A/N: Thanks to Jilyfan33, Cassandra, MSupernatural, Mercedes1312, buterflypuss, sanbeegoldiewhitey, goodforharpies, padfootl0ve, Alicia Olivia Mirza for reviewing. You guys are awesome and I really appreciate it! Let's just get to business, shall we?

Harry and Sirius didn't have to wait much longer before James and Lily returned to the classroom, hands swinging so closely together that Harry had to squint to realize that their fingers weren't knitted together.

Sirius was peering confusedly at them too. "Oy. What happened out there?"

There was something about the whole picture: James looking a bit like he'd been pelted by a Bludger, but very pleased over it. And Lily's aversion to meeting Sirius' eyes…and it could have been Harry's imagination, but her heart-shaped face looked pinker than usual.

And Sirius smirked wolfishly, as if coming to some conclusion. "Oh, Evans, you look…"

And then Lily's eyes snapped to his, more confident and annoyed, but still with the nervous energy around the two. She planted her hands on her hips and looked sharply at the other boy. "I'm what, Black?"

Harry thought it was strange that the two older males had the ability to tilt up one corner of their mouths at the same time, giving them a mischievous look. James took a tiny step back behind Harry's mum and raised his eyebrows at Sirius, as if daring him to answer Lily's query.

But Sirius was no slouch for a challenge. He was outright grinning again and opened that bold mouth of his.

"You look…" the smile widened even more, "like you've just been snogged good—oof!"

Harry crinkled his nose, unable to understand why Lily would throw her wand at Sirius' face, but not being able to fault her aim.

"Love, if that had been something else, you might've broken his nose," James said mildly before going to retrieve her wand for her.

She was still pink in the cheeks as she accepted it back and watched Sirius rub the offending appendage. "Might've been an improvement," she said unapologetically. "He shouldn't be saying that in front of Harry."

"It's alright," Harry said automatically, causing Lily to stubbornly shake her head.

"No, it isn't. And your father is very sorry that he left you here." Her eyes flitted to the tall boy beside her warningly. It appeared that they had been arguing about this and were still not done, if their respective poses were any indication.

"Evans, you make it sound like I left him with the Bloody Baron or the Giant Squid." He flung an arm out exasperatedly toward his miniature. "He looks fine to me!"

"Yeah," Sirius said, indignant.

"This is what you don't seem to understand," Lily griped, shaking her head in disgust. "He's not fine, James." She opened her mouth to argue further, but she caught Harry's expression in the corner of her eye and it died on her tongue. This boy, who would be hers one day, he was quiet and he barely expressed himself or what he thought about all of this, but Lily wasn't stupid…he looked far too tired for a child, far too used to just putting up with what life handed him. And she didn't want to be someone else in his life that was a trial, whether she was his mother now, or would be one day. He wasn't fine, but that didn't have anything to do with Sirius.

Her gaze turned on him, blazing and serious, and all of the boys in the room noticed the change and watched her. "Look, I want you to understand something, Harry. I…we…James and I may not agree on what to do right now. And I don't know what that has you thinking about, but I want you to know that what I choose to do, I will think of you. I…I didn't expect that this would be your life, you know…what you've told us. And I would have never chosen it for you. I will do whatever I can… to help you."

Her announcement was met with silence, but Lily only looked at Harry, hoping that he understood how she felt, hoping that she had said the right thing. At first, he looked surprised and self-conscious, but now his little brows were creased and calm…she thought that he looked like James when he was trying to work something out. He pursed his lips.

"But what if the choice is me or the rest of the world?" he finally said. "What will you do then?"

The boy hadn't known her long—but he knew what the problem was. Lord Voldemort would have laughed, because this was what noble people did, to their own detriment, he would say. Selflessness didn't always come at the cost of themselves.

Lily and James grew up to be noble, Harry believed. Not just an idealized version of parents he had never met, but he saw it in them now. And Lily didn't shy away from his question…but she didn't answer it either. Her emerald gaze was intent on him, unable to either lift his spirits or disappoint, unsure which answer would be the right one.

"We don't have much time left," James broke in between them, startling them both…and Sirius, who was pensive again. James cleared his throat at the sudden attention. "I mean, tomorrow we—we'll take him to the train. Like Dumbledore said."

"Oh, really?" Sirius sounded disappointed, and he suddenly got a hangdog expression. "But we just met him."

Lily and Harry chuckled in unison, briefly lightening the mood. And James cocked his head to the side, clearly still on a specific train of thought. "I just had something I wanted to do with the little bloke before he takes a trip."

"What's that?" Harry said, trying and failing not to sound eager.

"Well, I found you on a Quidditch pitch…and you told me you're on the team already as a first-year." Now his eyes were gleaming as he pushed off the door. "The Ravenclaw practice is over by now. Let's see you fly."

Lily had to admit, she hadn't seen Harry happier about any other proposition so far and when she caught James' eye, she realized that he was partly doing this for her. They winked at her, knowing that Harry wasn't the only one that was tired out by all of this. And she also needed to think.

"That's a brilliant idea," she heard herself say, though she didn't care a whit about Quidditch really. That was probably one the reasons she had withstood James' charm for so long.

"But my broom—"

"You can borrow our Keeper's. He's constantly leaving it in the locker room," James answered. "Let's see if I can show you anything." He smiled at Lily. "You can come along, Evans. Or we'll meet you in the Common Room later."

"I'll catch up at the pitch," she said, as James clapped his hand on Harry's back and led him out of the room. It might do them good, she thought, to have some time to themselves. It was strange to think of what she might do as a mother, but she wagered that it was important for her son to have time with his father alone, to do the things that they seemed to love together.

It was funny enough…to think that only three days ago, she would have thought of James as a rather bad role model for any child. Or at least, that was what she would have said aloud, had anyone asked her. This realization had her wondering how long those feelings had become a worn and comfortable habit that she had allowed to persist because she was afraid of something else…

"He stumped you, didn't he." As usual with Sirius, the words were delivered with such certainty that it hardly sounded like a posed question. Lily jumped, having forgotten that he was there.

"Who stumped me about what?" Lily said, tired but still knowing full well what he was referring to.

"The little bloke. About making a choice," Sirius responded patiently. He hopped off a desk and strode slowly towards her. "And you know, I could tell that he was really asking. He wasn't even trying to get you to choose him, was he? I guess nobility is in the blood."

Lily shook her head in disgust, feeling a little embarrassed about his grand assessment of her character. "I'm not noble, Black. I'm…I've done nothing. I'm still in school and none of this has even happened—"

He waved a hand at her, shaking his head. "Ah, don't pretend that you will not burst into this war a hero, whether you end up dying or not." Lily suppressed a flinch at Sirius' bluntness. He looked her up and down with an indifferent, but inexplicably softer and kinder expression. "Honestly, I'd say you were born to be. Maybe that's what James always liked about you so much…aside from the fact that you're just so fit!" He laughed as he stopped her hand from slapping him.

"That was almost the nicest thing you have ever said to me," Lily said around the lump in her throat, she felt both like crying and like smiling. "And then you have to go and ruin it!"

"Well I can't go around shocking the life out of you, Evans. Although I guess everything that's been going on with you is just a sight more bizarre…"

"You're not kidding," she quipped, taking her hand back.

After a silent moment, Sirius tried to catch her eyes, but she was avoiding them. "Come on, Evans, don't be so glum. Tell ol' Sirius your troubles. Merlin knows you probably can't tell them to anyone else. At least nothing you haven't hashed out a million times with Prongs already."

"Well then, what's the point?" she demanded. "You've made plain how you feel about it, if it were any of your business."

"Hey, don't do that," Sirius gave her a deprecatory frown. "After what I've heard, you think I don't care that this is what my best friend's future and the future of his family could be? I don't even really have a family anymore. James is all I've got these days."

Lily winced. She'd heard about all of that, but had never had cause to actually talk personally with Sirius about his pure-blood-obsessed family. She imagined it was a sensitive topic for him.

"Look, I'm not here to whinge about my life," he said, and quickly interrupted her train of thought. "I'm telling you that I do care what happens to you. And if I disagreed with you, it's only because I want you to make the right choice."

"You turned James around on me," she retorted sullenly. Lily knew full well that it was childish, but it scared her—going into this with the two of them divided over how they felt about it.

"Aw, don't be so sure, Evans. After all, you could do a lot more with your feminine wiles than you think. But I think the real reason you want me to sod off is because you don't know what's right."

"How is anyone supposed to know what's right?" She knew what she felt, but that didn't make it right. And neither did trying to reason through it. There was nothing reasonable or logical about this.

"If anything in this world makes sense, it's fighting for yourself," Sirius said with certainty, running a hand through his perfect hair. "I would have thought that with those pure-blood maniacs running about, that you would know that…"

"I do." It was twice as complicated as all of that, but she didn't want to argue with Sirius. She hardly considered him a friend, let alone a confidant…despite how admirable he seemed at the moment. As she stared at the handsome boy, she had to admit that he was growing on her.

And suddenly his hand held fast onto her wrist and he caught her eye, his were as serious as she had ever seen Sirius Black. "You should know, Evans, that even if you aren't willing…to fight for yourself? I will. And you can't stop me, alright? But I'd appreciate it if you trusted me. No matter what anyone else says, you can trust me. James is my family," he swore. He released her wrist then, his expression deep and unashamed. "And if James gets his way, you will be too."

And somewhere in her heart, Lily knew that James and Harry weren't the only new, surprising things she'd found lately.

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It didn't take long for Harry to find himself telling James everything about his first Quidditch match, leaving James chuckling helplessly as they grabbed brooms.

"You ought to be careful though, I've heard of Seekers who have choked to death after accidentally swallowing the snitch."

"Really?"

James laughed. "No, not really. You're the first I've ever heard of anyone eating a snitch during a match, and that's pretty impressive when you think about all the crazy things that have happened on the pitch."

"Like what?" Harry's unbridled excitement at spending this time with him warmed James' heart in a way he wouldn't have thought possible. But he tried to appear unaffected as he guided the boy out of the locker rooms.

"Like…during the International Cup tournament one year, a Chaser from Spain slipped the Iceland teams' Keeper a love potion! She sunk every goal the next day and of course, they tested the Keeper later and Spain was disqualified. Obviously, you can't confound someone with potions before a match."

Harry blinked, wide-eyed. "Quidditch is so much more…extreme than the sports I grew up with."

Rather than pointing out that Harry was still far from grown, James said, "what sports did you grow up with?"

Harry shrugged. "Oh, you know. Football, track, and rugby…but I didn't play rugby much because I always got beat up pretty bad. My cousin is a bit bigger than I am and he was always breaking my glasses."

James tamped down on the desire to go to the future and hex Harry's cousin six ways to Sunday and ventured for something more pleasant. "I'd wager you're pretty fast for your age."

"Yeah, I am," Harry said. And then, he grinned suddenly. "And the magic helped. Once, I jumped so high that I landed on the roof of the school. I didn't know how it happened, but thinking about it, it was pretty cool. I was good at track—racing people. I forgot, you probably don't know a lot about Muggle sports."

"Who doesn't watch football during the break?" James defended as he bent over the ball box and pulled out the Quaffle, tossing it lightly into the air. "But we're not Muggles. Now let's mess around some, shall we?"

Harry's smile grew wider. "Yes!"

They took to the air and immediately James could see it. He hadn't disbelieved Harry's story…but it was different to see it. James was sure he hadn't taken to a broom as a first-year the way that Harry obviously had. Even on an old broom he had never ridden before, the kid had brilliant control.

That's my son, he thought with a rush of pride. And this part of his son was his. Yes, Harry looked well enough like him, but this ability to fly was an inborn instinct inside of the little bloke. And it was his too.

James flew straight to one side of the pitch and whipped around at the goal posts, hovering there. Harry stopped in front of him, anticipating the Quaffle heading right for him. "Alright, Harry, let's see what you can do!"

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"Blimey, your nose is bleedin', Evans…" Sirius, in yet another shocking gesture, pulled a handkerchief out of his robes. "Here." At her raised eyebrow, he only said, "my father did manage to drill something into me before he condemned me to disgrace. Just take it."

"Thanks," Lily mumbled around it as she pressed it to her face before pulling it away and indeed seeing blood. "Ugh, side effect."

"Side effect?"

"Yeah…" she resumed walking slowly towards the Quidditch pitch, so Sirius ambled along beside her, waiting for an explanation. "For some reason, Harry's little…trip here has created some weird issues for James and I. Dumbledore said it's because we are essentially… creating memories that were never there in the first place. Fainting and nosebleeds and…well, Dumbledore said if we get Harry back to his own time, we'll likely be fine afterward. But until then…"

"Bollocks. How serious could this get?"

"There's no way of knowing that," Lily said semi-scathingly. "There's no one to ask, is there?"

"Guess not. Guess we'll have to hope you live until tomorrow then." Sirius smirked. They passed a few fellow Sixth-years who stared their way unabashedly, obviously knowing well that Lily Evans and Sirius Black were not what any Hogwarts student would call "friends". Sirius' smirk caught a sharper edge. "Oy, take a picture! Maybe we'll dance!"

"Hush up," Lily hissed, grabbing his sleeve. She still had no tolerance for Marauder Grandstanding. "Last thing I need is more attention. And they'll probably think you gave me the bloody nose."

"I would never!"

"Right," Lily agreed. She lowered the handkerchief as they emerged into the sun. The bleeding had stopped, but that's not what she was smiling about. "Look up there!"

He did, squinting up above. Harry was trying to trick James into blocking the wrong goal, and only halfway succeeding. James was able to get his fingers on the Quaffle and tipped it away. Harry fluidly dove down to retrieve it. Lily wasn't obsessed with Quidditch, but she did know the difference between a good player and hopeless player. Young as he was, Harry was good.

"Look at them!" she said excitedly.

"I'm looking, Evans." Sirius sounded bemused, but Lily didn't care.

She almost cheered up to them, but something stopped her. Neither of them had caught sight of her and Sirius. And they were just…playing around together. She couldn't see their faces, but in that moment, she was sure she knew what she would see if she were close enough. There was a sort of heady certainty that filled her and she felt their joy like it was her own.

"Eh…I don't have a spare and I wouldn't recommend wiping your tears with that one, since you got blood—"

"Shut it, Black." She wasn't crying. She was happy…unreasonably so. There were so many reasons not to be happy. Even the thought of all of this being gone in so short a time couldn't bring her down from this feeling of joy. She just wanted to watch them forever, and she didn't completely know why.

Harry was lost in his fun, but James spotted them after a few minutes. Even from the distance, his eyes found hers and they held her there, not looking away. She could see that slight sliver of a smile and windswept cheeks. She could see his impossible, ridiculous hair. He lifted one hand while Harry's back was turned and gave her a small wave before focusing once again on the younger boy.

And Lily's eyes felt wet.

A/N: Sorry about that wait! One more day and Harry is on his way home. Wonder what is going to happen . Reviews are wonderful, if you're so inclined.