For Lin. I hope you like it.

Summary: Sirius fits in in between Lily and James like he's always belonged there.

Word count: 1953

Things Divine

It takes all of five minutes for James' excitement at Lily agreeing to moving in together to fade as he realizes that it would mean leaving Sirius behind, when they've shared an apartment for two years already, and before that seven years in the same dorms.

It takes Lily all of twenty seconds to roll her eyes, and tell James that they have a free bedroom.

Sirius tries to protest at first, of course he does. "But I don't want to intrude," he tells them the first time James suggests that Sirius follow him when he moves out. "I-Your home is supposed to be your place, I couldn't stay there."

"Nonsense," James rolls his eyes. "I can't very well leave you behind, Sirius, you're like-you're like a brother to me."

Lily is the only one to notice that James' voice had choked up a little when he had said the word 'brother', or the way Sirius' eyes had flashed with pain at that, just for one second.

Sirius leaves soon after that, finding some excuse to explain it, and that is that. For now.

She thinks about it for a long time before she finally falls asleep that night though. She thinks about the way Sirius and James have always been so close (closer than brothers, because Sirius has an actual brother, and no matter the differences they have now, Lily can't imagine Sirius sending Regulus the same longing looks she sometimes spies him giving James' turned back).

She thinks about the way Sirius looked, that one night none of them speaks about, where the Butterbeer bottle he had spun had landed right in front of her, where the fires they had lit in the empty classroom Peter had led them to casting oddly appealing shadows on his face.

His lips had been soft then – softer than James' are – and though James had pouted until she had kissed it away, alcohol still on her tongue, he hadn't looked truly jealous. He had joked at Sirius about making a move on his girl, Lily had slapped his arm, saying that she belonged to no one, and they had all laughed it off.

But now that she remembers, other details come to mind. Like the way the tingle on her lips from Sirius' lips had lingered far longer than it should have, or the way James' eyes had widened, just a little, when he had his best friend and girlfriend kiss.

She falls asleep wondering, wishing not for the first time that James was there beside her. He would have, she knows, helped her make sense of this.

(maybe, she thinks, we could try this)

Honestly, Lily had expected she would be offended at the mere thought of sharing James – her parents are certainly rolling in their graves, she laughs somewhat grimly while making breakfast, still musing on her revelation from last night.

She's not though. Thinking about Sirius, and James, about Sirius-James-and-Lily as the single entity she knows they can become feels… Good.

She's still smiling when James knocks on her door and she waves her wand to let him in.

"Good thoughts?" James asks after a brief hello kiss that, as always, manages to put butterflies in her stomach.

"The best," Lily confesses against his lips, before leaning in to deepen the kiss. "How would you feel," she asks once they step away, "about actually inviting Sirius into our life?"

"Isn't that what we were doing?" James replies, that small confused frown Lily loves so much finding its way on his forehead.

Lily laughs lightly. "Of course. But I was talking about a more, err, permanent arrangement. I mean, you do like him, don't you? And he clearly likes you back, and I like to think that Sirius and I have grown closer since you and I have started dating… " She trails off, shooting a concerned look at James. "Are you alright?"

James looks like he's been struck. His mouth hangs open, and his grip on the table he's found himself standing in front of is so tight his knuckles have turned white.

"I'm fine," he somehow manages to croak out.

Thankful that it's a Saturday and neither of them has work to think about, she reaches for him and tugs him down to the sofa she's transfigured some of the chairs into. It takes James some time to unwind properly, but she feels the moment he finally relaxes and leans in against her.

"We kissed once," he confesses softly, his eyes far away. "It was the summer after he ran away and came to live with us – we sneaked up some of my father's wine and got terribly drunk on it, and well, somehow we kissed."

Lily laughs again. "Seems like we both have a weakness for him once we've drunk some alcohol," she jokes.

James swats at her arm playfully. "That was kind of hot," he admits, and when Lily turns her head to look at him, his cheeks are red and he refuses to let their eyes meet. "Since we're talking about it now," he adds, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

Lily licks her lips slowly, and lets herself consider for the first time what her two boys could look like together. The images her mind conjures make her almost uncomfortably warm, and she knows she's blushing too.

"You really don't mind?" James asks, scrutinizing her face, and Lily knows that if she says anything now, James will lock away this conversation in his mind and they'll never mention it again, never let Sirius be more than the very good friend he is now.

It would certainly be simpler, she allows herself to think for one moment. Not better though, not when they can have this – whatever this is.

"I don't," she replies, and allows James to read the truth of those words on her face.

Slowly, carefully, a smile breaks on James' face. "Marry me?" He blurts out, backtracking almost immediately. "I mean, you're amazing, you know that, right? And I'm so lucky I get to spend the rest of my life with you, and that you don't mind that I like someone else too."

"Only you would propose now," Lily replies with a brilliant smile, shaking her head fondly.

"I didn't mean to," James pouts. "Not that I don't want to marry you, of course I do, but I figured I'd ask you later, maybe once we'd actually moved in together and gotten used to each other – not that we're not used to each other now, but… I'm not making this any better, am I?" He adds ruefully, running a hand through his hair nervously.

It takes all Lily has not to laugh. "I got the gist of it," she quips, before adding, mischievously, "and the answer is yes. You know, if you were to actually ask, for real."

James collapses back against the sofa, sighing deeply in relief. "We're getting married," he breathes out disbelievingly, his mouth shaping the words like they're precious.

"We're getting married," Lily agrees. "But we still need to deal with Sirius."

It would be nice, she thinks, to have Sirius there to share this euphoria with, and she can see the moment James realizes the same – that they can have this – by the way his hazel eyes lighten.

"That we do," James replies, deflating a little.

"Any ideas?"

After a moment of silence, James simply shrugs. "You should just kiss him. It worked for me."

"We already did that, and it didn't," Lily points out.

"Trust me, it worked," James replies with a wry smile.

Lily feels her eyes widen and her cheeks heat up. "Oh. I see. Well, in that case, you should be there. So that, err, Sirius doesn't think I'm cheating on you."

"Right," James repeats blankly, "right. I'll be there."

Lily laughs again, and this time James joins in.

"We're really doing this, aren't we?" He finally murmurs against the skin of her neck.

Lily hums back something like a yes even as she nods, too overwhelmed by her emotions to add another word.

"Wow," James breathes out. "We'll need a bigger bed," he adds, like the thought has just occurred to him.

.x.

They spend the rest of the day just lounging around, generally doing nothing and empathetically ignoring the outside world as they plan out what changes they'll need to make for Sirius to fit in with them.

There are surprisingly few of them, despite James trying to add several times that they need an actual doghouse if Sirius is to come. Lily's only answer to that is to roll her eyes and ignore him.

When the evening comes, Lily escorts James back to his place. It's partly because she doesn't want to part from it yet, but mostly because Sirius will be there, and Lily has always believed in doing things as soon as possible and in never putting things off.

So she doesn't.

The moment Sirius opens the door, mumbling something about 'why did James even have keys if he kept forgetting them', she yanks him forward and kisses him, not caring for the way the door closes behind him.

He responds instantly, and Lily lets herself melt into the kiss. She can feel the moment he spots James by the way he stiffens and pulls back.

"What the-?"

James doesn't leave him any time to formulate an answer. Faster than Lily had thought he could move, he's sidestepped her and is kissing Sirius too.

It looks even better than she had imagined.

"That wasn't part of the plan," she points out when James steps back, leaving a shell-shocked Sirius behind.

"I know," James replies unashamedly. "It wasn't a very good plan."

It seems as if that's all it takes for Sirius to snap out of it. "What was that?" He asks, his eyes oddly guarded.

"We're asking you to move in with us, and telling you that you definitely won't be intruding on anything," Lily replies with a winning smile.

"But why?"

James rolls his eyes. "It's rather simple: we like you, you like us, there's no reason any of us should have to be miserable, especially these days, when we can be happy instead."

Beside him, Lily nods vigorously.

"And… You're absolutely sure?" Sirius asks, uncharacteristically softly, his grey eyes trailing from James to Lily, and back.

"A hundred percent," Lily nods again.

The smile that breaks open on Sirius' face is heartbreakingly beautiful.

"Alright then," he says, and a beat later, James repeats it.

They stand blissfully happy on the boys' front porch for close to five minutes before Lily starts shivering, and they move to get inside. Or at least, they try to.

"The door's closed," Sirius says, jerking his hand back as the doorknob shocks him lightly – a security measure they had installed years ago.

"Don't you have the key?" Lily asks.

"It's inside," Sirius replies dryly. "I usually don't need to take it with me when I go to open the door." The 'I don't usually get dragged out to be kissed' is silent but heavily implied, and that's enough to make her blush.

"So we're locked outside?"

"Of course not," James replies, his arm reaching past the two of them, a silvery key hanging out from his fingertips. "I have my key."

And listening to Sirius and James bickering as they fight to get the door open – or rather to Sirius berating James for making him open the door every time when James actually had the key – Lily can't help but smile, and think that whatever the world throws at them from now on, they'll be ready.

And they'll face it together.