Hello and welcome to my story :)

This will be a rather long one (about 60 chapters written so far), so be aware that the plot will move slowly at first.

I hope you enjoy it :)

Disclaimer: I do not own the world of Harry Potter or any of its characters.

Fathers' Tales

RESULTS OF THE OWL EXAMINATION

Passing grades:

Outstanding (O)

Exceeds Expectations (E)

Acceptable (A)

Failing Grades

Poor (P)
Dreadful (D)

Troll (T)

LILY EVANS has achieved the following grads:

Study of Ancient Runes: O

Arithmancy: E

Astronomy: E

Charms: O

Defence Against the Dark Arts: O

Herbology: O

History of Magic: O

Muggle Studies: O

Potions: O

Transfiguration: E

"Merlin! Those are excellent grades, darling!"

Her father's voice tore Lily from the contemplation of her OWL results, and she turned around to the thickset man curiously looking over her shoulder. She smiled. "Yeah." Slightly embarrassed, she lowered the parchment to the table.

She felt as if a huge weight had just been lifted from her shoulders. Obviously she had never expected to fail her OWLs, but knowing for certain that she hadn't was still a relief. She was actually a NEWT student now!
"So which are the subjects you'll keep?" her father asked, sitting back on his own chair.

Lily leant back, stretching her legs. "Dunno," she muttered thoughtfully, watching her father tear a piece off his scone and holding it out to the school owl still perched on the kitchen table, ignoring Petunia's disapproving glance.

Lily felt herself smile once more. John Evans was a small, rather round man with a receding hairline and a cheerful face. He loved anything magic and spent every summer questioning his youngest daughter about her world. The wizarding mail system especially had captured his heart.

Unlike Petunia's. "Do you have to feed it?" she interrupted impatiently, frowning. "Those things are disgusting enough without keeping them in the house even longer." She had just been telling them about her new boyfriend when the letter from Hogwarts had arrived, and thus was rather annoyed at having been forgotten at its arrival.

To avoid further arguments Lily quickly got to her feet, gently coaxed the owl on her arm and carried it over to the window, having to supress a grin at the disappointed look on her father's face.

Petunia gave a satisfied snort. Anyway. As I was saying, Vernon is-"

But that was as far as she got, for as Lily sat back down at the table her father was already scrutinizing the OWL results once more. "You'll keep Potions, won't you?" he asked, apparently completely oblivious to his eldest daughte'rs attempts at gaining his attention. "That was this professor who's so fond of you, wasn't it?"

Lily nodded, also looking over her exams. She knew she should feel bad about stealing Petunia's thunder, but after having listened to her tales of this Vernon Dursley for five minutes already she really couldn't muster up any regret. "Professor Slughorn, yes. History too, of course, although I'll probably be on my own in that class."

Her father giggled. "The boring ghost?" She nodded once more, also grinning.

There was no denying it, Professor Binns was not exactly selling his subject well. But Lily had always had a fondness for history, the ancient Greeks, Romans, the middle ages – and of course their stories and myths. Perseus on his winged horse, Odin and his ravens, Kind Arthur... When she turned eleven, a large part of them had suddenly come true, but that had not diminished her fascination in the slightest. On the contrary, suddenly she had found a whole new perspective on history.

No, Lily treasured the subject. And Professor Binns wasn't that bad, once one got used to his style of teaching. His sheer infinite knowledge impressed her. He went all his lessons without opening a book or even looking at some notes, effortlessly reeling off names and dates. She was pretty certain there was no person – alive or dead – who knew more about history than Binns.

Petunia, evidently fed up with the talk about Hogwarts, started to simply talk over them. "Vernon just got promoted. He's head of marketing now."

"What about muggle studies? If you don't, can I have your book? It's bloody hilarious!"

"Don't think I will, they only ask for an OWL at the ministry, and it's not like I actually learn anything...go ahead, if you enjoy reading about public transport."

"And he's taking me out to dinner this weekend. To Pricket's!"

"It's the comparisons they do. Owl against Royal Mail – who's fastest? That was a great chapter!"

"It's that really fancy place down at the park. Very posh!"

"I'll drop Arithmancy as well, I'd need an O for that. It's only curse breakers who need it anyway."
"But you'll keep Transfiguration? You promised to turn my boss's mutt into a rat when you're of age."

"They have film stars going there, and millionaires and such."

"Dad! That was four years ago. I'm not allowed to, even when I'm seventeen. And it's not like there's a lot missing anyway, is there?"

"And I'm pregnant."

"WHAT?"

In an instant, the topic of Transfiguration was forgotten, as John Evans stared at his oldest daughter in open horror.

Petunia made a face. "Just seeing if you're even listening to what I'm saying," she said sourly, angrily rising to her feet.

Her father watched her stomp up the stairs with a sigh, and Lily swallowed, suddenly feeling very wretched. "Sorry."

But Mr Evans simply shrugged. "Leave her. I've spent the last month listening to her swooning over that Dursley of hers. I even tried to act like I care! She can't complain, really."

Still feeling guilty, Lily couldn't keep from laughing. She could only imagine the agony her father had been in. "Let's hope Mum will be back soon," she grinned.

Susan Evans was visiting relatives in the States and would only be back two days before Lily's departure to Hogwarts. Lily had been disappointed about barely getting so see her mother that summer, but it had turned out to be great fun just spending time with her Dad and mocking Petunia behind her back.

Of course she felt bad about excluding her sister like that, but after all Petunia got to spent all year with their parents.

"So-" her father grinned, extracting another piece of parchment from the envelope. It was the book list. "When are we going to Diagon Alley?" His eyes shown with so much anticipation it made Lily laugh again.

Few students her age had their parents accompany them to buy their school supplies, preferring to go with their friends. But Lily could never bring herself to deny her father the visit he was looking forward to all year.

Besides, she had barely gotten word from her friends this summer. Miranda had been in Norway with her parents for most of July, and now there was a sick relative she had to take care of, Val had, predictably, found a new boyfriend that she was now apparently glued to, and Sev...well, their friendship had pretty much dissolved last year.

She quickly banished the thoughts of him. "Tomorrow, if you'd like to," she said, feeling some of his eagerness rub off on her. It would be good to return to the wizarding world, if only for a day.

"Oh, look! Dragons and how to Tame them!" her father exclaimed enthusiastically, reading from the book list. "I'll definitely want to borrow that!"

Following his gaze, Lily shook her head. "That's for Care of Magical Creatures, I didn't take that."

"Oh," Mr Evans made, rather disappointed. Then, he turned towards her with a frown. "Why not? It sounds great! You could've brought me a magical bunny or something like that."

Lily sighed. "I don't think those exists..." she muttered. Maybe tomorrow would get slightly more exhausting than she had hoped.

JAMES FLEAMONT POTTER has achieved the following grads:

Arithmancy: P

Astronomy: D

Care of Magical Creatures: E

Charms: E

Defence Against the Dark Arts: O

Divination: P

Herbology: A

History of Magic: P

Potions: E

Transfiguration: O

SIRIUS ORION BLACK has achieved the following grads:

Astronomy: A

Care of Magical Creatures: E

Charms: E

Defence Against the Dark Arts: O

Divination: T

Herbology: D

History of Magic: T

Potions: A

Transfiguration: E

"Gotcha!" Sirius grinned after looking over James' grades, smugly leaning back in his chair. "I won." He shook his head in mock disappointment. "Pathetic, Prongs. Just pathetic."

James sighed, unhappily staring at his results. "I poured tea over her robes and she still gives me a P?" he grumbled, "What else was I supposed to do for a T? Predict her death?"

His friend shrugged. "That'd probably have earned you a D; they dig that morbid shit. I think she just fancied you."

As if on its own accord, James' hand shot towards his hair. "You think?" he wondered.

But Sirius simply shrugged again. "Who cares. I won, and you owe me a Butterbeer."

James ignored him, still rather puzzled by his grades. "I didn't remember a thing in history; I simply made that shit up. Why's there a P?"

Sirius laughed. "You're that big a deal, even your fantasies are reality," he said dryly, before rising to his feet and patting his friend's back. "Don't take it too harshly. You'll certainly be worse than Moony."

"Hmpf," James made, still feeling very disgruntled. "He wasn't trying to get Ts, though." His gaze fell on Sirius' own letter, and immediately his mood brightened. "At least I didn't pass Astronomy," he pointed out gleefully, "You got more OWLs than me. Swot."

"What?" Aghast, Sirius pulled the parchment towards him. "I...I did," he muttered incredulously, paling. "What in Merlin's – I drew my family tree on that star chart!"

James collapsed on his seat with laughter. Sirius absolutely detested Astronomy, for the sole reason that it constantly reminded him of his family. Pretty much all Blacks were named after stars or constellations, and he hated having to spent whole nights just searching for one or the other loathed relative.

The door opened and James's mother entered, silencing both boys in an instance. But Mrs Potter had already heard them. "There's no reason at all to pride yourself on a fail grade, James," she hissed angrily, fixating her son with furious eyes. Even though she was barely over five feet, her son quickly stepped back a few paces. Sirius, too, tried to inconspicuously merge with the background. To no avail. "And least of all Ts!" she spat, whirling around to the Black heir.

Sirius had moved in with the Potters last summer, and Euphemia had taken him as her own. Usually, Sirius loved her for it, but today he obviously wished she wouldn't have been quite so warm in her welcome.

"Five OWLs, James! That's a disgrace, your father achieved eight! And you're no better, Sirius. Ts? Do you think education is some sort of joke? I really don't know what will become of you!"

James swallowed. "I did get two Os, though," he pointed out, in a desperate bid to placate his mother. It didn't work.

"And you could have gotten a great deal more, young man," his mother hissed, still staring at him with cold fury. "What will your father-"

At that moment, said father entered the room, realized what was happening, and soundlessly retreated, completely ignoring the boys' silent cries for help.

His wife hadn't missed it, though. "Fleamont Potter," she warned, and a few seconds later he came shuffling back into the room, looking rather unenthusiastic about it. Under his wife's expectant look, he reluctantly put a stern expression on his face, turning to the two teenagers.

"I expected more of you, boys," he began, rather unconvincingly, and immediately fell silent again when he realized he didn't actually know what else to say.

Euphemia snorted, evidently still angry. "You'll have to do better if you want to have any hopes of becoming an Auror, James," she said, standing beside her husband.

James rolled his eyes. Not this talk again. "Well, I don't," he said stubbornly, "I'll become a Quidditch player."

"That's not a job, James, that's a hobby! And anyway, your father was an Auror, so you'll be one, too. Period." She stomped out of the room.

James snorted, falling down on the sofa next to Sirius. "Thanks for the help," he grumbled."

His friend merely grinned. "I inherited; I'm out of this job business," he said with a shrug, lifting one of Euphemia's cats up in his lap and scratching it behind the ears.

James' mother loved cats, and, evidently having decided to thoroughly comply with that part of the muggle stereotype of a witch, owned not one but four of them. It was one of the reasons owls only reluctantly came to the Potter home – some of them never returned. There was Hades, an enormous black tom, Artemis and Aphrodite, two grey tabby cats, and Apollo, a tiny ginger tom who usually got chased by Hades through one or the other room.

James always wondered why it was Sirius of all people who got along with the cats so well, but somehow he had managed to win their friendship, and even in his animagus form Sirius and Hades got along so well it sometimes made James almost jealous.

He himself had never been a great fan of his mother's pets, not least because it was they who were responsible for his first owl's demise. It was true, the poor bird had been rather old and barely able to fly, but James hadn't forgiven them, even after three years. It had, of course, been Hades who had killed the owl.

Sullenly, he watched the fat black tom stretching on Sirius' lap, evidently very much enjoying his current position. Stupid furball.

It didn't help his mood when his father returned to the dreaded topic of his future. "Just take a few subjects that you'll need for Auror training, that'll calm her," he advised, looking over their exam results with a frown, "And you'll have more options should you change your mind at some point."

James made a face. Aurors were required to have a NEWT in potions. He had rather hoped to be rid of Slughorn after last year.

"It's not a bad job, James," his father continued, apparently reading his son's face correctly.

Sirius huffed. "Yeah, but it doesn't exactly make you prettier, does it?" he grinned, demonstratively looking Mr Potter down.

He had a point. His job had not left Fleamont Potter's body without marks. One of his legs was stiff, his back always ached, and his face was crossed by deep scars. His once black hair was almost completely white, even though he was by no means an old man. His declining health had forced him into retirement despite his age, a fate many of his colleagues shared.

He didn't take offence at Sirius' comment. "Maybe not, but it gets you a lot of attention from the ladies." He winked at his adopted son, before adding, with mock regret: "Not at my age, that is. Nowadays all they do is offer to help me cross the road."

He and Sirius laughed, but James still felt grumpy. "But I don't want to take potions," he muttered sourly. "Why doesn't Sirius have to become an Auror?"

"'Cos I only got an A and Slughorn wouldn't let me into his class," his friend explained smugly, poking his tongue at him. "Your own fault, really. If you hadn't tried so hard to impress Evans, you wouldn't be in this mess now."

James froze. Evans. Why hadn't he thought of that? Evans loved potions; she'd definitely take the class. Suddenly, the prospect of Slughorn didn't seem quite so terrible.

"What's gotten into him now?

James twitched, realizing that he had spent the last minutes blankly staring out of the window, more and more wonderful – and absurd – scenarios playing in his head. "Err..."

He tried to come up with an explanation, but Sirius merely gave lazy wave. "He realized that his beloved Evans will be in that class," he explained, sounding rather bored, "If Euphemia really wants to make really sure he becomes an Auror, she should just pay Evans to apply as well. He'd be in there in a heartbeat." Laughing, he left the room to go and help Euphemia with dinner, ignoring the daggers James stared after him.

For a while, the living room was silent.

"Still into her then, huh?" Fleamont finally said, throwing a sympathetic glance to his son.

James shrugged, feeling hopeless. "Yeah...I don't know what I'm doing wrong," he muttered, staring at his feet. Outside of his fantasy world, things with Evans looked less than rosy.

His father was still looking at him, a thoughtful frown between his eyes. "Are you sure you're not just going after her because she's turning you down? Just so you can prove something to yourself?"

Defiantly, James raised his head. "No," he snapped.

There had been a time when that statement might have been true – and for a long time, that was exactly the picture he had painted for his friends, claiming it was a challenge, a game. Because it had been too embarrassing to admit that he really did have a crush on Evans. That he was lying awake at night, thinking about her, that he was looking for her red hair every morning he entered the Great Hall. That he kept imagining what it would be like to hold her, to kiss her... He huffed, turning away from his father.

"You know," Fleamont started after another stretch of silence, "I had a terrible crush on a girl once, too." James inwardly groaned, not the slightest bit interested in whatever stupid tale his father had come up with. "Her name was Miriam Crowpike. She was a Ravenclaw from my year, and I was hopelessly in love with her. I kept trailing after her, feeling horrible whenever she would go out with another boy. I was completely convinced that I could never love anybody else, that she was the only one who could make my life whole."

James sighed, pretty certain he didn't like where this was going. If he had heard, his father ignored him.

"But she wouldn't even look twice as me. And when we left Hogwarts, I was devastated. She went abroad, and I never saw her again."

"Cool story, Dad," James muttered, feeling his patience run out. Sadly, his father wasn't done yet.

"But I got over it. With her gone, I could actually see other woman. Your mother, for example." He smiled. "Don't even remember what Miriam looked like."

Realizing what his father was trying to tell him, James felt anger rise in him. "Evans isn't Crowpike, and I'm not you," he snapped, jumping to his feet.

But before he could storm out, his father grabbed his arm, holding him back. "That's not was I was trying to say. I was just trying to tell you that life doesn't always go the way we expect it to. If you love her, and she'll come to feel the same about you at some point, then that will be wonderful. But if not, if she doesn't love you, it won't be the end of the world."

His mother called them to dinner, saving James from having to reply.

Following his father, James couldn't help but replay what he had just heard.

And when we left Hogwarts, I was devastated. She went abroad, and I never saw her again.

Never saw her again.

He felt dread pool in his stomach. What if the same would happen to him and Evans? What if she also left and he would lose her? He knew his parents loved each other, and that Fleamont was happy with his wife.

But he still couldn't imagine loving anybody else besides Evans.

Slowly, he started moving again. Two years. He had two years to win over the love of his life.

That's it for now.

The next chapter is already done; I'll try and update on Saturday or Sunday. In the meantime, why don't you leave a review to tell me what you think? :)