Hello Fam :)

Two updates in two days because writer can't get enough of Sirius. I have cute little snippets which I want you to read. I guess when I would start on them. :P

Happy Reading...

Sirius was fidgeting since the morning, almost bouncing with energy or being a nervous wreck, Remus wouldn't know. The day was almost over and James and he were hunched over, having a hushed-up conversation. It was a day into the new year and their friends were returning to school. When Lily came downstairs and saw them, she fell down beside him with a groan. "Aren't they done with all the pranks yet?"

Remus shrugged. It wasn't the prank they were planning. He would know if it were that. Soon, Dorcas, Marlene, and Mary followed and settled around them.

"What's up with those two?", asked Marlene.

"I hope it's not a prank again", muttered Dorcas. "Seeing the Gryffindor colors on the snakes was fun but it weirded me out when I looked at myself."

When Marlene lost her patience, she went to where the two of them were hunched over and leaned forwarded beside them, startling the two. "Hello, boys. You are being not suspicious at all. Carry on with your discussion. I wouldn't mind."

Sirius gave James a nod before faking a grin. "Marlene, the love of my life."

Beside Remus, Lily threw the cushion on his face. "Didn't you say I was the love of your life a week back?"

Sirius's grin got wider. "Evans, you are looking as beautiful as ever."

She rolled her eyes.

Marlene crossed her arms. "What are you planning?"

"Nothing at all, my dearest. Nothing at all. We were just having a conversation about how pleasant the weather outside was. I would be deeply honored to have a long stroll in this weather", he said, faking the high and mighty pureblood tone, before turning to James. "James, my darling, would you like to join me?"

James stood up, brushing the invisible dust on his plants. "Of course, my darling. Any time spent with you is priceless. Let's take that walk and follow our path to the adventure."

They faked a grin and left the common room just as soon.

Marlene rolled her eyes. "As I said, not suspicious at all. What do you think, Remus?"

Remus sighed. "I think you should leave them alone and get starting to Hogsmeade if you want to receive your friends."

Lily chuckled and kissed his cheek. "Always the sensible one, aren't you?", she teased.

Remus let out a laugh. It was close to full moon and he was feeling a bit under the weather. It was good enough reason to curl up with a book.

"Wouldn't you come with us?", asked Dorcas.

Before he could think of an excuse, Lily stood up. "He would rather curl up with a book. Let's leave before he could give yell at us to leave him alone."

Mary scoffed. "Remus never yells."

"Are you sure, Mary?", said Lily. "Because I think I probably might have witnessed it a while back." Without giving any chance to Mary, she dragged the girls with her, throwing a wink at him.

Lily might not know about his condition but the girl surely knows when he wants to be alone. Bless her, she was the best friend anyone could ask for. He was just wasn't sure if he gets to keep her in his life if at all she realizes what he was.

XXX

Lily found James and Sirius already at the station. Marlene groaned looking at them. "Lils, why are they here. As far as I know, they never come to the station. How much are you betting, they are up with another prank?"

Lily shrugged. She didn't know what they were doing here. Hence, as a prefect, she went and stood beside them, leaving the girls to themselves. "Aren't the marauders too cool to receive their friends at Hogsmeade?"

Sirius grinned at her. It was less fake than what he had given to Marlene a while back but it wasn't his usual infectious one that would bring a smile to anyone's face. "Lily-bean, what's up?"

"Do not even think about causing havoc here. You were just out of detention", she warned them.

"Evans, don't break my heart", said Sirius, clutching his heart dramatically. "Accusing me of such a horrendous crime? Why don't you stab me with a knife instead of piercing my heart with your words?"

Beside him, Potter was trying and failing to stifle a laugh. The whistle blew and Sirius's grin grew wider. Lily was keeping an eye out for them even while greeting her friends. Most of them were surprised to see the two marauders at the station, some of them greeted them with a yell, some groaned and the students from the younger classes were outright terrified. Then emerged Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black, hand in hand together. Sirius glanced at James before schooling his features.

"Heyya, cousin", he said, waving at Narcissa. "How were your holidays?"

"Better, since you weren't there", she replied.

Sirius grinned. "I see as sweet as ever, Cissy. And how are you, Lucy?", he asked, knowing full well, the name angers him. "Did you extra shine your hair? I can see my reflection there."

"Get the hell out of my way, Black."

Lily didn't know if Sirius had a death wish. Malfoy was a seventh year and he was clearly into the dark arts. She thought Sirius was more sensible than riling him up but guess not. Following them, Bellatrix Black, a sixth year, emerged out as maniac as ever. Seriously, the girl gives her creeps on a good day.

"Bella, my darling cousin. Heard, you were as enthusiastic at the party as ever?", said Sirius, grinning.

Bellatrix grinned in return, sweet but everyone knew she was anything but that. "Sirius, favorite cousin. I wish I could stab you as my Christmas present. Why didn't you give a present this Christmas?"

Sirius sighed. "I still have a few days to live like a homeless marauder. Whenever I decide to suicide, I would present myself to you, Bella. You know you are my favorite for a reason?"

"It would be my pleasure and honor to drink your blood", she said with the same sweet grin and walked away.

Lily shuddered when the picture surfaced into her mind and James, who was standing between her and Sirius, slipped his hand into her. "Don't listen to her. She's mad."

"She gives me creeps."

"She gives creeps to everyone. Don't think about it. Sirius is fine."

Lily nodded, looking at Sirius, He went back to talking to Lucius again. At least, Narcissa was civil, as civil as she could be, with Sirius and she was human. When she next looked up, she knew she should expect him but seeing Severus still threw her off-guard. James had tightened the hold and she felt thankful for the boy. Unfortunately, Sev's eyes went to their joined hands and he scoffed without a word. Regulus followed him, passing a small smile to Lily, and at once Sirius abandoned his talk with Lucius and James took his hand off, taking a step closer to the other marauder.

"Well, look who's here. Did mother fatten you up, Reggie? Have you been treated like a prince because the abomination wasn't at home? Did you have a blasting Christmas?", said Sirius, the grin never leaving his face, as he forced the younger boy into a hug, running his hands all over his body. It was clearly to irritate him or he had an ulterior motive because Regulus didn't utter a word, just tried to stand as stoic as ever.

"Sirius, enough", said Narcissa, separating the boys. Lucius had an arm around Regulus just as soon. "Stop abusing him. It's not his fault to be the good son. You have only caused pain to Aunt Walburga. Don't harass Reggie too."

"As I said, as sweet as ever, Cissy. Bye baby Reggie", said Sirius, waving obnoxiously at the boy. As soon as they left, the grin on Sirius's face dropped as he stared at James.

James nodded at him. "Looked fine to me."

Sirius nodded back. "Yeah, same. Not even a wince. Well, nothing surprising. He was always good at following what they say."

James ruffled his hair. "Disagreeing with them doesn't make you bad. In fact, I would take you over anyone on any day."

Lily saw the first true grin on his face as he hugged Potter. "Okay, interesting to listen to you two proclaiming your love once again, but what the hell was going on? I thought Sirius was being obnoxious on purpose?"

James looked at Sirius as if asking for permission and when Sirius shrugged, they seemed to have a conversation without talking and James sighed with a small smile. This was another regular between them, both of them being able to talk with just their facial expressions. "Sirius makes sure their mother doesn't hurt or punish Regulus when he is at home, on the verge of making even a bigger mess so that Regulus's mess looks insignificant. This year, he wasn't there so he was worried if Walburga raised her wand of Regulus."

"So you were checking if there were any injuries on him by forcing him into a hug?", asked Lily.

Sirius shrugged. "Not like he would let me hug him willingly."

"Then why to bother about him?", asked Lily, even though she knew the answer.

"Because he is my little brother and I love him."

Lily shook her head before pulling him into a hug. "You will break my heart someday", she muttered. "I will look an eye out for him, okay."

"Thank you, Lily", said Sirius, giving her one of the most genuine smiles ever.

"Lily, do tell me that you have him confessed his prank out loud", said Marlene, walking towards them, Dorcas and Mary following them.

Lily chuckled when Sirius pulled away from her and threw his arms around both Marlene and Dorcas, dragging the girls away and trying to spin a stupid story. She glanced at James beside him, the boy had a smile on his face as they followed their friends, maintaining the distance. "I now understand why you are so protective of Sirius?"

James laughed. "You saw that face? I have been seeing that face since I was four. Didn't manage to practice resisting till now."

"Four? I thought you first met at the train as everyone?", she asked. They were close, yes, but James was close to Remus and Remus assured he had never met the boys before. She had assumed the same with Sirius too.

James shook his head. "My mother was a distinct Black and Potters are the purebloods. Our families were invited to the same pureblood party and I met Sirius there. Alone and confused, yet barely containing any energy inside him. It was the start of our friendship."

"It makes sense why you both are that close. I guess you know Marlene from before too." Because McKinnon was a pureblood surname too.

"We met when we were ten. A year before Hogwarts. At that time, Sirius thought girls were an idiot. Of course, his only role models were Cissy and Bella even though Andy was fine."

"Are you close to Regulus too?", asked Lily.

James sighed. "I was. We were. Until he was sorted into Slytherin."

"What do you have against Slytherin?"

"The only Slytherins who were fine are Andy and Uncle Alphard. And Uncle Alphard isn't a Black anymore and Andy is dating Ted, the Hufflepuff guy. They would marry in a year or two. So, yeah. Show me another decent Slytherin and I would stop hating them."

"Slughorn?"

"Come on, Evans. He collects students as if they were trophies. Do you believe him? The guy is not evil but totally a Slytherin. He doesn't see profit in keeping you close, he doesn't think you would succeed in your life and he can't use your success to his profits, he wouldn't bat an eye in your direction", said James.

"I am surprised he doesn't have you in his trophy collection. You are a pureblood and Sirius too. Though he says, he would like to have the complete Black set."

"Exactly my point. Black set? Does he think Sirius as some pawn on the chessboard?", said James, huffing. "He did try to recruit both of us to Slug club even if we weren't interested in potions. But guess what? He didn't bat an eye towards Moony. He thought Moony wouldn't be successful in life. I understand, Moony is not a potioneer, but Moony is brilliant. Leave him alone with the books and necessary ingredients, he would come out of the room after a few days, mastering the subject. He is a bloody genius. But as I said, not good enough for good-old Slughorn."

Lily understood three things from the passionate rant of James. One, he hated Professor Slughorn because of the professor treating Sirius as a pawn. Two, he side-lined Remus. Three, and the most surprising one, James isn't after fame. All the students believed, whoever was in Slug-club was elite. There was rumor that only famous students were invited into the club and if the students didn't recognize before, they would if someone was inducted into the slug-club. She herself was a part of it because she was unable to say no to a teacher and since then everyone knew who Lily Evans was. And yet here was James Potter, leaving all of that, because it was a place where his friends weren't respected enough. It felt like James was an onion, the more layers, she saw, the more layers there were. She just wasn't sure, when he would start making her cry again.

Coming to crying, James left her side and squeezed himself between Dorcas and Sirius when they reached the carriers. The carriers were moved by what they call a thestral but no one had seen them ever. A thestral would be visible to them if they had seen death with their eyes. Looking at Sirius, a sick feeling erupted in her stomach as the girls climbed into a carriage.

"Lils, you coming?", yelled Marlene.

"I will come with Sirius", she yelled back and made her way towards the boy, where he looked as if he would pass out. "Sirius, James, what happened?", she asked when James pulled Sirius into his arms.

"Nothing. It's normal. Thestrals aren't the most beautiful creatures", said James, helping Sirius into the carriage. The boy had his head buried into James's shoulder.

Lily followed in. "You can see a thestral?", she asked.

James shook his head. "Sirius can."

She gasped. It meant? "How?"

"Saw my mother banging one of our house-elves head against the wall. She died", muttered Sirius.

James snorted. "You know what the crime was, Evans? She was giving water to Sirius after his mother punished him and locked him in the room for two days. And he was just 12."

Lily nodded, calmly. A storm was brewing inside her heart and she took a deep breath in order not to murder someone. She didn't say a word after that. She didn't know what to say. She hated the Blacks but she never thought how bad it was. When no thought could calm her down, she let out her breath. "Can I kill her? Or your entire family for that matter? How sure are you that I would escape Azkaban if I settle down in some faraway muggle town?"

James burst out laughing as if she said something funny and it brought a smile on Sirius's face, not his usual grin, just a small smile. "They are not worth your hatred, Lily. Leave it. I pretty much ignore them."

"They deserve death, Sirius."

"They do. I agree. You don't know half of the shit they get into. They haven't become the death eaters yet only because they think they are mightier than Voldemort. He calls himself a Lord and no family of mine would address someone beneath them as Lord. So, yeah, they are bad. But we don't have to be them, right? Our family doesn't define us", he asked the last question to James.

And the way, James had a fond smile at the boy while ruffling his hair, Lily thought those were James Potter's lines and it suddenly dawned her how had Sirius survived all these years even being a Black. James Potter had taken the boy under his wing and he wouldn't let anything hurt him, not even a negative thought about himself. She just wondered how did a boy their age had the maturity to change the whole life of someone equally a child like themselves. 

I would like to kill Walburga and Orion Black, please. Thank you. Also James Potter, can you see heart eyes? No? Adjust your glasses and look closer, please. :P