla, Sirius and Peter" I said with as much confidence as I could. Moody nodded at me
"exactly how I would have done it. Well done" I let out a sigh of relief.
"you have 10 minuets and then I want team one outside and team two I want you in the room that's straight out of here on the left" he said before leaving the room with his people following behind him.

"why didn't you put us on the same team?" James asked me almost instantly
"I wanted to James, but I knew Moody wouldn't allow it. If we were on the same team, part of us would always be focusing on the each other. It's safer if we both give our whole focus to the task at hand. It's the same reason I put Lily and Kayla and Remus and Sirius on opposite teams" he nodded knowing I was right
"is that why I also have Lucy and you have Sirius?" he asked. I nodded at him
"Plus, if you can't have me, Lucy is the next best thing. I know she will look out for you" James smiled at me and placed a kiss on my forehead
"I better go love, try to have a good day and we can talk about everything at home tonight"
"you too. I love you James" I gave him a quick peck
"I love you too sunshine"

We made our way into the room and it had a much smaller table in it and in front of the four seats were mirrors. There was also another single table in the room with no mirror. We each took a seat as one of Moody's people walked in shutting the door behind her. She was a small woman maybe in her mid 30's and she had a large scar running diagonally across her left eye
"you will be working on concealment and disguise" she said handing us each a picture of someone I didn't recognise, I glanced over a Peter and he had a different photo to me.
"now I know professor McGonagall will have started to teach you human transfiguration with spell such as 'crinus muto' but you will need to know how to change more than just your eyebrow colour if you are ever doing some work where you don't want to be recognised. The premise to change other parts of your body is the same. Like everything in transfiguration, the visualisation of the end product is key. In terms of spells and wand movements" she paused to throw a Latin to English dictionary down on the table
"wand movement is the same as 'crinus muton' for all of these types of spells. To change it from eyebrows to the size of your nose for example you would simply change the word crinus to nasus, which is Latin for nose" she then proceeded to demonstrate by making her normally petite nose much larger before casting the counter spell to change it back.
"your tasks it change yourself to look like the picture in front of you. We are starting you off easy with someone who look vaguely similar to how you look now but once you complete this to a standard I see fit you will then be given another picture that doesn't have as many similarities to you. We will keep doing this until you show no resemblance to yourself. Do you have any questions?" she asked. We all shook our heads
"very well, when you think you have succeeded at creating the photo come to me and I will judge it for you" She said before walking over to single table and pulled out some paperwork and began working.

Sirius was getting on everyone tits. He was naturally quite good at transfigurations so was flying through the photos and boy did he brag about it. Kayla and I were also doing pretty decently, we had a bit of trouble with changing our eye colour, but we were getting there. Peter was also doing okay, not flying through it like Sirius, but he was pretty good.

Sirius walked past me almost unrecognisable at this point, if it wasn't for the fact his frame and voice had stayed the same, I might not have recognised him
"see this Em, it's the last picture. You have another 2 to go, don't you? Do you need some pointers" I bit my tongue not biting at his taunting comments knowing my moment would come when we did the poisons and antidotes aspect of the training.
"I wouldn't be so cocky Black, you may be quickest, but you still need to complete that picture and it involves full body transformation. There is plenty of time for the other to catch up" Amanda, which we have learnt is the name of the women who is training us, said wiping the smirk off Sirius's face.

Like Amanda had suggested we did all catch up to Sirius. Turned out changing your height was ridiculously difficult. I was getting rather frustrated when I watched Peter grown about 3 inches beside me. I turned grinning at him, he looked completely different. Aside from the fact he was now taller, he was also very lanky. His hair was a very dark brown and very short. His whole face was also completely different right down to a mole he had above his eyebrow
"you did it Pete!" he gave me a warm smile
"I guess you're not the best after all Pads" he said smirking at Sirius who slammed his wand down on the table in frustration.

I was next to get it, followed by Kayla and much to all our delights Sirius was last. Amanda looked at us all proudly
"you did good today Kids, some people in the training program don't ever get it. I am really impressed, I guess Dumbledore wasn't kidding when he said he had recruited his best students" She gave us all a nod of approval before taking out her wand and waving it in front of each of us sending us back to our normal selves which I was glad about because I really couldn't be bothered doing each counter spell.
"holly shit it's six o'clock" Sirius said looking at his wrist. That meant we had been in this room for eight hours. Amanda did bring us all a sandwich a while ago at what I am now assuming was lunch time, but I couldn't believe it had been that long. Amanda laughed at us
"I am just going to go see where Moody is at with the other group. Go wait in the briefing room for now" She said dismissing us

Not long later Moody came back with the rest of our friends, they all look shattered. James made his way over to me sinking into the seat next to mine before flopping his head on my shoulder
"my whole body is aching" he complained while I patted his knee in support. Moody was talking in hushed tones with Amanda before he turned back to us
"you did good today. I must say, you exceed my expectation. When Dumbledore told me, we were taking on a bunch of teenagers straight out of Hogwarts, I wasn't keen on the idea but from what I have seen today and what Amanda has told me. There might be hope for you yet. Go home and be here same time tomorrow" He said dismissively before stalking out the room

Back home I was making dinner for James and I while he sat at the kitchen island talking about his day. James had done stealth and tracking training today. Moody had planted an object in the woods, and they had to track it down. He said Moody taught them a new spell, 'appare vestigium' which would reveal recent traces of magic. Whilst tracking the item they had to stay out of sight of Moody and his people. If they were spotted, they were stunned and the whole task was started again, and the object was moved. James said it was a lot of running around in the woods, so he was pretty tired. I told him about concealment and disguised triaing, he laughed when I told him about Sirius.
"its weird though Em, because I will find myself enjoying doing these task but then every so often I will remember why we are doing the training and the stuns that Moody was throwing at me won't be as friendly in real life" James said as we sat eating dinner, soft music playing in the background
"I know what you mean. It's so easy to forget what happens after this week but I think if we just give it our all and ask as many questions as we can, we will hopefully be a bit better equipped" James nodded and reached across the table to hold my hand.
"as long as we always come home to each other that's all that matters" We went to bed pretty early, both wanting to be well rested for tomorrow.

The next day we switched training and it was now my turn to do the stealth and tracking training. James really wasn't kidding when he said you did a lot of running. We did use Peter to our advantage though getting him to turn into a rat and scurry around and report back where moody and his team were. Kayla was shocked to learn Peter was Animagus but what shocked us more was that Moody already knew. We found that out when Moody handed Sirius a stunned rat. That evening at home the roles were reversed, and James made dinner while I rested. Luckily for me Moody had told me that my group would be working on poisons and antidotes tomorrow, so it would be an easier day for me. James had the morning off tomorrow as his group would be learning how to duel in the dark which meant James had to stay up late tonight so he could sleep through the day tomorrow. Whereas I was exhausted and fell asleep on the couch while watching a movie as James played with my hair

We were back in the room we were in on Monday, but the mirrors had been replaced with cauldrons and potion ingredients. A new trainer, Mark, walked into the room
"you each have in front of you the ingredients and instruction to make one of following antidotes. Anti-venom, anti-paralysis, the antidote to vertisarum and antidote to common poisons. Once you have brewed the antidotes and I suggested you do it well. You will each be poisoned and the antidotes you are creating will be used. You will not be poisoned with the poison you are creating the antidote for, so try not to kill your friends. Once that task is complete, I will take you through a bit of theory on how to identify certain poisons. You have 4 hours to complete your antidotes" he explained before going to sit at the single table, and like Amanda had on our first day, started to do some paperwork.

Sirius, Peter and Kayla were not good at potions, so I was helping them. A lot. I thought Mark might complain but he didn't seem to comment. I had the antidote for vertisarum which was quite a tricky potion to make, even for me. We were all deep in concentration so much so Sirius was even being quiet. When time was up Mark walked around each of our cauldrons taking a vile.
"let's hope you're as good as they say you are Williams, otherwise your friends might be feeling very unwell soon. As for the rest of you, what would you have done if little miss potions weren't around?" I did not like Mark. He had been making snarky remarks to me all day. Considering we were all a part of the same team he wasn't much of a team player
"alright mate gives it a rest. We are training for a reason. Other than Em, we haven't made a potion in two years" Sirius said defending himself. Mark narrowed his eyes at Sirius
"Best hope your little so-called potions genius is always around then hadn't you Black"
"what is your problem?" Kayla snapped at him
"My problem Bankole, is that I have work for years to be the fucking potions master around here and now I am going to be replace by an 18-year-old. Sorry if I am sceptical that some kid is better than me, who has had years of training" I started laughing at him
"your seriously jealous? How pathetic? In case you haven't noticed Mark, we are here training to be part of a war. There a bigger issue going on than your ego" I said to him with such venom. He rolled his eyes at me before storming out the room

I thought we might have gotten lucky and Mark had gone to swap with someone else, but he had just gone to get the poisons. He got me to take some spider venom which Kayla had brewed the antidote for. Certain types of spider venom can cause you to lose your sight and if not cured quickly you can permanently lose your sight. Kayla stood anxiously in front of me holding the antidote ready to give it me quickly after I took the venom
"what if it doesn't work Em?" she said quietly to me
"it will Kay. You brewed it perfectly and if for some unknown reason it doesn't work whatever happens won't be your fault" I smiled at her, but she didn't look any better.
"what's the hold up. Get on with it" I glared at Mark before uncapping the poison and downing it. The effects were almost instant, I was completely blind
"you okay Em?" Kayla asked from beside me
"yep just can't see. Please can you give me the antidote" I said trying to stay calm for Kayla's sake. I felt her move closer to me and I parted my lips so she could issue the antidote. I tasted the horrible liquid trickle down my throat. Just like the poison the effects were pretty instant, my vison started to come back like a fog was lifting. I turned and smiled at Kayla once I could fully see.
"you did it Kay, I can see perfectly fine" She grinned at me before pulling me in for a hug.

Sirius was taking vertisarum. He took the potion and Mark instructed him to try and lie so we could test the potion was working
"how many fingers am I holding up?"
"3" Sirius responded to Mark instantly and correctly
"What's your full name?"
"Sirius Orion Black"
"who are you in love with?" Mark really was a dick. You could see Sirius try to fight it, but he had no choice but the say the truth
"Remus Lupin" Mark smirked at him before turning to me
"give him the antidote Williams" I walked over to Sirius and handed him the antidote which he took while glaring daggers at Mark. Mark then asked Sirius the same three questions this time he was able to lie.

That evening I only got see James for dinner before he had to rush out to training. I told him about Mark and to say James was pissed was an understatement. I suspected Mark was in for an eventful day tomorrow with James. Since I had duelling in the dark tomorrow, I needed to say awake so decided to read my book. I was pleasantly surprised when Kayla showed up as it was nice to have a bit of company

"how are you doing Kay?" I asked her while we both sat on the couch with a glass of wine. Kayla along with Peter worried me the most but for completely different reason. Kayla was more than capable in a battle and she wasn't afraid to fight like Peter was, what worried me with Kayla was how much she was bottling things up, her mood was changing and she was no longer her light a bubbly self but unlike the rest of us, where we would scream or cry or break a few things, Kayla seemed to keep it all locked away.
"I am alright" She said quietly. I gave her look so she knew I wasn't buying that bullshit. She sighed before taking a long sip of her wine
"I am so use to being all sunshine's and rainbows all the time and I am still trying to stay positive but it's really hard when all I want be is thunderstorm" strange analogy but it made sense. I didn't comment, instead waiting for her to continue

"Lily is an emotional wreck at the minuet she has mood swings like there is no tomorrow, I am trying to be there for her. Don't get me wrong she has also been an amazing support system for me. It's just at the moment she needs me to be strong for her. So, I am trying to stay happy, but I am so worried all the time. My dad and his parents are going to America after this week. Me and mum talked about it since they are muggles, they will be targeted, especially now I am a part of the order it's like I am asking for them to be hurt. I wanted my mum to go with them, but she won't leave because I won't. I will never forgive myself if something happens to her because of me. Then I am just genuinely terrified about fighting in a war but I know it needs to be done and I want to help, but that doesn't mean I am not scared. Its all just a bit much at the moment"

I shuffled closer to Kayla and held her hand.
"you have a lot on your plate Kay and I can understand that you maybe don't want to talk to Lily about it all because you don't want to worry her or make things worse. I kind of feel the same. I almost didn't tell James about Mark today as I knew he would fly of the handles which he did, but it was really helpful for me to vent to him and have him hold me as I did. But there are something I don't want to tell him. Like I haven't told him how shit scared I am to be fighting because I already know he is worried about me and I don't want to make it worse. It's a tough line to balance but you can't keep it all bottled up or you're going to explode. So how about you tell me all the stuff you want to tell Lily, but you can't, and I will tell you all the stuff I want to tell James but can't" she smiled at me and gave my hand a small squeeze
"it really sucks being an adult doesn't it?" I laughed at her
"I think we might need more wine"

Chapter 57 Chapter Text

As predicted the following day when James had training with Mark it did not go well. Eventually moody intervened dismissing Mark for his behaviour yesterday and he took over the training. James did also get reprimanded for his lack of respect to higher ups, but he didn't give a shit. Duelling in the dark was really beneficial. I didn't realise how different it would be to duel at night, you really had to rely on your other senses and use the moonlight to your advantage.

Today Moody had brought us all into the briefing room as we would all be having battel instincts and best laid plans training. Moody marched into the room commanding the space as he did.
"new pairings today. When I say your names go to the trainer I specified. Evans and Bankole you're with Amanda. Pettigrew and Vixen you're with Mark. Lupin and Black you're with Evan and Potter and Williams you're with me" James beamed at me, but I couldn't help notice how intentional the pairing were and that gave me a sinking feeling. Lucy had become very protective over Peter. It was an unlikely friendship none of us saw coming but they seemed happy to be paired together. Remus and Sirius were rather awkward while Lily and Kayla looked just as happy as James.

Moody brought us to the edge of the forest and stood in front of James and I. Behind us were two more auror's who we hadn't met before.
"I will be taking one of you captive to an unknown location somewhere in the woods. Your task will be to use what you have been taught so far to conduct a rescue mission. You will be fully in charge of the rescue operation and therefor will need to use your instincts to help you plan the operation. If you do not get to me withing the hour the captive will have the cruciatus curse used on them" I visibly paled. The thought of that curse hitting James made me sick to my stomach. I now understood why we were paired together he wanted to add extra pressure to the situation.
"you need to be prepared for everything. If you fail the task we will reset and start again so I suggest you get it right the first time otherwise the captive is going to be in a lot of pain until you get it right. Once you have completed the task we will reset and change the captive. So, which one of you wants to go first?"

James and I looked at each other. He had gone very pale and looked incredibly nervous. I took his hand in mine
"I will go first I don't mind, and I promise I will do everything I can to get to you in time" He shook his head at me
"I don't like this Em"
"I know James but this could be a real situation we get put in and we need to be prepared. No matter what happens today I love you and that's not going to change. I trust you with my life James. I know we can do this" he rested his head against my forehead
"I love you" He said softly just resting his head for a moment before he pulled away
"guess I am your captive then" he said to moody who immediately took James and apparated away. I turned around to see the two other auror had gone, I guessed that meant they would be out there somewhere trying to stop me. I looked down at my watch noting the time. One hour to go.

I had managed to track a source of magic into the woods, but I was very exposed, I cast the disillusion charm as I made my way close to the source of the magic. I still tried to stay relatively hidden in case the charm wore off. I had tracked them down to a cabin in the woods which I assumed was where they were keeping James. I could see one of the auror's patrolling outside the permitter. If I could get close enough to him, I would be able to stun him without him evening knowing I was there. I quickly cast the silencing charm on myself as well so he wouldn't be able to hear my footsteps or my breath. I stood waiting for him to walk towards me. When he was close enough, I wordlessly cast a stunning spell and caught the man just in time before he fell to the floor. I quickly cast the disillusion charm on him so his friend wouldn't see I hadn't taken him out and know I was here.

I couldn't see much through the window of the cabin but thought I would be best to go through the window instead of the door as it might give more of an element of surprise. I quickly glanced down at my watch I had 30 minuets left so needed to get a move on. I dissolved the glass in the window and climbed into the cabin. Once inside the disillusion charm had worn off but when I tried to re cast it, it wouldn't work I groaned realising there must be some kind of charm that washed away the disillusion charm when I got inside. I moved over to the door and creaked it open to look out. Outside this room led to a corridor which had two rooms coming off it. Both doors were shut. I carefully moved out the room and made my way to the first door and pressed my ear to it, but I couldn't hear anything. I cast Sonorus on the door to remove any silencing charms. When I listened this time, I could hear James saying my name. Not knowing what I was going to face when I opened the door I decided to approach with caution. I unlocked the door and immediately cast protego as I opened the door to avoid any curse thrown my way, but I was shocked to find only James in the room.

James grinned at me when he saw me and started walking towards me, but something just didn't feel right. I don't know if it was the way he smiled didn't quite look right or the fact Moody wasn't in here with him. Before James could get to me, I cast incasorus on him before turning around locking the door and casting the silencing charm
"Emily what are you doing?" there was another thing not quite right. James never really called me Emily it was either Em, Sunshine or Love
"Prove to me your James and I will let you go" I said sternly pointing my wand at not James
"your being ridiculous, let me go. You did it you got here in time I am really proud of you" I narrowed my eyes at him.
"where is my birthmark?" I asked not James. he furrowed his eyebrows at me
"on your back of course" got him. I quickly stunned not James knocking him out. I didn't have a birth mark.

Knowing I had now taken out both the auror's that left Moody and I was assuming he would be in the other room. Moody was bloody phenomenal fighter, so I needed to be smart about going in there because he would out power me if we got into fighting. I quickly snuck back to the first auror I had left outside removing the charm on him. I studied his appearance and used what Amanda taught us on Monday to change my appearance. My voice would still be my own so I wouldn't be able to speak but it might get me in the room with moody and give me enough of a chance to catch him off guard. I looked at my watch I had 10 minuets so it better work.

Entering through the main door this time I walked into the cabin, pleased to see this time my spell hadn't been washed off. I paused taking a deep breath before opening the door. I was right Moody had his wand pointed at a tied-up James his eyes glued to his watch. He immediately spun around and pointed his wand at me but lowered it slightly when he saw that it was one of his guys. He was about to ask what I was doing when I quickly and wordlessly sunned him knocking him out. I raced over to James still looking like the auror. I quickly waved my wand like Amanda taught us to change myself back. I pointed my wand at James
"what was my bogart 6th year exam" I had only ever told James about that
"your friends and family dying. They looked like they had been poisoned and were throwing up blood" I let out a breath of relief quickly untying James before grabbing him and apparating us back to headquarters. I took a quick look at my watch I had two minutes to spare

Once we were back James pulled me into a hug
"you did it love, not that I doubted you for one second. I love you so much sunshine. Thank you" I tilted my head back giving him a kiss.
"alright enough of that" Moody said as he walked into the room the two auror's following behind him
"good job Williams. Impressive stuff. It's your turn now Potter let see if you're as good as your girlfriend" Moody said before grabbing my arm and apparating us away.

I was in a different cabin to where I had found James. Moody had already tied me up and was sat opposite me
"you're just like your parents" He said to me out of the blue. Until now we had been in silence
"you have the same fire and logical thinking as your mum but your heart and the way you conduct yourself is all your dad and from what I have seen so far you fight just as well as they did" I was a bit taken aback Moody wasn't the type to pay compliments
"I regret what happened to them. I sent them on that mission. We had intel that the death eaters knew we were planning to hit their hideout, but I thought your parents would handle it. They were ambushed. If only I had taken one more second to think the situation over and send some more people with them. Who knows what could have happened" This was the first time I was getting any real details about my parents death. I knew they were ambushed but the fact their death could have been prevented, that hurt. I was quiet for a moment thinking about what to say, thinking about what my parents would say if they were still here. I could hate Moody for not sending extra people with them, but my parents were bloody good at what they did so I could understand why he thought they would handle it. Also, who is to say even if they sent others my parents would have survived. Plus, we are in a war, decision have to be made, I made the decisions as to which teams we are on, who's to say that decision won't have consequences.
"It's not your fault they died. The only people to blame for their death are death eaters and Voldemort. We can honour their memory by doing everything we can to bring them down" Moody lips turned up at the corners as he shook his head at me
"you really are a remarkable young woman Emily" Holy shit that might be the best compliment I have ever had. The Alastor Moody thinks I am remarkable.

We have about 5 minutes to go for James to find me I don't doubt he is going to get here in time, but I could let Moody did. Luckily for me James blew the door off the hinges and sent it flying into Moody knocking him to the ground. James held his wand up at me, just as I had
"what was my bogart 6th year exams?" he asked copying me. It was only as I went to answer I realised James had lived his bogart the day I got attacked at Hogsmeade
"I got hit by the cruciatus cure until I passed out. They then went to attack Sirius, but you stopped the bogart before then" I answered. James instantly untied me and apparated us back headquarters. As soon as we were back, he kissed me deeply
"never doubted you for a second" I said pulling away from him
"are you two never not all over each other?" Moody said walking into the room
"not if I can help it. What can I say Moody we are young and in love" James said tugging me into his side.

Moody let us go after going through our performance noting things we did well and things we could improve on. When we go back home, we made some lunch together and talked about how we each managed to find the other and I told James what Moody said about my parents
"I was so worried when I was the tracker but when I was captured, I was completely relaxed because I knew you would find me" I smiled at him hugging his waist
"me too, like I said I never doubted you for a second" We stood in the kitchen for a moment just holding each other
"do you want to come see the others with me? I want to check they are okay" I asked
"I was thinking the exact same thing love"

Moments later we had apparated to outside my old house. James nocked on the door and Lily answered, she looked okay which was a relief
"oh good your both here I was just about to send you an owl to see if you wanted to come over. Come in" She led us into the living room where the whole group was including Peter and Remus
"are you all okay?" I asked as soon as we got in the room. Remus tiltiled his head back to answer me
"we are good Em we all got rescued in time" Thank Merlin for that. I left James side and went to sit next to Lucy on the couch
"you should have seen Pete Em. He took out that prick Mark like it was nothing" Peter scoffed at Lucy
"ha like you didn't jinx him so he was eating slugs rather than just stunning him" I laughed at the pair. I was glad Mark was getting some well-deserved karma
"how about a good a movie night? We haven't had one with us all in a while. Me and the boys can go get some pizza or something?" James suggested the group agreeing. I grabbed James hand before he left
"be careful please. I love you" he gave me a quick peck
"always am Sunshine and I love you too"

The next day was our last day of training and today was resilience training. We had each been paired with one of Moody's people, luckily for me I had Amanda who had become my favourite over this week. Sirius was not as pleased to have been paired with Moody.
"okay Emily, today I am going to use legilimency to access your thoughts and you are going to first try and push me out and when you have mastered that we are going to work on you manipulating the thoughts I see. I won't lie it will be very tiring for you and some of the thoughts I am going to try and see won't be pleasant. I am not doing this to upset you I just would rather you experience the worst in a safe environment than if a death eater got you. That being said if you do need a break just let me know okay?" I nodded but became nervous

Amanda aimed her wand at me and muttered the spell. I was immediately taken back to the day in dumbledores office finding out my parents had died but I wasn't just seeing it, I felt all the emotion I felt that day and it was awful. I was fighting to try and change the memory or just make my mind blank, but I was struggling. It was only when she progressed to poke around in my mind the moment James found me having a panic attack. Feeling that same wave of panic, I got so angry that I manged to throw Amanda out of my mind. When I returned to normal, I was panting.
"that was good for your first attempt Emily. When you're ready we are going to try again but I want you to channel your emotion into blocking me out just as you did when you got angry. I find it helps me to imagine myself pushing but it can be quite hard to do as you will be in a vision" I took a deep breath

"okay I am ready"
This time when Amanda entered my thoughts it was to the date, I had with James at Hogwarts the one where we slept together for the first time. I felt incredibly embarrassed. Taking her advice, I tried to channel that embarrassment and imagined myself throwing it at her. I need to get a move on, or she was going to see parts of me, and James I definitely didn't want her to see. Instead of focusing on my embarrassment I focused on the love I felt for James and used that to push at her. To my surprise it worked.
"much better! Always try and focus on the emotion you feel strongest it will work quicker. If you had kept going with embarrassment it would have worked but your love for James is strong use that to your advantage" she smiled at me

"okay so next time I go into your mind it's going to be a bit different I am going to go through your memories of one person so it won't just be one memory so it may be a bit hard to focus but try and find an underlying emotion to anchor on to" As I thought she was looking at my memories with Lucy. It flashed through the highlights of our friendship right from when we met on the train. It showed the highs and the lows of us growing up. I found myself smiling seeing the slideshow of memories before I remembered I was meant to kick Amanda out. Channelling all my emotions again I kicked her out
"I think you have mastered being able to get someone out of your mind so now what I want you to do is to try and stop me all together. Lots of people do this by imagining a brick wall being built around their mind. So, close your eyes imagine that and when you're ready nod your head"

I did as she said and nodded. It was a weird felling it sort of felt like someone had a pencil and was poking my head it didn't hurt but it was irritating
"Great Emily you can open your eyes now" as I did, I saw Amanda raise her wand again and quickly try to enter my mind. I quickly through the wall up in my mind but was able to keep my eyes open. Amanda didn't stop trying to enter my mind as she spoke
"that's it. Most of the time you won't expect someone to try and get in your mind, so I needed to see how you did when you weren't prepared" She was still trying to get in
"you need to act as if you're not trying Emily, that way the person won't know your actively trying to block them. So, tell me your full name, your age, your favourite colour and your house" I was quiet for a moment making sure I wouldn't lose my wall I had built whilst I spoke
"Emily Violet Williams, 18, Yellow and Ravenclaw" I watched Amanda lower her wand and I felt the poking go away.

"Okay last time Emily but this time I want you to let me in but I want you to manipulate what I am seeing you can do this by just thinking about changing the details of the memory again channel your emotions to do it. I am going to look in your mind for something you deem to be a secret which is what most people do when trying to read you mind. Let me know when you're ready" I had two big secrets. Remus being a werewolf which I am pretty sure most people already knew so that wouldn't be that big a deal. The other was Regulus being a death eater which I definitely didn't want Amanda to know about. I had planned to speak to Dumbledore when I get a moment on my own with him to let him know that I strongly believed Regulus was going to want out one day and I was hoping Dumbledore would help me when that time came.

I was right Amanda had taken us to me finding Regulus in the bathroom. My first hurdle would be when I grab his arm and try pull his sleeve. I successfully managed to change that to me holding his hand. I changed our conversation slightly to one I had with regulus often about if he needed me, he could always talk to me. I even managed to skip complete parts of the conversation. The memory I was giving Amanda was bit choppy but a least it didn't reveal he was a death eater. She left my mind and looked me with a thoughtful look

"I assume that's not actually how the conversation went" I shook my head
"who is he?"
"Regulus Black, he is a good friend of mine and Sirius's brother" she nodded at me
"you did really well Emily it was a little choppy I could tell you skipped out parts of the conversation, but it was good. I am really impressed" I let out a sigh of relief that she wasn't going to question me on Regulus more

Moody got us all back into the briefing room after we were done with training. I watched my friends walk in, all a bit deflated.
"you have all done well this week but that doesn't mean you can now all relax. You were not aimed at with the killing curse this week, but I guarantee you will be when you come into contact with the death eaters. You need to have constant vigilance not just when you out on order business but in your everyday lives. Each of you now has a target on you back. Be careful, trust your instincts and trust each other" he looked around the group
"you will all be on the same shift patterns. You have next week off except for Williams and Bankole you will be expected to attend the strategy meeting next Wednesday at 7pm. Then you will all attend your first order meeting the following week and we will give you your assignments. Until then remember what I said constant vigilance" and just like that we were all official members of the order of the phoenix.

Chapter 58 Chapter Text

James pov

Moody had brought Emily and Kayla in for a planning meeting. Mainly because Em was good at that sort of thing and Kayla was had one foot in the muggle world and one foot in the wizarding. The timing happened to work in my favour, so I called a group meeting at Em's old house. Everyone, including Peter and Remus, was sat in the living area looking at me with interest. "firstly, thank you all for coming"
"we live here mate, you came to us" Sirius interrupted me
"well, thank you all for taking the time to listen to me, then" Sirius nodded at me happy, with the change in my speech
"I wanted to ask for your help with something. It's something I have been considering for a while but after the last few months, I have never been more certain of anything in my life. I am going to ask Em to marry me"

The reaction was instant. Lily and Sirius burst into tears while Remus and Peter were grinning at me
"it's about time mate" Remus said getting up and giving me a hug
"yeah you waited long enough" Peter said doing the same
"honestly, I would have asked her ages ago, but I wanted us to be out of school first and then we bought the house, and everything just go so busy" I explained my reasons for asking her now. The boys moved out of the way so Lucy could come over to me. She shocked me by giving me a hug
"your perfect for her Potter, just keep making her happy" Lucy and I had come a long way since we first met and her approval of me marrying Em meant the world to me. Then there was Lily and Sirius who were crying messes but had massive smiles on their faces
"I am so glad you're finally going to ask her! You two are just the dream" Lily said
"I am so proud of you Prongs. Emily is literally your dream girl and now she is officially going to be part of our family" I laughed at them
"she has to say yes first" The whole group started laughing at me
"I don't think you have anything to worry about Potter. She is obsessed with you" Lucy said patting my back before moving back to her seat

Once everyone had calmed down Lily moved into planning mode. She brought out a flip chart from her room and stood in front of us all as she began writing a plan on the board
"Okay when are you planning to pop the question?"
"Friday" She let out a little gasp
"but its Wednesday evening, that only gives us a day and a half"
"it will be fine Lily, he can't do anything too over the top anyway. Since we are keeping a low profile" Lucy said calming Lily down
"I want to do it our back garden. Our house is so special to us. We bought it with the intention of starting our own journey there, together. It just feels right to do this bit of our story there" I explained, and Sirius started to blubber next to me.
"come on pads keep it together" Wormy said patting his leg.
"okay, back garden it is. What is the set up going to be like?" Lily asked as she began writing stuff on the board
"Lots of sunflowers and candles. I also am going to need a flower bed I can plant sunflower seeds in, but I don't know where to start with that." Lily waved me off
"Kayla will handle that for you. We have loads of candles between here and your house that we can use, so that's fine. You can transfigure sunflowers, right?" I nodded at her
"I can as well, so I can help with that" Remus added. Lily clapped her hands together
"this is so exciting! Okay next question, do you have a ring" I grinned and pulled out the ring I had in my back pocket. Everyone moved closer so they could see.
"it was her mums engagement ring. Em, got her mums whole jewellery collection so when Liam came around last month, I had Anna distract Em while Liam showed me which one was the right ring" this time Sirius wasn't alone with his tears most of the groups eyes had become glossy.
"She will love that James" Lily said admiring the ring

After hashing out a few more details about the actual proposal such as the time I wanted to do it, if we needed to make any considerations about the weather and any other little details that came to Lily's mind. We began working on the plan to get Emily away from the house while we set everything up.
"I could get my mum to invite her round. She already knows I am planning on proposing so she won't mind helping out" I suggested
"Yeah I can go with her, make sure she doesn't come home early" we all turned to look at Sirius
"what?" he asked us all
"you're not very good at lying pads. I think we are just a bit worried you might get over excited and let something slip" he gasped dramatically at me
"I wouldn't dare" Lucy rolled her eyes at him
"I will go with them. Then if he does say anything I will cover" now that I could get on bored with. Lily also liked the sound of that as she wrote in on the board
"Okay so here is the plan. Sirius and Lucy pick up Emily after breakfast and take her to James's parents' house"
"I will come around for breakfast. That way I can help her pick an outfit, so she doesn't get engaged in her sweats" Sirius said and Lily snapped her fingers at him
"great idea Sirius! Okay, so once Em is out the house, James sends word to us and that's when we spring into action. Kayla will organise the flower bed for you, while you and Remus start on all the sunflowers. Peter and I will work on getting all the candles together and help you with the final set up. Then at 7pm, when it's dark enough for the candles to look good but not too dark you lose the effect of the flowers. Lucy will excuse herself and apparate back to us to make sure everything is ready before going back the Potters. Lucy and Sirius will then walk Em back to her house, where they will leave her at the front door. James then does his thing while I am secretly taking photos in the kitchen. We all give them a minuet before we all appear and pop the champagne. Everybody understand?" Thank Merlin for Lily Evans and her superb organisational skills. We all nodded, and I was now bubbling with excitement. I was one step closer to marrying the love of my life.

Emily pov

The strategy meeting went well on Wednesday, I even got to see Minnie which was nice. Dumbledore just mainly wanted me there for my opinions on what sort of mission I think my friends should be on and Kayla was there as Moody had planned for her to be part of the team that protects the muggle prime minister.

Yesterday James I just chilled together spending most of the day watching movies. James had been extra affectionate over the last few days not that I was complaining. Like now, I had just woken up to find he was already awake, and he was affectionally playing with my hair.
"morning sunshine" he said give me a quick peck
"How long have you been up?" he just shrugged
"not long, I was just enjoying the show" I laughed at him giving him another quick peck
"we better get up before Sirius gets here" Mia had written to me yesterday asking if I wanted to go round for tea with her and Sirius. I immediately said yes as I hadn't seen Mia or Monty for 2 weeks. Not long after I sent my reply to Mia, we got another letter which was Sirius inviting himself to breakfast. I was impressed he let us know in advance.

By the time I was out of the shower Sirius was already here and James had already started cooking breakfast
"James you should let me do breakfast, you cooked dinner last night" I said walking into the kitchen giving Sirius a kiss on the cheek in greeting before moving over to where James was making pancakes
"it's okay love, we all know your pancake flipping needs some work" I rolled my eyes at him
"alright then Potter teach me" James handed me the frying pan and moved so he was stood behind me and wrapped his hand around mine. It was the cheesiest move in the book, but I loved it. He guided me through flipping the pancake.
"I did it!" I grinned turning to look at James over my shoulder
"well done Sunshine" James was about to give me a kiss when we heard Sirius sniffling. I moved out of James arms and went over to Sirius
"what wrong? Did something happen with Remus?" I asked confused why he was crying
"No, nothing like that. I think it just hay fever" its September. I turned to look at James and he just shrugged at me but didn't seem concerned, so I let it go. We all ate breakfast together as I told Sirius about the order meeting I went to the other day.

"what are you wearing to go the Potters?" Sirius asked me. I looked down at my leggings and jumper I had on.
"what I am currently wearing?" I said confused. Sirius shook his head at me.
"come on, we are going to play dress up" Sirius said before dragging me up to mine and James room. He had selected the white floaty top that ties at the front that I had worn on my first date with James and a red corduroy skirt. I came out of the bathroom to show him the outfit
"that's the one" he beamed at me
"Sirius, its September. Do you not think this is more of a summer outfit" he waved me off.
"you're a witch cast the warming charm on yourself if you get cold. This is what your wearing today" he said before going over to the box where I keep all my bows
"which one is the one James got you?" I moved next to him and picked it out
"do your half up half down thing and put that in. Then we can think about makeup" I was not enjoying being Sirius dress up doll.

When Sirius was finally happy with my look, which to be fair I did look pretty good, we made our way back down to James only to find him in the kitchen with Lucy.
"hey, I was just about to head to James' parents. Did you need something?" I asked her as I got closer
"no, not really, i was just coming to see if you wanted to hang out. I guess I could go to the Potters" she shrugged. Mia wouldn't mind Lucy tagging along so it wouldn't be an issue
"alright then shall we get going?" both Sirius and Lucy stood up
"see you later James, love you" I said causally. Right before I could head to the door to walk to the Potter's house James asked me to hang on. He jogged around the counter to me and pulled me into a hug
"I love you so much Em" He said before giving me a soft kiss. We pulled away and he just stood looking at me, smiling. Yet again I was distracted by the sound of Sirius sniffling
"sorry, sorry. It's my allergies" Lucy rolled her eyes at him before grabbing his arm and dragged him out the front door. I turned to look back at James
"you know how much you mean to me right?" I furrowed my eyebrows at him where had this come from
"of course, James. You show me every day. Is everything okay?" I asked a bit worried, but he just gave me another kiss
"everything is perfect. Now go have a good time with my mum and I will see you tonight. I love you" I let go of him and walked over the front door so I could walk to his mums house
"I love you too"

Pretty much as soon as I finished my first cup of tea with Mia, Monty stole me away
"I wanted to show you something. I was writing Belby, you know the guy who invented wolfsbane. Told him we had been working on a project and look what he sent over" Monty said handing me a box. I looked in the box and stared pulling out bits of paper. As I read them I gasped.
"Is this all his notes on wolfsbane?" Monty grinned at me nodding
"it's his whole research. Start to finish. I was waiting for you to come round so we could go through it"
"well there is no time like the present. Let's get to it Monty" I said as I started pulling out the papers onto the work bench. Monty and I read through the research reading bits out loud to each other if we found something that was of interest or might be beneficial to our research. Only stopping because Mia had shouted us for lunch. Before I could go upstairs Monty stopped me
"you're a great girl Emily and I know I am not your dad but I love you like your my daughter and I am really proud of everything you're doing and I know your dad is too" I don't know where this came from but I instantly started tearing up and gave Monty a hug
"Thank you. That means so much to me. You and Mia mean so much to me" We heard someone come down the stairs to get us
"of for merlin sake" I heard Lucy huff from the stairs "come on your keeping Mia waiting" She said pulling me out of the hug with Monty and giving the older man a stern look.

After lunch Sirius and Lucy went out in the back garden to have a fly around and throw the quaffle between themselves. I had stayed inside with Mia who had gotten out the family photo albums and was showing me some pictures of James growing up. James was an adorable toddler. It seems he has always had a full head of messy curls and has been blind from the age of 3, evident by the cute little kid glasses he wore. It made me all fluttery thinking about if James and I are lucky enough to have kids what they would look like.
"James has always been a bit of a romantic even when he was little. He used to say 'mummy one day I am going to meet a princess and we are going to live in a castle' I think he also mentioned something about having a pet dragon as well" I laughed thinking of little James
"he might not have a dragon, but he found his princess Emily. Watching you two together has made my heart so happy. I couldn't have asked for him to find a better partner" Merlin the Potters were really trying to make me cry today.
"thank you, Mia. He really does make me the happiest person on earth. I couldn't ask for better. You raised him well" I said as she got teary eyed and pulled me in for a hug
"can you all stop being emotional please" Lucy fumed coming in from the garden causing Mia and I to break apart

We had been at the Potter's pretty much all day, but It was starting to get a bit darker now and I was missing James and wanted to go home but no one seemed to be moving.
"I am just going to go to the loo but then we probably should get going" Lucy said speaking my mind. When she left the room, Sirius started sniffling again
"alright Sirius, tell me what's wrong and don't use the bullshit allergy excuse" I said scooting closer to him
"nothing is wrong, I have just been felling emotional today. You mean the world to me Em and I just like spending time with you. Then seeing you and James, the two most important people in my life, all happy and in love this morning set me off. I guess I have just been a bit of wreck since" I wrapped my arm around Sirius
"James and I love you Sirius you mean a lot to us too" I said comforting him as he continued to sniffle on my shoulder. Lucy walked into the room and shook her head at Sirius.

We said our goodbyes to Monty and Mia who pulled me in for an extra tight hug before I left. I really had missed them, I needed to make more of an effort to visit. We walked back to my house in almost silence, which was weird for Lucy and Sirius. They would usually be bickering between themselves or talking my ear of about something. I turned and looked at them when we got to front door
"do you want to come for dinner? I don't know what we are having yet, but I am sure we can make enough for us all"
"No" they both said in unison before looking at each other. That was weird they would normally just welcome themselves to dinner but now that I have invited them, they don't want to come. I brushed it off since today had been a bit of a weird day anyway. Sirius stepped forward and hugged me tightly
"I am so happy you and James found each other" he whispered to me. I smiled at him as he pulled away. My weird day continued when Lucy hugged me. She never really hugged me for no reason
"thank you for being my person" she mumbled to me before pulling away. I looked her confused but she was just smiling at me. I looked between her and Sirius, baffled, but decided to just let it be for now. Maybe I could talk it over with James and he could shed some light on why everyone is being weird.
"alright, I guess I will see you later then" I said before turning and unlocking my front door

When I walked into the house it was a quiet. I could faintly hear music playing and it sounded like mine and James song, but I couldn't work out where it was coming from. I moved through the house to the kitchen expecting to maybe find James there but nothing. That was until a light outside the kitchen window caught my attention. When I looked through the window my eyes started to water, I moved to back door walking out in the garden to get a better look.

Our garden had been completely transformed. There was now a sea of sunflower's covering the grass, it looked very similar to the sunflower field James took me to on our first date. There was a pathway that was cleared of sunflowers that was lined with many candles. The pathway started at the back door and lead all the way up to where James was stood wearing his usual blue jeans and red converse with a crisp white shirt with the sleeves were rolled up. I quickly walked down the path to meet him. When I got closer, I noticed he was also glossy eyed.
"welcome home Sunshine" He said taking my hands in his when I was close to him
"you have been busy" I joked while smiling at him. He took a deep breath before sliding down on one knee, stealing the air straight out of my lungs as he did.

"Emily, right from the moment I sat next to you in potion, you've been the light that brightened every moment of my life. You never fail to make me smile, even at times where I don't think it is possible. Every smile you've shared, every word you've spoken somehow became the fabric of my soul. I've watched you become the incredible woman you are today, and with each passing day, my love for you has only grown"

"Through every challenged I have face you've been there, lifting me up, believing in me when I couldn't even believe in myself. You've given me a kind of love I could only have dreamed of. A love that's patient, understanding, and unwavering."

"My heart belongs to you Em, I can't help but imagine a future filled with endless possibilities, a future where we walk hand in hand, facing whatever challenges come our way together. So, Emily Williams, will you do me the honour of sharing your life with me, of making all my dreams come true? Will you marry me and make me the happiest man alive?"

I looked down at James on one knee, instantly dropping down so we on the same level. Tears in both our eyes.
"Yes, to building a future together. Yes, to loving you a little bit more every day. Yes, to everything and anything your willing to offer me. Yes, in this lifetime and the next. Yes James, a thousand times yes!"

James put the ring on my finger and my tears only got harder as I looked at the ring and saw it was my mum's . Once we were both standing, I instantly wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him in for a passionate kiss. The kiss was filled with so much love and admiration for each other. We pulled away both with biggest smiles on our faces

"I love you James"

"I love you too Sunshine"

After a few more moments of Kissing each other senseless, whilst swaying to our song James and I were nearly tackled to the ground by all our friends charging at us. Sirius and Lily were blubbering messes, so I was shocked when Lily handed James and I a stack of beautiful photos she had taken of the proposal. Although they weren't blubbering all our friends did have glossy eyes as they came to congratulate us. My brother, Monty and Mia where also there which meant a lot to both of us. Everything about the day started to click into place for me. Sirius' constant sniffling, how he made me put on a nice outfit, Mia and Monty getting emotional with me and Lucy giving me a hug. They all knew.

"come with me there something I want to show you" James whispered to me. We were having a bit of a celebration at the house and all our friends and family were occupied so I don't think they would mind that we had snuck away. James led me back out to the garden and over to a flower bed I hadn't noticed before.
"do you remember how I told you that the owner of the field of sunflowers, I took you too on our first date, her husband had planted her the sunflower field as a wedding gift?" I nodded at him
"well we don't quite have a field, but I thought I could give you a flower bed of sunflowers" just when I thought he couldn't get any more perfect.
"how did I get so lucky?" I asked him, wrapping my arms around his neck
"Oh, sunshine it's me that's the lucky one" he said smirking at me placing his hands on my hips
"why James Potter are you flirting with me?" He grinned at me
"I am and I guess it worked. Future Mrs Potter" He said before closing the gap between us.

Chapter 59 Chapter Text

The day that followed our engagement James and I didn't leave each other's side. We spent most of our time cuddle up in bed talking about our future together and what that was going to look like. The only time we left the house was to visit my parents grave, I wanted to tell them the news. While we were there James told me that he had actually been to the grave a few days before the proposal, he couldn't ask them for permission, but he said it felt wrong them not knowing beforehand. They were the first people he told. This time when I visited the grave I didn't get upset or cry I was just so happy, as although I wished they were still here, I knew my parents would be pleased for us.

Unfortunately, our little engagement bubble couldn't last long. This evening we were attending our first official order meeting where we would be given our assignments for the week. At headquarters we bumped into a few people we use to go to school with like Alice and Frank Longbottom who had gotten married the year before. Since James was telling everyone he spoke to that we were engaged I got chatting to Alice, who I had never really spoke to before, about weddings. I quickly learnt that Alice was the most adorable woman I had ever met.

I had left James talking to professor McGonagall, who was very happy for us and couldn't wait to tell all the other teachers at Hogwarts. He was giving her the full run down from start to finish, so I excused myself to get a drink before the meeting started. When I came back into the room, I caught Lucy and Remus stood next to each other with wicked grins on their faces
"what's got you two so happy?" instead of answering Lucy turned me around. Once I realised what I was looking at spun back quickly
"please tell me that isn't happening" I said not daring to turn around
"what your fiancé talking to you old friends with benefits?" Remus said with utter joy
"oh, yeh that's totally happening" Lucy added.
"how did you two leave things?" Lucy scoffed at Remus
"she broke his heart. She turned him down when he asked to go on a date, and she didn't write to him after he left Hogwarts"
"I didn't break his heart" I said through gritted teeth

"Em!" I heard James shout behind me. Honestly kill me now. I tried to move so I could hide behind Remus, but he wouldn't let me
"she is coming James, just a sec" I glared up at the werewolf. I turned around and started walking towards James but not before slamming my heal into Remus foot. I heard him whimper, serves him bloody right.
"Gideon, this is" James tried to introduce me, but Gideon cut him off
"Emmy!" He said before pulling me into a big hug. I raised one arm and patted his back in return. I quickly pulled away from Gideon and looked at James who mouthed 'Emmy' to me. If the ground would like to swallow me whole right about now, that would be perfect.
"you two know each other?" James asked gesturing between us. Gideon scoffed
"you could say that" Behind me I heard Lucy and Remus burst out laughing. I am going to kill them. I turned to look at James and gave him a sheepish smile. He looked at me for a second before he realised what Gideon meant. He immediately stepped closer and wrapped his arm tightly around my waist. Gideon watched him do it and his mouth formed an o shape
"this is the Emily you are marrying?" He asked before chuckling once and shaking his head
"Well Potter you must be a better man than me, she wouldn't even agree to go on a date with me. I guess I was only good for one thing" I glared at Gideon. I was very clear with my intention and when he asked me out on a date, I told him that wasn't what I wanted, and we ended things.
"Gideon, you know that's not how it was" I said sternly
"I am kidding Emmy" I wish he would stop with the Emmy
"I am genuinely happy you found someone who makes you happy Em. All I ever wanted was for you to be happy" he offered me a genuine smile which I returned. I never wanted to hurt Gideon, but he just wasn't the one.
"Thank you Gideon" he nodded at me before walking back to his brother.

I turned to look at James who was still glaring in Gideons direction
"Gideon Prewit was your friends with benefits" he said, and he wasn't asking. I decided it might be best if I just told him everything.
"Gideon and I were friends for a while and then one-night things sort of just happened. To be honest James, I didn't want to be a virgin anymore and Gideon was someone I trusted and felt safe with. I was very clear with him right from the moment he kissed me that I wasn't willing to date, and he agreed. Then a few months later he asked me on a date, I said no and ended things. I didn't want his feelings to get hurt so thought It best to stop before things got messy" James hummed at me still looking at Gideon
"why didn't you want to date him?" I shrugged
"I never saw Gideon as someone I could have feelings for in that way. That was confirmed after I kissed him and felt no spark. I never had romantic feelings for him" James turned back to look at me and he sighed
"I am sorry Em. I am just jealous, I guess. I just don't like thinking about who came before me" He said before giving me a kiss on the forehead. I smiled at him
"it's okay, I get it. I think I would act the same if the situation was reversed. Not that you have done anything wrong anyway your just curious. Your everything I have ever wanted James and your everything I need. You're the only man I have ever and will ever love. Plus, you're the best I have ever had" I added the last part knowing it would cheer him up. It wasn't a lie either James was very skilled in the bedroom. Just like I thought, a smirk appeared on his face.
"the best you ever had? You don't fancy saying that a bit louder so Gideon can hear, do you?" he joked. I just rolled my eyes at him but gave him a quick peck.

"that was boring I was expecting a brawl Potter. you let me down" Lucy said as she and Remus came to join us
"I have to be mature now. I am fiancé"
"I never thought I would see the day that James Potter grows up" Remus laughed at him
"I don't know, he asked me if we could get a trampoline the other day" I said recalling the conversation we had while cooking dinner
"you said yes!" I grinned at him
"I know. it seems like fun"
"Okay maybe your both not fully adults yet" Remus amended
"who wants that? It sounds awful" James smirked.

When Dumbledore arrived, everyone took their seats.
"thank you all for coming. Before we get started, I would like you all to welcome our newest members. James Potter, Emily Williams, Lucy Vixen, Kayla Bankole, Lily Evans, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and Peter Petigrew" We all gave a small wave when he said our names, so people knew who we were.
"now for an update before we get into assignments" Dumbledore took a small step back as Moody stepped forward
"There were three attacks on muggle towns this week. We had patrol in two of them. There no serious injuries and all muggles were unharmed. The same cannot be said about the town we were not in. 5 Death eaters attacked a coffee shop in a small Yorkshire town on Sunday at lunch time. 8 muggles were murdered before we got there. We were able to capture one death eater and he is in for questioning. 2 death eaters were killed and 2 escaped" I hadn't heard about this latest attack it wasn't in the daily profit when I read it this morning I wonder if it was being kept quiet to reduce panic.
"we have been able to add to our list of known death eaters. Augustus Rookwood, Corbon Yaxley, Alexander Greengrass and Severus Snape" I can't say I was surprised about Snape but from the look on Lily's face she was. She looked heartbroken, she had to finally accept Snape was not the man she thought he was. I was a bit nervous when Moody brought up new death eaters. When I saw Dumbledore on Wednesday, I told him about Regulus, and he seemed willing to help, if and when, the time came. I was very appreciative of him being left out of the line up as the order had been given permission to kill and although Moody tried to promote capture over kill, some order members leaned towards the more deadly option. The longer we could keep Regulus off the list, the better.

After a few more updates from other members of the order about what they had been working on Moody began with assignments.
"newbies, you are on days this week and will be on duty 8am to 8pm then the night shift will take over. Next week you will be on the night shift and will work 8pm to 8am. The Week after you will be on call. In this time, you will be expected to be available day or night at any given time. I would advise you to use any free time you do have to catch up on any mission reports you have. You will then have a week off but if we need you, you will be expected to come in. Evans, every week when you're on days you will spend 2 days at Hogwarts learning from Pomfrey and for 2 days on your night shift you stay here and study. This has been arranged with the plan for you to become the orders personal healer" I grinned at Lily, this is something I had discussed in strategy meeting and everyone seemed on board. Lily had always wanted to be a healer, she looked overjoyed at the news.

"Williams as we discussed, you will also spend 2 days a week here working on a potion list we provide you with" I nodded at him. They needed various healing potions, antidotes and just general other useful potions and I was more than happy to do this.
"Pettigrew, we have had word there is some suspicious goings on at brogan and burkes. We want you in rat form keeping track of who goes in and who comes out. You will be expected to turn in any information you have after your shift to me. Bankole, as we discussed you are to work with Amanda protecting the muggle prime minister. Potter, Vixen and Lupin you're on patrol at diagon alley. Williams, Black and Evans you are at Hogsmeade. Evans and Williams organise between yourselves which days you're going to be out and make sure it's not the same. Any questions?" when no one said anything Dumbledore stood again.
"Thank you everyone that's will be all for this evening. If I could just ask our new commers to stay behind a moment" Everyone started filtering out the room until it was just us and Dumbledore.

"thank you for staying. I have seen from your files at Hogwarts that most of you can produce the Patronus charm. What you may not know is that your Patronus can convey messages and this is how certain member of the order communicate. It can take some practice, do not be disheartened if you cannot get it straight away. To do this you will cast your Patronus as normal but once cast you will need to communicate with your Patronus that you wish to send a message. Since your soul and Patronus are connected if you think strongly enough you will be able to control your Patronus. Once you have gained control you simply say the message and who you want to receive it. It is also beneficial to picture the person, people or place you want the Patronus to go to" Dumbledore then pulled out his wand casting the charm and a beautiful phoenix flew around the room. A moment later, as if being called, the phoenix flew so it was hovering Infront of Dumbledore
"tell Alastor Moody to return to the briefing room" as soon as dumbledore had finished the phoenix flew off. A few moments later Moody appeared
"you sent for me" my mouth dropped open. no way did that work. I had never read about this being something you could do with your Patronus. Maybe Dumbledore invented it
"just showing them how to use a Patronus to communicate. Sorry to bother you Alastor" Moody nodded before leaving. I couldn't wait to try it myself.

The next morning, I woke up very tired and had to take a pepper up potions. James and I had spent most of the night last night trying out what dumbledore had taught us. After many, many attempts we had mastered it. I was up before James so was cooking breakfast for us both when there was knock at the door. I put the spatula down and went to the front door to find a very tired looking Sirius.
"feed me please" He said walking into the house. I followed behind him back to the kitchen. Before I went back to the stove, I grabbed him some pumpkin juice and added a few drops of pepper up, just like I had done for myself. I had expected Sirius to come from breakfast today since it was just the two of us in Hogsmeade as Lily would be training with Pomfrey.
"Morning Pads" James said walking into the kitchen before taking a seat to eat his breakfast. Sirius told us he too had been practicing the patronus charm last night and he had been successful
"Vixen also got it. She sent me a patronus to tell me to shut up around 1. I think she did it to show off because she knew I hadn't got it" Sounds like something Lucy would do.

When it came time for us to leave, I pulled James into a tight hug and all the nerves I had been pushing away suddenly hit me
"Please be careful" I mumbled into his chest. He pulled me away from him slightly so he could look at me
"I always am sunshine. I love you" He said placing a gentle kiss on my lips
"I love you too" I said just before Sirius wrapped his arm around both of us
"we love you too Sirius" James said patting him on the back
"it wouldn't hurt for you to say it once or twice" Sirius grumbled letting us go. With one last look at James I grabbed Sirius and apparated to Hogsmeade

"I'm hungry" Sirius complained for the 10th time in the last hour
"Sirius all you have done is eat" turns out patrolling Hogsmeade was pretty boring, but I will take that over than being crucioed like the last time I was here. Sirius started off in high spirits as we walked around the village but after a few hours he had become a wining child. First, he wanted sweets, then ice cream, then we got takeout from the three broomsticks so we could have lunch while we walked around and now, he is hungry again.
"there is nothing else to do other than eat Emily" I rolled my eyes at him
"how about we play a game of truths again like we did in the library that time" I suggested, and his face lit up
"do I have to wait ten minutes between question?"
"no but this time we take it in turns to ask question I want the juicy gossip as well" he grinned at me
"okay I will go first. Did you know James was going to propose?" I shook my head
"I didn't know it was going to be that day, though I did think everyone was acting a bit weird. I knew he would do it at some point and I thought It would be sooner rather than later" Sirius looked rather proud of himself I am assuming it's because no one thought he would keep it a secret
"are you and Moony still scratching each other itch?" He rolled his eyes at me
"on occasion" Knew it. I will have to tell James tonight.
"I wasn't going to ask about your sex life but since you have brought up mine. Who's the dominant one out of you and James?" oh that was easy
"James" Sirius seemed shocked
"little miss likes to control everything is submissive. Interesting" I shrugged what can I say I liked it when James was in charge.
"are you and Rem going to get back together?" Sirius groaned at me
"you're really stuck on this aren't you. I hope so. Truth is we have been spending time together outside of just hooking up. We actually went on a date last week, but I did a lot of damage, we are taking things slow and not putting any pressure or labels on anything" it took everything in me not squeal with excitement.

My joy was short lived when patronus in the shape of a bear appeared in front of Sirius and I
"Be on high alert. Diagon alley has been hit. Stay at your posts" Moody voice came out and I felt the blood drain from my face. James was in diagon alley. Sirius was stood in front of me in a flash gripping my shoulder
"Em you need to focus. I am sure James is okay. We can't do anything now. We need to keep our eyes peeled, okay" I swallowed nodding at Sirius. I closed my eyes for a moment taking a deep breath. Sirius was right, James was a very skilled fighter. He was also with Remus and Lucy and all three of them were ridiculously talented. They were going to be okay. I kept telling myself, willing myself to believe it. I opened my eyes and looked at Sirius he looked just as worried as me. I grabbed his hand in mine and squeezed it
"they are all going to be okay" I said to him try to convince both Sirius and myself.

The next few hours felt like the longest of my life. Hogsmeade pretty much became a ghost town once news spread about the attack on diagon alley, people not wanting to risk being caught in anything. What didn't help was the whispering about what had happened at diagon alley by the few people who lingered on the streets. People were saying Voldemort himself was there, that did nothing to stop me worrying. When the night shift finally arrived, I gave the quickest hand over possible before Sirius and I apparated back to headquarters.

We stormed into the briefing room to find the 3 people we had been worrying about all day sat there, looking relatively unharmed. I ran over to James and took his face in my hands. He had cut going across his nose but other than that I couldn't see anything life threatening.
"I am okay sunshine" He said immediately reassuring me. Hearing he was okay I turned around and looked at Lucy, again scanning her for any injuries. She looked no different other than her hair being a bit wild
"I am okay Em. Stop worrying" with that I turned to Remus
"I am all good to" I let out a breath of relief before turning my attention back to James. I ran my finger gently across the cut
"I think it gives me a bit more of a rugged charm" He said trying to make me laugh but when I didn't, he pulled me down, so I was sat on his knee
"I was so worried" He kissed the top of my head
"I know love" Seconds later the rest of our friends burst into the room
"what happened?" Kayla asked as she moved to check on Lucy. Remus sighed and began explaining the events of the day
"Honestly it all happened so fast. It was a bit like when Hogsmeade was attacked. Shop windows exploded and death eaters apparated in. We instantly began engaging in duels. People in the street also joined in, so it wasn't just us. Then Voldemort arrived" Remus trailed off looking at James. I furrowed my eyebrows at him, he placed a calming hand on my knee
"I was stood in front of Olivanders. I had just taken down a death eater when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I didn't know it was him at first, I had never actually seen a picture of him before so to me he was just another death eater" I gasped slightly realising where this was going.
"it wasn't until I saw his eyes. I had heard people say they were red but when his eyes met mine and I saw the pure evil in them I knew it was him. He immediately started throwing spells at me as I did the same. Then our spells met and clashed, I was pushing his spell back but slowly. Thankfully Moody showed up at my side and sent his own spell at Voldemort. He had to break connection with me, otherwise Moody's spell would have hit him" My mouth had gone dry as I listened to James. I place my hand over the top of his. He looked at me and I gave him a small smile. I can't even imagine how terrifying that must have been for him.
"After that, it was weird Voldemort sort of gave up and left. I don't know what made him do it but when he left, his followers all did the same. We managed to capture 3 death eaters and 2 are dead but the rest got away" Remus said taking over the story
"Anyone else hurt?" Lily asked
"3 dead and 2 with major injuries. They are in saint mungo's now. None of our people though we got away with some minor scrapes and scratches" Lucy answered sombrely. We were all quiet for a moment as we let the gravity of the day hit us. This was the real deal. No more training, no more using stuns. Now we are being aimed at with the killing curse

"Let's go home" I said softly to James after a moment. We said goodbye to our friends and apparated back home, to our safe space. We stood in the living room just holding each other
"I am so proud of you James. I can't even begin to imagine how scary that was for you, yet you handle it like the amazing fighter I know you are" I rested my hand on his cheek as I spoke
"I don't think I have ever been so scared Em. All I could think about when our spells clashed was if I lose, I am dead" And that was the scary reality we are now facing
"I am just glad you okay, and you came home to me" he reached up and placed his hand at the nape of my neck
"When I was trying to overpower his spell, I was thinking of you and I was winning Em. Slowly, but still winning and that's because of you. You give me the strength that I need every day, it's because of you I am able to go out there and fight. I promise I will always do what I can to come back home to you" James had a tear rolling down his cheek.
"that's all I can ever ask for James and I promise you the same"

Chapter 60 Chapter Text

James and I were awoken by knocking at the front door. It was our first day off in three weeks, we were hoping for a lie in as we were both exhausted. We were on call last week and were called out to 2 attacks where back up was needed. James and I actually got to work together when on call, which I was surprised about. I guess because we were usually together it was easier to just send the one message and get 2 order members. We were a pretty good team when fighting but part of us was always watching the other which was my concern originally, but it was nice knowing James was with me, I think I even fought better when he was there, it was as if I was braver.

We had planned on going to James' parents today as we hadn't seen them for a while. I wanted some time to work on my potion with Monty as at this rate we were never going to cure anything. The door knocked again, and James groaned and began moving. I placed my hand on his.
"I will go, you have a few more minuets" He rolled back over burying himself in the pillow
"I don't deserve you" I chuckled at him but made my way out of bed, having a quick look at the time, 9am, it wasn't as early as I thought. When I opened the door Lucy, Sirius and Lily all piled into the house and headed straight for the dining room table. Lily was instructing Sirius and Lucy to place wedding magazines, colour swatches, and hastily scrawled notes across the table. Lily took a seat at the head of the table, with a determined expression, she flipped through the pages of her notebook, her mind racing with ideas and possibilities.

"Good morning" I said since none of them had even said hello
"Morning beautiful, where is the groom?" I blinked at Sirius before pointing upstairs. He immediately ran off. There was another knock at the door, Lily leapt to her feet
"that will be Remus" She scurried off to get the door. I turned to look at Lucy
"Don't. She came in my room arse crack of dawn this morning and told me we were wedding planning. Kayla has gone to see her mum today, so I think she is bored" Lucy explained. This was Lily bored? Lily returned to the dining room Remus trailing behind her
"Morning Em" He said giving me a side hug.
"I see you have been dragged into this as well" He chuckled shaking his head
"got the owl at 6 am. How Peter got out of this I will never know"
"He is taking his mum to an appointment" Lily said not looking up from the magazine. I turned back to Remus
"can you go check on James. Sirius went up a few minutes ago to get him" Remus nodded before heading up the stairs. I looked at the chaos of my dining table
"Lily, is everything okay?" She looked at me like I was the crazy one
"Emily, we do not get much time off and we need to utilise that for planning your wedding. You and James said you fancy a summer wedding. Its October Emily, that only leaves 7 months, 8 if want to do it In July" I blinked at her. Lucy came and stood next to me
"let her have this one, you aren't going to win" I shrugged my shoulders. If you can't beat them join them
"I guess I will go put the kettle on then" I said just as the 3 boys came tumbling down the stairs, landing in a heap at the bottom, looking up at me with guilty smiles.

Lucy followed me to the kitchen to help. I had missed Lucy. We got to catch up a bit last week and she had been over for dinner once or twice but since we weren't on the same team, I saw her a lot less than I used to.
"did your mum write back?" Lucy was yet again trying again with her mum. They had started sending letters to each other but had yet to see one another.
"She did, it was still very passive aggressive, but she told me to be careful and look after myself, small wins" I do get why Lucy tries with her parents, as at the end of the day, they were her mum and dad. But how much longer could she put herself through the toxic back and forth. She changed the subject when she looked out the window.
"you got the trampoline?" I laughed
"Yeah, we picked it up last week. James is a bit gutted it's so cold outside. I think he would be out there all the time if it wasn't. We did have a good bounce around when we set it up though" She shook her head at me
"you two are such children"

Lily took wedding planning very seriously. She had created an agenda of things she wanted to get through today. James was actually really excited and got really involved with the planning, it melted my heart seeing him like that. I have always wanted to get married and was also pretty excited to start planning. Sirius was very opinionated and often clashed with Lily, on many an occasion. Remus mediated between the pair. Lucy just kept whispering jokes to me causing us to snicker and earn a glare from Lily.

"okay so now we have the basics down. We need to get into the specifics" That was the basics?
"So, you said summer wedding and your planning to have in your back garden but what date do you want?" James and I looked at each other and shrugged
"let's do July, but we will have to work out what week we have off and okay it with Moody before we get a final date" I decided, James nodded in agreement.
"We have the week commencing the 22nd off. If you maybe aim to have the Wedding on the Monday, unconventional I know, but then you will have the whole week to have a sort of honeymoon. You won't be able to go anywhere but at least you can be home together" A week at home, just me and James? sounds perfect. I felt James place his hand on my thigh and I turned to see he was already looking at me, his smile matching mine.
"who are you inviting?" Remus asked
"we are going to keep it small. You guys, my parents, Em's brother and Wife, Minnie, Dumbledore and probably Moody" Sirius gasped at James
"your inviting Moody?"
"he has a soft spot for Em" James explained. It was true he did, I think it started off as him feeling guilty about my parents but now I think he might actually like me, but I could just be delusional.
"What about Gideon?" I elbowed Lucy hard in the side for that one.
"No. What do you think to Frank and Alice?" James said quickly dismissing Lucy. I loved Alice. We had a chance to properly get acquainted last week and it just confirmed she is a little pocket of sunshine. Frank was just Frank, but he got on well with James and seemed nice enough.
"I am good with them coming" I nodded, and Lily quickly scribbled their names down in her note pad.

We discussed a few other things like flowers, music we wanted, colour schemes and food. We took a small break for lunch before Lily jumped straight back into it.
"Are you having bridesmaids and groomsman?" James and I had already discussed this. We wanted all our friends to be a part of our day but since the wedding was small, we had to be smart about how we did it.
"We want all of you to be involved throughout the day" James began. I took over turning to Remus
"Remus we were wondering if you would marry us? We will do all the paperwork for the ministry and Dumbledore might have to sign the official papers but for all intentional purposes we want you to be the one to perform the ceremony" Remus looked genuinely taken back. Sirius placed his hand on his shoulder giving it a little shake to bring him out of his thoughts. Rem stood up and walked over to me and gave me a hug
"I would be honoured" he let go of me before pulling James into an equally as tight hug. They both got a bit emotional causing me to tear up as well.
"Lily, we would like you and Kayla to do a reading together during in the ceremony. It can be whatever you want. You two mean a lot to both of us and we would really like for you to say a few words" Lily grinned at James nodding. James also told the group the plan to have Peter as a ring bearer.

I turned to look at Lucy who hadn't seemed to piece together what that meant for her.
"Lu, will you be my made of honour?" She genuinely looked shocked
"you want me? I won't be good at it Em. You should have Lily" I shook my head at her
"You have been my ride or die from day one. I can't imagine celebrating this without you by my side. Your friendship means the world to me. Plus, we both know Lily will be crying all day and won't be able to handle my nerves" Lucy and Lily laughed both not denying it. Lucy pulled me in for a hug
"if you're sure" She said trying to brush it off but I heard the emotion in her voice.

James then looked at Sirius who already had tears rolling down his face
"Pads" was all James managed to get out before Sirius climbed across the table and tackled James to the floor
"Of course, I will be your best man!" James pushed Sirius off him and stood up, so he was facing him
"You're my brother, Sirius," James said softly, his voice thick with emotion. "I can't imagine anyone else standing by my side on the most important day of my life" As they both embraced tightly, I started crying again
"I don't think it's just going to be Lily crying all day" Lucy whispered in my ear

"Since you're getting married in July, we need to go wedding dress shopping soon, so the shop has time make any alterations" Lily explained
"why don't you go this week?" Lucy suggested. I was bit unsure. It wasn't the safest to be going anywhere at the moment and from the look on James' face he was equally concerned. Remus seemed to pick up on it
"Why don't you go to a muggle shop? I know muggle places have been targeted but it's unlikely they will go for a wedding dress shop. It will be safter than diagonally. Also, I assume you won't be going alone so it will be just as safe as being on assignment" that wasn't a bad idea, James seemed to agree.
"that sounds good. Obviously, the girls are coming but I want Mia there as well and you Sirius" he scoffed at me
"please, I was coming even if I wasn't invited"
"why don't we go tomorrow if Mia is available?" Lily suggested
"trust me, my mum will cancel any plans she has to be there" Lily clasped her hand together
"excellent I will find a bouquitque and make us an appointment"

The next day Lily had worked her magic and got us an appointment as a bridal boutique. I had no idea what type of dress I wanted and when I asked James if he had any preference, he told me I could wear a bin bag if I wanted. When I told him that wasn't a good enough answer, he told something that shows off my arse. Now that I could work with.

Everyone, with help from the stylist, was pulling dresses out for me. I had tried on a few which was a surreal moment but none of them wowed me. That was until I put on a dress Mia had actually picked out. I stood in front of the ornate mirror, my heart racing with excitement as I admired the exquisite wedding gown that I had just slipped into. The dress, with its delicate lace detailing on the sleeves, was a vision of elegance and beauty, and I couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion as I imagined myself walking down the aisle. As I twirled in front of the mirror, a soft voice broke me from my thoughts.
"Oh, Emily, you look absolutely breath taking" Mia said now stood beside me, her eyes shimmering with tears of joy. I turned to face her, my cheeks flushing with happiness.
"Thank you, Mia. I think this could be the one" I said. Mia smiled warmly, her eyes crinkling at the corners as she reached out to straighten a stray strand of my hair.
"Lovely, you are going to make a stunning bride," she said, her voice filled with maternal pride. "James is a lucky man to have you."

my heart swelled with affection at Mia's words, my own eyes misting over with tears as I thought of how Mia and Monty had welcomed me into the Potter family with open arms. Especially after losing my parents. From the moment they had met me, Mia and Monty have treated me like a daughter, showering me with love and support. Taking a deep breath, I turned back to the mirror, my gaze lingering on my reflection as I imagined the life that lay ahead of me. I couldn't wait to marry James, to build a future together with him filled with love. As i stood there lost in thought, Mia stepped forward, her eyes brimming with emotion as she wrapped me in a warm embrace.
"oh lovely" she whispered.
"I couldn't be happier for you."

Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes again, as I returned the embrace, feeling the warmth of Mia's love enveloping. In that moment, as we stood together in the bridal boutique, surrounded by the whispers of silk and lace, I knew that I was not just gaining a husband, but a second mother.
"shall we go show the others?" Mia asked quietly after a moment. If I wasn't already certain that this was the dress, my friend's reaction would have made that clear as they were all in awe of the gown. Only 8 more months until I marry the love of my life.

Chapter 61 Chapter Text

"how I am supposed to remember what happened three weeks ago?" James complained. We were on call this week and I had needed to go into headquarters to finish some potions. I dragged James with me as I knew he had been avoiding his paperwork.
"if you made notes, like I told you too, you would easily be able to remember what happened" James rolled his eyes at me
"yeah, well we can't all be perfect like you can we" choosing to ignore James and his stroppiness I turned my attention back to my potion. I was actually brewing wolfsbane for Remus, as I had been doing since it was created.

I looked up from my potion just in time to see Peter walking past the room. I kicked James to get his attention nodding in Peter direction
"Hey Wormy! Come in here a sec" James yelled after Peter. James and I worried about all our friends but in particular, Peter. When James and I first moved out Peter would often come to visit us either on his own or with the others. It was great as this wasn't something, he had been able to do before his mum got a bit better. Recently however, Peter had been quieter than usual, he wasn't coming to our house or my old house. He didn't even come to the movie nights we had on our week off.

Peter hovered in the doorway of the room James and I were in.
"did you want something?" he asked
"We wanted to see if you wanted to come round for dinner tonight? It's been a while." Peter looked at the ground instead of looking at James
"I can't tonight, but maybe some other time? Can I get back to you guys?" I frowned slightly
"of course, Pete. Is everything okay? I feel like I haven't properly spoke to you in ages. How's your mum?" He looked up at me giving me a small smile that felt kind of fake
"I am good, just a bit tired, I guess. My mum is doing well, thanks for asking Em" James and I took a quick look at each other not buying the tiered excuse.
"you are going to come celebrate new year's with us, right?" Luckily new year's was next week which meant it fell on our week off. We were all planning on having a bit of a party together at my old house.
"all being well I should be there" Peter said to a frowning James. Deciding it was best to change the subject I reached for my bag and pulled out a box of Peters favourite brownies. Sirius and I had a bit of a baking day yesterday, that was until we got called out to a muggle village. Thankfully it turned out be a false alarm. I handed the box over to Peter.
"salted caramel still your favourite right?" he nodded at me
"it is, thank you. I will definitely let you guys know when I can make it for dinner but I have to get going. I promised my mum I wouldn't be home to late" his tone had improved making both James and I feel a bit better about the situation and his smiled didn't seem as fake this time but something was still off. Once Peter had scurried off James and I looked at each other our expressions mirroring each other.
"I will ask Lucy to check in on him as well. They are friends, he might just not want to talk to us" James hummed deep in thought.

After a while James went back to complaining about paperwork and interfering with my potions, pushing his worry about Peter to the back of his mind for now. I was batting James away from my potions scolding him for messing around when Remus walked in.
"Trouble in paradise?" I glared at James
"if he touches my ingredients one more time, I am calling the wedding off"
"And if you would just let me help you, we could be at home right now" we both narrowed our eyes at each other.
"alright you two settle down" Remus said humour in his voice. I huffed snatching the murlap tentacles out of James' hand and sitting back down.
"why won't you just let me help you?" James said pouting, acting like the child that he is
"because it's very difficult to brew. It will take me longer to show you what to do than if I just do it myself. Plus, I bet if I look at your paperwork it still isn't finished" I said raising my eyebrow at him. I knew I was right when he sat back down picking up the papers, muttering under his breath. That's what I thought.

Remus chuckled watching us
"I actually came to ask for your help, but it seems like now might not be the right time" I waved him off
"nonsense, Potter is just in a stroppy mood today" I said patting James' cheek. He rolled his eyes at me and turned to look at Remus encouraging him to ask what he wanted.
"I was wondering if you have any free time next week to help me move into my new flat" James and I both grinned at Remus
"of course, mate! that great news. Where's abouts is it?" James asked enthusiastically
"it's not too far from my dad's. Like you guys I just wanted to be able to walk over if I wanted" We were both genuinely happy for Remus as we asked questions about the flat and when he needed us.
"has Sirius seen it yet?" I said trying to act nonchalant. I have been dying for more information since finding out they were trying again. I noticed James moved a bit closer to Remus when I asked the question, he too was eager to know.
"you're not fooling anyone Em. Just ask what you want to know" it was like Christmas had come early
"have you been on anymore dates? Are things going well? Are you official again?" I reeled off
"Is he going to be moving in with you?" James added. I turned to him grinning holding out my hand for a high five. Excellent question from my future husband. Remus chucked
"you two are the nosiest people I know" James and I shrugged accepting this judgement
"but to answer your questions. Yes, he has seen the flat, yes there there has been a date or two, things are going well, no we are not official. I want to take things slow and no he isn't moving in" James and I were both buzzing with excitement.
"don't get to excited. We are taking things slow. He really hurt me with the whole Snape thing and for things to work between us I have to fully trust him which I can't just yet" I nodded understanding him, but it appears James did not
"What? How can you not trust pads? The whole thing with Snape was a mistake" I placed my hand on James knee settling him back down
"Mistake or not prongs, he broke my heart and I am still trying to recover from that. I am terrified he will do it again" He looked down twiddling his thumbs the nerves evident in his voice
"you don't have any guarantee he won't do it again. Just as he has no guarantee you won't break his heart. There are only two things certain and that's life and death. As you said to me you can't let the fear of something that might never happen stop you at the chance of finding true happiness" Damn maybe I needed to let James take the wheel with our friends problems more often if he is going to pull out gems of wisdom like that. Remus looked at my shocked face laughing slightly.
"I told him that when he was freaking out because he realised, he fancied you" I smiled thinking about the early days of me and James
"and look how that worked out for us Rem. We are getting married next year. Well providing James doesn't annoy me to much between now and then" He scoffed
"I could annoy you every single day and you will still marry me" annoyingly he was right, so I did the mature thing and hit him over the head.

I had gone to the old house to help Lily set up for the new year's get together we were having. The boys had weaselled their way out of helping, clamming Remus needed help setting a few things up in his flat. I know for a fact that's a lie as I was there on move in day and everything was pretty much done when James and I left. They just didn't want to have to deal with Lily and to be honest I didn't blame them.

From my place in the kitchen I could hear Lucy and Lily arguing between themselves about whatever problem Lily had now. Kayla walked into the kitchen sighing
"I am staying in here where it's safe" she said moving around me to get a drink. I laughed at her
"I don't know about safe. She wasn't happy with the way I put the nachos in the bowl earlier. All I did was open the bag and tip them in" Kayla shook her head at her girlfriend.
"I would say it's because she is stressed with everything going on, but she has always been like this" It's true Lily had always been a bit tightly wound but she was a whole other level recently

"how is she doing?" Kayla gave me a small smile
"she is loving learning all the healer stuff, but I think she is shit scared she is going to have to use it on one of us one day. She went out to that attack last week. You know the one in Glencoe where Amanda got hurt. Should have seen her when she came home Em. She was so drained like she had just been running on pure adrenalin but when she got home it was like everything hit her" As Lily was learning more about becoming a healer if someone got injured, she was brought in to try and help. She wasn't fully qualified, but she knew a hell of lot more than the rest of us. Last week there was an attack on a small village in Glencoe and Amanda got pretty badly hurt which meant Lily was brought in. I wasn't around to see the state Amanda was in when she got back to order but I saw her a few days later and that was bad enough.

"and how are you Kay?" I asked after a moment. She broke out of her thoughts turning to look at me before sighing
"I am doing okay. I don't have to see any of the crap you lot have to and I am really thankful of that because I think that would send my worrying into overdrive" Kayla had been guarding the muggle prime minister, she luckily hadn't been caught up in any conflicts
"and your parents?" I asked. Kayla's dad and paternal grandparents were somewhere in America at the moment trying to avoid the conflict.
"Moody had some of his contacts in America check in on dad, he is doing fine. My mum's driving me insane, quite frankly. She shows up here at every given opportunity and tries to micromanage everything. I get she is just worried, but Merlin does she make me want to pull my hair out" She chuckled slightly "if you thought Lily was bad, she has nothing on my mother"

"what about you Em? Are you okay?" she asked after a moment studying my face. I didn't quite know how to answer her. On one hand I had so much to look forward to and be happy about. I was getting married, I had my house with James and all my people were safe. On the other hand, day after day I was reminded that all of that could be snatched away from me in an instant. There was also a good chance that all this fighting would amount to nothing and Voldemort would win and that terrified me. It terrified me enough to keep fighting, to keep risking it all, as that wasn't a life I wanted to know. I sighed thinking it all over.
"big sigh" Kayla said moving closer to me and resting her hand on my shoulder

Before either of us could say anything the four boys crashed into the kitchen carrying bottles and bottles of beer and other alcoholic drinks.
"Hey sunshine, you okay?" James said studying my face as he placed down the drinks on the side. I quickly pushed my thoughts out of my mind and gave James a genuine smile and nodded. He looked at me for a moment longer clearly not convinced but not pushing it for now.
"Happy new year's eve my darling Emily" Sirius said scooping me up in his now empty arms and spinning me round in a circle.
"Put. Her. Down" Lily seethed between gritted teeth entering the kitchen. Sirius immediately dropped me causing me to land with a thud on the floor. Rolling his eye at Sirius, Remus scooped me up off the floor.
"Emily still has plenty to be getting on with, without you idiots distracting her. Now come with me I have jobs for you" She said spinning on her heels walking off, expecting the boys to follow her
"you better go or she will drag you out of here by your ears" Kayla snickered
"think I would rather go head to head with Voldemort" Peter grumbled as he and the rest of the boys followed behind Lily. I smiled after them, glad to see Peter in better spirits.
"How long until you have to go stop Lily from killing one of them?" Kayla asked.
"Me? She is your girlfriend" I exclaimed
"yeah and I would like to keep it that way. It's on you Em" Shaking my head at her I turned back to the snacks Lily had me making, only to be stopped by the sound of Sirius screaming at Lily. I looked Kayla who was laughing
"good Luck" She said as I walked off into the danger zone.

Just like last year we all stood in the garden counting down from 10. James stood behind me, arms wrapped around my middle swaying us side to side as he whispered the countdown in my ear. Sirius and Remus were stood holding each other not seeming to care that anyone could be watching. Lucy and Peter were sat on the floor both out of their minds drunk screaming the numbers while Lily and Kaya stood behind them holding hands laughing at the pair. When it reached midnight, the fireworks shot into the sky and James smashed his lips onto mine. Before I could even register what was happening James was yanked away from me. Slightly stunned I looked to see where he had gone, only to burst into a fit of laughter as Sirius sandwiched James's face between his hands and planted a kiss right on his lips.

Chapter 62 Chapter Text

"I could think of worst ways to be spending a lovely spring evening" Sirius said as he slid back into his seat in between myself and Lily placing the beers down in front of each of us. Believe it or not we were working. All week we had been stationed in a pub in small village that was known to have quite a high wizarding population. A lot of the pureblood families lived in the countryside to the surrounding village making the pub we were currently residing in their local.

The order had got word that a lot of the know death eaters were usually found in this pub of an evening. As the landlord of the pub was a wizard, he served both muggle and magical beverages. We were sat on a table far enough away from the group of death eaters that they wouldn't notice us but closes enough that we could pick up on things they were saying. It had been one of the easier assignments we had been placed on. So far nothing had really happened, they mainly talked about their glory days at Hogwarts and quidditch scores. If you didn't know any better, you would think they were just ordinary blokes catching up over a pint. I did know better though.

When the door to the pub opened it almost felt like the whole room got significantly colder as a tall slender man walked in. The group of death eaters seemed to notice too because as they all sat a little straighter and faces placed. I watched the man as he seemed to almost look like he floated into a seat next to Lestrange. When I finally caught a glimpse at the man's eyes I gasped. Remembering back to what James said about the attack on diagon alley.
"Holy shit. That's him. That's Voldemort" I whispered hissed to Sirius and Lily. They both looked between my worried face and the man with the red eyes.
"Crap, I will got send word to the order" Lily said quickly moving out of her seat and scurrying away, assuming to find a quiet place to send a Patronus. Sirius gripped his wand tighter and moved closer to me almost as if he was trying to shield me from view. I pulled out my own wand and casted an adapted version of the sonorous spell Moody had taught me that made my hearing better so I could hear the conversation more.
"I trust that the matter I asked you to handle has been dealt with Lestrange" the cold calculating voice of Voldemort hissed at the now deathly pale man beside him.
"indeed, my lord. Bella took care of it today" at the mention of his cousin I glanced at Sirius. He had his eyes narrowed at the table listening intently like myself. Sirius didn't talk about his family other than the odd family member he liked. Bellatrix was not one of them. I felt my gut twist as a drunk muggle man stumbled past the group. He accidently tumbled over a chair that was blocking his path causing him to grip the table of the death eaters to stabilise himself, in the process causing drinks to spill. My eyes dashed away from the man to Voldemort and I Instantly knew this was not going to end well.

"I am sorry lad. Clearly had a few too many" the man slurred as he swayed slightly from side to side. It happened in the blink of an eye. Voldemort stood from his seat and lazily cast the killing curse that hit the muggle square in the chest. As soon as the man fell to the ground chaos broke out. Voldemort's followers all jumped out of their seats taking out their wands and casting curses at anybody nearby. Muggles and wizards alike tried to make a dash for the exit, only some being successful. Sirius sprang into action flipping over our table and dragging me down to take cover behind it. Lily quickly scurried back over to us sliding in next to Sirius.
"what do we do? We are outnumbered" Sirius said peaking up to watch the madness.
"we have to fight back. Don't do anything reckless though. Keep your heads. Help will be here soon" I said trying to muster up as much courage as I could as I looked between two of my best friends. With a deep breath we all moved from our hiding spot shooting our own curses as we did. Luckily for us some of the local wizards in the pub joined in our efforts making us on a bit more an even playing field.

I fired my curse at a man who had his back to me but as soon as he turned and blocked my curse with ease, I knew I was in trouble.
"shit" I hissed to myself as I looked into the snake like red eyes. Sending a silent prayer up I widened my stance slightly, gripped my wand and focussed in on the man Infront of me. Voldemort moved with such fluidity it was hard to keep up but somehow, I was managing as we wordlessly engaged in a duel. Sirius, Lily and other wizards luckily kept the death eaters engaged in battle, so I only had to take on Voldemort.

He shot a spell at the table behind me causing it to explode making me to jump and lose my footing. I tripped to the floor falling flat on my arse, my wand rolling onto the floor somewhere behind me. Voldemort sent another curse my way I managed to roll out the way, but I realised not quite quick enough as I felt the seething pain across my cheek where whatever spell he used grazed me. I felt around for my wand as Voldemort began walking towards me looking down at me with a smirk. Panic surged through me. I was going to die. If I didn't find my wand in the next few seconds, he was going to kill me. While keeping my eyes locked on the devil himself, I continued to widely move my hand around behind me.

He stood towering over me, his eyes now glowing as moved his head from side to side as if he was cracking his neck. I could hear Sirius screaming my name as he rapidly thought in his own battle. I stilled my hand as my fingertips grasped onto what could possibly be my wand, but I couldn't look as the second I took my eyes of Voldemort I had no doubt he would kill me. He slowly raised his wand relishing in the moment, taking his time.

I clutched onto what I was hoping was my wand and as quickly as I could I swung my arm around and aimed it square at his chest.
"reducto!" I yelled with as much force as I could master. Voldemort when flying backwards crashing through a series of tables and landing in a heap on the floor. It was only now I took a quick glance down and thanked Merlin that I had somehow managed to find my wand. I looked back up where I had sent Voldemort flying. The reality of what I had just done hit me like a ton of bricks. I had just attacked the most dangerous wizard of our time. If I wasn't a target before I definitely am now.

I watched as he started to move pushing himself up off the ground. My heart was racing, and I could hear the blood pumping round my body. As he pushed himself up, he locked eyes with me, glaring at me with fury I didn't even think was possible. I gulped trying not to show how shit scared I actually was. He kept his eyes laser focused on me as he stood, we both raised our wands yet again ready to fight but at the last second, he glanced over my shoulder. His face flashed with an unreadable expression before he glanced back to me. His jaw tensed right before he quickly apparated out of the pub along with the rest of his remaining followers.

I spun round quickly, my body sagging in relief as I saw Dumbledore and other order members. I suddenly became very aware that it was more than my cheek that had been cut. I moved my hand to my side only to feel it was warm and sticky. I fell to the floor as I held up my now blood covered hand. Sirius knelt down next to me shouting for Lily as he did. He pulled my head onto his Knees, stroking my hair. Lily was now at my side to muttering spells as she did. Instantly I felt the burning lessen and my breathing become easier.

"you're bloody mental woman" Sirius almost chuckled from above me. I moved my eyes to look up at him. He was looking at me with tear-stricken eyes that were full of concern
"do you think James is going to be mad?" I asked him to try to lighten the mood. Sirius head tilted back as he barked out a laugh
"once he is sure your still in one piece, you are definitely going to be in trouble" I pushed myself up from Sirius feeling better now Lily had worked her magic
"Good. He is sexy when he is angry" Lily rolled her eyes at me
"unbelievable" she muttered as she gently cast her wand across my cheek. When she was done the three of us slumped together sat on the floor as we watched Dumbledore and the other order members move around the now unrecognisable pub.

I sunk into a chair back at headquarters leaning on Sirius who refused to be more 30 cm away from me when I heard James yelling from outside the room.
"What do you fucking mean she was hurt!" you could hear the anger in his voice. Sirius snickered beside me as James pushed past Moody, who had clearly been trying to fill him in on what happened. As soon as he was in the room he rushed over to where I was, taking my face in his hands, moving it to the side so he could get a better look. Lily had done an excellent job at fixing me up, but I would have a cut or two that would take some time for the scaring to go down. He hissed as he saw the cut on my face. I placed my hands over his, removing them from my face.
"I am okay. I am here and I am safe" I muttered to him as he pressed his forehead against mine. His breathing was rather erratic as he was clearly panicked. I guided one of his hands up to my neck so he could feel my pulse.
"can you feel that? My heart is still beating. Everything is okay James" for a moment he stilled feeling my pulse on my neck before he looked into my eyes. His eyes were blood shot and glassy, his grip on me tightened.
"when we got word" he trailed off trying to find the right words "I was so fucking worried Em and then Moody telling me you were hurt. I felt like my heart had been ripped out of me" I cupped his face with my hand. I knew how he felt, it was exactly the way I felt when diagon ally was hit. With his breathing returning to normal he moved back slightly but only enough that he could scoop me up into his arms before sitting back into the seat he had just removed me from with me now on his knee.

Our other friends came running into the room not long after. I had no idea how James managed to leave his post before the others, but I thought it best not to ask. As soon as Lucy saw my face she cursed as bubbled with anger.
"which one was it?" she demanded looking down at me. I raised my eyebrow at her confused
"which death eater was it? I need to know so I can kill the bastard" I pushed of James which he was not best pleased about and through my arms around Lucy.
"I am okay Lu" I whispered in her ear. I felt her whole-body sag in relief as her arms snaked around my waist.
"I still want to know who?" she grumbled. I let go of her and was quickly pulled back into James lap.
"I would like to know as well" James mumbled as he ran his hand down my back making me shiver. I looked at Lily, willing her to tell the story. She sighed from her place next to Kayla and began recalling the events of the day.

"Are you insane? You reductoed Voldemort!" James shrieked as his grip on me tightened
"what else was I supposed to do?" I argued back frowning at him
"how about not fight Voldemort to start with?" I rolled my eyes at him
"oh yeah just like you did" he narrowed his eyes at me his mouth forming a straight line. Got you their buddy. Lucy barked out a laugh causing James and I to pause our staring contents and look at her
"you really are a bad ass aren't you?" I smirked at her
"takes one to know one" I winked at her before glancing back at a still pissed off James.

When we got back home that evening James didn't let me out of his sight. He helped me into the bath but then sat on the floor holding my hand, talking to me about anything that popped into his mind. He helped me wash my hair and the cut on my side before getting me out of the bath and into my pyjamas. We sat on the bed, me in between his legs, my back pressed against his front, as he rested his back against the headboard while he brushed my hair.
"how are you doing sunshine?" he said quietly bending down to place a soft kiss on the back of my shoulder
"I told you I am okay James. Lily did a great job at healing me. The scars will fade in a few days" He sighed
"that's not what I meant Em. I mean how are you doing in here" he said tapping my head with his free hand. Now it was my turn to sigh. I moved so I was on my side snuggling into James chest, his arms instantly wrapping around me
"it was really scary. There was a moment where he was just looking at me where I really thought I was going to die" I explained my voice cracking with emotion. James tugged me tighter to him
"if I hadn't found my wand. I would be dead" I whispered as tears began to fall down my face silently
"but you did find your wand Em. You did amazing sunshine. Sirius said he had never seen anyone fight the way you did today, said you were incredible. I can't imagine how frightening it must have been for you, but I am so fucking grateful that you found your wand and you're here in my arms. I love you so much and I am ridiculously proud of you" I balled my fist into James top as I silently cried taking all the comfort from him that I could get. James didn't move or complain about my damp hair or my tears soaking his top. He just held me, repeating over and over again that he loved me and that I was okay.

Chapter 63 Chapter Text

Our wedding was fast approaching and both James and I couldn't wait. To the outside world I am sure 19 seems too young to be getting married, but when you know, you know and when it came to James, I was 100% sure that boy was my one. The wedding preparations had been a source of light for us in a dark time. More attacks happened every day and we were becoming busier and busier with work with the order. Last week we were called to a muggle village where a group of tourists who were visiting from Australia had been killed, there was no reason for the attack, they gained nothing from it, other than instilling fear. The sad thing was that wasn't the only hit that day.

We were trying our best to stay positive, but we had definitely taken a hit. Lily had thrown herself into helping us with wedding prep to try and keep herself distracted, she was obsessing over the smallest of details. James and I didn't mind if it helped her keep her mind at rest. Kayla often tagged along with Lily, but she was defiantly at lot more sombre, as worry lines seemed to be permanently etched into her forehead. I don't think it helped that she had no communication with her dad and had no idea if he was alive and well. Lucy probably acted the most normal out of everyone. She seemed to swan around as if nothing was happening, but I knew that if she allowed herself to feel even for a moment, she was terrified she might break.

Remus and Sirius were very on again, off again. I was not entirely sure how healthy that relationship was for either of them. Often Sirius would end up staying at ours as him and Remus had a huge bust up, he would come to us tail between his legs, needing moral support and therefore not wanting to go back to his own house after a fight. Then the next minuet the pair would be right as rain and back on again. I hate to say it, but they seemed to use each other as a coping mechanism, opposed to being a partnership.

Peter worried James and I the most. We barley saw him as he was still working on getting intel from brogan and burkes so our paths never really crossed in the field and when we were off, he seemed to do everything he could to avoid us. We worried he was bottling everything up which wasn't healthy or safe.

I couldn't imagine going through this without James by my side. In an evening we would cling to each other, taking comfort simply by being in each other presents. We tried to keep to a normal routine as possible. Cooking dinner together, seeing his parents and taking time to relax away from work, but it was tough. Our minds were constantly switched on. Sometimes we would take our stress out on each other, picking fights over meaningless things but ultimately, they came from a place of worry for the others safety. No matter what though, we would always find our way back to each other, usually both us seeking the other out to apologise. Every single day we woke up and chose to love each other, to fight all the crap that came with life and do it side by side.

I was lounging on the couch while James cooked dinner, when he shouted me from the kitchen.
"Em, there's a letter for you" scrunching my eyebrows together I pushed up from the couch. No one really sent me letters anymore. They would either just show up here or send their patronus. When I saw the immaculate pen man ship on the letter James had tossed on the counter I gasped. James snapped his gaze to me, questioning look on his face.
"it's from Regulus" I muttered quietly. Understanding crossed James face as he picked up the letter and brought it to me. He placed a kiss to the top of my head.
"why don't you go read it in the garden? It's still warm out and I will be right here when you're ready to talk" I stared down at the letter as James spoke. He understood what this meant to me. I had been writing to Regulus throughout the year but not had anything back from him. To say I was worried was an understatement. As if reading my thoughts James spoke again.
"whatever it says we will deal with okay" I tore my gaze from the envelope to look at James. He stood with confidence and determination making sure I knew he was strong, so I didn't have to be. I reached out taking his hand in mine and giving it a squeeze to show my appreciation before I made my way into the garden sitting next to the sunflowers James had planted that were now thriving. Taking a deep breath, I opened the letter.

Dear Em,

Firstly, I am okay, so you can stop panicking. I bet your crying, aren't you? Of course, you are. Stop crying woman, go hug your fiancé or something. Congrats on the engagement by the way.

I am sorry I haven't been able to write as I am sure you can understand I have to be extra careful, hence me using a school owl instead of my own. Although I haven't been able to respond to your letters, due to being under a close watch, I have received all your letters. I can't begin to explain the gratitude I have for you, for sending those letters Emily. They were a source of light when my mind seemed to focus on the dark.

I would say I can't believe you're getting married but after seeing you and lover boy together I knew it was only a matter of time. I wish more than anything I could be there with you on your big day Em but you and I both know that simply isn't possible and that is solely my fault for getting into this mess. I have a lot of regrets Emily but missing out on your wedding because of stupid decisions I have made is one of the top. I don't know how you managed it, but you wormed your way into my heart becoming not only my best friend but my family. I love you Emily. I should have told you in person, should have said it a thousand times but I hope you felt it. I can only hope there will be a time when we are reunited, and you and your husband can show all me the pictures from the day. I am so happy for you, if anyone deserves as happily ever after it is you.

Thank you for the updates on Sirius. I am glad to hear he is doing well and is keeping safe, even though I do think he is an idiot for spending his inheritance on something as stupid as a motorcycle. I find comfort in knowing you both have each other to lean on and protect one another. Never thought there would be a day where I admit to missing Sirius, but I guess stranger things have happened. Merlin do I miss the pain in the arse. Tell him for me Em, tell him I miss him.

The path I have chosen, or perhaps more accurately, the path that was chosen for me, has led me into depths of darkness that I never imagined possible. I should have known you were right, of course you were, your always right. I can't go into detail in case this letter gets intercepted but the things they have planned for me when I leave school are unspeakable. But alas Mother is finally proud of me, that's what I always wanted right? What a fool I have been Emily. I would like to blame it on my age and say I am young and dumb and don't know better, but I did know better, you warned me, you offered me your help and like the idiot I am, I declined.

I won't be able to contact you again. This was my last chance before I finished school. I hope your offer to help still stands Emily because if I get the chance to run, I am running straight for you. It might take me a while as I need to keep you safe, but I need to get out. I know that asking for your help is no small thing, even though you will try to convince me that it's fine. I know that it would put you in danger, perhaps even more danger than I am in now. But I cannot bear to continue down this path, knowing the harm it brings to others, knowing the stain it leaves on my soul.

Until we meet again

Your Reggie

I took a shuddering breath wiping my tears with the back of my hand as I read the letter again, my heart breaking a bit more with every read. I looked over my shoulder through to the kitchen window to where James stood watching me. Upon meeting his gaze my bottom lip wobbled, within an instance he was by myside wrapping his arms around me and pulling me in close.
"we have to help him James" I said voice shaky as I pulled away from his embrace to hand him the letter. I watched as James's read the letter his frown deepening as he read. He pulled me back into his arms as soon as he finished cradling my head to his chest.
"if he comes, we will help, of course we will love" he said stroking my hair comforting me. He then pulled me away from him and bent down slightly so he was eye level with me
"but my top priority is keeping you safe, so yes, we will do everything we can to help Regulus, but I will not let you put yourself in harm's way for him. Do you understand?" I could see the fear in James eyes, so I nodded agreeing with him because I know if the shoe was on the other foot, I would make him promise the same.

James let out a breath of relief before placing a kiss to my forehead
"you have one heck of a big heart Sunshine. I sometimes wonder why you weren't placed in Gryffindor" I smiled up at him
"please you Gryffindor's wouldn't have been able to handle me" James chuckled raising one eyebrow, challenging me.
"really because I am pretty good at handling you" I licked my lips and fluttered my eyelashes at him
"oh really? You might have to jog my memory. It's been a while since you have handled me" James scoffed
"your memory mustn't be very good since my hands got a glowing review just this morning" teasing him I shrugged my shoulders
"oh yes I remember now. I guess I don't need to refresher anymore" I turned and started walking away. I didn't make it very far before my feet were off the ground and I was thrown over James's shoulder as he sprinted into the house and up the stairs. I couldn't help but giggle as he carried me to our bedroom. Only James Potter could take me from a sobbing mess to giggling and happy within a matter of minutes. He really was my one.

Chapter 64 Chapter Text

It felt surreal when I peeked out of our bedroom window to see our transformed back garden. What was once a large patch of grass, boarded by trees with a large trampoline in the centre. Was now row of chairs either side of a sunflower aisle, leading to a whimsical arch, which in a matter of hours I would be pronounced Mrs Potter under. I stood motionless as I felt the wave of nerves take over me.

"beautiful, isn't it?" Mia broke me out of my thoughts as she bumped her shoulder with mine handing me a glass of champagne. Unable to speak, I just nodded my eyes still fixed out the window. It's hard to explain how I felt, I wasn't nervous to marry James, I knew with my whole heart I was making the right decision. I think I was just overwhelmed with emotions.
"I remember the morning of my wedding to Monty. I was reck, barley slept the night before, couldn't stop crying. I felt so many emotions I just couldn't keep a lid on them. But the moment I locked eyes with Monty at the end of the aisle, everything just melted away" I turned looking at my soon to be mother in law as she reminisced. She lifted my hand cradling it in both of hers. "The love you and James share is the stuff of fairy tales. I am beyond thrilled to be gaining the most incredible daughter in law" she reached out whipping away the tear that had fallen down my cheek, smiling at me with so much motherly love. "now Lovely, take a deep breath and try not to worry and just enjoy the day because it will be over in the blink of an eye" doing as she said I let out a shaky breath before squeezing her hand
"Thank you, Mia. I don't just mean for the pep talk. I mean for everything you do not just for me but for James too" She rolled her lips together trying to stop her own tears from falling before she promptly wrapped me into a tight hug.

We were interrupted by Kayla and Lucy bursting into the room, out of breath and panting.
"Anyone would think she is the one getting married!" Kayla exclaimed
"you can't ever propose to her. She will be bridzilla and I don't think any of us will survive that" Lucy protested. I couldn't help the smile that crept onto my face watching the pair. Lucy snapped her gaze to me
"I don't know what your smiling at, wait until you see the time table she has set out for you and god forbid you go behind schedule" No sooner as she spoke Lily appeared in the doorway gasping loudly when she looked at me.
"you haven't even showered yet!" she rushed over to me grabbing me by the arm and marching me into the en suit bathroom.

As the girls and I got ready it was as if I had travelled back in time to when we would be in the room of requirement getting ready for parties. Lucy was sat in front of the floor length mirror applying her makeup whilst singing along to the selection of music she had chosen for us to get ready too. Lily, the ball of energy that she is, was already ready as she simply just couldn't wait any longer. She instead busied herself with making sure everything was ready in the garden and that the boys, who had gone to James's parents' house to get ready were staying on schedule. Kayla meanwhile was working her magic on my hair. She had tamed my natural waves into more purposeful soft curls, clipping some back in my traditional half up half down style of course decorated with a bow. She smiled at me as crouched down Infront of me pulling out a few curls to frame my face.
"absolutely beautiful" she said softly placing a soft kiss to my cheek before standing up right. Upon seeing her girlfriends handy work Lily, gasped cupping her mouth with her hands before a few tears trickled out of her eyes.
"oh Merlin, don't start crying before she's even walked down the aisle. Pull yourself together woman" Lucy muttered packing away her makeup with a swish of her wand before turning to me with a genuine smile.
"well let's get you dressed then"

I was once again ushered into the bathroom by Lily, this time Lucy accompanied me to help me into the dress. My dress was perfect, it was an ivory satin material with a deep v neckline. The silky material floated down my body with a train in the back. It had the most beautiful lace balloon sleeves that had been embroidered with a floral pattern. I stared at my reflection in the mirror as Lucy fiddled with the intricate buttons that ran down my spine. I let out a small chuckle that this was my life. Never in a million's years did I think I would be here marrying James Potter in the midst of war. Yet, it was simply perfect, it almost felt destined, no matter which lifetime or universe, I would always end up here. Marrying James. I just wish my parents were here to see it.

As if reading my mind Lucy squeezed my shoulder meeting my gaze in the mirror.
"they are here, just because you can't see them doesn't mean they are not here" taking a shaky breath I dabbed a handkerchief under my eye not wanting ruin my makeup. Lucy pulled me so I turned to face her, she took a long sweeping look at me, a cheeky smile plastered on her face.
"Potter is one lucky sod" I let out a small chuckle at her compliment.
"I am so happy for you Emily. Watching you be taken care off and loved the way James does is all I could have ever wanted for you. You are the best of the best and no one deserves that type of love and happiness more than you. I don't know who I have to thank for making me walk into that train compartment all those years ago because I not only gained my ride or die best friend but a sister. I love you so freaking much, and I am just so god damn proud of you" I pulled Lucy into a tight hug both of us unable to stop the tears flowing from our eyes. Lucy would always get me in a way no one else would, not even James. I had many great friendships in my life, but nothing came close to the bond Lucy and I shared, much like I was destined to marry James, Lucy Vixen was destined to be my best friend.
"I love you too" I said sniffling pulling away from her looking at her glassy eyes.
"damn, that waterproof mascara is going to have to work for its money today" she said before we both burst out laughing.

Like Mia said, I was a ball of emotions I had cried several times but still somehow Lily had cried more. What I wasn't expecting though was for my brother to cry. Our few guests were now starting to arrive, some of the first being my brother and Anna. The girls had headed down to greet people leaving me with my teary-eyed brother.
"you just look so beautiful" he said walking over to me taking my hands in his. I watched as he struggled to contain his emotions before reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a long jewellery box. He opened the case to reveal a necklace I would recognise anywhere.
"it was mums, she wore it on her wedding day" my breath caught in my throat as I looked at the silver chain which held a midnight blue teardrop crystal. I reached out carefully tracing my fingers across the metal
"I thought it could be your something old and blue. I would say borrowed but you technically own it" I kept my gaze on the necklace. I was speechless, how I had I not thought to go through mum's jewellery collection for this? Looking back up at my brother with a new sense of gratitude.
"can you put it on for me" he swallowed but nodded anyway. I turned around, pulling my hair up as my brother place the necklace around my neck. Once securely fastened I spun around enveloping my brother in a tight hug. We stood holding each other not a word was uttered between us but we both said what we needed to say with that hug.

There was a knock at the bedroom door, Liam pulled away from me to answer.
"Merlin do you Williams know how to scrub up well. You still married?" I heard Sirius before I could see him. My brother laughed at him good naturedly
"I certainly am" Sirius sighed
"give me a call if that ever changes" I heard Remus groan while Peter just snickered. I furrowed my eyebrows. If they were all here where was James? I quickly scurried into the bathroom worried James might be with them.
"well, where is she?" Peter asked from the other side of the bathroom door.
"I am in here. What have you done with James?" I yelled out
"he is at his parents' house" Remus called back. My eyes widened
"you left him alone!" I yelled at the three imbesciles. I heard my brother chuckle
"I will go get the girls or his mother to check on him" I called out a thank you before I heard the door shut.
"so are you coming out or what?" Remus asked in bored tone, though I could hear the smile in his voice. letting out a deep breath I opened the bathroom door.

The three boys who had become some of my closest friends stood Infront of me all in matching suits. Since it's a summer wedding James had chosen beige linen suits for him and the boys with crisp white shirts. None of them wore ties but they each had a small sunflower boutiner clipped to their lapels. Each of them looked very handsome in their own way. I sucked in my bottom lip willing myself not to cry yet again.
"Look at you lot, don't you scrub up well" I said smiling at them but none of them said anything they all just stood staring at me with glossy eyes. Even Remus which was saying something.
"Emily" Peter breathed breaking the silence and stepping towards me "you look absolutely breath taking" well so much for not crying.
"Thanks Pete" I croaked out. Remus stepped forward next almost stuttering trying to get his words out, instead he opted to wrap me up in warm embrace.
"I am so happy for you" I heard him muttering into my hair before he placed a soft kiss to my forehead pulling away to reveal Sirius on the brink of tears. I held up my hand to him
"nope you're not allowed to cry or say anything nice because if you do I don't think I will be able to stop myself from sobbing" Sirius nodded biting his cheek to stop himself from crying, before pulling me into a hug just like Remus had. Then Sirius being Sirius couldn't help himself
"thank you for making him so happy" that's all it took, and I began to sob into his chest.
"you couldn't help yourself, could you?" I said gasping for breath. I knew Sirius would be my undoing
"I am sorry your just so perfect for each other" he said between his own sobs. I felt a hand squeeze my shoulder
"alright you two pull it together" Remus said pulling me away from Sirius and handing me handkerchief.

"Sirius, don't you have something to give Emily?" Peter prompted. Wiping his own eyes Sirius reached into his inside suit pocket before pulling out a jewellery box.
"I thought you might like to borrow these. Now I haven't had chance to wear them yet so you don't need to worry they haven't been in my ears yet but it only felt fitting since I borrow so much of your stuff" I let out a small chuckle taking out the sparkly earrings immediately putting them on.
"there so sparkly" I admired, tilting my head in the mirror to get a better look.
"only the best for you" Sirius winked at my reflection

The bedroom door pushed open as Monty peaked around it.
"it's time. You boys need to get down there" he instructed. Each of the boys gave me one last kiss on the cheek before leaving me alone with Monty. I had gone back and forth about how I was going to walk down the aisle. Part of me felt like I would be betraying my dad to be accompanied by anyone but him, but I was too nervous to do it alone and I knew in my heart that my dad would have no issues with Monty taking his place today. The man had been there for me in my darkest days and had treated me like a daughter long before James and I were even a couple.

"absolutely breath-taking" I smiled, moving towards him.
"are you ready?" he asked as he took my hand in his.
"more than ready" and with that he led me out of the bedroom and down to the Kitchen where Lucy was waiting for me to hand my bouquet. When the soft instrumental music started to play and Lucy headed out into the garden with one last look at me over her shoulder. All I could feel was the overwhelming urge to get to James.

Chapter 65 Chapter Text

James Pov
"do I wear the jacket or not? Em likes it when I roll my sleeves up but something feels wrong about not wearing a suit jacket on my wedding day" I said studying my reflection in the mirror one arm in the jacket one arm out with the sleeve rolled up.
"wear the jacket for the ceremony then take it off for the reception" Moony replied calmy from where he and the boys sat on my childhood bed. I spun around facing them, rolling down my sleeve and placing my arm back in the jacket
"do you think she is okay? What if she is having second thoughts? Merlin what if she leaves me at the alter?" I began to spiral. Rolling his eyes Sirius stood in front of me grasping me firmly by the shoulders
"do you genuinely believe Em would do that?" I gulped shaking my head. Of course she wouldn't but I was thinking very rationally today
"exactly so stop your worrying you fool. In less than an hour you are going to be marrying the love of your life. You have absolutely nothing to worry about" Moony stood behind Sirius
"he is right Prongs. I have never seen two people better suited than you and Emily. You have absolutely nothing to worry about" Peter nodded in agreement from his place on the couch. It was nice to see him today. Me and Em were worried about how he was going to be as he had been particularly quiet recently but today, he just seems like the old Wormy.
"would you feel better if we went to check on her?" Wormy offered in support.
"yeah, that would be amazing" I said already feeling relived. I knew she had the girls with her, but I don't know, there was just something about the boys having her back that brought me comfort.
"you going to be okay on your own?" Sirius asked, eyeing me suspiciously
"I am good. Please just go check on Em" Nodding he headed with the other boys to the door.
"you need to be at the house in 30 minuets or Lily is likely to murder you before you even have chance to say 'I do" Remus reminded me before he headed out.

I looked around my childhood bedroom taking stock of how far I have come. It feels like a lifetime ago since I called this place my home, even though it was just over a year ago. Now I was getting married. Holy shit, I was getting married. It was almost as if it didn't feel real until that very moment. I promised myself that I would do everything in my power to be the best husband possible to Emily, to give her everything she deserved and more. I don't think I really understood what unconditional love was until Em. She showed me every single day how to love with no limits, to be the best version of myself not only because I wanted to be but because she gave me the strength to do so. She was my everything and more.

"Potter?" I heard Lily yell from downstair. I glanced at my watch noting I still had some time before I needed to be at the house, was something wrong? I quickly raced down the stairs
"what is it? Is Emily okay?" I asked panicked.
"everything is fine James" Lily rushed out. I let out a breath of relief
"when the boys showed up. Emily was worried about you being on your own so she asked if I could check on you" Of course she did because that was Emily always making sure everyone around her had what they needed.
"I am good Lil's. Thank you" she smiled at me before taking in my outfit from head to toe chuckling to herself at the sight of my red converse.
"you're getting married" she said more to herself than to me
"imagine telling me at age 11 that it wasn't to you" we both laughed at the idea
"everything worked out exactly how it was meant to" I nodded in agreement
"it did, it was always meant to be her. You just helped me get there" Lily eyes glossed over as she crossed the room to me pulling me into a hug.
"this feel like a full circle moment" she muttered into my chest. It did. I wouldn't change a single thing, not even the time I spent pining after Lily because I wouldn't want any other outcome. She pulled away from whipping her eyes "come on let's go get you married"

I stood at the kitchen door looking out into our back garden. I was happy we were getting married here. I know we didn't really have much of a choice with current circumstances but honestly it was the perfect place. Our home was an extension of me and Emily. Everywhere you looked you could see evidence of our relationship. You see it in the old quidditch jumpers that we have in a basket by the back door for us to chuck on, on cooler evenings were we still want to sit out under stars, or the constant tray of cookies that lives on our kitchen counter that Emily never lets run out. You can see it in the random trinkets we have round the house of sunshine's and stags, the latter never fails to make Em laugh whenever I bring a new one into the home. This was the place that was solely ours, the place where I asked the love of my life to marry me and now the place where we say I do.
"You ready Jamie?" my mum came up behind me. I turned slightly rapping my arm around her shoulders
"More than ready"

I made my way down the sunflower aisle saying hello to our few guests as I went. It wasn't long before the boys came barrelling out into the garden. Peter made it to me first crashing into me, nearly knocking me over as he hugged me.
"congrats Prongs" he said in a chocked voice before pulling away and taking his seat on the front row with Lily, Kayla and my mum. Remus was next patting me on the back before moving into his position in the centre of the alter ready to perform the ceremony. Then there was Sirius. I took one look at him and his teared stained cheeks and I bloody lost it. I had done extremely well not to cry all day but leave it to Sirius. I grabbed my best mate by the shoulder yanking him into a hug.
"she looks beautiful Prongs" he whispered into my ear "I love you man and I am so glad you found someone who loves you as fiercely as Em does" oh bloody hell. Remus and Peter saw we were having a moment and decided to get in on it. I ended up in a 4-way hug with the best mates I guy could ever ask for.
"alright boys, its nearly time you need to take your positions" Kayla said breaking us apart. Peter took his seat, Moony back in the centre of the alter and Sirius was right by my side just like he always was. My mum waved a tissue out to me which I gladly accepted.

The music started, we had chosen for an instrumental version of here comes the sun. I turned to face the front not wanting to get a glimpse of Emily before I was ready. I could hear people standing as the music played out. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Lucy make it up to the alter. She stopped just before she turned to take her position to grab my hand and give it a gentle squeeze. We locked eyes, she gave me a brief nod, I knew that was her way of giving away Emily to me. Although the part of Emily that Lucy owned would always be hers. Not long after Lucy took her position, I heard a collectively gasp from our guest. Sirius leant over to whisper in my ear
"She is beautiful" with one last deep breath I turned to look over my shoulder.

I felt as though I had been winded as there she was. I couldn't breathe, couldn't move, couldn't do anything other than look at my entire fucking world as she almost floated towards me. She glowed, as a soft tears ran down her face, but she still had the most beautiful smile. My god that smile, it could light up any room. She really was the brightest light, the sun. My sunshine. Sirius clamped a hand on my shoulder steadying me as my own tears of pure and utter joy ran down my face. It felt like a lifetime that I waited for her to get to me but as soon as my dad placed her hand in mine, I felt whole again.

"Hi James" she whispered to me as she took me in

"Hey sunshine" I smiled down at her placing a gentle kiss to her forehead.

Lily and Kayla read a poem, but I couldn't for the life of me tell you what they said, and I bet you any money Emily couldn't either. Since the moment she met me at the alter my eyes and mind have been fixed on her, both of us wearing identical grins. There was small applause as the girls took their seats again. I vaguely recall repeating words after Remus and Emily doing the same. It wasn't until Peter was shoving a ring into both mine and Emily's hands that I was brought back to the moment. I took Emily hand in mind, gently sliding the ring onto her finger, she repeated the action with my own hand.

"Do you, James Fleamont Potter take thee Emily Violet Williams to be your lawfully wedded wife?" I was almost bouncing with excitement as I spoke
"I do" Emily bit her lip trying to stifle her laugh
"And do you Emily Violet Williams take thee James Flemont Potter to be your lawfully wedded husband?" With a squeeze of my hand Emily said, 'I do'. Remus grinned looking between the both of us. He had kept it together all day but even in that moment he allowed a single tear to fall
"Then it is my greatest privilege to pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride" I had barley let him finish before I captured her lips with my own. I put everything into that kiss, a promise of a lifetime of happiness and love, to always be there for her no matter what and to remind her every single day how grateful I am that she chose to spend her life with me. We pulled apart staring into each other eyes, completely ignoring the cheers of our nearest and dearest. I had done it, I got the girl.

Emily Pov

Mrs Potter. I was a Mrs. Mrs as in married. Most of the ceremony was a blur, I was to absorbed in James to really know what else was going on around me. James looked incredible I didn't think there was anything sexier than when James brings me a cup of tea to bed in the morning. Just his joggers on, that hung low on his hips, messy hair, his glasses and a sleepy grin. But seeing him stood at the alter today, Merlin was I one hell of a lucky woman. Straight after the ceremony James and I walked around greeting our guest. Everyone we had invited had shown up even Moody. Rumour has he even shed a tear during our nuptials.

As we were having a small backyard wedding the chairs were moved around and large table was placed where the isle once was. We had hung lights from one side of the garden to the other creating a twinkling glow as the summer sun began to set. We had also created a small makeshift dancefloor that was nothing more than a few sheets of MDF put down to protect the grass. James and I sat at the head of the table, nested into each other's side.}

"how are you finding the food, wife?" James had taken every chance he had got since we were officially married to refer to me either as wife or Mrs potter.
"delicious. What about you husband?" I had to stop myself from giggling every time I said it
"not nearly as delicious as you" He whispered into my ear, the hand he had on my thigh rising slightly as he placed a soft kiss on my neck. I was this close to saying goodnight to everyone and whisking my husband to bed.
"keep it PG kids. Minnie is watching" Lucy leaned over to us. James and I looked at our favourite professor. Even now one of looks was enough to strike fear into us. James kept his hand where it was but removed his lips away from my neck.

After we had finished eating and cleared our plates away. Sirius stood up clinking a fork to his glass as he did. James sat a little straighter in his seat as I took in a nervous breath worried that what Sirius was about to say might not be suitable for all ears round the table.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if I may have a few moments of your attention please" here we go. "It was the first Monday of our 6th year and James marched us all down to library because he simply had to ask his new potions partner a question. From the minuet I saw them interact I knew we would end up here one day. They sat whispering to each other completely oblivious to the fact they had left the real world to enter a world where only the two of them existed and that was before they were even friends. I had a front row seat to watch them go from acquaintances at best, to friends, to lovers. When James finally realized he was bat shit crazy for our resident Ravenclaw he talked my ear off about Emily for almost 8 hours a day. He also muttered her name in his sleep so there really was no escape" Everyone laughed at Sirius whilst James pulled me closer not even remotely sorry "When I realized Em was going to become a permeant fixture in our lives I decided it was best to get to know her. A decision my waistline does not thank me for, thanks to her constants supply of baked goods. However, after spending only a few minutes with Emily it wasn't hard to understand how she had James wrapped around her little finger. She is simply one of them people you can't help but fall in love with"

I bit the inside of my cheek as James stroked his hand up and down my arm comfortingly
"Emily, it wasn't just James falling in love with you but myself, Remus and Peter. You quickly became part of our family, showering each of us with love and compassion. I think I speak for both the lads when I say we were relieved when you said yes to marrying James as it meant we got to keep you forever. Thank you for loving our Prongs the way he deserves" oh bloody hell I was full on sobbing now and after taking a quick glance around the table so were most of our guests, even Lucy. Sirius then turned his attention to James.

"Prongs, my best friend. My brother" I snuggle into James's side a bit more my turn to offer support "you have had my back from the second you met me at age 11. I don't know if it was my charm or my good looks that caused you to take one look at me and decide that I was going to be your best friend but thank Merlin you did. You somehow rangled together a bunch of miss fits and made us into a brotherhood and the best pranking quartet Hogwarts has ever seen. You have had our backs from day one and I know there isn't anything you wouldn't do for us. When I left home, there wasn't a doubt in mind where I wanted to go. I acted on instinct and ran straight to you because like always I knew you had me. You really are the best man I have ever met. Selfless, trustworthy and luckily for Emily off the scale handsome. I am so incredibly happy that you found Emily. You are well on your way to having the life you have always wanted. Its thanks to you and Em that I now know what love is meant to look like. Unconditional and unwavering"

James and I were a mess as we took in Sirius' words. Clearing his throat and raising his glass
"would you all join me in raising a toast to my two best friends. To James and Emily" as everyone toasted James and I leapt out of our seats tacking Sirius into a hug. I told you Sirius would be my undoing.

When it came time for our first dance there was obviously only one song that we even considered. With my arms looped around James' neck and his around my waist smiling up at him we swayed in slow circles to the music.
"did you ever think when you bought me that record for Christmas, we would be dancing to it on our wedding day?" James placed a soft kiss on my forehead
"I hoped we would" I scoffed pulling away from him slightly
"you couldn't have, you were still pining after Lily back then" James gave a small shake of his head
"I think I stopped pining after Lily the day I sat down next to you in potions. You blew me away Em I just needed a bit of time to catch up" I reached up slightly, giving him a quick kiss
"I guess your flirting paid off" He laughed slightly
"obviously I have immense skills in that department. As soon as I turned on the charm you were a goner" I rolled my eyes at my husband
"oh yeah, it was your flirting skills and good looks that got us here" he shrugged
"you said it not me" We swayed together to the music talking about the day and how incredible it had been.

"I love you so much James. like I didn't even think it was possible to love another person the way I love you. It wasn't just your fliriting and good looks, although they helped, that got us here. It's the way you show up for me every single day, you put me first above everyone else, you never fail to make me feel loved and safe. You're my home James. As long as I have you, I know I will be okay. I am so ridiculously proud to be your wife" I reached up to brush his cheeks, wiping the tears away
"bloody hell sunshine, are you trying to make me sob like a baby? You can say stuff like that and not expect me to cry" I shrugged
"just making sure you know how much you mean to me in case I don't tell you enough" With a shake of his head he pulled me against his body
"you not only tell me more than enough, but you show me every single day. I love Em"

As our song came to an end and changed into one of the many Abba songs we had lined up all of our friends pounced on us and with the people we loved the most we danced the night away.

Chapter 66 Chapter Text

The first two months of married life have been amazing. Doing life with James has always been a pleasure so the only real change is my name. Emily Potter. Sounds pretty good to me. James has been the ever-doting husband, always making each day just a little bit more special than the last. It didn't have to be anything big, it was always the small things I loved the most. Like, picking me up a new book whenever he was working for the order in diagon alley. Or if he gets home before me, he will run the most incredible bubble bath, which he would usually end up joining me in it. Come to think of it, he might get more out of the bath than me. With everything going on we obviously couldn't go away on a honeymoon so in an evening we would sit out in our back garden, under the stars and plan all the places we are going to go see when this is over. Just because we didn't get a honeymoon definitely did not mean we didn't live in our little post wedding bubble. James and I have always been quite affectionate to each other, but it has definitely ramped up of recent.

With the last of the summer nights coming to end as we moved more into September, we had invited everyone round for a BBQ. We were on call this week so providing we weren't needed, it seemed a good as time as any. The trampoline had been put back into the centre of the garden, currently with a huge black dog bouncing on it. We had left the lights up from the wedding, it was nice to have the option for them, especially on nights like tonight. Everyone had managed to make it, including Peter. He was still pretty quiet, the boys checked in on him regularly to make sure he was doing okay. He had seemed to perk up a bit since the wedding, so although we were still a bit concerned, we knew he had a good support system round him, should he need us.

I was sat with the girls on sunlounges as Lily filled us in on the training she was having at the hospital at Hogwarts and let me tell you she had some stories. Peter was on the grill with Remus closely supervising, whilst James was the hostess with the mostess, making sure everyone had a drink. Sirius and Remus were in an 'off again' stage at the moment but they were pretty good at hiding it from the group. We wouldn't even know about it if Sirius hadn't shown up sobbing, banging on our door at 3 am this morning after they had an argument. The pair of them were such a roller-coaster at the moment it wouldn't surprise me if they were 'on again' before the end of the night.

"ladies" James interrupted Lily bringing over a tray of cocktails which he had been working on.
"what's in them?" Kayla asked as James handed me my drink with a kiss on the head.
"champagne, ginger beer, syrup and lemon juice" I took a sip of drink and was pleasantly surprised.
"Merlin Potter, this isn't that bad" Lucy complimented. James' mouth gaped open, Lucy and James had come a long way, but compliments were not something she dished out often.
"thank you" James managed to cough out. Smirking I reached my hand up his back giving him a pat.

Unfortunately, our evening was brought to a stop when Moody's Patronus appeared. We all sat up a little straighter wondering who was going to be called in.
"All members required immediately" The order was barked out quickly before the patronus disappeared. For a moment none of us moved, all just sat in silence. We had never all been called in before, this was bad. On instinct I stood up gripping James' hand tightly in mine.
"does anybody need anything before we go?" I asked the group, 7 pairs snapped to me, seemingly breaking whatever spell we had all be put under.
"can I grab a jacket?" Kayla asked quietly, there was a few others who asked for the same. I waved my wand as various jumpers and hoodies flew out to garden, people grabbing what the needed before apparating to headquarters. James and I were the last ones to leave, we made quick work of putting up shields on the house before we quickly followed the others.

Headquarters was chaos. There were people running around looking for various things, others apparating in and out. I could feel the sense of panic rushing over me, James must had sensed it to as he gripped my hand a little tighter.
"there you are" the gruff voice of Moody had us all spinning round to greet him.
"Muggle London is under attack, here's what going to happen. Kayla get to the prime minister now" with a quick kiss to Lily's lips Kayla was gone "Lily you're staying here, we will send any injured back to you. Peter stay with her and help out. she might need an extra pair of hands. The rest of you get to millennium bridge, keep your wits about you and stay vigilant" and with that he stalked past us to go give someone else orders. Lily and Peter wasted no time running off to set up a makeshift infirmary. Before any of the rest of us could go I raced to the room where I kept potions grabbing any that I thought might be useful to take before we went. I shoved the vials at my friends as we all hastily took them.

When I landed on the bridge my mouth fell open in shock. There were people running while screaming, as they tried to dodge spells thrown their way. Most of them muggles, most of them completely defenceless. Other order members had arrived before us and were engaging in duels trying to get as many people to safety as possible. While the other bodies I saw, weere just that, simply limp bodies casted aside. Snapping me out of my thoughts, James gripped my shoulder turning him towards him
"stay where I can see you. Please Em, stay close to me" his voice was filled with worry. Not being able to find the words I crashed my lips down onto his promising I would stay close, promising we were making it home tonight, together.

After that we quickly got to work. Spotting a death eater about the throw a muggle off the bridge I launched an attack of spells at them successfully hitting my target. In the chaos of it all though they had let go of the muggle knocking them over the edge anyway. I quickly raced over to the side of the bridge levitating the muggle just in time. I brought her back to the bridge giving her a quick once over before instructing her to run. I took a quick look around, checking in on my friends Lucy, Sirius and Remus were stood with their backs to each other, firing off spells in all directions. If they were there where was James? I frantically looked around, an uneasy feeling settling in my stomach when I couldn't see him.

I ran down the bridge screaming his name, blocking spells as I went. So much for staying where we could see each other. I swear when I got my hands on him, I was going to kill him. My heart rate was quickly rising when I heard him. I spun around to see him on the other side of the bridge to me. Running faster than I have ever have before I crossed the bridge flying into his arms.
"you bloody idiot why did you run off?" Oh, the cheek of this boy
"me run off? I turned around and you had disappeared" rolling my eyes at him, now was not the time for this fight. Instead of continuing to argue, I grabbed his hand "we stay together" he nodded and just like the others were we stood back to back with each other firing off spells.

In the distance I saw a cloaked man almost floating down the bridge. Why was no one stopping him? When he removed the hood of his cloak I knew why. The same red eyes that I saw not that long ago in the pub were staring right back at me. I rapidly tapped James hand to get him to turn around. The minuet he saw what I was looking at he quickly stepped in front of me trying to shield me from view. Voldemort's smirk just grew at the sight of James. Taking a deep breath, I moved to James' side taking his hand. If we were doing this, we were doing it together. Gulping down our fear, we made our way forward, upon our approach Voldemort lifted his wand firing the killing curse straight at James. I guess we weren't messing around. James quickly through up a shield around us before retaliating with his own spell. Voldemort's and James's spells crashed in the middle, taking the advantage of the opportunity I fired my own spell at him, only for him the raise his hand, sending what was effectively a harsh gush wind my way, nocking me off balance. When James saw me fall, he lost focus causing him to throw the spell he cast aside. Well it appears Voldy can do wandless magic, good to know.

Back at James' side, this time we fired a spell at exactly the same time, but he blocked both with a shield. Voldemort then conjured fire, swirling it around himself before sending wave after wave our way. Ha jokes on you pal, one of the potions I had forced James to take before we left was a fire repellent. We used this to our advantage and edged closer towards the man, firing off spells as we went. Voldemort cocked his head confused as to how we were resitting the fire but when I just smirked at him, the anger in his eyes grew. Dropping the fire spell, he went into a fury sending every dark spell in the book our way. At one point I watched as James had to jump and roll out of the way to avoid being hit. If we didn't do something soon, we were going to get hurt.

An idea popped into head, but it was a bit of a risky one. I took a quick look to see how many people were around us, it looked to be mainly witches and wizards. To limit the impact to others I needed to get closer. Knowing James would cover me, I quickly dashed towards Voldemort, I heard James yell at me as I did but I had to give it a try. When I got close enough, I pointed my wand at the ground casting 'dota pylisio'. A spell I had never tried before but as the earth around me started the rumble I took a breath of relief that I had casted the earthquake spell right, it wasn't as powerful as I had read about but, it was strong enough to knock you down if you weren't prepared. Thankfully, I managed to steady myself and stay upright. Voldemort was not so lucky. As soon as the rumbling stopped James was at my side, Voldemort was still down but wouldn't be for long, swinging our wands towards him we each shot spells but neither hit as with a second to spare Voldemort apparated away. What a fucking coward.

We didn't even get a second to catch our breath as the supports that held the bridge in place were blasted to piece. We needed to get off this bridge. James, clearly thinking the same as me apparated us back to headquarters. As soon as my feat hit the ground, I was pulled from James' grasp and into Lucy's
"what is it with you two and fight fucking Voldemort" she scolded me but I didn't care I was just glad she was safe. I pulled away to see James hugging Sirius and Remus, sensing my gaze he pulled from the boys and came back over to me. We both scanned each other for any sign of injury. James' jeans were ripped at the knees where he must have grazed them when he rolled out the way but other than that he looked okay. James had a frown on his face as he held my wrist in his hands, I had a bruise forming. I must have banged it when I fell over. I wriggle my hand from his grasp to cup his face.
"I am okay, everyone is okay" He let out a breath before shutting his eyes and placing a kiss to my forehead.
"what part of stay where I can see you did you not understand?" he mumbled into my forehead. I groaned, moving away from him to give him a stern look. His eyebrows raised before holding his hands up defensively Infront of him
"okay your right, I was the one who didn't stay close. Completely my fault" I dropped my glare, smiling sweetly at him. Sirius chuckled moving to wrap his arm around me.
"Merlin help your future kids, with a glare like that"

We stayed at headquarters after that helping out where we could with the aftermath of the attack. When Moody gathered everyone for debrief my heart shattered when he revealed not only how many muggles, we had lost but how many of orders members lives have been taken. Two of them being Gideon and Fabian Prewitt.

Chapter 67 Chapter Text

The month and half that followed the attack on London had been quiet. Scarily quiet. We were all on edge waiting for the other shoe to drop. Since the attack it was if Voldemort had disappeared taking his death eaters with him. To say things were tense was an understatement.

I was working in headquarters on making the list of potions Lily had told me she needed. There were a few other people milling around but all my friends were on duty somewhere. I was rather glad my day at headquarters was today. I had been feeling rather queasy for the past few days, so I was pretty relieved to not be walking around a village somewhere.
"mind if I interrupt?" I turned my head away from my potion to the woman stood in the doorway. As I took her in, I knew straight away who she was even though I had never met her before
"Molly?" if the ginger hair and freckles weren't a giveaway, the smile she gave me was almost identical to Gideon's. Loosing Gideon had hit me harder than I thought it would. He played an important role in my life and although I never loved him in the way he might have wanted, I did care for him. During in my time with Gideon he would often talk about his older sister and his nephews. I think she maybe had 5 kids now. Gideon mention once when we were catching up at an order meeting, she had twin boys about a year ago. He was thrilled as they took his and Fabians names as their middle names.

"you must be Emily" she said as made way into the room slowly lowering herself into the seat next to me. It was then I noticed that she had a bump, she was pregnant again?
"I hope you don't mind me interrupting you deary. My husband, Arthur, and I are here to speak to Alastor. When he mentioned you were here, I thought I would come say hello" she knew who I was? I must have looked at her confused as she added "I often overheard Fabian teasing Gideon about you. You two were friends?" I nodded at her
"We were. We lost touch after he left Hogwarts, but it was good to see him again" even if it was only for a short while. "I am sorry for your loss Molly. The twins were some of the good ones" She smiled softly at me reaching out lay her hand on my arm
"Thank you" she said sincerely "would you mind telling me about some memories you have of them?" giving her hand a squeeze I began telling her things I remember the twins getting up to while they were at Hogwarts. Before Gideon and I had any sort of relationship we were good friends, I had lots of fond memories of him and his brother.

We were both laughing as we swapped stories and we even got onto the topic of her children
"William is the oldest he is 9 now, after him its Charlie at 7, then Percy who is 3. Then as you mentioned the twins who are 2. Even at such a young age I can tell they will be trouble makers just like their uncles" From the stories Molly had told me about her two youngest it defiantly sounded like she would have her hands full with them.
"now we are just wating for this one's arrival. Should be sometime late February or early March" She said absentmindedly rubbing her hand over her swollen stomach. If she was due in March that would make her about 4 months along.
"do you know what your having?"
"another boy. We were hoping for a girl but as long he is happy and healthy that's all that matters" this poor woman was overrun with testosterone "I must say though, during in this pregnancy I have had the worst case of morning sickness. I luckily didn't suffer that bad with the others but this one is a whole other story" at the mention of morning sickness my tummy started to churn, reminding me that I was still feeling sick. In fact, I had woken up this morning and had to race to bathroom with my own bout of sickness it had been the same all week.

Holy shit how had I not thought of this before.

"morning sickness?" I said more to myself, but Molly must have assumed I was still talking to her. I mean why wouldn't she.
"Yes deary. I only had it the first few weeks with the other kids but this one has had me up every morning" I only half listened to her. My mind was racing, trying to work out if this was even a possibility. I took my contraceptive religiously. I know it's not an 100% guarantee, but it was close. I racked my brain only to go icy cold when I remember that last month Sirius had brought over some new brownies he had made, testing out a new recipe. They were so bad they had James, Sirius and I throwing up. I had just taken my contraceptive before that.
"Emily are you okay?" Molly asked snapping me out of my thoughts. I shuddered slightly before slapping on a smile
"yes, sorry I must have zoned out for a moment" Her concern melted from her face
"not to worry dear. Happens to the best of us" Thankfully we were interrupted by the arrival of Molly's husband.
"Ah Love, come meet Emily" I went through the motions of introducing myself to Arthur, who seemed like an intriguing man, but I wasn't really with it.

Molly and Arthur left not long after that, with Molly making me promise to come over for dinner with James one night. As soon as they left I went to find Moody. I needed to go home.
"do you mind if I leave? All the potions on the list are made. I can come back if you want me to. I just need to nip home for something" he eyed me suspiciously, clearly I was not acting as calm as I thought
"are you okay?" I gulped but nodded anyway
"yeah, just been feeling a bit sick the last few days" he didn't look convinced, but he nodded giving me to go ahead to leave anyway, letting me know he would tell James I had already gone home for the day.

Once home I rummaged on the bookshelf for the book on witch's health, I used to make the contraceptive potion for me and Lucy. I flicked through the pages looking for the spell. Once I found the right passage, I read it over and over again making sure I understood correctly. conceptus revelare, casted by pointing my wand at my stomach. After two minutes of the spell being cast my stomach would glow green if I was pregnant and red if I wasn't. The effects would only last a few seconds, but the results could be life changing. Stood in front of the floor length mirror in our bedroom as I casted the spell. I then procced to stand there, biting my nails anxiously for the longest two minutes of my life. When my stomach started to glow, I took in a shallow breath. The glow was green.

"Em?" I heard James shout from downstairs as he got home. I was still stood staring into the mirror, the glow on my stomach long having stopped. I was overwhelmed with emotions. Part of me, quite a large fucking part of me, was absolutely terrified. I am 19, 20 by the time the baby would be born if I had fallen pregnant when I think I had. I was so young and bringing a child into the world in its current state? Yeah that was less than ideal. The other part of me though, was really excited. I had always wanted to be a mum. I tried to explain it to Lucy, who was repulsed at the idea of having kids. I had always just had this feeling almost like a longing to have a baby, then James came along and that feeling just grew. We had created something that was part him, part me. How could I not be excited about that? I had my hand on my tummy. I couldn't help but smile.

"Em, are you okay? Did you not here me shout?" James said barrelling into the bedroom. He came up to me taking my face between his hands "what's wrong? Have you been crying? Moody said you were sick. Should we get Lily?" he fired off question clearly worried. I moved his hands from my face and went and sat on our bed
"Come sit down James" He sat next to me, his face tight with concern
"Please tell me what's going on Em, your making me nervous" I grabbed hold of one of his hands, taking a deep breath I told him.
"I am pregnant" James' mouth dropped open in shock. He stayed perfectly still for a few seconds before his eyes moved over my body stopping at where I still had my hand pressed to my tummy. When he looked back up at me his eyes were watery as a slow smile grew on his face.
"we are having a baby?" he asked his voice breaking as happy tears rolled down his face. Unable to stop my own tears I just nodded at him
"We are having a baby" as soon as I confirmed it James crashed his mouth to mine. His hand coming to rest on top of mine so we both cradling my stomach
"I love you so much Emily. I am going to be a dad" Bloody hell if I already didn't love this man enough.
"I love you too"

For a while we just lay together in bed revelling in our happiness, I told James about when and how I think we got pregnant. He barked out a laugh at Sirius' involvement. We couldn't put off the inevitable for long though as we knew we were going to have to have a serious chat about what this meant. James brushed my hair behind my ear
"how are you feeling?" I let out a sigh
"On one hand I am so ridiculously happy. I have always wanted to be a mum and having a baby with you is a dream come true, having a family is all I have ever wanted. On the hand I am terrified. We both have a pretty big targets on our backs. It's not exactly the most stable environment to bring a baby into, but I still want this. Does that make me bad mum? Shit am I already failing as a parent before I even become one?" James pulled me tighter towards him placing a kiss on my head.
"you are going to be the most incredible mum. No, you are not failing. If it makes you feel any better, I feel the same. Is the timing not ideal? Yes. But is it also the best thing that has ever happened to me? also yes. We will get through any hurdle that is thrown at us. That's what we do Em. Me and you, we have got this" I placed a soft kiss to his lips
"we need to go get checked out at St Mungo's, let them check to see if I am actually a month along like we think. We can't tell our friends until about the 12-week mark" James pouted at this "the pregnancy will be a bit further along by then it's safer" he reluctantly nodded. It would be a miracle if we made through the next 8 weeks with out him blabbing. "if it will make you happy you can tell Moody and Dumbledore. They will need to know asap so I can change my duties"
"yeah I am defiantly not letting you go out on any assignments" I raised my eyebrow at him, but he just held his hands up at me
"I am sorry sunshine but your carrying precious cargo you best be prepared for me to be overprotective. Keeping you and baby Elvendork safe is my top priority"
"I think I am going to have to veto Elvendork as a name" James gasped dramatically
"but it's always been my dream to name my first born Elvendork"
"maybe it can be a middle name" I suggested before we both started laughing.

Moody and Dumbledore were not best pleased with our news, especially because it turns out that Alice is also pregnant. Despite a lecture from Moody about how irresponsible I was he did seem genuinely concerned for my safety. He had instructed Peter to stop monitoring brogan and burkes and instead take my place in the field while I would stay at headquarters helping with planning and strategizing, when I wasn't working on potions. Moody had also taken it upon himself to check on me multiple times throughout the day making sure I was comfortable. It was actually really sweet.

It was our week off this week and James was buzzing with excitement as not only was it our 12 week scan where we would get to see our baby for the first time but because he would finally be allowed to tell people. I was mightily impressed with the fact he has managed to keep it quiet especially in the first few weeks when we got a lot of question as to why my role had been switched. I could tell it was on the tip of his tongue to blurt it out.

"This might feel a bit cold Mrs Potter" it never failed to make me grin whenever I was referred to as Mrs Potter. As the Medi witch applied a gel to my now small baby bump, James gripped my hand, his thumb moving in a comforting pattern. The medi witch pulled a screen round turning it to face me and James. As soon as I saw the little black and white jellybean, I couldn't contain my tears of happiness from escaping. Beside me I heard James sniffle as he moved in closer to get a better look.
"everything looks as it should, you little one is growing nicely" she then flicked a switch and the sound of a little heartbeat could be heard.
"nice and strong healthy heart beat too. I will give you two a moment while I get you some images printed" with that she left the room. For a few moments the only sound heard was the steady heartbeat of our baby.
"can you believe we made something so perfect" I turned from the screen to look at James. He looked awestruck as he had his watery eyes trained on the screen.
"you're going to be the most incredible dad" I thought out loud. James tore his gaze from the screen to meet my eyes.
"this is a dream come true. You're a dream come true" he muttered before placing a soft kiss to my forehead. We both turned to look back at the screen.
"you're gonna be one hot MILF" James mumbled after a few moments causing me to burst into a fit of laughter.

When we left the hospital, we went straight to my parent's grave, leaving a picture of the scan with them. I shed a few more tears as my heart crushed at the thought of my baby never getting to meet their grandparents but I would make sure that they knew how wonderful grandma and grandad Williams were. From there we went over to James's parents to tell them before we told our friends. To say Monty and Mia were thrilled to become grandparents would be an understatement. Mia had even started knitting a little cardigan before we had even left while Monty brained stormed names for himself. He was currently torn between pop's and gramps.

Our next stop was my childhood home where we would be telling our friends. Since it was our week off, we were having a movie night since we haven't had one in a while. It was perfect timing for us as everyone would be together, even Peter was coming. We stood outside the house hand in hand grinning from ear to ear when Lucy swung the door open.
"what's up with you two? Your smiling weird"
"just excited for everyone to be together" I said cutting in before James had chance to tell her. He practically yelled the news at his mum and dad he was that excited. Lucy gave us an unconvinced look before moving to the side to let us in.
"finally! What took you so long?" Sirius asked from his place on the couch. We were the last of our group to arrive
"sorry, we got stuck at my mum and dad's" James answered for us. They already had the projector ready with Grease, tonight's film of choice, loaded.
"hey why don't we take a group picture while we are all here? We haven't had an updated one since we let school" I said putting into action the plan James and I had come up with to tell our friends. Lily jumped out of her seat, as expected, happily racing to get the camera. There were a few groans mainly from Lucy and Remus, but they moved anyway so we were all squished together on the couch. When Lily got back, I levitated the magical camera Infront of us. I could feel James vibrating with excitement next to me. I gave his leg a squeeze signalling for him to go for it. Without wasting a second he shouted the news
"we are having a baby!" the flash went off not a second later and I knew just by the reactions of friends that was going to be an amazing photo.

Chaos erupted around us. Lily, who was already crying, snatched the scan picture from my hands before gushing over it with Kayla stood behind her. Remus immediately pulled James and I into a tight hug congratulating us before going to see If he could pry the scan picture from Lily's grasp. Peter didn't really say much but gave us both a small smile muttering congratulation before going over to Remus who had successfully stolen the scan picture. Lucy and Sirius stood Infront of me and James their mouth hung open in shock.

"you're having a baby?" Sirius asked. James moved over to him clasping his hand on his shoulder
"you're going to be an uncle Pads" that was all it took for Sirius's flood gates to open. He practically collapsed onto James hugging him tightly.
"How you doing auntie Lucy?" I asked moving over to my best friend. She had watery eyes
"I thought your boobs had gotten bigger" She mumbled before we both started to laugh closing the distance, wrapping each other into a tight hug
"I am so happy for you Em. I know this is what you have always wanted" she whispered into my ear.

Once everyone had calmed down James and I were bombarded with questions. Sirius was thrilled to know it was his brownies that had caused my contraceptive to be ineffective.
"how far along are you?" Remus asked.
"12 weeks. This is your 12-week scan, right?" Lily answered for us. As James and I nodded, Lucy and Sirius jumped up from their seats
"12 weeks!" Sirius roared
"you have known you are pregnant for 12 bloody weeks and you didn't tell me" Lucy argued her voice going mightily high the angrier she got
"I thought we were closer than this Prongs. Thought we didn't keep secrets from each other" Sirius added throwing his hands up in despair. James and I looked at each other as Lucy and Sirius continued to rant and rave.
"its advised you wait 12 weeks before you tell anyone your pregnant" Lily said coming to our defence "the risk of the pregnancy failing reduces at 12 weeks. I am sure James and Emily told us as soon as they could" I nodded quickly
"I am 12 weeks today. We only got the scan this morning" Sirius and Lucy huffed but seemed to settle down.
"we really appreciate your guys support. Its not the most ideal time to be having a baby but we are still really excited. You guys are going to be best aunts and uncles a kid could ever ask for" James addressed the group. It wasn't long before everyone crowed round us in a group hug. James wasn't wrong out baby was one lucky kid.

Chapter 68 Chapter Text

I don't know what was going on, but this February had been the coldest one ever. I tugged my coat around me a bit more. I was walking home from a day spent with Mia as she showed all the new stuff she had picked up for the baby. The guest room at their house, which was now their future grandchild's bedroom, was filled with tons of tiny little baby clothes. Since James and I had decided to not find out the gender Mia had bought a mix of both boys and girls clothes saying she would save which ever one she didn't need for her next grandchild. James had stayed home opting to continue work on the nursery. He had decided he wanted to do everything himself, without magic. So, every week off he got he would add a little something to the room, this week it was a new lick of paint. I had no idea what the room looked like or what his plans were as he wanted it to be a surprise for me. Not going to lie the suspense was killing me, plus I was a little nervous he would re create the Gryffindor common room in there.

As I made the short journey home, I couldn't help the feeling that someone was watching me. I subtly pulled my wand out from my pocket and clutched it tightly to my chest. No sooner had I done this someone slapped a hand over my mouth, dragging me backwards to an alley way between two houses, pushing me against a wall. On instinct I brought my knee up and kneed my capture in the balls. Well I was assuming the tall fucker who got me was a man. The man winced as I made contact.

"fuck Em that hurt" wait I knew that voice. I yanked the man up by the back of his hood and pushed him against the wall with my wand pressed to his neck. He had a black scarf covering his lower face. But I would recognise those icy blue eyes anywhere. I yanked the scarf off his face gasping slightly.
"what did you tell me you wanted to do when you finished Hogwarts?"
"what? Em what are you doing?" he asked confused as I pressed my wand into his neck
"just answer the bloody question" I huffed. Eyes wide he rushed to answer
"I told you I wanted to be an astronomy professor. We were in the astronomy tower with Lucy Vixen who was high at the time" immediately dropping my wand I pulled him towards me hugging the life out the stupid boy only letting go of him so I could hit him, hard, over the back of the head.
"you idiot you scared the life out of me Reggie"
"yeah well I think you got your own back. Thanks for kneeing me in the balls by the way" I shrugged unapologetically
"you should have known better to grab a lady like that" he smirked at me
"I missed you Em"

I unlocked the front door to my house, ushering Regulus inside with me. Once in I locked the door and put up some new defensive charms up. Regulus had wandered over to the fireplace in the living room and had picked up a framed photo. It was a group shot from our wedding day. I watched as he ran his finger over the picture a soft smile on his face.
"Sunshine? Is that you?" Regulus put the photo back in its place turning to me worried at the sound of James' voice.
"Yeah it's me. Can you come down here for a sec" I shouted up the stairs to him before turning to Regulus.
"don't worry James read your letter he wants to help you too" Seconds later James thundered down the stairs only for his steps to falter as he caught sight of Regulus stood in the middle of our living room.
"are you sure it's really him?" James asked standing in front of me protectively
"its him. I am sure" James's shoulder visibility relaxed before he sighed.
"I guess I better go put the kettle on then" He said heading towards the kitchen. Not before giving Regulus a squeeze on the shoulder
"it's good to see you again mate"

I shimmied out of my many layers hanging them by the front door.
"do you want me to hang your coat up?" I asked Regulus. Turning around, I found him staring at me, or rather my stomach wide eyed
"you're pregnant?" I simply nodded "with Potters kid?" rolling my eyes at him
"no with Sirius's. Now stop staring and take your coat off" he started shrugging out of his coat
"Just to confirm you were joking right? The Kid is Potters" hanging up his coat I replied
"Yes Regulus. My husband and I are having a baby" he let out a breath of relief sitting down on the couch
"Thank Merlin it's not Sirius's"

While James was in the kitchen, he had sent word to Dumbledore. As we waited James and I showed Regulus pictures from the wedding. Regulus was well versed at hiding his emotions but even he couldn't stop the corners of his mouth tugging up as he looked at the images.
"do you have any baby scan photos?" he asked shocking me. I waved my wand causing the framed photo of the scan we keep on our nightstand to fly down the stairs. Regulus held the photo not saying a word.
"they are growing nicely, heartbeat is good" James said smiling as he watched Regulus
"when are you due?" he asked still not looking away from the photo
"end of July" I answered. James rested a hand on my stomach crouching down to talk to the baby, something that had become a bit of a habit for him.
"I think uncle Regulus is excited to meet you bud. He is the rich uncle, don't let uncle Sirius fool you he didn't get the bigger inheritance" My heart exploded. Regulus snapped his eyes to James in bewilderment that he had just referred to him as an honorary uncle. The look on his face was one of pure untainted happiness. For a boy who had been surrounded by so much sadness to see him so happy meant everything to me.

The happy mood quickly ended with the arrival of Dumbledore.
"ah the younger Mr Black. I trust you had a nice summer?" Regulus rubbed the back of his neck
"if you call watching muggles be tortured an enjoyable summer. Then yeah, sure" it was if the air got sucked out of the room. James placed a comforting hand on my thigh giving it a light squeeze letting me know he had me.
"I see we have a lot to discuss. Why don't you start at the beginning" Dumbledore said bring his mug to his lips taking a long sip.

With a reluctant sigh Regulus bared all. By the end I had my face buried into James side as I tried my best not to picture some of the horrible things Regulus had witnessed
"my breaking point was when Kreacher came back from helping the dark lord with a task. He was left for dead" Regulus voice cracked as he relived the memory. Regulus loved that elf, often being his only friend in such an unfriendly environment. Regulus lifted his gaze locking eyes with Dumbledore
"he has made horcruxes" from the sobering look on Dumbledore's face I knew that was bad
"how many?" the older man asked. Regulus shrugged
"I know of two for definite, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are more"
"What's a horcrux?" James asked voicing my thoughts.
"A Horcrux is an object in which one has hidden a detached fragment of their soul in order to become immortal. As long as the receptacle remains intact, so does the soul fragment inside it, keeping the maker anchored to the world of the living, even if their body suffered fatal damage" James stiffened next to me, pulling me impossibly close
"does that mean..." he said trailing off. Dumbledore nodded
"That Voldemort has in effect made himself immortal" you could hear a pin drop as we all tried to process this information
"what happens if you destroy the receptacle?" I asked, my voice shaky
"you destroy that part of the soul" Regulus answered.
"So if we find out how many horcrux there are and we destroy them, as well as killing real life Voldemort, he is no longer immortal?" James asked. Dumbledore once again nodded before turning back to Regulus.
"you said you know of two?"
"I am fairly sure Bella is hiding one in her vault. The other is what Kreacher was tasked to help with. It's in a cave, the catch is that in order to retrieve the locket you have drink poison. I am going to go back with Kreacher to retrieve it and destroy it"

"Absolutely not" I said shooting up off the couch. Well in my head I shot up, but it was more a heave with a bit of a push from James. I paced around the living room shaking my head
"no Regulus you will not be going to get the locket. Epically not alone" he had the cheek to roll his eyes at me
"I won't be alone I will have Kreacher" I stopped my pacing to glare at him my eye twitching slightly
"Em, you need to calm down" James said softly as he approached me.
"yeah Em, surely you going crazy isn't good for the baby" Regulus said wafting his hand in the direction of my stomach
"well stop bloody doing things that make me crazy!" my yell was interrupted by a soft chuckle from Dumbledore. I spun round, my deathly glare now fixed on my old headteacher. James muttered something under his breath as he moved closer to me in the event, he might need to restrain me. Which let's be honest, if people kept testing my patients, it was very possible.
"I agree with Emily" my glare turned to look of appreciation for the old man. I turned to look at Regulus one eyebrow raised cockily.
"Sir, I need to do this. I have to do something, and I can help with this" Regulus rushed out. Dumbledore held his hand quieting him
"And you will Regulus, but this is isn't the way to do it. If we go in and take the Horcrux and Voldemort finds out, who's to say he won't just go create some more. We need to work on taking out his physical being first then we can destroy the horcruxes. In the meantime, Regulus I am going to need your help"

James helped me back to the couch, keeping his arm wrapped around me as we listened to Dumbledore.
"I need you to find out how many horcruxes there are, where they're kept and if there is a way to destroy them. I believe you will be able to do this by being a double agent of sorts. You will join the order whilst still, for appearances sake, act as a death eater. No one except for myself, James, Emily and Alastor Moody will know. The less people who know the better. We will arrange a way for you and I to meet to discuss anything you find out. What I am asking you to do Regulus, is highly dangerous as if you are found out you will be killed. However, I find myself asking this off you anyway as I strongly believe with the information you provide, we can win this war" I moved out of James' grip so I could hold Regulus' hand. He immediately took a hold of my hand squeezing it as his eyes shut scrunched together. When he opened, he looked down at me before nodding slightly and turning to Dumbledore
"okay I will do it"

Dumbledore stayed for another half an hour going over details with Regulus. I was a whole other level of worried now, but I knew there was no way I was talking Reg out of this. James gave me a kiss on the head, standing to give myself and Reg a moment alone. Regulus was quiet for a moment after James left
"I don't know how to thank you Em" I just shook my head at him
"don't thank me. Your still smack bang in the middle of all this" Regulus moved taking both my hands in his
"I am not in the middle. I am on the right side. The good side" swallowing down the fear that was rising in me I offered him a small smile
"you better not let yourself get killed" he scoffed at me
"wouldn't dream of it. At least not before meeting my future niece or nephew. Can you imagine the look on Sirius face when he realises, I am the favourite uncle?" this time we both laughed.

Regulus left not long after that. I had no idea when I would next see him and that hurt. I stood looking out at the night sky cradling my stomach.
"I am going to do everything I can to make sure your coming into a better world bud. Me, your daddy and your aunts and uncles, we got this okay? You just stay safe inside mummy's tummy"
"only until July though bud. I don't think I can wait any longer than that. 9 months is already too long" James said coming up behind me wrapping his arms around me, placing his hands-on top of mine.
"you okay?" he mumbled as he placed slow gentle kisses down my neck
"if you keep doing that, I am going to be more than okay" I felt him chuckle against my neck. Much to my dismay he pulled his lips away casing me to pout.
"Are you really okay Em? It's been a tough day" I let out a sigh
"I am more worried than I was yesterday, but I am so glad I got to see him"
"he will be okay sunshine. He is a smart kid. Almost as smart as my incredibly sexy wife" he said before re attaching his lips to my neck. I moaned as he kissed me in my sweet spot
"some of that stress gone yet love?" unable to speak I just hummed.
"come on, I have a few more stress reliving tactics up my sleeve"

Chapter 69 Chapter Text

Sirius pov (a little something different)

I apparated to just outside the boarder of James and Emily's house, knowing I wouldn't be able to apparate any closer due to the protection charms they had up. Walking up to the front door I let myself in. upon entering the home I could hear the distant sound of Em muttering to herself in the kitchen. It seemed the further along in her pregnancy Em got, the more volatile her moods were. She could go from wanting to rip your head off, to sobbing on your shoulder in a matter of seconds. Now at 7 months pregnant, I had no idea what I was walking into. When I found her in the kitchen, every cupboard door open with what looked to be every form of kitchen appliance dumped on their kitchen island, I knew it was best to approach with caution.
"Hey Em, how's it going?" she spun round to face me wooden spoon in hand. I took a cautious step back when I saw the fire in her eyes.
"how's it going? How does it bloody look like it's going Sirius" not daring to answer the question I stood silently waiting for her to carry on
"we have too much bloody crap and not enough room. Where am I meant to put the babies stuff Sirius? They have a lot of bloody stuff" She huffed as she carried on rummaging in cupboards flinging stuff on to the ever growing pile behind her. Knowing I was going to regret it but asking anyway
"would you like some help?" she pulled her head out of the cupboard, her gaze softening before she began to cry. See what I mean? I quickly moved over to her wrapping my arms around her. Emily crying was my weakness.
"I am sorry for shouting at you. I just got a bit overwhelmed and then you were so nice to me offering to help it set me off" trying not to laugh as she hiccupped her apology, I pulled away from her.
"I think I will find it somewhere in my heart to forgive you" I teased her. I was rewarded as smile spread across her face. There wasn't much I wouldn't do for Emily. Especially when she smiled at me like that. "So how can I help?" She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand before waving me off
"I am okay honestly. James is in the nursery though if you want to see if he needs anything" Looking her in the eyes to make sure she was okay before agreeing. I had actually come over to talk to James so was glad of the excuse to sneak away.

Barrelling up the stairs to the nursery that James had been decorating for the last few months. I found my best friend sat on the floor admits a pile of tiny screws and bits of wood.
"are you going to cry if I offer to help?" James snapped his gaze up to me
"she's crying again?" He asked going to push himself up, but I waved my hand telling him not to bother. James had been a saint throughout this pregnancy, whatever Em has needed James had it, sometimes before she even knew what she wanted. They could read each other like a book giving each other exactly what they need in the moment. James was also the only one who seemed to be able to calm Emily down when she was in a particularly bad mood.
"she is good now, don't worry. Although I think she is close to burning your kitchen down" James simply shrugged
"we will build a new one. If it makes her feel better, she can have at it" I laughed sitting down next to him picking up the instructions for the cot he was trying to build. James had gone full on daddy mode with the nursery, insisting he wouldn't use magic. To be fair, he had done a much better job than I thought he would. He had painted the room a soft pale green colour and decorated with neutral coloured fabrics for the curtains, rug and rocking chair that sat in the corner. One of the walls had picture frames on. Most were empty, waiting to be filled once the baby arrives. However, there was one frame in the middle that showed Emily and James holding the picture of the scan while smiling widely at the camera. On the other wall, as this was James decorating the room after all, there was a small baby broomstick.
"Em know you got that?" I said nodding my head towards the broom stick. He scoffed shaking his head
"Merlin no. I am planning on telling her it's just for decoration" I shook my head at him. No way would he get away with that. This is Em we are talking about.

"Pads you have the instructions upside down" James huffed at me.
"no, I don't. you are just not following what I am saying"
"oh yeah because 'put the long spikey bit in the small but not too small bit of wood' makes perfect sense"
"well I know what I mean" James growled at me before throwing the piece of wood he was holding back onto the floor. We had been trying to build this cot for the last hour and it looked no better than when I first arrived. James sank to the floor, resting his head against the wall. Taking this break as my opportunity I decided now was the time to talk to James about what was going on

"I need to talk to you about something" I blurted out. James lifted his head squinting his eyes at me
"did something happen with Moony? We told you the last time Sirius, your always welcome to come stay here, but we are not getting involved. Not again" I had crashed here on many an occasion. After blaring arguments with Moony the last thing, I wanted was to go home. Don't get me wrong I loved the girls, even Lucy. Yeah, I know. But when I was most vulnerable, I just wanted to be near James and Emily.
"no that's not it. Well not really" James ran a hand down his face
"what's the matter Pads?"
"I think there is a mole in the order" that had James sitting up straighter.
"What makes you think that?" I shrugged slightly
"weird things have been happening on missions. It's like the death eaters always know where we are going to be. For example, we will go to place they are known for hanging around and all of sudden they won't be there or whenever we go to patrol a village there the ones catching us by surprise and we always seem to be outnumbered, needing to call in back up. It just seems odd" James eyed me with confusion
"I can't say I have noticed that. We often catch them off guard on the mission I have been on" I nodded eagerly
"That's what Moony said when I asked him about it. Don't you think it's weird its not happening to your team and only mine?" James eyes narrowed
"what are you implying Sirius?" Sighing I chose my next words carefully as this is where it had blown up with Remus when I spoke to him.
"Maybe the mole is targeting my team or maybe they are protecting yours" James shut his eyes running his hands through his hair
"I don't know about that Sirius. Its sounds like you think the mole could be one of us" I was quiet not saying a word. James gasped
"you do think it's one of us, don't you?" he almost barked at me. James was loyal to a fault I knew he would never believe one of his best friends could do such a thing
"I don't know James I am just saying it's weird. Moony flew off the handle when I spoke to him, so I came here. I just needed to talk to someone about it. I feel like I am going mad, but I just can't shake this feeling" James was quiet for a moment thinking it over.
"you are going to have to get some kind of evidence. I don't know keep a log or something of weird things you notice. It's a big accusation Sirius, you need to be sure" I nodded eagerly at him. He wasn't dismissing me.
"one other thing. Not a word to Em. She is already worried enough especially as she isn't out there with us, she doesn't need to worry about this as well" I nodded understanding. We sat in silence for a few more minuets
"are you staying over then? I take it Moony didn't take it well" I nodded looking down at my hands. I felt James moved over, so he was sat next to me
"its going be okay Pads" something about the way James said it made me believe him. I would always trust James, he had never led me wrong before.

After dinner I sat in chair in the Potter's living room as the disgustingly happy couple were snuggled up on the couch, both them had hands resting on Emily's now massive stomach. Don't tell her I called her massive she might actually murder me. We were watching a film together like we always did when I stayed over. They were completely in their own little world. They did it all the time, I don't even think they were aware of it, it was just natural to them. I wanted what they had. I had it but I had to go a blow it all up. Things with Remus and I hadn't been the same since the incident in our last year of school. We were trying again but we seemed to be at each other's throats more than anything. Before the war really started, we were doing well but now things were different. Remus still didn't trust me, and I knew it, but now I also didn't trust him.

Chapter 70 Chapter Text

We had been called to urgent order meeting. Getting to headquarters when your 8 months pregnant and can't appartate was a bloody nightmare, especially when my only means of transport was to squeeze myself into the side car of Sirius motorbike whilst he drove like a maniac. He landed on the grass just outside headquarters offering me his hand to help me up, but I batted him away.

"Em come one you need my help" he said moving again to try and hook me under the arms
"Sirius Black, you touch me, and I am likely to castrate you. I am livid with you" his mouth gaped open
"with me? what the bloody hell have I done now?" in the distance I could hear James calling my name as he jogged over to us.
"what are you doing?" he asked watching me struggle for a second before swooping in to help me "Pads, why didn't you help her?" Sirius through his arms up before promptly turning and walking away while muttering under his breath. Now safely out of the side car James turned his focus back to me
"what's his problem?" he said leading us both inside
"he drives like he has a dementor hot on his tail. I called him out on it" James hummed next to me, wisely not saying a word. Once in the briefing room my eyebrows drew together. I was confused to only see our group, plus Frank and Alice. Was this not a full order meeting? James lowered me into the seat next to Alice, she immediately grasped my hand giving it an understanding squeeze. At 8 months pregnant, this girl got it.

Moments later Dumbledore and Moody flew into the room. Not one to beat around the bush Moody addressed the group.
"there is has been a development that has put some of you in grave danger" I didn't like the way his gaze bounced between myself and Alice. Alice seemed to notice to as the grip she had on my hand tightened. Moody seemed to be waiting from Dumbledore to say something but when he didn't, he sighed and carried on. This time there was no mistaking, his gaze was locked on myself and Alice.
"Voldemort has got wind of a prophecy that has been made" He swallowed before reciting part of the prophecy "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies" I felt the blood drain from my body. Next to me James went rigid straight, every one of his muscles locking into place. Thrice. James in diagon alley, me in the pub and then together in London. Born as the seventh month dies. Our baby was due at the end of July. The seventh month. Shit, he was coming for our baby. Well mine or Alice's baby, either one was not good.

Once my friends started to piece together what was said there was up raw. I was vaguely aware of Lucy and Sirius yelling back and forth with Moody. Remus had moved next to James and was trying to get some sort of response out of him. Lily had her eyes locked on mine, her stare was full of sympathy and concern. Kayla was trying to calm down Sirius and Lucy so we might actually be able to have a conversation about what the hell we were going to do and Peter, had shrunk in on himself hating the chaos brewing around him. James and I slowly turned to face each other, both with terrified looks. Without saying a word, we had our own conversation. Communicating to each other that we were both shit scared but no matter what we would fight to the death for our baby. We linked our hands together giving each other a small nod. James' jaw locked as he turned back to Moody and Dumbledore.

"how do we know he knows about the prophecy?" At the sound of James deathly tone, the room when silent.
"we have a reliable source who was able to pass the information onto us" Moody said making eye contact with me. Regulus. Of course, it was Regulus who got the message to us. My heart tightened at the thought of him risking his neck for me.
"who made the prophecy? Are they a reliable seer?" Frank asked his voice in an equally deathly tone
"The prophecy was made by Sybill Trewlaney. Our new divinations teacher" Dumbledore explained. I looked at Lily knowing she would know if this woman was legit or not. She reluctantly gave me a small nod. I let out a deflated sigh.
"how did he find out?" I found myself asking. This time it was Dumbledore's turn to sigh.
"Sybill and I were overheard at the Hogshead last month" James and Frank flew out of their seats causing their chairs to fall to the floor. If I could stand up without assistance I would be right there with them and I had feeling Alice felt the same.
"last fucking month! You knew my baby was a target for a whole fucking month and you didn't think to tell us!" James roared with an anger I had never seen in him before. I didn't blame him as the anger he was showing, I was felling deep in my bones
"not only that but you were careless enough to discuss something as important as this is the fucking pub!" Frank bellowed as Alice narrowed her eyes at the professor. Dumbledore pushed his glasses up on his nose
"now I can understand your frustrated" I barked out a laugh interrupting. I laughed while shaking my head.
"way past frustrated. You better start telling me what you plan on doing about this because if you don't start talking, I am going to be giving birth in Azkaban for murdering you" Lucy barked out a laugh while Kayla muttered to her to be quiet. Dumbledore narrowed his eyes at my threat, but I levelled him with a murderous glare. Fucking try me.

"Emily" Moody snapped causing me to tear my gaze away from a man I now disgusted. Moody looked at me shaking his head slightly. He wasn't scolding me, he wasn't even warning me, he was simply trying to ask me to just get through the meeting. I gave him a small nod as I hated to admit but we needed his and Dumbledore's help.
"James sit down" James gaped at me "Please" I added my tone pleading. With a sigh James sat draping one arm round my shoulder and placing his other hand on my bump.
"you will need to go into hiding" Moody explained "we will use the fidelius charm, just like we have done here, but on your homes. You will need to choose a secret keeper. Only they will be able to reveal your address. People who already know where your homes are will still be able to find you, but they will be physically unable to reveal the location" he paused for a moment eyeing my friends "but you lot better watch your sixth to make sure you don't lead anyone there. As although the house will look abandon, we don't want anyone getting ideas" there were nods from the group. Moody turned his attention back to Alice, Frank, James and I. "so who's it going to be?" James and I looked at each other both thinking it was obvious. Sirius or Lucy. "we will have my Mum" Frank spoke up with Alice nodding in agreement.
"Lucy or Sirius, we aren't bothered which" James shrugged. In sync Lucy and Sirius both barked out a no. Lucy, noting the confused look on my face explained
"if he knows anything about you. Which I pretty sure the bastard will have done his research on you. He will expect Sirius or me to know where you are" Sirius nodded at her before adding
"you should have Peter. You haven't been seen with him at any battles because he wasn't there" I thought it over. It made sense Peter was pretty under the radar as an order member, he didn't go on patrol and hadn't been caught up in any fighting, well at least that was the case before he got swapped with me. Yet, It was still possible Voldemort didn't even know Peter was an order member or that we were still good friends with him. James clearly on the same wavelength looked at Peter
"what do you say Wormy? You okay with that?" Peter looked sick with worry. Remus clasped at hand on his shoulder
"it's alright mate you won't even need to do anything other than not speak" Remus almost chucked trying to reassure the nervous boy. Peter dropped his head into hands groaning before lifting his head moments later looking at Moody.
"okay I will do it"

This time on the drive back to the house, Sirius drove much more cautiously. I couldn't help it, but I wasn't constantly looking over my shoulder to make sure we weren't followed. As soon as we landed Sirius rushed me into the house where James, Peter and Moody were waiting. As soon as I was through the door Moody was Infront of me.
"I didn't know about the prophecy until today" He was telling the truth. Moody had my back. I knew he would have told me if he knew.
"I believe you" he let out a sigh of relief before quickly re arranging his features back to his usual stern look.
"your confident with protection charms?" he said looking at me before casting his gaze over his shoulder at James.
"Yeah, we have got it" James moved around so he was by my side. Moody gave a nod before leading Peter out of the house to complete the fidelius charm.
" I am staying the night. No way am I leaving you tonight, not after what we just found out" Sirius announced. I loved that boy something fierce, but I knew neither James nor I wanted him to stay we both just wanted to be alone with each other while we processed the news. But this was Sirius, once he had decided something there was no changing his mind. Running his hand down his face James gave Sirius instructions.
"fine, but tonight only Sirius and as soon as the charms are up your going to bed. Me and Em need to talk" James said his tone leaving no room for arguments.

A little while later all the charms were in place. With Moody and Peter gone and Sirius in bed, I carried two cups of tea to this living room where James was waiting for me on the couch. When I sunk into the couch James wrapped his arm around me pulling me into his side. I rested my head on his shoulder and his head came to rest on mine as we stared at the glowing fire.
"I won't let anything happen to you or the baby" James said, his voice tight.
"right back at ya buddy" James let out a small laugh peeking down at me
"how can you possibly be making me laugh right now" I just shrugged
"if we don't laugh, we will cry" He placed a kiss on my head
"we are going to be okay. It's going to be tough being confined to the house and the garden for merlin knows how long. We need to become expert communicators. We are already pretty good, but I mean it James we talk about everything, no bottling it up otherwise we are going to end up hating each other" James scoffed at me
"impossible sunshine. I could never hate you" I looked at him trying to convey how serious I was. He sighed running his hand up and down my arm before nodding.
"okay, we communicate. We should also try and have a routine that we can stick to" I nodded in agreement.
"we need to still make time for each other" I added. I was worried especially with the baby coming that we might forget to make effort for each other as a couple. We had a plan before all of this. We would occasionally drop the baby with one of our friends or James' parents and spend the night just us so we would be able to have time for just the two of us. But now we were all going to be confined to the house. Not that either of us would be letting the baby out of our sights now there was huge target on their head. Before we would have trusted our friends and family to take care of our baby for the night, even in war time. They would protect our child with their lives, we knew this. But now, everything had change, an overnight somewhere not as hidden as our home, a night without me or James protecting them was simply not worth the risk and out of the question. James nodded at me
"we can work through this sunshine. I promise. We will keep our family safe and happy" He said with such determination leaving no room for doubt. As just like his best friend, once James Potter has decided something there would be no changing his mind.

Chapter 71 Chapter Text

Well it's official my kid hates me. When we were given the due date of the end of July, they really meant it. Maybe my kid is as stubborn as their dad as they are still hanging in there. It's the 31st of July. I am hot, unconfutable, irritated and over being pregnant.
"feel anything?" James asked stopping me from angrily mixing the cookie batter. I looked at him with a deadpan look.
"your right stupid question. Sorry Sunshine" we had been in hiding for a month now and not to tempt fate, but so far it's been going well. There has been minimal bickering between me and James, nothing out of the ordinary. Our friends have checked in on us most days giving us much needed updates on what was going on whilst also bringing us supplies. Now if this baby just wanted to get the hell out of me, I would be grateful. Saying that though, if they could hang in for one more day it puts them out of danger as they would be born in the 8th month. On second thoughts, baby you stay tucked up in there. I rubbed my hand on my stomach thinking when I felt an almighty kick causing me to let out a small whimper of pain.

"what is it? Is it time?" James who had been hovering over me for the past week was by side in less than a second. Taking his hand, I placed it over where the baby was kicking watching as the smile grew on his face as he felt his child.
"I was thinking about how it would be better if they were born tomorrow" James hummed. We got news that Neville, Alice and Franks little boy was born yesterday. As much as James and I wanted to meet our child it would make life a lot easier if they could just wait until tomorrow, but some part of me, deep in my bones, gave me this feeling that before the end of today I would have my baby in my arms.

The baby was really low down today causing me to need to pee at least every half an hour. I was half debating just setting up camp in the bathroom since I had spent more time in that room today than anywhere else. James had been amazing throughout this whole pregnancy. Honestly, he deserved an order of Merlin just for putting up with me. Like right now, my incredible husband had pretty much waited on me hand and foot all day. Making me breakfast, lunch and dinner and providing me with the countless snacks I demanded. He's had helped me up off the couch more time than I can remember and done everything in his power to make me comfortable and yet he didn't even complain when I through my feet into his lap for him to rub whilst I read my book. Feeling that pressure again, I huffed bookmarking my book tossing it on the coffee table. James looked up at me with a knowing smile before gently lowering my feet to the ground before standing and offering me his hand.
"I am sorry" I muttered once on my feet. James place a tender kiss to my forehead
"nothing to be sorry for love. Your growing my baby, the least I can do is help you up now and then" See he was perfect. I waddled over to the stairs but stopped as I felt a gush of liquid trickle down my leg. I froze. Did I just pee myself or did my water break? with an increase in the pressure I had been feeling, I assumed it was the latter. I took a look at the time 6pm. There was still a good chance the baby could be born tomorrow. James, noticing I had frozen, walked over to me. Upon seeing the water around me and the look on my face his eyes widened.
"pee yourself or waters breaking?" he asked as he waved his wand drying both me and the floor
"I think my waters broke but we should probably get Lily to check" James nodded before quickly sending a patronus. Since we were in hiding, we couldn't go to the hospital to deliver so that meant a home birth with Lily acting as our midwife. I won't lie I was pleased that Alice gave birth first as it meant Lily got to practice. Selfish I know, but I was relived to not be her first delivery.

A few moments later Sirius burst through the door. James raised his wand aiming it at Sirius who had his hands up innocently.
"I am Sirius Orion Black, my animagus is large and beautiful black dog, I am a Scorpio and I am here because that insanely beautiful woman is about to birth my godchild" rolling his eyes James lowered his wand. Sirius was on me in a second, smacking a large sloppy kiss to my forehead.
"how you doing baby mama?" I looked at him like he had 3 heads
"where is Lily?" When Sirius scratched the back of his neck, I knew what ever he was about to say wasn't going to make me happy.
"now don't freak out, but she got called in" James erupted into panic
"what do you mean she was called in? call her the fuck back" Sirius eyes widened at the manic look in James eyes
"prongs mate, you know we can't do that" James tugged on his hair. I am pretty sure if he pulled just a little harder he would pull it out. The calm and collected James that had been present my whole pregnancy seems to have vanished. Taking a deep breath, I pressed the heal of my palm to my forehead
"and Kayla and Lucy?" Sirius gave an apologetic look. Perfect, just perfect.
"okay here's what we are going to do. Sirius you're going to go see if Mia is around and bring her back here and then you are going to go leave a note for Lily to get her arse here as soon as she can. James you're going to go get the birth plan Lily wrote for us. She is one of the most organised women I know, I bet there is some instructions on what we do if she isn't around" both boys stood looking at me not moving. I ground my teeth "and you're going to do it now!" I barked.

James, now having retrieved the birth plan was pacing the length of living room as I watched him move back and forth when all of a sudden, the door burst open yet again. This time Sirius had brought Monty and Remus with him. After confirming they were who they appeared to be, they stood next to James, so all 4 men were facing me with grim expressions.
"why is there no one with a vagina here?" Monty cringed before stepping forward
"Mia is on a trip with that muggle knitting group she joined" I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from screaming. Mia had become a crazy knitter since finding out she would be a grandmother and recently joined this group. I don't actually know how much knitting they got done as they were forever taking day trips up and down the country. I turned my attention to Remus, the most sensible member of my delivery team. Why he was here, I had no idea, but I was just going to roll with it.
"you need to help me" I said my voice low. Not wasting a second, Remus sprang into action.
"Okay, James go take Em upstairs and get her comfy" He said snatching the birth plan out of his hands before turning to Monty and Sirius "you two are going to be on Emily' beck and call. She wants it, you get it. Do you understand?" both men nodded.
"what are you going to do?" Sirius asked
"I am going to speed read one of the many books James bought on labour and delivery and I pray to Merlin Lily gets here in time that I don't have to use my newfound knowledge"

"just breathe through it Em. You can do it" James encouraged as I gripped his hand with a grip strength, I didn't know I had. I know he was trying to be supportive but, in my contraction induced pain, all I could think about was how annoyingly grating his voice was. As I slowly came out of my haze of pain I glared at James. He seemed unaffected as he just smiled widely at me.
"10 minutes apart. There getting closer" at his excited tone I softened my glare. How could I stay mad at him when he was bursting with excitement at meeting our child? It had been 2 hours and still no sign of Lily and I was begging to get nervous. Remus looked up at me from his chair in the corner of the room where he had been reading
"I think I might need to check how dilated you are. If that's okay?" He said standing waving his hand roughly in the direction of my vagina.
"Nope not happening. Your touch my wife's vagina and you're a dead man walking" James said gruffly from beside me. At that moment Sirius and Monty walked back in the room
"woah are we looking at Em's pussy? Sign me up" James stood up ready to pounce over me to strangle Sirius, when his dad moved blocking Sirius from James' view.

"Someone needs to check how dilated she is. If you want to do it prongs, be my guest" Remus huffed.
"I wouldn't do that if I was you son. I peeked when you were being born, I was like a child watching their favourite playground get destroyed. Don't do it" James gaped at his dad in disgust while the rest of just snickered.
"look mate, I am not interested in Em's vagina" I huffed a bit offended at Remus's tone. He rolled his eyes at me. "in case you all missed the memo. I am gay, so unless your hiding a penis down there I have 0 interest other than seeing how far along you are" I glanced at James letting him know I didn't care who looked. With a reluctant sigh James nodded at Remus. Sirius clasped his hands together.
"I am gay too. Does that mean I get to look?" Before James could punch Sirius, Monty dragged the overgrown man child out of the room.

"I am going to chop your dick off James Potter" I yelled through clench teeth as the mother of all contractions took over me. I had never felt pain like this before and I was cursing all that was holy for giving me a uterus. James eyed me concerned before looking at Remus
"that was only 5 minuets since the last one" Remus had a grim look on his face as it was becoming more and more likely that he was going to be delivering our baby. Once the contraction subsided Remus moved to the end of the bed. It was safe to say me and Rem had never been closer. He pulled back meeting my eyes.
"now is your last chance to take the pain medicine you brewed Em. Lily's notes say you can't take it past this point" I nodded, turning to fist James shirt and pull him towards me.
"get me that potion" Nodding quickly he yelled for Sirius
"Sirius in the spare room there is a potion labelled 'labour pain med' go get it and bring it here" Sirius saluted before racing out of the room as Monty moved in.
"you're doing really well Sweetheart. Mia was threating to castrate me long before you were" He said brushing my hair off my face. Unfortunately, the tender moment with my father in law was ruined as Sirius skidded into the room crashing into Monty's back and dropping my pain relief. I looked down at the spilt liquid on the floor before moving my eyes to Sirius. I was going to kill him. I immediately went to grab my wand from the nightstand but seconds before I could reach it, James snapped it up, holding it high above my head.
"give me my wand Potter" I seethed. James rapidly shook his head
"can't do that love. I would prefer it if our child is born before I have to bail you out for murder" James and I were locked in a staring contents, one of which he only won as another contraction took over my body. With utter fury in my voice I snarled at Sirius
"start running" Sirius paled and backed out of the room.

Remus paced the end of the bed watching me go through another contraction. I knew it was time, he knew it was time. I needed to push. I wanted to push. Remus gulped rolled his head side to side stretching his neck before linking his fingers together and stretching out his arm Infront of him. He was just about to get himself in position when Lily barrelled through the door. I have never seen anybody more relieved than Remus in that moment.
"finally someone with a fucking uterus" I yelled looking up at the celling.
"I am so so sorry Em. I got here as quick as I could" She said moving to get a better look while Remus spoke to her about what had happened so far.
"okay it looks like you're ready to start pushing" oh thank Merlin. Remus made a move to leave the room, but James called him back
"Thank you Moony. You can't even imagine how grateful we are" I tried to give him a smile to show I agreed with James, but I am not sure if I managed it.
"Anytime" he said with a wink before leaving the room
"Okay, time for you guys to become parents" Lily said before giving me instructions. I had once glance at the clock. 23:15. End of the 7th month.

James pov

Lily worked on checking Em over, but I couldn't take my eyes away from my family. My incredible wife and our beautiful baby boy, she had cradled in her arms. I had a son. I was a dad. The second Lily placed our little boy on Em's chest I felt the earth beneath me shift. My whole world pivoted on its axis in that moment. I didn't know a love like this existed, but Merlin did I feel it for that little boy. Em looked up at me, her eyes full of unshed tears. She was perfect. She had done so incredibly well I was in awe of her. Bending down I place a soft kiss on her forehead

"thank you" I muttered into her hair. There weren't words to describe how much gratitude I had for her. She had single handily given me everything I could have only have dreamed of. I don't know what I did to deserve her, but I certainly wasn't going to complain. Lily moved to hover behind my shoulder peering down at Em and the baby.
"your all good Em. I will give you a bit of time on your own and update everyone. Congrats mum and dad" she gave my arm a squeeze before moving out of the room shutting the door behind her.
"would you like to hold him?" Emily asked me with a watery smile. I immediately stripped off my shirt causing Em to chuckle.
"all the books say skin to skin is good" I said shrugging. Slowing my movement, I moved over gently lifting my son into my arms making sure I cradled his head.
"Hey bud, its me your dad" I turned to look at Emily as she sniffled next to me
"sorry you just look so cute I can't handle it" laughing I moved so I was sat next to her on the bed. Holding our son with one arm I draped my other around Emily as she snuggled into my side.
"we did that" she said proudly nodding at the sleeping child
"damn right we did. In a few weeks we can get started on making another one. You know since the first one turned out so perfect" She hit my chest lightly
"you're going to have let me forget the pain of childbirth first" yeah dad was right about the whole playground being destroyed thing.
"are we sticking with name we picked out?" She nodded. Good he suited it.

"Will you be quiet"
"they are just too cute"
"For Merlin sake Lily, stop pissing crying for two minuets"

Groggily opening my eyes, I was not surprised to find all my friends plus my dad and Em's brother stood at the foot of our bed. My mum was going to mightily pissed dad got meet their grandchild before her, but it serves her right for going on a knitting trip around his due date. Who even goes on knitting trips anyway? I looked down to see both Em and the baby were still soundly asleep in my arms.
"can you all be quiet you're going to wake them up" I whispered hissed.
"to late" Emily groaned moving so she was sat up, she immediately looked over me and our son, smiling softly when she saw he was snoozing away. Lucy was first to move, sitting on the other side of Emily enveloping her in a side hug.

"your okay? I bet it hurt like a bitch"
"I am good Lu but yeah it was painful. Like worst pain than when we shave our vaginas for the first time" Lucy winced while I made a mental note to ask about that story. My dad came over next clasping a hand on my shoulder.
"congratulations Son. I am proud of you" He said placing a kiss on my head before looking down at his grandson
"Blimey, he looks just like you did when you were born" a sense of pride rushed through me. My dad reached behind me to run a hand down Emily hair as tears pooled in his eyes.
"I am proud of you too sweetheart" I felt my heart contract as Emily smiled up at my dad. Being pregnant had brought a lot her feelings about her parents' deaths to the surface and I knew today as happy as it was, I knew she would be grieving. It was another first they wouldn't get to see. Emily adored my mum and dad nearly as much as they adored her, so I knew what that moment meant to her.

Kayla and Lily perched at the end of the bed. Emily reached out and yanked Lily towards her
"thank you so much Lil's" She said before pulling back slightly looking around the room until her eyes found Remus.
"you better get in on this hug Lupin" Chuckling Moony moved so Emily could hug both Lily and Remus at the same time. As soon as she let go of them Liam was hugging her whispering things in ear for only her to hear. I know he felt the loss of his parents as much as she did today. Peter hovered at the end of the bed catching my eye he smiled
"Congrats prongs" he said in a timid voice. I was glad he was here I didn't want him to miss it.

Sirius cleared his throat and the whole room turned to look at him.
"do you still want to kill me?" he asked keeping his distance
"I debated it but what kind of mother would I be if I killed my sons godfather before he even got to hold him" Emily said with a smirk.
"godfather? You mean it? I was only joking before" Nudging me, Emily encouraged me to answer
"yeah pads we want you and Lucy to be godparents" Lucy gasped and jumped up off the bed moving so she was stood next to Sirius.
"us?" She said moving her hand between the two of them.
"who else?" I asked. Then they did the most bizarre thing. They turned to face each other and shook hands
"well Black, it's been fun" Sirius nodded
"it has Vixen, here's to our new working relationship" The rest of us all looked between each other wondering what was going on.

"okay, I'll bite. What was that?" Moony asked what we were all thinking
"a truce" Lucy throughout casually
"yeah, what sort of godparents would we be if we were constantly arguing with each other?" Em and I looked at each other. She subtly shook her head at me telling me to just let it be and roll with the crazy.
"so what's my godchild called?" Lucy asked. I smiled look down at my son.

"Harry James Potter"

Chapter 72 Chapter Text

October 31st 1980

"tell me again why this was a good idea?" James muttered next to me on the couch leaning into my side.
"Because we are far too tired to come up with ideas and they need something to take their mind off everything" As if proving my point, James let out a huge yawn. When people said new-borns were tough, they were not kidding. Harry was 3 months old now and that boy was a night owl. I don't know who he got that trait from, but it defiantly wasn't me and James. James, as expected, had taken to fatherhood like a duck to water. He was incredible, never shying away from night feeds or tricky nappy situations. He was mesmerised by Harry even though he didn't really do anything other than eat and shit. He was already asking when we could have another.

Being a mum is the greatest gift. Even when I am sleep deprived and stink because I haven't showered in three days. When I pick Harry up after his nap and he smiles at me, everything becomes worth it. Harry was James's double expect he had my grey eyes. I may be biased but he is beautiful. We have just about got into a routine, there was a lot of arguing and bickering between James and I in the first month, but we seem to have got it down now. My favourite part of my day would be when James and I had finished dinner and we would all sit together on the couch as a family while we gave Harry his bottle, then once he was asleep James and I would just sit watching him in complete and utter amazement that this is our life and that beautiful baby is ours. This would also be when James and I caught up with each other. We had stuck to our word and made sure we had time to be husband and wife as well as mum and dad. It helped that I was ridiculously in love with the fool.

There were some really tough days, especially being in hiding. We missed the simple things like going to shops or popping to our friends or James' parents. It became boring very quickly. To try and keep our selves occupied we had each taken on little projects. I had thrown myself back into working on the cure for lycanthropy while James decided he was going to build a broomstick from scratch. It worked at keeping us occupied and our minds off worrying about what was going on in the outside world, knowing there was nothing we could do to help. It was tough but we had to believe this wouldn't be forever.

I was brought back to the present when there was a knock at the door. James jumped up to go see who it was, most likely his parents but we had to be careful.
"James" I called causing him to stop on his pursuit to the door. "your wand" I said waving his wand out to him. He sighed, grabbing it. He hated that we had to check that it really was our friends and family we were letting into our home, but we would do anything to keep Harry safe.

Moments later Mia and Monty had joined James and I in the living room waiting for the fashion show to begin. Since it was Harry's first Halloween there had been a lot of debate about what he would be dressed up as, so it was decided that each of our friends would come up with a costume which James, his parents, and I, would decide the winner. When monster mash started playing, I sat up a bit causing James to groan as he lifted his head from my shoulder. Instead he draped his arm around me and pulled me closer to him.

Lily was up first and she brough Harry out dressed as a sheep. It was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. We all cooed at him in his little outfit and since he could now follow sounds and recognises faces, he ate up the attention. I hoped the others were prepared, as Lily was a strong opener.

One by one our friends carried a smiling Harry into the living room. They were not messing around with these costumes. Kayla had dressed him as a scarecrow, Peter as ghost, Remus as a teddy bear. Which was my personal favourite. All that was left was Lucy and Sirius and surprisingly they had worked together. Since becoming god parents, they still bickered with each other, mainly about who was Harry's favourite, but they also have never got on better. It was like they suddenly realised how similar they were.

"alright I hope you are all ready to lose" Sirius shouted from the kitchen. There was a collective groan from our friends who had now joined us in the living area.
"just get on with it. Its nearly time for Harry's bottle" James said looking at his watch. Nothing was sexier to me than James in dad mode.
"alright Potter keep your hair on" Lucy said as walked into the living room Sirius, who was holding a very smiley Harry, trailing after her. When we saw Harry, we all gasped. They had dressed him up in a baby version of a Hogwarts uniform, cloak included. He had a little Gryffindor scarf wrapped round him but the thing that had my eyes watering was the round glasses they had placed on him.
"It's me, you dressed him up as me" James stuttered moving to take Harry from Sirius."worth milk time being delayed?" Sirius said handing over our son
"I am not even sorry I loss. That is the cutest thing ever" Kayla said. It was true we had a clear winner. I looked at my son and husband, my heat bursting with how much love I felt for them.
"Look Em, it's me with your eyes" James said with the goofiest grin on his face. Okay so maybe we could start thinking about baby number 2.

24th December 1980

"okay are your eyes closed?" I asked James from just outside the living room where I was waiting with Harry in our matching pyjamas that I had asked Sirius to pick up for the three of us.
"yes, come on I want to see" He whined getting impatient. Getting Harry changed had become more of a challenge of recent. Especially since he learnt to roll over, so James had been waiting a while for the big reveal. I walked into the living room holding a giggling harry as I tickled his tummy.
"okay daddy you can look now" that was also new. James wanted us to refer to each other as mummy and daddy around Harry as even though he was only 5 months, James was convinced he would be talking any day. Upon opening his eyes, James' smile widened before he jumped up off the couch and scooped Harry out off my arms. He cradled Harry in one arm while he draped the other over my shoulder placing a kiss on my forehead.
"Damn Em, we did it. We made a family" James said as he looked down at Harry as the sounds of Christmas carols could be heard on our record player. It was in moments like this I almost forgot that there was a war going on, that we were in hiding as some lunatic was targeting our son. I simply got lost in the moment.
"we really did" I sighed happily snuggling into James side.

"time for this month's picture?" When James had decorated the nursery, he had left 12 empty frames on the wall and we had been taking a family photo each month. Agreeing now would be the perfect time, I levitated the camera in front of us, making sure to get all of us and the Christmas tree in. James passed Harry back to me as he moved behind me wrapping his arms round my waist. He slowly rocked us from side to side as he sang along to merry x mas everybody by Slade. I tickled Harry causing a little bubble of laughter.

When the photo had printed, I couldn't help but pull out my photo album flicking through the pages until I found the one I was looking for. It was of my brother and my parents on his first Christmas. I placed the photos side by side and couldn't help but get at little emotional. James who stood behind me now after placing a now sleeping harry in his Moses basket.
"wow" he let out a small gasp as he saw the similarities in the photos. He wrapped his arms round my shoulders pulling me back into his chest.
"Merry Christmas mum and dad" I said quietly tracing my fingers over their photo.
"Merry Christmas Colin and Gail" James echoed but when I looked over my shoulder at him, he wasn't looking at the photo instead he was looking at where we had just stood Infront of the twinkling tree.

14th February 1981

When in hiding getting a valentines, gift was a struggle, so I had to get creative. I had made James his favourite cookies which, since he has been on solids, were also Harry's favourites. I was taking a batch out of the oven when Harry crawled into the kitchen, a new skill he had learnt over the last week. I placed the cookies down and scooped him up of the floor.
"I thought daddy was getting you dressed" Harry babbled back to me as if he understood what I was talking about. James took Harry to get dressed over an hour ago, so I was confused at first why he was still in a baby grow but when I saw that the baby grow had a red heart with the word mummy in the middle I knew why.

Placing Harry on my hip we went off to find James, Harry babbling away to me as we looked. We found him stood in the middle of Harry's room holding 3 bunches of sunflowers.
"one from me, one from your dad and one from Harry" my lip wobbled as James explained the flowers. I placed Harry in his bouncer and walked over to James wrapping my arms around him
"I love you James"
"I love you too sunshine"

Once the flowers were put into vases and we got Harry dressed for the day we all sat at the kitchen island tucking into the cookies. I brushed my hand on my pants before waving my wand to accio the other gift I had made James. He looked at me confused but I just prompted him to open it. He took the vial in his hands reading the little tag I had made to go with the potion. He gasped and turned to me
"you didn't!" I laughed at him nodding
"you already had really good notes it wasn't hard to work out from what you had already researched" As an extra gift for James I had made his 6th year potions project a reality.
"well we have to test it out" He uncapped the vial and dabbed a few drops on his tongue before moving further away from us
"throw me a cookie, but make it a hard catch" chuckling at his excitement I did as he asked, watching as James quickly moved catching the cookie
"bloody hell, it works Em. My reaction time is way quicker" He said before stuffing the cookie in his mouth.

After a few more thrown cookies, some from me but most from Harry who was clearly enjoying the game there was a Knock at the door. We weren't expecting anyone, so I quickly scooped Harry up into my arms moving deeper into the house, but my worry was squashed when James returned with Sirius and Lucy.
"Happy valentines' day!" Sirius said before planting a kiss on my cheek and stealing Harry from my grasp. He threw him up in the air causing Harry to laugh and me to lose ten years off my life.
"what are you doing here?" James asked watching with relief as Lucy stole Harry from Sirius.
"we are fulfilling our duties as not only best godparents but also best friends" Sirius explained
"we are here to give you two some alone time. We will chill with Harry in the garden or down here for a bit while you two make baby number 2" Lucy added causing me to laugh. James on the other hand was quick to take them up on the offer. He scooped me up throwing me over his shoulder in a fireman's hold before jogging to the stairs
"you're the best, we love you. Don't give Harry anymore cookies"
"don't forget the silencing charm" Lucy shouted in reply.

Chapter 73 Chapter Text

"you're getting big Harry" I said lifting him off his changing table
"mama mama" Harry babbled back to me. I tutted, he only ever seemed to do mama when it was just me and him but he through dada out there all the time for everyone else to see.
"Please Harry, just say it once in front of your dad. That's all I am asking for" Harry tilted his head at me before babbling dada over and over again.
"yeah yeah, let's go find daddy" with Harry planted on my hip I made my way down the stairs only to be ambushed by Mia
"if it isn't my favourite grandbaby" Harry humoured his grandmother by giving her a belly laugh as she pried him from my arms.
"Hello sweetheart" Monty said coming up next to me wrapping his arm around my shoulder in greeting.
"oh I am so sorry Emily love. Its lovely to see you, I just get distracted by this adorable face" Mia quickly added while pinching Harry's cheeks
"he is a looker isn't he" James said coming to stand next to his mum. His parents both gushing when Harry said dada. The little traitor.
"you ready to head up?" I said to Monty gesturing to the stairs. Mia and Monty's visit was actually planned. Over the last month, Monty and I had finally began brewing what we hoped would be a cure to lycanthropy and today should, in theory, be the final day. Meaning, Remus will be able to start taking it after the next full moon which was this weekend.

Monty sat on the desk chair in our spare room while I sat on the floor in front of the cauldron, anxiously biting my nails. In the next few minutes we were hoping the liquid would evaporate leaving behind a powder, which we would hopefully turn into tablets for Rem to take. If it worked, he would need to take the tablets every day to prevent turning into a wolf at the full moon. He would still have some of the usual full moon symptoms such as fatigue and headaches but at least he wouldn't transform. We took a lot of inspiration from muggle medicine and applied the research that we had both done and the research provide by Belby.

"you're going to have no nails left" Monty mused looking down at me. I dropped my hands tucking them under my legs to stop me from biting my nails
"this is the closet we have ever got" over the last few years Monty and I have experimented but each time something failed, or it just wasn't quite right. Providing this evaporated, we would have the first product that Remus could actually try
"I know sweetheart, but even if this doesn't work you are so much closer than when you first started. You will get it. I know you will" I smiled at the man who was like a father to me
"I couldn't have done any of this without you Monty. This is our creation"
"it was all your idea love. I just gave a few pointers" he did way more than that and I was about to argue just that, when there was a puff of vapour from the cauldron. I leant over to look and there it was. A green powder. Monty and I looked at each other wide eyed. We might have just cured lycanthropy.

The day after the full moon I was pacing our living room, Harry crawling on the floor next me as we waited for Remus to arrive.
"you're going to wear Harry out Em" James said, coming in to swoop our 9-month-old off the floor.
"I just don't know how he will react" James wrapped his arm around me as he held Harry on his hip.
"I think Mummy is being silly, don't you Harry?" of course the little traitor babbled in agreement. James placed a kiss on my head
"Even if it doesn't work, which it will so I don't even know why your worrying, he will just be grateful you have even tried sunshine. Moony loves you, nothing will change that" logically I knew he was right, but my brain doesn't always like to think logically. I was interrupted from spiral by a knock at the door, I guess it's now or never.

Remus sat on the couch holding Harry, who was trying to say his name, but he sounded like he was trying to do a cow impression rather than say Moony. Harry adored his honorary aunts and uncles. As like his dad, he loved the attention, and they showered him in it.
"I think mummy might need a cuddle Harry, she looks pretty tense" Rem joked whilst James chuckled before lifting Harry off Rem's knee and placing him on his play mat.
"tense is an understatement mate" I shot a glare at James whose smug grin immediately dropped from his face.
"what's wrong Em?" Remus said causing my gaze to soften as I moved my eyes back to him.
"do you remember our 6th year potion project?" Rem nodded his head at me. I took a deep breath before continuing "well I never stopped working on mine. Now I am not 100% sure it's going to work so please don't pin all your hopes on it and I kind of would need you to be a bit of a guinea pig so you don't have to take it if you don't want to. Plus, I don't know what the side effects might be"
"Emily" Remus said my name interrupting my ramble. "you haven't even told me what your project was" With my heart hammering in my chest I looked at James for moral support. He gave a huge encouraging grin and nodded his head prompting me to tell him. I locked eyes with Moony
"My project was a cure for lycanthropy"

Remus sat in silence his mouth in a slight o shape and just stared at me. I looked at James nervously, worried I might have broken Remus, but he didn't seem concerned.
"You cured lycanthropy?" Remus whispered
"I might have. Well not just me, Monty helped a ton" Remus stared at me before shaking his head from side to side.
"you have been working on this for years" I nodded slowly
"if it works, you will just need to take a tablet every day and hopefully you won't transform on full moons" I was about to tell him he might still experience some of the full moon symptoms but I was cut off when he sprang from the couch wrapping me in a tight hug. I heard him sniffle into my shoulder as I wrapped my arms around him.
"I don't know what to say Em" he said pulling back so he could look me in the eyes
"it might not work" I cautioned
"it doesn't matter. The fact you even tried means more to me than you will ever know" my own eyes started to water. I vaguely heard James mutter 'I told you so', as I pulled Remus into a hug.
"mama moo, mama moo" Harry said tugging on my jean leg. I bent down to pick him up so he could join our group hug.
"I told you he could say mama" I said to James as he rolled his eyes at me. I placed a kiss on Harry's head, maybe he wasn't a traitor after all.

The next month I was yet again pacing my living room waiting for Remus on the day after the full Moon. I hadn't slept last night and was downstairs waiting as soon as the sun started to rise. James pottered into the living rubbing his eyes.
"he's not here yet?" I shook my head biting my lip nervously. James came over and wrapped me tightly in a hug. I clung onto James until there was a knock on the door. James ushered me into the kitchen before grabbing his wand to go check who it was. Moments later Moony ran into the kitchen with the biggest smile on his face before scooping me up in his arms twirling me round.

"you did it Em. I didn't transform. You cured lycanthropy"

Chapter 74 Chapter Text

How on earth did we have a one year old? It feels like yesterday that I was sat with Molly Weasley realising I might be pregnant. Yet that was over a year ago and now I was stood watching the girls try to teach Harry to walk. Lily sat a small distance away from Kayla and was helping him balance. Kayla had her arms wide open encouraging Harry to go to her while Lucy was crouched down in the middle encouraging Harry like he was about to run his first marathon. We obviously couldn't do anything big for Harry's birthday which left me with a bucket load of mum guilt, but we did have our friends and family pop in to have a slice of cake. I had made the cake in the shape of a snitch as Harry was obsessed with the flying ball. James had an old training snitch from his time at Hogwarts and we could leave Harry watching the snitch for hours and he wouldn't get bored, James was convinced he would be world's best seeker one day. Speaking of my husband, he is lucky to still hold that title. I woke up this morning to find James not in bed and Harry's bed empty only for me to look out the window to see James holding Harry tightly to his front as they flew around the garden, way to high off the ground for my liking. According to Mia, Monty had done the exact same thing with James on his first birthday, it was a tradition James had neglected to tell me about.

Monty and Mia were in the kitchen with my brother and Anna. The Potter's had warmed slightly to my brother over the years, it made my heart happy to see them getting along. Liam and I had come a long way and Monty and Mia hadn't missed the effort he had put in. Peter had joined the girls in helping Harry try to walk laughing as Harry flopped to the ground and crawled to Kayla instead. We were always worried about Peter so to see him laughing made me smile. Sirius said he was doing okay on patrol but was still a little jumpy, but he had Lily and Sirius looking out for him, which eased my concern. Remus was sat sulking in the armchair not taking his eyes of the mug in his hands. Both he and Sirius had arrived in awful moods and if they caught each other's gaze across the room they almost snarled at each other. James, sensing the tension between the two had whisked Sirius away, but that was a while ago. I moved throughout the house looking for them only to find them hunched over the kitchen table muttering suspiciously to each other.

I walked over slowly trying to gage what they were up to.
"maybe you should talk to Moody, he will know what to make of this" James whispered. Sirius quickly shook his head
"I can't James. What if I am wrong? I will look like an idiot. Its better if we just deal with it for now" James dragged a hand down his face
"you really think the mole is one of us?"
"what mole?" I asked choosing to make my presence known. I crossed my arms over my chest raising my eyebrow at the boys as they jumped around to face me, Sirius tucking a book behind his back.
"what is going on?" when neither of them replied I levelled them with my best mum look
"oh merlin, she is doing the look prongs" Sirius said looking anywhere but my eyes. James who was bit better under the pressure, since he had been dealt this look more time than I can count, tried to support Sirius.
"just don't look her in the eyes" I rolled my eyes at the idiots waving my wand I shocked Sirius causing him to drop his book, which I quickly summoned, as he jolted from the shock.
"ouch Em that hurt" he said rubbing his arm. Ignoring him I flicked through the pages of the book. It looked like they were possibly mission reports. At the back of the book was a list of suspect and suspect number one was Remus. I snapped my eyes to the boys
"you better start telling me what is going on"

James led Sirius and I up to Harry's room. Sirius filled me on how he thought there was a mole in the order.
"it's weird Em. I have been keeping a track of anything that doesn't seem right" he said pointing out pages of the book where he had written about the death eaters acting strangely or them having intel they shouldn't know about, such as, were order members would be and at what time. I hated to admit it but from the evidence he had gathered it was possible. I flicked back to suspect list where Sirius had listed all the order members with means and motive next to them with a small ranking on how likely he believed it was to be them. I looked over our friends' entries. Lily was the lowest, Sirius had ruled her out as he didn't believe Voldemort would work with a muggle born. Lucy was quite high up, she had the means, coming from a high-powered pure blood family but she had no motive. That put Remus as suspect number one. Sirius believed Remus would be motivated for protection purposes. Word had spread Voldemort had recruited the werewolf that had turned Remus, Fenier Greyback, who was now going around turning more people who Voldemort could recruit. It put Rem in a bit of a dangerous place as Greyback knew of Rem and might come for him. This played into what Sirius believed to be Remus means, he theorised it could be possible Greyback had already made contact with Remus and recruited him. Sirius had also noted that Remus did not react well when Sirius had raised his concerns about a mole to him. Sirius thought that made him look guilty, but I knew better than that. Remus like me simply wouldn't be able to believe that one of our friends would do this. Plus, I can't imagine Sirius handled the situation with much tack and as we know, Rem had a temper. I am not surprised that conversation didn't go well.

"it's not Remus" I said with certainty. I didn't think it could possibly be any of our friends, but it wouldn't be Remus. He had too big of heart and was far too loyal to us to do anything like this. Also, I didn't agree with Sirius' reasoning. Rem had recently been going on missions for Dumbledore to try and recruit werewolves who had been changed but not yet been recruited by Voldemort. It meant he was away a lot, but he was doing important work. On top of all that, Remus hated Greyback with every fibre of his being there is no way he would winningly work for him.

Sirius let out a growl of frustration
"your just as blind as James" Sirius snapped at me. Sirius had never shouted at me before, never even raised his voice. James was at my side in an instant wrapping his arm around me protectively
"I suggest you watch your tone Sirius because if you ever raise your voice at Em again you can think twice about stepping foot inside this house ever again" at James' deathly erious tone, Sirius' face softened and he looked at me ashamed
"I am sorry Em. You and James are just so loyal that you can't imagine anyone not being loyal to you. Let alone one of your best friends" I sighed at Sirius there was not arguing with him on this.
"look Sirius, you have enough evidence there is a mole to go to Moody. Talk to him see what he says" James nodded dropping his arm from my shoulder only to take my hand in his
"with that settled I want no more talk of this today. It's our sons 1st birthday and we have candles to blow out and cake to eat" James said ending the conversation and dragging me back downstairs.

When Harry saw us enter the living room, Lily turned him round helping him to balance before giving him a little push in our direction. Everyone held their breath as Harry wobbled three steps before he fell forwards only for James to catch him. My baby walked!
"mama" Harry said leaning from James and stretching his arms out to me. He had recently become a bit of mummy's boy much to my delight and James' annoyance.
"you're such a clever boy Harry" I said as James placed him in my arms. I looked back at James, the conversation with Sirius still fresh in my mind but when he gave me a small smile I pushed the worry away. We had today and I would be damn sure my little boy had the best birthday ever.

Chapter 75 Chapter Text

I rolled over in my groggy state trying to ignore the banging. I snuggled down deeper into the pillow, but the banging persisted. I peeked open my eyes, the banging was still there, I wasn't dreaming it. Fully alert now I sat up straight in bed moving to grab my wand. James feeling me move also woke up.
"what's wrong? What's happening?" he said concerned shoving on his glasses and reaching for his own wand.
"can you hear that banging" we were both quiet for a moment just listing
"it's the front door" James said moving out of bed. I quickly followed grabbing his hand. It was 3am no one should be here and that set me on high alert.
"I will go to Harry, please be careful" James kissed me on the forehead
"stay up here, don't come down. I will come back up. If something happens take Harry to your old house" with one last kiss we separated, me moving to Harry's room and James down the stairs.

Harry was still asleep as I stood protectively in front of his bed. I tried my best to listen to what was going on but there wasn't much noise. That was a good sign, right? Harry bedroom door crept open and I raised my wand.
"it's me sunshine, I took you on our first date to a sunflower field and that why we have a flowerbed full on sunflowers in our garden" I ran at James throwing myself at him. My heart was pounding as relief flooded through me. I really thought Voldemort had come for Harry.
"it's Sirius, he has had another fight with Moony" I felt the anger bubble in me that Sirius had caused us so much panic
"I know love, but you should see him, he is in a right state. It's bad this time. Worse than when they broke up" Shit. With one last look over at Harry, James and I made our way down to the living room. My heart broke at the sight of Sirius curled up in the fetal position as he stared into the fire James must have lit.

James and I sat either side of Sirius, I ran my fingers through his hair trying to offer him some comfort.
"Pads, what happened?" Sirius sniffed as he closed further in on himself
"I confronted him about being the mole" I scrunched my eyes together while James let out a hiss. We thought Sirius had left it alone after he spoke to Moody. Moody had agreed with Sirius' suspicion and was investigating but clearly Sirius was still doing his own digging.
"he's leaving. He kicked me out before he started packing his bags." I met James' eyes. I knew he wanted to go to Remus. It was risky, we shouldn't be leaving but if it were me and the girls I would want to go. I gave him a small nod letting him know it was okay. James pushed up of the couch quickly moving round to give me a kiss.
"I will go check on him. Stay here with Em and don't do anything stupid" James warned Sirius. With one last kiss to my head James made his way out the door. Sirius started sobbing as he moved his head into my lap clutching to legs
"He isn't the mole, is he?" I sighed sympathetically
"no Sirius, he isn't"

I sat watching the fire while comforting Sirius, not saying a word as I ran my fingers through his hair.
"why are you not calling me an idiot or saying I told you so?" Sirius asked quietly
"because who is that going to help? That's not what you need right now" Sirius pushed himself up tucking one leg under him as he did, so he was sat angled towards me.
"you should have seen his face when I confronted him Em. I was so sure it was him but there was no way he could have faked that hurt. I ruined everything. Why do I always have to ruin everything?" I took Sirius' hand in mine
"you and Remus have been rocky for months Sirius it was never going to end well with the way you two acted towards each other. We are in a unique situation. Pressure is high and you want to do everything you can to protect those you love. You worked out there is a mole in the order, you might have won us the war by figuring that out but I think you got all you're feelings a bit muddle in the mix" I paused looking at Sirius as he looked at me like I had all the answers. "it will be okay, but when the war is over you need to take some time to work on yourself. You need to learn to love yourself Sirius. I know it's hard, you have been through a lot and no one ever loved you the way you deserved when you were younger and that gave you some trust issues. But you will get past it. When it comes to Rem, well" I shrugged "what will be will be. If you are meant to be together you will work, it out" Sirius moved wrapping his arms around me and pulling me in tight to him
"are you sure I can't convince you to divorce prongs and marry me?" There he was. I pulled away from him shaking my head
"you're never going to give up, are you?" he gave me a watery smile as tears rolled down his face
"never"

James pov

I banged on Remus door as I looked around the hallway to make sure there was no one watching me.
"I swear to Merlin Moony open the fucking door" I demand slamming my fist to the door again. The door swung inwards to reveal a dishevelled looking Remus with his wand pointed at me
"I am James Fleamont Potter and you best let me in because I am meant to be in hiding but instead of being safe with my wife and my 14-month-old, I am here" he lowered his wand as I barrelled past him. I took in the state of his usually tidy flat. By the wall there was remanence of smashed plate, as if it had been thrown at the wall in anger. He had a large case open on his coffee table, clothes either flung in it or scattered across the couch. Remus pushed past me grabbing a handful of clothes and ramming them into the case.
"you shouldn't be here" he muttered as he tried to buckle the case close, only to fail and the case to fling back open. Moony kicked the table in anger before sinking down onto the couch pulling at his hair
"I think this is exactly where I am meant to be right now" I said waving my wand, fixing the broken plate before casting another spell to fold his clothes neatly rather than just be balled up.

"talk to me Moony" I sat on the couch next to him, placing my hand on his shoulder.
"did he tell you he thinks I am the mole?" my silence was all the answer Moony needed. He pushed himself off the couch balling his fist in frustration.
"of course, he told you because he actually trusts you" I let out a heavy sigh
"he told me and Em a few months agon. We never believed it was you. Then when he gave his evidence to Moody, we thought he had left it alone" Moony locked eyes with me
"you don't think it's me?" my heart broke that he even thought that was a possibility. My friends wouldn't do that, there was no way.
"not for a second" Remus sunk to the floor dropping his head back against the wall.

"the worst thing is I wouldn't even blame you if you had. Sirius showed me the evidence, weird things are happening, and they did seem to always tie in with when I went away. So I get it. But the fact Sirius didn't trust me, the fact he thought I might even be capable of betraying everyone I care about. How could he?" I didn't know about the timing tying in with when Rem was away, but still, I didn't think it was him. I opened my mouth to try and defend Sirius but Moony cut me off "don't James. If you can honestly tell me that Emily isn't the person you trust most in the entire world and that even if evidence was mounting up against her you still wouldn't take her side no matter what. Then you can try and defend him" I bowed my head. He was right.
"I love him James. With everything thing that I am, I love him. But time and time again he just proves I can't trust him to take care of my heart" I watched as he shook his head before pushing up and continuing to pack.

"so what? Sirius breaks your heart and you're just going to go?" I said finding myself getting angry at him. He rolled his eyes.
"This is the way it has to be. It's the ways it was always going to be. I was destined to end up alone"
"stop throwing yourself a pity party" I snapped, standing up balling my own fists now.
"I don't care if you have to get away for a while. Go do whatever it is that Dumbledore has you do, but don't you dare leave without saying goodbye" His shoulders relaxed, and he looked like he was going to apologise but I wasn't done yet "we are in war Remus. How would you feel if you just left and then come back to find us all dead?"
"that's not going to happen" I raised my eyebrow at him
"really? Because Em and I are in hiding because a physcho wants to kill our son, who's to say he won't come try? Kayla is protecting the muggle prime minister someone Voldemort is actively targeting. Sirius and Peter are out risking their necks every day, one missed protego and they are gone, and Lily is simply a target because she doesn't come from a wizarding family. Now I don't know about you, but it seems to me there is a good chance that any of us could be dead tomorrow" Remus was quiet for a moment not knowing what to say. I took a calming breath, softening my tone "don't do that to us Moony, don't go without saying goodbye. Don't do that yourself" instead of saying anything Moony crossed the room bringing me into a hug.

I apparated home, Moony in tow both of us being extra cautious to make sure we hadn't been followed.
"wait here, I will make sure Sirius isn't around and then you can come in and see Em" Remus nodded waiting on front porch. Once inside Em was there in a flash raising her wand at me as I proved who I was. Before her wand had even fully lowered, I closed the distance between us and pulled her into my arms.
"I love you so much and I trust you 100%. You know that don't you? Please tell me you do Em" she pulled back and rested her hand on my cheek
"it's me and you against the world James" for the first time this evening I smiled as I placed a soft kiss to her lips.

"where is Sirius?" she sighed moving out of grasp
"in bed asleep" Perfect. I opened the door and ushered Moony inside. As soon as Em laid eyes on him she wrapped her arms around him, squeezing tightly.
"Listen Em, I need to go away for a while, but I couldn't go without saying bye" Moony said meeting my gaze over Em's shoulder, I nodded my head giving him a warm smile.
"you're coming back aren't you?" Em asked her voice cracking but Moony just chuckled
"I will only be gone about a month. I should be back just after Halloween" Em nodded thinking it over
"okay, but you will have to explain to Harry why uncle Moo didn't get to see him dressed up as a snitch" Moony through his head back as he barked out a laugh
"I will bring him a present back to make up for it" that seemed to appease Em as she beamed at Moony
"he likes shinny things, just like his mum"

Chapter 76 Chapter Text

October 31st 1981

I stood in the doorway to the bathroom watching James recount his cup winning match to Harry, who seemed to be eating up every word his dad was saying. James was crouched down in front of the bath, the remanence of a bubble bearded still present on his face while Harry modelled a bubble Mohawk.
"That was when mummy told me she loves me for the first time" Harry slapped his hands to the water splashing his dad
"mumeee!" James, although now soaking wet just laughed.
"yeah bud, Mummy is pretty great isn't she?" I laughed at my boys causing both of them to turn to look in my direction
"I will remind you both of this conversation when your sulking because I don't let you have any more cookies"
"cookeeee" Harry squealed yet again splashing James
"let's get ready for bed first Harry, then we can see what we can do about a cookie" James said blowing the bubbles from Harry's head before lifting him out of the tub, wrapping him in a towel. We were hoping for Harry to have an early night tonight, he had a very busy day pretending to be a snitch in his Halloween costume. I had made sure to take loads of pictures as all our friends were on duty today and wouldn't get to see him before his bedtime.

We were interrupted by a loud bang at the front door. James and I immediately going into high alert.
"take Harry to his room" I instructed moving to leave the bathroom only for James to call me back.
"please be careful Em" I looked into his worried eyes giving a small nod before running down the stairs. I gripped my wand tightly as I peeled open the door, the air escaping my lungs as I saw who it was.
"I am Regulus Orion Black. I know where your house is as you brought me here after kneeing me in the balls in an alleyway" I opened the door wider yanking Regulus into me
"I missed you so much" he squeezed me tightly
"I missed you too Em but I need you to get James. Moody and Dumbledore are bringing everyone here" it was only now I saw the frantic look in his eyes
"what's going on Reg?"
"please just get James. I will explain when everyone gets here. We don't have much time"

I shouted up the stairs to James, letting him know it was safe. He came down with Harry on his hip. At the sight of Regulus pacing the living room, he pulled Harry closer to him sensing something was wrong.
"he said Moody and Dumbledore are bringing everyone here. He will explain what's going on then. Somethings wrong James. Something big" James wrapped an arm round my shoulder pulling me close just like he had with Harry.
"cookee?" At the sound of Harry's voice, Regulus froze turning to face us. I pried Harry from James and made my way over to Regulus, forgetting whatever was going on just for a moment.
"Harry, this is uncle Reggie" Harry, the ever-sociable baby that he is, stretched out of my hold and leaned towards Reg. I gave a small nod of my head encouraging Regulus to take him
"Regee" Harry had clearly mastered the 'ee' sound. Regulus just started at Harry while he tugged on his chain around his neck
"he has your eyes" James who had moved next to me chuckled
"he got her temper too" before I could scold James, we were brought back to the present with a knock at the door letting us know everyone had arrived.

When Sirius entered the living room to see Regulus stood there, he quickly ran towards his brother. Regulus just had enough time to pass Harry to James before embracing his older brother. The brothers had barley spoken a word to each other in years, yet even though they may deny it at times, they never stopped loving each other.
"as lovely as this reunion is. Why were we all pulled here? What's going on?" Lucy asked the question on everyone's mind. Moody and Dumbledore had arrived not only with our group of friends but a lot of other order members, even Minnie was here.

The room went silent turning to Regulus
"you have a mole in the order" Sirius rolled his eyes
"I already knew that" When Regulus gave Sirius a sombre look, I took a quick look around the room noticing one person in particular was missing. My heart sinking at the realisation.
"James pass me Harry" I whispered. Not wanting James to be holding Harry if Regulus revealed what I was thinking he might. Confused, James passed Harry into my arms. I think Harry could sense the tension in the room as he had gone very quiet and clung on tightly to me.
"Peter Pettigrew is the mole"

"are you out of your fucking mind?" Lucy demanded standing up and squaring off to Regulus. Kayla quickly moved, pulling her back. Sirius stared out the window his jaw and fists clenched tight. I peeked at James to see him shaking his head not quite believing what he heard. I squeezed his hand letting him know I was there. He looked down at me and there must have been something in my gaze that told him I believed Regulus as his shoulders slumped.
"How the hell would you know? We haven't heard from you in years!" Lucy, who was not taking the news well, yelled from where Kayla had her shoved into the couch.
"at least hear him out Lucy" Lily said sternly. Lucy gritted her teeth but turned to look at Regulus.

He slowly pulled up the arm of his sleeve to reveal the dark mark. There was a series of hisses around the room and wands were raised. Dumbledore quickly moved Infront of Reg
"lower your wands. Mr Black is on our side and has been feeding us information for the past year. We don't have much time. I am asking you to trust him and if you can't do that, trust me" it was quiet for a moment as wands started to lower

"The dark lord has had a mole in the order for the past year" I felt James tense next me as Reg spoke. I moved wrapping my arm around his waist to pulling him into me, offering what support I could. "we didn't know who it was, they never attended meetings. That was until tonight. Pettigrew was revealed as the mole"
"I am going to kill him" Sirius growled while Lucy now had tears of anger rolling down her cheeks. She had become close with Peter, always doing what she could to protect him.
"that's not all. At the meeting Pettigrew told Voldemort your address. He is coming tonight. He is coming for Harry"

Everything seemed to happen so fast. Moody began barking out orders to members of the order, instructing them where to go and how to prepare, but for me and my friends, we all seemed to be frozen. We had been betrayed by one of own. Someone I not only trusted with my life but when we made him secret keeper, I trusted him with my son's life and he had betrayed us.
"I can't imagine how you are all feeling right now, but I need you all to push it aside and focus on the task at hand, we don't have much time before Voldemort arrives" Dumbledore said snapping me out of the trance
"what do you need sir" James said slipping into battle mode.
"we need to get Peter into custody before he can get away" Sirius jumped up
"I will do it. I will hunt that bastard down" I made eye contact with Regulus. He gave me a small nod, knowing what I was asking. I needed him to stop Sirius form doing anything stupid
"I will go with him" Dumbledore nodded at the brothers before they apparated away.

"Kayla, we need you with the prime minister" Kayla nodded before turning to Lily and kissing her with so much passion they could have set the world on fire. They didn't say a word but that kiss did all the talking for them. With one last look to me and Lucy, Kayla was gone.
"Lily, if you could go to headquarters, set up there for any medical emergencies. We will send any injured to you and will call you back once the battle is over for you to deal with anyone, we couldn't transport to you" Lily stood with tears in her eyes looking around the room before she too was gone.
"Mr Black believes Voldemort intends to come alone but we suspect once he realise's this is an ambush he will call for back up so we will need people to stay and fight. Lucy if you could please find Moody to get orders" Lucy nodded before running off

"we need to get Harry out of here. I know you will want to stay together but in order for our plan to work we need one of you to stay. The other will stay with Harry at Professor McGonagall's home. Its not a known location, you should be safe there. She will stay with you, along with James' parents, who have already been moved there as a precaution" Dumbledore sighed, looking between James and I.
"I must ask the impossible. Which one of you is to stay?" Before I even looked at James, I knew what he was going to say.
"you have to go Em. It has to be you with Harry. If you stay here and I go I won't be able to handle it Em, I won't be able to keep Harry safe like you can. Please don't argue with me on this Sunshine. I can't do much right now, but I can get you and Harry out of here. Please allow me that" I bit my lip so hard I could taste blood, but I nodded. James sighed in relief pulling me and Harry into him, placing a kiss on my head.
"thank you" Dumbledore cleared his throat
"very well. James if I could have a word, I will fill you in on the plan" James reluctantly let go of me moving over to Dumbledore.
"I will give you a moment to gather your things, but we need to get going soon Emily" Minnie said kindly from behind me. I nodded but didn't take my eyes off James.

I ran upstairs with Harry still clinging to me. Once in Harry's room i quickly moved arround shoving some of his things into a bag.
"what do you need?" Lucy said making me jump as she appeared in the doorway. I recovered quickly handing Harry over to her
"can you hold him just while I get his stuff together" I raced around the room as Lucy spoke softly to Harry.
"let's make a deal little Potter. You take care of your Mummy for me, and I will look after your Daddy for you" I spun around to face her, she looked away from Harry to meet my stare
"I will Em. I have got his back" I quickly moved towards her wrapping her in a tight hug.
"I love you so much" Lucy just pulled me tighter, Harry sandwich between us. When we pulled apart, she held out her hand smiling at me. Although I had tears streaming down my face I still managed to smile as we did our handshake
"you're a bad ass Lucy Vixen" she shook her head at me
"I am only who I am today because you. Because you believed in me." She said handing Harry back over to me "now go, get out of here and I will see you when it's all over and I can share my war stories" with one last look over my shoulder I headed out of the room.

I found James in the kitchen. Swinging Harry to my other hip, I dumped the random potions I had grabbed from upstairs.
"this one will increase your concentration. This one is your reaction time potion. You should take the fire repellent one again. You never know after last time" James interrupted my rambling by stealing Harry from me and holding him high in the air.
"Hey big man, you going to look after mummy for me?" as I watched them, I couldn't help but start to cry again. James immediately noticed and beckoned me toward him.
The warmth of his emerald eyes seemed to pierce through the looming shadows of the impending battle. He cupped my face with his free hand. Looking at me as if he were memorising every freckle.
"Sunshine," he whispered, his voice cracking with a mixture of determination and fear,
"You have to go. But I promise you, I'll come back. I will fight with everything I have because I have something worth fighting for. I have our family." As tear slipped down my cheek, I nodded, my fingers tracing the lines of his face trying to etch them into my memory.
"Come back to me, James. Whatever it takes, come back." He leaned in, pressing his lips to mine in a kiss that was both a farewell and a promise. Pulling away, James forced a smile, his eyes never leaving mine as he handed Harry back to me.
"Emily, we have to go now" Minnie said, appearing in the kitchen. James placed one last kiss to both mine and Harry's forehead before I stepped back and turned towards Minnie, my heart aching with the weight of unspoken words and the hope that he would return to the me.

Chapter 77 Chapter Text

October 31st 1981

James pov

Watching Em and Harry leave was like having my heart ripped out of my chest. I had to remind myself that they were safe. No matter what happened here, I could take comfort in knowing they were far away from it. I took a few deep breathes, wiped away my tears with the back of my hand, before looking around our home. There was a flurry of activity as members of the order got into position or set defensive charms around the perimeter. I found myself wandering aimlessly, only stopping when I made it to Harry's room. I stared at the picture wall of the photos taken through the first year of his life. How could this have happened? How could he have done this to us? It was one thing for him to betray me but to put my family in danger was a whole other story.

"thought I would find you in here" Lucy broke me from my thoughts coming to stand next to me as she too looked at the pictures.
"Listen Lucy" she shook her head cutting me off.
"no Potter don't do the just in case speech. There isn't going to be a scenario where you don't go back to her" I was really hoping that was the case, although there was no guarantee. One thing for sure though, I would fight like hell to get back to them.
"Just make sure she knows how much I love her. Take care of her and Harry Lucy. If anything happens to me, she will need you more than ever" Lucy narrowed her eyes at the fact I had ignored her. She squared her shoulders pointing her finger in my face.
"what did I just say Potter? You're not dying tonight so you can tell Em yourself when this is all over. Don't be a hero out there, just do what you have to do to get home" with a sigh I nodded at her but doing something just as risky as taking on Voldemort, I pulled Lucy in for a hug. To my surprise she relaxed into my arms hugging me back.
"Thank you for always having her back" I mumbled into her hair
"she's my ride or die. No need to thank me" we pulled apart, Lucy offering me a small smile
"it's time. Moody sent me to find you, he is waiting for you downstairs" I bit the inside of my cheek nodding before moving towards the exit. I stopped at the last minute
"see you when it's all over?" Lucy smiled
"see you then"

Like Lucy said Moody was waiting by the front door for me. The house was now eerily quiet. All order members were hidden throughout the house not daring to make a sound.
"alright Potter, like we discussed, he needs to think nothing it out of the normal. That means you need to greet him. Dumbledore and I will have your back. As soon as he sees you, we will move into action. Your only job then is to get out of the way and if he calls for back up like we think he will, take out any deatheaters. Do you understand?" I gave a single nod in acknowledgment. Moody clasped his hand on my shoulder before bending in to whisper in my ear.
"I have got you son. I will make sure you get back to Emily and your boy" He said patting my back and moving away from me. Now that all that was left to do is to wait.

We waited in silence for what felt like an eternity, until the air around us seemed to drop by a few degrees. I looked over at Moody, he straightened his back gripping his wand tighter. He felt it too. Moments later there was a knock at the door. I almost laughed. he was seriously knocking on the door. I rose from where I had been slouched against the wall by the front door. Moody and Dumbledore moved so they were on either side of the door just out of view. There was another knock. Dumbledore gave me an encouraging nod. I scrunched my eyes together thinking of Emily and Harry. Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes and reached for the handle.

I pulled the door open and was met with the blood red eyes that I had come to associate with the devil. He had his wand already raised at me, the killing curse leaving his lips as soon as the door was fully open. Before I was even aware of it, I was yanked backwards by Moody. I fell to the ground with a thud, the curse flying above my head. Once I gained my bearings, I looked up to see Voldemort, Dumbledore and Moody engaging in a duel. Voldemort sent Moody to flying backwards, slamming into the wall beside me. Using the fact Dumbledore was remotely distracted I watched as Voldemort muttered a spell I had never heard of before. It wasn't long though until I realised what that spell was, as all around me death eaters started appearing.

I helped Moody up before running into the front garden to help with the fight. Chaos was erupting everywhere I looked. It was hard to know where to begin. I saw Mark, one of the order members who liked to give Emily shit, pinned down with a death eater standing over him. Without thinking twice, I cast reducto hitting the death eater square in the chest. Mark rolled his head to see who had helped him, when he spotted me he gave me grateful nod, before rising to his feet and going off to help with the battle.

Turning away from Mark, I heard someone to the left of me. I deflected the spell that was thrown at me at the last second. Turning in direction it had come from, I locked eyes with Bellatrix Lestrange, her wild eyes gleaming with sadistic delight. With a flick of my wand, I sent a curse her way, which she deflected with a cackle. We began to duel in earnest, spells flying back and forth in rapid succession.
"Reducto!" I yelled, blasting a chunk of the garden wall beside her. Bellatrix danced aside, her laugh echoing through the yard
"Is that the best you can do?" she taunted, sending a streak of green light—Avada Kedavra—towards me. I dodged it barely, I rolled to the side before countering her with Expelliarmus. Bellatrix was forced back, but she retaliated with a series of rapid-fire curses that I barely managed to deflect. My mind raced as trying to find an opening, a way to break through her defences. Bellatrix was relentless, her spells dark and deadly. But I fought with the determination of a man who had everything to lose.
As our duel raged on, an idea popped into my head. I saw my chance. I quickly conjured my Patronus. I watched in amazement as my stag charged at Bellatrix, forcing her to break her concentration for a split second. That was all I needed.
"Expelliarmus!" I roared, my spell catching her off guard and sending her wand flying from her hand. Bellatrix's eyes widened in shock and fury, but before she could react, I followed up.
"Stupefy!" The spell hit her square in the chest, sending her crashing to the ground, unconscious and defeated. She wasn't breathing. I stood over her, my breath coming in heavy gasps, my wand still trained on her lifeless body. The weight of my victory settled over me. I had killed her. It might not have been the killing curse but I had still brought her to her end. In that moment I was unsure of what to make of it or feel.

I was dragged out of my thoughts as i turned to see dumbledore duelling with Voldemort once more. The two wizards were locked in a deadly duel. Voldemort's eyes blazed with hatred. His snake-like features contorted in a snarl.
"You cannot defeat me, old man," he hissed, his voice dripping with malice. With a flick of his wand, Voldemort sent Avada Kedavra straight at Dumbledore. The Headmaster countered with a powerful shield charm, the two spells clashing in mid-air with a resounding boom that shook everything around them.

The duel intensified, spells flying back and forth in a dazzling display of magic. Voldemort, unleashed his fury with a relentless display of deadly spells, his frustration growing as Dumbledore deflected each one with grace and precision.
" Baubillious!" Lightning arced from Dumbledore's wand, striking Voldemort with such force that he was thrown backward, crashing into the dirt. For a moment, i thought it was over. Voldemort lay still, stunned by the sheer power of the attack.

Dumbledore moved closer, his wand steady, his eyes filled with a steely determination.
"It is over, Tom," he said, his voice carrying the weight of finality. "Your reign of terror ends here."
Voldemort struggled to his feet, his face a mask of rage and desperation.
"I will never be defeated by the likes of you!" he screamed, summoning all his remaining strength for one last, desperate assault. "Avada Kedavra!"
But Dumbledore was ready. With a swift, fluid motion, he raised his wand countering the spell with his own. I shielded my eyes as a blinding light was emitted as Dumbledore's spell met Voldemort's. For a moment, it seemed as if time itself had stopped. Then, with a final, resounding explosion, the light faded, and silence fell.

Voldemort's fell to the ground. I watched in amazement as his body began to turn to dust until he was nothing more. Voldemort was dead.
Dumbledore lowered his wand, the expression on his face to hard to read. Around us, the remaining Death Eaters began to flee, Moody barking out order to try and stop them.

"Is it... is it really over?" I asked, my voice trembling with emotion.
Dumbledore nodded, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"Yes, James. It is over. Voldemort's physical form is gone. We still need to destroy the horcruxes, but I think that's a job for another day" my old headteacher moved past me. I took in the sight around me. My house was in tatters and that was just from the outside, I could only begin to imagine what the inside looked like. But like Dumbledore said, that was a job for another day.

I began looking for Moody or anyone who would be able to apparate me to Minnie's house so I could get back to my family, when I heard Lily yelling my name. I turned around to see her charging down my front path. When she got close enough, she threw herself at me hugging me tightly
"is it true? Is he really gone?" I smiled nodding at her
"it's over Lily" the smile on her face grew as her whole body physically relaxed.
"Evans, we need you out back" an order member shouted from inside the house. Of course, Lily was here to provide medical aid.
"you're okay, aren't you? You don't need me too look anything over" she said moving away from scanning me for any injuries.
"I am good Lil's. Go do your thing" she let out a soft laugh before running inside.

I had just caught sight of Moody in the living room and was making my way over to him when I heard Lily let out a gut-wrenching scream. Quickly moving through the house towards the back garden where it sounded like she was. I came to a skidding halt when I saw Lily knelt in a pool of blood, her arms clutching to a lifeless body while she sobbed.
"she is gone Lily. You need to let me move her body" Lily shook her head vigorously, her knuckles turning white with how hard she clung to the body. I felt bile rise in me as I took in the scene. My eyes scanning over the lifeless body, my body going numb as I stared into Lucy's soleless eyes.
"Lily please" Amanda, another order member, begged as she tried to peel Lily off of Lucy.

My feet moved of their own accord, closer to the scene. I stood behind Lily my shoes now had spots of blood on them, the only sound I could hear was the blood pumping round my body. Lucy was gone. I fell to my knees next to Lily, placing my hands-on top of hers. Slowly loosening her grip. I pulled her into my chest holding her tightly as she screamed and thrashed around in my grasp while both of us watched as Lucy was carried away.

After reuniting Lily with Kayla and watching as Kayla broke down when we told her the news. Moody then took me to Minnie's place. We both stood on the edge of the barrier. I tried so hard to think of the words I was going to use to tell Em her best friend was gone but I couldn't find them.
"Emily is strong. Both mentally and physically. She will be okay" Moody tried to reassure me but we both knew his words were meaningless right now. Moody stayed where he was as I entered the barrier. I was quickly met by my dad who had his wand raised at me.
"I am James Fleamont Potter, your son. When I was 7 I told you I wanted a pet dragon. You told me I couldn't. I complained so much we compromised, and I got a pet fish called blubber instead" My dad dropped his wand to ground as he pulled me into a hug. Once in my father's arms I broke down. The gravity of the last few hours finally hitting me.

When I entered Minnie's living room I barley had a second to prepare before Emily launched at me. I easily caught her as she wrapped her legs around my waist. As I felt her warmth on my skin, the scent of her perfume, the taste of her lips. I slowly found my way back home.
"you came back to me" She whispered after pulling away from my lips. I cupped her cheeks
"you are my heart beat Emily Potter" She slammed her lips back down to mine.
"Dadeee!" I set Emily back on the ground only to pick up my son who was tugging at my pants. At the sight of him I couldn't help the soft smile that crept onto my face
"Hey buddy, you're up late" Emily chuckled wrapping her arm around my waist.
"we were waiting for Daddy to come home"

The happy moment was short lived as my dad moved over to us giving my shoulder a squeeze, I handed Harry over to him. When I broke down to my dad, I had told him about Lucy. He gave me a sympathetic look before moving over next to where my mum and Minnie were stood.
"Em, I need to tell you something" noting the tone in my voice and the look of horror on my face Emily took a small step away from me.
"James, what is it?" she asked, her voice trembling.
"Em" I began, my voice thick with sorrow. "It's... it's Lucy."
Emily's breath caught in her throat. "No," she whispered, shaking her head as if by sheer force she could repel the truth. "No, James, please, not Lucy" taking her hands in mine, feeling the icy coldness of her skin.
"I'm so sorry, sunshine. She didn't make it." Emily collapsed against me, her sobs wracking her body. I held her tightly, my own tears falling.
"She was so strong, right to the end." I murmured, my voice breaking. Emily clung to me. Listing to her sob, feeling her whole-body shake was unbearable. My mum, whose face was also stained with tears took Harry out of the room. Knowing that seeing his mum like this would make him distressed
"I have got you Em. Let it out" I whispered. Emily clung to me in the middle of Minnie's living room her sobs slowly quieting as she cried herself to sleep. I cradled her in my arms. We had won the war but at what cost.

Chapter 78 Chapter Text

James thrashed around next to me, muttering and his body dripping in sweat. I sat up gently holding his arm trying to wake him. In the few days that have followed the events on Halloween, each night James had a nightmare.
"James, wake up. It's okay your safe" I cooed softly stroking his arm. James jolted his eyes flying open, panting heavily.
"you're okay" he said more to himself confirm that his nightmare wasn't real. I encouraged him to lay his head down on my stomach while I played with his hair.
"do you want to talk about it?" I asked quietly once his breathing had returned to normal.
"it's the same as last time" Since the night of the battle, James had the same dream. He dreamt that Regulus never came to warn us and that when he answered the door Moody wasn't there to move him out the way. Every night he watched, in his sleep like state, Voldemort kill me and Harry. It was tearing me apart to see him like this.
"the dreamless sleep potion should be ready today. I am sorry it's taken so long. It takes a while to brew" James pushed off me moving up the headboard, so he was sat next to me. He took my hand in his bringing it to his mouth to place a gentle kiss on my palm.
"I am surprised Harry isnt awake yet" James said as he ran a hand through his messy curls before putting his glasses on. It was 7:30.
" your mum or dad have most likely got him" since our home was damaged in the battle we had moved in with James' parents, while members of the order had volunteered to repair our home for us but it would take them a few weeks to finish it.

"how are you feeling about today?" James sighed, fiddling with my wedding band, turning it round and round my finger, to distract himself.
"I am just so furious Em. Every time I allow myself to think about what he has done I just get this overwhelming anger. It's one thing to betray me but he risked your's and Harry's life. I just don't get how he could do that." James and the boys would be confronting Peter today before Moody escorted him to Azkaban. Sirius and Reg had tracked him down to a muggle café where he had planned to fake his own death and murder a ton of muggles in the process. When Reg told me I couldn't believe it, it was just so far removed from the Peter I thought I knew. Moody had taken him into custody, he gave the boys a few days to gather their thoughts so they could confront him before he was carted off to prison. Remus came back on November 1st to a whole different world to the one he had left just over a month ago. Dumbledore had volunteered to tell him what had happened which we were all grateful for. As soon as he heard the news, he came to find James and Sirius. Putting aside his issue with Sirius for now the boys sat together and tried to come to terms with the ultimate betrayal.

"I don't know if we will ever truly understand why he did what he did but maybe today you will get some closure. Then we never have to think about him ever again" James moved angling himself to face me, I copied.
"how are you feeling about it? He was your friend too. You were always checking in on him and doing everything you can to help him. It wasn't just me and the boys he betrayed" I let out a breath thinking it over.
"I can't hold onto the anger anymore James. I am so tired of feeling on edge. I just can't do it anymore. It breaks my heart that he could do something like this, that he did that to you and don't even get me started on the danger he put Harry in because if I allow myself to feel that anger I might march into the order and rip him limb from limb" James ran a calming hand up and down my side " I just don't think he deserves anymore of my time or energy. In my mind he is dead" James pulled me tight into him, holding me close.

"what about you? How are you feeling about today?" I was really not looking forward to today and had been putting it off for the last 4 days since the battle.
"it's going to be tough, but I am glad Regulus is coming with me" James nodded
"when you told me he was going, I was relived I didn't want you to go on your own" James had volunteered to come with me to see Lucy's parents with me, but I had declined. James had met them once, when we moved Lucy out, and they did not get on well. James didn't care if they liked him or not, he just wanted to be there to support me but I didn't want to put her parents under any more distress than they were already facing.
"you don't have to go you know?" I shook my head at James we both knew that wasn't an option
"I need to help James. I need to keep busy. It will help me" He signed but nodded in understanding.
"Just don't push yourself too much. It's only been 4 days Em. Your allowed time to grieve" it felt like all I was doing was grieving. The day after the battle I felt so drained and I hadn't even fought. I broke down the second I woke up and remembered that Lucy was gone. I was surprised I had any tears left to cry but somehow, they just never seemed to stop. Lily, Kayla and I spent the day curled up in bed together not moving, not eating, just in silence as we tried to process that our quartet had become a trio. The next day I made it to breakfast before I broke down. Monty had made a joke that I knew Lucy would find hilarious, but I would never be able to tell her about it.

James was with me every step of the way. Barely leaving my side for more than a moment. We were both doing our best to be strong for each other whilst coming to terms with our lost. It was tough but I would forever be grateful to him. He was my rock. The only thing that seemed to bring a smile to my face these days was Harry. James and I had become pro's at slapping on masks for the sake of our son. We had to keep moving forward, not just for ourselves but in order to give Harry the life we had so valiantly fought for. I don't know if I would be coping as well if it wasn't for Harry. He had this way of brightening the whole room and when he smiled at you, you couldn't help but smile back.

I snuggled closer into James's side, allowing my fingers to trace the shapes of his abs. He had come back to me. I don't think I would have managed if something happened to James. He had my heart inside of him and it was his to keep and protect. If anything happened to him my heart would simply stop beating.
"how are you felling? Lucy was your friend too?" James had been so focused on my grieving, I think he sometimes forgot that he had lost Lucy too.
"I am still waiting for her to burst through the door and kick me out of bed so she can talk to you" I let out a small chuckle remembering all the time Lucy had shoved James over for out morning chats. "I know we weren't the best of friends, but I miss her. I miss her teasing Sirius. I miss watching the two of you snicker at your inside jokes. I miss her trying to get Harry to throw things at me. She was our family, I just never expected her to not be around" At his words I couldn't contain the tears anymore as they started to flow
"I wish she was here James" I whispered, my voice cracking. James placed a kiss on my head
"Me to sunshine. Me too"

When James and I headed down to the kitchen we found Harry giggling away in his highchair as Sirius tried to feed him yoghurt. They both had more in their hair, than Harry had eaten. Sirius, along with Regulus had also moved into the Potters. Reggie didn't really have anywhere else to go and Sirius just wanted to be close to us.
"Mumeee!" Harry yelled waving the yoghurt cover spoon around causing a blob of yoghurt to hit Sirius square in the face.
"morning bud. Are you being good for uncle Pads?" I asked waving my wand to clean Harry up before I lifted him out of his chair.
"define good" Sirius mumbled under his breath.
"Are you saying my child is anything but an angel Pads?" James asked before dipping his finger into the yoghurt pot and swiping it across Sirius' face
"Dadee silly" Harry chuckled in my arms. Seeing his little smile was all that mattered to me right now.
"what? Daddy isn't silly! Daddy is the best" James said taking Harry and holding him high in the air whilst he wriggled and giggled.
"are you leaving him here with Mia and Monty today?" I shook my head at Sirius
"Lily and Kayla asked if they could take him. I think they need a pick me up" Sirius gave me a sympathetic smile.
"morning everyone" Regulus said moving into the Kitchen
"Regee" Harry squealed, begging for James to put him down so he could totter over to Regulus. Much to Sirius' annoyance Reg was defiantly Harry's favourite.
"Morning little Potter" Reg said scooping him up. The nickname got me. That was what Lucy always called him. I excused myself and headed into the living room. James was hot on my tail however and pulled me into his arms as I cried yet again.

"how do you think they will react?" Regulus asked as we stood on Lucy's parents' front doorstep.
"They never replied to my letter, so I am not sure. They were never the easiest people to get on with though. Lucy hadn't seen them in over a year. I think they wrote occasionally but I don't believe they were always the best letters" Reg sighed in understanding. He knew better than anyone what coming from a strict pureblood family was like. After a few moments of waiting the door opened to reveal Lucy's dad, Graham. I had very few interactions with him over the years, he was one of them dads who was sort of just in the background.
"what are you doing here?" he asked his voice void of any emotions
"I came to see if you or Mrs Vixen need anything. Or if you had any questions that I may be able to answer" He looked me up and down with disdain. I could feel Regulus growing tense next to me, not liking the older mans judgmental look.
"We don't need anything from you" I sagged in defeat
"okay, well you have my address should that change. I am so sorry for your loss sir" He scoffed at me, rolling his eyes.
"Graham who is it?" I heard Sarah, Lucy's mother, ask from inside the house. She barged past her husband moving in front of him to see who her visitor was. I had never liked Sarah Vixen. She was always finding fault with Lucy, trying to change and manipulate her. That didn't sit well with me. Still at the request of Lucy, I had always bit my tongue when it came to her mother.
"Mrs Vixen, I came to offer my condolences and see if you needed anything" The woman shrieked at me
"why on earth would we need anything from you! You took my daughter away from me. You put those silly little ideas in her head. I wish she never met you. If she hadn't, she might still be here, she would be happy, married with kids maybe. She is dead because of you" her words hit me with a punch to the gut. I took a step back my mouth opening and closing like a fish as I tried to find the words, but nothing was coming out. Did she really believe that? Was it my fault Lucy is dead?

"who the fuck do you think you are?" Regulus roared stepping Infront of me. I grabbed his arm trying to stop him but he gave me a reassuring squeeze and forged ahead.
"I understand you are grieving but you have no right to speak to her like that. You clearly didn't know your daughter very well if you think that anybody could make her do something she didn't want to do. Don't you dare put this on Emily because I will tell you one thing. If Lucy was here to listen to how you just spoke to her, you wouldn't still be standing. Emily was Lucy's best friend. Her true family. So I suggest you treat her with the respect she deserves for always having your daughters back" Graham moved forward. I assume to punch Regulus in the face, but Sarah stopped him placing a hand on his forearm as she started to cry.
"your right" excuse me?
"Your so right. Emily I am so sorry. I shouldn't have said those things. You have just always understood Lucy in a way I never could and now I will never get the chance to know her like you did" as my own tears stated to fall, I moved around Regulus and took Sarah's hands in my own.
"if you would like I can tell you all about her?" with a watery smile Sarah nodded
"why don't you come inside"

James POV

"You have half an hour. Don't do anything that will make me need to lock you up" Moody said to Sirius, Remus and I as he unlocked the door to the room which housed Peter.
"let's get this over with then" Moony said pushing into the room, Sirius and I following behind. The moment I saw him magically handcuffed to the chair, cowering as he took in the three of us. I felt all the rage I have been trying so hard to bury deep, rise the surface. Sirius must have got a few punches in before he brought him back to the order as he had two massive black eyes and a busted lip. I felt nothing but pure and utter rage towards Peter, the man who I once consider my brother was now gone.

Moony sat in the chair opposite him running his tounge across his teeth.
"I have one simple question" he paused tilting his head to the side. "Why?" Peter's lip wobbled as he tried to gather the words.
"I had no choice, He was going to-" Moony didn't give him chance to finish. He rose to his feet the chair falling to the ground behind him with a clatter as he towered over Peter.
"wrong fucking answer" He practically growled. Peter curled in on himself, like that would help him.
"you always have a choice. You chose to betray us. To risk James, Emily and Harry's lives. People who have treated you like family. You killed Lucy"
"Lucy was never meant to get hurt" Peter quickly stuttered out as if that made it okay.
"Her death is on you" Sirius roared coming to stand next to Remus "you sent Voldemort there" Peter shook with fear
"please, let me explain" Sirius laughed menacingly
"We are way past the time for talking. If I didn't promise Emily, you would be fucking dead by now" Sirius spat at Peter before turning on his heels and storming out of the room.
"I always wondered why your animagus was rat. But now I know, it's because your vermin. The lowest of the low. It should be you that's dead." Remus turned, giving me one last look before he too left the room.

Until now I had been stood observing, not saying a word, not trusting myself not to storm across the room and smash his head into the table, but I needed to finish this. Say what I needed to say, then get the hell out of here and pretend I never met Peter Pettigrew. Peter's eyes darted nervously, when I moved toward him, his face draining of colour.
"J-James," he stammered, leaning away from me, his voice trembling.
"What are you doing?"
My voice was cold, deadly. I raised my wand, the tip glowing menacingly.
"You betrayed us. You sold us out to Voldemort." Peter's eyes widened, and he shook his head.
"No, James, it's not what you think! I-I had no choice! He would have killed me!"
"And you think that justifies what you did?" I shouted, slamming my hands down onto the table in front of him. "You think that excuses Lucy death? the danger you put my family in?" Tears streaming down his face.
"Please, James, I didn't want to! I was scared! You have to understand, I never wanted to hurt you or Emily or Harry. He forced me!" I lifted my wand again, pressing it to his temple. My hands trembled with the effort to control the rage i felt.
"You were our friend, Peter. We trusted you. I trusted you with my life, with my family's lives. And you threw that away for your own cowardice." Peter sobbed, his entire body shaking.
"I'm sorry, James. I'm so sorry. Please, you have to believe me. I didn't want any of this." My eyes hardened, the weight of Peter's betrayal crushing me.
"It's too late for apologies, Peter. You've made your choice, and now you have to live with it." I took a step away from him, lowering my wand. "If it weren't for Emily and Harry, I'd end this right here. But I won't stoop to your level." Peter looked up, hope flickering in his eyes.
"Thank you, James. Thank you for sparing me." I stepped back towards the door
"I'm not sparing you out of mercy. I'm sparing you because you're not worth it." I turned on my heels quickly leaving the room before I did something I would regret.

Once the door behind me slammed shut, I leant against it taking a few calming breaths. I just wanted to go home. I needed to see Emily and Harry. They made everything better. With one final sigh I pushed myself off the door, only to freeze as stood at the end of the corridor was my walking heartbeat. Emily must have picked Harry up from Lily and Kayla after seeing Lucy's parents. She had Harry resting on her hip as they both stood smiling at me. As fast as my legs could carry me, I made my way towards them wrapping them tightly in a hug.
"what are you doing here?" Emily smiled placing a kiss to my cheek.
"We thought you mind need us" I took Harry from her arms, tickling his tummy, making him giggle.
"I will always need you sunshine"

Chapter 79 Chapter Text

I was really starting to hate the colour black. I turned side to side in the mirror looking at the formal black knee length dress I had last worn for my parent's funeral. Today it was getting it's second ever outing as we buried my best friend. I from the reflection in the mirror I noticed Kayla and Lily hovering in the hallway. We were still at James parents, but our house should be done next week. We had been in two minds about what to do with the house as it now held some of the best and worst memories. After talking it over, we had decided to not let Voldemort ruin anything else for us. That house was more than just a house to us. It was our home.

"how you doing?" Kayla asked as the girls moved into James' childhood bedroom.
"about as well as you, I suppose" Over the last week the girls and I have been closer than ever before, I saw them every day as we leaned on each other to get through this.
"what do you think Lucy would think about Sirius doing the memorial speech?" I asked trying to lighten the mood. Lucy's parents had asked if one of our friends wanted to speak at the funeral. The girls and I had declined not thinking we would be able to get through it without breaking down. What came as a shock to us though was Sirius volunteering.
"Merlin I can only imagine the fit she is throwing up there" Lily said as she looked up. I snorted
"I have no doubt she will find a way to haunt him if she doesn't like what he says"
"she totally would. No one knew how to push Sirius' buttons better than Lucy" Kayla added. I took the girls hands in mine
"she will be with us today. She is going to bewith us always" Lily had tears rolling down her cheek as I spoke. I smiled at them "I mean it. She once asked me if she thinks my dead grandparents have watched me have sex from heaven" both the girls laughed, and I knew in that moment as horrible as today might be. We were going to be okay.

The sky over the small cemetery was a grey, matching the mood perfectly. We all stood in silence. I clung tightly to James's hand as silent tears rolled down my face throughout the ceremony. James sat stoically beside me as he traced small circles to the back of my hand offering me the comfort I so desperately needed. When Sirius stood to deliver the eulogy, I was hanging on by a thread. He took a deep breath before beginning.
"Thank you all for being here today," Sirius started, his voice steady but underlined with sadness. "We've come together to say goodbye to Lucy Vixen, a woman who meant more to us than words can express."
He paused, looking out over the crowd, his eyes meeting mine, taking a long blink before he continued. "Lucy and I had a unique relationship. We bickered and bantered, constantly trying to get the upper hand. It was our way of communicating, a dance of sharp words and clever comebacks." A faint smile crossed his lips as he recalled their playful rivalry. "To the untrained eye, it might have seemed like we couldn't stand each other. But the truth is, Lucy was one of the best people and friends I have ever known. A friend who knew exactly how to push my buttons and how to make me laugh when I needed it most." Sirius's voice grew thicker with emotion. "She was fierce, loyal, and incredibly brave. She had a heart that could rival a lion's and a wit that could cut through the darkest of days. Lucy never hesitated to stand up for what she believed in, and she fought for her friends with a passion that was both inspiring and humbling." My lip began to wobble as I took in shaky breaths, curling into James side as if trying to steal some of his strength. Sirius took a moment to collect himself. "She never let anyone feel like they were alone, not for a single moment." Sirius looked between me and the girls as he spoke again. "Lucy's passing leaves a void that can never be filled. But I know she wouldn't want us to dwell on the sadness. She'd want us to remember the laughter, the love, and the strength she gave us. She'd want us to carry on, to fight for what's right, and to never forget the power of a well-timed joke." I couldn't help the small smile that crept onto my face as I remember all the times Lucy and I would be in fits of laughter. Sirius smiled through his tears, lifting his gaze to the sky. "So, here's to you, Lucy Vixen. Thank you for the laughter, the arguments, and the unwavering support. You may be gone, but your spirit lives on in each of us. We'll carry your memory with us, and we'll honour you by living our lives as fiercely and as fully as you did."

He had done her proud.

Lucy's legacy would survive in the each and every one of us. I would make sure Harry grew up to know how bad ass his aunty Lucy was. And though the pain of her loss was profound, so too was the gratitude for having known her, for having loved her like a sister.

1 Month later

"mumee!" I was just finishing getting ready in our bedroom when my partner in crime came running in only in his nappy. I laughed has he ran towards me hiding behind my legs. Seconds later an out of breath James skidded into the room, spotting Harry immediately but pretending he hadn't. We had been back in our home for the last 3 weeks and as soon as we stepped through the door James and I knew we had made the right decision to stay here.
"do you know where Harry has gone mummy? We were meant to be getting dressed but he ran off" James and I, both bit our lips as Harry let out a chuckle from behind my legs.
"nope I haven't seen him since breakfast" I said playing along. James smirked creeping closer.
"oh really, so that there isn't a little monster hiding behind your legs?" Harry let out another bubble of giggles. Moving to the side, leaving Harry in full view
"oh you mean this Harry? Yeah he is here" James wasted no time, leaping at Harry, picking him up and blowing raspberries on his tummy
"got you, you little monster. Come on we need to get ready to see grandma and gramps" James gave me a quick kiss on the forehead
"I will just get the small monster dressed and then I am good to go sunshine"
"perfect I am nearly ready anyway"

Dumbledore had asked us all to meet at headquarters today. Monty and Mia had agreed to have Harry while we are there. In the month since the battle we had slowly started to settle into our new normal. We still had bad days but the good were outweighing the bad. We had all taken some much-needed time to adjust but slowly we were all starting to make plans for the future. Sirius and Regulus had moved into a flat together. I had signed over my old house to Lily and Kayla. It was about time and I was just glad it was staying with people I loved. Remus and Sirius still weren't on the best of terms but at least Rem wasn't going away for months at time anymore. In the grand scheme of things, we were all doing good. Which is why I was dreading going to headquarters today.

We all sat around the same table that we had when we first visited headquarters. No one was speaking as we waited for Dumbledore to arrive.
"and you all say I am miserable" Regulus muttered just loud enough for me to hear it. I jabbed my elbow into his ribs, causing him to whimper.
"so, you're not in a good mood today then?" I turned to glare at him
"do you want another elbow to the ribs?" the boy clearly had a death wish as he rolled his eyes at me. Earning him an even harder jab to his ribs. Regulus cries of pain would have to wait as Dumbledore arrived.
"Thank you all for coming, I do apologise for my lateness" he said sitting at the head of the table "now I can appreciate this may the last place you all want to be, so I say we just get on with it. Mr Black" I turned scrunching my eyebrows at Regulus confused.
"whilst working as a double agent I discovered that Voldemort had created horcruxes" Reg then went into the same explanation that we had received the night Regulus joined the order. "we have killed his physical form now, so we have bought ourselves some time. To ensure he can't return we need to destroy the horcruxes. I believe there to be 5 in total and I know the location of two. One is the Slytherin locket which is located in a cave in Ireland and the other is the Hufflepuff cup which is in the late Bellatrix Lestranges vault" Sirius gasped
"that must have been what they were talking about the night at the pub. Remember Em, Lestrange told Voldemort he had put something in Bella's vault for him" I nodded it all coming back to me.
"so what and where are the others?" Remus asked.
"that's the thing. I don't know. Which is why your all here, I wanted to see if you had any suggestion so I can go track them down and destroy them"
"hold on a second. What do you me you're tracking them down" I said narrowing my eye at Reg
"Mr Black has volunteered to hunt and destroy the horcruxes" Regulus shut his eyes at Dumbledore's words
"has he now?" I said my voice dripping with sarcasm
"Listen Em. I am going to be okay. The mission is sanctioned by ministry I have their full support. Moody is even going to help me. I promise I will be careful" I saw the determination in his face. He was really doing this
"I only just got you back Reg" He placed a gentle hand on my shoulder
"and I am not going anywhere"

Half an hour later we were still brain stomping as we read through mission report we had wrote, trying to see if there was anything in them that might point Reg in the right direction.
"wait, the house artifacts are real? Does that mean the sword of Gryffindor is a real thing?" James asked
"indeed, Mr Potter and so is the Ravenclaw diadem" Lily, Kayla and I all gasped meeting each other eyes.
"alright what weird girl thing just happened?" Sirius asked concerned.
"I need to go get something" I said jumping up and apparating home before anyone could say anything. I ran up the stairs to our room, retrieving the box I kept under the bed before apparating back.
"Em are you okay?" James asked as soon as I was back at his side, his voice full of concern. I nodded as I hastily removed the lid off the box lifting out the tiara I had worn to Halloween.
"you wore that to Halloween when you all dressed as the founders, didn't you?" I nodded at James handing it over to Dumbledore
"Lucy found in the room of requirement when we were looking for accessories to go with our costumes. I remember saying at the time how much it looked like how the diadem was described in the books. She brushed me off telling me that even if it was real it was finders' keepers" I laughed at the memory with my best friend. Dumbledore held it up to the light examining it.
"I do believe Miss Vixen found the Ravenclaw lost diadem" I fell back into my seat.
"if he used the Slytherin and Hufflepuff artifact as a horcrux. Do you think he might have used the Ravenclaw one to?" James asked
"only one was to find out" Regulus took the diadem, placing it in the middle of the table. He slowly waved his wand over it, muttering a spell I had never heard off. We all gasped as the diadem started to shake violently.
"It's a horcrux" Regulus confirmed. We were all silent for a moment just staring at it before I started to laugh looking up at the ceiling. Only Lucy could find the lost diadem of Ravenclaw that also happened to be a horcrux. It wasn't long before the rest of my friends also started to laugh.

"I really hope I never have to see this place again" Kayla muttered as we all stood in a line just outside of the border to headquarters, looking at the building. After another few hours of looking through files Reg had some solid leads that he could use to hunt down the remaining horcruxes. It felt like a lifetime ago we were coming here for training and now we were leaving, for what I hoped to be the last time, having won the war.
"holy shit, we fought in a war" Sirius exclaimed
"bit concerning your only realising this now, Pads" James said to his best friend
"he has always been a bit slow" Regulus said, earning him a slap on the back of the head from his brother
"Alright smart arses. I meant that we fought in war and won. Like that's pretty wild" Kayla laughed at him
"can't argue with that"
"I wonder what 11-year-old me would say if I told her this is what she went on to do?"
"she probably would have started a to do list there an then to prepare" Remus laughed at Lily causing her to roll her eyes
"there is nothing wrong with being prepared"
"just like there is nothing wrong with using magic to clean" Sirius retaliated. Before it could escalate into a shouting match, I interrupted them
"Hey, how about we have a movie night? We haven't had one in ages. We can have it at our house that way Harry can be involved without messing up his bedtime routine"
"I like that idea! I can pick us up some pizza and bring it over" Rem suggested
"food, a movie and Harry cuddles? Count me in" Sirius added. The others nodding in agreement.
"That settles it then. Meet you at our place in about 30 mins? We just need to grab Harry from my parents" With a plan in place our friends started apparating home.

I stood for a moment longer taking in the building, thinking about how far we had all come since we joined the order. It had been some of the toughest years of my life but also some of the best. We had fought a war and we had won. We had lost a lot along the way but we were finally in a place where the world didn't seem so dark and scary anymore. It was time to start our next chapter.
"you ready sunshine?" James said breaking me out my thoughts. I took his hand in mine.
"I am more than ready"

Chapter 80: Epilogue

Chapter Text

19 years later

Harry's pov

"how do you think Hailey is feeling?" Ginny asked as we knocked on the door to my childhood home. My sister Hailey, who was 17 making her 3 years younger than me, had come home for the easter holiday and had informed my parents she had a boyfriend. Dad had demanded he meet the boy straight way. Which had led to my mum planning a family BBQ where we would get to meet him. My mum had tried to reassure my dad that Theo, my sister boyfriend, was a good boy but he was having none of it. Especially with uncle Reggie and Moony winding him up saying how much of ladies' man Theo is. Yeah, being at Hogwarts where your mum was your potions teacher and one of your uncles was the astronomy teacher and the other was your DADA teacher was not always so fun. I did however gain back a bit of popularity when people realised who my dad and uncle Liam were. Both my dad and uncle had been professional quidditch players and bloody good ones at that, now that I had signed with chudley cannons, I was hoping I could even have half the legacy they had built. Since retiring they had still stayed pretty heavily involved in the quidditch world, as they now both commentated on most matches. I am pretty sure Ginny only agreed to go on a date with me, after months of begging, because she wanted to meet my dad.

"she is probably stressing. Not a bad thing if she made those peanut butter brownies she made while she was revising for her owls" Ginny rolled her eyes at me. My sister and my mum were incredible bakers and my sister had picked up the habit of baking when she was stressed from my mum. That meant there was good chance she had made something delicious in apprehension of us meeting her boyfriend. I was broken out of my daydream when the front door flew open to reveal my adorable little cousin Amelia. Ginny slipped inside greeting Amelia as she did, before going to find my sister. Amelia wasn't so little anymore and it pained me to think about it. She was 11 now and in her first year of Hogwarts, I had been on the platform along with the rest of our family to see her off on September 1st.
"Hey Aims! I missed you now you're at Hogwarts" I said picking her up and spinning her round.
"put me down Harry" she scolded, running her fingers through her hair as I placed her down.
"what are you too cool for me now?" I teased purposefully messing up her hair again.
"Harry!" she squealed batting my hand away. I laughed at her before gabbing my wand quickly conjuring a bunch of sunflowers behind my back.
"Here you go, does this make up for it?" she practically snatched the flowers from my hands as she gleamed up at me.
"they are perfect! I am going to show my mum's" She said before quickly running off to my aunt Lily and Kayla. It was no surprise my aunts were raising such a strong-willed woman. What with aunt Kay being well on her way to becoming minster of magic in a few years and aunt Lil's being a kick ass healer.

A butter beer was waved Infront of me. I grabbed it from my uncle Pads.
"I hope you're ready to conjure a lot of flowers tonight prongslet. As once the ladies catch wind of it they are all going to be wanting a bunch" he laughed patting my back before walking across the room to join uncle Reg and Moony where they stood chatting by the book shelf. Uncle Pads and Moony had gotten married last year. Their relationship had been a journey according to mum. Apparently, they use to date at Hogwarts but then broke up. I remember things between them being a bit tense growing up. That was until about 4 years ago when Uncle Pads got injured at work, he is an auror, and Uncle Moony had looked after him whilst he recovered. They have been together ever since.

I moved through the house looking for my parents saying hi to my grandma and gramps as I passed them in the dining room. I wasn't surprised to find my parents dancing in the kitchen. My dad had his arms wrapped around my mum's waist, his chin resting on her shoulder as he whispered Merlin knows what into her ear. Mum attempted to carry on cooking as she laughed at whatever my dad was saying, but in true James Potter fashion he wasn't having any of it. He snatched the wooden spoon from my mums' hand, throwing it on the side. He then began to waltz my mum around the kitchen island. I stood, smiling, watching them from the kitchen doorway. They were always like this. My parents were one of them couples that were annoyingly in love. They got to together at 17 and had been inseparable ever since. Growing up I had always wanted what they had, and I would never settle for anything less than true love as I had seen what it looks like. Ginny was that for me. Mum had told me you know you have met your one when, after you kiss them for this first time you look into their eyes and you just know. To be honest, I always thought it was a load of crap, but I wasn't ashamed to admit when I was wrong, and boy was I wrong. The world changed for me the day I kissed Ginny Weasley.

My mum finally spotted me in the doorway as she squealed shoving my dad off her and coming over to me to wrap me into one of her bone crushing hugs.
"have you been here long? Is Ginny with you? Do you want a drink? Something to eat?" My dad laughed from beside my mum
"let the poor boy speak sunshine" He moved forward giving me his own hug
"its good to see you son" They did this every time. They always acted as if I hadn't seen them in months. I was here two days ago. I wouldn't swap them for the world though. People always say their parents where the best. But they would be wrong. As me and Hailey had hit the jackpot with our mum and dad. I was about to answer my mum's million questions when gramps shouted that Theo had arrived.

We moved into the living room but there was no Theo.
"Hails, are you not going to open the door?" my mum asked approaching my sister.
"not until they promise to behave" she said gesturing round the room where our whole family had squeezed into.
"They will. Wont you?" My mum had this look that would get you to do whatever she was saying, and she was using it now. Reluctantly our family agreed. Hailey sighed moving towards the door. My dad, uncles and gramps all stood to move with her. My mum spun around glaring.
"only James and Harry can come. We don't want to overwhelm the boy" with a grumbled my uncles and gramps sat back down

In the entry way I watched as Hailey took a deep breath before opening the door to a very nervous looking Theodore Nott. I had heard of Theo when I was at school. He was on the Slytherin quidditch team, I even think he was the captain now. Dad had made a snarky comment when he found out Theo was a Slytherin only to be scolded by mum saying my aunt Lucy would haunt him for that comment. I unfortunately don't really remember my aunt Lucy but from the stories mum had told me it made sense why dad was terrified of the chance of her haunting him. According to Ginny, Hails who was a smart ass Ravenclaw, had met Theo when my mum partnered them together for a potions project. Dad had again not been pleased when he found out my mum had sat his precious little girl next to a boy but seeing Hailey now, as her face lit up just from seeing Theo, I understood why my mum had done it.

"Hey Thee" next to me my dad rolled his eyes muttering 'Thee' under his breath. My mum heard him and I didn't miss the way she purposely stood on his foot as she moved forward.
"Hi Theodore, I hope your having a nice easter break so far?" My mum gave him her mega watt smile. Theo shook her hand firmly
"Its been great Mrs Potter, thank you" my mum immediately waved him off
"Please call me Emily when we are out of school" Theo seemed a bit more relaxed as he smiled at mum. That was until he turned to look at me and dad. We stood shoulder to shoulder, arms crossed, not a hint of a smile on our faces. Both Hailey and mum rolled their eyes from where they stood behind Theo.
"Mr Potter's" He said nervously. I did feel a bit of sympathy for the kid. Ginny had 6 older brothers after all. Since my dad wasn't budging, I took pity on the boy
"Good to see you again Nott" I said raising my hand for him to shake.
"you too. Great game last night by the way. The other seeker didn't stand the chance" if the kid kept giving me compliments, I guess I could be won over. My dad had yet to move.
"James" my mum said in a warning tone. Unwillingly, my dad uncrossed his arms, I watched wide eyed as he took Theo's hand in his pulling him closer to him whispering what I assumed was threat in his ear.
"do you understand me?" Theo had gone pale at whatever my dad had said to him
"Yes Sir" My dad stood quietly for a moment, looking Theo up and down, but a slow smile crept on his face.
"so I hear you are a quidditch captain" he said placing an arm round Theo's shoulder leading him off into the house as he talked about his days as quidditch captain. My sister quickly trailed after them not trusting my dad on his own with her boyfriend.

My mum stood smiling as she stared after them. I moved closer to her, pulling her into a one-armed hug.
"you okay mum?" shaking her head slightly she smiled up at me
"yes, I was just reminded of something" I hummed in response leading her back towards the living room where poor Theo was being introduced to our misfit family
"full house tonight" I mused watching the scene Infront of me unfold.
"Just the way I like it. All the people I love in one place" Mum smiled happily.

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Solar28 on Chapter 3 Wed 22 Jan 2025 01:54AM UTC

Me encantaaaa 😍. Y que mejor que compartir nombre con la protagonista 🤭

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Solar28 on Chapter 7 Wed 22 Jan 2025 02:24AM UTC

Ame la interacción de Sirius y emily 🤣

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Napsnirg on Chapter 15 Tue 06 Aug 2024 01:30AM UTC

I LOVE this fic ! Like how ? Everything about it is great and really what I was searching for ! Currently loving it

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1. weasleysupremacy6 on Chapter 15 Tue 06 Aug 2024 07:43AM UTC
  
  Thank you so much! That means so much to me
  
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Solar28 on Chapter 15 Wed 22 Jan 2025 03:30AM UTC

🥳🥳le cayó bien a los sus futuros suegros 🤭🤣🤣

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Ciae_nana on Chapter 28 Fri 27 Sep 2024 01:39PM UTC

sweet

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Ciae_nana on Chapter 63 Tue 01 Oct 2024 09:25PM UTC

😭😭😭 i love them all, i love regulus and james, and sirius, and all of them 😭😭 particularly, I love this fic

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Ciae_nana on Chapter 77 Wed 02 Oct 2024 01:44PM UTC

Lucy, my love 😭😭

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VZZG21 on Chapter 80 Tue 06 Aug 2024 05:22PM UTC

I love it

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1. weasleysupremacy6 on Chapter 80 Tue 06 Aug 2024 06:11PM UTC
  
  Thank you so much :)
  
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Ciae_nana on Chapter 80 Wed 02 Oct 2024 06:25PM UTC

an amazing story

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1. weasleysupremacy6 on Chapter 80 Fri 04 Oct 2024 04:25PM UTC
  
  Thank you so much <3
  
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tutubb on Chapter 80 Sat 05 Oct 2024 06:28AM UTC

omg this is so good

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1. weasleysupremacy6 on Chapter 80 Sat 05 Oct 2024 11:30AM UTC
  
  Thank you so much!
  
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Solar28 on Chapter 80 Wed 22 Jan 2025 09:16PM UTC

Me encantooo 😍

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briermorgan on Chapter 80 Thu 30 Jan 2025 09:40AM UTC

THIS STORY WAS EVERYTHING I AM SO OBSESSED!! ❤️❤️❤️

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