Disclaimer: We own nothing but the plot, and Adhara. Though I would love to keep Sirius for myself.

Sirius/Lily, James/Lily, Sirius/OC, Remus/OC, Sirius/Remus, mild slash warning.

Tension in London

Sirius moaned. He hated mornings. He hated mornings even more than the blossoming romance between his two best friends, Lily and James. Well, maybe not quite as much as that, but you got the picture. He tumbled out of bed, hitting the hard floor with a thunk to his sensitive skull. Moaning once more, he ran his fingers through his longish black hair and blinked away the sleep from his light gray eyes. Making sure he had boxers on at least he stumbled towards the kitchen where he could smell bacon. Why had he gotten out of bed this early? He couldn't remember. Then he walked into the kitchen and remembrance hit him full in the face. Lily was standing there in a dark green slip of a nightgown, red hair shining against the rich fabric, playful eyes following him across the room. She was beautiful, and Sirius wanted her.

"Where's James?" he mumbled, not really caring.

James and Sirius had moved in with Lily, pretending they had no one to cook and shop for them, but really because they were both homeless at the moment, a secret which Lily had yet to discover.

"He's upstairs, sleeping. I'm amazed you're up before him."

"Yes, well, bacon and beautiful girls, what more could I ask for?"

" Maybe some jeans or something." She glanced down at his black silk boxers and giggled. " Is everything you own black? "

"Now that you mention it, yes." He grabbed some bacon off the stove, yelping as she swatted his hand with the hot spatula.

"Save some of that for the pancakes, you hound!"

"Pancakes too? Lily, you're too good to me!"

"I know, but you only get some if you get dressed. Not that I mind having half naked men walking around my flat, but James will." Her eyes lingered on his muscular chest, built up from years of motorcycling and quiddich.

"Don't talk about me being naked, missy. Take a look at yourself! But, if you insist, my dear." he stomped off to his rather large room, grabbed a black muscle shirt and black jeans and made his black-silk-sheet-down-comforter bed. Gazing around his black and white room he muttered, "Well, I have to live up to my name, don't I?" and once more headed for the kitchen. He walked in just in time to see James and Lily pull apart from a passionate embrace. Suddenly he wasn't so hungry anymore. He slumped over

to the kitchen table and pulled a half dozen pancakes onto his plate.

"How can you eat all that and still stay in such great shape?" Lily asked jealously.

"Hey, you're not supposed to be noticing his shape in the first place!" James laughed. He looked very rumpled in his loose dark blue tee shirt and faded jeans. Sirius ignored them and magicked a beer into his hand.

" Sirius," Lily said warningly, "I told you no beer in my house until you're legal."

"Aww, come on Lil. It's only two more years! And I promise I'll drink responsibly!"

"Nope, nope, nope," Lily said stubbornly. Staring straight into her eyes, Sirius lifted the beer to his lips and chugged it. She shrieked in anger and knocked the can from his hand, which only succeeded in getting it all over her pretty nightgown.

"Now see what you did! Who's the irresponsible one now?" Sirius demanded. Lily lifted her eyes to his after parting her beer-soaked hair so she could actually see him. At the sight of her, all three of them burst out laughing.

"Okay, Okay, no more beer in the house, I promise." said Sirius at last. "Anyway," said James between laughing, "who drinks beer with breakfast? Besides you" he added after the look of mock horror Sirius gave him.

"Well," Lily said after a slight pause, "I'm gonna go shopping for food, when I'm done cleaning myself off, if either of you wish to accompany me. I have to go once a day with you two in the house." At this statement James ducked under the table to "tie his shoes" and Sirius launched himself into the bathroom.

"I have no idea why," replied James when he reemerged, helping himself to the rest of the pancakes. He absentmindedly reached for some bacon, but discovered that it had been cleaned away by Sirius' humongous appetite.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, scowling across the table. Sirius grinned through a mouthful of food.

"Eww!" groaned Lily on her way out of the kitchen.

"You have something in your teeth," she added.

"I'm going to go get ready for work," Sirius mumbled through his mouthful of bacon.

"Make sure you brush your teeth"

"Har-de-har, James, veeery funny."

"I try."

"Try harder." With that, Sirius stomped off to his black bedroom to get ready for the day.

Twenty minutes later, He appeared in the living room where James was sprawled watching TV. Sirius was freshly showered, clothed in his black best, ready for another long day as an Auror. James sniffed the air.

"I smell a dainty rose... Oh! Its only Sirius!"

"Watch it, you lazy fiend!"

"Hey! I work just as hard as you!"

"James, sorry to break it to you, but playing one quiddich game every month hardly qualifies as hard work." James had been accepted to the London quiddich team just after high school, ending his money worries, making him a hero in Lily's pretty eyes, and earning him the nickname, James Potter, International Qidditch Star. Sirius, on the other hand, hated teamwork and set schedules, and opted for the less glamourous, more dangerous lifestyle of an Auror Hit Wizard. He loved his job, loved the thrill of a long chase, loved dealing justice to Voldemort's crew. He had mastered the Adavra Kedavra curse at eighteen and had used it more than 200 times since, and though he couldn't bring himself to tell Lily how many lives he had taken (though for a good cause; every one of the 200 people he had killed had murdered at least fifty innocent wizards), he had told James, who supported him fully.

"So who's the bad guy today?" James asked.

"Classified. Sorry."

"Suuure ..you just like the way it sounds when you say that, all official and stuff."

"True, but it really is. Good luck at the game today, by the way. Lily and I'll be there around three. Who're you playing?"

"Scotland, be careful today."

"Always. Ok, I'll see you at the game." He took off for the garage and his prized flying motorcycle.

Just then the telephone rang.

"I'll get it," said Lily as she emerged from the bathroom with only a towel around her. James glanced up and grinned as she picked up the phone. He listened in and from the half of the conversation he could hear he guessed that it was Adhara Black, Sirius' twin sister who lived only ten minutes away.

Five minutes later Lily had hung up the phone.

"Adhara is coming over if you don't mind, apparently her date last night didn't go too well and she wants to talk about it."

James groaned, not because he had anything against Adhara but because he had been looking forward to some time alone with Lily.

"Well," he said, quickly composing himself, "My shoulder is always ready for her to cry on if she needs it."

Lily gave him a look that said quite plainly "If Adhara even TRIES to put her head on your shoulder, then I'll use that Adavra Kedavra curse that Sirius is always talking about on her!" It was well known that Adhara had a soft spot in her heart for her brother's best friend.

"Anyway," she said, "Adhara doesn't want to talk in front of you so why don't you go and.. and .. well, do whatever you do when you're not working!"

"Fine," said James "I can tell when I'm not wanted." He looked sadly at Lily and started to slowly walk away. "I'll just go get a shower and leave."

" James, I'm sorry, please stop, oooh you and those puppy eyes." She ran and threw her arms around him. James smiled and wrapped his hands around her thin waist. He was just about to kiss her when the "ding dong" of the front door caused them to break apart.

"Crap," said Lily " I have to change." she had forgotten that she still had only a towel on. She

grabbed her wand and in a flash was standing fully dressed in a pair of tight dark blue jeans and a black silky tank-top.

"I guess that's my cue." said James as he headed for the bathroom. "I'm gonna go get a shower." Lily went to answer the door and found a tearstained Adhara. She was dressed in a low-cut green tee with a black miniskirt.

James got out of the shower to find Lily and Adhara sitting on the couch with tons of junk food in between them. They were both crying and for a minute James didn't know what was wrong. He was wondering if he should go and try to comfort them when he glanced at the T.V. and noticed that Gone with the Wind was playing. He cleared his throat impatiently, and they looked up.

"Oh, hi James," said Lily in between sobs. Adhara flipped her long shiny black hair and then noticed that he was wearing his quiddich robes.

" Big game today?"

"Yup." He replied, looking at Lily who was watching the T.V while chewing on a chocolate frog still in its wrapper.

"I'll be rooting for you," whispered Adhara, still vainly trying to get his attention.

"Thanks... Well, I have to get going, we want to go over some last-minute tactics before the game." With a casual wave of his hand, he apperated.

Half an hour later the movie was over and the girls had gone shopping, gotten ready for the game, and discussed how cute James and Sirius were while they were sleeping about four times.

"We'd better get going or we won't get to hear when they announce James' name, which is the best part... besides when he wins."

The girls apperated to the huge field where thousands of diehard fans had come to cheer for their favorite players. In the distance there were hundreds of signs being held up by cheering people

"Oooh, look!" exclaimed Adhara, "you have competition!" She pointed to a large sign that was flashing "Marry me, Potter."

"I have complete faith in him," she said. She hadn't even finished her sentence when Sirius popped up from the middle of nowhere. He promptly tackled her to the ground in greeting.

"Nice to see you, too," she said, her voice slightly muffled from Sirius' arm which was wrapped around her face.

He grinned. "Hey, Adhara."

"We'd better go and find our seats," Adhara pointed out, "I hear the announcements starting."

"Yeah," said Sirius, "I left Lupin with our seats and he's probably wondering where we are." He led them up to the best seats in the stadium, right in the front. Adhara smiled at Lupin, a tall cute boy with sandy brown hair and light eyes. He smiled back at all of them, grinning fondly at Sirius' antics.

Lily shook her head at the two of them but was soon preoccupied as the game began. When James' name was announced she stood up and screamed along with the rest of her row. He was on the best broom that was available, a Shooting Star, which, in Lily's opinion, described him perfectly. It was his pride and joy, and it had cost him one years worth of odd jobs to cover the cost. He showed off with a loop-de-loop and continued to the appropriate starting position.

With a blow of the referee's whistle all fourteen players rose into the air and James was soon circling the field on the alert for a tiny speck of gold. After a half hour of play the score was seventy to 100

for Scotland. Lily was on the edge of her seat while Adhara and Lupin were otherwise occupied. Sirius was watching the two of them with a strange look on his face. After a few minutes he turned to face Lily.

"What?" she asked when she found his gaze directed at her.

"Nothing!" he said as he smiled, "but you're funny to watch at a match, you jump a lot."

"Yes, well, I'm worried about James," she replied "I don't like the careless way he flies. He'll end up getting hurt!"

"Don't worry about him," he said and gave Lily a comforting hug just as James flew by. He saw Sirius and scowled. Sirius broke away and went to go and get food.

"I'm starving," he said as he made his way down the aisle. He returned a few minutes later carrying a twelve pack and three large cheese pizzas. As if this wasn't enough he had bought a half-gallon of chocolate chip ice cream which he had used magic to keep frozen.

He gave a pizza to Adhara and Lupin and he and Lily shared the last two. He then started to eat the whole thing of ice cream by himself while settling back to enjoy the rest of the game.

Not even two minutes later Scotland's seeker shot into a dive, but not without James right on his tail.

The whole audience was on their feet as the seekers headed for the ground. Lily hid her face in Sirius's black shirt and told him to tell her when it was over. She didn't have long to wait, James slowly rose in the air with his fist held up victoriously, tightly clamped around the snitch, to the cheers of London's fans. The extra points had won it for them.

Lily, Sirius, Adhara, and Lupin headed for the team's changing room where they found a half-naked James being congratulated by the rest of his team. They made their way over to him and Lily hugged him as hard as she could. Sirius grinned at him through a mouthful of ice cream.

"Great game!" he laughed.

" Yeah!" replied James " And by the way, thanks for watching out for Lily for me." at this statement he threw himself at Sirius and tackled him to the ground. Sirius quickly gained the upper hand.

"All right, all right!" James said with a grin "I'm exhausted, so I'll let you win. On one condition," he added, "you let me have some of that ice cream."

"Get your own, lazy man," said Sirius, "I'll meet you back at the house." With that, he apperated.

"Yeah, I'm ready to go home too," exclaimed James as he vanished with a pop. The rest followed suit.

Back at the house Sirius had demolished the rest of the ice cream to James's dismay.

"Don't worry" said Lily, "There's more in the fridge. I just went shopping, remember?"

"That'll be gone in a minute, just let me hop in the shower."

Lupin and Adhara had been quietly conversing in the corner and then excused themselves saying that they were on their way out to dinner. Lily ginned and told them to have a good time, and Sirius watched them leave silently.

"Well," said Sirius at last, "I'd better go and get ready too."

"Where are you going?" asked Lily with a smile.

"Don't think that Lupin is the only one who can get a date." Sirius smirked. This thought had never crossed Lily's mind. Sirius was known far and wide as the biggest catch there was.

"Whom are you going with?" Lily asked curiously.

"Pamela," he responded promptly.

"Do I know her?" Lily inquired, "What's her last name?" At this question Sirius turned red and mumbled something unintelligible.

"Sirius," Lily said, "Are you telling me that you're going on a date with a girl who's name you don't even know?"

Sirius grinned, "I do know her name, it's Pamela. And I have got to go or I'm going to be late." He walked out of the door and a few seconds later Lily heard the sound of his motorcycle taking off. She sighed.

"What's wrong?" James asked as he appeared in the entrance of the kitchen.

"Nothing..." replied Lily. She smiled at his face as he yawned.

"I think I'm going to go watch some T.V. and relax," James said. "You're welcome to join me." He walked into the parlor and Lily followed him. They were finally alone and together at last.

It was close to midnight when Sirius came home. He strode in to find Lily and James asleep on the couch with the T.V. on. Lily's head was resting on James' shoulder. Her mouth was open and James was snoring lightly. Sirius turned off the T.V. with a wave of his hand, and headed off to his black bedroom. He kicked off his black shoes, pulled off his black muscle shirt and fell into bed, dreaming of Lily, and strange amber eyes.

The next morning, he awoke to find James standing over him, tickling his feet. Pretending to still be asleep, he waited till James was off guard and kicked out hard.

"OOOOW, you big meanie!"

"Big meanie? You're the one who woke me up at 9 in the morning," Sirius moaned as he peered at the clock through sleep-ridden eyes. James laughed and proceeded to pull the blankets off of his bed, prompting Sirius to moan something about cruel and unusual punishment into his pillow. Just then James chuckled and held up a red, sparkly pair of women's underwear he had discovered among the sheets,

"OOOooo, look what I found! Lets go show LILY!" and he scampered out of the room, holding his find before him. This effectively made Sirius get out of bed faster than he ever had. But he was too late, James had already shown her. She laughed, though Sirius thought it sounded a little forced.

"Better put these with the collection," she said as she reached into the closet for a cardboard box, filled with panties of all colors and sizes.

"Flipping hell," James mumbled as he stared into the box, "there are more panties here than I've ever seen in my life!" Lily chuckled and poked him in the ribs.

"Leave Sirius and his girls alone. You may not be as popular with the ladies as he is but I still love you."

"She's right, you know," Sirius mumbled as he left the room, "You've ended up with the best girl of all."

Sirius shlumped off to work. He had three bad guys to catch and "dispose of" as he supposed he could take his anger out on them. He stumbled into the office much earlier than his usual 1' o'clock, provoking some stares from people who worked the morning shift and had never seen him before. He dropped into Cindy's office on his way to the free coffee and donuts.

"What've we got today?" he mumbled as he dropped into the huge red chair across from her desk.

"Password?" she sniffed. Cindy was always one for following the rules.

"Dia de los Muertos."

"Very good, Ok, today we've got Misters Barton, Shlemmer, and Diablos, all in London, we've no idea where in London, but that's your job. Bring in Schlemmer for questioning and dispose of the other two. Watch out for Diablos, very nasty man, one of Voldemort's finest. See you at six!"

"What's at six?"

"Staff meeting."

"Have I ever gone to one of those?"

"No."

"Then I'd better not start now." He grabbed the folders on the three men and shuffled off to resume his search for donuts.

An hour and three donuts later, he had finally located the whereabouts of Schlemmer and Barton using his state of the art, high tech, magical tracer. He decided to apprehend Schlemmer first so he grabbed his motorcycle and took off for the Snake Eyes bar in downtown, seedy River Edge, London. Owned by two disgusting old hags, the place had a reputation for cheap drinks, cheap food and cheap women. He edged inside towards the bar where he spotted an old friend from high school, Missy Jakeson. After reminding her of who he was, (which took a while since she was quite drunk) he grilled her on the whereabouts of Schlemmer.

"Oh, him. Yep that's him riiight therre," she slurred, pointing to a shabby looking wizard who was belting out a Britney Spears hit at the Karaoke machine. Sirius moaned. All eyes were on Schlemmer, which made him twice as hard to grab. Looking around to make sure no one was looking he quickly morphed into the Grim. He trotted up to Schlemmer, grabbed the sleeve of his robe and tugged him off stage and into the street. Looking around once more, he morphed back into his handsome self and aimed his wand at the inebriated wizard. Immediately, thick ropes shot out of the wand and bound him tightly. Sirius grabbed the flabbergasted man's wrist and his motorcycle's handlebar and apperated back to the base.

"One down, two to go," the burly guard at the jail house said to Sirius as he deposited his catch.

"True, Ned, but you won't see the other two."

"And I don't want to. That Diablos is a bad one."

Sirius smirked. "Oh, believe me, I'm much worse."

An hour later Sirius had just killed his 201st person and had apperated the body back to Cindy's room where she would dispose of it properly. Only Diablos remained, and Sirius had just received a hot tip that he would be meeting someone at the base of the Thames river at 12 noon. He apperated there at 11:30, hoping to be able to find the perfect spot to hide before the others got there. At 12 noon exactly a short, frightened looking man showed up. He looked around nervously before leaning against a huge rock and waiting. Six minutes later, Diablos arrived. He was a tall, greasy, imposing man, with a hard, handsome face, and the coldest blue eyes Sirius had ever seen. Because of his placement, Sirius fond it hard to hear what they were saying, but the meeting consisted mostly of the taller man threatening the short one. After five minutes, the short man bowed and apperated.

Now was his only chance. Springing out from the bush where he had been hiding, he yelled, "Adavra Keda-.." He felt his body tingling, and then his world went black.