Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the book so please don't sue.
Warning: Slash as it is SBJP, it is also RLLE and some brief mentions of mpreg.
'So Dad, how did you and Papa begin dating? You've never told us.' Rachel Potter-Black asked as she sat down on the sofa next to the other teens in the house. James looked at his daughter in surprise that she hadn't been told while Lily glared at him and Remus chuckled at the memory.
'You mean to say you've never told them how you two got together after all that happened?' Lily demanded as she swept into the room. In the room, apart from James' 15 year old daughters, the dark haired twins Rachel and Rebecca or Becky as she was called, there were Lily and Remus' three children, Alex who was the youngest at 13, Harriet who was 14 and Nicole who was the same age as the twins. All of the Lupin children had inherited Remus' sandy blonde hair and Lily's startling green eyes while the Potter-Black girls had inherited both men's raven black hair with Sirius' silky locks, and James' hazel eyes; there wasn't the slightest bit of difference between them.
At this point they were all dressed in shorts and tee shirts due to the warm sunshine, waiting in preparation for the barbeque they were planning for later.
'Everything that happened? Now you have to tell us!' Becky demanded; her eyes glittering in excitement, the other looked curious as well.
'Hmm, I'm not sure…' James refused to commit to anything as his two oldest friends sat down on the seats opposite their children.
'Nonsense, I think they'll enjoy it. 'Sides, we have time before Sirius comes back with all of the meat for this evening's barbeque.' Remus waved off James' answer, who rolled his eyes in return.
'Fine, fine, I suppose we have time. I don't know really where it began though.' James admitted.
'I suppose it really began with the bet.' Lily thought about it carefully.
'Oh yes, that bet,' James shook his head and grimaced at the memory. Everyone unconsciously leaned forward slightly as they saw the story would begin in a few moments. 'Like Lily said, it really all began with a bet Lily and myself made nearly 21 years ago now, in the summer of 1986…' James began.
The Summer of 1986
'Lily, please, don't make me do this!' James was almost begging as the evil red head simply laughed. The two of them were in hers and Remus' bedroom in their flat, Lily laying out a new outfit on their bed. The dress was a long cocktail dress, a deep blue colour with a halter neck that tied around the neck while the skirt was diagonally cut upwards on one side, and by the side of the dress were a set of very low heeled silver shoes to go with this dress, and this was what James was looking so disgusted at.
'Nope, you lost the bet, now you have to wear the dress, now, strip!' Lily demanded, and slowly, he stripped down to his snitch boxers, doing his best to use his arms to cover as much of himself as possible.
'Why do I have to strip now?' James whined and Lily gave him a, look that suggested that he should already know this.
'Because we need to shave you. You are far too hairy for this dress!' Lily answered before using her wand to remove his hair under his arms, his face, his chest, his arms and legs.
'Thanks.' James told her wryly, not entirely happy about this while Lily only smiled.
'Now, you cannot wear those boxers under this, when I leave I'll give you something else,' James looked relieved, his hands not moving from the waistband. 'Put the dress on and we'll work on the rest after. It's a good job you're so skinny, you can just about get away with having a feminine type body.' James glared at her, not keen on being told he looked feminine. Knowing it would be useless to protest, he gave a sigh before doing as he was told, the dress fit quite well much to his surprise, not that he was ecstatic about that, there had been a flicker of hope he wouldn't be able to wear it as it wouldn't fit. 'Now, the real work begins!' She declared, forcing him to sit down on a seat.
Taking out her wand again, she lengthened his short scruffy hair to just below shoulder length, spelling it so it lay flat, smooth and shiny before styling it subtly by taking a little bit from the front on each side and trying it back with a clip. Next, much to James' horror, came the make up. Removing James' glasses, she placed them on the desk and picked up the eye shadow, a blue colour. When she had finished putting on the mascara, blush, lipstick, she then transfigured the glasses into slim, elegant ladies glasses, finishing the transformation of James.
'Finished yet?' He grouched but Lily only smiled.
'Yep, just change your underwear, put on a pair of tights and the shoes and you'll be done,' she decided, passing over a pair of briefs and the tights before leaving the room. Groaning, he changed them before spelling the lines under his dress to disappear.
The door swung open with Lily rushing in, a filled bra in one hand.
'I almost forgot, you need this,' she told him with a grin and James winced, but did as he was told, removing half of his dress and allowed Lily to put it on him while placing some charms that would make it more comfortable and so he wouldn't notice wearing it. 'Beautiful, just like a real woman now,' she told him, causing James to stick his tongue out at her, grimacing as she took a photo of him, but that was part of the deal as well, much to his dismay. He was just thankful the shoes weren't too bad, he could at least walk in them, having put his foot down at anything with too higher heel, the stability charms placed on them only making it easier.
'Okay Remus, you can come and laugh now.' James called out of the room and there was barely a minute before one of his best friends came into the room, and stopped dead in his tracks.
'James?' Remus seemed to be in amazement at his friend, James just stared at Remus; he wasn't that different surely. 'Wow! If I didn't have a girlfriend or know who you really were, I'd date you!' The werewolf stated with a laugh causing Lily to laugh as well and James to roll his eyes.
'Look, can we just get this hellish evening over with?' He pleaded, only wanting to get home to his and Sirius' apartment to go to sleep, pretend none of this ever happened.
'We will, as soon as I've changed your voice,' Lily decided, making his voice more feminine before leading them to the floo. The club they were going to was a Wizarding one which accepted all types of people and all preferences, there was no discrimination there, which was they felt okay with James being in drag there without problems.
Lily went first before James and Remus quickly followed, and soon enough, much to James' despair, he was soon separated from his friends, who so kindly had left him after their arrival. Sitting by the bar, he ordered another drink, he couldn't wait to leave, the amounts of looks, gropes and leers he'd gotten was very disconcerting.
'Hey lady, mind if I buy you a drink? You seem lonely here on your own.' A familiar, male voice asked from his side, turning to decline the offer, he had lost count of the amount of drinks he'd declined that evening, his mouth dropped open at who was next to him. Unable to say a word, he slowly nodded.
Present
'Was it Sirius?' Alex interrupted excitedly when James paused for breath. Harriet rolled her eyes and elbowed her brother for interrupting; she just wanted to hear the story instead of having it stopped every few minutes with annoying questions. James just smiled though.
'You'll have to wait and see,' he replied mysteriously which startled Alex out of his glaring match with his sister.
'You really went outside in drag?' Rachel asked; her eyes wide in disbelief.
'And you helped him?' Rebecca looked at her godmother who gave a laugh.
'I didn't just help him, I was the one who made him do it in the first place,' she admitted with a chuckle.
'And yes, I really did go out in women's clothing, and no I will not do it again…possibly,' he added on the end, just to see his daughters, as well as his godchildren stare at him in shock. James simply grinned at them.
'So what happened next? Who was it who talked to you? Was it Sirius?' Nicole put them back on the original conversation; the interested eyes were back on him again.
'Well, when he spoke, the first words he said to me after that was…'
The Summer of 1986
'Sirius, Sirius Black,' the man stated his name, the man, also known as his best friend held out his hand and James shook it mutely. What were the chances he would meet him here tonight, just fantastic! He couldn't believe his bad luck. Sirius quickly ordered himself a drink and James one.
'I'm Jamie, Jamie Crafter.' James quickly lied, he couldn't believe he was being chatted up by his best friend, a person he knew wasn't completely straight, but he had a feeling if he found out it was his best friend he was chatting up he wouldn't be too happy. He knew he was gay himself, so being chatted up by a man wasn't too bad, but he would have preferred it if Sirius was flirting with him as James, not him in drag.
'Haven't seen you around here before, been in here often?' Sirius asked as the drinks came, taking a sip from his.
'No, first time tonight. Some friends ditched me, I was just thinking of going home after this drink.'
'Well, I hope you'll change your mind, maybe stay and chat with me for a while?' Sirius looked hopeful, how could James say no to his best friend when he looked like that? He always did have a weak spot when he pulled that face, it truly was his downfall. The evening passed quickly as they chatted, falling into a deep conversation and much to James' surprise, he actually enjoyed himself. He wasn't one to fool himself, he had always known he'd had a crush on his long time best friend, but had never done anything in case it jeopardised their friendship, but now he was seeing just how good a date his best friend really was, and how romantic he could be when he wanted. James almost didn't want the evening to end since he knew it would be their only evening together. Finally though, it did end, and James really did have to go.
'Look, I really enjoyed tonight Jamie; do you think we could meet up again?' Sirius once again looked hopeful as James stood up. James' heart skipped a beat, Sirius wanted to see him again! No, he wants to see Jamie again, he told himself firmly, regretfully deciding he couldn't see Sirius like this again.
'I can't, I'm sorry.'
'Did you have a good time tonight?' Sirius queried, and James immediately nodded.
'Of course I did!' He immediately protested.
'Well, I know you're single, so why not meet me again on Friday at the coffee shop at 10am and we can see each other again, we can go from there, I just want to make sure I see you again, I really like you.' Sirius admitted before handing over his address to send owls and leaving, not giving James a chance to say no.
'Damn, I'm in trouble now!' He muttered to himself before flooing to Remus and Lily's house. After they had removed everything, he explained what had happened, including the date.
'James, you'll have to tell him!' Remus protested, it wasn't fair to either of his friends to do this.
'Look, if James goes on this one date, he can let Sirius down easily and it will all be over, no harm no foul.' Lily suggested, compromising, it wouldn't hurt Sirius that way and James could get out of any more dates after that.
'Well, looks like I'm going on a date with Sirius,' James groaned, resigned.
Present
'Hah! I knew it was Sirius!' Alex crowed, causing him to receive anther elbow to the ribs. The three 15 year olds rolled their eyes at Alex, who just pouted at the response he got.
'Yes, it was Sirius.' James confirmed; it felt good to be telling the story, no matter how humiliating it was for him.
'But why weren't you happy to be going on a date with him? I thought you said you liked Papa?' Becky finally put forward her question.
'I do like your Papa, but then, I didn't know he liked me, and I felt like I was tricking him into dating me by being a girl, that he would hate me if he ever found out who I really was.'
'So how did you two end up together?' Becky still looked confused, but satisfied with the answer.
'And did you go on the date?' Rachel added in her question.
'And how did he find out it was you?' Nicole chimed in.
'And is that why Sirius still calls you Jamie sometimes?' Harriet put forward the final question.
'How about James let you tell the story in his own pace, I'm sure everything will be answered in time.' Remus settled the teens down, halting the deluge of questions.
'Sometimes I think you're all siblings the way you are so similar!' James chuckled, causing the adults to join in the laughter and the five of them to put on identical outraged looks, before spotting how similar they were acting and joined in the humour.
'Right, so where was I?' James asked as the laughter finally died away.
'You were about to go on your first date with Sirius.' Rachel promptly told him.
'Oh yes, that date,' James recalled what happened in his mind before starting again. 'Well, of course, I needed to become Jamie again, so Lily and I brought her to life once more…'
The Summer of 1986
Friday came all too soon, and once again James found himself with Lily getting ready to go on another date….in drag….again much to his horror.
'Look, James, you can't go in another dress, so I've found you some casual clothes, some smart trousers and a tee shirt, you'll be fine, and we don't even need to put on as much make up as last time,' Lily explained to him as he put on the clothes she had laid out. She once again helped him with the bra and the spells, transforming him half way to being Jamie again. Next came the make up, although a lot more subtle than the last time, and his hair, after being lengthened was left loose around his face with only two small clips holding it back to stop it going in his face too much.
'Done!' Lily stated as she finished the look, changing his voice and transfiguring his glasses, the boots he was wearing were flat. Allowing him to go without the stability charms, but James still felt uncomfortable.
'I really don't want to do this Lils, what if he knows its me and thinks I'm pulling a prank or if someone else recognises I'm male or-' he began to ramble, thinking up every worst scenario possible.
'It will be fine, if he guesses, apologise and say you didn't want to hurt him, tell him about the bet, and trust me, no one else will guess you're male!' Lily interrupted him, and she was right, he did look very feminine in what he was wearing. 'Now, just remember, try and cut the date short, or at least, make sure you don't agree to another one!' Lily warned him, and James nodded, he knew the plan.
'But, Sirius was really excited about today, what if I really hurt him by leaving him after this date?' James looked really worried, the last thing he wanted was for Sirius to get hurt, that was the only reason he'd agreed to this date, but Sirius had been so excited about today. He had been talking none stop since that day, telling James everything about Jamie and what he was planning to do that Friday.
'It will be fine James, it has to be. He's met Jamie once, it isn't love and most dates with Sirius fall through after one date, this will be no different. Just call it off and everything will be fine.' James nodded, hoping she was right, but he had a bad feeling about this.
Leaving the flat, he headed down to the café, the stares he got were even more disconcerting than when he had gotten them at the club, but no one pointed out he was male. Guess he really had fooled them all; Lily had done a good job.
Entering the coffee shop, he saw Sirius sat in a corner in the comfortable armchairs, slightly away from the crowds of people offering them more privacy. Walking over, James gave a smile as he sat down.
'Jamie, I'm glad you came.' Sirius smiled as he kissed James' cheek.
'Did you think I wouldn't?' James asked, he couldn't help but smile back, Sirius had kissed him! Sirius had kissed him! He almost couldn't believe it, but was forced to remind himself it was Jamie Sirius had kissed.
'I thought I had maybe pushed a little hard, you wouldn't come,' Sirius have a nonchalant shrug, but James knew him well enough to know he had been worried he wouldn't show.
'How could I resist your plea for getting me here, not to mention you were going to buy me coffee.' James teased him, causing Sirius to chuckle before going to buy them two mugs of steaming coffee.
'You're as bad as one of my friends it sounds, the guy I share a flat with is addicted to the stuff,' Sirius commented as he placed the two mugs down, and sat opposite his date. James gave a nervous chuckle, he'd have to be more careful with what he did otherwise Sirius may suspect something with how similar his date and roommate were. 'So, do you live around here? You didn't really say what you did as a job when we met last time,' Sirius started the conversation.
Oh no, what on earth could he say? Oh yes well I happen to live with you and work in the department of Sports and Games at the Ministry? Quickly, he made up his mind what to do. 'Well if I told you everything on the first-'
'Second,' Sirius corrected him.
'Second date, what would there to be to talk about later, and what if we broke up after this date? You could be a stalker who never leaves me alone?' James covered himself, wondering what to do if Sirius pushed.
'Well then, I guess we'll just have to have more dates so I can get to know you better,' Sirius flirted with him. Crap! His mind screamed, this was not how it was supposed to go! He was supposed to be putting Sirius off dating him more, not planning more dates for the future. 'So what, you have a plan for what you can do each date?' Sirius teased him, causing James to laugh.
'Of course, doesn't everyone?' James gave a look of mock astonishment.
'How could I have forgotten? Maybe you ought to refresh my memory on what they are.'
If you have such a bad memory, are sure you'll remember them?' James suddenly realised where he was, in a café wearing drag, flirting with his best friend, who was flirting back with him! This was certainly not what he had been expecting when he came here today.
'For a girl as beautiful as you, I'll make sure of it.' Sirius sounded so sincere James immediately blushed, he could now see why Sirius' girlfriends liked him so much, as well as the few boyfriends Sirius had been with in the past, and as much as he hated the deception, he was enjoying dating Sirius.
'Well, just remember, I don't put out until at least the fourth date, and that's only if you're very good!' James dropped his voice slightly, there was no reason why the rest of the shop should hear what they were saying, Sirius just laughed though.
'I will remember that, but it still doesn't change what I think of you.'
'So really you only asked me here today because you think I'm pretty.' James looked at his date curiously, if that was the case, he could quite easily leave in good faith, and Sirius would hardly be hurt by it, but if it was more…he didn't want to think of that. How could he hurt his best friend by breaking it off?
'That was one of the reasons, I'll admit, you really did look stunning in that dress, although you still look amazing today,' James blushed again at the compliments but Sirius carried on, taking James' hand. 'But also because you make me laugh, you seem nice, we get along and have plenty to talk about, and that's why I asked you out again today.'
'Thanks, I had a really good time as well then and today.' James admitted, catching sight of the clock. They had both finished their coffee a while back, barely noticing as they chatted, but it was almost time for lunch and James knew he had to work that afternoon.
'Will you go out with me again, I was hoping tomorrow, at 6pm at the new Italian just over the road.' Sirius suggested, realising he too had to leave. James felt reluctant and was about to say no when Sirius spoke. 'Look, I don't want to force you, but I would really like it if you said yes, just don't think about it, follow your heart.' He murmured, going closer to James to kiss him. James twisted his head at the last second, making sure Sirius missed his lips and got his cheek again.
'That's at least a fourth date privilege too, and alright, I'll see you tomorrow.' James agreed, hoping he was doing the right thing.
'Thank you, I'm glad you said yes Jamie.' Sirius looked ecstatic, and James knew he had done the right thing. As long as Sirius was happy, he could live with his decision, but he would be telling Sirius exactly who he was, there was no doubt in that.
Entering Lily's flat, they both had keys to each others places; he began to take off the clothes, slipping into his work robes and the washing off the make up and taking off the spells until he looked and sounded like himself again. Going into the livingroom, he sat down besides Lily, who was sat on the sofa.
'When's the next date?' Lily asked, taking from James' sigh when he came in it hadn't gone to plan.
'Tomorrow,' James answered, not at all surprised she already knew, she seemed to know most things.
You'll have to tell him you know,' Lily looked serious.
'I know, and I will. I just don't want to hurt him; he seems to really like Jamie.' James gave another sigh, how had he ended up in this position?
Coming back from the third date, Lily only sighed as he shook his head again, this could only end badly for both of them.
Present
'But Dad, why didn't you just tell Sirius who you were? Why didn't you just tell him on the first date? It wouldn't have been that hard surely?' Becky asked curiously, Rachel and Nicole nodded in agreement.
'It wasn't that simple girls, it would be like you Becky dressing up as a boy and going on a date accidentally with Nicole. You'd find it very difficult to break it off or tell her without hurting her feelings, maybe loosing her friendship or possibly being blamed for doing it on purpose.' Lily explained calmly. Both Becky and Nicole had come out to their families a few weeks before about both being gay, but neither were dating anyone at that time. The two girls used in the example blushed, refusing to meet each others gazes, causing the three adults to share secretive, as well as pleased looks with each other. They had suspected for a while they liked each other, but neither family wanted to push anything, deciding just to let things happen in their own time.
'Not to mention, I was enjoying dating Sirius, I didn't wasn't it to end, which I was sure it would when I told him.' James added to Lily's explanation.
'But it didn't, and then you got married and had us.' Rachel stated, and James grinned.
'Correct, but not for a while after, and there is still the next date for me to tell you about.' James warned her.
'So how many dates did you go on in total, you've said two, but what happened on the third? Why didn't you tell him then?' Harriet queried, trying to keep things straight.
'Ah, the third date, that one went sort of in the same way as the previous but the fourth date, now that one is significant. I take it you remember my quip about not putting out til the fourth date?' Everyone nodded, James winced, 'let's just say that was the not the only worry I had about this date after my conversation with Sirius earlier that evening…'
The Summer of 1986
'Hey James, got a minute?' Sirius asked as James wandered into the livingroom.
'Sure, course I do,' James replied with a grin as he flopped into a chair next to his friend.
'I want to know what you think about marriage?' James felt a cold wave wash over his body.
'Marriage?' He repeated the word, praying his voice crack or sound higher than usual.
'Yeah, marriage, you know, when two people commit their lives together, vow to love one another forever kind of thing?' Sirius reminded James grinning, James rolled his eyes.
'I know that!' James stated, 'I meant why are you asking me about marriage.'
'I think I may have found someone to I eventually marry.' Sirius shrugged, James stomach rolled with nerves.
'You're thinking of marrying Carla? Or was it Hayley or Lucy?' James covered, trying to act as though he couldn't keep Sirius' girlfriends straight, since Sirius had starting dating Jamie; he hadn't stopped talking about her much to James' distress. Sirius glared at his roommate.
'I was talking about Jamie,' Sirius reminded his friend.
'You're thinking of asking her to marry you?' James' heart felt as though it was lodged in his throat when Sirius nodded. 'Are you sure about this, I mean, you barely know anything about her, she won't even tell you where she works or if she works. You've only been on two-'
'Three.' Sirius interrupted his friend, seeing where James was headed.
'Fine three dates. You don't know her well enough to think about spending the rest of your life with her.' James told his friend, Sirius nodded regretfully.
'Well, maybe I'll hold off with the ring for now, but I think she's the one.' Sirius grinned as he got up and headed towards his bedroom, James groaned softly and put his head in his hands. This was so going wrong.
Present
'Papa was going to ask you, when in drag to marry you!' Rachel exclaimed, her eyes wide, and she wasn't the only one. 'Wow! Guess Papa really does love you, he loves you any way you are.' She gasped.
'Hadn't really thought of it that way, but yeah, I guess he does.' James agreed.
'Of course I love you; I don't care what you look like.' Sirius' voice startled everyone in the room as he came up behind his husband before kissing James on the top of the head. Grinning, James spun slightly on the chair and pulled Sirius towards himself and kissed him more firmly on the lips.
'Now that's a greeting I like, so what are you talking about?' Sirius asked as he placed all the bags on the floor, perching on the chairs arm while running his fingers through James unruly hair.
'Dad's telling us how you and he began dating. Did Dad really were women's clothing and call himself Jamie?' Becky asked excitedly, and all eyes turned to Sirius who chuckled. Lily and Remus exchanged amused looks, they should have known growing up with Marauders would make them more sceptical to things, although considering the true stories, some more outrageous than this that they had been told about.
'He really did, and he looked incredible in all of his outfits.' Sirius confirmed the story, 'wouldn't mind in fact if he became Jaime again!' Sirius flirted, waggling his eyebrows. James laughed and jokingly hit his husband.
'Maybe if you're very lucky I'll let you see the photo again, but that's about it!' James retorted.
'You still have the photo? Can we see Dad?' Becky jumped on the idea and the other teens seemed to get a predatory gleam in their eyes at the idea.
'Not. A. Chance!' James spelled it out for them as he shook his head, their faces fell immediately.
'Unless I happen to accidentally pull out the photo while you're all over, and it happens to fall where you can see it.' Remus nonchalantly told the teens, and the grins were back on their faces, not to mention Sirius' while James groaned and put his head in his hands. Sirius kissed his husband again as a comfort.
'So where did you get up to?' Sirius asked his audience, who were only too eager to tell him.
'You were asking James about marriage and James is about to go on the fourth date.' Alex jumped in causing Sirius to smile softly.
'Well, I'll go start these on the barbeque, and James can tell you what happened next,' Sirius suggested as he got up.
'I'll go and help,' Remus offered and joined his friend, taking half of the bags with him as the two of them went outside.
'So how did the fourth date go?' Rachel steered back to the story.
'Well, there wasn't much to this date,' James admitted.
'But it certainly didn't go so well from what I remember.' Lily added and James nodded in agreement.
'It started with us meeting at a nice restaurant nearby…' James began.
The Summer of 1986
Heading over to the restaurant, James could feel his heart pounding while his palms were damp with nerves about that evening. He had to tell Sirius the truth that evening, or at least break it off; he couldn't keep lying to his best friend, not when he seemed so serious about Jamie.
Getting closer, he spotted Sirius outside, looking just as handsome as ever dressed in a smart shirt and trousers; it went well with the smart trouser suit Lily had given for him that evening. Clutching his handbag close to him, something he had protested against with Lily, who had told him if he was female, he had to have the bag, he was thankful the evening was warm with a cool breeze, making it comfortable to be out in what he was wearing.
'Hey Jamie, you look as beautiful as ever,' Sirius complimented him, a soft smile on his face, one James had never seen on his friends face when looking at other dates he'd had. James gulped, Sirius really had been serious earlier, he was very interested in Jamie, something that was further enforced when Sirius began running his fingers through James' loose hair and moved his mouth closer to James.
A lump formed in his throat, he couldn't do this, he couldn't fool Sirius into kissing him. Sirius wanted Jamie, but Jamie didn't exist, only James, who couldn't steal a kiss from his best friend, no matter how much he wanted to.
Taking a step back, he could easily see the surprise in Sirius' eyes, and maybe hurt that James hadn't wanted it. James could feel the tears forming in his eyes, he'd led Sirius on too long, he couldn't do this.
'I'm sorry, I can't, I've kept too many things from you. I'm not who I say I am, I'm so sorry.' James choked out, the tears beginning to fall, causing some of his make-up to run. Sirius took a step forwards to comfort him, but James felt as though he didn't deserve this, it was his own fault, he was the one who had messed up. Instead, James turned and ran, away from the restaurant, away from Sirius and away from Jamie.
As he ran, he could hear Sirius calls after him, only belatedly realising as he ran through the front door to their apartment, that Sirius hadn't been calling Jamie at all, but James.
Stripping off the female clothes, he took a quick shower, washing away all traces of Jamie, re-dressing again in a pair of loose jogging trousers and a large tee shirt before flooing the women's clothes back to Lily, only telling her he messed up, but he had broken it off. The tear tracks were still evident on his face but he shut off the floo before Lily could comment, they both knew nothing she could say would make a difference.
Going into his bedroom, it was opposite Sirius', he shut the door and finally broke down properly, trying to muffle his sobs in his pillow, he had really messed up this time.
Present
The children looked stunned at him. James had played down how upset he had been, but they probably had a good idea what he was leaving out.
'Dinner!' Sirius' cheery voice yelled from outside. Torn between hearing the rest of the story and food, James grinned, knowing he had them hooked.
'Go on, we'll continue after eating, it's not as though you don't know the end anyway.' James nodded for them to go, and with almost lightning speed, they were outside.
'You'd think we never fed them the way they act.' Lily commented wryly causing James to chuckle; he'd had that thought many times over the years. Getting up, the two of them followed their children out, enjoying the scene of Sirius cooking more burgers and hotdogs than they would or could ever eat while Remus handed everything out, putting out the salad and plates on the plastic table they had set up earlier.
The evening may have just started to set in, but the heat from the day had barely started to go, while in the sky was the very start of what promised to be a beautiful sunset.
After the last sausage was thrown out for the birds and other wildlife that lives around them, and the children had finally tired themselves of running about, playing tag and other games, the ball games had been banned after Nicole had accidentally kicked the muddy ball into the salad, a food that had swiftly joined the sausages, and they had finally retreated inside as it got too dark to stay outside, the teens realised they had yet to hear the end of the story.
'Hey Papa, dad, what happened in the end of the story?' Becky asked as they lounged around the room, her lying partially on Nicole's stomach on the floor, while Alex leaned against his parents' legs and Harriet and Rachel took up the other sofa. All eyes swivelled to James and Sirius, who were snuggled up on the armchair, James sitting in between Sirius' legs, leaning back onto his husband's chest as he had twisted around slightly to make it comfortable.
The two men shared a glance.
'Shall I finish it?' Sirius suggested and James nodded.
'Go for it.' James replied.
'Okay, where did you leave off?' Since he hadn't heard where he had gotten up to, Sirius didn't really want to repeat bits of the story.
'I just got back from the fourth date.' Sirius winced at this but nodded, having an idea where to begin.
'Right, well, I was still standing at the restaurant after James had left…' he began.
The Summer of 1986
Sirius stared in shock at the retreating back of his best friend; he hadn't even twitched when he had yelled James instead of Jamie.
'Fuck.' Sirius groaned as he rested against the wall. This had not gone at all as planned. He'd been planning on telling James he knew everything tonight over dinner, hopefully getting James to agree to date him out of drag now that he had seen how good a date he was, and that it wouldn't mess up their friendship. Guess that theory had gone out of the window.
No, he wasn't going to let it end this way, there was far too much at stake here, Sirius told himself before heading down the street. He had a good idea Lily was helping James each time so that would be a good place to start he told himself before breaking into a jog. He was far too worked up to even think about trying to apperate.
Finally reaching there, Sirius hurriedly knocked on the door, not too surprised when Lily opened the door.
'Is James here?' Sirius blurted out looking worried. Lily immediately took him in.
'What are you planning to do?' Lily demanded, she wasn't about to let two of her best friends fall out over this. Sirius gave a frustrated sigh and rolled his eyes.
'I just want to talk to him.'
'Just talk?' Lily looked at him suspiciously.
'Yes, just talk, and possibly date if he lets me; and maybe more if he wants.' Sirius admitted. Seeing her friend was telling the truth, Lily grinned that they may be, hopefully getting together, only this time with no secrets or deception.
'He's at home, but he's pretty upset.'
'Thanks Lils. Tell Remus I said hi.' Sirius thanked her before using the floo powder on top of the fireplace and flooing home.
Going upstairs, Sirius immediately heard the muffled sobs from James' bedroom, which only added to the dread in his stomach. Without thinking about it, Sirius opened the door and went to his friend, pulling him into his arms and rubbing his back until he finally calmed down.
'I'm sorry Siri, I didn't want to deceive you but I just couldn't break it off, I didn't want to hurt you.' James admitted everything, shocked when Sirius simply ran his fingers through James' hair and kissed him softly on the cheek, his arms still wrapped around James' body.
'I know Jim, I know. I knew it was you the first time I saw you, did you really think you could fool me?' James ducked his head in embarrassment, he had thought that. 'I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I'd wanted to date you for ages, years even, but I didn't want to ruin our friendship. I figured if I dated you as Jamie, if it didn't work out we could pretend it never happened after that first meeting, and if it did work, we could tell each other. I was going to tell you tonight in fact.' Sirius told his friend.
'I wanted to date you for a while too, but I just valued our friendship too much. I never wanted to deceive you.'
'I know, I didn't either, and don't think I didn't notice how you avoided kissing me.' Sirius teased the man in his arms.
'Want to make up for it now' James offered suggestively before a look of horror crossed his face. 'Unless of course you don't want to, I mean, you don't have to if you don't want, I know you liked Jamie.' Instead of answering, Sirius simply leaned in and kissed his new boyfriend and ex girlfriend, the kiss deepened and grew with more passion until they eventually broke apart.
'You are Jamie, and James, and I love both of you. I don't care if you're wearing a dress or trousers, I will still love you.'
'I love you too Siri.' James replied, enjoying the feeling of Sirius arms around him even more.
'Still have that rule about the forth date?' Sirius suddenly asked, a mischievous grin on his face, James just waggled his eyebrows.
Present
'..and after we talked for a while, we started dating properly as James and Sirius until we finally got married and then James got pregnant and we wound up having two daughters.' Sirius finished the story.
'Believe me; if we ever have any more kids, you're carrying them.' James warned his husband, who smiled and kissed James.
'Which is why we are never having anymore kids.' Sirius concluded causing the others to chuckle. They had all heard James' complaints about being pregnant far too many times, that and the dangers of having children with two males was so great, they had both taken an infertility potion to make it impossible to have more, a fact they had shared when the twins had asked if they were going to have more siblings when the Lupin's started having more children.
'You know you didn't really tell all that happened that night.' James grinned mischievously at Sirius as he walked into the bedroom where James was waiting in bed.
'You think I should have told them how we made love all night then?'
'Did I say that?' James tried, but failed to look innocent.
'Maybe you just want a reminder of that night.' Sirius suggested as he crawled onto the bed, leaning over his husband, who had lay back on the bed, looking up at the raven haired man above him.
'And what if I do?' James demanded, Sirius grinned and leant down to kiss James, pulling the blankets away to reveal flesh.
'I guess we have a long night ahead of us.' Sirius replied, leaning down again into James' arms and beginning his decent down James' neck as he kissed each part of his love. Even after all of the years that had gone by, the passion that had been there at the start hadn't died, and if anything, was still as strong as ever, the way they hoped it always would be.
Future
Grandpa James, is this a photo of you in a dress?' An innocent 12 year old asked as she sat down in front of her aging grandparents while Nicole and Becky, the young girls parents looked on laughing. 'You look really pretty in it.'
James groaned. 'I take it you want to hear the story to go with that picture?'
'Yes please!' Keira begged as she sat down, looking eagerly up at the older couple.
'Well, this was actually what caused your grandpa Sirius and myself to start dating…' James started, reminding himself to destroy that picture after this, as well as think up some suitable revenge for all those involved in letting his youngest granddaughter get hold of that picture, and don't think he didn't know exactly who they were!
Maybe some revenge on Sirius wouldn't go amiss either James decided, as the man he was leaning into tried, and failed miserably to keep from laughing at James' embarrassment. Then again, he enjoyed the rumbling of Sirius chest against him, so the revenge would have to be later, when he thought of something suitable…maybe something with a dress, may as well spread the embarrassment around….wonder why he hadn't thought of that before James pondered as he once again recalled the tale, remembering vividly when he had told his daughters and goddaughters the tale all those years ago.
The End