Bubblegum Pink and Chocolate Tweed (Prequel to DCMN)

Chapter 8

A/N: lotsa Jily and then major major feels :,(

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Lily Evans liked to think she was prepared for anything. Apparently one of those few things she wasn't prepared for was people who had time-travelled and then singled her and her friends out.

In her defense, she wasn't the only one with shock etched in their expression as the woman with bubblegum pink hair, Tonks was her name?, told her story. In fact, she was rather smugly enjoying James' jaw nearly hitting the floor.

She leaned over, inanely tried resist the urge, and stage-whispered, "close your mouth. You'll catch flies."

James glared at her in return and she fought desperately against the hot blush that rose to her cheeks. She did not like James Potter. Not at all.

She turned her attention toward the man with a long scar who rather resembled Remus Lupin...suddenly it all clicked. "Remus, Sirius?" she asked.

Both of the male time-travellers nodded in acknowledgement. Old-Sirius smirked at her. "Brilliant as ever, Lily-flower."

She rolled her eyes at her nickname and smiled while she felt the Sirius and Remus beside her tense. A question popped into her mind, one she had a horrible feeling about but knew she had to ask anyways.

"Where are the rest of us from the future then?" Alice spoke her question aloud.

Tonks sighed and Old-Sirius scowled at the ground. Old-Remus, simply pinched the bridge of his nose, something his younger self had a tendency to do. "I hate to be so blunt, but you're all dead."

His face was expressionless, impassive, seemingly a canvas void of emotion. Lily knew better, however. His eyes betrayed his suddenly stony features, brimming with unresolved angst and bitterness. Lily choked back a sob. Remus and Sirius had both endured so much already, and yet they had to outlive everyone else?

James yelped from beside her, "I'm dead?"

Old-Sirius snickered. "That's the James I know and miss," his voice suddenly held bitterness. Remus was now looking down while Tonks looked on sadly and squeezed his shoulder. Lily made a mental note later to ask Tonks if she fancied Remus. She smiled at the thought of someone loving poor Remus. He of all people deserved to be happy.

"So, Old-Black, you married? Or are you still, hmm, how did you word it? Oh right, completely free so I can be with all the ladies, especially the ones with no IQ."

Old-Sirius rolled his eyes and smirked at his younger self. "Nah, I'm still free, Mars. Always was for you."

Nobody mentioned the blush flooding both Young-Sirius and Marlene's cheeks.

"Anyways," Mary redirected the group, "what exactly do you need us for?"

Old-Remus turned to Tonks who in turn nodded tersely. "Right. So I assume you're all familiar with He Who Must Not Be Named?"

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"So, what did you think of your two older best friends?" Lily asked James as she somehow fell into step with her 'enemy'.

James rolled his eyes. "Just the same as always, just older. Remus definitely fancies Tonks though."

Lily raised her eyebrows at him. "You noticed that too?"

He nodded. "It's the same way he looks at Mary. Err, it's the same way his self at this age looks at Mary."

Lily tried to hide the smile that was growing on her face, and she couldn't bite down what she said to James. "You know, you aren't half bad sometimes."

James grinned like he'd won the Quidditch World Cup. Lily rolled her eyes. "No need to be so excited, it's not as if I'm proclaimed my undying love for you, you know."

James smirked and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her slightly. "Ah, but Lily dear, you're one step closer to it, and plus you don't hate me anymore!?

She shook her head at his exclamation. "Listen, Ja-Potter, I maybe hated you when we were little, but I don't hate you. I just usually dislike you."

He chuckled and looked to be fighting the urge to jump for joy. "Well in that case, Ms. Evans, would you ind being my..acquaintance?"

She shook her head while he bit his lip as hurt flashed in his hazel eyes. She hurriedly explained, "no I will not be your acquaintance because I'd like to be your friend."

The shock was evident on James' features and Lily found she enjoyed being the one to put it there. He nodded his head vigorously. "Thank you, Ev-err, Lily!"

She laughed. "No need to thank me James."

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"So, how long did he and that Mary chick date?"

Sirius chuckled at his second cousin's tact, or lack thereof. "Got it bad, dontcha mate?" He shook his head and continued as he took in the angry look. "They dated from the beginning right until the end of seventh year."

She nodded. "Why did they break up? If she dumped him, I'm going to give her a piece of my mind.."

He shook his head frantically. "Remus broke things off with her. He was lovesick the entire year we got out of school, but he felt it proper to end it. See, Remus has the whole 'hero complex' where he feels the need to push everyone he cares about away because he's afraid he's going to hurt them. Well, when he was with the other sides' werewolves, Mary took what she believed to be an Order suicide mission. We would've stopped her but we didn't know until it was too late.

"Remus came back in time to see her on a St. Mungo's Hospital Bed an hour before she died from blood loss and a brain clot to the head."

Tonks shook her head, tears brimming and threatening to spill over. "That's..awful. I'm sorry for your loss, Sirius."

He acknowledged her with a grim smile she'd only seen once before, when he met her at the first Order meeting."Let's hope this time it won't happen, eh?"

She knew the chuckle he gave was fake and so she gave him a fake smile in return. "I'll make sure it won't."

Sirius' eyes got stormy as she said that, and she prepared herself to be yelled at. "Don't promise things like that, please," was all he said, his voice cracking in the end and she felt her heart drop. This definitely had something to do with Marlene.

"Marlene promised something, didn't she?" she asked him softly, as if she said it any louder Sirius would fall apart.

He nodded, tightly lipped. After taking a deep breath, he spoke. "She promised. Promised me, promised all of us that she'd stay home. See, when Lily and James were killed, all the others were killed within the month leading up to it. Marlene, she...she was pregnant. I was going to have a son. A son, Tonks."

He took a shaky breath. "Marlene and I, we were going to get married in December, and instead I lost a wife and my unborn son."

 Tonks felt her breath catch in her throat as the familiar lump welled up. tears streaked her cheeks in seconds, marring her pretty face as she launched herself at Sirius, enveloping him in a bone-crushing hug. The pair clung to each other like their lives depended on it, which in a way they did, their hearts burning with weight and anger as they realized the unfairness of life. 

As Tonks pulled away, she looked at Sirius and softly smiled as she brushed a lone tear away. 

"You..you are the only one who knows."

She tried not to hide her shock that he trusted her more than even Remus. "Thank you," she whispered to him clutching his hand, finding in him the big brother she'd always wanted.

He shook his head, letting his long-pent up tears fall. "No. Thank you, Tonks."

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Yeah. You can't blame me for sadness. Two people I'm related to died this week. Yeah. I apologize and listening to the tfios track certainly didn't help anything.

Well my lovelies, please comment and vote as always <3

-Alyssa