Chapter Text
It seems like James Potter’s entire life went uphill the minute he stopped pinning after Lily Evans—and he knows, okay? He knows that that is a weird thing to say.
It’s a weird thing to think!
But it’s totally true.
They actually became good friends and he stopped being so jealous about her relationship with Snape, which meant he also kinda realized how terrible he was to him… and has laid off him, and now Remus and him are both trying to get Sirius to lay off him, which is also improving his relationship with Lily!
Then he stopped being jealous about her relationship with MacDonald and Mckinnon—which he swears is just as reasonable about being jealous over Snape, ‘cause Lily is totally into girls—which made the common room feel more comfortable and Mckinnon has started to listen to his instructions better during practice.
It’s been a total win-win!
Oh, and Lily has actually been willing to tutor James in charms now that he’s not going to make a fool of himself and make a pass at her every time, which has been beyond a blessing. Hell, Professor McGonagall even sent an owl to his parents saying he’s on the final list of Head Student candidates right before the semester ended!
Life is on the up and up.
And the chaser gets to spend the entire summer at the Evans’ house without fear of being a total idiot, offending Lily, making a scene in front of her parents or anything like that. He’s never been able to really do something like this, the Potter Manor has always been the gathering place.
The Lupins are nice, he really likes Hope and John! They just don’t have the room to house two extra boys, and as much as Walburga Black loves Sirius, she is a bit… screamy… and degrading… and anti-werewolf… and kind of homophobic… so it’s just not the best place for them as a whole.
So when Lily offered a summer away once she found out James’ parents were going to India to visit his papa’s extended family—he thinks one of his third cousins are getting married or something but he couldn’t be arsed to care about it—who was he to refuse?
Sirius goes where he goes, naturally, and Remus agreed probably more for Lily’s sake than either of theirs.
And Peter… well, he’d been pulling away since the start of sixth year. They all extended the invite but he had only let Lily know that he wasn’t going to go. No matter how much any of them approached their fourth, he clammed up. It wasn’t even like he was mad at them.
It just seemed like he was moving on.
Mum calls it growing pains.
Maybe that’s one part that hasn’t really been the best. Still, James is determined to make the most of his summer and hopefully seventh year as Head Boy, he’s not sure that there’s anything that’s going to change the absolute flow of state that he’s in. Not a girl. Not whatever prank Sirius thinks up next. Nothing.
What could throw him off course now?
If it weren’t for Petunia, Lily’s rather… he’ll be polite and say rude sister, the Evans’ would be one of the most welcoming and picture-perfect families that James had the pleasure of meeting. His own parents were equally as inviting, even from the inside, and it made for a familiar and comfortable environment.
The first day was mostly just them getting picked up from the train station, since the Evans were muggles and they couldn’t just floo right in. Having to have his wand and magical things—most of what he owns—packed away in a trunk for most of the summer was weird but James does like trying new things.
In the room that they’re staying in there’s two beds with storage space underneath, a closet and dresser for their clothes and such, and even a long desk that Mr. Evans insisted on using them to complete their summer essays before Hogwarts starts back up.
He didn’t say exactly when they’re to do that, but James is happy about not being on a strict time frame.
Sirius and Remus share a bed and the chaser had never been happier to realize that their budding relationship meant no more of Padfoots’ stinky socks in his face or the ‘wolf kicking against his shins in his sleep. Before, they were too anxious about sleeping next to each other as if admitting to that wasn’t them also admitting that sleeping together was different than with all their other friends.
Hopeless and rather amusing, James thinks.
Waking up the next day felt strange, as it does every time he wakes up away from home, but he’s still smiling by the time he sees Sirius drooling into Remus’ armpit. “Position, position.” He mutters happily, gathering his outfit for the day as quietly as he can before heading to the loo to change.
His mood stalls once he puts his pajamas back and realizes he has no clue what to do.
Thinking it best to ask Lily instead of doing anything that could be considering fucking around and finding out—he doesn’t fancy getting yelled at after not even being here for twenty-four hours yet—he goes down the hall to her door, listening for any sounds.
Thankfully, there’s some light shuffling.
In the hall there’s only the spare room the three boys are in, Lily’s, a bathroom, and then Petunia’s down the hall. So he knows that it could only be her, unless Remus, who’d be the next to wake up, beat him there. So he considers it safe enough to knock.
There’s a curse on the other side from Lily that makes him grin before the knob even turns.
“Language, Evans.” James scolds teasingly. Lily only gives a tight smile in reply, bedroom door only open enough to see half of her and his own expression drops slightly. “You alright there, Lils?”
“Yeah, just, um,” She slips out of the room whilst trying not to open the door any wider, still in just an oversized, dark green shirt that looks familiar in a way he can’t name, and shorts. The chaser glances into her room to try and find the source of her suspicious actions but finds nothing in the near-darkness. “Let’s talk out here.”
“What’re you hiding?” He asks.
“Drop it, Potter.” Lily sighs. “Dad’ll already be up if and I’ll be out there in a minute if you want something to do. Tuney won’t be out there to bother you for at least another hour but if she does, I suggest getting out of her hair until she bothers to brush it.”
This brings his grin back. “Are all sisters this mean to each other?”
She snorts. “This is me being civil.”
“D’you have earl grey?” Remus’ voice sounding out down the hall without the sound of a door opening makes them both jump, snapping their heads over towards one another. The ‘wolf just keeps staring at Lily tiredly, nearly swaying where he stands.
“Um,” Lily shrugs. “Ask my mum.”
That’s the start of his morning.
Only two rain drops land on James’ glasses before Sirius is shrieking about his hair and running inside the Evans’ back door, hands guarding his precious black curls. Lily follows close behind him, calling out “Fun’s over, boys!” as she hides from the fast approaching storm. They’re all giggling as they tread inside, Mrs. Evans has them take off their dirty sneakers by the back door, lining them all up in a row.
“What’re we supposed to do now?” James asks.
Sirius wiggles his eyebrows. “I have a few suggestions for me and Moony.”
It’s Remus himself who cuffs the star on the back of his head.
“Well,” Lily moves on with grace. “I have quite a few card games if we want to head to my room—I have more space on the floor than in yours. I mean, the spare room is mostly just the beds. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to teach anyone how to play Threes.”
“Brilliant.” James agrees.
He wonders what ‘Threes’ is.
“Dad, me and the boys will be in mine!”
“You know the rule, leave the door open.”
“But you know that none of us-”
Mr. Evans raises his hands defensively. “Lils, you know that I know that none of these boys are going to do a damned thing to you under this roof even if they did want to or else, and I trust you’re not lying in saying they don’t, however, give your old man some peace of mind and leave the door open.”
Lily pouts but agrees, not even glancing at James like he might be an exception.
Awesome, he thinks. They really are just friends.
It’s about time!
“Okay,” Lily talks while ushering them towards her room. “So, Threes can be a bit hard to grasp at first and you all will definitely lose against me.” James spares a glance at Remus—despite what it might seem, he is the most competitive between them and he’s a bigger sore loser than Sirius is a drama queen. Which is saying something. “You just have to gather likewise cards to win.”
Then she swings her door open, ambling into the space and over to her desk without fanfare. But then Sirius flicks on the light and it takes them all no more than three seconds to realize something:
There’s somebody in Lily Evans’ bed.
And Lily doesn’t seem to notice!
“Evans.” Black says, sounding shocked. None of the three of them go to move towards the bed, though Remus looks like he’s a second away from getting between the—intruder?—and Lily. James has half a mind to turn around and shout for Mr. Evans. “Who’s that?”
“What?” She turns around, glances towards where Sirius is pointing and freezes. “Oh.”
On the bed there’s clearly a boy, he’s sunken into the blankets in a way that it’s clear he just collapsed there, one leg tangled in the cover and the other dangling off the bed. His head is pressed between the—wow, she sleeps with—four pillows, but he can at least tell the boy has dark hair.
It’s a muggle, which is clear from his clothes.
Well, and this being Cokeworth.
“Can you boys tell my dad that Prince is here and wait out in the living room for me?” Lily asks after a second, walking over to her bed like none of this is weird and leaning over to, well, James can’t really see but he thinks she’s checking the boy’s temperature. She glances back to see them all frozen. “Please.”
Remus grabs James and Sirius by their collars and turns them around to the hallway. “Now’s not the time for questions.”
James is the one to find Mr. Evans whilst the other two go to the living room and he hears Sirius tell Mrs. Evans the same thing. He finds Mr. Evans where he was before sitting in the dining room, leaning back in his chair as he reads yesterday’s newspaper.
“Er, Mr. Evans?” He calls.
“Yes, James?”
“Lily wanted me to tell you that, um, Prince…? Is here.” He says, not expecting it as Mr. Evans immediately drops his paper and stands before he straightens up and offers a very Lily-like smile, attempting to not show his worry. “In her room, I mean. A boy.”
“Right, well,” The Evans man clears his throat. “Thank you, James. Please go wait in the living room for Lily to come back.”
James does so, feeling weird about it the whole time—especially once Mrs. Evans passes him in the hallway without greeting him (something she’s done since his arrival) with a worried frown that shows her age, hastily turning the corner to the hallway towards Lily’s room and nearly crashing into her oldest daughter.
“Prince?” Petunia asks immediately.
“He’s okay.” Mr. Evans responds.
It doesn’t seem true.
Sitting on the couch a little too close not to be gay—the chaser should have guessed about them sooner, sue him—Sirius and Remus share nearly equal expressions of something is wrong and it’s Sirius who breaks the tension first, turning towards James. “I mean… that was just a random boy, right?”
“It’s not random if they know him.” Remus reasons.
James nods. “Mr. Evans seemed pretty worried.”
“Mrs. Evans did too…”
“We just have to wait?”
“Yeah, Pads.” Moony nods.
He doesn’t like it either.
After they’re let back into Lily’s room, no trace of the boy and Mrs. Evans gone with the car, there’s not any satisfactory answers for the Marauders. Lily can’t meet any of their eyes as she explains how exactly she can’t, or rather shouldn’t, explain anything to them.
Apparently, it’s none of their business.
James hesitates before asking, “Can you at least tell us who Prince is?”
“I know you’ll find out, and soon, but…” Lily bites her lip. “I can’t.”
“Why not?” Remus asks.
She shrugs. “It’s not my place, Rem.”
Sirius goes to argue but he’s quickly cut off.
“Alright.” James agrees. “We’ll drop it.”
Even if he doesn’t want to.