done by liiilyevans on fanfiction.net
Lily sighed as she entered her and her best friend's flat. She had been out late last night working. Her job wasn't the easiest one in the world, but she loved saving people
"Finally back?" Marlene McKinnon asked from the kitchen. The blonde was sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee. Lily had to tell Marlene that she was a superhero a few months after they had started sharing the flat together. She'd taken the news pretty well and swore never to tell a soul.
"Yeah, long night, or I would have been back sooner," Lily answered.
"Doing things with Captain Naughty, were we?" Marlene teased as Lily rolled her eyes. Lily knew she was referring to James Potter a.k.a. Captain Blackbird. Lily had meant said superhero one night when she decided to explore uptown instead of going her usual route downtown. She would never forget it.
Lily jumped from the top of one skyscraper to another. The buildings weren't spaced too far apart so she had an easy time of it. She didn't really know what made her decide to come this far uptown. All the crimes she handled was downtown. That's where the majority of the drug lords and underground tunnels were. She'd never been uptown as Lady Emerald, her superhero self. Most of the big corporations were up here. Once or twice, she'd driven in for a job interview; she'd never gotten the job though. She crouched down and looked over the edge at the busy city of Atlantis. Tons of cars were hurriedly passing by even though it was close to midnight.
Suddenly Lily felt a presence behind her. Spinning around, she saw a floating man behind her. His eyes were wondering up and down her body as if undressing her. The smirk on his face annoyed her to no end. It said that he knew something that she didn't and she didn't like it. His outfit was all black including the mask that covered a good portion of his face. He could be either good or bad, but Lily was willing to bet that it was the latter.
"Who are you?" she asked preparing herself for a fight.
"You don't know?" the man questioned.
"If I did I wouldn't be asking," Lily replied sarcastically.
He smirked at her. "Who are you? Because last time I checked there wasn't a girl running around playing dress up around here."
A girl playing dress up?! How dare he!
"For your information, I am not playing dress up, I happen to be working," Lily glared openly at him.
"Working? What do you do?"
"Are you blind?" she sassed him. "What does it look like?"
Suddenly she felt weird, like her mind was being invaded. Like her most inner thoughts were written on her forehead. Lily summoned her powers at this moment.
She acquired her powers when she was working for a secret government lab in London when a freak accident happened. She was the only one in the room. Afterwards, she found she could absorb kinetic energy. Any physical force used against her was instantly absorbed and stored then she could project it outwards with devastating effects. She also found that if she was falling from a great height, she could slow herself down before landing on the ground.
Absorbing the kinetic energy around her, Lily lifted her hands up and pushed the energy toward the stranger. He tried to move, but she was to quick for him. Already, he was pushed back with such force he nearly hit the next building.
"Well played," he nodded glaring at her. "Can't we settle this like civilized human beings?"
"Get out of my head," she instructed him. "I don't who you are, but you can rest assured that I won't be read like an open book."
"But you are an open book," he told her smirking.
"You don't even know me!" she declared.
"Yet. What's your name?"
Lily stayed silent for a moment, wondering what to tell him. Her superhero name? Her real name? Would he find out anyway?
"Lady Emerald," she decided upon. At this point, she was thankful he couldn't see her face. Her mask had her hair tucked into it and covered most of her face.
"I've heard that name before," he mused quietly.
"On the news most likely," she told him. "I was on there the other day for busting a drug lord."
"Aw, yes, now I remember," he nodded. "Do you watch the news a lot? Or read newspapers for that matter?"
"Not usually why?" Lily asked.
"That explains why you don't know me," he laughed. "Captain Blackbird."
"So you're not evil?"
Another laugh. "No. I think we're going to get along just fine. Just don't ever try to throw me into a building again."
From then on Lily had made more frequent visits to the uptown area. She and Captain Blackbird had become quick friends. Eventually their friendship had turned into a partnership. Lily had learned that he could look into people's dream, even if they weren't sleeping. He could also explore, manipulate, and control his or anyone else's dreams. After that they had an agreement, he wouldn't look into Lily's dreams. He could also set things on fire, or throw fireballs. After a while of being partners, they trusted each other enough to let each other who they really were. It was a wonderful friendship and Lily wouldn't trade anything in the world for it.
"Nothing happened, Marlene," Lily told her rolling her eyes
"Don't deny it, you want it to," Marlene quipped smirking.
Lily wouldn't deny it. Her feelings for the dashing superhero had been increasing lately. She had been good at hiding them or so she hoped. She could never read him; he was so guarded sometimes.
Lily sighed. "It won't though."
"You just have to keep working at it," Marlene encouraged her. "Give it time."
"Trust me, he has girls throwing themselves at their feet, even when he's at his day job, he wouldn't want me."
James ran one of the city's most successful companies when he wasn't fighting to stop crime. He didn't have time for her to be all mushy and sappy. He needed her to be his partner and his friend. Nothing more.
Marlene shrugged and dropped the subject.
James and Lily were sitting in his den that next night. Lily was helping him with some of the paperwork for his company. They were waiting for any calls or signs of distress, but so far none had been heard. There was a censor attached to the top of the radio tower that detected distress calls. Lily and James had pagers to let them know what was going on.
"Why are you the way you are?" Lily didn't know what made her ask it. It was none of her business, but she was curious as to why he was so guarded about his personal life.
"Why I am like what?" he asked, looking up from the paper he was writing on.
Lily gulped before speaking, "So… .guarded."
James leaned back in his chair and seemed to contemplate this for a moment. He didn't look angry that she asked such a personal question, yet he doesn't seem too happy about it. Lily knew she shouldn't have asked this. It was stupid.
"I'm sorry," she apologized quickly. "You don't have to answer that. It was stupid of me to ask."
"No, no, it's alright," he told her. "I just didn't expect you to ask it is all."
"You still don't have to answer it," Lily mumbled.
"When I was about eighteen, my parents were killed by the Soul Stealer," James explained. "I knew who he was and I could have stopped him, but I didn't. I made a deal with him and trusted that he wouldn't come after my parents. It's my fault they're dead."
Lily stared at James open mouthed. The Soul Stealer was a horrible person. Lily didn't know how he did it, but he took vials and stole people's souls. Once he took a soul, that person could never get it back. The people whose souls were taken were put in mental institutions. They were still trapped in their bodies, but without the ability to think or do anything for themselves. They would just lie there day after day doing nothing, having to be fed through tubes. They were as good as dead.
"Oh, James," Lily whispered, stroking the back of his hair. "That's not your fault. You didn't know he would brake his deal. You thought you were helping your parents. It's not your fault."
"It is," James mumbled into his hands as they rubbed up and down his face.
Lily shushed him, "Shhh, it's alright. We'll find something to fix them."
"What if we don't?" he looked on the verge of tears. Lily had never seen him like this and it scared her to death.
"We will," Lily assured him, as she caressed the silky locks at the base of his neck. "I promise we will."
James searched her face as if to see if she was lying. Lily let him and watched quietly, fighting the urge to get closer to him, though she continued to stoke the hair at the base of his neck. He closed his eyes for a moment; the reason, Lily didn't know. James sighed, opened his eyes, and smiled at her.
"Let's get back to work," he said.
Lily nodded and removed her hand. She wished she didn't feel the need to touch him constantly. Just to hold his hand or run her fingers through his hair. She wished she didn't feel disappointment well up inside her like a spring of fresh water when she had to remove her hand. She wished she wouldn't have to feel the longing to stay with him when she left later.
Lily smiled unwillingly as her date told another lame joke. Looking back, she didn't know why she said yes. He was the neighbor boy that lived across the hall. He was probably a few years younger than Lily. Honestly, she wasn't all that attracted to him. If she was honest with herself, she knew it was to forget about James and how she felt about him. It wasn't working.
"That's hilarious," Lily smiled at the man sitting across from her. Another horrible joke had left his mouth and she had to pretend she liked it. The date was almost over and Lily was praying he wasn't expecting anything afterward. Suddenly a flash of black hair caught her eye. No, he couldn't be here.
Lily sunk down in her seat to avoid being seen by James. She didn't want him to know how pathetic she was. Unfortunately, James spotted her red hair immediately and made his way over.
"Hey, Li… . .am I interrupting?" James asked as soon as his eyes landed on the man across from her.
"That's alright," her date told James. "You two know each other?"
"Yeah, we work together," Lily answered his question. "What are you doing here James?"
"Business dinner," James smiled at her. "I didn't know you were on a date otherwise I wouldn't have interrupted you. I've got to go so I'll see you at work."
Lily nodded her cheeks flaming. Her date didn't notice and Lily didn't bring it up. She wasn't about to point out the fact that she liked another man if he didn't notice. The date ended pretty quickly. She was pulling her jacket on when she got a glimpse of James from across the room. He was talking to a beautiful young Spanish woman. Her dark black hair was softly curled and she had the lost beautiful smile. Her eyes were a dark black that reminded Lily of a black hole. They were laughing together; it cut Lily to the core. So she did the only thing she could to take her mind off of James. She kissed her date right there in the middle of the restaurant.
So her date, Carl, wasn't a bad kisser. The sex wasn't great, but it would do. He was a nice enough guy. However he still wasn't James. Every time Lily thought of him and that woman she could feel her blood boil.
"Don't brood," Marlene instructed her. "It doesn't look good on you."
Lily glared at her. "Shut up."
"Why don't you break up with what's his name? Ernie?" Marlene asked her.
"Carl," Lily corrected her. "And I don't want to."
"Why?" Marlene pushed. "He's not anything special."
"I like him," Lily sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than Marlene.
"Don't lie if you can't pull it off," Marlene advised her taking a sip of her coffee.
She received another glare from Lily. "Look, I'm happy, isn't that enough?"
"No, because you're not happy," Marlene sat her coffee down and looked seriously at Lily.
"Why won't you admit that you like James?"
Lily sighed. "He has a girlfriend, at least, that's what it looked like."
"I'm sorry," Marlene wrapped Lily in a hug. "I'm really sorry."
"It's not your fault," Lily told her. "Thanks though."
Lily and James were standing on top of the paper company's roof, looking for any sign of trouble. They had decided to do a night check instead of waiting to be called tonight. Things had gotten quiet lately. Too quiet.
"How'd the date with that bloke go?" James asked her scanning the streets.
Lily closed her eyes for a few moments. She really didn't want to answer that question. "Good. We're seeing each other, if that's what you mean. How did your date go?"
James looked up at her confused. "What date?"
"I saw the girl you were with that night," Lily told him.
"Oh, she's just a friend," James clarified. "Besides she's married."
"Oh." Lily felt like an idiot now. She should have known that when he said he was on a business dinner that's exactly what he meant. She looked down and saw that something blue had started to float around near the road. They both looked at each other before jumping over the ledge. They free fell until they both landed safely on the ground. When they got there, the street was trashed, cars alarms were going off, and the street was deserted.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" a voice taunted them from behind. They both turned around to see the Soul Stealer behind them floating on a blue board. He wore a blue jumpsuit with blue glasses covering his eyes. His black greasy hair fell to his shoulders.
"Surrender now, Soul Stealer, and we might go easy on you," James told him.
"Oh, you're funny."
Lily raised her hands and fired energy ball after energy ball at him, but he was too fast for her. James flew up and fired fireballs at him. However he evaded them.
"I've got what I came for so I'll just be leaving now," he laughed evilly holding up a vial with a human soul before disappearing while blue smoke appeared.
James dived down and grabbed Lily under her arms and pulled her straight up, away from the blue smoke. Lily didn't mind heights or jumping from tall buildings, but she didn't like this. James could drop her into that blue smoke. She didn't know what it did, but no doubt it was bad. Finally they reached the top of the paper company and he sat her down. Lily breathed a sigh of relief.
"What do you think that is?"
"I don't know," James answered. "We'll get someone at the science lab to run some tests after the smoke clears."
Lily knew James was talking about science lab Professor Dumbledore ran. He was one of the most famed scientists in the world. If he couldn't figure it out, no one could.
Lily nodded. "Sounds good."
"Worst sex ever!" Lily told Marlene banging her head on the kitchen table about two weeks after the attack of the Soul Stealer.
"You're talking about John right?" Marlene asked not looking up from her newspaper.
"It's Carl, and yes," Lily told her.
"Bet James is good at it," Marlene commented.
"Marlene!" Lily yelled. "Now I won't be able to get that image out of my head."
"Good," Marlene smirked. "Maybe you'll do something about it."
Before Lily could reply, her phone buzzed. Quickly she grabbed it. It was from James
G ot the reports back from the lab. Get over here ASAP.
Lily shoved her phone into her pocket, downed the rest of her orange juice, and headed for the door.
"Tell James I said 'hi'," Marlene called after her. Lily ignored her and slammed the door.
She ran over to her sports bike and hopped on. She quickly made her way through traffic trying not to get hit by passing cars. She reached the mansion where James lived. Rushing up to the door, she didn't even bother knocking, instead turned the knob and let herself in. After she closed the door, she made her way upstairs, knowing James would be in his study.
"That was fast," James said when she entered the room.
"What is it?" she asked ignoring his statement.
"It's a toxic gas that weakens the mind and body," James told her, holding up a vial with blue smoke in it. Lily made her way around the desk to stand next to James. "It basically puts you in a coma. Thing is, if you're in a coma for more than a few days, your body starts to break out in fever and hives. It can kill you. Professor Dumbledore is working on a medicine or something to reverse the symptoms."
Carefully James laid the flask in one of the drawers in his desk then turned back to her. Something was different in the way he looked her. Lily couldn't quite place it. It stirred something in her lower regions. She knew it was a bad idea to stay so close to him like this, but she couldn't bring herself to look away from his burning hazel eyes.
All of a sudden, James' arm was around her waist pulling her closer to him, so she was pressed flush against him and his lips were on hers and it was heaven. Lily's arms laced themselves around his neck, her fingertips playing with the ends of his hair. He lifted her up so she was sitting on his desk, her legs wrapping around his waist.
"I could have lost you," he mumbled, against her neck as he kissed it.
"You'll never lose me," Lily told him breathlessly.
"I need you," he breathed.
Lily's response was to groan and arch her back. James took this as clearance and picked her up, carrying her across the hall to his bedroom; the door slammed shut behind them.
Lily cracked her eyes open as the light streamed in from the window across the room. She was terribly thankful that no distress calls had come in last night. She turned over and buried her face into James' chest as his arm tightened around her waist. His lips found her ear, nipping at it playfully. This made Lily smile.
"How long have you been up?" James asked.
"Few minutes," Lily answered.
"You?"
"About thirty minutes."
"You could have made me breakfast in that time," Lily teased him.
James smiled. "And miss watching you sleep? Not a chance." Lily pushed herself away slightly, just enough so she could see his face.
"Ok, that's just creepy."
"You're going to pay for that one, Evans," James smirked at her before he started to tickle her.
Lily laughed loudly squirming next to him. Just as she was about to climb out of his reach, James pinned her beneath him. The laughing stopped as Lily laced her arms around his neck pulling him down to her. Their lips meant moving slowly. That didn't last though as James' hips rubbed against hers. Just as he was about to enter her, the door burst open. Lily shrieked and pulled the blankets up to cover herself; James cursed under his breath rolling off of her.
An elegant man stood in the doorway. His curly hair met his shoulders, while his grey eyes sparkled with mischief, much like James' did. He looked to be about the same height or a few inches shorter than James. He looked familiar though. Lily wondered what kind of man would march into James Potter's house without knocking. He was either very brave or very daft.
"Didn't know you were entertaining, mate, or I would have knocked," the man told him. The tone he used implied that he would have came either way.
"What do you want, Sirius?" James growled. Then it clicked. Lily had heard of this man before. He was the CEO of James' company.
"To talk to you, but I can see you're busy… ." Sirius trailed off as his eyes landed on Lily. She looked down at the sheets, hoping her hair covered her blush.
"Give me five minutes," James told him. Sirius nodded before shutting the door. "I hate him."
Lily smiled. "Don't worry. You can make it up to me later."
"Can you hand me those?" James asked pointing to his jeans, glasses, and boxers that lay on the floor beside the bed, the nightstand, and the lamp sitting on nightstand receptively. Lily nodded before passing them to him. Lily watched him put them on. When he noticed her looking, his cheeks grew pink. Lily smirked.
"It's not anything I haven't seen before," she told him. This caused his cheeks to go darker as Lily laughed.
"Shut up," he mumbled before silencing her with a chaste kiss. "I'll be back soon."
Lily flopped back against the pillows as he walked out of the room. She closed her eyes remembering the wonderful, wonderful night they had shared. After a moment, she got up and went into the adjoining room. Quickly she took a shower then grabbed one of James' shirts, pulled it on, and headed downstairs.
James was looking out of the window with his back facing Lily. Smiling, Lily slipped behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. She laid chaste kisses on back. As she did this, James let his head fall back.
"That feels fantastic," he muttered.
Lily hummed against his skin. This caused James to spin around to face her. Lily smiled up at him as he cupped her cheeks, rubbing his thumbs across her face. Turning her head slightly, Lily kissed one of his palms. James lowered his face to hers brushing his lips lightly against hers.
"James," Lily whispered.
"Yes, love?" James asked resting his forehead against hers.
"I've got to go," Lily told him. "Marlene-"
"Can't you stay a little longer?" he whined. "She can wait."
Lily shook her head smiling. "Sorry."
"Long night?" Marlene asked as soon as Lily walked into their flat.
"Yeah," Lily sighed, a big grin on her face.
"I know that smile," Marlene smirked. "You got laid. James?"
"Yeah," Lily nodded looking down.
"I knew it!" Marlene shouted. "Was he good?"
"Very," Lily answered.
"Finally."
"Shut up," Lily told her. She pulled out her phone and texted Carl. Maybe it wasn't the best way to break up with someone, but it wasn't like their relationship was going anywhere.
"James?" Lily asked as she opened the door to his house the next night.
"In here!" James called from the kitchen.
Lily smiled and made her way into the kitchen. However, when she got there, James wasn't alone. A man was standing across from him. He was tall with sandy blonde hair. His eyes were a light green that had flecks of blue in them. There was a long jagged scar that ran up one of his arms.
"Lily, this Remus Lupin," James told her. "He's one of my friends from school."
"Pleasure to meet you," Lily said shaking his hand.
"You too," Remus smiled at her. "I have to be going, James. I'll see you later."
"See you, Remus." Remus nodded before taking his leave.
As soon as he was gone, James grabbed Lily's waist, pulled her to him, and buried his face in her hair.
"I've missed you," he muttered.
"I've only been gone a few hours," Lily replied rolling her eyes.
"Still missed you."
"Come on, your pager is beeping."
Lily and James looked down as the robbers walked out of the back of the jewelry store. At the same time, they jumped down and landed in front of them.
"Now why don't you give those back?" James asked.
"Why don't make us?" one of them hissed drawing a knife. Before he could blink, Lily kicked the knife out of his hand.
"Have anything different to say now?" Lily asked.
They both looked at each other before turning and running in the opposite direction. However, James stopped them by flying up and blocking the alley exit.
"Sorry boys, now why don't you come along peacefully?" James inquired. "It will make things a lot easier."
Before they could answer, James pushed one of them up against the wall, while Lily handled the other. She grabbed the bag of jewels and sat them down. Sirens were going off in the distance. Soon enough the cops were there and they were handing the criminals over.
Lily sat on the edge of James bed staring up at him. She was wearing only a pair of pajama shorts and a camisole. James watched her for a moment, his eyes filling with lust. After a moment, he pulled his glasses off.
"I want to feel you," James muttered.
This statement sent fire into Lily's stomach. Slowly his hands reached for her. Lily took them and placed them on her stomach. His hands slipped under her shirt exploring the plane of her stomach. They wondered up to her breasts and caressed them under the fabric of her bra; Lily closed her eyes and let the sensation roll through her body. Finding the hem of her shirt, Lily pulled it over her head. James smiled.
"Did your shirt just go over your head?" he asked.
"It did," Lily replied.
"Lay back," he told her.
She did as he instructed and pushed herself to the head of the bed. One of James' hands ran up her leg as he crawled up to her. It stopped at her hip, settling itself there. Lily ran her hands up and down James' chest causing him to groan.
"You're going to be the death of me," he whispered, his hand slipping into the band of her shorts. "Shall we get these off so I can continue my…exploration?"
Lily nodded eagerly before realizing he couldn't see her clearly. "Yes."
"When you're in your suit, how do you see without your glasses?" Lily asked drawing circles on James' chest.
"They're are lenses build into the mask," James explained. "You just can't see them.
Lily nodded. "James?"
"Hmmm?"
"I…I know this sounds crazy, but I… .I think I'm in love with you," Lily stuttered.
"It's not crazy," James said kissing her forehead. "You can fall in love with someone even if you are just friends with them."
"Excuse me? I think we're more than that."
"I was talking about before all this, silly," James laughed. "Go to sleep."
Lily rolled her eyes before cuddling up to James and falling asleep.
Lily sighed as she entered Marlene's and her flat the after a full night of work. It was two weeks after she and James had gotten together and she was enjoying every minute of her time with him. Even if it wasn't always in the bedroom.
She didn't find Marlene in the kitchen which surprised her. Marlene was usually up and waiting for her around this time. She probably had to go into work early. Making her way into the kitchen, she saw that the coffee pot was still on. That was odd. Marlene never forgot to turn it off. Something wasn't right. Her stomach lurched. Suddenly ropes were around her and holding her in place and everything went black.
James made his way to the top of the science center. He'd gotten a note earlier that said for him to be there at ten o'clock or else someone he cared about would be hurt. He had a pretty good idea about who sent the note and who it referred to. So here he was in his suit, making sure Lily was ok.
He landed on top of the flat roof of the science center. When he did he, he saw Lily with her eyes closed. in a tank full of water and crystals floating inside. Crystals. Her weakness. The water filled the tank up to the top. Lily was floating in the middle of the tank. She couldn't be alive in all that water.
"Lily," he whispered.
"Indeed," someone from behind him spoke. James spun around to see the Soul Stealer.
"She's beautiful isn't she?"
"You let her go!" James shouted. "I'm here, you've got me. Let her go!"
"What would be the fun in that?" he laughed. "Besides, I enjoy watching you squirm."
"Please, I'll do anything," James pleaded dropping to his knees.
"You know, it's a shame," the Soul Stealer said looking over to Lily. "She never even knew she was pregnant."
James' head snapped over to Lily. Pregnant? With his child?
The Soul Stealer smiled evilly at him. "That's right, Blackbird. Your child."
James was on his feet throwing fireballs at the Soul Stealer. He wouldn't let her die. She wasn't going to die because of him. He would never let that happen again. The Soul Stealer easily dodged his fireballs. Suddenly he was gone. It was like he disappeared. James turned around to get Lily out of that tank, but she was gone, as well.
There was a thud. James ran around the tank to the other side. There lay Lily on the ground; the Soul Stealer hovered above her with a bottle that contained her soul.
"No!" James screamed running to her and gathering her body into his arms. Lily lay limply in his arms, not responding to him. After he brushed the damp hair out of her face, he peppered kisses across her face. "Lily, please, love, talk to me. Lily, please."
The Soul Stealer laughed evilly. "She won't wake, nor will she ever wake again."
James gently laid her on the roof then with a loud war cry started to attack the Soul Stealer. He didn't seem to expect this coming because he wasn't as quick this time. James had him pinned up against the wall of a building. He felt like strangling him for what he had done to Lily and their unborn child. However, he knew that, that would only make him just as bad as this evil villain. So he tied him up, grabbed the vial with Lily's soul in it, and flew him over to the police station. After this, James went back to the science center to see if there was anything her could do for Lily. When he got there, she was right where he left her. Just lying there, not moving. Suddenly an idea came to him.
James picked her up and carried her down the stairs of center to the fifteenth floor. He banged on one of the doors with his foot until it was opened. Inside stood an old man who had snow white hair.
"Please, sir, help her," James begged.
"James, come in," Dumbledore told him. "What's wrong?"
"She's had her soul sucked out," James explained laying her on the couch. "Please, sir, you've got to help her."
"I'll see what I can do, James, but I won't make any promises," Dumbledore told him solemnly. "Bring her down to the lab."
James nodded and they made their way down to the lab on the first floor. It felt like the longest trip of James' life. When they finally got there, James laid her down on a white examination table and waited to see if Dumbledore could do anything for her.
James held the small bundle in his arms, rocking it back and forth. He was beautiful. Every feature exactly like James' except his eyes. James could see Lily's eyes when he looked into them. He remembered the dreadful day when Dumbledore told him nothing could be done for Lily.
"I'm sorry, James, there's nothing I can do for the girl," Dumbledore said quietly. "The baby will live though."
James head snapped up from where he had been staring at Lily. "How?"
"Her body is still functioning and you can't suck the soul out of a baby that is inside its mother's body," he explained.
"How will you get it out?" James asked returning to staring at her.
"We'll have to cut her open when it's time," Dumbledore said. "C-section."
James just nodded.
Now he was here with his best friends holding this small human being in his arms. He loved him already.
"Hi, there, mate," Sirius waved at the baby who gurgled. "What are you naming him?"
"Harry," James answered. "Harry James."
"He should be named after me," Sirius mumbled.
Remus slapped him over the back of the head. "Sirius, shut up. I think it's a lovely name."
"He's got a strong grip, doesn't he?" Peter muttered as the baby grabbed his finger.
"Yeah, he does," James smirked.
Suddenly Harry started to get upset. His eyes sparkled with unshed tears and his lip stuck out.
"Hand me that bottle, Padfoot," James said starting to rock Harry back and forth.
"Sure," Sirius handed him the bottle and stepped back. He didn't like crying babies.
"Shush now," James whispered to his son, who started to suck on the bottle immediately.
"How are you going to do it without….." Sirius trailed off not wanting to finish his sentence.
James was once again forced to face the pink elephant in the room. He didn't have Lily to help him with this. He didn't even have a girlfriend. He couldn't bring himself to care about a girl in that way after her. Now he had a son and there was no way he was ever going to move on from Lily. He didn't want to. He would love only her.
"I was hoping I could count on you three to help me."
"We don't know anymore than you do about babies," Sirius supplied.
"I know," James smirked.
Sirius rubbed his chin. "Well, I am his godfather, so as long as you three change his nappies, fed him, clean his spit up, and calm him down when he cries, I'll buy him all the presents."
"Of course, we'll help you, Prongs," Remus told him. "Some of us more than others."
"Yeah, if nothing else, he'll never be bored," Peter said.
Harry pulled away from the bottle and yawned. James smiled and set it down.
"Excuse me," a feminine voice uttered from the doorway. The four men turned to see a blonde woman standing in the doorway biting her lip. She had amazing blue eyes that seemed to be searching the room to see if she was unwelcome.
"Can I help you?" James asked.
"Um, are you James?" she questioned.
"We'll give you a moment," Remus said quietly.
"But-" Sirius started, but stopped when Remus gave him a look. Sirius was the last one out of the door and slapped the girl on her bottom, causing her to jump.
"Sorry, about him," James chuckled. "He can be a bit rude."
"It's alright," she replied stepping into the room and shutting the door.
"How is it you know me?" James inquired. "I don't remember meeting you."
"You haven't," she told him. "I've just heard of you. Um… .Lily talked a lot about you."
James' eyes widened. "You're Marlene. She mentioned you a couple times."
"She talked about you quite a bit. I didn't mean to interrupt anything. I was just wondering if I could see the baby. Um…Professor Dumbledore told me about the baby."
"Yeah, and it's a boy," James told her.
"What's his name?" Marlene asked moving closer to James so she could see.
"Harry."
"He's beautiful," Marlene smiled.
"Would you like to hold him?" James asked. He didn't know what made him trust her, but if Lily did then that was good enough for him. Marlene nodded eagerly.
"Yes." James transferred the baby into her arms. She seemed a bit uncomfortable at first, but after a moment settled in and started rocking him. Tears started to run down her cheeks as she looked at Harry.
"He has her eyes," she muttered.
"Yeah," James nodded. "Marlene, I don't know much about your relationship with Lily, but from what she told me, you're a wonderful person. I think she'd what you to be a part of this baby's life. I haven't got the slightest clue on how to raise a child and you probably don't either, but if you could, I'd like your help with him."
Marlene nodded sniffing. "Thank you, James, for letting me be in his life. I loved Lily like she was my own sister. It broke my heart when I heard about what happened to her. I'll do the best I can."
They both smiled at each other before turning to look back at Harry.
"Harry, no," Marlene sighed picking up the six month old, who had just started to crawl. He was getting into just about everything around the house and Marlene was just about sick of it. "You don't try to get onto the table with all the breakable plates on it. And I'm talking to a baby who can't answer me."
"Don't we all," James asked looking up from his paper smiling. Marlene rolled her eyes.
"Take your evil son. He's going to end up braking something or getting hurt."
James pulled Harry into his lap. "He's not evil, just curious."
"Right. I'm going out for a run. I'm be back in about two hours," Marlene told him.
"Alright," James nodded. "What do you say we go outside, huh, mate?"
Harry grinned at him and waved his chubby fists in the air. James smiled and headed outside. He sat Harry down on the grass, thankful he had a fenced in yard as the baby started to crawl around. Things had been going well these past few months. Marlene had been a great help; Sirius had done a more than James had expected him to; Remus was a bit awkward at first, but once he got used to Harry he settled in to the routine nicely; and Harry loved it when Peter played with him. There were times when James wished Lily were here to share this with him. When he felt this, he usually went to his room and thought about how different things could have been. Dumbledore had said that he would keep looking and try to find way to fix her, but James didn't think he ever would.
"James?" someone asked from behind him.
He spun around to see a beautiful red headed girl standing behind him. Her green eyes smiled at him brightly. James couldn't believe his eyes for a moment and just stared at her.
"Aren't you happy to see me?" she asked.
"Are you real?" was the first thing that came out of James' mouth.
Lily laughed. "Yeah, I'm real."
James was in front of her in two strides. He ran his hands up and down her arms before settling them on her hips. Pulling her close to him, he kissed her for all he was worth. Her fingers wove their way into his hair, just like they used to, clinging to him desperately. He didn't stay there for long though. His lips made her way down her neck, kissing, sucking, and licking her flesh, marking her his own.
"James," she whispered.
"I missed you," James told her, pulling away to look at her face.
"I've missed you, too," Lily replied.
"How? How are you here?" he asked.
"Something about how my DNA reacted to some chemicals," Lily answered. "They poured the vial containing my soul in that and shot it into my vein. I didn't really understand anything beyond that."
"I love you," James said.
"I-" Lily stopped looking at her feet. Harry had crawled over to them and was pulling on her pant leg. Lily was just staring at him wide eyed.
"Lily, this is-"
"I know," Lily whispered. "Dumbledore told me I had a son."
"Well, don't just stand there, pick him up," James smirked as he spoke.
Lily bent down slowly and took the small boy into her arms. He immediately started playing with her hair, and stuck it into his mouth. Lily laughed wiping away the tears in her eyes.
She turned her head and looked at James. "I love you, too. What's his name?"
"Harry," James answered. "Let's go inside, then I can tell you about everything you missed."
Lily nodded. They walked back to the house hand in hand.